Yasue discusses Kingdom Hearts III switch from Luminous to Unreal Engine 4, Nomura's involvement, & Disney properties being considered

[DChiuch 5,773]

In an interview with Eurogamer, Tai Yasue, the co-director of the Kingdom Hearts series, has discussed Kingdom Hearts III in the lead up to Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX's release in Europe. Here, Yasue explained the switch from Luminous Engine to Unreal Engine 4 and its effects on Kingdom Hearts III's development, Tetsuya Nomura's involvement in the development so far, and the prospect of various Disney properties being used in the game. These important portions of the interview can be read below, with a big thanks to Eurogamer.

 

 

 

On Unreal Engine 4:

 

Yasue: "The technology is moving forward a lot. That's something we've learned from the West, I think, in a big way. We're using Unreal Engine 4 right now, and that really has changed the way we make the game. There was nothing wrong with the Luminous engine at all. We decided that Unreal 4 was right for us. There was a huge network of people actually using it, we were communicating with the Japanese people at Epic a lot - it was like a complete product."

 

Yasue: "It was easy to shift to, but at the same time though, there was a lot of stuff specific to Kingdom Hearts that we couldn't really do on Unreal 4 at first. So we had a lot of co-operation from Epic - they did a lot - at the same time we were doing a lot of customisation of the engine as well, to suit our needs. A lot of painstaking detail - the shadows for example, the really vivid colours, that sort of thing - we couldn't really do at the beginning, so we had to remake/customise the engine and add a lot of parameters."

 

Eurogamer: Given that the game began life on Luminous, does that mean work on the initial teaser from E3 2013 had to be completely scrapped?

 

Yasue: "We use the same graphical assets, so we didn't throw any of that away, and I guess a lot of the experience we got from making that for E3, that experience really translated to our development now. It was in our initial production stage, so I think we were learning a lot of stuff while using the Luminous engine."

 

On Nomura's involvement since stepping down from being the director of Final Fantasy XV:

 

Yasue: "Nothing has really changed. The development team is in Osaka, and Nomura-san didn't really do a lot of the detailed stuff, as he's really the sort of creative visionary. We communicate as much as we did previously, so our working relationship hasn't changed at all. We are speeding up things for development, obviously, on Kingdom Hearts 3 as we move along, but I don't think it has anything to do with Final Fantasy."

 

Eurogamer: Has Disney made anything off-limits to the team at Square yet?

 

Yasue: "At our current stage, they have not said no. There's a lot to choose from, a lot of wonderful new IPs. No specifics but there are a lot of new IPs that we are considering and there's a lot on our table, and Disney hasn't said no - we don't have any trouble with that."

 

On the purpose of the HD collections:

 

Yasue: "It's been 12 years since the original Kingdom Hearts came out in 2002; it's been a long while. We want new users to be able to understand the story before going into Kingdom Hearts 3, so I guess that was the plan - making Kingdom Hearts 3 but making it more accessible by making 1.5 and 2.5."

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[Blaze27 40]

Wow that is really great to know thanks DChiuch! I'm glad to see KH3 moving forward in the way that S.E. wants it.

[Master Keeper 687]

So there was nothing wrong with luminous engine but they moved to Unreal Engine 4 because a lot of companies are using it? Is that even a logic? can somebody explain.

[Aru Akise 2,540]

I had been waiting to hear about the change of Engines.

 

I'm glad they found the right tool to work with.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Wait, if there was nothing wrong with the Luminous engine, then why did Unreal 4 become the "better" choice? If something is so different that you have to customize it to fit your needs when you were already making something on an already good engine, then wouldn't it have been a better investment to stick to the Luminous? Also, if Nomura's involvement isn't any different from when he was still working on FFXV, then why boot him from the project at all Square Enix? A lot of these decisions don't really make much sense to me.

[jadentheman 72]

So there was nothing wrong with luminous engine but they moved to Unreal Engine 4 because a lot of companies are using it? Is that even a logic? can somebody explain.

Let me explain. There are no issues I take it but a learning curve to Luminous. Since the Luminous team is working on FFXV there is no one to help the Osaka team. But Unreal Engine 4 was licensed out to Square and there are lots of help and documentation into the engine. It truly is customizable to suit your needs and Epic does have a good support line for it too. Unreal 4 is constantly having new updates every month with something new and amazing. It's a good engine and it's easy to use which for Osaka team who needs to get this game out in a timely matter need the good production line and support UE4 has

[BlankShell 638]

So there was nothing wrong with luminous engine but they moved to Unreal Engine 4 because a lot of companies are using it? Is that even a logic? can somebody explain.

I read that more as Luminous was difficult to use but they didn't want to disparage their own engine, especially when it's still being used (and will be used in the future). It's polite/corporate speak.

[Kingdom Of Me 171]

I like how Disney is letting them use whatever IP they want! They seem to trust SE a lot more since Kingdom Hearts 1, where they wouldn't let them use Micky except for one scene... now he is a major active character in the series... Also Disney seems fine on giving IPs like Marvel and LucasArts over to them without any hassle...

[Joker 1,560]

I like how Disney is letting them use whatever IP they want! They seem to trust SE a lot more since Kingdom Hearts 1, where they wouldn't let them use Micky except for one scene... now he is a major active character in the series... Also Disney seems fine on giving IPs like Marvel and LucasArts over to them without any hassle...

cuse now they know its gunna make cash

I like how Disney is letting them use whatever IP they want! They seem to trust SE a lot more since Kingdom Hearts 1, where they wouldn't let them use Micky except for one scene... now he is a major active character in the series... Also Disney seems fine on giving IPs like Marvel and LucasArts over to them without any hassle...

[hearts of hearts 5]

So Nomura is not that involved with KHIII?, I wonder if he is being put in a corner by S-E. At least we know that the Tokyo team knows how to do a KH game very well.