Tai Yasue talks Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX & Kingdom Hearts III with Stevivor

[Power Jusho 1,783]

Following E3 2014, Stevivor has had the privilege of interviewing Tai Yasue, the co-director of the Kingdom Hearts series. In this interview, Yasue discussed both Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts III, revealing some interesting details about what was considered for the games. With a big thanks to Stevivor, you can read this interview below. Thanks go to Dimi3Infinity from KH13 for the find.

 

Shane Wall, Stevivor: What improvements were you able to make with the titles included in Kingdom Hearts 2.5 compared to their original versions?

 

Yasue: For Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix we remade Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and also Kingdom Hearts Re:coded as a theatre cinematic were you can see the cutscenes. We were much more used to making a PS3 game after doing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix so we had a lot more time to redo a lot of the graphics and a lot of the sounds, so quality-wise it has gone up. I guess that’s one of the big changes and also I guess for Re:coded we got some feedback about Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Fans told us they wanted us to include more battle scenes so forRe:coded we added a lot of battle scenes and totally remade them into cutscenes.

 

Stevivor: With this new collection of games is there any chance you will combine the two collections into one?

 

Yasue: That’s definitely a possibility; no decision has been made yet though. In Japan we are doing a starters pack [with] 1.5 plus 2.5, but so far we haven’t made a decision on what we will do in the American and European market. I guess in the future that is something we can think about.

 

Stevivor: The games are pretty big. Are there any plans to expand them through DLC?

 

Yasue: DLC is a difficult thing. We can’t announce anything yet, DLC-wise, because we really concentrated on the PS3 package this time around with 2.5 and obviously a lot of new games are doing DLC so that’s another avenue for us to think about.

 

Stevivor: These games would be perfect for the PlayStation Vita. Will we see them on the vita in the next few years?

 

Yasue: When we were making 1.5 and 2.5 we really wanted to put them all on the one console. A lot of our players wanted to play because they were all over the place; PSP, DS, PS2. So we really wanted them together in one console. Vita is another option, were not really thinking about it just yet but I guess there are a lot of consoles right? It’s something to think about in the future it’s not something were are doing right now but it’s a possibility I guess.

 

Stevivor: Same thing with the PS4?

 

Yasue: Yeah same thing I guess. It’s definitely a possibility for PS4 but we haven’t come to a decision yet.

 

Stevivor: What kind of difficulties did you encounter bringing three games all from different consoles to one?

 

Yasue: With Birth by Sleep obviously the PSP spec-wise made it difficult to recreate it for PS3. We had to redo a lot of the characters, the models the environments and also the sounds. We added a lot of sounds; the PS3 has a lot more capacity memory wise so were able to make the sound a lot richer. In Cinderella’s Castle you can actually hear fountains gurgling and that sort of thing that we weren’t able to do in the vita version. For Kingdom Hearts II the biggest problem was the screen. The aspect ratio wasn’t 4/8, it's 16/9, so we had a wider screen. A lot of the stuff on the side when we just ported it initially stopped animating and the effects weren’t really appearing. But in the end when you play with the wider screen you can see a lot more and it really helps in the battles.

 

Stevivor: Will you unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III by playing through 2.5?

 

Yasue: No, you can’t really unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III. The plan with 2.5 was to let the user know more about the Kingdom Hearts series with the cut scenes telling the backstory of the other Kingdom Hearts titles but its not going to unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III. That’s not really something we thought about.

 

 

Stevivor: What took more time to make, Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep?

 

Yasue: We have a number of programming teams that would split up for development. There were two for Birth by Sleep and two for Kingdom Hearts II and one kind of overseeing everything. Really both took a lot of effort, we had to change more for Birth by Sleep but Kingdom Hearts II was more vast with a lot more data we had to change so I guess overall it was about the same just for different reasons.

Stevivor: Was it ever planed to bring Re:coded and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days to the collections as playable games?

 

Yasue: It’s a time thing and I guess it’s difficult with the DS and the touchscreen on the bottom. If you want to make it playable you have to rethink all the game design. Without the touch screen it wouldn’t be Re:coded it would be a different game. Right now we are simultaneously making 2.5 and Kingdom Hearts III and we don’t want to slow down the development for Kingdom Hearts III so yeah I guess it was mostly a time thing.

 

Stevivor: Thanks for now slowing down Kingdom Hearts III. I know there are a lot of fanatic fans out there that have been waiting a long time for it.

