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TurquoiseHammer
@turquoisehammer.bsky.social
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I translate Japanese video game material with @shinraarchaeology.bsky.social. Inquiries welcome.

📁 2,000+ pages of FFVII translations: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1iI2H1KaWVB2YJZG2wB-7ec_KD4dF-HmC
☕ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/turquoisehammer
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shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
Moving on to Vol. 8 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker column!

Nomura dives into his creative process:
-He rarely uses singular model references
-Nojima thinks Seifer takes after him (personality-wise)
-He draws late into the night watching VR'd TV shows

Thanks to moku_moku131459 for the photo!
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 8 Special Feature: You Ask, Nomura Answers! (Part 2) Square’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his fan-favorite column full of Tosa flair. This month sees the artist answering more questions from readers, and offers an exciting glimpse into his private life! Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with The Future Diary. Q1: Who do you use for reference models when drawing characters? (M, Tokyo) Almost always foreigners. And not celebrities or anything, just total strangers. If they’ve got a distinctive face or eyes, I’ll take a feature and use it as reference. There ends up being a lot of collaging, so it’s really rare I use an individual actor or someone as the sole model. Oh, and I place particular emphasis on the eyes, even compared to the rest of the face. Also, I wouldn’t say there’s any character that really matches my image, but according to Nojima, our scenario writer, Seifer evidently comes close [in terms of personality] [laughs]. Whenever I draw a protagonist, there’ll be people who point out a resemblance, but it’s not something I’m purposely trying to do, and I really don’t think there is any. It’s probably the same with the other characters, too, though I do think there’s some cross-influence with the hairstyles. In which case, I guess I’m like Selphie right now [laughs]. With the character modeling, it’s basically never the case you look at them and go, “Oh, that’s so-and-so!” At best you might think, “Huh, maybe that’s so-and-so…” I actually don’t really think it’s a good thing if you can figure out who the model is. Yet whenever I come out with a new character, everyone’s like, “This guy must be modeled after so-and-so” [laughs]. The guesses are usually wrong, but then again, it’s up to Q2: How would you describe your cubicle at work? (F, Aichi) Right now it’s nice and tidy, but it usually looks like a dump [laughs]. I actually don’t do a whole lot of personal work at my cubicle. I do most of my drawing at home, so the cubicle has kind of turned into a storage unit. And then I’ve decorated it with all sorts of things up top, but it’s almost all stuff other people have given me. So I’ve kind of just scattered everything around without much thought [laughs]. And now because of the projects I’m on, I’ve actually got two cubicles, which means twice the headache. Q3: How do you come up with ideas for stuff like summoning scenes? (Kanagawa, F) I guess I think it through as I write… Like, “What comes next after this?” Anything can turn into a new idea—nothing’s locked in, you know? So for example, I’ll be watching a movie or TV show or reading a book. Whenever I’m doing that, I’m trying to predict what’ll happen next. But my predictions are usually wrong [laughs]. So in those cases when things turn out differently, I’ll take that prediction and the process I went through coming up with it and sort of stockpile it as an idea. But I never actually jot that stuff down when it comes to me, and I eventually end up forgetting it [laughs]. So when inspiration does strike, I try to talk about it with whatever staff or friends are around. That way, the person I talk to can remember it for me. And then whoever hears those ideas will sort of expand on them with their own touches. That back-and-forth pretty often gives rise to more new ideas. [Image caption:] Nomura: When I was coming up with the summoning scenes for FFVII, I figured I’d use the first one I made—Leviathan—to sort of set the standard for the rest, and I decided to have just two other ones be more elaborate than that. Q4: You’ve said you like to watch TV in your free time. What shows are you into? (F, Saitama) I’ve got a list of programs I watch each week, including lots of variety shows. I’ll s
January 28, 2026 at 3:55 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
how your email finds me
January 26, 2026 at 8:06 PM
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minnmax.com
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
January 23, 2026 at 4:01 PM
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shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
We're back with Vol. 7 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker Column!

