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Akihiko Yoshida (FFT, TO, Vagrant Story, FFXII) confirms that he has left Square Enix

Guys, don't despair TOO much. He can still be contracted for projects. Nobuo Uematsu and Hitoshi Sakimoto have both worked on many projects for S-E since forming their own companies.
 

todd360

Member
I never really understood this stuff. I'm leaving! Kinda! Okay I guess I'll help with the next game since you insist.
 

Silky

Banned
What a shame. We'll never see The Leading Man and his band of merry men again. ;~;

Square just let me see FFXII HD and let me continue to enjoy FFXIV so I can be done with you until KH3 is out?

--

Nomura should make Musashi 3 then he can be cool again. That game, TWEWY and KH are literally the only games where his artstyle fits.

Nomura could be a great employee at TRIGGER
 
D

Deleted member 74300

Unconfirmed Member
The "out of nowhere" Nomura hate this brought on some people... smh

image.php
 
D

Deleted member 74300

Unconfirmed Member
Or they dislike his art. These are always the type that want the medievil or before-PSX era Final Fantasy.

These are not new tough, and gave up a long time ago...

Is it so much to ask for to have art that isn't meant just to make fangirls wet their panties? Yes even his art was fine in the PSX era but now? Blah. At least then I didn't have to see his art in 3d like it is now.

Look at this badass.
Cloud_Strife_Nomura_art.jpg

FFVII_Limit_Break_Cloud_Braver.jpg


Is this lipstick? Might as well be.
ffvii_neo_cloud_strife777.jpg

185325_74140.jpg
 

taoofjord

Member
Fantastic news. For the most part, his talent has been wasted. I also didn't care for square enix overusing him. Hopefully he can hook up with Matsuno again.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
Bummer. Always liked his art a lot. Looking forward to whatever he'll do next, I just hope he doesn't disappear.
 

TnK

Member
No, this is a major loss! He was the best artist they had, and was really hoping for another non MMO FF with his art. What is SE doing? They are losing their best people left and right. Would be crazy if Nomura also decided to leave.

I am really annoyed that this is happening. I guess it is better for him, hope he does well with future projects.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
So Bravely Second will be cancelled after this?

Bravely Second is made and directed by Silicon Studios. It's like Sleeping Dogs with Eidos.

Only Yoshida and the producer were form Square Enix, and he explicitly states he'll still be doing contract work on the Bravely Default series.
 
Good for him.
He can be freelance now and (potentially) make more money.

Amano did it, Uematsu did it, Hamauzu did it, Nojima did it. All four still work with S-E occasionally.
He's also not tied to one company and can work with a lot of different people now. Hell, FROM could hire him to design armor for a future Demons/Dark Souls. ;)
 
He'd better be there for Bravely Third.

I am aware of the minute irony of posting this while adorning a Ringabel avatar that was not designed by Yoshida.
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Something about his work on FF14 felt strained or lost to me. Too many cooks in the kitchen type thing. It didn't FEEL like Yoshida. I still enjoy the look of the game though. Final Fantasy XII felt similar, but to a lesser degree. Also, I think we all know that FF14 is a secondary FF game. I can't fault you on Bravely Default though. Game looks fantastic.

What in the world would make you think the bolded is true? Because it is online? No company completely rebuilds a MMO from the ground up a second time to relaunch it if they thought of it as a "secondary FF game."

FFXI was their most profitable and successful Final Fantasy game ever. Was that a secondary Final Fantasy to you too? Oh no, FFXIV is very much a main line Final Fantasy. Deal with it.

Also, Yoshida's work for the game is absolutely wonderful.
 

kurbaan

Banned
They also have Naoki Yoshida! He's very talented and responsible for ARR. If all three of them were to leave, even I would throw in the "SE am doomed!" towel.

What are you talking about! We have Toriyama! He is like a thunder bolt at SE will bring the company back to life!
 
The real loss will come when (eventually) Nomura will leave. He is Square Enix basically. And I have fear after XV he might be leaving...

I actually think that would be the BEST thing for him. It would open him up to new possibilities and no doubt other companies would jump at the chance for having him design characters for their games.

FFXV might be Nomura/Tabata's final game

Tabata no, but Nomura, perhaps. They didn't even invite him to be a member of the FF Council. I would think he has less stakes in SE now more than ever.


Ito will be next. Leaving Square coffee-less! There will be a candle-lit vigil when the best coffee maker leaves.


Yea, I don't see that as possible, when his baby (KH) is SE property. But crazier things have happened, I guess?

Like others have said, it doesn't matter if KH is Nomura's baby. There are MANY accounts in history of a creators's "baby" being ripped away from them and the creators having to make a choice to move on without their precious creation. I don't think it's any different with Nomura. If the time comes that Nomura decides that his time is better spent not shackled to SE, so be it. If anything, SE needs Nomura(for his ideas) more than he needs them. At least of they STILL want to make a coherent "Nomura-esque" KH game, they need his ideas. Of course, they can always let Nomura go, get Watanabe in as the main writer(perhaps even put Toriyama in the scenario writer and director), and only contract Nomura to do the character designs(but if he grows sour, get Yusuke Naora).
 
Guess that means no FFXII-2 and FFXII-3 for me. :(

And no FFXII:I:ZJS:HD Remix Portable port. :( :( :(
I can't imagine this will effect XII-HD... at best, he would have done a piece of promotion art which he can still do.

