Can Masato Kato really direct a new Chrono game for Square Enix, now that he's a free-lance scenario writer? It just occured to me that -- apart from really old games from the 80s programmed by young enthusiasts in the basement -- there isn't any game that has ever been directed by a free-lancer.
If I'm not mistaken, a director has to be an employee of the game's company, and Masato Kato notably isn't a Square Enix employee anymore. He's a free-lance scenario writer and hasn't directed a game since Chrono Cross. Perhaps the lack of a director is one of the reasons why a new Chrono game isn't made?
Then again, Yuji Horii has never directed a Dragon Quest game. He's always credited to as Scenario/Game Designer while someone else is the director, yet each DQ has the feel and spirit of Yuji Horii... So a Chrono game written by Kato and directed by someone else could probably still be faithful to the spirit of the series. So perhaps the "lack" of a director isn't actually what's hindering the development of a new Chrono...
Anyway, what do you think? Who would you like to be the director for "Chrono Break"? It would have to be someone from Square Enix, or perhaps from the Nintendo-owned Monolith Soft if they manage to make a collaboration (we can always dream...).
Personally, I would love to see Yasuyuki Honne direct the game: he was the main map/background artist of the Chrono series, and has experiences with game direction since he directed Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins. It's probably awfully unlikely, but it would be awesome. I guess a more realistic choice for Square Enix would be Takashi Tokita, Yoshinori Kitase, or even Akitoshi I-fill-all-the-free-ranks Kawazu. Hiromichi Tanaka would be okay, but he's more a producer than a director it seems (although he did design the battle systems of Seiken Densetsu 3, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross).