This one kicks off a two-part reader Q&A. Nomura talks about:
-How to get hired at Square
-What to prioritize if you want to be a graphic designer
-What materials he uses to draw
-Status updates on The Bouncer and Kingdom Hearts
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 7 Special Feature: You Ask, Nomura Answers! (Part 1) There’s no rest for Tetsuya Nomura, who’s busy as ever producing a new game with Disney. But that hasn’t stopped him returning for his usual column to reminisce about old projects. This month, we’ve asked him to field a handful of questions sent in by our readers. Strap in for straight answers and bold Tosa banter! Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with SMS. Q1: What do I do to get hired at Square? (M, Nara) Well first off, you’ll never get in if you don’t apply, so you should start by looking up Square’s job listings. Then just apply and get accepted and you’ll have yourself a job [laughs]. But if you do pass the application screening and reach the interview stage and it comes down to me, I’ll be looking for someone who seems like they could work well on a team. Connecting with other people is a big part of the work we do here, and it’s hard to overstate just how important good communication is. Then there’s also output and drive. For example, say you want to do graphic design, but you only send over three drawings—you’re gonna have a tough time. I think in terms of quantity, you’d want to be submitting about a full sketchbook’s worth. Back when I applied, I sent in a sketchbook plus four or so color illustrations. And then I also think it’s a good idea to let them know what you’re good at and try to sell your strengths. Q2: What should I study if I want to be a graphic designer? (M, Saitama) Setting my own work aside, I think the number-one thing is having good aesthetic sense…and that’s something that extends beyond just drawing. Maybe you like fashion or maybe you like movies. Whatever it is, I think the hobbies you have outside of dra Q3: What do you use for drawing illustrations? (F, Kanagawa) For drafting, I use a mechanical pencil with HB or H lead—just the usual 0.5mm stuff they sell everywhere. I’m actually using a Pingu mechanical pencil right now [laughs]. And then for paper I use copy paper. I experimented with all sorts of things, but ultimately landed on A4 color copy paper. I used to just draw on the cheapest copy paper I could find, but then one day I accidentally used a sheet of color copy paper, and I really liked the glide I got. Then for the rest of the work, I’ll use Photoshop to color stuff in and add the finishing touches. For erasers, I’ll just use those 100-yen ones they sell at convenience stores. But I hate it when the corners get worn down, so I’ll go out and buy another when that happens. I guess that’s my one luxury [laughs]. Nomura’s Trusty Pingu Mechanical Pencil [Image caption:] How many famous characters has this pencil given birth to? Q4: Judging by your doodles each month, you’re a super-busy guy. What are you working on right now? (F, Tokyo) What I can tell you at the moment is both The Bouncer for PS2 and another game with Disney are in production. But most of my time’s being spent on the Disney project, which will be the first game I make as director. The Disney games other companies have put out in the past have all adapted particular Disney works or borrowed their characters, but this time we’re making something totally original using multiple different Disney characters and titles. It’s something the world has never seen before, and Disney’s taking quite a risk with it, too. I’ve honestly got no idea just how it’s gonna turn out. Not to mention we’ve got a really talented team behind it, so I’m sure it’ll make for an incredible game. It’s something I’m looking forward to as much as anyone. ⬤ This Month’s Doodle Nomura is busy as ever, with two particular characters on his mind. Who are this mysterious man and woman? Look forward to more details in fut
January 23, 2026 at 1:46 AM
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profnoctis.bsky.social
LIVE TONIGHT! Our FIRST FF7 Class of 2026 is in session with a stacked agenda:

🎮 Playing the OG Opening (using @shinraarchaeology.bsky.social’s masterful retranslation)

🤓 Peer Reviewing Rich Anatone’s latest assessment of the Main Theme

📚 Discussing Ethics, Justice, and… terrorism??

All welcome!
January 20, 2026 at 5:55 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
i feel like i underestimated my level of adoration for Nomura and/or overestimated everyone else's. am I actually the world's biggest Nomura fan
January 20, 2026 at 1:47 AM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
it's incredibly funny to me that Squall is based off one of these two characters and it isn't the one who looks exactly like Squall
January 19, 2026 at 9:52 PM
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shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
Presenting Vol. 6 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker column!

