Akihiko Yoshida: Maehiro-san really likes online games, in which you can move around anywhere and have a lot of freedom. So his liking Final Fantasy XI was a bit of the inspiration for this game.GameSpy: How did you come up with the License Board system? Did it come from Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid?
Kazutoyo Maehiro: It was originally supposed to be a skill-based system, where if you got a sword and continued using the sword, the sword skill would go up. With the License system, it helps visually to see how strong your characters are, so we decided to move to it for that reason.GameSpy: The game has very attractive characters. What inspired their basic look?
Akihiko Yoshida: I created all the characters, and I wanted to create characters that were very, very different from the characters in any of the other Final Fantasy games.
GameSpy: Some gamers, especially Western gamers, have criticized recent Final Fantasy heroes for looking too feminine or androgynous. Why do you go for this look, and does the feedback from Western gamers affect your future design plans?
Akihiko Yoshida: *laughs* Vaan is the lead character and he does look a bit feminine. But this is what Japanese gamers want; games like this sell very well in Japan. Though feminine-leaning main characters are not very popular in Western countries, we don't feel this is a reason to change the characters into more masculine or more warrior-like types. It's not possible to release a game with characters that everyone in the world likes, and if we do release a game with a masculine male character, it'll be because we want to create a new style and not because the Western audience doesn't like feminine-type characters.GameSpy: Who would win in a battle: Tidus or Vaan?
Akihiko Yoshida: *laughs* First of all, it'd be a long battle. By the end of the battle they'd become friends, chums, mates and the result would be peaceful.GameSpy: Aww, nice answer.
