Most of us play those fascinating games on our devices; we rarely ever even think to find out who’s behind the making of such beauty.
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese game designer and developer, and he’s spent his entire life-making games.
Some of the amazing titles that you’ve played are all thanks to his mastermind. Today we are looking at the top 10 Tetsuya Nomura video games.
He was born October 8th, 1970; he is a Japanese developer that has spent all of his life building and designing games.
He designed characters for several companies and directed major games titles. He is currently working at Square Enix and has a lot of titles to his name.
1. Final Fantasy
The final fantasy franchise was a huge hit. Tetsuya Nomura worked on Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, VII, VIII. He was the designer, debugger, origin story creator, and director throughout this franchise productions.
Final Fantasy was first released in 1987, but the franchise has lasted 30+ long years, and in every single remake and sequel of the game, Tetsuya has always led the team and crafted the brains behind the hit game.
Final fantasy has about 15 good installments since its release and has become a culture that different generations of games have arrived after it – role-playing, racing, third-person shooter action role-playing, and a lot more; it even branched into other media, like anime and manga too.
It’s safe to say that Final Fantasy is a huge success, and it’s one of the most successful games Tetsuya Nomura has ever worked on; it has to be the first on Tetsuya Nomura video games list.
2. Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom hearts is another major franchise. Debuted first in 2002 was developed and published by Square Enix, and it was first released for the PlayStation 2.
This game was the beginning of the Kingdom hearts series; the game began as a collaboration between Disney and Square.
Because of this collaboration, the game implemented some voice actors that included many Disney stars.
Top developers at Square Enix were planning a rival for the then-hit game Super Mario 64. Still, they knew only characters from the Disney Universe were powerful enough to contend with Nintendo’s Mario and Luigi.
Tetsuya overheard this conversation ad volunteered to head the development team as he seemed the idea was perfect.
Tetsuya Nomura was the director of this hit game; he was the designer of the entire concept, storyboard designer, and character designer.
All of the game design was carefully crafted by Tetsuya and his team.
3. Musashi: Samurai Legends
It is also known as Musashiden: Blade Master in Japanese. It is a third-person action game developed and published by Square Enix in 2005 for the PlayStation 2.
You know, back when the PS2 was the hotshot of the gaming community. The game is brilliant in design; it also implements real-time combat in a 3D environment, from the characters to the environmental designs. The game was released in North America, Japan, Europe, and Australia.
As you’ve guessed, Tetsuya Nomura was the brains behind these amazing projects; he designed the game’s major selling points, he was the creative director, and he designed the game’s main characters.
4. Kingdom Hearts II
Since the original Kingdom Hearts was a successful hit, a sequel isn’t that surprising. Published by Square Enix in collaboration with Buena Vista Games.
This sequel brought some major changes to the original game. An expanded re-release of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix was released exclusively in Japan, then later re-released globally and for broader platforms, like the PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch.
Tetsuya Nomura was the director, concept design, 2D character art designer. Tetsuya was perfect overall, and concept directing brought the game its glory as it was successful in every aspect.
Upon release, it won several awards and got several praises for its brilliant gameplay and character design.
5. Gunslinger Stratos
Gunslinger Stratos is a series of third-person hero shooter video games developed by Byking and Taito and published by Square Enix.
It was initially released in arcades on July 201, and the game was quite a success as it made it into the form of an Anime in 2015.
The game is a sequel to the original Gunslinger Stratos; there’s also a three and a 4. Tetsuya Nomura was one of the major character designers for this game, and its undying success made it one of Tetsuya Nomura video games.
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super smash bros. Ultimate is a 2018 Japanese crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd.
And published by our beloved Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch device. It’s the fifth installment of the Super Smash Bros. Series.
As you already know, this series was a huge success; Tetsuya Nomura was once again the brains behind this beauty of a game.
Although he’s not always known for all his roles in the game that you play, surprisingly enough, he was the original game director for this successful franchise.
Although the game online mode received some criticisms, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the best-selling fighting game of all time.
Selling over 25 million copies, it got a huge number of awards for different kinds of categories. This game solidified Tetsuya’s experience in the field of game directing.
7. Kingdom Hearts III
Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and later for Microsoft Windows.
This is the 12th installment of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
Tetsuya Nomura, the concept designer of this game, started drawing out the concept as early as 2005 after the initial release of Kingdom Hearts II.
No one knew about the game until 2013, after it was announced, and it was in development for over five years with only rumors and speculations flying around.
The game improved on mechanics, graphic styles, and the fans loved it; it sold a massive 5 million copies within just the first week of its release. Making it the fastest-selling and best-selling game in the series history.
Tetsuya Nomura was the director, concept designer, story, and even the game’s main characters. He put together what makes Kingdom Hearts III so good in every aspect, earning it a spot in Tetsuya Nomura video games.
8. Neo: The Worlds Ends With You
Neo: The Worlds Ends With You is an action role-playing game co-developed by Square Enix and h.a.n.d; Square Enix also published it.
This game is a sequel to 2007 The Worlds Ends With You. It was released for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in July 2021 and Microsoft Windows in September 2021.
The game includes Tetsuya Nomura as the game’s creative director, producer, and character designer.
9. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
This is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by team ninja, and Square Enix publishes it. It’s an alternate universe retelling of the original Final Fantasy, and it’s quite an intriguing concept.
The game is set to be released in 2022 March for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X|S.
Square Enix Employee Tetsuya Nomura was the original concept designer, creative producer, and characters designer. The game has every hope high, and we’re hyped to see what the game brings next year.
10. Kingdom Hearts X
This is the eighth installment of the series, and it’s a Japanese role-playing browser game developed by Square, BitGroove, and Success.
Square Enix published it. The gameplay involves players navigating a customized avatar through Disney inspired world fighting enemies, taking down bosses, you know how it works.
The game was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show on September 20, 2012, and in 2016 Square announced that the browser game would be discontinued.
Tetsuya Nomura was the director concept designer, and he wrote the entire story. For the amount of time the game stayed active, it was extremely active as players loved the easy accessibility. So it was a huge one for Tetsuya.
Conclusion
When you’re looking for someone with a successful career and a lot of titles to his name, the Tetsuya Nomura is the man you’re looking for. He’s had an incredible career and pioneered major titles that sold millions and millions of copies. The list is far more than this, but these are the top 10 Tetsuya Nomura video games.
