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GamesTM magazine interview with Tetsuya Nomura discusses Disney's role and the possibility of multiple playable characters in Kingdom Hearts III

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In a recent interview with GamesTM magazine, Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, answered a few questions about Disney's influence on the series and the possibility of having multiple playable characters in Kingdom Hearts III. In short, Nomura claims that Disney has never stopped the Kingdom Hearts team from doing something they wanted to do. At most, they've suggested having a lighter tone or happier endings, but unique story elements of Kingdom Hearts were never disagreed upon by Disney.

 

The interviewer also mentions a theme to the numbered titles in the series, noting that Kingdom Hearts had one playable character and Kingdom Hearts II had two playable characters. The interviewer asks Nomura if the trend will continue with three playable characters in Kingdom Hearts III. The full interview can be read below:

 

-Disney is very franchise-oriented - we'll never see the "final" Mickey Mouse story - is there a pressure to keep Kingdom Hearts going forever?

 

Nomura: The discussion of the end of Kingdom Hearts has never come up between me and Disney, so I don’t know what their intentions are. But while creating Kingdom Hearts, with each generation I think to myself “This should be something that can’t be accomplished by just Disney”. It has to be something uniquely Kingdom Hearts. So it’s a matter of how long can I keep creating for Kingdom Hearts! I don’t know if the fans would enjoy it as much if it was just Disney, if it wasn’t a combination of Disney and my own creativity.

 

-Has there been anything that Disney has stopped you from doing?

 

Nomura: I don’t feel they inhibited anything. The Disney worlds that appear within our game are their franchise so they’re interested in maintaining those worlds. But anything unique to Kingdom Hearts hasn’t been a source of disagreement from Disney. Of course, sometimes when we’re writing the story then sometimes they ask us to give it a lighter tone or happier ending – but they haven’t stopped us from doing anything.

 

-What has skipping the PS3 era allowed you to do with this new iteration of the Kingdom Hearts systems?

 

Nomura: There wasn’t a specific intention to skip a generation other than Kingdom Hearts being on a console has a very high bar to reach. Fans who love the series would want something even greater than Kingdom Hearts II. Unfortunately, during that period I didn’t get the chance to start on a project that big and other key developers were working on other projects. We needed to get our experience and polish our skills at creating Kingdom Hearts games so that there was a proper preparation for a big title like Kingdom Hearts III. It just happened that this preparation took the life cycle of the PS3.

 

-Since you switched engines during development, what was that transition like? Did it take the team a long time to adapt to that new engine or was is relatively smooth?

 

Nomura: The transition was quite a process. We pretty much had to start from the ground again. We had to make sure that we could recreate our key effects in the Unreal Engine and that the effects we specifically needed for Kingdom Hearts could be adapted. We were also developing a Kingdom Hearts-specific shader and we had to make a lot of adjustments so we could use that shader on the new engine. That goes a long way to explaining the long distance between the announcement and now, when we’re able to reveal more information about the title.

 

-Are new battle systems based on modifications you wanted for the previous games but couldn't achieve on the previous hardware?

 

Nomura: I feel that going through the different spin-off titles and ideas for battle systems, how the gameplay there works, we kind of learned from that and implemented a new battle system as well as introducing new and unique moves. There’s also the Keyblade Transformation which is involved around the plot point where Sora has gone through a test of mastery so it makes sense story-wise that this transformation is part of his combat. There have been many bold additions to Kingdom Hearts III in combat and those are only possible because we have access to the better hardware but it hasn’t necessarily been things I couldn’t have done then. It’s more that I learned from the experiments of the spin-offs.

 

-In the first game there was one playable character, in the second there were two - will there be three in the third?

 

Nomura: It’s a secret but by saying that we imply that maybe something’s going on. We can’t disclose anything but, maybe, something will happen there.

His response, and the fact that Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- was originally in Kingdom Hearts III seem to hint that we may be controlling more than just Sora in Kingdom Hearts III! Do you want multiple playable characters in Kingdom Hearts III or do you just want to stick with Sora? If you do, who do you want to play as? Let us know in the comments!

 

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PLEEEEEEAASE NOMURA, MAKE KAIRI PLAYABLE FOR THE TUTORIAL! IT WOULD BE PERFECT! Peace!

 

Yeah, if they are going to do a pattern of numbered titles that matches how many playable characters we are able to play, have Kairi as the tutorial character like Roxas in Kingdom Hearts 2, then Sora as the main playable character from beginning to end, and maybe the third could be Riku who is traveling with mickey to find the lost keyblader's as sidequests because of the possible huge amount of content that could be provided from the PS4. The possibilities are overwhelming! 0/*

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Nomura: The discussion of the end of Kingdom Hearts has never come up between me and Disney, so I don’t know what their intentions are. But while creating Kingdom Hearts, with each generation I think to myself “This should be something that can’t be accomplished by just Disney”. It has to be something uniquely Kingdom Hearts. So it’s a matter of how long can I keep creating for Kingdom Hearts! I don’t know if the fans would enjoy it as much if it was just Disney, if it wasn’t a combination of Disney and my own creativity.

