Yusuke Naora has left Square-Enix after 24 years of working at the company

Lulcielid

Lulcielid

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Yusuke Naora (FFVII/VIII//X/XV art director) posted on Twitter that he has resigned from Square Enix after 24 years, effective September 30th. He says FFXV was his last project with the company.
https://twitter.com/NaoraYusuke/status/782137499023925248

Yusuke Naora gameography: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuke_Naora

EDIT:
According to FFRing, he is moving away from Square Enix because he wants to be closer to his family in Izumo, Shimaine, which as you can see if you look it up is a very long way from SQEX's facilities in Tokyo.

According to FFRing and FFDream, Naora will continue to work in video game art as a freelancer, and assures that he will be involved in Square Enix projects in that capacity. Naora's work is not gone forever from SQEX. It's just going the same kind of direction as Akihiko Yoshida, becoming an available and friendly freelance.
 
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The Twilight Mexican

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Right, but he's been there since the original FFVII and undoubtedly had a huge impact on the aesthetic of it that we remember so fondly. I worry that without his influence Nomura might be even more apt to, well, be himself.
 
Lulcielid

Lulcielid

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According to FFRing, he is moving away from Square Enix because he wants to be closer to his family in Izumo, Shimaine, which as you can see if you look it up is a very long way from SQEX's facilities in Tokyo.

According to FFRing and FFDream, Naora will continue to work in video game art as a freelancer, and assures that he will be involved in Square Enix projects in that capacity. Naora's work is not gone forever from SQEX. It's just going the same kind of direction as Akihiko Yoshida, becoming an available and friendly freelance.

RE: Yusuke Naora & VIIRemake:
Art Director of not Naora was still only ONE of multiple artistS that contributed to the aesthetic of the original VII, just look at the credits of VII (starting on 2:34) and you will see many other visual and animation directors that were heavily involved in many visual aspects of the game. This is also not including the fact that the art of VII was heavily shaped by the appeal, technology and mindset that those artist had in the late 90´s, we´re in 2010´s, the artists have evolved.
Moreover they never said the Remake would be a copy-paste to a T. of the original, this should have been clear by now.
 
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Tetsujin

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Glad he's still freelancing and plans to work with Squex still. Loved his art direction. It's defined the look of Final Fantasy for such a long time.
 
Mayo Master

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The Twilight Mexican said:
Huh. I am very curious -- and a little concerned -- about what his absence may mean for FFVII's remake.
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That was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title of this thread.

Lulcielid said:
This is also not including the fact that the art of VII was heavily shaped by the appeal, technology and mindset that those artist had in the late 90´s, we´re in 2010´s, the artists have evolved.
Moreover they never said the Remake would be a copy-paste to a T. of the original, this should have been clear by now.
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Well, to me the aesthetics and the representation of technology for FF7:R was kind of an open question. Namely: would they try to be consistent with the level of tech displayed in the original (computers having bulky CRT monitors, etc.) or would they try to "update visuals to match current "Earth" technology.
Personally, I'm advocating for consistency (the world of FF7 is what it is at a given point in time, I see no point in "updating it to match current Earth technology" - besides it would be reminiscent of the 90s Science-Fantasy style, which has character IMO) but the design elements of CC and DoC have shown another direction. :nah:
Yet Naora's visual direction and the aforementioned question are not necessarily linked directly.
 
Splintered

Splintered

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I dunno, maybe I'm optimistic, but art direction is one thing that I never worried for Square Enix. Other things yes, but even if I really like Naora's work, there are other really fantastic artists.

Hopefully though, if he's not working on FFVII, maybe he can be a consultant. That way he doesn't have to really be in studio and spend time with his family, but still help shape FFVII:remake direction.
 
Ite

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I'm playing through VIII right now. It's (in my opinion) tied with IX for the best art direction in the series, especially when it comes to vehicles and locales. He'll be missed, but it's good that he'll still be available for freelance work.
 
