THIS WEEK!
Thursday: Starting 1 PM PST! State of play with
@solfleet.bsky.social t
Hayes Madsen! No matter what, it should be a good time.
Friday: IF a certain thing happens, then at 12 noon PST!
@maxdood.bsky.social imilian_
and I will sit down for a chat about it.
![[Image text:] You’re seriously this mad I forgot to turn my lights on for five minutes!?
([The police] in a certain country)
Don’t forget! Hear me!?
Haven’t you got something better to do!?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreibdomes66c4evvsji7zqlirnjhdtzyyxrzxudzfi6b5ymv3vq7k3q)
![Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 9
Special Feature: Tetsuya Nomura’s Picks: A Trio of Top Fives!
Nomura returns for his no-holds-barred column. Expect spicy takes and candid tales from development, all delivered with customary Tosa flare. This month, Nomura reveals his five favorites from three different categories!
Tetsuya Nomura - Profile
A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately even more obsessed with LEGOs.
Most Satisfying Summoning Scenes
#1: Knights of the Round (FFVII)
#2: Diabolos (FFVIII)
#3: Titan (FFVII)
#4: Bahamut Arisen (FFVII)
#5: Eden (FFVIII)
My first pick, Knights of the Round, was based on an idea I had back during FFVI but could never implement due to hardware constraints, so I filed it away in my head. It’s supposed to be this super hidden summon, so I had them make it really strong, but players ended up getting it easier than I expected. For my second pick, Diabolos, I really like that part where he grabs the ball of shadow energy and sort of stretches it out. It’s got this great dark vibe. That’s one where I came up with the action first and then drew the character to match.
My third pick is Titan, which may come as a surprise. There’s that part where he lifts up the ground and flings it away, and at first it caused a lot of technical concerns. People were saying to me, “How the heck are we supposed to do that?” It was the first one to really push the horizons of those summoning scenes, so that’s why I’ve chosen it. And then my fourth pick would be Bahamut Arisen. That one applied what we’d done with Titan.
Finally, my fifth pick is Eden. I don’t really know why, but it’s just awesome [laughs]. I knew it was gonna be really hard to outdo Knights of the Round just sticking to a conventional approach… And actually, I wanted to make Eden a fusi](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreif5jcd72x24q5rhquro2e34fz3o6zsfuj6lf5wazpu7cgvaj7th34)
![Favorite Characters
#1: Angelo (FFVIII)
#2: Red XIII (FFVII)
#3: Moomba (FFVIII)
#4: Interceptor (FFVI)
#5: PuPu (FFVIII)
Well you see, my third pick, the Moomba, was actually modeled after my second pick, Red XIII [laughs]. They’re kind of what you get if you make Red XIII walk on two legs. But yeah, mostly I just like them because they look like Red XIII.
As for Red XIII himself, I drew him thinking it would be neat if a creature like that actually existed. In terms of appearances, I tend to prefer a cool look over a cute one.
I chose Angelo as my first pick because he’s crazy strong despite not being a main character. And despite the fact that no matter how you slice it, he’s just a regular dog [laughs].
By the way, my favorite ability of his is Angelo Strike. Zell has Meteor Strike, so with Angelo it’s like, “Wait, you can do it, too!?” I guess I actually like the side characters more than the main ones.
Most Troublesome Characters
#1: Rinoa (FFVIII)
#2: Aya (Parasite Eve)
#3: Cloud (FFVII)
#4: Squall (FFVIII)
#5: PuPu (FFVIII)
My fifth pick, PuPu, is a character who got simpler and simpler as I redrew him. And then my fourth pick, Squall, was personally a tough one to draw. Getting the full-body image down was tough.
My third pick is Cloud, and he also went through a bunch of different versions. He didn’t really exist until I started doing my designs, so I ended up drawing a ton of pictures. And then even the version I initially presented to everyone eventually got replaced with another one I drew…
Likewise with my second pick, Aya, I had to do quite a lot of illustrations for her. That was definitely kinda tough.
My first pick goes to Rinoa. I didn’t want to draw her as straight up beautiful or cute—I wanted there to be this subtle sort of balance. There’s mixed opinions about that, I guess, but I personally didn’t want to give her that typical pretty girl face. In terms of personality, I imagined she’d be more of a tomboy… You can imagine my surpris](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreifdful23wkvaromo3ut2trflh2b33rc3zdvguggykjexzlgwp7nqm)
![Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 10
The Long-Awaited Final Installment: Nomura Discusses His Future Prospects!
The one and only Tetsuya Nomura returns to cap off his beloved monthly column. Read on one last time as he recounts past projects with customary Tosa flare. Then, Nomura shares a progress report on two games he’s currently helping develop, as well as a final message for GW readers.
Tetsuya Nomura - Profile
A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with…deadlines!
You’re currently involved in two projects right now: The Bouncer, for the PS2, and an unnamed title you’re working on with Disney. Today, I was hoping we could hear about your responsibilities with each and get a sense of where they stand in terms of progress. We’ll start with The Bouncer, if that’s okay.
“I’m in charge of the character design and a bit of the general concept work. As for where things stand with my parts, I guess I’m at the alternate outfit and minor design tweaks stage… There’s just a few things to wrap up with that. The CG characters are feeling quite good at this point. I think they’re about ready to show off to everyone, so definitely look forward to that.
