Masato Kato

Masato Kato
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". 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. Conversely, developing the multiple game endings was seen as easier, on par with Chrono Trigger as a bonus for players who finished the game.
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.
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. Prior to this, Mitsuda composed the soundtrack for several of Kato's games, including Chrono Cross and Xenogears.
Games
Masato Kato has been credited for the following games:
Early games
Captain Tsubasa (1988): animation sprites
Ninja Gaiden (1988): pictures
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990): movie director, scenario, pictures
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (1991): director of action sequences
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1992): assistant director, planner, script writer, graphics
Princess Maker 2 (1993): planner, script writer, graphics
Square
Chrono Trigger (1995): director (uncredited), story planner, script writer
Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki (1996): director, scenario and script writer
Final Fantasy VII (1997): event planner, script writer
Xenogears (1998): event planner, script writer, lyricist
Chrono Trigger (PlayStation enhanced port) (1999): supervisor
Chrono Cross (1999): director, scenario and script writer, event planner, FMV storyboard
Final Fantasy XI (2002): plot conception and events, lyricist
Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart (2003): plot conception and events
Freelance
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003): scenario writer, screenplay
Deep Labyrinth (2006): scenario writer
Dawn of Mana (2006): scenario writer
Children of Mana (2006): scenario writer
Heroes of Mana (2007): scenario writer
Sands of Destruction (2008): scenario writer
Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS) (2008): supervisor
A Crystalline Prophecy: Ode to Life Bestowing (2009): plot conception
A Moogle Kupo d'Etat: Evil in Small Doses (2009): plot conception
A Shantotto Ascension: The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born (2009): plot conception
Shiren the Wanderer (2008): scenario writer
Shiren the Wanderer 4 (2010): scenario writer
Ninja Gaiden 3 (2012): story
The Legend of Legacy (2015): writer
Another Eden (2017): director, scenario, script writer, concept artist
References
1963 births
Japanese video game directors
Japanese writers
Living people
Square Enix people