Southeast Asian Influence in FFX

[eisprinz]

The Final Fantasy Retrospective from gametrailers.com noted that whereas previous Final Fantasies in the franchise mostly based their locations on Western romanticized notions of fantasy worlds and science fiction, FFX's world was based on Southeast Asia.

The Middle Eastern influences were pretty obvious in FFXII, but I can't really think of very much in FFX that struck me as Southeast Asian.

Here's where I saw the influence:

The architecture of the Besaid Temple is like a longhouse
Maritime culture
The shoopufs and the Moonflow
The stilt-houses of Kilika

Anybody see any other instances of Southeast Asian culture?

 

[Casanova]

I think Besaid is pretty much a paradise, does that count?

 

[Johnny Mo]

Yunas costume design and the landscapes. there isnt much else i can think of.

 

[Mugen]

Well all Final Fantasies have a different look, FFVIII had the modern look, FFVII kinda simple can't really say much, FFIX was all medieval, and yeah FFX does seem to concentrate on Asian culture, though some outfits really don't fit anywhere IMO.

 

[Casanova]

The fact that there are a lot of temples in Spira - as there is in Asia.

 

[eisprinz]

The thing is, I felt more of a Japanese vibe than a Southeast Asian vibe, yet when they based FFXII on Middle Eastern and Arabic culture, it was very easy to see where the influences lay.

 

[Mugen]

Yeah FFXII has an awesome look too, wonder what we're in for next

 

[Rockman X]

We're in for brooding anime guys riding in limos:

Now as for FFX...this seems rather Asian-influenced to me:

 

[eisprinz]

Rather than relying on memory, I started replaying FFX with Southeast Asia in mind - now I actually see the influence a lot. Lots of Japanese culture, of course, as well.


-Old Zanarkand with all the spires greatly resembles Thai pagodas (more like the pagodas of Ayutthaya rather than of Srivijaya, I think)

-The Crusaders' Lodge in Besaid looks like an Indonesian tongkonan

-Besaid is supposed to resemble a South Pacific island, though in the Japanese version they speak with an Okinawan accent and in the English version they speak with a Hawaiian accent

-The first boat (S.S. Liki) kinda looks like a cross between a Chinese junk and something of a Polynesian design

-The temples are heavily influenced by Japanese design. The arrangement of the statues, however, is very Southeast Asian - a mix of Buddhist and Hindu

VR: The pic you show is indeed Asian. The shape of the building is very reminiscent of a Japanese pagoda (which in turn is based on a Chinese pagoda), as well as the general ornate design as well as the color choice. The decorative patterns, however, are distinctly Nomura's steampunk-derived designs.

 

[F. F. Fan]

Meh... Not so much a generalized Southeast Asian influence, but more Japanese to be specific, especially Yuna’s outfit and the temples.

 

[Tetra Master]

interesting. Yuna's design looks very japanese. the clothes in her wrist and the straps look like the ones the characters of Inuyasha are wearing. I don't know what it's called exactly.

and Tidus' hairstyle looks like the modern japanese hairstyle.

Zanarkand as well has striking similarities to Samarkand, a city in Uzbekistan.

 

[eisprinz]

Meh... Not so much a generalized Southeast Asian influence, but more Japanese to be specific, especially Yuna’s outfit and the temples.

That's what I'm thinking... I see a lot of Japanese influence, but the game designers always mention Southeast Asia when they talk about the look of FFX, and I'm trying to figure out where exactly these influences allegedly are.

Yuna's outfit is definitely Japanese, no arguments there.

Actually the temples didn't really seem Japanese; rather than the pagodas seen in Japan, they were one of the things that actually felt reminiscent of Southeast Asia to me. All of the temples of Yevon had round rooms, which gave me the impression of a pagoda that leans more towards the original design of the stupa (like the pagodas in Southeast Asia and the Chinese pagodas of the Song Dynasty) rather than the squarish pagodas seen in Japan and on Chinese take-out boxes.

 

[F. F. Fan]

That's what I'm thinking... I see a lot of Japanese influence, but the game designers always mention Southeast Asia when they talk about the look of FFX, and I'm trying to figure out where exactly these influences allegedly are.

Same here since I know very little about the Southeast Asian Cultures...

The only thing that springs to mind as a Southeast Asian influence would be the Tropical Islands of Spira seem kinda similar to the Southeast Asian Islands/Countries surrounding the Southeast border of the South China Sea. China to the North (Luca), The Philippines to the West (Kilika), Malaysia & Indonesia to the South (Besaid).