Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi says that "the presence of diverse, authentic relationships" like the JRPG's same-sex couples help enhance the "realism" of the game's world, and he and the other devs at Square Enix were "incredibly happy" to see fans "paying close attention even to these subtle interactions."
If you watch and listen to the NPCs populating Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's world, you'll have no doubt noticed that there are multiple references to queer romance and relationships – whether it's a man talking about his "dashing" new partner as a friend congratulates him for finding "the one," or a woman asking a female friend if she'd consider dating her after she declares that she's "over men in general."
In an interview with TheGamer, Hamaguchi is asked about one specific pair of women whose relationship evolves throughout the JRPG – the one that starts with a slap fight in Kalm. "To us, what matters is the feeling of a diverse group of people inhabiting this world in an authentic manner," he says. "Rebirth is a game where you encounter many towns, cultures, and relationships throughout your journey. In my view, the presence of diverse, authentic relationships within that journey also enhances the world's realism.
"As such, it feels closer to say that even for these two characters, our goal wasn't to add a same-sex couple just for the sake of adding it, but to portray the stories of those inhabiting this world with sincerity and care," he continues. "In truth, it made us incredibly happy as the development team to see players paying close attention even to these subtle interactions and shifts in relationships."
It's nice to hear, and Hamaguchi has clearly been watching fan reaction closely, as he adds: "My impression is that players also pay close attention to not only whether these depictions are there, but also their detailed nuances, like the emotional distance and conversational tone between characters."
He reiterates Square Enix's aim to create a diverse, realistic world, and notes that "the presence of these relationships didn't feel like a distinct depiction for us, but rather a result of building FF7's world in an authentic way."
With that in mind, it sounds like we can probably expect more cute queer references like this in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation when it launches next year. We already know that it's going to have a "far bigger" open-world map than Rebirth, after all, so it'll be able to house plenty of NPCs for us to meet.
