Naoki Yoshida

Naoki Yoshida (吉田直樹, Yoshida Naoki?), referred to by friends and fans alike as Yoshi-P, is a game developer and director who joined Square Enix in 2004, working mostly with the Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road games. After the poor reception received by Final Fantasy XIV, he was appointed as the new producer and director for the game, due to his track record as a talented game designer and hardcore MMO player.^[1] He's been known as being very open to the players about his plans, often posting on the official forums late in the nights. He has admitted to sometimes getting sick due to his tight work schedule, and becoming addicted to coffee for the same reason.

He has stated that his favorite Final Fantasy games are Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy VII.

Works in the seriesEdit

In-game appearancesEdit

Final Fantasy XIVEdit

The Wandering Minstrel character is modeled after Naoki Yoshida, and the NPC dialogue refers to his involvement in the project after the initial release. The same model was also used to represent Yoshida's character when showcasing the wallpaper reward obtained during the 2011 Firefall Faire event.

If the Adventurer goes where the Wandering Minstrel was after patch 1.23a, s/he can be teleported to a prison cell where they can speak with the minstrel once more. The NPC will talk about the Seventh Umbral Era poem and explain the meaning behind its verse, as it draws parallels to the "rebirth" of Eorzea and then comments about having seen a new world beyond the void. This can be seen as a sort of Developer's Room, as the minstrel represents Yoshida.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornEdit

The Wandering Minstrel returns to Eorzea and can be met in the Seventh Heaven bar in Revenant's Toll. The Adventurer can accept sidequests from him including the "Minstrel's Ballad", the quest to hunt down the Ultima Weapon once again.

During The Rising event, the Wandering Minstrel appears as an important character in the quest.

GalleryEdit

TriviaEdit

• Yoshida was also a hardcore player of Dark Age of Camelot, and mentioned in an interview that Mythic Entertainment even heard about his character.
• Before joining Square Enix, Yoshida worked on some Hudson Soft games such as the Bomberman and Tengai Makyo series.
• On April 1, 2014, an April's Fools event took place on Final Fantasy XIV official forums where all the forum usernames became "Naoki Yoshida" and also had Yoshida's avatars instead of avatars of their own in-game characters.
• During E3 2016, Yoshida visited various servers on the character "Eee Yoshida", classed as a Level 60 Black Mage. His appearance and glamor matched the Wandering Minstrel aside from weapon and Jewelry.

ReferencesEdit