Yasumi Matsuno (松野 泰己 Matsuno Yasumi, born 1965) is an independant Japanese video game designer. He is one of few designers to have two games receive a perfect score by Famitsu magazine: Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII were critically acclaimed with 40 out of 40 points.
He is the director and writer of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and is widely considered to be the creator of the Ogre Battle Series. When Quest Corporation was bought by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) he, along with other key members of Quest, switched companies and continued to work under the Final Fantasy label. He later left Square Enix to work as an independant developer.
Early Life[]
Matsuno grew up in a rural area, where he felt his only entertainment were movies, television, books. His hobbies included making dioramas. He was particularly fond of World War II dioramas, that he used to make by researching at the local library. He would incorporate story elements into each of his creation.
His introduction to video games was playing Space Invaders and Xevious at the arcades while waiting for the train. He was fond of The Legend of Zelda and Dragon Quest on Nintendo Entertainment System, and played heavily on the Amiga and PC, including Ultima Online.
Career[]
Game Design[]
Matsuno stated that he is heavily influenced by Western games. He is also influenced by films, particularly the original trilogy of Star Wars. He has described the development culture at Quest as a "kind dictatorship" while Square's is more "democratic", and is not personally fond of other team members having input on his narrative work.
He's known for his world-building, political, morally grey narratives, which contrasts with the more character-driven narratives typically found in the JRPG genre. He's also based some of his narratives on real-life wars and conflics.
Works[]
| Release | Title | System | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Conquest of the Crystal Palace | Famicom | Planner |
| 1993 | Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen | Super Famicom | Planner, director |
| 1995 | Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together | Super Famicom | Game designer, director, scenario writer |
| 1997 | Final Fantasy Tactics | PlayStation | Director, writer |
| 2000 | Vagrant Story | PlayStation | Producer, director, battle design, writer |
| 2003 | Final Fantasy Tactics Advance | Game Boy Advance | Producer |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy XII | PlayStation 2 | Scenario plot, original concept, original director, supervision |
| 2009 | MadWorld | Wii | Story writer |
| 2010 | Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together | PlayStation Portable | Game design, scenario |
| 2012 | Crimson Shroud | Nintendo 3DS (eShop) | Game design, scenario |
| 2014 | Terra Battle | iOS, Android | Scenario |
| TBA | Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians | Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android | Game design, story |
| TBA | Lost Order | iOS, Android | Director |