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Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania will release on March 25, 2010 and be available at a price of ￥1900. It will be over 600 pages and contain information on the three main character's scenarios, including how to obtain their deck commands, details explaining the mini games, all sorts of data on the regular game play contents, beautiful 3D maps, as well as useful information for players. A large amount of illustrations will be included. Also, an interview with the series' director, Tetsuya Nomura, will discuss the mysteries from Birth by Sleep.
Birth by Sleep Ultimania
Thanks to Studio Bent Stuff.
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Famitsu Weekly (February 18, 2010)
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Since FFVII of the Final Fantasy series, Nomura has had a hand in designing many characters and is also director in the Kingdom Hearts series. At first his design was like that of an anthropomorphic lion, with ears and a tail too. His weapon wasn’t the Keyblade either; it was something like a chainsaw. He had the tail so he was more along the same design line as the Disney characters. The Kingdom Hearts project was happening during the production of Final Fantasy VIII, and since the series was already progressing and Zidane from Final Fantasy IX had a tail, Sora’s animal traits were removed.
Finally, during an exchange of ideas with the Disney staff side, the parts that were too straight line were modified into curvier shapes (The weightlessness of his pants and shoes were striking features.) So in one night, the Sora we know now was completed.
In the secret movie in Birth by Sleep, Sora’s long awaited re-entry implies that future developments are in the works. Therefore, please look forward to the appearance of Sora’s future activities when they are prepared. Though saying that, I can’t say what kind of title it might become. Concerning Kingdom Hearts III, since there is demand from the current fans around the world, I will do my best to bring it into realization as quickly as possible.
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Coded, Japanese website
All images are from Square Enix's official website.
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Monthly Shōnen Gangan (February, 2010)
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- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep expands the story on the world shown in the Secret Movie contained in Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix. I remember the considerably hard contents of the Kingdom Hearts world represented in it left me with a sense of discomfort. Nomura: Since the Secret Movie had a lot of surprise meanings, I assume your experience with the KH world up until then had been completely different; the story in it couldn’t possibly be connected! At least that’s the feeling it seemed to give off.
- Not to say that the true meaning of that movie will be revealed in this title… So there were some things I wanted to ask you about Birth by Sleep, it seems that in this game Keyblades become a point of interest in the story.
Nomura: Indeed. However, in order for the story to proceed, I got the feeling that we needed to explain what exactly this thing that is shrouded in mysteries called a Keyblade really was. In the world of Birth by Sleep, multiple people can use a Keyblade, why is it that this sort of activity has disappeared from Sora’s world, those sorts of concealed secrets are revealed in this title. This time it is established in the story that Terra, Ventus, and Aqua are pupils being raised as successors of a Keyblade Master. From there those three’s story begins.
- So it’s the story of the three pupils, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.
Nomura: The three parts of their story are prepared, going to various Disney Worlds on their own respective adventures. The foundation of the story is developing whichever the player chooses; however there are points within the story where the three cross paths. If you only play through one character’s part, you can’t understand the whole story. When you experience each of the three character’s parts and complete the various mysteries, their stories connect to make up on big story.
- So the three characters adventure to various Disney Worlds, what kind of ideas did you have in mind when deciding which worlds would be introduced in the game?
Nomura: Since Birth by Sleep is a story about the past that takes place before Kingdom Hearts 1, we wanted the worlds that didn’t appear yet of the seven princesses existing around that time. For that reason, we chose worlds the princess’s worlds to appear like Snow White and Cinderella.
- Other than the princesses, young Riku and Kairi, Hercules in training, and also people resembling Organization XIII members also appear.
Nomura: Keeping in time with the storyline from Kingdom Hearts 1, we put included the past storylines of characters who have already appeared. For the Organization XIII characters, it establishes them during their time as humans.
- The battles of this title implement new systems like Style Change among other things, please tell me the reason for it!
Nomura: The Kingdom Hearts series is played by a wide range of players, from lightweight to hardcore. And so, when we were trying to think of a system that both kinds of players could enjoy, we arrived at the current Style Change. The style also automatically changes if you mash the buttons, releasing a magnificent deadly technique, and if you put your Deck Commands together properly, you can initiate Style Change as you aim, also releasing a deadly technique. The system that formed both these methods is Style Change, you see.
- Other than that, there were also new systems called Dimension Link and Shoot Lock!
Nomura: Dimension Link releases a strong technique borrowing the power of far away friends. In this title, there’s no party battle, so we adopted this system in order to direct the bond with the friends you fight alongside even in battle. As for Shoot Lock, in the series up until now we had Lock On to fix onto attacking enemies, but we’d made an effort to evolve the battle system so far, and thought we’d better evolve Lock On too. It’s a much more thought out system.
