Mitsuto Suzuki (鈴木 光人, Suzuki Mitsuto) was born on April 6, 1973. He is a Japanese composer who has worked for Square Enix since 2006. He is most famous for his work on the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. He has also composed music for games such as the Beatmania series, The 3rd Birthday, and Schoolgirl Strikers.

Early life

Suzuki became interested in music in the early 1980s after his older brother purchased a synthesizer, which Suzuki used to play. He also studied the Electone at Yamaha Music School. During his first year of junior high school, Suzuki bought a digital synthesizer. This allowed him to create music using rhythm machines and synthesizers during his free time. He used multitrack recording to make 60-minute tapes of video game music. In high school, Suzuki was the keyboardist for a Beatles cover band. After finishing high school, Suzuki attended a vocational school, where he studied sound engineering.

Tose and early music career (1993–2006)

Suzuki left vocational school and began working at a game company called Tose. There, he created music for games like Mobile Suit V Gundam and Ultraman Powered. While working at Tose, he started his professional music career as part of a music group named ARP-2600. In 1994, the group released a techno EP called Voices of Planet through Torema Records. After leaving Tose, Suzuki worked at other music companies and continued making music. He later used the name Electric Satie to create an album called Gymnopedie '99, which included electronic versions of songs by Erik Satie. This idea came from his friend Yosuke Kakegawa.

In 2000, Suzuki helped start a synthpop band named Overrocket with Takashi Watanabe and Michiyo Honda. The group released several albums influenced by 1980s and modern synthpop music. Eventually, Suzuki left the band, and Watanabe became the leader and main songwriter.

Square Enix (2006–present)

Suzuki joined Square Enix in 2006 as a synthesizer operator. His first project was the game Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception. He helped the lead composer, Kenichiro Fukui, by programming and creating rhythms for the game's music. He also had the freedom to release electronic albums through Square Enix, including In My Own Backyard in 2007 and Neurovision in 2009. These albums were made at home using software synthesizers and improved with equipment at Square Enix's offices. They are described as "dreamy" and "catchy" and include vocals by Suzuki himself. He chose to sing instead of managing another singer's work. Although the albums were meant to be part of a trilogy, a third one has not been made.

In 2008, Suzuki worked with Masashi Hamauzu on the soundtrack for Sigma Harmonics. His roles included mixing and co-arranging the music. This was difficult because the game's memory was limited, so the music had to be compressed to 16 kHz, and Suzuki had to shorten some tracks. The next year, he arranged some tracks for Hamauzu's score to Final Fantasy XIII. Hamauzu gave him creative freedom to change parts of the music, but Suzuki later said he felt embarrassed about some of his choices.

Suzuki's first major score at Square Enix was The 3rd Birthday in 2010, where he was the lead composer, working with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Shimomura could not complete the soundtrack alone but contacted Suzuki after being impressed with his solo work. Suzuki also invited Sekito to join the project later in the development of The Last Remnant, respecting his musical skills. Although he was happy to compose scores for Square Enix, he felt his style did not change much whether he was writing, arranging, or operating synthesizers. He also composed music for Final Fantasy XIII-2 with Hamauzu and Naoshi Mizuta. Under Motomu Toriyama's direction, the composers created music that was very different from previous Final Fantasy titles, using many styles. Suzuki returned with Hamauzu and Mizuta to compose the music for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII in 2013. He worked with arrangers and performers, including the band Language, made up of friends Kakegawa and Naoyuki Honzawa, and vocalist Kaori.

In 2015, Suzuki was the sole composer for Mobius Final Fantasy, creating all the music for the game's initial release. He believed being the only composer gave him more control over the soundtrack but also brought in other musicians to add variety. Many tracks were added to the game after its release. He also composed music for Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020, which included arrangements of music from the original Final Fantasy VII and new tracks by himself and Hamauzu. He aimed to create music that felt nostalgic and playful

Personal life

Suzuki resides with his wife, who designs dresses. They have a son who is also interested in music.