Akitoshi Kawazu

Akitoshi Kawazu
河津 秋敏
Kawazu in 2007
Born	(1962-11-05) November 5, 1962 (age 62) Aso District, Kumamoto, Japan
Alma mater	Tokyo Institute of Technology
Occupation	Video game designer
Years active	1985–present
Employer	Square Enix (Square)
Known for	Role-playing video games
Notable work	SaGa The Last Remnant Final Fantasy

Akitoshi Kawazu (河津 秋敏, Kawazu Akitoshi, born November 5, 1962) is a Japanese game designer, director, producer and writer. After joining Square (later Square Enix) in 1985, he went on to become a central developer for the first two Final Fantasy titles, then acted as creator and lead developer for the SaGa series.

Interested in games since his high school days, his first project at Square was a graphic designer for Rad Racer; he then acted as battle designer for Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II. He has since worked on nearly every SaGa title, in addition to creating the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles subseries, smaller projects including The Last Remnant, and serving in an executive role on multiple Square Enix projects.

Kawazu has drawn much of his design inspiration from Western role-playing titles such as Dungeons & Dragons and Wizardry, admitting a liking for sword and sorcery settings in his scenarios. A characteristic of his games is a non-linear design for storylines and exploration, and systems that are not actively explained to players. He also has a deep involvement in each project beyond his credited roles, and tries something new with each game he develops.