 

Yasue: No problem, we have a Keyblade here if you’d like to get a photo?

 

Stevivor: That would be amazing. I’ve been staring at that thing since I walked in the door.

 

 

Mr Yasue said I should try and get a photo with the Keyblade in an action pose. I decided this was a challenge I was up to and wanted a shot in mid air.

 

 

Please note the classic Sora pose down to the feet splayed out in front of my body. In case you’re worried for my safety, I know it doesn’t look like it’s possible for me to land on my feet from this position but I made it back to earth safe and sound.

Click here to view the article

[Shulk 8,623]

I'll stick with PS3, thanks.

[143436611Xxcc 1,105]

I`d love a Vita version.

[Yuya Sakaki 5,212]

This is so exciting! I love how their considering convenience for the fans and actually listening to us

 

Peace!

[Oishii 3,987]

Lots of "I can't answer that" and "maybe in the future, probably, not really?"

[Churro 132]

This is so exciting! I love how their considering convenience for the fans and actually listening to us

 

Peace!

 

It's not that they're listening to you guys. They always have to consider each market carefully as well as follow any type of things they can and can't do from their superior's and other types of contract obligations. 

 

Lots of "I can't answer that" and "maybe in the future, probably, not really?"

 

Pretty much the same as any type of Square Enix interview lol

[Sora96 17,256]

Stevivor has had the privilege of interviewing Tai Yasue, co-director of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts III. You can read it below.

Shane Wall, Stevivor: What improvements were you able to make with the titles included in Kingdom Hearts 2.5 compared to their original versions?

 

Yasue: For Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix we remade Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and also Kingdom Hearts Re:coded as a theatre cinematic were you can see the cutscenes. We were much more used to making a PS3 game after doing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix so we had a lot more time to redo a lot of the graphics and a lot of the sounds, so quality-wise it has gone up. I guess that’s one of the big changes and also I guess for Re:coded we got some feedback about Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Fans told us they wanted us to include more battle scenes so for Re:coded we added a lot of battle scenes and totally remade them into cutscenes.

 

Stevivor: With this new collection of games is there any chance you will combine the two collections into one?

 

Yasue: That’s definitely a possibility; no decision has been made yet though. In Japan we are doing a starters pack [with] 1.5 plus 2.5, but so far we haven’t made a decision on what we will do in the American and European market. I guess in the future that is something we can think about.

 

Stevivor: The games are pretty big. Are there any plans to expand them through DLC?

 

Yasue: DLC is a difficult thing. We can’t announce anything yet, DLC-wise, because we really concentrated on the PS3 package this time around with 2.5 and obviously a lot of new games are doing DLC so that’s another avenue for us to think about.

 

KHHD2.5R01

 

Stevivor: These games would be perfect for the PlayStation Vita. Will we see them on the vita in the next few years?

 

Yasue: When we were making 1.5 and 2.5 we really wanted to put them all on the one console. A lot of our players wanted to play because they were all over the place; PSP, DS, PS2. So we really wanted them together in one console. Vita is another option, were not really thinking about it just yet but I guess there are a lot of consoles right? It’s something to think about in the future it’s not something were are doing right now but it’s a possibility I guess.

 

Stevivor: Same thing with the PS4?

 

Yasue: Yeah same thing I guess. It’s definitely a possibility for PS4 but we haven’t come to a decision yet.

 

Stevivor: What kind of difficulties did you encounter bringing three games all from different consoles to one?

 

Yasue: With Birth by Sleep obviously the PSP spec-wise made it difficult to recreate it for PS3. We had to redo a lot of the characters, the models the environments and also the sounds. We added a lot of sounds; the PS3 has a lot more capacity memory wise so were able to make the sound a lot richer. In Cinderella’s Castle you can actually hear fountains gurgling and that sort of thing that we weren’t able to do in the vita version. For Kingdom Hearts II the biggest problem was the screen. The aspect ratio wasn’t 4/8, it's 16/9, so we had a wider screen. A lot of the stuff on the side when we just ported it initially stopped animating and the effects weren’t really appearing. But in the end when you play with the wider screen you can see a lot more and it really helps in the battles.

 

Stevivor: Will you unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III by playing through 2.5?

 

Yasue: No, you can’t really unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III. The plan with 2.5 was to let the user know more about the Kingdom Hearts series with the cut scenes telling the backstory of the other Kingdom Hearts titles but its not going to unlock anything for Kingdom Hearts III. That’s not really something we thought about.