This one dives further into FFVIII's development:
-The scramble to finish the ending storyboards
-The true meaning of Rinoa's hand gesture
-The real-life inspirations for Rinoa, Squall, and Selphie

Credit to moku_moku131459 for the photo!
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 6 Behind the Scenes of FFVIII’s CG Movies: A Production Process Equal Parts Passion and Anguish It’s another action-packed year for Nomura, whose hands are full with PS2’s The Bouncer and more. Nevertheless, he returns for his beloved monthly column, ready to reminisce in a candid Tosa tone. Read on for some surprising secrets about FFVIII’s CG movie production. Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with Yaen band member CA. Scrambling with Storyboards On-Site as Cameras Rolled FFVIII had its fair share of difficulties, too, but probably the most memorable of those was the CG movie production work. With FFVIII, we started using motion capture for characters’ movements, and in order to get that data we’d film actors’ movements at our studio. So we figured out a day for filming that would work with all their schedules. But that meant I had to have all the storyboards drawn out by that day, which ended up being a real tough task. Everything came together smoothly for the opening cutscene, but I ended up having to make the ending movie storyboards on-site. While the actors were doing their performances, I was off to the side drawing up the next storyboard… The director would be like, “Alright, they’re finished. You got the next one?” and I’d go, “Yep, coming up now,” and hand him a freshly drawn storyboard. It was a pretty ridiculous sight. But the motion capture recording itself was a lot of fun. Everyone was cracking jokes and having a good time, like, “Man, it’s pretty exciting watching actors doing the performances,” or, “Sure is nice using real people to make everything.” By the way, I knew depicting all the nature-related stuff in the opening would be a huge challenge. But our CG team was stac A Stimulating, Five-Star Experience: FFVIII’s Full-Cast Finale In terms of other movies, we also had one for when each of the major characters appears. Of all the ones I worked on, I think I liked Rinoa’s introduction scene the most. Actually, there’s that part where she points at the sky, and the idea there is that she’s saying, “Hey, did you see that shooting star just now?” But evidently some people took it as her making a shushing sign… Sometimes during the filming we’d gradually cut down on these scenes that were supposed to be longer. I think that may have happened there. [Image caption: A famous scene early on in FFVIII where Squall dances with Rinoa.] But starting with the dance segment, I think we really nailed the vibe you’d expect out of a scene that important. It does justice to Squall and Rinoa meeting for the first time. The movie lead pulled out all the stops for that part. I was a total layman when it came to dancing, so I couldn’t really draw it into the storyboard. I ended up leaving all that stuff to him [laughs]. And then of course there’s the ending movie. There was a portion of players who didn’t feel like FFVII’s ending was quite satisfying enough, so this time we decided from the get go to wrap things up in a feel-good way. We wanted it to be a five-star experience—to really serve the audience well, you know. And so we had all these characters coming in right and left. And that Super 8–style footage was also an idea that got raised during FFVIII’s early planning stage. We got to really deliver on that and I think the whole thing turned out great. Only problem was the scale was so huge, and I wound up with this mountain of storyboards to draw [laughs]. ⬤ This Month’s Doodle It’s now been one year since FFVIII hit shelves. To celebrate, Nomura has decided to reveal where a handful of characters got their roots—a much-discussed topic among fans. In the artist’s own words: “It’s a bunch of people they don’t actually look like.” [Image te
January 19, 2026 at 9:48 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
Grinch
charalanahzard.bsky.social Alanah Pearce @charalanahzard.bsky.social · 9d
There’s a video game announcement coming some time this year that I have not seen anyone even remotely touch on/guess/theorize about, and I think people are going to absolutely lose their minds. I have nothing to do with it, but am genuinely excited for it to be announced just to see the reactions.
January 19, 2026 at 3:01 PM
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shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
It's time for Vol. 5 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker column!

