Baldur's Gate's Companions Were Influenced By Final Fantasy 7
thegamer.comOne of the biggest strengths of Baldur's Gate 3 is undoubtedly its cast of characters. Hearts have been captured by the likes of Astarion and Karlach, when fans aren't shipping them with each other that is, and the rest of the cast is just as lovable. It took a while for the series to get to this point though, as writers for Baldur's Gate 2 were apparently looking at titles such as Final Fantasy 7 for inspiration on how to create a memorable cast of characters.
In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun (thanks GamesRadar), former veteran BioWare writer James Ohlen reveals that the team working on Baldur's Gate 2 were heavily influenced by Cloud and the gang. Ohlen explains that during a smoke break, an Interplay producer named Dermot Clarke mentioned that the characters in Baldur's Gate weren't nearly as developed as those in Final Fantasy 7.
Related: I've Accepted I'll Never Get Jaheira As A Companion In Baldur's Gate 3
After this, Ohlsen went away and played Final Fantasy 7 for himself, and came to the conclusion that characters in the original Baldur's Gate were "a bunch of cardboard cutouts" in comparison. This then led the team at BioWare to double down on their efforts to create memorable characters and expand upon existing ones with deeper backstories for Baldur's Gate 2, a couple of which have even been brought back for Baldur's Gate 3 in the form of Jaheira and Minsc.
"I’m very competitive," Ohlen says. "I went and played Final Fantasy VII and was like, 'Oh my good god, these characters make ours look like a bunch of cardboard cutouts. This is terrible.'"
It's not surprising that Final Fantasy 7 had some influence on the Baldur's Gate series - the game was so massive that it's likely influenced hunderds of other
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