Kazushige Nojima

Kazushige Nojima (野島一成, Nojima Kazushige, born January 20, 1964) is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for writing several installments of Square Enix's Final Fantasy franchise—namely Final Fantasy VII and its spin-offs Advent Children and Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X and X-2—in addition to the Kingdom Hearts series, the Glory of Heracles series, and the story to the Subspace Emissary mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nojima also wrote the original lyrics of "Liberi Fatali" for Final Fantasy VIII and both "Suteki da Ne" and the "Hymn of the Fayth" for Final Fantasy X, as well as "No Promises to Keep" for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. He is also the founder of Stellavista Ltd.

Biography

Kazushige Nojima first joined Japanese video game developer and publisher Data East.

Square Co.

He joined Square in 1994. He began work on Final Fantasy VII after the main character settings were done, though Nojima considered this early in the process; he was still working on Bahamut Lagoon.

Nojima also wrote the mythology of Fabula Nova Crystallis, which has been used as the story foundation for all the titles within the series. Nojima also wrote most of the Kingdom Hearts games. He also wrote the scenario for Final Fantasy XV (Previously known as Versus XIII).

Freelance

Kazushige Nojima left Square Enix in 2003 and founded Stellavista Ltd, a freelance scenario company. He wrote the story for Sakura Note. He also contributed some story concepts to the script of Final Fantasy XIII. While developing the scenario for Glory of Heracles, Nojima took inspiration from the Fall of Troy and the Battle of Thermopylae. Not many actual Greek locations were used, but locations derived from Greek mythology were.

In 2011 Enterbrain announced on its Famitsu resource that a short anime and audio drama, based on a novel written by Kazushige Nojima, will be streamed with a name Busō Chūgakusei Basket Army (Armed Middle School Student Basket Army).

Writing style and reception

Nojima has been called one of the "strongest voices" in the video game industry for his writing. His stories have been noted for their complexity and fearlessness in delving into romantic plot lines.

Works

Video games

Tantei Jingūji Saburō: Kiken na Futari (1988) – Scenario writer
Heracles no Eikō II: Titan no Metsubō (1989) – Scenario writer
Tantei Jingūji Saburō: Toki no Sugiyuku mamani... (1991) – Scenario writer
Heracles no Eikō III: Kamigami no Chinmoku (1992) – Scenario writer
Heracles no Eikō IV: Kamigami kara no Okurimono (1994) – Director, scenario writer
Bahamut Lagoon (1996) – Director
Final Fantasy VII (1997) – Event planner, story
Final Fantasy VIII (1999) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy X (2001) – Scenario writer
Kingdom Hearts (2002) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy X-2 (2003) – Scenario writer
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (2004) – Scenario supervisor
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004) – Scenario supervisor
Kingdom Hearts II (2005) – Scenario writer
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007) – Scenario writer
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) – The Subspace Emissary scenario writer
Glory of Hercules (2008) – Scenario writer
Sakura Note (2009) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy XIII (2009) – Scenario concept
Last Ranker (2010) – Scenario writer
Lord of Arcana (2010) – Original lyrics
Black Rock Shooter: The Game (2011) – Scenario writer
Sol Trigger (2012) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (2013) – Scenario writer, audio drama writer
Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey (2015) – Scenario writer
Mobius Final Fantasy (2015) – Scenario writer
Dragon's Dogma Online (2015) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy XV (2016) – Original story plot
Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary (2017) – Scenario supervisor
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (2018) – Scenario concept
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition (2018) – Original story plot
Kingdom Hearts III (2019) – Scenario supervisor
Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020) – Story, scenario writer, lyricist
Astria Ascending (2021) – Story, scenario writer
Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier (2021) – Scenario supervisor
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (2022) – Story, scenario writer
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (2022) – Scenario writer
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (2023) – Story, scenario writer
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024) – Story, scenario writer
Reynatis (2024) – Scenario writer