HIghlights:
-Nomura talks about the shift to FFVIII's more realistic characters
-He was taken totally off guard by Rinoa's characterization
-PuPu the alien was born of an act of defiance
-An attempt to clarify his role in killing Aerith
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 5 Rinoa’s Personality Took Even Nomura by Surprise! Plus, the Gut-Busting Birth of an Extraordinary ET Tetsuya Nomura returns with his sharp pen and scathing Tosa wit. This month’s column offers a feast of secrets from FFVIII’s development, starting with characters and GFs. Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. How Rinoa Earned Her Place as Most Memorable Character Parasite Eve wrapped up and then we had Brave Fencer Musashi, but after that it was finally time to start FFVIII. Once again, I was in charge of main character design and initial character concept work, but one change was that I had to do a lot less supervisory work. I left that stuff to the various section leaders and took a bit more of a hands-off approach. That said, the game had a big cast, and my drawing workload was just as heavy as ever. I picked up from last time doing the GF choreography and drawing the storyboards. And since we had way more movies this time around, that meant lots of storyboards. It might have been the single toughest part of my work. As for the characters, Director Kitase talked to me about how he wanted to go with a more realistic approach after FFVII, and that’s how we landed on the current style. Plus all the movie leads wanted to lean more into realism. We also set up this dual protagonist system with FFVIII, but that idea had actually been kicking around ever since FFV ended. As for FFVIII’s most memorable character, Rinoa wins it. Even I had no idea she’d turn out to have that kind of a personality [laughs]. I pretty much kept to myself after the initial concept phase this time, so I really didn’t have a sense of how things were changing along the way. But I’d pass the scenario writer in the hall during development and he’d say stuff like, “ The Surpassingly Strange Alien Nomura Went All In On So I stayed on doing the GF choreography like I did for FFVII. With FFVIII, we made things a little more lively with the addition of oddball summons like Cactuar and Tonberry, but storyboarding them was surprisingly difficult. Tonberries slowly shuffle toward their target before finally striking, right? It’s super time-consuming and totally not cut out for a summon attack. And all cactuars have in terms of moves is just shooting needles at the enemy… But I guess we worked them into something usable. Oh, right. There was another real unique character—the alien PuPu. He was a real hit, at least in my mind [laughs]. It all started when the battle director asked me to draw an alien for him. At first I went with a realistic design, but when I brought it over, he was like, “There’s no need to make it that realistic.” So I sort of loosened it up a bit and brought it back. But still he was like, “You can get a little weirder with it.” At that point I kind of took it as a challenge, like: “Alright, let’s see how you like this,” and I drew that glorified doodle version of PuPu you see today. [Image caption:] An odd exception to FFVIII’s otherwise realistic aesthetic. Not surprisingly, the director was like, “Alright, that’s too far!” But everyone else really liked it, so we ended up using it as is. Even so, I figured they’d sort of smooth out the sketchy feel when they actually modeled it, but they went ahead and kept the asymmetry and all the squiggly lines [laughs]. It was a really simple design, but he ended up being this freakish character that ate up a crazy number of polygons. ⬤ This Month’s Doodle Nomura reflects on an old interview that caused much misunderstanding about FFVII’s Aerith. [Image text:] That interview is NOT the truth.
January 18, 2026 at 3:27 PM
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shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
We're up to Vol. 4 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker column!

This month is all about Parasite Eve:
-Nomura had no idea he'd been appointed character designer
-Aya was his most memorable character
-His own mental crisis manifested in her illustrations

Thanks to moku_moku131459 for the photo!
January 17, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
📣 Big news: Shinra Archaeology Cut is now available for the PS1 version of FFVII! With this patch developed by HitByBricks, you can update your existing ROMs and enjoy FFVII with the SAC retranslation applied. (Note: this is Vanilla Mode only, with no restored content.) www.romhacking.net/hacks/9352
FFVII start screen
January 16, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
Presenting Vol. 3 of Tetsuya Nomura's monthly Game Walker column!

