14 DAY TRIAL // For any remotely hardcore gamer, when you say Square Enix, he or she immediately thinks of the hugely successful and very long Final Fantasy franchise of J-RPGs (Japanese Role Playing Games). The series has shaped its specific genre in the country and ever since the release of the first game, other developers have been copying the format.
But the latest installment in the franchise, Final Fantasy XIII, isn't a J-RPG, at least according to its producer, Yoshinori Kitase, who has talked with Edge about his project and how he and his whole team have created neither a Western nor a Japanese role playing game, emphasizing the fact that it has straddled the genre.
"There's a trend these days to strictly categorize games as western RPGs or Japanese RPGs, but Final Fantasy is something that we don't try to categorize as either/or. For us, the game straddles genre. In terms of the story we’re certainly looking to improve and build upon the characters. This is a story that’s told from multiple points of view and we have whole chapters of the game that are devoted to a single character and his or her story." Kitase says.
The producer emphasizes that the change in theme, from saving the world to personal salvation, has also influenced the game quite considerably and that players will surely feel a change of pace from other games, especially J-RPGs like the other Final Fantasy titles.
Hopefully the team at Square Enix will eventually deliver this very anticipated game and we will all be able to have a great experience and judge for ourselves if this title has blurred the lines between western and Japanese RPGs or if it's just another classic Square Enix product, with all of the stereotypical characters and the plot twists.