Square Enix: Red Dead Redemption an influence on Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Producer and Director Motomu Toriyama has revealed that Rockstar's blockbuster open-world cowboy title Red Dead Redemption has been an inspiration to the development team behind the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Speaking to RPG Site at E3 2011, Toriyama first bought up Red Dead Redemption when questioned about the nature of the side quests in the upcoming Final Fantasy sequel, simply stating that "there are more side missions a bit like in Red Dead Redemption."

Pressed for more information, Toriyama went on to elaborate on exactly what aspects of the game most influenced the FF13-2 development team and why. "Among the millions of games that came out last year, Red Dead Redemption was adored by a lot of Japanese developers, including ourselves," he told us. "Our game is not as open-field as that game, obviously. We did take some inspirations, however. For example, missions can happen anywhere rather than having to go to a certain shrine, or base or something, and that’s from them. In this game you see lots and lots of chocobos and you can ride them. The kind of feeling you get as you ride the chocobo, it’s a bit like the way you ride a horse. It’s a really refreshing feel good experience, and that’s one thing we learned from the game."

You can catch our full Final Fantasy XIII-2 E3 2011 Interview with Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase through this link!