Nomura talks Kingdom Hearts III & HD 1.5 ReMIX with FFWorld & FFRing

[DChiuch 5,773]

FFWorld and FFRing have published an interview with the director of the Kingdom Hearts series, Tetsuya Nomura. Here, Nomura discusses both Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, focusing on the philosophy behind the development of the games. We have translated FFRing's full transcript of the interview from French into English for you (The FFWorld article is about the same interview, but it is not a full transcript.), and this can be read below. Please remember to credit all websites involved if you use this translation.

Kingdom Hearts was your first title as a director. What do you think about this game today?

 

Nomura: It is of course more than ten years since the game came out, but I still do not think it has aged. Instead, it always has a certain freshness. At the time, the game team, including myself, had worked passionately on it, and that's probably why it gives me that impression, even ten years later.

Have you been tempted to add more things to the HD remastering of Kingdom Hearts than just graphics and controls?

Nomura: Everything that was in the original game worked very well for its balance, and for the system we had imagined at the time. Although I designed many other gaming systems in the ten years that followed, I think that this balance would be upset if I was to integrate the first Kingdom Hearts. My only regret is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, for which we could only release the cinematics in HD. I wished to include this episode as a playable in HD 1.5 ReMIX, but unfortunately we could not do it because we had to prioritize the development of Kingdom Hearts III, which fans have been waiting for. This is why we have not added other things to the HD version.

Will you do other HD remasters in the future?

Nomura: There is of course other episodes of Kingdom Hearts that we have not yet been published in HD, so if we had the chance, we would like to do so in the future.

With the announcement of Kingdom Hearts III, we can say that you have entrusted the future of the series in the Osaka team. Are they up to the challenge?

Nomura: The Osaka studio developed HD 1.5 ReMIX, so we can not say that they have never worked on the current console generation. But you're right, in the case of Kingdom Hearts III, it is actually the first time they have developed a completely new numbered episode, on next generation consoles at that. This is why we have made ​​many preparations and extensive tests to date. As I feel that the preparations are complete, we were able to get in the development phase.

However, as your main team at Square Enix is situated in Tokyo, do you not have difficulty communicating with the Osaka team?

Nomura: In fact, the co-director and producer Tai Yasue and Rie Nishi are there. They are key members of the Kingdom Hearts project, so when they need to discuss a lot of different topics with me, they come to Tokyo. This is our usual method of working. But as technology is ever advancing, our new offices in Shinjuku are now equipped with a video conference system. Now, Yasue and Nishi can send me their materials or proposals in advance, which allows me to add my comments or my drawings and show them on camera in our video conferencing. In addition, there is no time difference, so even if we are far apart, it is easy to work.

So we can say that you supervise the team more than you do the head?

Nomura: Yes, especially this time with Kingdom Hearts III. Yasue and Nishi's teams offer me lots of ideas and we discuss together to know what we will keep or not.

Is it surprising?

Nomura: They offer me many interesting ideas, of course. After all, the more the merrier, the more the merrier. So it is always better to have a whole team to think, rather than myself. This is beneficial. The past ten years of existence, the Kingdom Hearts series has found its own identity even though many were initially surprised by the alliance between Square and Disney.

Do you think it is always helpful to include characters from Final Fantasy in KHIII?

Nomura: It is not because the Kingdom Hearts series is now well established that we do not need to add characters from Final Fantasy, it is actually that we have published a number of derivative episodes on portable consoles in recent years, and because of the technical limitations of these platforms, the volume of the story was rather limited. For KHIII, disk space is much larger, so we can actually deepen the story and are adding more characters. It really depends on the size of the game. It is quite possible that we will integrate many Final Fantasy characters.

[Skai 3,961]

Oh cool, Nomura actually gave us some information this time, instead of just repeating what he says over and over again.  Really want more updates on KH3 though... Come on Nomura, don't let us down!!

[XxCobaltxX 321]

so that's why they didn't make 358 playable..i could've waited a couple more months for KH3 and 1.5 if they were going to make Days playble

[Reyn 1,755]

OMG THERE'S SPACE TO ADD MANY FF CHARACTERS??!!

 

THIS MEANS WE MIGHT GET THE FF XIII AND XV CHARACTERS IN KH3!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Connected 978]

 

Will you do other HD remasters in the future?

Nomura: There is of course other episodes of Kingdom Hearts that we have not yet been published in HD, so if we had the chance, we would like to do so in the future.

ways better to have a whole team to think, rather than myself. This is beneficial. The past ten years of existence, the Kingdom Hearts ntegrate many Final Fantasy characters.

 

 

 

So no kh 2.5 ?

[panosgate7 52]

Finally, some new information came out of Nomura's mouth!!!

[KH4Real 749]

He really wanted us to fight the dustflier.

Mayby Re:Coded will be playable after all.

Edited July 24, 2013 by KH4Real

[Lalalablah 1,538]

Oh cool glad to hear some new news

[Janssye 24]

So no kh 2.5 ?

 

I really want kh 2.5

[Cucco 1,907]

Yay more final fantasy characters in kh info

[Rob 5,571]

So no kh 2.5 ?

 

You'll see in the coming months.

[Xiro 3,468]

Eh, still think they should've made Days playable. I could have waited a bit longer for 1.5 and KH3 being announced. But I guess some people are impatient...

[Isaix 924]

So no kh 2.5 ?

I'm pretty sure its just a mistraslation or something because the rest or the sentence really implies that 2.5 WILL happen

[EternalReckoning 1,135]

is this an implication that 2.5 is not under production or is it possible he is leading us on....

 

a question bothering many kh fans around the world right now.

[SHAZOW 269]

OMG THERE'S SPACE TO ADD MANY FF CHARACTERS??!! :DTHIS MEANS WE MIGHT GET THE FF XIII AND XV CHARACTERS IN KH3!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Yeah there can, but he can just not add them. You know how he is. And we don't know if time comstraints will effect the development of Kingdom Hearts 3

[CanonFodderKing 0]

Glad as I am to here about new Final Fantasy characters (even though I've never played any of those games) I was really hoping to get that Roxas fight...

[Reyn 1,755]

Yeah there can, but he can just not add them. You know how he is. And we don't know if time comstraints will effect the development of Kingdom Hearts 3

Well its A NUMBERED TITLE. He's GOTTA HAVE NEW FF CHARACTERS IN IT. Seriously. At least have the XIII characters in there.

[luka 23]

I'm pretty sure 2.5 is confirmed .

[juma086 263]

2.5 is all but confirmed, guys. We just need an official confirmation.

[Daniel Black 1,981]

OMG THERE'S SPACE TO ADD MANY FF CHARACTERS??!!

 

THIS MEANS WE MIGHT GET THE FF XIII AND XV CHARACTERS IN KH3!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

My hopes are for Rinoa and zidane or garnet... also XIII cast would be interesting... Mmmm just wait

[SHAZOW 269]

2.5 is all but confirmed, guys. We just need an official confirmation.

TGS 2013 please don't let me down...

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

More FF characters!!!! YAY!

[Ultima Spark 753]

So no kh 2.5 ?

 

He all-but-confirmed 2.5 in an earlier interview