Final Fantasy Producer Cites Star Wars as a Key Inspiration for Characters and Mechanics in Franchise

Longtime Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase revealed to IGN that Star Wars was a big influence on the RPG franchise.

When speaking with IGN's Michael Peyton at the Lucca Comics & Games Festival 2026, Kitase was asked how he felt about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 being heavily influenced by Final Fantasy. He admitted that he was really happy to see a game that was inspired by Square's RPG franchise have so much success, and that he himself is heavily inspired by other entertainment behemoths, too — namely Star Wars.

"To be honest, I know the game," Kitase said of Expedition 33. "I spoke with the creators and I'm actually very happy about the fact that they have been so inspired by Final Fantasy and they created a new game from that. And also, I was inspired by movies and in particular by Star Wars when I was young.

"I took inspiration from many things I was interested in when I …