Masato Kato

Masato Kato
加藤 正人
Born	(1963-03-28) March 28, 1963 (age 61)
Occupation(s)	Video game artist, writer
Years active	1988–present

Masato Kato (加藤 正人, Katō Masato, born March 28, 1963) is a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal".^[1] He then joined Square, and was most famous for penning the script of Chrono Trigger (based on a story draft by Yuji Horii), as well as Radical Dreamers, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy XI and parts of Final Fantasy VII.

Biography

Early years

Kato first worked for Tecmo on Captain Tsubasa and the Ninja Gaiden series. On his first three games, he moved from graphics, to graphics and scenario writing, to also directing the action elements. He went on to work for Gainax.

Square Co.

Masato Kato's first title at Square was Chrono Trigger as the game's story planner and script writer. The game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda have considered Kato to be one of the game's directors.

Kato stated that Chrono Cross development encountered difficulty in expanding the game world due to hardware limitations, and that they crammed as much data as they could onto the game disk.^[2] Conversely, developing the multiple game endings was seen as easier, on par with Chrono Trigger as a bonus for players who finished the game.^[2]

Freelance works

Kato left Square after designing the plot of Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart to become a freelance scenario writer. In addition to games for different companies, he has continued to work on Square Enix projects such as the World of Mana series, an enhanced port of Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS, and three more expansion chapters for Final Fantasy XI.

In 2017 he released a spiritual successor to the Chrono series for iOS and Android, titled "Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space." Similar to the SNES hit Chrono Trigger, Another Eden also involves time travel, where players get to explore three time periods out of ancient, contemporary, and the future. Additionally, the game features an opening theme created by Yasunori Mitsuda, who also worked on Chrono Trigger‘s music.^[3]

Writings

In 2005, Masato Kato also collaborated with Yasunori Mitsuda, longtime friend and music composer, to write a short story titled Five Seasons of kiЯitɘ, which Mitsuda accompanied with music on his album kiЯitɘ. The story and soundtrack have also been presented in opera form.^[4] Prior to this, Mitsuda composed the soundtrack for several of Kato's games, including Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

Games

Kato has been credited for the following games:^[5]

Early games

• Captain Tsubasa (1988): animation sprites^[5]
• Ninja Gaiden (1988): pictures ^[5]
• Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990): movie director, scenario, pictures ^[5]
• Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (1991): director of action sequences ^[5]
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1992): assistant director, planner, script writer, graphics^[6][5]
• Princess Maker 2 (1993): planner, script writer, graphics^[5]

Square

• Chrono Trigger (1995): director (uncredited), story planner, script writer^[5]
• Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki (1996): director, scenario and script writer^[5]
• Final Fantasy VII (1997): event planner, script writer^[5]
• Xenogears (1998): event planner, script writer, lyricist^[5]
• Chrono Trigger (PlayStation enhanced port) (1999): supervisor^[7]
• Chrono Cross (1999): director, scenario and script writer, event planner, FMV storyboard ^[8]
• Final Fantasy XI (2002): plot conception and events, lyricist^[9]
• Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart (2003): plot conception and events^[9]

Freelance

• Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003): scenario writer, screenplay^[10]
• Deep Labyrinth (2006): scenario writer^[11]
• Dawn of Mana (2006): scenario writer^[11]
• Children of Mana (2006): scenario writer^[12]
• Heroes of Mana (2007): scenario writer^[13]
• Sands of Destruction (2008): scenario writer^[14]
• Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS) (2008): supervisor^[15]
• A Crystalline Prophecy: Ode to Life Bestowing (2009): plot conception^[9]
• A Moogle Kupo d'Etat: Evil in Small Doses (2009): plot conception^[9]
• A Shantotto Ascension: The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born (2009): plot conception^[9]
• Shiren the Wanderer (2008): scenario writer^[16]
• Shiren the Wanderer 4 (2010): scenario writer^[17]
• Ninja Gaiden 3 (2012): story^[18]
• The Legend of Legacy (2015): writer^[19]
• Another Eden (2017): director, scenario, script writer, concept artist^[20]

References

1. Parish, Jeremy (October 28, 2009). "The Chrono Trigger - Ninja Gaiden Connection". 1UP.com. UGO Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
2. "Interview with Masato Kato". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
3. "Chrono Trigger And Xenogears Writer's Smartphone RPG Another Eden To Be At TGS 2016". Siliconera. September 9, 2016. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
4. Procyon Studio staff. "Five Seasons of kiЯitɘ" (in Japanese). Our Millennial Fair. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
5. Procyon Studio staff (November 1999). "This month's friend… Masato Kato". Procyon Studio. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
6. 不思議の海のナディア (in Japanese). Game Staff List. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
7. Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Chrono Cross Ultimania (in Japanese). Square Enix. pp. 476–477. ISBN 4-925075-73-X. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009.
8. Chrono Cross Ultimania (in Japanese). Square Enix. 1999. pp. 478–481. ISBN 4-925075-73-X. Archived from the original on 2010-11-19.
9. "The Adventure Continues With Three All-New Final Fantasy XI Expansion Chapters!". Square Enix. November 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
10. Smith, David (November 22, 2008). "Baten Kaitos Preview". 1UP.com. UGO Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2004.
11. McCarroll, John (August 16, 2006). "Deep Labyrinth". RPGFan. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
12. Boulette, Bryan (November 22, 2008). "Children of Mana's Development Team Announced". RPGamer. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
13. Boulette, Bryan (September 13, 2006). "Square Enix Unveils Final Fantasy XII Sequel, Three More Games". RPGamer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
14. Winkler, Chris (April 23, 2008). "Sega Announces Original DS RPG". RPGFan. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
15. Spencer (October 7, 2008). "A Clearer Look At Chrono Trigger DS' Additions". Siliconera. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
16. Ashcraft, Brian (May 31, 2010). "Final Fantasy VII Writer Sees End of The Nintendo Era". Kotaku. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
17. Ashcraft, Brian. "Final Fantasy VII Writer Sees End of The Nintendo Era". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
18. Kemps, Heidi (September 21, 2011). "Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi Talks Ninja Gaiden 3". G4TV. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
19. Eisenbeis, Richard (February 17, 2015). "The Legend of Legacy Doesn't Live Up to Its Pedigree". Kotaku. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
20. "Tokyo Game Show 2016: Another Eden draft illustrations by Masato Kato". Gamebiz.jp. September 17, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.