The artwork of the Final Fantasy series has been released in many different books and magazines over the years, most of which would never have left Japan if it weren't for the work of passionate fans. The real casualty of the Final Fantasy sprite era were the playable characters, as they often looked nothing like the beautiful concept art that was created for them by Amano. The fact that the locations were often just a static image (at least until Final Fantasy X) and the monsters were just one sprite meant that it was easier for them to look impressive. The main character and monster designer for the early Final Fantasy titles was Yoshitaka Amano, whose incredible artwork had to be condensed into sprites, meaning that most of their original beauty was lost in the adaptation process.Īs time went on and the video game hardware became stronger, it became easier for the designs that were made on paper to make their way into the Final Fantasy games.