There are plenty of Western games that have been inspired by Square Enix's Final Fantasy series over the years. But are there any Western games that have inspired Final Fantasy? Specifically, Final Fantasy XIII? Why, yes, there are.
In an interview with 360 Magazine, Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase - producer of FInal Fantasy XIII - says that his team don't really pay much attention to the kind of games you think they would. Mass Effect, Fallout 3, etc etc. Instead, their inspiration comes from a more surprising source:
We don't look much at Western RPGs. But, for instance, we really look at Call Of Duty and other Western FPSs in terms of how to immerse the player in the moment of the action and how to portray the right movements for the supporting characters in battles – those sorts of games do this really well, and it's something we considered with FFXIII.
Well there you go.
Square: FFXIII Influenced By COD [NowGamer]