Yuji Horii(Quật giếng hùng nhị,Horii Yūji,born January 6, 1954)is a Japanese author, video game designer, writer and director best known as the creator of theDragon Questfranchise,[1]supervising and writing the scenario forChrono Trigger,andThe Portopia Serial Murder Case,released in 1983 as one of the firstvisual noveladventure games.[2][3]

Yuji Horii
Quật giếng hùng nhị
Horii in 2011
Born(1954-01-06)January 6, 1954(age 70)
Alma materWaseda University
Occupations
  • Author
  • game designer
  • writer
Years active1982–present
EmployerArmor Project
Notable work

Horii is CEO of his own company, Armor Project, a company that has an exclusive production contract withSquare Enix,[4]a contract established with Enix before the company merged withSquare,and is also one of the companies who co-own theDragon Questfranchise alongside Square Enix.

History

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Horii was born on January 6, 1954, inAwaji Island,Japan.He graduated fromWaseda University's Department of Literature. He also worked as a freelance writer for newspapers, comics, and magazines, including theFamicom Shinkenvideo games columnthat ran inWeekly Shōnen Jumpfrom 1985 to 1988.[5]

He then entered in anEnix-sponsoredgame programmingcontest, where he placed withLove Match Tennis,a tennis video game, motivating him to become a video game designer.[6]

Horii then createdThe Portopia Serial Murder Caseby himself,[7]a game that later inspiredHideo Kojima(ofMetal Gearfame) to enter the video game industry.[2][3]It is the first part of theYuji Horii Mysteriestrilogy, along with its successorsThe Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance(1984) andKaruizawa Yūkai Annai(1985).

After creating several more visual noveladventure games,Horii went on to createDragon Quest,which is said to have created the blueprint forJapanese console role-playing games,taking inspiration fromPortopia,[8]as well asWizardry[8]andUltima.[1]

He was a fan of Apple PC role-playing games and was motivated to createDragon Questfor ordinary gamers, who found such games difficult, and thus he worked on an intuitive control system,[9]influenced by his work onPortopia.[8]

His works also include theItadaki Streetseries. Horii was also a supervisor of theSuper Nintendo Entertainment Systemgame,Chrono Trigger,which hadmultiple game endings,with Horii appearing in one of the endings with the game development staff.

He is on the selection committee for the annualSuper Dash Novel Rookie of the Year Award.

Works

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Year Title Role
1983 Love Match Tennis Game design, programmer
The Portopia Serial Murder Case Game design, programmer, scenario
1984 The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance Game design, scenario
1985 Karuizawa Yūkai Annai Game design, programmer, scenario
1986 Dragon Quest Game design, scenario
1987 Dragon Quest II
1988 Dragon Quest III
1990 Dragon Quest IV
1991 Itadaki Street: Watashi no Omise ni Yottette Game design
Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin Scenario supervisor
1992 Dragon Quest V Game design, scenario
1994 Itadaki Street 2 Game design
1995 Chrono Trigger Supervisor
Dragon Quest VI Game design, scenario
1998 Itadaki Street: Gorgeous King
Dragon Quest Monsters Executive director, game design, scenario
2000 Dragon Quest VII Game design, scenario
2001 Dragon Quest Monsters 2 Executive director, game design, scenario
2002 Itadaki Street 3 Original planning, supervisor
Torneko's Great Adventure 3 Supervisor
2003 Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart Executive producer
Kenshin Dragon Quest
Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest
2004 Dragon Quest VIII Game design, scenario
Itadaki Street Special Original planning, supervisor
2005 Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime Executive producer
2006 Itadaki Street Portable Original planning, supervisor
Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mystery Dungeon General director
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker General director, game design, scenario
2007 Itadaki Street DS Game design
Dragon Quest Swords General director, game design, scenario
2009 Dragon Quest Wars General director
Dragon Quest IX Game design, scenario
2010 Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 General director
2011 Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 Supervisor
Fortune Street Game design
2012 Dragon Quest X General director, game design, scenario
2015 Dragon Quest Heroes I General director
Theatrhythm Dragon Quest
2016 Dragon Quest Builders
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3
Dragon Quest Heroes II
2017 Dragon Quest XI Game design, scenario
Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Original planning, supervisor
Dragon Quest Rivals General director
2018 Dragon Quest Builders 2
2019 Dragon Quest Walk
2022 Dragon Quest Treasures General director, voice of Yuji the King Slime
2023 Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai General director
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince
2024 Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Game design, scenario
TBA Dragon Quest XII Game design, scenario

Recognition

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Horii received an award at the 2009Computer Entertainment Supplier's Associationdevelopers conference and a lifetime achievement award at the 2022Game Developers Conferencefor his work onDragon QuestandChrono Trigger.[10][11]

References

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  • "Square Enix Co., Ltd. 2004 Annual Report"(PDF).Square Enix.March 31, 2004. p. 70.RetrievedSeptember 18,2006.
  1. ^abNintendo Power November 2007.Future US, Inc.2007. pp. 77–80.
  2. ^abSzczepaniak, John (February 2011)."Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken".Retro Gamer.Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2019.RetrievedMarch 16,2011.(Reprinted atSzczepaniak, John."Retro Gamer 85".Hardcore Gaming 101.Archivedfrom the original on April 12, 2011.RetrievedMarch 16,2011.)
  3. ^abKasavin, Greg (March 21, 2005).""Everything is Possible": Inside the Minds of Gaming's Master Storytellers ".GameSpot.CNET Networks.p. 2.Archivedfrom the original on September 29, 2007.RetrievedAugust 15,2007.
  4. ^"Top 100 Game Creators of All Time".IGN.Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2009.RetrievedJune 25,2012.
  5. ^Fujii, Daiji (2003)."Entrepreneurial Choices of Strategic Options in Japan's RPG Development"(PDF).p. 13. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 30, 2008.RetrievedAugust 12,2006.
  6. ^"Dragon Quest 30th Anniversary Special".Shmuplations.Archivedfrom the original on March 15, 2023.RetrievedMarch 14,2023.
  7. ^"1994 Game Developers - Interview Collection".Shmuplations.Archivedfrom the original on January 11, 2023.RetrievedMarch 14,2023.
  8. ^abc"East and West, Warrior and Quest: ADragon QuestRetrospective ".1UP.Archivedfrom the original on May 11, 2013.RetrievedJuly 5,2011.
  9. ^"Yuji Horii".Retro Gamer(97).Imagine Publishing:72–73. 2011.
  10. ^Graft, Kris (September 4, 2009)."Dragon Quest Creator Yuji Hori Headlines Awards".Gamasutra.Archivedfrom the original on February 20, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 14,2011.
  11. ^Lada, Jenni (March 24, 2022)."Dragon Quest Creator Yuji Horii Gets GDC 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award".Siliconera.Archivedfrom the original on March 24, 2022.RetrievedMarch 24,2022.
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