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Rieko Kodama, legendary JRPG developer, passed away earlier this year

Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
The Genesis Mini 2 has a dedication screen that reads "In memory of Rieko Kodama" on it, and Yosuke Okunari, who worked on the Mini 2, confirmed her death in this tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1585436886415593472

She made Phantasy Star, the 7th Dragon series, the Saturn version of Magic Knight Rayearth, and Skies of Arcadia, as well as much else. RIP, Phoenix Rie. Damn.
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Sega subsequently confirmed that Kodama died in May, but was unable to share any further details out of respect for the privacy of her family.

Gutted. I will be beating the three major games of hers on my to-do list that I haven't beat yet: Phantasy Star II, Magic Knight Rayearth on the Saturn, and Skies of Arcadia. I've beaten most of the rest of her RPG work - the 7th Dragon series, particularly on PSP and 3DS, might be my favorite of hers (though I'm due a replay of Phantasy Star IV, which I really liked as well).
 
Purple

Purple

(She/Her)
Kazin said:
She made Phantasy Star, the 7th Dragon series, the Saturn version of Magic Knight Rayearth, and Skies of Arcadia, as well as much else. RIP, Phoenix Rie. Damn.
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Off the top of my head, there's also Altered Beast, Valkyria Chronicles, and while she wasn't the lead, she was the artist for Alex Kidd and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Which is really overall just a phenomenal career and it's baffling that we don't have dozens and dozens of interviews with her at this point.
 
Peklo

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
Purple said:
Valkyria Chronicles
Click to expand...

Vyse and Aika cameo in it because the game shared staff with Overworks and other previous Sega production teams, but I think that's the only connection to any of her works. She's not credited as a developer for it and I can't recall her ever talking about it in context of her career.
 
ArugulaZ

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
I think they also talk to her in the PSP version of the Sega Genesis collection. I'll have to run it real quick and check.

EDIT: Yeah, it's in there.
 
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SpoonyBard

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
Terrible news. I've been replaying Phantasy Star IV lately, as well as playing its randomizer a bunch, so I've had the series on my mind.
 
FelixSH

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Wow, what an amzing body of work. Maybe it's time to replay Phantasy Star I and II, or to actually play through the whole of IV.
 
estragon

estragon

That's depressing.

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(pretty sure the second is her too because she did this design, but the words are too small and low quality to read so it's hard to say... anyone seen a better scan of this?)
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I'd also like to know what art she did for Sonic 1 and 2, because the art in those games is all fantastic.
 
ASandoval

ASandoval

Old Man Gamer
(he/him)
Kazin said:
I'd also like to know what art she did for Sonic 1 and 2, because the art in those games is all fantastic.
Click to expand...
I showed the clip of her receiving the GDC pioneer award in 2019 in my class today and according to Brandon Sheffield, she did the background art for both games. I'll post the clip when I'm home later.
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Well, shit, the background art in those games is great. She ruled. Look at this:

de2mzey-2b56b81c-16ba-4964-8a5d-155d6a886e76.gif
 
Peklo

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
The piece she did (as far as I'm aware) to represent Phantasy Star for series-spanning soundtrack releases/the game's eventual Mega Drive port--where it can be found on the back cover--is one of my favourite pieces of game art ever.

HeHNgTJ.jpg
 
Purple

Purple

(She/Her)
People downplay her contributions a lot, but I really do think "the Miyamoto of Sega" is a fair description.
 
FelixSH

FelixSH

(He/Him)
The Axe of the Bloodgod podcast (by Nadia Oxford and Kat Bailey) has republished an old episode about Phantasy Star. I think it was formerly one that only paying patreon members could listen to, but due to the circumstances, they made it available to everyone. Have only listened to half of it, and the beginning contains a few other things, but the main topic is the first Phantasy Star.
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I'd like to listen to that but hate Soundcloud - is there a way to download it somewhere?
 
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