Tetsuya Nomura talks about the possibility of free and inclusive DLC for Kingdom Hearts III, prioritizing the next title, and rethinking simultaneous worldwide releases after recent leaks

[Aquaberry 759]

We have translated the third and final part of Famitsu's exclusive interview with Kingdom Hearts III director Tetsuya Nomura!

In the previous parts, which you can read here and here, he talked about many interesting aspects of the game, including the requirements for unlocking the secret movie, the power of awakening, how he wrote the scenario (including dialogue) of the game himself, and the new Instagram-like social media present in-game that Sora and Riku can post on with their Gummiphones.

In this part of the interview, Nomura talks about how he would rather publish a free DLC with extra content all at once rather than in an episodic, divided style, and how he'd like to give priority to the next title rather than DLC. He also commented on the game's leak earlier in December, shedding some light on the number of copies of the game actually leaked and how this unfortunate event has led him to reconsider simultaneous/near-simultaneous worldwide releases for his next title.

You can read the translations below, thanks to KH13 Staff @Mio-chan and Solis!

Quote

 

——Speaking of item names, Toy Box Keyblade’s, “Fabo Deputy” [T/N: "ファボデピュティ", pronounced "Fabo Depyuti" in Japanese] is a strange name, I’m intrigued. It has another name before, hasn’t it?

Nomura: Before, when it was in development, we published the name “Infinite Badge”. Fabo Deputy is short for “Favorite Deputy” (laughs). Those words are from a line of Woody in the first Toy Story (as a sound in his voice-box) where he said “You’re my favorite deputy”. There is a restriction for the number of letters/characters, so we can’t put all of it.

——Well that’s an unexpected origin (laughs)! But, as you are looking at so much lines and texts, is there a complicated scenario that both you and Mr. Oka took care of?

Nomura: In term of management Oka occupies this position, and this time we requested Nojima (Issei) as a supervisor, from the last battle to the ending, and asked about the part we had troubles with. After that, there are four people who coordinate and perform proofreading, it can become complicated if there are missing bits at the end of the development. Still, this is quite a small group of people for a title of this magnitude.

——I see. Then, I am also wondering if there are scenarios and battles added by DLC and such after the release.

Nomura: The staff is currently on vacations, and I cannot say the details. I haven’t reached a decision, but for paid DLC I don’t think it would be divided content [T/N: published in separate DLCs, such as episodes], but we can provide something with high content all at once. Plus, apart from that, we are also considering publishing them for free. I would like to give priority to the next work rather than doing DLCs for a long time.

——”Next work”......That’s true! Now that we’re close to the release date [T/N: Note that this interview was conducted and published before the game's release in Japan], could you tell us about your feelings right now?

Nomura: I thought I would be relieved, but I haven’t been able to rest and relax (bitter smile). There was some trouble with ROMs being illegally obtained outside Japan.

——Is there anything you can say about that incident?

Nomura: We can’t really talk in depth about the circumstances of the incident because it’s already left our hands, but… We know for a fact that wrong information has been spreading, with people thinking that “there are many copies have flowed out and there are multiple leak origins,” but in actuality there were only 4 copies out there, and even though there was only one origin for all the other leaks, information has spread saying there are many. However, because of that one, it is terribly unfortunate that this made many fans waiting for “KHIII” sad. Because this incident happened, releasing worldwide simultaneously is a high risk [T/N: by 'worldwide simultanously' he means either on the same date or a few days apart, such as KH3’s near-simultaneous worldwide release with only a 4 days difference], so for my future titles, at least for packaged versions, I will need to rethink releasing them worldwide simultaneously.

——This was an unfortunate incident for fans, but I think everyone knows that it’s nonsense to rate the game with rumors [T/N: or 'reputation']. Now that the release date is closing by, all that’s left to do is to have fun.

Nomura: I wish for everyone to play it themselves and decide. We put “enjoyment” as the main goal when making “KHIII.” Every aspect and the staff’s effort is there for the enjoyment. I hope people will look at its every corner as this “KHIII” has many “enjoyments.”

See all the pictures published with this interview in the gallery below!

Follow our master coverage of Kingdom Hearts III here and on social media!

