What? If anything XII is the only FF that can appeal to the west these days. The aesthetic is far closer to what gamers prefer over here. Anime is so 90's/early 2000's, hence why FFVII, VIII, and X did so well back then.
Again, I am really tired of seeing this.
This is the one and only thing that FF XIII activily disproves.
XIII launched very well and went on to sell well. Sadly the reception afterwords was negative in a lot of places, however the majority of said reaction was NOT because how the characters looked, but because of how the game was made.
The Nomura/Anime esk look can and does still appeal to the west, at least to the western FF fan and while the Anime scene has dried up alot there is still plenty huge and successful anime that do, do very well in the west.
Don't get me wrong, I have defended XII plenty of times and think the game is great. That said this idea that Western people can only really get with a XII esk look simply isn't true based on the evidence we have.
Amano (I think?) had a more Western style, didn't he? Not really knowledgeable enough to say where it falls on the anime-line. I have the FF3/6 strategy guide somewhere that is just full of all this great art. I should go find it someday.
Amano had a more artistic style to his designs. That said Amano is one of the big influences on Anime given his work on D and even alot of his characters have a very feminie esk look when it comes to the males. So no, Amano certainly wasn't really western.
Not saying FF X isn't popular in Japan (because it is, Yuna is probably the most beloved character in a Final fantasy game there), but Famitsu polls are not a good way to estimate sales potential.
If we ignore Cloud, then maybe. She certainly is one of the top, and easily the top female now.