Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi hasn't exactly been shy about his love for The Witcher, which is why he reacted like the rest of us when CD Projekt Red's new saga was properly shown off at The Game Awards 2024.
Hamaguchi has not been secretive about CDPR's fantasy series. Last week, the director said that The Witcher 3 was one of his biggest inspirations when putting a spin on the open world in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth because why not go for the best of the genre? But he didn't play The Wild Hunt just for work and research.
In a new Reddit AMA with the protagonists of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Hamaguchi cited the third part as his favorite game of all time. Series producer Yoshinori Kitase later wrote about how the duo was in the crowd at The Game Awards this year when the first trailer for The Witcher 4 debuted. “Hamaguchi was so excited when Ciri took off her hood that he almost fell stood up!” All I can say is: same, same.
Witcher fans, including Hamaguchi, should be more than happy to know that Geralt will indeed be a part of The Witcher 4, as CDPR recently revealed that yes, that was Doug Cockle's iconic raspy voice at the end of the trailer. But we'll have to wait until the game finally comes out to find out why Ciri needed to be the protagonist, since it's apparently closely related to what's happening in the story.
On the other hand, it was announced that the PC port of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will arrive next month. The game itself was nominated for multiple trophies at the show, including the top award for Game of the Year, but it only took home the award for Best Soundtrack, and who could argue with that?
See where Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lands in our best games of 2024 list.