This one's all about FFVII:
-Cloud had more than 10 iterations, each taller than the last
-Nomura had to draw at home to meet the overwhelming workload
-Knights of the Round was a result of his dissatisfaction with Crusader from FFVI
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 3 Tetsuya Nomura’s Big Break with FFVII: Spilling the Beans Two Years After Release FFVIII’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his highly anticipated column. Join him for a walk down memory lane full of Tosa flare. This month’s topic: FFVII. Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. The Conflicted Saga of FFVII’s Character Designs This month, we’re finally talking about FFVII. Starting with this game, I was put in charge of the main character designs, but it’s not like it was some big unprompted promotion. As a matter of fact, I drew some original chibi-style character art back during FFVI, and that basically led to me being asked if I’d do the main characters for FFVII. So I never felt like it was my premier as a character designer, you know? Really what I felt most was this awkwardness that Amano wasn’t the one doing it… But what with the work schedule and other factors, that’s just how the dice fell… By the way, I actually ended up with over 10 different versions of Cloud because I kept gradually raising the head height. And then whenever I did that, I’d go ahead and make his sword bigger, too. At first Sakaguchi, the executive producer, was telling me to keep the height under five heads tall, but he gradually warmed to the idea of more realistic proportions. So I eventually managed to stretch Cloud out to his current height [laughs]. [Image caption:] FFVII, the first game in the series to feature polygonal characters. Aside from the character design, I also came up with some of the story concept. But yeah, going from FFVI to FFVII, my workload increased unbelievably. At the office, I’d spend my time checking other people’s work, and then when I got home, I’d do my own design work. I kind of got myself into pulling this grueling double duty On Incorporating a Certain Superlative Summon Sequence… With FFVII, I was also responsible for the summon attack choreography [storyboards]. Personally, I didn’t find it to be that much work. Mostly I was just happy to be pulling off stuff we hadn’t been able to do before. It was probably the graphics people actually implementing my storyboards who had it hard. Especially with the hidden Knights of the Round summon. The graphics lead was practically in tears: “We’re in the final stretch of development, totally bogged down. You can’t be drawing storyboards like this!” It was literally the very last one I drew. Sorry about that, guys… [Image caption:] The unprecedented scale of FFVII’s summons had everyone talking. But the reason I incorporated that one was because Crusader—FFVI’s strongest summon—just didn’t quite do it for me. For a three-person attack, it’s not a whole lot of use, right? [laughs]. And so I thought I’d make a multi-character ability that’s actually useful… Maybe I overdid it. Every time I work on an FF game, I think to myself, “This is gonna be my last FF,” and go absolutely all out with ideas. It’s like if I can draw something the next person in charge will have a tough time surpassing, then I can walk away happy. At the time, I couldn’t have dreamed I’d be in charge of choreographing FFVIII’s summons, too [laughs]. Another thing that really stuck with me about FFVII was the number of people who worked on it. Even back during FFV, you’d have 30 people total on the team, and at first it was just me doing the monster design. Suddenly that number increased by a factor of 10. Monster design got split into four groups—motions, textures, and so on—each with a handful of staff members. FF is really the culmination of multiple creative forces. ⬤ This Month’s Doodle Feeling the pressure on all sides, Nomura succumbs to palpitations and chills. Say, that man in the corner looks familiar… [Image text:] Feels like my heart’s gonna burst…
January 16, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
subtxt.bsky.social
OG FF7 IS BACK TONIGHT!

Can Part 3 take this section from filler to thriller?

They've already hinted a lot about the Junon Underwater Reactor and since the "Huge" materia is literally HUGE... they may beed to rework it.
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
It's time for Vol. 2 of Tetsuya Nomura's monthly Game Walker column!

