Nomura talks with Game Informer about Sora’s hardships, a new original location, and the final battle in Kingdom Hearts III

[Aquaberry 759]

Game Informer’s Kimberly Wallace had previously interviewed Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura at E3 2018. Recently, more of this interview was published and shed some light on Kingdom Hearts III.

 

You can read Nomura's quotes below.

In regards to the Kingdom Hearts III Premiere event…

“The event wasn’t really to get feedback from anyone. It was to show it to everyone and hope everyone there would spread the word and the details about the game. That being said, I didn’t really go around asking for feedback, but the dev team, myself included, does look at all the comments that are online. It’s not that we will change things just because one person says this or that, but we’ve been constantly testing the game. We’ve been in QA for a while now, so we’re constantly adjusting the game based on that feedback and some of the comments online have been taken into consideration.”

 

On Sora keeping his positivity throughout Kingdom Hearts III...

“He is a very bright character in general, but there will be many serious themes with Sora that involve [him] in Kingdom Hearts III. There will be a few times where Sora will be on the edge of despair, but because he’s so bright and he has that personality, he quickly brings it back to a neutral state. I think that’s a strength he has, and another strength he has is this trust and believe in others. I think that’s always been what helped him through the storyline and I think that will be another driving factor for him in Kingdom Hearts III.”

 

On the order in which one should play the Kingdom Hearts games…

“I would recommend going in order of release date, especially because the story hints at things that will happen in future releases. I feel it’s more interesting that way. Of course, that’s not to say you can’t play in chronological order.”

 

On designing Keyblades…

“There has always been a designer of the keyblade in the development team and he has been designing keyblades for most of our Kingdom Hearts titles. I never told him to do this, but at some point he started bringing me three concept arts for one keyblade and I would select from there what I like. So sometimes I’d be like, ‘I like the tip of this keyblade. Can you keep this? Or I like this grip, can you bring this design to here?' There are some keyblades I just like at first glance and I’m like this is the one. It seems what he does is takes a lot of different images of the base world. He kind of has a mosaic on his screen and he just selects and chooses what theme or motif he wants to use. That’s the creative process he goes through and I just select from there.”

 

On what Nomura is most proud and excited about in Kingdom Hearts III…

“There are so many great things to see that it’s really difficult to say [just one thing]. I think what we’ve done as an action game with the combat mechanics is just really great, and the story is a culmination of past decade and more. Of course, there are a lot of surprises that are even greater than the Aqua’s surprise [in the Frozen trailer]. But I think I just want to say that the last battle in the game is something I want everyone to see as well as this new original location that I’ve really wanted to create for a long time now. If I had to say just one though, it’d be the last battle.”

Are you excited about the final battle in Kingdom Hearts III? What kind of hardships are you expecting Sora to go through? Let us know your theories and expectations in the comments!

 

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[VocaloidLover13 165]

I have no doubt that this final battle will be the most epic of the series

[Matthew Dickendasher 33]

I imagine the final battle will take place in kingdom hearts. The heart of all worlds. It gets me hyped thinking how epic it will be!

[Green Sparrow 795]

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

[KHLegendIII 709]

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

 

The Situation Commands were tweaked a bit in the E3 demo, so that's one thing they've done in terms of tweaking so far.

[VocaloidLover13 165]

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

Yeah, that's true. And since one of the reasons for them releasing the demo for those selected persons at first was to hear their feedback, then they will surely take all these things under consideration. Since they have still some time, I am confident they'll modify those things in the future. 

[Seyin95 175]

In relation to tweaking, I hope those white walls get adjusted because even from watching people's footage it just seemed really off putting and for me personally took me out of the world, especially when it appears whole sections have this feature. In relation to hardships this is actually encouraging news.

 

You could have despair as in the fact that the heartless/nobodies and now unversed are not getting weaker despite his best efforts, being worried about the state of his other friends throughout the game or being unable to help any of TAV until the end of the game.

 

However, like we saw in KHII, whilst Sora can be knocked down for a period of time, not only is he at his most dangerous, but it is always a blip before it is back to usual

[Awesome Sauce 634]

Am I the only one really hoping Sora gets some sort of change or development in his character?

[VocaloidLover13 165]

Am I the only one really hoping Sora gets some sort of change or development in his character?

In KHII he is a lot different from KH. He really seemed to have become slightly more adult and serious. And more importantly, he has become more mature. From recent trailers, I see he still has his cheerful side which of course I wouldn't want to fade way. However, I'm confident that he'll become more mature. After all, this game will have a darker theme, so his cheerful personality will be used less. 

However, I wish he doesn't change drastically. And that doesn't seem to be the case

[Awesome Sauce 634]

In KHII he is a lot different from KH. He really seemed to have become slightly more adult and serious. And more importantly, he has become more mature. From recent trailers, I see he still has his cheerful side which of course I wouldn't want to fade way. However, I'm confident that he'll become more mature. After all, this game will have a darker theme, so his cheerful personality will be used less. 

