Why So Japanese?

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02-28-2012, 11:38 AM
Forsaken Lover

Why So Japanese?

Despite being Japanese games, Final Fantasy has always used a lot of Western imagery. There is of course stereotypical Star Wars comparisons but mostly you see it in the fantasy elements which all seem pretty European.

Then FFX came along and suddenly everything became a lot more Eastern. The mythology, designs, even some of the character types and storytelling techniques, it was all quite a bit different from what I was used to in Final Fantasy.

Did anyone else notice this? I just wonder why they altered the formula so much.
02-28-2012, 12:34 PM
Nebulance

There's a really interesting discussion about Spira in general on Wikipedia: Spira (Final Fantasy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The opening few lines talk about where the inspiration came from to deviate from the typical Western influence. I read this Wiki page from time to time, it's always fun to even just read about Spira!
02-28-2012, 06:22 PM
Jiro

The team did decide to use a vastly more Eastern influenced setting for X, to change things up a little. I think the setting as a whole would be far more conducive to the sort of religious infused plot line that they had. Western settings wouldn't have cut it as well, I don't think.
02-28-2012, 10:55 PM
Pete for President

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebulance

There's a really interesting discussion about Spira in general on Wikipedia: Spira (Final Fantasy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The opening few lines talk about where the inspiration came from to deviate from the typical Western influence. I read this Wiki page from time to time, it's always fun to even just read about Spira!

Where does this come from? "Spira's cycle of life energy emerging from within the planet's core, granting life to all its living inhabitants, and then returning to the core when a life form dies."

Either I missed this in the 6 times I have played through X, or the guy who wrote this is very confused with VII. Either way, I do not agree.
02-28-2012, 11:18 PM
Jiro

There was some sort of retcon business Pete, they basically said the principles of VII and X are the same. That's probably where the author got that from.
02-29-2012, 03:59 PM
ShinGundam

Suddenly? I don't know, I think you are just overstating Western imagery of FF a bit because FF has references to Arabic, Nordic, Christian, Hindu and many other cultures be it names, mythos or locals.
03-01-2012, 08:23 PM
I Don't Need A Name

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete for President

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebulance

There's a really interesting discussion about Spira in general on Wikipedia: Spira (Final Fantasy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The opening few lines talk about where the inspiration came from to deviate from the typical Western influence. I read this Wiki page from time to time, it's always fun to even just read about Spira!

Where does this come from? "Spira's cycle of life energy emerging from within the planet's core, granting life to all its living inhabitants, and then returning to the core when a life form dies."

Either I missed this in the 6 times I have played through X, or the guy who wrote this is very confused with VII. Either way, I do not agree.

Yeah, that all came in in X-2 with a character called Shinra which ended up with allusions that the two worlds are the same..
03-04-2012, 10:04 PM
Jiro

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinGundam

Suddenly? I don't know, I think you are just overstating Western imagery of FF a bit because FF has references to Arabic, Nordic, Christian, Hindu and many other cultures be it names, mythos or locals.

Mythos definitely, but locations are generally pretty western.
03-28-2012, 06:46 PM
DMKA

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Don't Need A Name

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete for President

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebulance

There's a really interesting discussion about Spira in general on Wikipedia: Spira (Final Fantasy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The opening few lines talk about where the inspiration came from to deviate from the typical Western influence. I read this Wiki page from time to time, it's always fun to even just read about Spira!

Where does this come from? "Spira's cycle of life energy emerging from within the planet's core, granting life to all its living inhabitants, and then returning to the core when a life form dies."

Either I missed this in the 6 times I have played through X, or the guy who wrote this is very confused with VII. Either way, I do not agree.

Yeah, that all came in in X-2 with a character called Shinra which ended up with allusions that the two worlds are the same..

I eagerly await the reveal by SE that FFXIII/XIII-2 and FFIV are set in the same world because of Palom and Polom and the city that Hope is from.
03-29-2012, 01:17 AM
Mercen-X

My standpoint is this: Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy V were grounded pretty well in Western European Mythology. Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII were roughly modern equivalents of the usual theme. IX was one last hurrah-throwback to the WesEuro Mythos of yore as Square itself admitted. My guess is that with the new technology of the PS2, Square originally planned for all of their nex-gen FFs to be more drawn from Eastern Mythology. But someone poked a hole in that thought-bubble when they suggested XI and XII. XIII still seems like a modern take on a more Eastern Mythos as well, but I can't say for sure because I've never played it so why am I even talking about it?

Anyway, yeah. The major reason most FFs have been grounded in Western mythology is because Asian gamers can't feel the sense of adventure in a game based in their own backyard... apparently. X wasn't terribly popular so they probably thought the Eastern-theme was to blame... maybe.