Octo

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Mayo Master said:
Personally, I'm advocating for consistency (the world of FF7 is what it is at a given point in time, I see no point in "updating it to match current Earth technology" - besides it would be reminiscent of the 90s Science-Fantasy style, which has character IMO) but the design elements of CC and DoC have shown another direction. :nah:
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As far as I'm concerned, the 'style' of FFVII died with the compilation.

I like how the remake trailer seemed a lot more detailed and grittier than the other compilation stuff, but even so it's still a departure.

I think the best I can hope for with the remake is something bridging the gap.

Having said all that, I'd never really heard about this guy (no disrespect I just haven't been paying attention) so I have no idea how much of that original style was down to him.
 
Mayo Master

Mayo Master

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Octo said:
Having said all that, I'd never really heard about this guy (no disrespect I just haven't been paying attention) so I have no idea how much of that original style was down to him.
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As I understand, this guy was the art director of every major Square production since FF V, and the director of Visual Works, who has been doing pretty much all the CGs for FF games since forever.
The quality of the art direction has always been a very strong point of FF productions, and I'd believe he had a major role in that. So, yeah, I don't think he's someone you can replace easily.
 
Flare

Flare

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Mayo Master said:
Well, to me the aesthetics and the representation of technology for FF7:R was kind of an open question. Namely: would they try to be consistent with the level of tech displayed in the original (computers having bulky CRT monitors, etc.) or would they try to "update visuals to match current "Earth" technology.
Click to expand...
You know what, the older tech in the original game (boxy monitors and whatnot), makes me wonder if its more plausible to actually think of Rufus needing an airplane to do stuff with. Like, whenever I think of VII I always think of their technology being like CC now, but I often forget that the original game had a lower tech level being shown.
Basically I'm wondering if the lower tech level is proof of why some strange things were the way they were in the game. Because I never connected the lower tech to these things until now. :monster:

*possibly making no sense
 
ForceStealer

ForceStealer

Double Growth
It was even a bit strange then. Because had all the TV and computers and such AND rockets, but hadn't yet been to space. You'd think the existence of magic would only make getting to space easier :monster:

(Although, I've just had a thought. Given the way we're told Materia works, would magic WORK when you left the Planet? Like if you went to the moon as in IV. If magic is coming from the Planet... Of course, Meteor snags some planetoid out of the cosmos. And wherever Bahamut ZERO is futzin around until you call him, so perhaps it works just fine.)
 
The Twilight Mexican

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Please avoid backseat moderating. =P

Especially with, ya know, forum staff who actually are speaking to a related matter in the same post where they posted an off-topic thought.

Also, keep in mind that discussions tend to evolve organically on their own. That's not something that's discouraged here the way it is on some forums -- if the off-topic discussion becomes large enough, a mod will split it out into its own thread.

As you might imagine, such off-topic detours have often been the source of many interesting discussions of their own.
Force said:
(Although, I've just had a thought. Given the way we're told Materia works, would magic WORK when you left the Planet? Like if you went to the moon as in IV. If magic is coming from the Planet... Of course, Meteor snags some planetoid out of the cosmos. And wherever Bahamut ZERO is futzin around until you call him, so perhaps it works just fine.)
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If I had to fanwank out an explanation, it would be that the magic could continue to work up to a certain range, but beyond that, either the caster wouldn't have the necessary energy to make proper contact with the planet or the energy lost transmitting the spell from the planet to the target (out in space) would result in a net loss.

Remember, while casting Meteor does involve grabbing a piece of rock in space, it also took a tremendous amount of the planet's energy to do it.
 
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Blade

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The Twilight Mexican said:
Right, but he's been there since the original FFVII and undoubtedly had a huge impact on the aesthetic of it that we remember so fondly. I worry that without his influence Nomura might be even more apt to, well, be himself.
Click to expand...

Even if he's not working in Squeenix's main office, they can still call him up for references if they need to, I'd think.
 
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