Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Director Would Love to Work on a AA Game Like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Naoki Hamaguchi, the Director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, has often expressed his admiration for the turn-based role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Recently, he mentioned that he would love to create a similar type of game himself.

However, doing so would mean stepping away from his role at Square Enix, which is obviously not possible for him at the moment.

Rising Costs in AAA Game Development

In an interview with GamesRadar+, Hamaguchi explained that the cost of creating AAA games has increased significantly. One of the main reasons is that high-budget games are highly structured and require numerous elements—all of which must reach top quality standards.

For example, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is not only a massive game but also includes mini-games, vehicles, tournaments, side quests, a photo mode, hidden bosses, and much more.

On the other hand, a AA game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 focuses on a single gameplay element and makes that one feature exceptional, rather than spreading effort across many systems. This focus is often a necessity due to budget limits.

Hamaguchi’s Wish to Create a Focused AA Game

Hamaguchi admitted that he would love to take the same approach, developing a smaller-scale project centered on one key element. Unfortunately, his current position at Square Enix requires him to work on specific large-scale projects, leaving little room for such personal creative endeavors.

In other news, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s director stated that the final game is “85% of the original vision,” meaning that while they are happy with the result, some aspects could not be fully realized.