As one would expect, game developers aren't just excited by the titles they're developing; they have opinions on the releases of other creators as well. Understanding this, Sony recently sat down with several developers to find out what their most anticipated games for 2021 and beyond are, along with what games inspired them to do what they do. One of these developers happened to be Naoki Hamaguchi, one of three co-directors for Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

In his statement on the PlayStation Blog post, Hamaguchi discussed his love for Guerrilla Games' Horizon series and how it inspired his work on Final Fantasy 7 Remake. According to him, Horizon: Zero Dawn left a lasting impression with its unbelievable graphics and unique take on the post-apocalyptic setting. Because of this, Hamaguchi is looking forward to Horizon: Forbidden West and wants to evolve Final Fantasy 7 Remake's currently untitled second part in a similar fashion.

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Hamaguchi didn't say which elements of Forbidden West he wants to apply to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but he's likely interested in its non-linear storytelling. In an interview with Game Informer last year, Hamaguchi said the original Final Fantasy 7 didn't utilize open-ended storytelling until after Midgar's first visit. Because of this, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's part 1, which only covers the first Midgar visit, sticks to linear storytelling with a few exceptions here and there.

If non-linear storytelling is what Hamaguchi is interested in, then players will likely see many more open-world elements in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's part 2 than in part 1. Hamaguchi has more opportunities to add them now that Square Enix has gotten the first part of Midgar out of the way and opened up the rest of the world to Cloud and his team. That said, Remake's formula for open-ended features likely won't change too much, and it'll still stick to placing them at narratively suitable intervals to keep the story's tension.

Conceivably, more information on both Final Fantasy 7 Remake's part 2 and Guerrilla games Forbidden West will arrive soon. At the moment, there's not much information available for either title. The news fans thought would come from the recent Final Fantasy 7 orchestra didn't happen, and only recently did Guerrilla shift focus to working on Forbidden West. It would certainly be interesting to hear what Hamaguchi's co-directors Tetsuya Nomura and Motomu Toriyama want to do with the title as well.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PS4.

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Source: PlayStation Blog