Square Enix defend Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Moogle design after players call it cursed

Over the last nearly 40 years, Moogles have undergone a lot of changes. In every game of the Final Fantasy franchise, artists have tweaked the design of the fluffy, flying mailmen and each design is usually well received by players. This time, though, something is amiss.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth features, as you’d expect at this point within the franchise, Moogles. But these Moogles, in the words of more than one player, “look like cursed Koalas.” I have to admit, that was my first thought upon seeing them, too. If fabled and feared Drop Bears were a real thing, I’d expect them to look like Rebirth’s Moogles. 

The issue with FFVII Rebirth Moogles

The eyes are too big, the ears are too fluffy, and worst of all they have teeth that look just a little bit too human. This thing looks like it has nefarious intentions. Now I must stress that’s my own opinion, but it’s one that seems to be shared among many players of Rebirth. 

The subject has been trending on Twitter in Japan, with players commenting that it’s like a Catfish situation, where the person showing up on a date is absolutely not the person you thought you were about to meet. 

The comparison in the above tweet comes from FFXVI, which shares its director (Naoki Yoshida) with FFXIV, so the Moogles are, understandably, of the same design. This is the Moogle that I’ve become the most familiar with during my 6000 odd hours of playing the MMO and seeing this new one… Let’s just say it was a little unexpected. 

Square Enix responds

This discourse hasn’t gone unnoticed by Square Enix, who took to Twitter to voice its opinion over the comments and memes. The replies to this Tweet are a little divided, with some saying that they love the new design. They’re somewhat the minority, though, with some even going as far as to use the hashtag #NotMyMoogle in their replies. 

As Square Enix says in its Tweet, it loves all of the Moogles. I can’t help but wonder whether this is one of those situations where “a face only a Mother could love” is an appropriate thought.