Hiroshi Minagawa

Hiroshi Minagawa
皆川 裕史
Minagawa attending the European launch of Final Fantasy XII
Born	(1970-08-11) August 11, 1970 (age 54)
Nationality	Japanese
Other names	Nigoro
Occupation(s)	Video game artist, designer and director
Years active	1989–present
Employer	Square Enix (1995–present)

Hiroshi Minagawa (皆川 裕史, Minagawa Hiroshi, born 1970), also known by the nickname Nigoro, is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director.^[1]

Career

Minagawa had worked at Quest Corporation alongside his colleagues Yasumi Matsuno and Akihiko Yoshida before they all decided to switch to Square in 1995. He continued collaborating with his co-workers as the art director of Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story.^[1][2] For the Final Fantasy XII project, he was originally the graphics and real-time visual director.^[3] However, when the original director Matsuno left the company due to an illness, Minagawa was put in charge of directing the game in collaboration with Hiroyuki Ito.^[4] He felt that the pressure of working on a Final Fantasy installment helped him and influenced his decisions. Minagawa most enjoyed the period in which the team continued to come up with new ideas, but he ultimately had to decide to abandon many features in order to finish the game.^[5]

Following the positive reception of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, a decision was made to remake Quest's Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Minagawa directed the game and took on the laborious task of assembling the original 1995 staff members—including Matsuno—who were now working at different companies.^[6] Upon finishing his work on the project, Minagawa was asked to join the Final Fantasy XIV team as the lead user interface and web designer. This was part of a plan to salvage the game after its initial negative reception by critics and players. Director Naoki Yoshida considered the fact that one of the Final Fantasy XII directors was now solely responsible for one aspect of Final Fantasy XIV an indication of how serious Square Enix was about improving the game.^[7][8] A relaunch for the game, called Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, was released to critical acclaim in August 2013. Minagawa served as art director for Final Fantasy XVI, which released on June 22, 2023.^[9] After game director Hiroshi Takai described a visual style with a similar feel to Game of Thrones, Minagawa sought to blend character designer Kazuya Takahashi's light art style with the dark tone of the setting, which he described as his biggest challenge during development.^[10]

Works

Hiroshi Minagawa (right) and Akitoshi Kawazu (left) at the Final Fantasy XII London Launch Event at HMV in 2007

Year	Title	Credit(s)
1991	Magical Chase	Director, game design, art direction, CG design[1]
1993	Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen	Art direction, main graphics design, image effects[1]
1995	Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together	Art direction, system CG design[1]
1997	Final Fantasy Tactics	Art direction, event direction[1]
2000	Vagrant Story	Art direction, character model supervisor, artistic supervisor of menu and layout
	Final Fantasy IX	Special thanks
2003	Final Fantasy Tactics Advance	Artistic supervisor
2006	Final Fantasy XII	Director, visual design, character texture supervisor
2007	Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions	Original staff: Art director, event director
	Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System	Director, visual design, character texture supervisor
2007	Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift	Visual design supervisor
2009	Gyromancer	Special thanks
	Final Fantasy XIII	Crystal Tools development staff
2010	Final Fantasy XIV	Special thanks: Crystal Tools
	Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (2010)	Director
2013	Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn	Lead UI designer, lead web designer[8]
2015	Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward	Lead UI designer
2016	Dragon Quest Builders	Supervisor
2017	Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood	Art director
	Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age	Supervisor[11]
2018	Dragon Quest Builders 2	Special thanks
2019	Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers	Art director
2021	Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker	Special thanks
2023	Final Fantasy XVI	Art director

References

1. "Vagrant Story: from the Development Team". Square. 2000. Archived from the original on 2002-08-08.
2. "Square Completes Acquisition of Quest". IGN. 2002-06-19. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
3. Nickel, Thomas (2006-11-05). "Interview with Hiroshi Minagawa". G wie Gorilla. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
4. Niizumi, Hirohiko (2005-08-01). "FFXII producer steps down". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
5. "Final Fantasy XII Director Interviews". Square Enix. 2006-10-31. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
6. Richards, Kim (2011-01-18). "Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Hands On". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
7. Nobu (2010-12-28). "プレイヤーとの約束は必ず守ります。新体制への刷新が行われた「FINAL FANTASY XIV」緊急インタビュー。FFXIVを託された吉田氏はどんな人物なのか". 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
8. Wada, Yoichi; Yoshida, Naoki; Tanaka, Hiromichi. "An Important Announcement for Final Fantasy XIV Fans". Square-Enix. Archived from the original on 2010-12-12. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
9. Yoshida, Naoki (June 2, 2022). "New Final Fantasy XVI trailer revealed, launches on PS5 Summer 2023". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
10. LeBlanc, Wesley (2023-06-06). "Creating The Look Of Final Fantasy 16". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
11. "The "FFXII" turned into HD "FFXII the Zodiac Age" will be released in 2017 in the PS4". Famitsu. 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-06.