However, I wish he doesn't change drastically. And that doesn't seem to be the case

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

[VocaloidLover13 165]

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

His cheerful traits remained the same, yes. But I noticed that he used more serious expressions, you know

But yeah, you're right, you see :v

[ocean's rage 774]

well at least the long wait is soon to be over

[Fullmetal Keyblade 88]

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

In DDD in went through some darker things then we've seen him go through. Xehanort nearly succeeded in possessing him, and he was asleep(again) for quite some time before Riku could save him. While this was a display of some of Sora's naivety, he was able to reach the conclusion that he wasn't quite strong enough yet to become a Master and was willing to set off to train and accomplish it. While I agree that the overall development for Sora has been slow, he has show considerable growth if you take in every adventure he's had up to this point. What's different about KH3 is that he will go through trials that he hasn't faced before and, (from what Nomura has been hinting at,) will see a friend(s) die. I think this will showcase Sora's growth and maturity more than anything so far, he hasn't really had the chance to really grow.

[KeybladeMasterBalo 504]

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

I mean he was a bit more mature in KHII compared to his childish KH days, from these KHIII trailers we've gotten I can say for sure he is a lot more mature and experienced, whenever he's been talking about Roxas's return and such he is taking things seriously, we still have to see him in these tough situations though. If he ever changed from his cheerful self he wouldn't be Sora anymore, I even think that's what gives contrast in the series with Sora being like that while his BF Riku is quite the contrary.

[Dustin Lübbers 933]

hope you are not abusing him to much nomura sun!

In DDD in went through some darker things then we've seen him go through. Xehanort nearly succeeded in possessing him, and he was asleep(again) for quite some time before Riku could save him. While this was a display of some of Sora's naivety, he was able to reach the conclusion that he wasn't quite strong enough yet to become a Master and was willing to set off to train and accomplish it. While I agree that the overall development for Sora has been slow, he has show considerable growth if you take in every adventure he's had up to this point. What's different about KH3 is that he will go through trials that he hasn't faced before and, (from what Nomura has been hinting at,) will see a friend(s) die. I think this will showcase Sora's growth and maturity more than anything so far, he hasn't really had the chance to really grow.

 

 

you could argue that he already experienced a friend die when goofy got hit. So my Idea would be to make it different and more horrible is to let sora watch one of his friends suffer because of him and than die and also for real this time

[Tyranto Rex 277]

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

 

I thought the situation commands were made more frequent for the demo only so people could experience all of them? Or could I be wrong?

 

 

I'm all for  (Sora growing as a character, but at the same time don't want him to loose his cheerful, friendly personality. I don't think him being cheerful or silly makes him less mature in the slightest. Heck, some characters like Riku and Roxas have acted quite immature themselves despite being the "more serious" characters (Riku in KH1 mostly, and I think Roxas lent some of his frustration to Sora in KH2).

[Merilly 438]

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

 

Because that's the point, isn't it? Especially DDD and 0.2 established that it has to be Sora exactly because he is who he is. If they were to change his personality too drastically, that whole point would have been for naught.

 

I can understand that you'd like some character development and I guess it's normal to expect some changes after all that's happened to him, but I personally don't mind the lack of it. Mainly because character development is not always a requirement for a good story. Someone can basically stay more or less the same without being majorly impacted or traumatized and it can still be the right decision.

 

Quite frankly, it would strike me as odd if Sora were to change too much because, even though it's confirmed to be darker, something really atrocious would need to happen for him to have an extreme change in personality. Which would be hard to explain in such a franchise.

 

Character development usually happens gradually. What didn't happen in the last few games would be unbelievable for me in KH3.

 

I get where you're coming from and sometimes character development is necessary, especially if the plot is solely character-driven, but a series can also do without every character receiving a development in my opinion depending on the setting.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Thanks for sharing this with us, Aquaberry!

 

Dang, so Sora is going to be going through the emotional wringer, huh? It's to be expected, considering the high stakes that are at play. I'm sure that Sora will go through experiences that will definitely change him, but I don't think that his positive energy will be stripped from him, because a major part of who Sora is stems from his positive demeanor. It's what draws people to him, and it's what makes him who he is. I relate to Sora strongly, and I myself am a person that has gone through much, but through it all, I've done my best to remain smiling, no matter the trials and tribulations that come my way, ya know? So I'm sure that Sora will go through much, but he'll push through!

 

As for the part of the interview concerning Keyblade designs, I always thought that it was Nomura himself who designed them, but I find it cool that there's a guy in the team that is in charge of the overall designs!

 

Gahhh, Nomura keeps hyping up the final battle and the location of it and everything, and it just gets me all the more hyped and psyched for what's to come in that final world! I will gobble that final battle up to itty bitty pieces because of how good I know it will be! So much hype!!!! X_X

[Dagesh Lene 366]

Gahhh, Nomura keeps hyping up the final battle and the location of it and everything, and it just gets me all the more hyped and psyched for what's to come in that final world! I will gobble that final battle up to itty bitty pieces because of how good I know it will be! So much hype!!!! X_X

 

I don't think he said that the final battle will be in a new location.  What he said was, "But I think I just want to say that the last battle in the game is something I want everyone to see as well as this new original location that I’ve really wanted to create for a long time now. If I had to say just one though, it’d be the last battle.”  Unless I'm misinterpreting his quote, it sounds like he's saying that he's excited for fans to experience two things: the last battle and the new original location.  Also, unless I'm misinterpreting his quote again, it sounds like he's saying that if he had to choose just one thing that he's excited for fans to experience, it would be the final battle and not the new original location.  So, it sounds to me like the final battle and the new original location are two different things.