Recent articles:
- Kingdom Hearts III releases in Japan
- Worldwide reviews for Kingdom Hearts III published
- Tetsuya Nomura discusses the power of awakening, Roxas, and secret ending requirements in Kingdom Hearts III
- Tetsuya Nomura discusses writing the scenario (including dialogue) for Kingdom Hearts III and the game's own Instagram-like social network

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[ocean's rage 774]

wait infinity badge is called favourite deputy in japan? thats awesome

Edited January 25, 2019 by ocean's rage

[Allwil13 754]

Fingers crossed that they make the DLC free. That would be amazing. Since he mentioned that they're considering it, it's an actual possibility!

[Green Sparrow 795]

Can all of us just collectively call BS on the "haven't made up my mind yet on DLC" thing? Check out any interview with developers with DLC (FFXV, Horizon Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, etc.), Post-launch content is decided months (sometimes even a year) before a game is released. Even the Final Mix content of the past wasn't just "stuff" that Nomura came up with after launch. They were typically things that were already in development or that he wanted in the original game, but just ran out of time. Nomura has also intentionally lied before.

"We're looking into potential HD remasters", 1 month later 1.5 is announced.
"D23 won't be that big", Pixar joins KH and a release year is given.
"Idk if FF7R will be a thing" it had been an official project at Square for a year.

This isn't a Nomura rant. He uses his lies and slight of hand for the side of Good!  I'm just saying, I think if he knows EXACTLY what the DLC is going to be lol

[LunaCatte 169]

43 minutes ago, Allwil13 said:

Fingers crossed that they make the DLC free. That would be amazing. Since he mentioned that they're considering it, it's an actual possibility!

That part, based on other translations of interviews, is primarily saying that he wants to do ONE BIG PAID DLC, and also (“apart from that”) create FREE small DLC updates. Like maybe new Keyblades or customization (he’s hinted at wanting to add 0.2 style customization post-launch) kind of thing. Nothing overly complicated or with real story behind it, just fun little updates.

[Allwil13 754]

1 minute ago, LunaCatte said:

That part, based on other translations of interviews, is primarily saying that he wants to do ONE BIG PAID DLC, and also (“apart from that”) create FREE small DLC updates. Like maybe new Keyblades or customization (he’s hinted at wanting to add 0.2 style customization post-launch) kind of thing. Nothing overly complicated or with real story behind it, just fun little updates.

I'd be down with that, too. Horizon Zero Dawn did that and it was well worth the money! It added a whole extra 20+ hours of gameplay and a ton of extra stuff. So if Square Enix wants to follow in their shoes I will happily shell out some extra $$$ for extra content.

[LunaCatte 169]

2 minutes ago, Allwil13 said:

I'd be down with that, too. Horizon Zero Dawn did that and it was well worth the money! It added a whole extra 20+ hours of gameplay and a ton of extra stuff. So if Square Enix wants to follow in their shoes I will happily shell out some extra $$$ for extra content.

I completely agree. Especially if they’re going to add to the game in the vein of a Final Mix, nowadays they could expand on that kind of thing so much more than in previous titles where disk space was SO limiting.

[Allwil13 754]

2 minutes ago, LunaCatte said:

I completely agree. Especially if they’re going to add to the game in the vein of a Final Mix, nowadays they could expand on that kind of thing so much more than in previous titles where disk space was SO limiting.

Yeah, exactly. I don't expect an extra disney world or anything but I do think that they probably could do an extra world if they wanted to. I imagine they'll add a secret boss or two, a couple new keyblades, etc. I probably will hope for a new world, but I won't hold my breath. The fact that he said one DLC with high content is what gives me hope for a new world. High content indicates to me that they'd like to add a hefty amount of bonus material to the game. The price will also be indicative of just how much it will include, I think. If it's like 5 bucks or something then there probably won't be a new world, but 15-20 bucks? That could be a new world.

[SweetYetSalty 330]

If they do put DLC in I wonder what could be added? Extra secret boss fights maybe? I imagine it wouldn't be major story events though.

[VocaloidLover13 165]

Deep dlc would make me deeply happy. I feel KH3 has a lot of potential that will go to waste if they decide to not add dlc, given how much replay value it'll gain then. After all, future kingdom hearts games may have different gameplay, so it'd be cool to have a more complete game.

It's already complete but, given how much "deep dlc" resembles "final mix", I feel it's a need despite how it already looks like. Either way, I'll be happy with any decision he takes.

[Dustin Lübbers 933]

Nomura is best boi

 

4 hours ago, SweetYetSalty said:

If they do put DLC in I wonder what could be added? Extra secret boss fights maybe? I imagine it wouldn't be major story events though.

Probably which also will give us some clues for the future

 

Also free dlc? Nomura is best boi