Motomu Toriyama | |
---|---|
Born | Japan | February 9, 1971
Occupation(s) | Director, scenario writer, deputy head of studio |
Years active | 1994–present |
Employer | Square Enix |
Motomu Toriyama (鳥山 求, Toriyama Motomu, born February 9, 1971) is a Japanese game director and scenario writer who has been working for Square Enix since 1994. He initially worked on cutscenes in Bahamut Lagoon and Final Fantasy VII before serving as one of the three directors on Final Fantasy X under Yoshinori Kitase where he was in charge of events.
Toriyama started directing himself with Final Fantasy X-2 and has continued doing so with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings , Blood of Bahamut , Final Fantasy XIII , Final Fantasy XIII-2 , Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Mobius Final Fantasy .
Currently he is serving as deputy head of Square Enix's Creative Studio 2 and is working as co-director on the Final Fantasy VII Remake series and director on Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis .
Toriyama joined Square around the time of the Final Fantasy VI launch in April 1994. He later mentioned that he enjoyed how everyone on the development team had the opportunity to contribute their ideas without any solid job description. He was assigned to work on Bahamut Lagoon as his first project due to his lack of game development experience. [1] For Final Fantasy VII , Toriyama designed events such as the ones taking place at the Honey Bee Inn. As the designers were given much artistic freedom, he would often create cutscenes that were unlikely to be approved and thus were eventually changed or removed. [2] [3] Toriyama also wrote and directed many of the scenes revolving around Aerith Gainsborough and Cloud Strife. He tried to make Aerith an important character to the player in order to maximize the impact of her death later in the plot. [3]
After the merger between Square and Enix in 2003, many rookie staff members had to be trained and there were more new platforms to develop for with the release of the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. Toriyama decided to assemble and direct a team of scenario writers and joined various game projects. [1] He later collaborated with Final Fantasy X main programmer Koji Sugimoto and supervisor Yoshinori Kitase to create a Final Fantasy VII tech demo for the PlayStation 3. Development of this took around 6 weeks. [4] During the first year after the development start of Final Fantasy XIII in April 2004, Toriyama thought up a story premised on the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology created by Kazushige Nojima. In March 2006, when the structural part of the narrative started to come together and lead scenario writer Daisuke Watanabe joined the team, Toriyama showed him a rough outline of what he had written and asked him to flesh out the story and to correct how everything would connect. [5]
Toriyama has been the scenario director and supervisor on games in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series as well as Dissidia: Final Fantasy and The 3rd Birthday , which entailed the creation of a story concept and the supervision of the character conception and scenario writing by his team of authors. [1] [6] [7] For Lightning Returns, he added an online communication system known as the "Outerworld Services". Among others, it enabled players to write posts on social networks that would then appear as a non-playable character's comment in another player's game. Toriyama's goal with this was to create an online community where the individual members would interact and enjoy the game's world together without being online at the same time, as a precursor to online features found in eight-generation video game consoles. [8] The main ideas for all the areas in Lightning Returns came from him as well. [9]
He was an inaugural member of the Square Enix committee tasked with keeping the Final Fantasy series consistent. [10]
Toriyama has been in charge of the music for all of the games he's directed since Final Fantasy X. [11] He also writes lyrics and song titles.
Toriyama was also in charge of motion capture and voice recordings on Final Fantasy X. [12]
He has a wife and at least one daughter.
Toriyama believes his strength is in directing games that are very story-driven. [13] He also thinks that it becomes very difficult to tell a compelling story when the player is given a huge amount of freedom to explore. [14] According to him, the most important aspect of a Final Fantasy game is the characters. [15] Toriyama explains that there are different approaches to creating a protagonist: with Yuna from Final Fantasy X, the general plot had already been set when the character was conceived; with Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII instead, the character's personality was decided upon before the backstory was written. He feels that a developer needs to "essentially fall in love at first sight with a character" to "keep [themselves] going". Toriyama considers the voice the "main image of the character" and thus "the most delicate part of making the character". [16]
Toriyama has stated that the aim of the linear game design used in the first half of Final Fantasy XIII was to feel like watching a film. This was done to absorb the player into the story and to introduce them to the characters and their battle abilities without becoming distracted or lost. [17] Toriyama explained that the amount of memory and processing power needed to produce impressive graphics was the main reason not to have a seamless battle system for Final Fantasy XIII. He is interested in using first-person shooter games for inspiration rather than Western role-playing video games, as he believes they give a better sense of tension during battles. [18] Toriyama would later use games such as Red Dead Redemption and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as inspirations for Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, respectively. [19] [20] He feels that his role of director marked a shift from creating a game world based on his own vision to unifying a team's ideas into a cohesive whole. [21]
Year | Title | Credit(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Bahamut Lagoon | Story event planner | |
1997 | Final Fantasy VII | Event planner, submarine chase section planner | |
1999 | Racing Lagoon | Scenario writer, event planner, map planner | |
2001 | Final Fantasy X | Event director, scenario writer, music director, voice and motion capture director | [22] |
2003 | Final Fantasy X-2 | Director, scenario | |
2006 | Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable | Message (text writing) | |
