Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was released with widespread critical acclaim from both fans and critics. In our review, we said that the game is the gold standard for remakes. Rightfully so, it manages to innovate on both the original and the genre it sets itself in. In our interview with Naoki Hamaguchi during his visit to the Philippines, it was revealed that the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Director was inspired by Ghost of Tsushima and The Witcher 3 during development.
For the sequel, Hamaguchi wanted to empower players with an improved sense of freedom. The game features multiple open areas that are massive in scale, each one can easily provide you with dozens and dozens of hours of gameplay. At this point in the story, Cloud and the rest of the gang are travelling through multiple regions. What used to be a half hour sequence in the original are now fully fleshed out zones in Rebirth.
The team wanted to ensure that when achieving the much bigger scale the project required, it didn’t compromise on gameplay quality. Hamaguchi wanted to pace players just right in order to avoid overwhelming them.
“Several games served as inspiration for the open-world design of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. While titles like The Legend of Zelda offer immediate access to the entire world, Ghost of Tsushima provided a different approach, unlocking new areas as players progress through the storyline. This concept influenced our decision-making process in determining the size and scope of the game world.”
And the influences from Sucker Punch’s Samurai masterpiece doesn’t just stop there. For those of you who played, you’d remember just how amazing that game handled open world exploration. It didn’t do the typical icon-bloated open world checklist loop that far too many games have fallen into. It took its time in developing the world, making sure that whatever extra content that was there was interesting enough to motivate the player to chase it. Not just for the sake of earning a higher percentage completion number. Exploring the different open areas of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reminded us of what that felt like.
Speaking of side content, Hamaguchi also mentioned another prominent open-world RPG that informed the way he and the team approached side content.
“In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, players encounter a lot of characters and a wealth of content to explore. Similar to The Witcher 3, the game effectively utilizes its side content to showcase significant character development.”
It’s no wonder why Final Fantasy VII Rebirth turned out to be a masterpiece. It was inspired by two other masterpieces that came before it.