I has looking at Tokyo Game Show pictures of the Limited Edition Final Fantasy XIII White ‘Lightning Edition’ PS3 and what we can only assume is the final Japanese Box art for Final Fantasy XIII itself. It got me thinking about what the final box art for the game might look like in Europe. The box art in Europe has always traditionally been very simple and straight forward for Final Fantasy titles, a white background with just the title logo on show. But these title logo’s have always been beautifully crafted and illustrated, each one a beautiful unique idiosyncratic representation of the particular title it belongs to. The Japanese box art for Final Fantasy XIII, though fantastic in its own way, makes me hope that the European art work reverts back to the simple but effective traditional white background and logo design. This is the Final Fantasy I know and love. In fact the only main Final Fantasy title I can think of that didn’t follow this tradition was FFXII, but it wasn’t even that different. There was just a little more actually going on, on the actual box itself.

For me, the box art is the beginning of any Final Fantasy adventure and for years I’ve drooled over the logos in anticipation for what kind of a game awaits me. Final Fantasy XIII is no different. The man behind these beautiful logos is one Yoshitaka Amano, a man who has worked on almost every single core Final Fantasy title to date on promotional artwork, title logos, character artwork and as an image illustrator. I think you can all agree his work is stunning. He also works as a freelance artist and as an animator for revered animes such as Vampire Hunter D and 1001 Nights. Currently he is working on Ubisoft’s much anticipated Beyond: Good and Evil 2. Check out some of the Final Fantasy Logos here. What do you think of his work?