Saiyuki: Journey West is a PlayStation strategy RPG adaption of the Chinese novel, Journey to the West. The Japanese name is Saiyuki (西遊記) which is the Japanese pronunciation of the novel's title. The character designer is Akihiro Yamada. Due to the open gender of Xuanzang commonly found in Japanese translations of the original novel, the hero can either be male or female. Choosing to play as either gender does not change the overall story, though causes minor alterations to the dialogue.