THE AMANO INFLUENCE
Iconic Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano became a crucial influence, reflects Ayumi Namae
Ayumi Namae was responsible for the various forms of the Bard’s costume but says the Choral Attire that was created for the 2006 expansion A Realm Reborn is one of her favourites.
“It’s a particularly memorable set of gear,” the artist says. “Looking back now, I think it was the first step in incorporating Amano-san’s graceful Final Fantasy design lines into Final Fantasy XIV’S equipment.”
Now, some years later, the linework and designs of the legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano are incorporated into, and inspire, much of the work of the Final Fantasy XIV art team. Looking back before A Realm Reborn, Namae-san says: “At that time, the designs were mainly rugged and there were no pieces of gear close to Amano’s design lines. When Naoki Yoshida was appointed to Final Fantasy XIV and during the gear selection process, the idea of Choral Attire was selected for the AF1 series [AF refers to Artifact Armor, gear earned with level increases], which we were working on as the centrepiece under the statement of ‘creating a Final Fantasy’ for Patch 2.0. I was, of course, happy, but at the same time I was confused and worried.”
She continues: “The designer team, including the 3D team, now has more experience and is able to create designs with a higher degree of freedom than when we were working on Patch 2.0. However, when we were working on the Choral Attire there were many asymmetrical parts and a large area of soft cloth that was difficult to express with polygons, making the production quite a challenging process.”