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Koichi Ishii (born July 9, 1964) is a video game designer and the CEO and president of Grezzo. He is mostly known for his work on the Final Fantasy and Mana franchises at Square.
Biography[]
Ishii originally joined Square in 1987, where he worked as a designer for the first three Final Fantasy titles on Famicom; he is known to have designed the recurring Chocobo and Moogle characters that have appeared on the series ever since. Afterwards, Ishii was offered to work on a spin-off to the series, which led to Final Fantasy Adventure, a title which would inaugurate the Mana series, followed by Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, and further titles.
In April 2007, he left Square Enix to form his own company Grezzo. The company has worked ever since with Nintendo on several Zelda remakes, as well as some original titles like Line Attack Heroes and Ever Oasis, under Ishii's direction.
Game Works[]
- Final Fantasy (1987) - Planning, Battle Graphics
- Final Fantasy II (1988) - Game Design
- The Final Fantasy Legend (1989) - Scenario Staff, Card Graphics
- Final Fantasy III (1990) - Object Design
- Final Fantasy Adventure (1991) - Director
- Secret of Mana (1993) - Director, Chief Game Design, Animation/Monster Design
- Trials of Mana (1995) - Director of Game Design, Graphic Design: Character
- Sword of Mana (2003) - Producer, Game Design, Original Story, Monster Design
- Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (2004) - Original Development
- Children of Mana (2006) - Game Design, Executive Producer
- Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (2006) - Graphic Supervisor
- Final Fantasy V Advance (2006) - Graphics Supervisor
- Heroes of Mana (2007) - Producer
- Line Attack Heroes (2010) - Senior Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (2011) - Producer
- Flower Town (2013) - Senior Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (2015) - Producer
- Ever Oasis (2017) - Producer, Director, Art Direction
- Luigi's Mansion (3DS) (2018) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) (2019) - General Management (GREZZO)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024) - General Management (GREZZO)
Special Thanks[]
- Final Fantasy IV (1991)
- Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (2006)
- Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (2007)
- Fossil Fighters: Frontier (2014)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015)
- Miitopia (Switch) (2021)
Interviews[]
| Mana series | |
|---|---|
| Main Series | Final Fantasy Adventure (Sword of Mana) • Secret of Mana • Trials of Mana (Remake) Collection of Mana |
| Spin-offs | Secret of Evermore • Legend of Mana • Children of Mana • Heroes of Mana |
| Related | Square Enix (Square) • 1-Up Studio • Ever Oasis • Egglia Rebirth • Koichi Ishii • Kenji Ito • Hiroki Kikuta |