Square Enix‘s 2001 CGI Final Fantasy movie, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, heavily influenced development of the Mass Effect series, according to BioWare art director Derek Watts.
“Yeah, you know we actually reference a lot from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,” said Watts, speaking to the latest issue of Xbox World 360 Magazine. “We used a lot of their GUIs and the way they did their ship – that was kind of like in some of the early designs for the Normandy.
“Our attack helicopters are loosely based off that movie. There’s some great stuff, especially their glowing GUI screens; we used those a lot. I keep a folder of that stuff and I still actually tell the guys ‘just go back and look at that. Change it like that!'”
Mass Effect 3 launches next March for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
Thanks, Gamer’s Book.