Nomura talks with Game Informer about Sora’s hardships, a new original location, and the final battle in Kingdom Hearts III

I have no doubt that this final battle will be the most epic of the series

I imagine the final battle will take place in kingdom hearts. The heart of all worlds. It gets me hyped thinking how epic it will be!

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

The Situation Commands were tweaked a bit in the E3 demo, so that's one thing they've done in terms of tweaking so far.

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

Yeah, that's true. And since one of the reasons for them releasing the demo for those selected persons at first was to hear their feedback, then they will surely take all these things under consideration. Since they have still some time, I am confident they'll modify those things in the future. 

In relation to tweaking, I hope those white walls get adjusted because even from watching people's footage it just seemed really off putting and for me personally took me out of the world, especially when it appears whole sections have this feature. In relation to hardships this is actually encouraging news.

You could have despair as in the fact that the heartless/nobodies and now unversed are not getting weaker despite his best efforts, being worried about the state of his other friends throughout the game or being unable to help any of TAV until the end of the game.

However, like we saw in KHII, whilst Sora can be knocked down for a period of time, not only is he at his most dangerous, but it is always a blip before it is back to usual

Am I the only one really hoping Sora gets some sort of change or development in his character?

Am I the only one really hoping Sora gets some sort of change or development in his character?

In KHII he is a lot different from KH. He really seemed to have become slightly more adult and serious. And more importantly, he has become more mature. From recent trailers, I see he still has his cheerful side which of course I wouldn't want to fade way. However, I'm confident that he'll become more mature. After all, this game will have a darker theme, so his cheerful personality will be used less. 

However, I wish he doesn't change drastically. And that doesn't seem to be the case

In KHII he is a lot different from KH. He really seemed to have become slightly more adult and serious. And more importantly, he has become more mature. From recent trailers, I see he still has his cheerful side which of course I wouldn't want to fade way. However, I'm confident that he'll become more mature. After all, this game will have a darker theme, so his cheerful personality will be used less. 

However, I wish he doesn't change drastically. And that doesn't seem to be the case

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

His cheerful traits remained the same, yes. But I noticed that he used more serious expressions, you know

But yeah, you're right, you see :v

well at least the long wait is soon to be over

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

In DDD in went through some darker things then we've seen him go through. Xehanort nearly succeeded in possessing him, and he was asleep(again) for quite some time before Riku could save him. While this was a display of some of Sora's naivety, he was able to reach the conclusion that he wasn't quite strong enough yet to become a Master and was willing to set off to train and accomplish it. While I agree that the overall development for Sora has been slow, he has show considerable growth if you take in every adventure he's had up to this point. What's different about KH3 is that he will go through trials that he hasn't faced before and, (from what Nomura has been hinting at,) will see a friend(s) die. I think this will showcase Sora's growth and maturity more than anything so far, he hasn't really had the chance to really grow.

He didn't seem all that mature in KH2 to me, just more experienced in world-travelling. I just don't understand how some of the other characters went through major developments in the series while Sora stayed mostly the same.

I mean he was a bit more mature in KHII compared to his childish KH days, from these KHIII trailers we've gotten I can say for sure he is a lot more mature and experienced, whenever he's been talking about Roxas's return and such he is taking things seriously, we still have to see him in these tough situations though. If he ever changed from his cheerful self he wouldn't be Sora anymore, I even think that's what gives contrast in the series with Sora being like that while his BF Riku is quite the contrary.

hope you are not abusing him to much nomura sun!

In DDD in went through some darker things then we've seen him go through. Xehanort nearly succeeded in possessing him, and he was asleep(again) for quite some time before Riku could save him. While this was a display of some of Sora's naivety, he was able to reach the conclusion that he wasn't quite strong enough yet to become a Master and was willing to set off to train and accomplish it. While I agree that the overall development for Sora has been slow, he has show considerable growth if you take in every adventure he's had up to this point. What's different about KH3 is that he will go through trials that he hasn't faced before and, (from what Nomura has been hinting at,) will see a friend(s) die. I think this will showcase Sora's growth and maturity more than anything so far, he hasn't really had the chance to really grow.

you could argue that he already experienced a friend die when goofy got hit. So my Idea would be to make it different and more horrible is to let sora watch one of his friends suffer because of him and than die and also for real this time

I understand not changing something because just ONE person had an issue. But when EVERYONE is complaining about the same thing (floaty combat, distracting shiny walls, the too frequent Situation commands, etc.), I hope they take note.

I thought the situation commands were made more frequent for the demo only so people could experience all of them? Or could I be wrong?

I'm all for  (Sora growing as a character, but at the same time don't want him to loose his cheerful, friendly personality. I don't think him being cheerful or silly makes him less mature in the slightest. Heck, some characters like Riku and Roxas have acted quite immature themselves despite being the "more serious" characters (Riku in KH1 mostly, and I think Roxas lent some of his frustration to Sora in KH2).

Thanks for sharing this with us, Aquaberry!

Dang, so Sora is going to be going through the emotional wringer, huh? It's to be expected, considering the high stakes that are at play. I'm sure that Sora will go through experiences that will definitely change him, but I don't think that his positive energy will be stripped from him, because a major part of who Sora is stems from his positive demeanor. It's what draws people to him, and it's what makes him who he is. I relate to Sora strongly, and I myself am a person that has gone through much, but through it all, I've done my best to remain smiling, no matter the trials and tribulations that come my way, ya know? So I'm sure that Sora will go through much, but he'll push through!

As for the part of the interview concerning Keyblade designs, I always thought that it was Nomura himself who designed them, but I find it cool that there's a guy in the team that is in charge of the overall designs!

Gahhh, Nomura keeps hyping up the final battle and the location of it and everything, and it just gets me all the more hyped and psyched for what's to come in that final world! I will gobble that final battle up to itty bitty pieces because of how good I know it will be! So much hype!!!! X_X

Gahhh, Nomura keeps hyping up the final battle and the location of it and everything, and it just gets me all the more hyped and psyched for what's to come in that final world! I will gobble that final battle up to itty bitty pieces because of how good I know it will be! So much hype!!!! X_X

I don't think he said that the final battle will be in a new location.  What he said was, "But I think I just want to say that the last battle in the game is something I want everyone to see as well as this new original location that I’ve really wanted to create for a long time now. If I had to say just one though, it’d be the last battle.”  Unless I'm misinterpreting his quote, it sounds like he's saying that he's excited for fans to experience two things: the last battle and the new original location.  Also, unless I'm misinterpreting his quote again, it sounds like he's saying that if he had to choose just one thing that he's excited for fans to experience, it would be the final battle and not the new original location.  So, it sounds to me like the final battle and the new original location are two different things.