DOOM Eternal Pays Homage to Final Fantasy 7 With Awesome Art
In honor of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s release, the makers of last month’s hit FPS DOOM Eternal have recreated the game’s cover art with their own protagonist, the nameless Doom Slayer. Square Enix’s highly anticipated reimagining of the iconic 1997 JRPG Final Fantasy VII has finally launched, prompting players of all stripes to celebrate in their own way – including game publishers.
It has been a long wait since the much-hoped-for Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced back at E3 2015, with many enticing Final Fantasy VII Remake trailers, teases and gameplay demos holding players over throughout the game’s multiple delays until, at long last, it was released today to the joy of countless Final Fantasy fans. Meanwhile, the DOOM franchise has also gone through a renaissance in the form of DOOM Eternal, the sequel to 2016’s DOOM reboot, which served as another re-envisioning of a classic mid-90’s gaming staple. It seems this similarity between the two titles has not gone unnoticed, especially by the games’ creators.
In honor of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s arrival, the official Twitter page for DOOM Eternal posted a piece of fan art earlier today, depicting the Doom Slayer standing before the sinister Tower of Babel with his trusty Crucible Energy Sword in hand, just as Cloud Strife defiantly stands before Shinra Headquarters in Final Fantasy VII Remake’s cover art - which in turn is an homage to the cover of the original Final Fantasy VII. You can check the tweet out below:
This isn’t the first crossover image to feature DOOM Eternal, as the game has been mixed with the simultaneously-released Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the form of countless DOOM/Animal Crossing fan works in the lead-up to both titles’ March 20 launch date – be that in the form of drawings or even a mod of DOOM 2 featuring Animal Crossing mainstay Isabelle following the original Doomguy around as a companion. Likewise, Final Fantasy VII’s cast of characters has been paired up with everything from The Legend of Zelda to Star Wars in fanfics over the years, to say nothing of Cloud’s multiple appearances in the Disney/Final Fantasy crossover franchise Kingdom Hearts.
Still, it’s nice to see game companies acknowledging each other in such a way, especially ones whose works share a common thread of being rooted in fond gaming memories of the ’90s. Both the original DOOM and Final Fantasy VII served as landmark titles during this watershed period of video game history, and now players are able to either relive those moments or create new ones via DOOM Eternal and Final Fantasy VII Remake. Not to mention that the image of Doom Slayer approaching the Tower of Babel with an Energy Sword slung over his shoulder is a pretty cool visual in its own right. Cloud would certainly approve.
Final Fantasy 7 is available now on the Playstation 4.
Source: DOOM (via Twitter)