 

KHHD2.5R02

 

Stevivor: What took more time to make, Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep?

 

Yasue: We have a number of programming teams that would split up for development. There were two for Birth by Sleep and two for Kingdom Hearts II and one kind of overseeing everything. Really both took a lot of effort, we had to change more for Birth by Sleep but Kingdom Hearts II was more vast with a lot more data we had to change so I guess overall it was about the same just for different reasons.

 

Stevivor: Was it ever planed to bring Re:coded and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days to the collections as playable games?

 

Yasue: It’s a time thing and I guess it’s difficult with the DS and the touchscreen on the bottom. If you want to make it playable you have to rethink all the game design. Without the touch screen it wouldn’t be Re:coded it would be a different game. Right now we are simultaneously making 2.5 and Kingdom Hearts III and we don’t want to slow down the development for Kingdom Hearts III so yeah I guess it was mostly a time thing.

 

Stevivor: Thanks for now slowing down Kingdom Hearts III. I know there are a lot of fanatic fans out there that have been waiting a long time for it.

 

Yasue: No problem, we have a Keyblade here if you’d like to get a photo?

 

Stevivor: That would be amazing. I’ve been staring at that thing since I walked in the door.

Click here to view the article

[Sora96 17,256]

I`d love a Vita version.

 

They won't even make the PSP version playable on Vita. Lol.

[143436611Xxcc 1,105]

They won't even make the PSP version playable on Vita. Lol.

Well why would they? Theyre making 2.5...

[Kaweebo 3,617]

*whispers softly in Yasue's ear*

 

"Dream Drop Distance DLC..."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Kaweebo

[Sora96 17,256]

Well why would they? Theyre making 2.5...

 

Because almost all of their PSP games are playable on Vita. Only two of them aren't.

[143436611Xxcc 1,105]

Because almost all of their PSP games are playable on Vita. Only two of them aren't.

I heard somewhere it has to do with Utada... Idk... It`s wierd.

[Sora96 17,256]

I heard somewhere it has to do with Utada... Idk... It`s wierd.

 

Link?

[143436611Xxcc 1,105]

Link?

Nothing official, just from word of mouth http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/69391338

[Kevin KH 1]

Why would it be on the Vita? The Vita is irrelevant. Also why the he'll would they have DLC for this? What kind of stupid question is that.

[Sora96 17,256]

Why would it be on the Vita? The Vita is irrelevant. Also why the he'll would they have DLC for this? What kind of stupid question is that.

 

Vita is very popular in Japan. Square Enix is committed to supporting the Vita.

Nothing official, just from word of mouth http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/69391338

 

Similar problem with the other game without a digital version, Crisis Core.

[Master Keeper 687]

Anyone counted how many times "thinking about" has been mentioned in the interview?

[VeNate13 144]

Collectors edition, DLC, and other systems! Finally someone asks all the right questions! Yasue better get thinking!

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Such a perfectly positioned pose!

 

I love the fact that he's actually overlapping Sora and they line up pretty well.

[qwertywarrior16 47]

Maybe a release of all the games on HD after KH3 releases? But most likely not.

[AngeI 11]

Eh KH should stick with being on PS3 though I wouldn't mind if they released the HD collections on xbox either, maybe then my brother can get into it too.

[AaySquare 445]

lol I bet he gets tired of answering almost the same questions.

[KH4Real 749]

They could ask if you want them on all console why not PS3 it is alot easier..

[jadentheman 72]

Vita is relevant. FFX HD was on Vita. People just want to play all KH on the go. Regardless what Nomura said if he wanted KH to stay on one console then KH3 would have been for PS3 lol. Nomura never keeps promises, always changing his mind (Square Heads maybe?)

 

I see a Vita/PS4 version releasing next year, this company is just too predictable now

[Caity 3,946]

Spotted 2 typos, boom boom.

 

I expect at some point a midquel will end up on the Vita.  Or the Vita will be utilized in KH3 requiring you to get it.  

 

Regardless what Nomura said if he wanted KH to stay on one console then KH3 would have been for PS3 lol. Nomura never keeps promises, always changing his mind (Square Heads maybe?)

 

Nomura wanted previously released games to be available on one console so fans can catch up easily without having to buy 4 systems.   He didn't say every KH game including future games, that just wouldn't be progressive and a waste of the newer technology.