One of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's biggest easter eggs might just be some cosplay

Final Fantasy 7 Remake
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's developers have finally given an answer to one of the game's wilder easter eggs.

Speaking in the latest Square Enix blog post on the making of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, co-director Motomu Toriyama was asked about the photo of a Final Fantasy X-2 character that appears in the remake. The photo, which you can see below, can be found in Chapter 16 of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and appears to show an adult version of Shinra from X-2.

When the remake first launched, this easter egg was taken to be a hint of the two Final Fantasy games being connected. That might not be the case though, as Toriyama says the dev team "did this so players can enjoy the speculation, but it could just be a commemorative photo of one of the company employees cosplaying as him."

So there we have it, then. One of the biggest easter eggs in all of Final Fantasy 7 Remake might instead be a character cosplaying as someone from another mainline series game. The speculation was fun while it lasted, but it seems like that might not really be X-2's Shinra in Final Fantasy 7 Remake after all.

Still, considering the speculation surrounding the picture of Shinra, here's hoping Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has its fair share of smaller surprises like this when it launches late next year. In the meantime though, there's just a few more months to go until we can play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion later this year in December, which is shaping up to be a treat for returning and new fans alike.

Check out our full Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion preview for what to expect from the remaster.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director wanted to add an "episodic story" DLC, but decided finishing Part 3 was the team's "highest priority"
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's ending proved divisive, but the director of the original JRPG is "very satisfied" with Part 3's story and is confident you will be too
The Witcher 4
He's just like us - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director "was so excited" about The Witcher 4, "when Ciri removed her hood, he almost stood up"
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Aerith and Tifa suited
As Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth finally escapes PlayStation prison, the JRPG's director says "I recommend the PC version" for the "improved lighting"
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
After 9 years staring at his face, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director's favorite character is Cloud: "I don't think there was a time that I haven't seen him in front of me"
A little bot in a Gex costume adorably waving his arms as he watches TV with a bucket of popcorn on his lap. I hope nobody knocks it over
Astro Bot finally gets a Square Enix character, but it's Gex and not Final Fantasy 7's Cloud
Latest in Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail cinematic screenshot showing Alphinaud Leveilleur, an Elezen boy with short white hair
Final Fantasy 14's funniest speedrunning beef continues as runner who lost a world record to its original champ in just 1 day returns, beats record, is promptly dethroned again
Final Fantasy 7
Sony finally managed to pry Final Fantasy 7 away from Nintendo thanks to a "schmoozer" of a former employee who hung out with Square Enix executives at his parties, according to one former PlayStation boss
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition
Square Enix kills Final Fantasy game's mobile version after being unable to "completely fix" a bug stopping fans from accessing their additional paid content
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
Final Fantasy creator says the original JRPG's programmer was "like a god" to him: "I still strongly feel that the core program itself is the ‘life’ of a game"
Final Fantasy 14 producer Yoshi-P interview's the series' founding father Hironobu Sakaguchi
After 3 years of playing Final Fantasy 14 "almost every single day," series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi reckons the MMO "might be the game that I've played the most in my life"
Final Fantasy 14 patch 6.4 The Dark Throne
As the Final Fantasy 14 devs "continue to take a firm stance" against mods that can enable harassment, Yoshi-P says improvements are starting in patch 7.2
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2