The Last of Us Part 1 players recently stumbled across a charming Easter egg paying tribute to a sweet moment between Cloud and Tifa from Final Fantasy 7. Square Enix released Final Fantasy 7 Remake in 2020, making this Easter egg a charming nod from one PS5 remake to another.
Twitter user hugo_artist and Reddit user PrincessSaba were among the Final Fantasy fans to discover this Easter egg in The Last of Us Part 1. The latter posted screenshots of the tribute on the Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake subreddits.
The Easter egg in question takes the form of a poster on the wall of a room in the college dormitory featured in Chapter 8 of The Last of Us Part 1. On the second floor, past the bunk bed inside room number 200, players will find two posters hanging on the wall, neither of which were in the original version of The Last of Us. The larger of the two posters is faded, water damaged, and one character’s face is scratched out. However, players can still distinguish two characters sitting under a starry sky. Upon closer inspection, the pair resemble Could and Tifa from Final Fantasy 7, with Tifa resting her head on Cloud’s shoulder.
The poster depicts a scene near the end of Final Fantasy 7 where Tifa and Cloud share a quiet moment beneath the stars. It also bares a string of Japanese characters above the word “Stargazer” in Japanese and English. Unfortunately, the smaller first string of characters is too faded for fans to make out. One user in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake subreddit also pointed out that the hotel where Cloud and Tifa stay during Final Fantasy 7 is called “Stargazer Heights,” revealing an extra layer to the reference.
The second, smaller poster is a bit more of a mystery. It depicts a large tree with Japanese characters spelling out the title “Tree of the Sun.” The same words also appear in English below the main title. It’s unclear if this is a reference to another game or merely a fictional JRPG that exists within the Last of Us universe. However, the latter seems more likely given the poster’s smaller size and generic name and artwork.
To a casual fan, The Last of Us Part 1 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake don’t have much in common beyond both games being on the PlayStation 5. However, developers from Square Enix and Naughty Dog are reportedly quite friendly with each other over social media, signaling a degree of mutual respect between the studios. Final Fantasy 7 Remake co-director Motomu Toriyama even praised The Last of Us Part 2 during a July 2021 interview for TheGamer, saying that Naughty Dog’s game “sets a benchmark” for LGBTQ representation in the industry.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available now for PS5 with a PC version in development.
Source: PrincessSaba/Reddit