Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director wasn't expecting the RPG to reignite the 'yellow paint' discourse, but will "take on board the valuable feedback for future games"

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"I didn't think that the 'yellow paint' would be something that would be discussed on social media"

Aerith is surrounded by fire lanterns in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Responding to the yellow paint discourse, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director says he will "take on board the valuable feedback for future games."

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi was likely expecting the second chapter of this modern retelling to be a hot topic in the run-up to launch as fans discussed everything from the sizable overworld packed with mini-games to the new party members and combat moves. What Hamaguchi certainly wasn't expecting, though, was a lot of the conversations to be about yellow paint.

In an interview with Redbull, when asked for his response to the fierce debate over the telegraphing technique that erupted following the release of the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo last month, Hamaguchi replied, "I didn't think that the 'yellow paint' would be something that would be discussed on social media."

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There's no denying that it serves a valuable function, but for some, having smatterings of bright paint all over the place is immersion-breaking, and with it being such a divisive feature, Hamaguchi hints that he and the team may consider other methods for guiding players in the future.

"For things like camera options, where people have a wide variety of preferences and there's no one right answer, our basic approach is to offer various accessibility options," the director explains, "so I would like to take on board the valuable feedback we have received towards this for future games."

Those future games, of course, include the conclusion of Cloud's story which is currently in the works. In a separate interview, Hamaguchi recently confirmed that "key elements" of the third and final part of the Remake trilogy are already coming together thanks to all the world-building in Rebirth.

It remains to be seen how much yellow paint there will be in part 3, but its inclusion in Rebirth hasn't stopped it from becoming the series' highest-rated entry in 23 years and the second-highest-scoring Final Fantasy on Metacritic overall.

Ignore the yellow paint detractors – visual cues are great for games.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.