The much-anticipated sequel toFinal Fantasy 7 Remakehas finally made its way into player’s hands, with some having already completed the 40-hour main campaign in their excitement. Not only is Rebirth a trip down memory lane for lovers of the 90s original, but new players are welcoming the game’s alluring lore and intriguing characters as they join Cloud and the gang on another epic adventure.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthdirector Naoki Hamaguchi recently discussed the development process that went into making the title and what games he and the team drew from when crafting Rebirth’s rich and captivating world.
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Talking toRapplerin a round table interview in the Philippines over the weekend, Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi discussed how pleased he was at the abundance of positive reviews the game has gotten, as well as how being a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise is what inspired him to pursue a career in the games industry.
When asked the question about what open-world games felt like an inspiration for Rebirth, speaking via a translator, Hamaguchi stated that he drew creative inspiration fromGhost of Tsushimaand The Witcher 3 when it comes to its world map.
“We sort of had Ghost of Tsushima as an inspiration. Because in that game, there are 2 sections, the top part, and the bottom part. And the top part becomes available once you proceed with the storyline. That sort of gave him (Naoki Hamaguchi) an idea of how to define the space, like how big the world map will be.”
Hamaguchi continued to state that not only was Ghost of Tsushima a deciding creative factor in how big the world map should be, but he also acknowledged thatThe Witcher 3’s side content as a way to showcase character building inside the map was also a “big inspiration” for Rebirth’s map structure.
“And then, the content to put inside the map, Witcher 3does a very good job with this. Having the side content in those areas to sort of serve as a way to depict character development, and get to know each character in that area, I sort of had Witcher 3 as an inspiration forRebirth. So side content, and those parts, Witcher 3 was a big inspiration” said Hamaguchi
When asked if Souls games, due to their popularity in giving players a challenge, were a consideration when crafting Rebirth’s world, Hamaguchi stated that it wasn’t something they wanted to implement “because Demon’s Souls, or Elden Ring, are a 100% action games” so this is not something Rebirth falls into.
Although he did acknowledge that those who play Rebirth may not notice an overall difficulty compared to Remake but stated that they made Midgardsormr, the first real boss fight in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, “deliberately difficult”, especially for “people that are used to the game system, as it might be easy for them to clear the game.”
