Akihiko Yoshida, a long-time Square Enix veteran and famed character artist, has signed on with Playdek to work on the Unsung Story franchise.

Playdek announced the news via a Kickstarter update, describing Yoshida as “one of the greatest character and game artists of all time”.

The artist is “joining the core team at the base goal level and will be creating character artwork for Unsung Story”, and in a video address to fans, said he finds the story concept for Unsung Story quite exciting.

Yoshida left Square Enix in December, promising to continue work on the Bravely Default series.

His past credits include Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn; notably, he’s often worked closely with Vagrant Story creator Yasumi Matsuno, who leads the Unsung Story project.

A tactical RPG, Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians is looking for $600,000 on Kickstarter. It is one of two announced projects in the series, the other being a mobile card game.

Thanks, Joystiq.