 

Kingdom Hearts confirmed for forever?! Lol.

 

The idea of having multiplier characters to play as interested me but then I hope they do it differently from Dream Drop Distance. Like I hope it's more of a party system and getting to choose what character you'd like to play in that party rather than forced multi-character arcs.

Edited by Runay

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-In the first game there was one playable character, in the second there were two - will there be three in the third?

 

Nomura: It’s a secret but by saying that we imply that maybe something’s going on. We can’t disclose anything but, maybe, something will happen there.

Oh Nomura, why do you tease me so?

 

Multiple playable characters is a must. I've stated it a million times before and I'll say it again. Please Nomura, give us the ability to play as multiple characters but not limiting our use of the characters like Roxas, Riku and Mickey in KH2.

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So, Young Xehanort or Eraqus + Kairi + Sora?

I'd rather play as Lea than Kairi, but it will be what it will be. 

 

Only 1 month left...

 
Crap, totally forgot! Yeah. Can't wait. :)
Edited by Recusant Sora

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"Sometimes they ask for a happier ending"That's weird since KH rarely has happy endings

The only time I remember Disney changing the ending of a KH game was Dream Drop Distance, since the game (Fun Fact) was originally going to end with Sora falling into his deep sleep.

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Its already confirmed Sora and Riku will be playable. The chances of being only Sora is out since day one.

 

Kingdom Hearts 2 had 4 playable characters

- Roxas

- Sora

- Mickey (when Sora died in some Boss battles)

- Riku (To save Sora in the final battle against Xemnas)

 

Even though 2 of them were just in special situations, we played with them. I want the same for KH3. The one that should take down Isa is Lea. No one else. Lea must be playable here.

 

We should be able play with all the 7 guardians of light, even if its just for one battle.

Edited by Sakuraba Neku

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Its already confirmed Sora and Riku will be playable. The change of being only Sora is out since day one.

 

Kingdom Hearts 2 had 4 playable characters

- Roxas

- Sora

- Mickey (when Sora died in some Boss battles)

- Riku (To save Sora in the final battle against Xemnas)

 

Even though 2 of them were just in special situations, we played with them. I want the same for KH3. The one that should take down Isa is Lea. No one else. Lea must be playable here.

 

We should be able play with all the 7 guardians of light, even if its just for one battle.

The difference is that you can actually go the whole game without playing as either Mickey or Riku (it's hard not to play as Riku but it is possible).

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I really hope that we can visit every world three times but with different characters.

 

1) Sora, Donald, Goofy [the heroes]

2) Riku, Mickey (+ Aqua) [the masters]

3) Lea, Kairi, (+ another group member, maybe a Disney character?) [the beginners]

 

FF13 was good, where each group went their own path and crossed the ways in the end.

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"Sometimes they ask for a happier ending"That's weird since KH rarely has happy endings

But they end on a happy note. KH1 ends with the gang finding Pluto with Mickey's letter. They run on the hills cheerfuly. KH2 ends by teasing a new adventure, not the mention the whole gang being back in their world. BBS ends with Sora giving shelter to Ven's heart. Coded ends with Yen Sid calling for Sora and Riku for their MoM exam. Even Days ends with Roxas running and being excited about going to the beach, even though it's all a lie.

 

I guess it's the way the ending leaves you, in a happy kind of state and not in "oh my god, did that just happen :C" state.

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But they end on a happy note. KH1 ends with the gang finding Pluto with Mickey's letter. They run on the hills cheerfuly. KH2 ends by teasing a new adventure, not the mention the whole gang being back in their world. BBS ends with Sora giving shelter to Ven's heart. Coded ends with Yen Sid calling for Sora and Riku for their MoM exam. Even Days ends with Roxas running and being excited about going to the beach, even though it's all a lie.

 

I guess it's the way the ending leaves you, in a happy kind of state and not in "oh my god, did that just happen :C" state.

You gotta admit, BBS was the most darkest of them all, even with Ven's heart being protected by someone we know that can be trusted. Ven's heart is missing from his body, Aqua is trapped and Terra is trapped. Quite an ending don't you think? >_>

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Hmm yeah I don't know how I feel about multiple characters. If each character has a relatively long story then yeah I am OK with it but not if it is like BBS or DDD because those games were too short for my liking. I understand the hardware those games are played on aren't the best so I do hope that if multiple characters are playable that the story is still lengthy. I am also up to having those other characters in my party at specific times(not always I tend to miss Donald and Goofy regardless of their help or lack thereof). Either way I will be buying this game regardless of anything.

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