Highlights:
-Setzer and Shadow were based on rejected FFV ideas
-Kefka's final boss graphics went down to the wire
-Nomura describes his work on Chrono Trigger, Front Mission, Super Mario RPG (yes, it's Culex), and Dynami Tracer
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 2 Final Fantasy for Real: Nomura Finally Joins the Fray! Plus, a Special Character’s Secret Origin? FFVIII’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his monthly column full of Tosa flair. Read on for secret stories from FFVI’s development and beyond! Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. The Winding Road to Setzer and Shadow’s Birth After FFV, I joined in on FFVI’s development. My main role there was monster design again, but the senior designer I’d been working with before had moved to another team, which meant I became team leader and had to keep the monster design work moving on my own. On top of that, I was able to start getting some of my ideas implemented in the game, so that was a big change. Specifically, I came up with the characters of Setzer and Shadow—their backstories and the plot events relating to them. Back when FFVI was getting off the ground, there was a call for ideas from the staff: “What kind of protagonists do you want to see introduced?” And those were two memorable characters that got used after I submitted them. A bit of backstory about Shadow: I took a design that’d been rejected from FFV and resubmitted it. Thanks to that, he finally got to see the light of day [laughs]. But actually, Setzer is the more memorable of the two for me. His whole gambling premise also came from a scrapped FFV idea, which I submitted when they called for job system proposals. With FFVI, I managed to get it through right off the bat… I also submitted the idea for a slots attack along with it. That’s something I really wanted to have in there, so I was honestly really happy when it got implemented. For those reasons, Setzer sticks out in my memory most of all. [Image caption:] Setzer stars as a stylish airship owner, among other things. Another really strong memory from working on FFVI was that final boss I did with the three connected screens. It ended up being a real undertaking [laughs]. I knew from the beginning I wanted it to be really massive in scale. But toward the end I was running out of time, so I split the work between three or four people who helped finish coloring it in. It was quite literally a magnum opus. Pitching in with Surprising Projects like Chrono Trigger and Front Mission Between when FFVI ended and FFVII started, I helped out with a bunch of other, non-FF titles. For Chrono Trigger I was really just an aid, helping out with stuff like the courtroom crowd and the summoning circle in the Fiendlord’s Keep [laughs]. With Front Mission, I helped position Yoshitaka Amano’s characters—as well as ones I’d drawn—in the portrait windows. I also drew the bar patrons and other characters Amano didn’t get to. [Image caption:] Nomura’s work crops up in unexpected places. (Pictured: Chrono Trigger, PS1 version.) Then for Super Mario RPG I drew the secret boss. The idea there was that you’d find this 2D stage somewhere inside the game where you could fight an FF-esque boss… There was also Dynami Tracer [a racing game for the Nintendo Satellaview], where I was in charge of character design and the basic game concept. Actually—and you didn’t hear this here—the production time for that game was just two months! I wanted it to feel more like a real racing game, but the time constraints forced us to take it in a different direction. It was definitely a memorable project, if nothing else [laughs]. And so finally we arrive at FFVII. I actually drew some original chibi-style character art back during FFVI, and that ultimately led to me being put in charge of main character design… I’ll share more about that in future installments, so make sure you stay tuned. ⬤ This Month’s Doodle Nomura currently has his hands full with Parasite Eve 2 for PS1 and The Bouncer for PS2. Hey, who’s that mys
January 14, 2026 at 4:58 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
been sitting on five tenths of this series for over two years waiting for a good Samaritan to share the other half, and it's finally happened. definitely worth a look, if only for the doodles
shinraarchaeology.bsky.social Shinra Archaeology @shinraarchaeology.bsky.social · 15d
From late 1999 to 2000, Tetsuya Nomura contributed a column to Japanese magazine Game Walker chronicling his career at Square—from FFIV debugger to Kingdom Hearts director. Thanks to moku_moku131459 over on Twitter, we've now got the complete series. So without further ado, here's Vol. 1!
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 1 A Graphic Designer Is Born: The Day Tetsuya Nomura Arrived at Square We’re kicking off a new column focusing on Tetsuya Nomura, of FFVIII fame. This auspicious first installment goes behind the scenes of his industry debut. Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Sprang into the spotlight after his popular FFVII main character designs. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. The Strange and Fateful Path That Led to Square The job I’m doing now [graphic design (i.e., drawing pictures)] is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was little. I thought it’d be great if I could make a living off it some day, you know? But so after graduating technical school, I figured the time had come to find a place to work. I walked into a convenience store one day to look at some job listing magazines, and I suddenly caught sight of this picture by Yoshitaka Amano, who I’m a huge fan of… It kind of got my attention, and I was like, “Huh, maybe I’ll apply to this place.” And that place just so happened to be Square, the company I’m with now. I should add I wasn’t super into games back then. Like, I’d never even played an FF before [laughs]. All I really knew was that Amano did the illustrations for the series, and since I had no hope I’d ever make a living off my own art, I figured at least I should be drawing stuff by someone I like—and Amano’s work is great. So I went ahead and applied to Square. [Image caption:] Nomura’s first gig after joining the company: debugging FFIV. For the interview, I ended up talking to [then vice president of Square, Hironobu] Sakaguchi. Problem was, all I’d brought with me that day were pictures of female characters, and every last one of them had long hair. And so he kept being like, “Wow, you’re really into long hair, huh?” And then I remember him repeatedly asking why I applied to this company in particular… My response was something like, “Because it’s got more style than all the other game companies.” Doesn’t seem like a