Greetings letter editor, [Greetings, letter sender.] In reguards to Chris' topic of whether Square is intentionally giving the backseat to Amano rather than Nomura, I'd like to point out the fact that many old school rpgamers are forgeting that Nomura's futuristic-cyberpunk character design appeals to more people than that of Amano's halfstarved-albino drawings. Don't get me wrong here, I think Amano is indeed a talented artist, but his retro-vampiric style does not seem fitting anymore in the FF series. Sure they were considered good in the old 16 bits days but compared to today's standards, Amano loses to Nomura by a long shot. Don't forget, many people started RPG's with FF7, which in my opinion, was largely due in part to Nomura's contributions. I can't imagine that FF7 would've been such a success if Square decided to stick with Amano's formula. Anyway that concludes my rant as apposed the topic. I have one final question though. Is there a chance that one of the Square's alleged 23 titles going to be a prequel/sequel to Xenogears? If this is another case of CT/CC then I'll be quite pissed. Well thank game guru, for reading this letter to its' ENTIRELY. Kudos to your hard work.

-Joseph, who wonders if the weekend guy [insert name here] even bother to read his letter.

Why does Square not use Amano's actual art? Well, in my opinion, it's cause Amano's stuff is just a bit disturbing and ambiguous. Locke looks like a biker chick, Cyan looks like a matador and Vivi looks like just looks like an oversized freak and nothing like his character. Don't get me wrong, I like Amano's stuff, but I like it as art and not videogame graphics. I mean, imagine playing a game as Michealangelo's David. ON second thought, don't imagine it....

Christoph, "Oh God, purge the unholy thoughts!"

"So why are we still seeing corruption of Amano's concepts, when a blonde Terra in the intro suggests that you can move directly from paper to polygons?"

Because then every last character would be pale, blond, and anorexic. Amano's a good artist, but the people he draws rarely look like they could take on sorceresses, SOLDIERs, and psychotic clowns, and still have enough strength in them afterwards to make the obligatory escape from the collapsing lair. Many of them don't even look like they could make the obligatory walks from village to village without getting seriously sunburnt. I much prefer the standard use of his designs: as a basis that will be converted into a less stylistic, more realistic form.

- ChocoMog ZERO, who thinks he speaks for the majority of gamers when he says he liked Terra better with green hair anyway.

I'd say the reason Square doesn't render the on-screen counterparts exactly like the Amano drawings is because Amano's drawings are by and large very similar, if not photocopies of one another. I mean, according to him, Celes, Aeris, Rinoa, and Garnet all have blond hair and look, well, pretty much the same. This is especially odd since he didn't even design Aeris and Rinoa.

FFX is apparently going back to Tetsuya Nomura's designs, and I'm glad for it. More power to him.

Sincerely,

Robert Silvers

Hey Drew,

Interesting topic on Amano here...I remember when I first was playing through Final Fantasy VI, and I some original sketches of the characters.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?", I yelled.

They didn't at all look like the characters in the game. They seemed taller...thinner, more humanlike. Amano seemed to put your attention on the women characters delicate hair and their extravagate clothing.

"He sure made Locke look like a girlie-boy", I laughed.

And I think that's the reason the characters weren't faithful to Amano's work. He puts...his own artistic talent into it. But...I think they try to generalize his work for people...who are used to looking at a certain sterotype RPG character. I liked his work, by far more than the way the characters looked in the game... I think some people might shy away for it looking too...fantasyish? Hopefully, we'll get to see his artist talent more accurately represented in some later games.

-Terminator

VIVI Looked Bad-ass in Amano's sketch! I want THAT Black mage in MY party!

Hey, Drew;

Chris left beind a topic that everyone will have an opinion about. Amano. Some people hate him, some people love him. His character designs are beautiful, fantastical drawings, while Nomura's are more realistic. I for one, have always liekd Amano more. FF8's 90210 style art never really drew me in, as opposed to 9's stylish SD characters. I believe that the reason why Mr. Amano's drawings were never represented the way they should have been is because of the mainstream. FF7 and FF8 both sold more than 9. Both of which were drawn by Nomura. Amano's pale, thin designs are considered "odd" by the mainstream consumers who would pick up a Final Fantasy game after only having seen the cover art. Those same people probably bought 9 based on name alone, instead of on the cover art. Then, those same consumers would be exposed to Amano and would

a.) Love it or
b.) return the game in disgust.

To make it short, mainstream America wants realistic Nomura-style art, while the crusty old-schoolers (like me) prefer Amano.

Mike Tobey, Needs to lose some crust

Amano's art should be faithfully reproduced in the PS2 games. To be frank, one of the reasons I like the FFA wersion of FFVI is because of the kick-ass intro, and ending movies. If the artwork was faithfully reproduced in the game, it would be wonderful. To have it done that way would be great. There would be a couple drawbacks though.

I was playing through FFIX today, and just got to the Trance Kuja battle, with my brother watching, when he said, "Now that's the way to draw a girl in a game!" Even when I read a preview of the game, and had nothing to go on but the CG and sprite pictures of Kuja, I originally thought that he was a girl (little cross-dressing psycho!). While you have to try and be faithful, I don't want a game where a main character's body looks like that of someone of the opposite sex.

However, to have a game with the exceptional talents of Amano drawing would be great. I felt that I was playing more of an anime title with Nomura's drawings. Amano's art just makes a Final Fantasy feel like a Final Fantasy.

Oh, and with regards to the future of the X-Box, don't hold your breath Microsoft. Your games are almost all ports, and you've made too many enemies. I'll lay down 2 grand that some anti-Microsoft hacker group like the Cult of the Dead Cow will enjoy the X-Box much more than gamers will!

-Sir Blaze, who feels that Kuja bought a rip-off of a House of Kefka original.

Why do people keep saying Shadow is Relm's father? It's obvious that they are related but people are missing one key clue. The "Momento Ring". It's been forever since I played but I know it says something like "A departed mothers keepsake." (I know those aren't the exact words). Anyway, Relm and Shadow are the only characters who can equip the Momento Ring. So...if it's a departed mother's ring and Shadow and Relm are the only ones who can equip it them that would make them brother and sister. Stamping out ignorance...one gamer at a time.

Chris Mishima