Ancillary #7
While some argue that the reason Final Fantasy X is such a beloved game in Japan and the US is because it strikes a chord in universal themes such as love, I argue the reason behind the game’s success is based on differences in cultural value where Final Fantasy X appeals to Japan in terms of a collectivist standpoint through the sacrifices each character makes for each other while it appeals to the US with respect to an individualist standpoint through the main character, Tidus, forging his path through hardship.
Japan is known to be a collectivist society meaning that they put group harmony above the expression of individual opinions. Because of this, the Japanese, to a certain degree, will follow this concept to ‘save face’, not only for themselves but for the people they love, like their family. To do something disruptive can be detrimental to the individual, that can lead to things like shame and stress, not only to the individual but to anybody else that could be affected by it. These characteristics are demonstrated in Final Fantasy X, where a character named Yuna embarks on a pilgrimage to expel a monstrous threat, called Sin, at the expense of her own life. Not only does she embrace the sacrifice of her life to expel Sin as her duty to the people, but the people in return expect this of her, reinforcing the idea of collectivism that translates from Japanese culture into the world of the game. This is the primary reason as to why this game resonates with Japan because there is an aspect of the game that prioritizes a collectivist stance, whereas the reason as to its success in the US is different.
The US, as opposed to Japan, is centered around an individualist culture and Nietzchian concepts underlie some of the qualities of the main characters. at its core a story of a journey towards knowledge. Each of the characters in the game start out naive and largely innocent of the realities of what surrounds them, and over the course of the journey come to the realisation of the stakes that are actually at play, and in doing so question many of the assumptions they had previously believed. For no one this is more evident than Yuna herself, who goes from having a blind faith in the teachings of Yevon, their form of an omnipotent being, to questioning everything about her journey and the fight against Sin. This is a very Nietzschean concept, which is compounded when the game juxtaposes what Yuna and her band experience to the unwavering faith of the masses that they encounter from start to finish.
