Final Fantasy lead “very happy” Clair Obscur took inspiration – he was just as inspired by Star Wars

Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase says he is pleased that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 drew inspiration from the series, as his own work was shaped by films he admired. He points to Star Wars as an influence on Final Fantasy 10, showing how creative ideas can travel between different kinds of media and games.

Kitase said recurring Final Fantasy names Biggs and Wedge came from Luke Skywalker’s pilots in the original Star Wars. He also borrowed the idea of placing a sport within a fantasy setting from the pod-racing sequence in The Phantom Menace when developing Blitzball. Final Fantasy 8 arrived three months before that film, while Final Fantasy 10 followed about two years later.