(born 24 January 1965) is a Japanese video game developer working for Square Enix. He has worked there since 1986 and has worked as the lead designer for Final Fantasy IV as well as the director of Live A Live, Parasite Eve and Chrono Trigger.
Career Tokita joined Square in 1986 as a part-time employee, not becoming full-time until the development of Final Fantasy IV. For the first three Final Fantasy games, he worked on graphic art, testing, and sound effects, respectively, before becoming lead designer of Final Fantasy IV in 1991.
Tokita wanted to make a career as a theater actor, but working on Final Fantasy IV made him decide to become a "great creator" of video games. He was one of only 14 people working on the game. Tokita feels that Final Fantasy IV is the first game in the series to really pick up on drama, and the first Japanese RPG to feature "such deep characters and plot". He also felt that Final Fantasy IV was so good because it was the culmination of the best parts of the first three games.
Chrono Trigger is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Director credits were attributed to Akihiko Matsui, Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita. Tetsuya Takahashi had the role of graphic director. Additionally, Takashi Tokita, along with Yoshinori Kitase wrote the various subplots to the game.
Following that title, he was also involved in the production of Final Fantasy VII.
He handled the game design for Parasite Eve and wrote the game's story. He considers the later games in the series as having been "handed off" to others.
After the successful remakes of Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV, there was a desire by the team to make a new game in the same style.
He was the lead developer on Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
His greatest inspiration was Dragon Quest II, since it emotionally engaged him like no game he had played before.
Between 2003 and 2007, Tokita was the head of Square's Product Development Division 7.
Currently, Tokita is a senior manager and producer in Square Enix's Business Division 8.
Works YearTitleRole(s)1985Fairy Graphic artist1987 Aliens: Alien 2 Cleopatra no Mahō Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School Final Fantasy1988 Hanjuku Hero 1989 Square's Tom Sawyer The Final Fantasy LegendGraphic artist, scenario, sound effects1990 Final Fantasy III Sound effects Rad Racer II 1991 Final Fantasy IV Lead game designer, scenario 1992 Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare...! Battle director, scenario1994 Live A Live Director, event design, scenario1995 Chrono Trigger Director, scenario 1996 DynamiTracer Producer1998 Parasite EveDirector, planner, scenario 1999 Chocobo Racing Director, scenario, lyricist Parasite Eve II Special advisor2000 The BouncerDirector, dramatisation, lyricist2003 Hanjuku Hero Tai 3D Director, producer2004Egg Monster Hero Producer Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls Producer, game design2005 Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero Director, producer Final Fantasy IV Advance Supervisor Musashi: Samurai Legend Producer2006Mario Hoops 3-on-3Senior producer2007 Final Fantasy IV DS Director, executive producer2008 Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Producer, game design, scenario Nanashi no Game Executive producer2009 Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light Director, scenario 2011 Ikenie no YoruCo-director Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection Supervisor2012 Final Fantasy Dimensions Producer, game design, scenario Demons' Score Producer2015 Final Fantasy Dimensions II General director, game design, scenario Holy DungeonWriter2017Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th AnniversaryFinal Fantasy character supervisor2019 Oninaki Creative producer2022 Live A Live (Remake) Producer, scenario, lyricist
References
External links
Takashi Tokita profile, interviews, and photo gallery at the Square Haven People Database