- Finally, please say one more line to the readers and the fans of the series!
Nomura: Since Birth by Sleep is the first part of the Kingdom Hearts storyline, I’d like if you considered it as Kingdom Hearts, “Episode 0”. This title isn’t placed as a side story, with its storyline and battle system, it is substantial like that of a numbered title. Also, there are Secret Movie-like contents in it. Since you could say that is the true ending, I want you to see it by all means! By seeing it, you can tell how much further the Kingdom Hearts story expands!
Birth by Sleep, Japanese website
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Hello, I’m Nomura. Did you have fun on New Years? I was filling out papers, I ate and slept. And suddenly it was the New Year. The sunrise on the first day of the year was beautiful. Well, there was this and that and now it’s the release date. Thank you to all the fans who have been waiting for this day. Congratulations to all the PR staff, and the KH staff in Osaka who are currently on break.
We’ve really made a fun game. I think there are a lot of people playing it right now, but I hope you play through it slowly and enjoy it. I thnk the battle system is extremely fun, but what do the rest of you think? Since there are many other parts of the game you can have fun with, I hope you’ll spend a long time playing it. Also, even if you finish it quickly it doesn’t mean you’ll have the true answer.
I was interviewed yesterday, and I talked a lot to all the reporters about Birth by Sleep. “What was the meaning of that place?” “What was the meaning behind that line that was said?” they asked. It won’t be published in any magazine, but I answered as many things as I could. I explained quite a few different things that I had been plotting. So don’t ignore even the smallest thing in the game. There is a lot of underplot behind the words characters say and the actions they take.
By the way, “coded”, released on mobile phones, will soon reach it’s climax. The other day I was playing the testing version of the final episode, and I hope you’ll all play it after finishing “Birth by Sleep”. I think you’ll find quite a few connections.
Well then, please continue to have fun. Oh also, if you don’t watch all of the story that happens before the secret movie, and just watch only the secret movie, you won’t understand any of it. So please get there on your own.
Until the next time
Director
Tetsuya Nomura
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Birth by Sleep, Japanese website
All images are from Square Enix's official website.
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Famitsu PSP+PS3 (February, 2010)
Thanks to HEARTSTATION.ORG.
Even people new to the series will be able to understand the story.
-- So how is development going? Nomura: We’re putting on the last finishing touches. Right now we are fixing the text a bit. The story this time has a lot of things that might be difficult to understand, so we’re trying to make it flow better. We want to make it easier to understand for people who have never played another game in the series. But, when this interview comes out we’ll be finished with it.
-- So who is responsible for the scenario writing?
Nomura: Myself, as well as Watanabe (Daisuke) who worked on “Chain of Memories”, and Oka (Masaru) who helped with the scenario for KHII. “Kingdom Hearts” is always worked on by several people.
-- There is a lot of underplot going on in the story, but can people who have never played any other game in the series really understand what is going on?
Nomura: That question was asked quite a lot with “358/2 Days”. but I feel that if you play it from the view of the main character, you can play the game separate of all the others. But for some people, if they don’t know the whole story they will feel as though they are the only ones who don’t know something, and they will become doubtful and suspicious. In other words, they won’t be able to follow the small details. Those details are meant for the people who have played the rest of the series, but that doesn’t mean that new players won’t be able to have fun with the underplot. For example, this will be Ven’s first meeting with Lea and Isa. New players will be able to meet them along with him, and so long as they think “These are special characters” then that’s fine. I’d be happy then, if those people who start wondering about those tiny plot details and went back and played the previous games in the series. I think there are things that are interesting because you’ve played through the series, and things that are interesting because you haven’t played through the series.
-- I see, so there are different ways the plot can be interesting.
Nomura: Well, the “Kingdom Hearts” series has become a series where people have fun imagining what could be. Whether you’ve played the series or not, that doesn’t mean you know everything. Though people with a good head on their shoulders probably know what is going to happen.
-- There are three different main characters this time, what order do you recommend playing their stories?
Nomura: For the story I recommend Terra, Ven and Aqua, but I think it can be fun played from any character. For the gameplay, Ven is the easiest to use. Aqua has strong [?] and Terra’s movements feel very heavy, so I think Ven is probably the easiest to play with.
The best and most exciting battles in the series.
-- So how is work going on the action part of the game?
Nomura: Well, we think that beginners won’t have to worry so much when they play the game. We’re finished now, so they are going through debugging, and it sounds like they are having a lot of fun. They say it’s a nice change of pace. Though right now they are getting exciting beside the programmers, I’m a little worried (laugh) [I honestly couldn’t understand what he was talking about in the last sentence. Anyone?]
