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Kitase

Yoshinori Kitase (北瀬 佳範, Kitase Yoshinori?) is a Japanese game producer and former game director who has been working for Square Enix since 1990. He has directed four Final Fantasy games: Final Fantasy VI (1994), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Final Fantasy VIII (1999), and Final Fantasy X (2001).

He became a producer after Hironobu Sakaguchi promoted him to the position. He made his debut as a producer with Final Fantasy X (2001), while simultaneously directing the title. Since then, he has produced Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (2004–2009), the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy (2009–2013), Mobius Final Fantasy (2015), and Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020).

He was the division executive of Square Enix's Business Division 1 and also a member of the Final Fantasy Committee.[1][2] He is currently an executive officer and member of the board of directors of Square Enix Co., Ltd., and the vice president of Creative Business Unit I. He was named the brand manager for the Final Fantasy series in April 2021, taking over for Shinji Hashimoto.[3] Since June 2022, he became a member of the board of directors of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. as well.

Profile[]

Kitase graduated in cinema at the Nihon University College of Art. In 1990, he was hired by Square, even though he didn't have any computer knowledge. His role was that of an "event scripter"; he would direct the characters' expressions and movements, the settings and the timing of music transitions, much like a stage director.

Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, chose Kitase to be producer of the mainline Final Fantasy games developed by Product Development Division 1. Kitase chose Motomu Toriyama as his successor as director.

He is currently working as producer on the Final Fantasy VII remake project, with the project being directed by Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005).

Works within the series[]

Game Release Work
Final Fantasy Adventure 1991 Game Design, Scenario Writer
Final Fantasy V 1992 Field Planner, Scenario Writer (with Hironobu Sakaguchi)
Final Fantasy VI 1994 Director (with Hiroyuki Ito), Event Director, Scenario
Final Fantasy VII 1997 Director, Scenario Writer (with Kazushige Nojima)
Final Fantasy VIII 1999 Director, Game Design, Story
Final Fantasy X 2001 Director, Producer, Game Design, Story
Final Fantasy X-2 2003 Producer
Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- 2004 Executive Producer
Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for PS3 2005 Supervisor
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children 2005 Producer (with Shinji Hashimoto)
Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- 2006 Producer, Original Concept
Final Fantasy V Advance 2006 Supervisor (with Hiroyuki Ito)
Final Fantasy VI Advance 2006 Supervisor (with Hiroyuki Ito)
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- 2007 Executive Producer
Dissidia Final Fantasy 2008 Producer
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete 2009 Producer (with Shinji Hashimoto and Ichiro Hazama)
Final Fantasy XIII 2009 Producer, Crystal Tools Development Staff
Final Fantasy XIV version 1.0 2010 Crystal Tools Development Staff
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy 2011 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy Type-0 2011 Producer
Final Fantasy XIII-2 2011 Producer
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy 2012 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy All the Bravest 2013 Special Thanks
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII 2013 Producer
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster 2013 Producer
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call 2014 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy VII G-Bike 2014 Executive Producer
Mobius Final Fantasy 2015 Producer
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius 2015 Special Thanks
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV 2016 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy XV 2016 Special Thanks (served as Producer when the project was Final Fantasy Versus XIII)
Final Fantasy Dimensions II 2017 Special Thanks
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT 2018 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy VII Remake 2020 Producer[4]
War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius 2020 Special Thanks
Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier 2021 Executive Producer
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin 2022 Executive Producer
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion 2022 Executive Producer
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis 2023 Executive Producer
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 2024 Producer

In-game appearances[]

Final Fantasy Type-0[]

FFT0 Yoshinori Kitase

Yoshinori Kitase.

Yoshinori Kitase appears as a Support Personnel of Akademeia. He shares the character model with Machina Kunagiri. His code name is "Producer".

Trivia[]

  • Kitase has stated that his favorite game in the series is Final Fantasy VII and his favorite character is Cloud Strife.[5]
  • Tetsuya Nomura stated he considers Yoshinori Kitase one of his four "seniors", and an influence on his game direction.[6]
  • Kitase has stated his favorite Final Fantasy X scene is the ending. Specifically when Yuna attempts to run into Tidus's arms.[7]

External links[]

References[]

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