During Final Fantasy 7 Remake's ninth chapter, Cloud pays Madam M for a hand massage so that she'll be inclined to help Aerith get into Don Corneo's sleazy "wife" auditions, allowing the duo to help Tifa. The player can pick from three different massage courses, but no matter which one they choose, what ensues is a hilarious cutscene that's also strongly suggestive.
Apparently, Square Enix needed to tone down these scenes, or ESRB would have given Final Fantasy 7 Remake an M rating, which would have been somewhat problematic. If they can help it, developers try to avoid M-rated games because they're tougher to sell than ones with lesser ratings such as T, which is what Final Fantasy 7 Remake ended up receiving.
The information comes from a new Famitsu interview with FF7 Remake devs such as Director Tetsuya Nomura, and Producer Yoshinori Kitase. The interview is currently in Japanese, but some players such as Audrey on Twitter were kind enough to translate it for those unfamiliar with the language.
The fact that Madam M's massages needed to be toned down suggests that Square Enix made scenes that are even more provocative than what players see in the game. The current cutscenes already play as if they come from a rated-M title, so it's a wonder what Square Enix originally had planned.
Considering Final Fantasy 7 Remake's overall tone, it's likely that the scenes had partial nudity. That's the only rated M condition that still fits with the game's narrative and the situation. Although, it's also not unlikely that Madam M would drop some f-bombs if the player chooses the Poor Man's Massage course.
Of course, the suggestive nature of Madam M's services falls in line with everything else going on in Wall Market. The Midgar sector is known for such activities. The Honey Bee Inn — the sector's most popular attraction — is a brothel, and Don Corneo holds nightly "wife" auditions for himself and gives the "leftovers" to his lackeys.
Hopefully, Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase do go over what the original massage scenes were in the interview. The Famitsu issue is over 15 pages long, so Nomura and Kitase should have had time to explain what Square Enix had in mind. A majority of the interview still needs to be translated, though, because it hasn't officially released yet. Those who currently have it managed to grab themselves an early copy.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched for the PS4 on April 10, 2020.
