KH13 staff were at Square Enix's "Uncovered -Final Fantasy XV" event in Los Angeles on Wednesday and managed to grab an exclusive interview with director Hajime Tabata and Kingdom Hearts series creator Tetsuya Nomura, who were both at the event, sitting just a few rows ahead of us! You can read the interview below:
KH13So, let's start off with what we all came here to see, Final Fantasy XV! It finally has a release date of September 30, 2016. How does it feel to finally let fans know when this hotly anticipated title comes out?Hajime TabataIt lifts a great weight off of the development team's chest. We know how long the fans have been waiting for this game, and their desires have been on our minds everyday while working on it, so it gave us great joy to finally know let them know when they can get their hands on it.Tetsuya NomuraWhat fans don't know is that the game always had a projected release date, right from the start of development back in 2006. However, Tabata and his team managed to move it up about a century, which is an impressive feat.KH13There was some very cool footage shown off in the new trailers--our favorite part was the flying car at the end!TabataYes, we've been thinking about how to include an airship in the game and have it fit thematically in the world, and then we remembered that Noctis is rich, so it makes sense that he would have a fancy transforming vehicle.KH13Nomura-san, you haven't had the opportunity to talk about Final Fantasy XV much since being removed from the project. How does the final product differ from what you originally planned?NomuraWell, of course, I wanted Stella in. *laughs* But really, what you see in FFXV isn't too different from what was in Versus XIII, the core of the game is still the same. They've just introduced some things to make it a proper mainline Final Fantasy game, such as including a more lighthearted tone and fantasy elements. In Versus XIII, Noctis and his friends were originally going to be a more realistic group of teenagers, who would complain about their lives, spend their time vaping, and watch overly dramatic anime on streaming sites. Obviously this wouldn't fly in what is currently Final Fantasy XV.TabataWhat is common in both though is that this group truly cares about each other a lot, and their friendship is the foundation of the game.NomuraAnd friendship as a theme is present in all of my works, so, at its heart, XV is still my game, no matter what the credits or Square Enix representatives might say.KH13We truly weren't expecting some of the multimedia projects announced today, such as the Brotherhood anime series, or the Kingsglaive CG feature film. How did these come about?TabataWe wanted to make the launch of a new Final Fantasy a big event, and there was no better way to do that than to pour millions of dollars into supplementary material most fans will only watch once and never again. *laughs* But really, they're just there to expand upon the world Nomura and I have crafted, and we hope people, both those who are interested in FFXV and maybe aren't but are interested in these other works, will get enjoyment out of them.NomuraIn my opinion, it's better than doing a bunch of sequels for the main gane like Toriyama-san did.Tabata*sips drink* It's basically Square's attempt at trying to make this the next Final Fantasy VII.NomuraBut Final Fantasy VII Remake is already the next Final Fantasy VII! *laughs*KH13We also got our first good look at the Final Fantasy VII Remake this past December, which is another project fans have been incredibly eager for. Nomura-san, what's it like taking on the important objective of heading this title?NomuraThere was always internal discussion in the company about remaking Final Fantasy VII, it was just a matter of time before we actually went and did it. We looked at everything we did for the Compilation subseries, and we realized that all of the money we were pouring into that would more or less be about the budget of an actual remake, so we decided to just go for it. VII has always been very near and dear to my heart, so I was very honored to be given the opportunity to direct it after Hashimoto and the Yakuza took me off of XV.TabataYes, and I will be very honored to have to take over that project too after Nomura spends half a decade developing it. *laughs*KH13The game will be released in an episodic format, though, which should prevent it from having too many development troubles, right?NomuraTheoretically, it should. Though each episode will have only have a few hours of gameplay, they will each be sold for the full ￥9500. That's the price of nostalgia. *laughs*KH13We are a Kingdom Hearts fansite, so we have to ask--how's development of Kingdom Hearts III progressing currently?NomuraIt's been progressing very smoothly. We have all the worlds chosen out already, and I think fans will be very surprised to see some of our picks. We'll be able to show off a bit more down the road, so please be excited.KH13Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is also in the works--how did that project come about, and when can we expect to see it on store shelves?NomuraWe decided that after 1.5 and 2.5 ReMIX, it would be cruel to have Dream Drop Distance remain the only Kingdom Hearts title that you have to buy a system other than a PS3 for, so we planned an HD remaster of it. But we couldn't just sell it by itself, though several other developers have done the same for console ports of handheld games by releasing them digitally, so we had to pack some other stuff with it. Kingdom Hearts χ's story is kind of important, so we tossed that in there, and I had some ideas for a potential Birth by Sleep sequel floating around in the back of my head so we made a little thing out of that using our KH3 engine. Of course, since we used current-gen technology to develop it, the game had to be released on PS4 now, meaning players do have to buy a system other than a PS3 to play the entire series, but them's the breaks. And they were going to have to to play KH3 anyway, so we're just speeding up the process. As for when it will be available, we're targeting the end of the year in Japan. As for the West, well, who knows, the people at Square Enix North America are crazy. *laughs*KH13We're also still waiting for the Western release of Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ for mobile devices.Nomura*laughs* Can't help you with that, buddy.KH13Square Enix clearly went all out for the release of Final Fantasy XV, is there any chance Kingdom Hearts III might get a similar treatment, such as an anime and a feature film, closer to its launch?NomuraI can imagine some things we'd do for that. For a feature film, at least, I think it would be really cool if we could tell a story set during the Keyblade War. But that's all up to Disney.KH13Tabata-san, do you have any projects lined up after the completion of Final Fantasy XV?TabataFirst things first, after the launch party, I'm going to take a long vacation, relax with my family, and drink a lot of German beer. *laughs, sips drink* As for future games, if fans have played to the end of Final Fantasy Type-0, they'll get a little tease of what's to come. It will be edgy and very pretentious.KH13If we may ask some non-game-related questions, the new Star Wars movie came out last year, did you guys see it?TabataYes, of course, I thought it was pretty cool. I especially liked the character Kylo Ren, and I think he would fit fit in very nicely with Noctis' gang, since he wears all black.NomuraI might try to see if I can get him in Kingdom Hearts III actually.KH13Also, Captain America: Civil War comes out later this year, and is poised to be a major film event worldwide. Our readers would like to know, whose side are you on?TabataI am very much on Team Iron Man. Superheroes are crazy, and they really need someone to hold them down and tell them what to do.NomuraThough I despise Westerners, I have to side with Team Captain America. All the Avengers want to do is help people, who cares if they cause a little damage in the process. The government's a bunch of farts.KH13Are there any last words you'd like to say for the audience who will be reading this interview on Friday, April Fool's Day?TabataThe development team has been hard at work cleaning up Nomura-san's mess, and we believe the game will be worth the wait. We're looking forward to hearing what you think of it this fall.NonuraThe future of Kingdom Hearts is shaping up to be an exciting one, and everyone on my team thanks you for sticking with it for the past fourteen years. 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be an engaging predecessor to KH3, which will be the culmination of all the stories and characters you've fallen in love with over the years.TabataWait, did you say this is going up on April Fool's? What if someone mistakenly thinks this whole interview is a joke?
KH13 staff were at Square Enix's "Uncovered -Final Fantasy XV" event in Los Angeles on Wednesday and managed to grab an exclusive interview with director Hajime Tabata and Kingdom Hearts series creator Tetsuya Nomura, who were both at the event, sitting just a few rows ahead of us! You can read the interview below:
APR 2015 | APR 2014 | APR 2013 | APR 2012Edited by J. Severe