-- Even just playing the demo I could tell how exciting the battles were. I felt they were the best in the series.
Nomura: Everyone is saying that. Even the debug staff have been saying that the battle system is the most interesting and fun in the series. Of course I think it’s fun thinking for yourself and choosing your own set of Commands. It started in “Chain of Memories” with the Card Deck system, then it was improved in “The World Ends With You”, and now we feel we’ve perfected it with the Deck Command system.
-- Can people who aren’t very good at action games complete the game?
Nomura: Yes they can. I think they’ll be okay just on Standard, but for people who lack confidence there is always Beginner. Then if they don’t feel that is difficult enough they can switch and start again from Standard. With the battles this time, just hitting the buttons in sequence will allow you to naturally change your attack, and the three main characters fight with superhuman fighting skills, so even with just that I think you can have fun.
-- How many Deck Commands are there?
Nomura: Since you can put items in your Deck as well, it runs to over 100.
-- With that many things to choose from, I would think it would be difficult figuring out what to put in your deck.
Nomura: Once you’ve found Commands that you like, you can just keep using it. There is no need to use them all. In the end, you can just use what you like. There are a lot of different things to use as well as Deck Commands, like Shoot Locks and D-LINKs, but you can just fight using only Deck Commands if you wish. So you don’t have to think about it too much.
-- With the D-LINK system, you can use King Mickey’s power, right?
Nomura: He has the same Holy attacks and abilities that Minnie had in KHII.
-- There seems to be many different types of Shoot Locks...
Nomura: Yes, and each one has different levels, and depending on the ability there are different amounts of levels, and there are unique Shoot Locks for each character.
-- In a previous interview you said that the main characters were too strong, but how did it balance out in the final product?
Nomura: Of course we were able to balance it, but the difficulty level will change quite a lot depending on what Deck Commands you used. Just like I said before, you can use whatever abilities and attacks you like, but to get the best results you need to choose your Deck carefully. Also, there is a hidden boss like “Lingering Sentiment” in KHIIFM. Since the response to “Lingering Sentiment” was so good, we put an extremely strong boss in the game. But some say that “Lingering Sentiment” is more difficult. But that is because the difficulty really changes depending on the Deck you use. It was quite a lot of trouble fine tuning the boss exactly.
-- Do you think you’ll be able to finish the game at a low level?
Nomura: Yes I think you can. There were people on our Osaka staff who tried to finish the game at level 5. How you get through the battles and what Commands you use is all up to the player.
-- What other elements are there?
Nomura: There is the wireless. Normally you play Arena Mode with a few friends, but you can play by yourself as well. But if you play by yourself, the enemies will be extremely strong and it will be difficult. Possibly even stronger than the hidden boss I was just speaking of.
-- I was very surprised to hear that in VS Arena Mode you could play with six other people.
Nomura: We wanted to make it so that as many people could play together as possible, but in the end we could only do six. By the way, in the KHIIFM secret movie you can see Terra in his armor with a cape, but we took off the cape in this game. It was to make processing easier when you’re playing with six people. Processing of moving fabric can be slow, so the speed it runs at is completely different if he has a cape or not.
-- Attacking each other and stealing each others Commands is quite unique.
Nomura: We were thinking of Marluxia’s attack in “RE: Chain of Memories” when he scatters your Deck. If you get attacked a lot, the only Command you’ll have left is “Attack” (laugh) But the reason we thought of the rule was so that it doesn’t become a brutal fight against each other.
-- It’s been announced that you can use each other as D-LINKs in the game.
Nomura: The D-LINK system was originally designed for this. In the game the main themes are “bonds” and “connections”, so it is something we thought of as you don’t have any party members usually. But it was so much fun, we decided to use Disneycharacters as Links as well.
Sea Salt ice cream in the Ice Cream Shop is...
-- Disney Town makes it’s first appearance in this game, and it’s the same world as Disney Castle, right?
Nomura: Yes it is. We wanted to make a lively, exciting world, so when it came time to think of where that should be, we decided on the city surrounding Disney Castle. The image we had in mind for it is something like Toon Town in Tokyo Disneyland.
-- Do the residents really not know who Captain Justice and Captain Dark are?
Nomura: No, they know quite well who it is (laugh.) I think you’ll get to know what sort of things Pete was up to before he got involved with Maleficent.
-- In this game do we see Maleficent start working on the plans she put forth in the first game?
Nomura: You’ll get to see how she started on the path to what she was doing in KH. What we want you to focus on is whether the enemy is Master Xehanort or Vanitas.
-- What is Master Xehanort’s aim?
Nomura: I think you’ll get to know that by playing the game.
-- “Winnie the Pooh” appears this time as a Command Board, right?
Nomura: Yes, this time the world of “Winnie the Pooh” appears only as a board.
