14 DAY TRIAL // If Capcom has a hard time blurring the line between the East and the West, Square Enix doesn't have a problem in working with both markets. It already proved that when it bought Eidos, but it seems even more determined to make its open mindedness very clear to everyone. If we need proof, we need not look any further than Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, which, according to its producer, was designed for everyone, regardless of the place of birth. As Akitoshi Kawazu explains it, though, this isn't really something about moral integrity and a principle of equality, this is all just business.
“The presence of Japanese games is not as strong within the international market these days, and as a business that creates and sells games, the reception in the Western market is naturally a point of interest to us,” he said to Destructoid. “However, when developing a game we do not separate our target audience into categories like 'Japanese' or 'Western.'” Still, Final Fantasy XIII does have two completely different release dates for Japan and North America, and, as it should be, each localization of the game has a very clear picture concerning its geographical position. Otherwise, it would be pointless to localize the product in the first place.
But to continue to humor him, the thing that Kawazu does try to accentuate is that, while the game doesn't make this East and West differentiation, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a lot of variety. The things that the company does focus on are the choices that each player can make, concerning things “such as those who like higher difficulty levels, those who enjoy more of a collection element, those who look for more freedom in a game, those who like to have set objectives, and so forth.”
If there is a major difference between what the East and the West like, Kawazu believes that lies in the visuals. “I do feel that one major difference in the Japanese and Western gamers' preferences lies in the art style,” he explained. So, if the Western market is such a point of interest to the company, it's a little bit weird that Square games tend to be restricted solely to the Japanese, anime style of art.