Akihiko Matsui (松井 聡彦, Matsui Akihiko) is a Japanese video game developer and battle designer working for Square Enix. He was one of the directors for Chrono Trigger and worked on several battle systems for the Final Fantasy series.

Career

edit

After finishing his work on Romancing SaGa 2, Matsui joined the development of Chrono Trigger midway through. He was responsible for planning and the movements of monsters in battles.[1] Since 2000, Matsui has been a member of the production staff for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, where he was in charge of the battle system.[2] He became the director of the game's ongoing development in September 2010 but was succeeded by Mizuki Ito two months later.[2][3] Matsui was switched to the Final Fantasy XIV team as lead combat system designer following the game's unsuccessful launch.[4]

When Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka left the company in August 2012, Matsui was chosen to fill the position in his place.[5] In March 2023, Yoji Fujito replaced Matsui, who would in some form continue supporting Final Fantasy XI.[6]

Works

edit
Release Title System Credit(s)
1991 Final Fantasy IV Super Nintendo Entertainment System Battle designer[7]
1992 Final Fantasy V Super Nintendo Entertainment System Battle planner
1993 Romancing SaGa 2 Super Nintendo Entertainment System Map developer, map data developer
1995 Chrono Trigger Super Nintendo Entertainment System Director[1]
1996 Koi wa Baransu Tatoeba K-kun no Tabou na Ichinichi-hen Satellaview Game designer
1997 SaGa Frontier PlayStation Game data developer
1999 Legend of Mana PlayStation Game designer, system design chief
2002 Final Fantasy XI PlayStation 2, Windows PC Battle data designer, battle director,[2] director (2010),[2][3] producer (2012 – 2023)[5][6]
2013 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Windows PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Lead combat system designer[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Chrono Trigger Development Team Special Talk". Gamest. Shinseisha: 211–215. March 1995.
  2. ^ a b c d Matsui, Akihiko (2010-09-01). "New Director for Final Fantasy XI". Square Enix. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  3. ^ a b Ito, Mizuki; Fujito, Yoji (2010-12-10). "A Message from the Final Fantasy XI Development Team". Square Enix. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  4. ^ a b Wada, Yoichi; Yoshida, Naoki; Tanaka, Hiromichi (2012-12-10). "An Important Announcement for Final Fantasy XIV Fans". Square-Enix. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  5. ^ a b Matsui Akihiko; Tanaka, Hiromichi (2012-07-31). "Changing of the Guard: Messages from the Final Fantasy XI Producers". Square Enix. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  6. ^ a b "Announcing a New Producer for FINAL FANTASY XI (22/03/2023)". PlayOnline. March 22, 2023. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  7. ^ Parkin, Simon (October 28, 2006). "Flight of Fantasy • Page 2". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 14, 2020.