Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy designer Manabu Daishima dies aged 45

Manabu Daishima, a Square Enix designer who contributed to some of the studio’s best-known RPGs, has passed away.

During his time at Squaresoft (which later became Square Enix), Daishima worked on titles such as Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana and Parasite Eve, as well as multiple Final Fantasy entries including IX, XII and VII spin-off Dirge of Cerberus.

Across the titles, he worked on design elements as diverse as monsters, maps and worlds (both 2D and 3D), backgrounds, battle effects and field graphics.

The first title Daishima worked on was 1991’s Final Fantasy IV, where he was credited with a special thanks in its credits, and his latest release appears to have been 2010’s The 3rd Birthday, on which he served as a backgrounds graphics artist.

Daishima was diving offshore from Ito, Japan with two companions on July 30th when he lost consciousness four metres beneath the surface. He was pulled to shore and taken to hospital, but sadly was later confirmed dead. Police are to investigate the cause of his death, according to Japanese news outlet Mainichi (via Kotaku).

He was just 45 years old.