Final Fantasy 7 Remake Series Director Raves About Donkey Kong Bananza as a Top 2025 Pick

Square Enix has finally locked in when Final Fantasy 7 Remake hits Nintendo's next console, and while we wait, the guy steering the ship has been busy hyping a very different 2025 favorite. Spoiler: it has barrels.

Hamaguchi is really into Donkey Kong Bananza

In a chat with RPG Site about the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, co-director (and Rebirth director) Naoki Hamaguchi was asked which 2025 games he has actually played and loved. He kept it in the Nintendo lane and singled out Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch 2, calling it amazing. What stuck with him wasn’t just the spectacle, but how the world works when you poke at it.

I guess you can't really call it a real open world, but the sort of interaction you can have with the world in it was truly amazing.

He put Bananza near the top of his personal list for the year. Inside baseball note: I love that he literally flags it as not a full open-world, which is a very developer way of saying the world is dense and reactive without promising an everything-sim.

Yes, FF7 Remake is coming to Switch 2 — and we have a date now

We’ve known since the day Nintendo properly unveiled Switch 2 that FF7 Remake was headed there. Now there’s a firm date: January 22, 2026. The Xbox version lands the very same day.

Amiibo support? Not right now

Because this is Nintendo, the topic of amiibo came up — specifically the existing Cloud and Sephiroth figures from Super Smash Bros. Hamaguchi says there aren’t clear plans to use them in the Switch 2 version at the moment, but he sounded open to it if player demand is loud enough, framing it as the kind of thing that could spark good conversations with Nintendo.

About those Switch 2 game-key cards

The Switch 2’s game-key cards have been a thing — and not always in a good way — but Hamaguchi sees potential even as he acknowledges the pushback.

They let us do things that maybe we wouldn't otherwise, but I really get where people are coming from in terms of their negativity.

• Who said all this: Naoki Hamaguchi, FF7 Remake co-director and FF7 Rebirth director
• His 2025 favorite on Switch 2: Donkey Kong Bananza, praised for world interaction even if it isn’t a full open-world
• FF7 Remake on Switch 2: launches January 22, 2026
• FF7 Remake on Xbox: same day, January 22, 2026
• Cloud/Sephiroth amiibo support: no current plans; could happen if there’s strong player demand
• Switch 2 game-key cards: useful for developers, controversial with some players
• Side note: Hamaguchi has previously called out Fable as his favorite Xbox series

Short version: Hamaguchi is vibing with Donkey Kong’s new tricks, FF7 Remake is dated for Switch 2 and Xbox on the same day, and amiibo might get in on the fun if enough people shout about it. Not exactly shocking, but interesting to see where his head’s at as Square lines up the Switch 2 launch.