real persuasive answer, does it? It’s still a mystery to me how that all worked out [laughs]. A Surprise Debut Designing Monsters for FFV And so after this and that, I officially joined Square in April of ’91. But it’s not like they had me doing art right off the bat. When I joined up, FFIV was in the last stages of debugging, so I spent a bunch of days camped out in the office helping with that. And then as soon as that finished, it was on to developing FFV. I got a request to do a picture of a monster, and after that they had me drawing monsters nonstop. It was all pixel art, but still, I’d say that was my debut as a graphic designer. [Image caption:] Nomura’s graphic design debut: FFV. I preferred to draw people and animals and stuff, so designing monsters was a pretty sweet gig. Plus I got pretty free rein to draw what I wanted. Back then, it was just me and one other person in charge of monster design, which meant a ton of drawing work… Speaking of which, you know Gilgamesh from FFVIII? He’s a character I drew back during FFV, but at the time I really wasn’t sure what approach to take with his design. I basically just tried to make him look tough. There honestly wasn’t much more to it than that [laughs]. Monster design wasn’t all I did, though. I also contributed a bunch of ideas for the game…but they all got shot down [laughs]. I was still just a rookie at the company, so everyone was probably like, “The hell is this guy on about?” But I secretly swore I’d get my ideas used
January 13, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
shinraarchaeology.bsky.social
From late 1999 to 2000, Tetsuya Nomura contributed a column to Japanese magazine Game Walker chronicling his career at Square—from FFIV debugger to Kingdom Hearts director. Thanks to moku_moku131459 over on Twitter, we've now got the complete series. So without further ado, here's Vol. 1!
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 1 A Graphic Designer Is Born: The Day Tetsuya Nomura Arrived at Square We’re kicking off a new column focusing on Tetsuya Nomura, of FFVIII fame. This auspicious first installment goes behind the scenes of his industry debut. Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Sprang into the spotlight after his popular FFVII main character designs. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. The Strange and Fateful Path That Led to Square The job I’m doing now [graphic design (i.e., drawing pictures)] is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was little. I thought it’d be great if I could make a living off it some day, you know? But so after graduating technical school, I figured the time had come to find a place to work. I walked into a convenience store one day to look at some job listing magazines, and I suddenly caught sight of this picture by Yoshitaka Amano, who I’m a huge fan of… It kind of got my attention, and I was like, “Huh, maybe I’ll apply to this place.” And that place just so happened to be Square, the company I’m with now. I should add I wasn’t super into games back then. Like, I’d never even played an FF before [laughs]. All I really knew was that Amano did the illustrations for the series, and since I had no hope I’d ever make a living off my own art, I figured at least I should be drawing stuff by someone I like—and Amano’s work is great. So I went ahead and applied to Square. [Image caption:] Nomura’s first gig after joining the company: debugging FFIV. For the interview, I ended up talking to [then vice president of Square, Hironobu] Sakaguchi. Problem was, all I’d brought with me that day were pictures of female characters, and every last one of them had long hair. And so he kept being like, “Wow, you’re really into long hair, huh?” And then I remember him repeatedly asking why I applied to this company in particular… My response was something like, “Because it’s got more style than all the other game companies.” Doesn’t seem like a real persuasive answer, does it? It’s still a mystery to me how that all worked out [laughs]. A Surprise Debut Designing Monsters for FFV And so after this and that, I officially joined Square in April of ’91. But it’s not like they had me doing art right off the bat. When I joined up, FFIV was in the last stages of debugging, so I spent a bunch of days camped out in the office helping with that. And then as soon as that finished, it was on to developing FFV. I got a request to do a picture of a monster, and after that they had me drawing monsters nonstop. It was all pixel art, but still, I’d say that was my debut as a graphic designer. [Image caption:] Nomura’s graphic design debut: FFV. I preferred to draw people and animals and stuff, so designing monsters was a pretty sweet gig. Plus I got pretty free rein to draw what I wanted. Back then, it was just me and one other person in charge of monster design, which meant a ton of drawing work… Speaking of which, you know Gilgamesh from FFVIII? He’s a character I drew back during FFV, but at the time I really wasn’t sure what approach to take with his design. I basically just tried to make him look tough. There honestly wasn’t much more to it than that [laughs]. Monster design wasn’t all I did, though. I also contributed a bunch of ideas for the game…but they all got shot down [laughs]. I was still just a rookie at the company, so everyone was probably like, “The hell is this guy on about?” But I secretly swore I’d get my ideas used
January 13, 2026 at 6:58 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
just doing some normal stuff
January 9, 2026 at 1:15 AM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
hope everyone is staying safe and sane this new year. sorry I don't post much these days, but I find I have increasingly little to say online that wouldn't get flagged in some kind of federal database. also there hasn't been any ffvii news
January 7, 2026 at 7:05 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
tonight we enter the darkest 24 hours of the year
December 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by TurquoiseHammer
1borzoigaming.bsky.social
#borzoi
December 16, 2025 at 11:32 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
slammin gua
December 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
i'm sorry to say 90% of the Frieren angled face challenge art is less compelling to look at than the original drawing. not hating just appreciating the "bad" version
December 5, 2025 at 1:18 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
the ultimania has a roundup of all Rinoa's weird little quotes. Idk how well these came across in English. All I remember is the "your highness" scene
December 2, 2025 at 6:57 PM
turquoisehammer.bsky.social
im a fucking mess
December 2, 2025 at 1:55 AM