Takayasu Morisawa

is a Japanese Graphic Designer at Nintendo. Morisawa joined Nintendo in 2001, working as a graphic artist for R&D1, and now for Nintendo EPD.
==Role in the Metroid franchise==
He has contributed significantly to the Metroid series. Morisawa was a Background Graphic Designer for Metroid Fusion, a Game Designer and Art Director for Metroid: Zero Mission, one of two Art Directors for Metroid: Other M with Yutaka Saito from Team Ninja, a Design and Art Supervisor for Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, and a Samus Model Supervisor for Metroid Prime Remastered. Morisawa also received special thanks as a Supervisor for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
He co-owns a patent with Hitoshi Yamagami, Kaori Ando and Yuki Sakamoto.Computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having game program stored therein, game process control method, and game apparatus. Justia. December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
===Metroid: Zero Mission===
Morisawa participated in an interview with the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, which was published in Volume 71 (June 2004), regarding Zero Mission. He discussed the game's graphic design, which was the first focus since the development team was able to repurpose the engine they used for Metroid Fusion. At first, they attempted to replicate the visual style of the original Metroid game, which was seen in an early trailer for Zero Mission at E3. Nintendo of America asked that the art style be changed. Yoshio Sakamoto, still wanting Zero Mission to differ visually from its predecessor, instructed Morisawa to use a style reminiscent of American comics. This meant that while Fusion had vibrant background colors, those of Zero Mission would be more muted, and images would be outlined in black, similar to Western comics.
Asked why the Metroid series had lasted as long as it did, Morisawa believed that the mechanic of collecting items was appealing to players. He noted that most players would likely obtain 50-60% of items on their first playthrough, and be motivated to replay the game to get the rest, and some would try to complete it quickly.
===Metroid: Other M===
In an Iwata Asks interview regarding Other M, Morisawa detailed his role in the game's development. He was responsible for creating the game's characters and stages, and supervised the game's world design. Being the art director meant he was also in charge of 3D models and motion capture. Having only worked on the Game Boy Advance Metroid titles prior to Other M, Morisawa lacked the experience to create 3D CG, but he sought to serve his "home console apprenticeship" with Team Ninja. Despite his inexperience, Yoshio Sakamoto came to him one day and said they were leaving the game design to him.
Morisawa created many documents describing the environments explored on the BOTTLE SHIP from materials he had already conceptualized. He described the stack of documents as being "thick as several phone books". While Morisawa was left with a lot of creative freedom on the project, there were certain elements that Sakamoto was vehemently opposed to. For example, the Gravity Suit was originally its signature purple color, but Sakamoto believed that in the more serious cutscenes in Other M, a purple suit was out of place, and requested the change to a purplish aura in the final game. Morisawa stated that he felt the Metroid games were "like the sauce at a long-standing eel restaurant", in that while some eel restaurants claim their sauce is over 100 years old, it does not mean the sauce has been untouched for that amount of time. In actuality, the chefs have added new sauce to the pot, matching the tastes of the age at the time, which affects the flavor. In the same manner, it was all right to change elements in Metroid little by little, adapting it to modern tastes.
==External links==
*Morisawa on Kyoto Report
*Morisawa on MobyGames
*Morisawa on IMDb
*Morisawa on Giant Bomb
*Nintendo Dream interview
*Iwata Asks interview
==References==
Category:Nintendo people
Category:NCL
Category:Artists and Designers
Category:Directors