From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Tetsuya Takahashi
Japanese video game designer
Japanese video game designer
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Tetsuya Takahashi |
| native_name | 高橋 哲哉 |
| native_name_lang | ja |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| employer | Nihon Falcom (1988–1990) |
| Square (1990–1999) | |
| Monolith Soft (1999–present) | |
| occupation | CCO and Director of Monolith Soft |
| spouse | Soraya Saga |
| notable_works | Xeno |
Square (1990–1999) Monolith Soft (1999–present)
Tetsuya Takahashi (born November 18, 1966) is a Japanese video game designer, writer and director. Takahashi worked at Square in the 90s as a graphic designer and graphic director, participating on some of their most well-received titles such as Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, before directing and co-writing Xenogears. He left Square in 1999 to co-found Monolith Soft, where he would develop the Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles series with Namco and Nintendo respectively, being the executive director of Xenoblade since the first entry in the series.
He is married to Soraya Saga, who also worked with him at Square Enix, as well as on Xenosaga and Soma Bringer.
Takahashi is one of the founders of Monolith Soft, senior director and chief creative officer at the company, as well as part of its board of directors.
Biography
Takahashi was born on November 18, 1966, in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He began his career in video games in the 1980s working with Nihon Falcom.
Squaresoft
Takahashi worked on Final Fantasy VI, including the design of the Magitek armor from the opening scene of the game. He also was the graphics director on Chrono Trigger.
In 1995 he married his Squaresoft coworker Kaori Tanaka, better known by her pen name Soraya Saga.
''Xenogears''
Originally submitted as a potential plot for Final Fantasy VII, it was made into its own project after being judged too dark and complicated for a fantasy game by others at Squaresoft.
Monolith Soft
While at Squaresoft, Takahashi realized that the company intended to focus on the Final Fantasy series, and that sequels to the Xenogears series were becoming unlikely. He then decided to leave and start his own software development company. In October 1999 he left Squaresoft to start a new company, Monolith Soft, together with Hirohide Sugiura.
''Xenoblade Chronicles''
Following a meeting about the game Soma Bringer, Takahashi imagined what a game would be like where the world was actually the body of a "giant god". Takahashi attempted a more "mature" writing style for the game, and said he expects to continue in the same vein in the future. The game references both Japanese and Western RPG styles, referring to the western style in some cases "without thinking about it". In this way, the game is designed to appeal to fans of "text-based" JRPGs and western RPGs at the same time. Minor localizations were made for the American and European release, as well as bug fixes and game balancing. Originally Takahashi tried a more traditional turned based combat system, but he later incorporated a battle system where the protagonist can see into the future as a gameplay mechanic.
''Xenoblade Chronicles X''
Takahashi and Monolith Soft were revealed to be working on a new game for the Wii U in September 2012. It was later revealed in the January 2013 Nintendo Direct under the tentative title X, and shown further at E3 2013. For E3 2014, it was announced with the title Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | 1989 | 1991 | 1992 | 1994 | 1995 | 1998 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ys III: Wanderers from Ys | Monster graphics | ||||||||||||||||
| Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes | Artist | ||||||||||||||||
| Final Fantasy IV | Battle graphics | ||||||||||||||||
| Romancing SaGa | Field map design | ||||||||||||||||
| Final Fantasy V | Field map | ||||||||||||||||
| Final Fantasy VI | Graphic director | ||||||||||||||||
| Front Mission | Graphic design | ||||||||||||||||
| Chrono Trigger | Graphic director | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenogears | Director, scenario, lyricist | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenosaga Episode I | Director | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenosaga Episode II | Original author | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenosaga: Pied Piper | Story writer | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenosaga I & II | Scenario, original author | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenosaga Episode III | Author, music coordinator | ||||||||||||||||
| Soma Bringer | Producer, game designer | ||||||||||||||||
| Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier | Staff | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenoblade Chronicles | Executive director, scenario, concept, lyricist | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenoblade Chronicles X | Executive director, concept | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenoblade Chronicles 2 | Executive director, scenario, concept, lyricist | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country | Executive director, scenario, concept, lyricist | ||||||||||||||||
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3 | Executive director, scenario, concept, lyricist |
References
References
- "Ask the Developer Vol. 6, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Chapter 1".
- (January 1, 2007). "Reunion After Eight Years". [[Nintendo]].
- (January 1, 2011). "Six Musicians Together". [[Nintendo]].
- Spencer. (June 11, 2010). "Soraya Saga On Xenogears And Xenosaga". Siliconera.
- Ike Sato. (November 8, 2001). "Xenosaga Interview". [[GameSpot]].
- Anoop Gantayat. (February 17, 2010). "First Details: Xenoblade". Andriasang.
- Joe Juba. (March 6, 2012). "Five Questions With Xenoblade Chronicles' Executive Director". [[Game Informer]].
- (August 16, 2011). "Xenoblade designed to appeal to Japanese and western RPG fans - Video".
- Ben Gilbert. (April 6, 2012). "Xenoblade Chronicles director naturally influenced by Western design; details changes for NA/EU version". [[Joystiq]].
- Spencer. (April 7, 2012). "Monolith Soft Tried Using A Turn Based Battle System For Xenoblade Chronicles". Siliconera.
- Brian Ashcraft. (September 13, 2012). "The Folks Behind Xenoblade Are Making a Wii U Game". [[Kotaku]].
- (June 10, 2014). "E3 2014: XENOBLADE CHRONICLES X COMING IN 2015".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Tetsuya Takahashi — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report