2007 | Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings | Director, scenario writer, event director | [23] [24] |
Itadaki Street DS | Text writing | ||
2008 | Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King | Scenario writer | |
Dissidia: Final Fantasy | Scenario supervisor | ||
2009 | El Ark | Scenario draft | |
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord | Scenario director | ||
Blood of Bahamut | Director, scenario writer | ||
Fullmetal Alchemist: Prince of the Dawn | Scenario director | [25] | |
Fullmetal Alchemist: Daughter of the Dusk | Scenario director | ||
Final Fantasy XIII | Director, scenario designer, lyricist | [5] [26] | |
2010 | Front Mission Evolved | Senior scriptwriter | |
The 3rd Birthday | Scenario director | ||
2011 | Imaginary Range | Supervisor | |
Fortune Street Wii | Text writing | ||
Final Fantasy XIII-2 | Director, lyricist | [27] | |
2012 | Imaginary Range Ep.2 | Supervisor | |
2013 | Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn | Scenario writer (Lightning Strikes event) | [28] |
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | Director, lyricist | [29] | |
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster | Supervisor | ||
2014 | Spirit Yankee Soul | Scenario director (Racing Lagoon event) | [30] |
2015 | Mobius Final Fantasy | Director, lyricist | [31] |
2017 | Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary | Scenario supervisor | |
2020 | Final Fantasy VII Remake | Co-director, scenario designer, lyrics, song titles | |
2021 | Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier | Supervisory support | |
2023 | Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis | Director | [32] |
2024 | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Co-director, scenario, lyrics, song titles |
Year | Title | Credit(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for PS3 | Director | |
2009 | Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise | Original concept | [33] [34] |
2010 | Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise Fabula Nova Dramatica Alpha | Original concept | [35] |
Final Fantasy XIII Side Story: A Dreaming Cocoon Falls into the Dawn | Original concept | [36] | |
Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise Fabula Nova Dramatica Omega | Original concept | [37] | |
Final Fantasy XIII: Episode i | Original concept | [38] | |
2011 | Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before | Original concept | [39] [40] |
2012 | Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After | Original concept | [41] [42] |
2013 | Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Chronicle of a Chaotic Era [A] | Original concept | [43] |
2014 | Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- | Original concept | [44] |
2023 | Final Fantasy X kabuki play | Supervisor | [45] |
Year | Title | Credit(s) | |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | The World Ends with You | Special thanks | |
2009 | Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days | Special thanks | |
2011 | Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy | Special thanks | |
2015 | Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015 video game) | Special thanks | |
2016 | Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV | Special thanks | |
2017 | Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (Patch 3.56) | Special thanks | |
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood | Special thanks | ||
2018 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | Special thanks | |
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius | Special thanks | ||
2019 | War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius | Special thanks | |
2022 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion | Final Fantasy VII Remake team: Co-director, scenario design | |
2023 | Theatrhythm Final Bar Line | Special thanks | |
2024 | Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven | Deputy head of studio | |
The Chocobo is a fictional species created for the Final Fantasy franchise by Square Enix. A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in Final Fantasy II (1988), and have since featured in some capacity in nearly every Final Fantasy title, usually as a means of transport. Chocobos or chocobo-themed characters have played story roles in multiple titles, notably in Final Fantasy V and XIII. A recurring Chocobo also acts as protagonist of the Chocobo spin-off series.
The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is a metaseries produced by Square Enix. A subseries stemming from the main Final Fantasy franchise, it is a collection of video games, animated features and short stories set in the world and continuity of Final Fantasy VII (1997). Officially announced in 2003 with the reveal of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the series' core products are three video games and one film release. Alongside these are tie-in products and spin-offs including books, mobile games, and an original video animation. Advent Children and the mobile title Before Crisis are a sequel and prequel to VII respectively, focusing on Cloud Strife, the original game's main protagonist, and covert operatives known as the Turks. Crisis Core follows Zack Fair, a minor character in VII, while Dirge of Cerberus, a sequel to Advent Children, follows Vincent Valentine, one of the original's optional characters. The series has since been expanded to include more products, most notably a planned trilogy of games remaking the 1997 original; the first installment in this trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Remake, was released in 2020, while the second installment, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released in 2024.
Final Fantasy XIII is a 2009 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows. Released in Japan in December 2009 and international in March 2010, it is the thirteenth title in the mainline Final Fantasy series. The game includes fast-paced combat, a new system for the series for determining which abilities are developed for the characters called "Crystarium", and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters. Final Fantasy XIII includes elements from the previous games in the series, such as summoned monsters, chocobos, and airships.
Akitoshi Kawazu is a Japanese game designer, director, producer and writer. After joining Square in 1985, he went on to become a central developer for the first two Final Fantasy titles, then acted as creator and lead developer for the SaGa series.
Yoshinori Kitase is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, and the producer of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII series.
Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy is a series of games within the Final Fantasy video game franchise. It was primarily developed by series creator and developer Square Enix, which also acted as publisher for all titles. While featuring various worlds and different characters, each Fabula Nova Crystallis game is ultimately based on and expands upon a common mythos focusing on important crystals tied to deities. The level of connection to the mythos varies between each title, with each development team given the freedom to adapt the mythos to fit the context of a game's story.
Crystal Tools is a game engine created and used internally by the Japanese company Square Enix. It combines standard libraries for elements such as graphics, sound and artificial intelligence while providing game developers with various authoring tools. The target systems of Crystal Tools are the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and the Wii. This was decided with the intention of making cross-platform production more feasible. The idea for the engine sprang from Square Enix's desire to have a unified game development environment in order to effectively share the technology and know-how of the company's individual teams.
Lightning is a character from the Final Fantasy video game series made by Square Enix. She first appeared as a playable character and the main protagonist in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII, in which she is a resident of the artificial world of Cocoon. After her sister Serah is declared an enemy of Cocoon, Lightning attempts to save her and is chosen by divine powers to destroy Cocoon. Lightning reappears as a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2, acting as protector of the Goddess Etro. She is the sole playable character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, wherein she sets out to save the people of her dying world. Outside the XIII series, Lightning has been featured in multiple Final Fantasy games and had cameo appearances in other video games.
Oerba Dia Vanille, also addressed simply as Vanille, is a character from the Final Fantasy video game series made by Square Enix. She first appeared as a playable character and central character in the 2009 role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII. A resident of the world of Gran Pulse who was once involved in a war with the artificial world of Cocoon, she and others are then chosen by the fal'Cie−a divided race of demigods who rule the worlds of Gran Pulse and Cocoon−to destroy Cocoon. Vanille appears in smaller roles in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and novellas related to the Final Fantasy XIII series.
Final Fantasy XIII - a role-playing game released by Square Enix in 2009 - revolves around the struggles of a group of humans over a predestined fate. The game's two sequels, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, build on the first game's story and mythos. In video game publications and among the staff at Square Enix, the three games have come to be referred to as the "Lightning Saga", and the core concepts they contain are drawn from the mythos of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. The visuals of the original characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura and Nao Ikeda, while many later characters were created by other designers, including Hideo Minaba, Yusuke Naora and Toshiyuki Itahana. Their original stories were created by Motomu Toriyama and written up by Daisuke Watanabe.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in North America and PAL regions, and was ported to Windows in 2014. XIII-2 is a direct sequel to the 2009 role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII and part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It includes modified features from the previous game, including fast-paced combat and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters, and adds a new system that allows monsters to be captured and used in battle. The game's plot features a heavy time travel element, allowing the player to jump between different times at the same location or different places at the same time. Lightning, the protagonist of the original game, has disappeared into an unknown world. Her younger sister Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss journey through time in an attempt to find her.
Isamu Kamikokuryo is a Japanese video game artist who worked at Square Enix until his resignation on March 31, 2017. He is known for his work on the company's role-playing video game series Final Fantasy, for which he designed locations and characters. Among others, he was involved in the Ivalice Alliance and Fabula Nova Crystallis franchises.
Daisuke Watanabe is a Japanese video game writer employed by Square Enix. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and the action RPG series Kingdom Hearts.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. It is a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2, it concludes the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII, and forms part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and PAL regions, and was ported to Windows in 2015 and Android and iOS through cloud gaming in 2016 in Japan. Lightning Returns employs a highly revamped version of the gameplay system from the previous two games, with an action-oriented battle system, the ability to customize the player character's outfits, and a time limit the player must extend by completing story missions and side quests.
Mobius Final Fantasy was an episodic role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for iOS, Android, and Microsoft Windows. It was released in Japan in June 2015, and internationally in August 2016. The players could control Warrior of Light (Wol), a man who wakes with amnesia in the world of Palamecia, and must help conquer the dark forces attacking its people. The game featured gameplay elements from previous Final Fantasy titles, including leveling, exploration via standard navigation and fast-travel systems, and turn-based combat tied to a job system. Common themes were also drawn from the original Final Fantasy title, such as "warriors of light" and their fight against chaos and darkness.
Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix. The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games (RPGs). The eponymous first game in the series, published in 1987, was conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry; the game was a success and spawned sequels. While most entries in the series are separate from each other, they have recurring elements carrying over between entries, including plot themes and motifs, gameplay mechanics, and visual elements.
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, "Luna" for short, is a character from the Final Fantasy video game series made by Square Enix. She is a central character in Final Fantasy XV (2016), originally a spin-off title called Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a prominent character in the game's associated media, and has made appearances in mobile projects within the Final Fantasy franchise. Lunafreya is the Oracle, a powerful figure in the game's world of Eos who communes with its deities, the Astrals. Originally engaged to main protagonist Noctis Lucis Caelum as part of a political marriage, she remotely helps Noctis's quest to become the True King of legend and save their world from darkness.
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is a role-playing video game developed by Applibot and Square Enix, who also publishes it for Android, iOS and Windows. It forms part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of media spin-offs from the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII.
Motomu Toriyama: The most important element of FINAL FANTASY is the characters.