Final Fantasy VII Served as Inspiration for Stronger Baldur’s Gate Character Writing

Outlet Rock Paper Shotgun recently interviewed James Ohlen, known for his work on the early Baldur’s Gate entries, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, and more.

The interview is quite in-depth, providing context for the development of Baldur’s Gate, his general work history, and his efforts for the future. One intriguing comment regarded the development of Baldur’s Gate II.

For the game’s more concentrated and focused companion stories, inspiration came from the characterizations of Final Fantasy VII. Interplay producer Dermot Clarke noted that compared to that game by Square, the characters in Baldur’s Gate weren’t on the same level.

Ohlen then went and played Final Fantasy VII himself, realizing that the characters throughout the game made “[theirs] look like a bunch of cardboard cutouts.” He even went as far as calling them “terrible.”

Ultimately, this inspired BioWare to step up, resulting in the title’s memorable character stories. You can view the full article for more interesting insight. For instance, a brief bit of Chrono Cross inspiration for Knights Of The Old Republic is also mentioned.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now on PC and PlayStation 5.

Check out the contents of the game’s latest significant patch.

An Xbox release was confirmed for later this year, though an exact date has not been provided. Interestingly, the Xbox Series X and Series S versions will not have parity, with the not set to have split-screen co-op. The Series S has been something of a conundrum for developers, so it’s nice to see it sorted out here.

In case you missed it, check out our review.