If X-HD has a good return and profits, we'll get XII-HD at some point on either PS3 or PS4 I would think.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
There goes one of the last few of the "old guard" at SE. I'm still not sold on Nojima or Tabata yet, though those seem like some of the last few people with any sort of talent left...
 
Guys, don't despair TOO much. He can still be contracted for projects. Nobuo Uematsu and Hitoshi Sakimoto have both worked on many projects for S-E since forming their own companies.
The thing is, they aren't as contracted as they could be. Their work for Square has been on a steady decline as far as opportunities are concerned. Same for Minaba, who basically just did the costume for Hope in FFXIII-2, as well as the concept art for Yeul and Alyssa. He's given far more opportunities elsewhere than with Square's games, and I kinda see the same happening with Yoshida.

There goes one of the last few of the "old guard" at SE. I'm still not sold on Nojima or Tabata yet, though those seem like some of the last few people with any sort of talent left...

Nojima doesn't work at Square(he's a freelancer). Unless you meant Nomura.
 

suzu

Member
SE's loss.

Wishful thinking but... I hope somehow Matsuno and him get together to make another rpg. lol
 

neoism

Member
The real loss will come when (eventually) Nomura will leave. He is Square Enix basically. And I have fear after XV he might be leaving...

lol sadly if 15 doesn't sale like mad after kh3 its probably happening 100%
 

Shouta

Member
This really isn't anything new, or meltdown worthy. No one can even put together a post explaining why its even bad news with actual reasons, because there are none. He plainly states he'll still work with them. And his very first project after leaving is with SQEX, on Bravely Second.

Think about it this way. Most of JP folks prefer to stay with their company as long as they can for the job stability. It makes more sense for them. For someone to go freelance, it generally means that the climate in the company is no good for that person and it's no longer something they can take/handle. Additionally, it means that they don't have full access to his talents now, meaning that while he may work on the games right now, he could easily say no. This can happen. Nihon Falcom had this occur with two of their Trails games. The character art suffered as a result.
 

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
Why do you want Nomura to leave? Dont state the obvious belts and zipper nonsense

Honestly, I'm less offended by the 'belts and zippers, i hate his designs!' argument, because at least it's based in reality unlike the loonies, who believe he's someone "killed" FF, without every directing/producing a single mainline.
 
Think about it this way. Most of JP folks prefer to stay with their company as long as they can for the job stability. It makes more sense for them. For someone to go freelance, it generally means that the climate in the company is no good for that person and it's no longer something they can take/handle. Additionally, it means that they don't have full access to his talents now, meaning that while he may work on the games right now, he could easily say no. This can happen. Nihon Falcom had this occur with two of their Trails games. The character art suffered as a result.
Especially in the context of Japan... I'm not especially familiar with today's exact climate and I know ties are becoming easier to sever. But from what I always heard in business, the relationship between businesses and the company was always especially strong in Japan. Especially in the 80s-90s, your company was like your family. That's changed as more Japanese companies cut benefits and shift those liabilities to the government (who now has massive social benefit costs) but I think even if it's a weaker tie than before it's likely still relatively strong compared to most countries... a comparable example may be how many people would never sever with their company in the USA because of their reliability on the company health insurance. So, I would agree with Shouta. I would hesitate to assume he has luxurious freedom or some such thing now. I mean, at the end of the day, he's still just an artist. Employment stability is a very nice thing, so I think there's at least a reasonable chance that this is more than just wanting to work with other devs more and likely also to work with S-E less because of the company climate.

or who knows. maybe his wife works at a bank in a different city and this is more convenient to spent time with his family. lol could be anything i guess. point was just that it's a pretty big deal and the costs likely outweight the new freedom, so there's probably other things at play (wife's job, doesn't like S-E direction, kid got into a prestigious high school elsewhere, wants to surf, who knows).

if they'd just give us a new Tactics we could forgo these silly talks :(
 

CorvoSol

Member
There goes one of the last few of the "old guard" at SE. I'm still not sold on Nojima or Tabata yet, though those seem like some of the last few people with any sort of talent left...

Tabata's got solid work under his belt. Crisis Core and Type-0 rock, and his is one of the two redeeming thirds of The Third Birthday.
 

MogCakes

Member
SE's mobile direction is disheartening. I'm sure they're raking in profits though.

I really hope the new CEO doesn't think that having a couple of AAA console IPs and supporting the company through mobile games will keep them relevant throughout this generation. FF is aging and milking KH for more than Sora's saga will ruin it. They need to experiment with new JRPG IPs on consoles.

Of course I'm just speaking from nostalgia of games like Valkyrie Profile. Nomura's going to get tired eventually too, as will Yoshi P. considering how hard he's been working on XIV. Once they go, there isn't much left going for SE's senior team.
 

Respawn

Banned
Vagrant Story is one of the greatest games ever made in the history of gaming. I've finished that game countless times.
Square is useless these days. I see better pastures for this Ronin.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
./Salute
That said, Final Fantasy (And by extension, Square) has always thrived on renovation. It's been twenty-five years, twenty-five years of top-notch work; The same that was said for Uematsu.
However, like for the music of FF, there's plenty of talent down there overshadowed by those giants; Hopefully, we'll get something that's comparable to Soken & team in that aspect too.

Double hopefully, he won't dilute his work while compromising on quality like Uematsu did.
 
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