Peak recognizes peak as Donkey Kong Bananza gets a shoutout from Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director as one of his "top picks" of 2025: "I thought it was amazing"

Final Fantasy 7 Remake co-director and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi has praised Donkey Kong Bananza as one of his favorite games of 2025.

We've known that the Nintendo Switch 2 is getting Final Fantasy 7 Remake since the day the console was properly revealed, and we now finally know it's set for January 22, 2026, with an Xbox launch coming the same day. And while the series director Naoki Hamaguchi has already called out Fable as his favorite Xbox series, the question remains on what his favorite from Nintendo is.

Speaking to RPG Site Hamaguchi is asked which games from 2025 he's played and really enjoyed, and since the interview is about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, he decides to keep the focus there.

"So in terms of Switch 2 titles, I'd say the Donkey Kong game on Switch 2, I thought it was amazing," he says, of course referring to Donkey Kong Bananza, which is not a surprise given it is the best game of 2025 (if you ask me, anyway).

Hamaguchi continues: "I guess you can't really call it a real open world, but then, I felt that the sort of interaction that one can gain with the world inside of it was truly amazing." He then goes on to say that "it's definitely one of the top picks for me for this year." So maybe if we're lucky, Hamaguchi will be so inspired that he finally establishes the One-Winged Kong into Final Fantasy canon.

One-Winged Kong - YouTube

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Elsewhere in the interview, Hamaguchi is asked about the existing Cloud and Sephiroth amiibo that are available thanks to the Super Smash Bros. series, and whether those would have any uses in the Switch 2 edition of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. To this, the director responds: "We don't currently have clear plans for that, but if there is a lot of positive player demand for that, it would make for really great discussions with Nintendo I believe."

Switch 2's controversial game-key cards "let us do things that maybe we wouldn't otherwise," says Final Fantasy 7 remake co-director, but "I really get where people are coming from in terms of their negativity."