Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is heavily inspired by The Witcher 3

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is set to be a colossal second part in the company’s FF7 Remake trilogy. However, in a surprising twist, the upcoming JRPG has been heavily influenced by CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Revealed in an interview by Game Informer, FF7 Rebirth co-director Motomu Toriyama revealed that the adventures of Geralt of Rivia have had an effect on the development of the new game.

Unlike most games, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s side quests felt like full missions by themselves with dialogue, unique assets and detailed animations. This aspect of the game has been added into the development of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, adding new depth to the side content Cloud and the gang will be engaging in.

Toriyama revealed that the quality of The Witcher 3’s side quests was the “baseline” that the team needed to hit, and even surpass, for this new game.

“Regarding titles like The Witcher 3, which has that open-world role-playing type element, we did some extensive research into these types of titles. [We aim to] stand alongside it and have the type of content that would be satisfying to its players,” the co-director said.

This isn’t the first time a Final Fantasy game has been inspired by CDPR’s 2014 masterpiece either. In fact, Final Fantasy 16 was also inspired by the game in regards to its tone and narrative, offering a darker, more western feel than the series’ typical entries.

Even with the release of Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still the bar to hit for new RPGs. While it used to be the likes of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles, CDPR has crushed the competition, even if its reputation took a blow from Cyberpunk’s launch state.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on PlayStation 5 on February 29th, 2024. A PC version of the game is expected to release in the future, although an Xbox port is seemingly not on the table.