“My work’s just about all done on The Bouncer, so I guess you could say I’m feeling pretty excited… I really just wanna see how this Square–DreamFactory Collaboration turns out.”
[Image caption:] The Bouncer features Nomura’s characters moving around in high-quality, movie-like scenes. He’s currently hard at work trying to refine his creations even further.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreihqmvueitonukiqcdfvczhnhvxrubnxwj42poxwyfjem53piy3c2m)
![Next up, we have the unnamed Disney title. What can you tell us about that?
“All I can really say about my role in the project right now is I’m working in a directorial capacity. Mainly I’m focused on creating the plot, holding meetings between our staff and Disney’s, and gathering new members for the team.
“But seeing as it’s me who’s involved, there might just be one other task on my plate… Anyway, the staff we’ve put together is super talented, and there’s no real need for me to butt in trying to help. Really, I’m just keeping an eye on things.
“As far as progress goes, I think we’re maybe farther along than people suspect. To the point of actually having stuff on screen, you know? After this, we’ll be dipping back behind the scenes to keep the project moving, but be sure to keep it on your radar.”
[Image caption:] A collaborative title is also in the works with animation goliath Disney. We’re excited to see Disney’s characters duke it out (or team up) with Nomura’s creations.
Finally, do you have any parting message for our Game Walker readers?
“I’m grateful for everyone out there who’s read the column. Thanks also to those who sent in letters. I do a lot of these magazine interviews, and I find it’s often difficult to say what I really want to in my own words. But on this occasion, I feel like I was able to speak with my own voice somewhat [somewhat?]. Lastly, keep an eye out for all the young talent here [at Square]—they’re sure to deliver.”
This Month’s Doodle
Nomura’s characters and the staff behind this column gather for a farewell party befitting our final installment! Thanks to all our readers for the continued support. Until we all meet again!
[Image text:] Thank you! Bye-bye!](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreiaruoyo4ftnpyk3wm3g2pkqpxwiqtlldesd2lh5z6sblx7mno6cyi)
![Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 2
Final Fantasy for Real: Nomura Finally Joins the Fray! Plus, a Special Character’s Secret Origin?
FFVIII’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his monthly column full of Tosa flair. Read on for secret stories from FFVI’s development and beyond!
Tetsuya Nomura - Profile
A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture.
The Winding Road to Setzer and Shadow’s Birth
After FFV, I joined in on FFVI’s development. My main role there was monster design again, but the senior designer I’d been working with before had moved to another team, which meant I became team leader and had to keep the monster design work moving on my own. On top of that, I was able to start getting some of my ideas implemented in the game, so that was a big change. Specifically, I came up with the characters of Setzer and Shadow—their backstories and the plot events relating to them.
Back when FFVI was getting off the ground, there was a call for ideas from the staff: “What kind of protagonists do you want to see introduced?” And those were two memorable characters that got used after I submitted them. A bit of backstory about Shadow: I took a design that’d been rejected from FFV and resubmitted it. Thanks to that, he finally got to see the light of day [laughs].
But actually, Setzer is the more memorable of the two for me. His whole gambling premise also came from a scrapped FFV idea, which I submitted when they called for job system proposals. With FFVI, I managed to get it through right off the bat… I also submitted the idea for a slots attack along with it. That’s something I really wanted to have in there, so I was honestly really happy when it got implemented. For those reasons, Setzer sticks out in my memory most of all.
[Image caption:] Setzer stars as a stylish airship owner, among other things.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreidpxq3yw7cc64iqmq5i4gotmmdydg4y6dpwxxmnul7ed7dsz332wi)
![Another really strong memory from working on FFVI was that final boss I did with the three connected screens. It ended up being a real undertaking [laughs]. I knew from the beginning I wanted it to be really massive in scale. But toward the end I was running out of time, so I split the work between three or four people who helped finish coloring it in. It was quite literally a magnum opus.
Pitching in with Surprising Projects like Chrono Trigger and Front Mission
Between when FFVI ended and FFVII started, I helped out with a bunch of other, non-FF titles. For Chrono Trigger I was really just an aid, helping out with stuff like the courtroom crowd and the summoning circle in the Fiendlord’s Keep [laughs]. With Front Mission, I helped position Yoshitaka Amano’s characters—as well as ones I’d drawn—in the portrait windows. I also drew the bar patrons and other characters Amano didn’t get to.
[Image caption:] Nomura’s work crops up in unexpected places. (Pictured: Chrono Trigger, PS1 version.)
Then for Super Mario RPG I drew the secret boss. The idea there was that you’d find this 2D stage somewhere inside the game where you could fight an FF-esque boss…
There was also Dynami Tracer [a racing game for the Nintendo Satellaview], where I was in charge of character design and the basic game concept. Actually—and you didn’t hear this here—the production time for that game was just two months! I wanted it to feel more like a real racing game, but the time constraints forced us to take it in a different direction. It was definitely a memorable project, if nothing else [laughs].
And so finally we arrive at FFVII. I actually drew some original chibi-style character art back during FFVI, and that ultimately led to me being put in charge of main character design… I’ll share more about that in future installments, so make sure you stay tuned.
⬤ This Month’s Doodle
Nomura currently has his hands full with Parasite Eve 2 for PS1 and The Bouncer for PS2. Hey, who’s that mys](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreibpbtmxif5chu3knlsv7s66o5aqzoi4xqlvqkm27456pdrbwrsix4)
