Nomura interviewed about Kingdom Hearts III & HD 1.5 ReMIX

[Sora96 17,256]

Interview 3: Tetsuya Nomura with Famitsu.com

 

Famitsu.com also had the opportunity to interview Nomura. This interview has a focus on Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV, and will appear in the issue of Famitsu Weekly releasing on June 20, with game screenshots. Staff translator goldpanner has done a very detailed translation of the Kingdom Hearts III parts of this interview, and with a big thanks to her, you can read the whole thing below.

 

---We were surprised that you would release a KHIII trailer so soon, what with KH 3D [Dream Drop Distance] (hereon KH3D) and KH -1.5 HD ReMIX still so recent.

 

Nomura: I know there are many fans who are restless because we have only released spin off titles since KHII, so I decided to announce it along with FFXV. Looking at the stage of development, though, I do think perhaps it is a bit early to be announcing it.

 

---However, it does seem like the visuals already have a solid direction.

 

Nomura: Among the developers we are calling the visuals 'Kingdom Shader'. On original worlds, this is the feel the characters will have. The Shader will adjust depending on the world, so the visuals will match with the style of each Disney World.

 

---Like FFXV, is KHIII being developed on Luminous Studios?

 

Nomura: At present, we are going with Luminous as our main and undergoing investigations. The porting to both PS4 and Xbox One, working by overengineering, is the same. For the section of battle in the trailer we showed, we didn't have time to prepare a clip of it working on the existing equipment because of tool issues, so instead we made an FMV that would give a feel for what is possible in realtime. Even so, the way it moves doesn't look much different at all in realtime.

 

---Please tell us how the action in KHIII will have evolved.

 

Nomura: Right now there's a demo version that works on our existing equipment... and it's an absolute storm (laughs). It goes even beyond 'bold action'. In KHIII you will have a three person party, but depending on the world NPCs will also join in fighting, basically, we're developing some very flashy action. You'll be flying through the sky unfolding into air battles without landing.

 

---Just with Sora (laughs).

 

Nomura: I suppose so (laughs). The enemy AI is becoming rather elaborate, and we'd like for coordinated action to flow from enemies and allies alike. For example, there's a vehicle-type enemy, and we've already got Sora being able to ride that enemy all around during battle.

 

---Lastly, a message for your fans.

 

Nomura: FFXV and KHIII are projects that exist as great rival projects that polish each other up as they are developed. At our private conference, despite KHIII being the lucky last and being at a low stage of development, I'm aleady feeling a response. For KHIII, developments unseen in the KH series so far involving online elements are under investigation, so please look forward to upcoming news. This year in Japan we will be exhibiting at Tokyo Game Show and at Disney's D23 Expo Japan event, so I think there will be more information available around those times.

 

 

Interview 4: Tetsuya Nomura with IGN

 

IGN also had the opportunity to interview Nomura. This interview has a focus on Disney’s Recent Acquisitions and whether they'll appear in Kingdom Hearts III. You can read this below.

 

There’ve been a handful of mornings over the past few years where Tetsuya Nomura, creator of the Kingdom Hearts series and director of Final Fantasy XV, woke up to some pretty interesting news. It turns out, these were the mornings where he awoke to hear word that Disney had purchased another in a litany of interesting companies. From Pixar and Marvel Entertainment, to Lucasfilm and 2014’s possible acquisition of Studio Ghibli, Disney has been quickly evolving into an entertainment Goliath.

 

With news that Disney now owns the rights do these various companies and their respective properties, of course Nomura would get interested and begin imagining the possibilities for those new characters and worlds inside of the Kingdom Hearts universe. In an E3 interview with IGN, he explained, “Whenever I hear of the news, I always say, ‘woah…they’ve done it again.’”

 

“The first thing I do when I find out this news is contact Disney and see if it’s something I can use [in Kingdom Hearts].”

 

We followed up by asking him if Disney had ever answered with a yes, to which he replied, “Disney’s companies are all very different. Sometimes the answer is ‘absolutely no,’ and sometimes the answer is, ‘…hmm, we don’t know...’”

 

Nomura was obviously a bit coy about specific details regarding specific Disney properties, especially considering that Kingdom Hearts III was just announced at Sony’s press conference a few days ago, followed by word that it's coming to Xbox One as well. But he was willing to elaborate a bit more on his relationship with the media giant, saying that, “Disney’s pretty honest. If the situation is really difficult, they’ll say, it’s really difficult. If it’s impossible, they’ll say it’s impossible.

 

Stay tuned to IGN for much more on our enlightening interview with Tetsuya Nomura, including brand new details on Final Fantasy XV.

[Nick Sideris 1,551]

Oh boy oh boy ! The part in the interview #3 where Nomura says that there will be a three person party realllllyyyyyyy excites me !!!!Donald and Goofy will be back  at their usual jobs (following you and spending all their potions in one shot )!!!

[SoraKH 793]

Thats why i love Nomura

 

i love how they are keeping some features from KH2 :')

[Toby 50]

Seems Nomura's saying that any KH game that isn't KH1/2/3 is a spinoff. I thought BBS and 3D were mainline titles too? You have forsaken me, God Nomura!

 

Also it's a shame that the KH3 trailer was all just CGI, but in retrospect it was kinda obvious considering how good it looked. Hopefully we can get some actual gameplay later this year, I'm glad they'll be showing it off at TGS and other events so soon. Thought they were going to avoid revealing info for awhile.

It did indeed look like the ''gameplay'' was either CGI or scripted. It looked really fake gameplay wise.

 

Yeah! They're trying to keep the KH2 system I hope that means we'll have Drive Forms again.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Toby

[King.Mickey 359]

 

Woops replied to the wrong person...Dumb phone...My bad...

 

It'll still look this good or better. The Luminous engine is capable of MUCH more. I'm sure that CGI was meant to resemble what we should expect the graphics to look like. It wouldn't make sense if they showed gameplay like that and it ended up looking worse. Luminous is capable of real-life looking graphics. It may even turn out to be better than what was shown. Edited June 13, 2013 by <King Mickey>

[Iamkingdomhearts1000 1,170]

Representing Pixar i want Toy Story, representing Marvel Entertainment i want The Avengers, representing Lucasfilm i want Stars Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and representing Studio Ghibli i want Spirited Away :].

[LPSmaddie32 3]

Marvel, Pixar and Ghibli worlds would be so awesome. I just hope they stay away from Star Wars. Other than that, i think it would be cool to put some BBS worlds back in there too, like Enchanted Dominion, or Castle of Dreams.

[SoraKH 793]

Marvel, Pixar and Ghibli worlds would be so awesome. I just hope they stay away from Star Wars. Other than that, i think it would be cool to put some BBS worlds back in there too, like Enchanted Dominion, or Castle of Dreams.

 

POCAHONTAS!!

We have wanted that world since BBS ;p

[Nathan Hatton 274]

According to Interview #5 the Xehanort Saga is now the Dark Seeker Chronicle. Hmmm I can dig that..

[KHLegendIII 709]

Is this a new interview from yesterday?

 

 

 

[roxaventus_10 2]

I love the trailer especially the gameplay! And I'm also surprised that this is going to be released in Xbox One too.