-- There are some dialog that makes us think that Yen Sid might be a Keyblade Master.
Nomura: That is something that will be revealed in the game. I think then you’ll know where he stands.
-- So there a shop where you can make your own ice cream?
Nomura: This was the development team’s idea. You can change your Style instantly by eating ice cream. Also, the visuals for the ice cream are excellent and you should watch out for them. There are three different visuals for each ice cream. When you have to choose one of them they are so good that it feels like you’re wasting the rest.
-- What about sea salt ice cream?
Nomura: Unfortunately you can’t make sea salt ice cream (laugh)
-- So is the Command Charge in this game like synthesis in the previous games?
Nomura: Yes, it is just like it is in the previous games just with Commands.
-- Are there enemies like the XIII Mushrooms in KHIIFM for gathering matierals?
Nomura: There are no mushrooms this time, since there aren’t even any Heartless.
-- Is Jiminy’s Journal in the game?
Nomura: No Jiminy’s Journal, but there are Reports that have the same function.
The secret events bring the story together.
-- The main visual image that you drew (printed on page 42) has been shown. What is the concept you had for it?
Nomura: I wanted to make a lively image, something where they were all jumping. I wanted it to feel like they were all moving forward, but the places they are going are different.
-- Since the King is shown, does that mean he shows up quite a lot?
Nomura: Well, he does show up quite a bit, but it’s nothing in comparison to the three main characters. Of course there are lots of events where he is involved with them.
-- We’ve seen some scenes from the opening movie, what is the song that will be playing this time?
Nomura: The same song we’ve been using, Hikaru Utada’s “Hikari”. Setting that alongside the movie, we put in scenes that echo the secret movie from KHIIFM, with scenes of their training, and scenes with them holding their charms.
-- Why are the charms shining like that?
Nomura: The charms are a symbol of their bond, and acts as something that can sustain them through difficult times. In the story, we see them look at the charms and gain strength and courage from them many times.
-- In the pictures we’ve seen, we see King Mickey holding something called a “star fragment”, which was also shining.
Nomura: The star fragments act as something that allows the King to go to other worlds. He has a different way of moving between worlds than the three main characters, and that is what he uses the star fragment for. At this time they call it a star fragment, but by the time of the first game they are called Gummi Blocks, which are used in Gummi Ships.
-- We see the King come into contact with the heroine from the first game, Kairi.
Nomura: Kairi’s story from before the first game isn’t something that can be ignored. But she won’t show up very much this time, and we won’t get to know much about how she ends up on Destiny Island.
-- By the way, how many years before the first game is this game set?
Nomura: About 9 to 10 years before.
-- And we also get to see Organization XIII as humans...
Nomura: Since we know from the previous games that Xigbar has met keyblade wielders before, we had to have him as well as other Organization members appear. But only up to number VIII, Axel, will be appearing.
-- Braig looks quite a bit younger than Xigbar does.
Nomura: That’s just your eyes playing tricks on you (laugh.) If you play, you’ll find he’s just the same.
-- Braig has tied up Master Xehanort [?? what are they talking about here?] but was Xigbar ever after the power of the keyblade?
Nomura: He has his own plans that he is acting out, but the details won’t be explained this time. It’s separate from the main thread of the series, so I didn’t feel it was important right now.
-- So not only the members up to number VI were living in Radiant Garden, but Lea and Isa as well?
Nomura: Yes that’s right. But at this time they were just two innocent boys who liked to play with a frisbee.
-- Do all three of them get to meet up with Kairi and the Organization members?
Nomura: You’ll have to play the game and see.
-- We’ve seen scenes of events from the heart of the story, but I want to know if we’ll be fighting Master Xehanort or Vanitas?
Nomura: You’ll have to wait and see (laugh) By the way, each of the three of them have a different final boss. It will be interesting to see who fights against who.
-- So who is the voice actor for Master Eraqus?
Nomura: It’s Makio Inoue. We all know him from “Lupin the 3rd” as Goemon Ishikawa. I’ve been wanting to ask him for a lon time, and finally my wish was granted.
-- Zack from FFVII appears as a guest character this time, but why did you choose him?
Nomura: Since the story is set much further in the past than the series has gone before, we wanted a character that appeared in the past in an FF game, so we chose Zack. We remade him in the image of a 2nd Class Soldier, and he doesn’t use the Buster Sword. He is in his teens, but a little older than Ven. He wants to be a hero, so he has come to Olympus Colosseum to ask Phil to take him on as an apprentice.
-- Will any other FF characters be appearing?
Nomura: No, only Zack. We thought about talking about Cloud and Leon’s past, but we felt the story would become too complicated if we put in too many characters.
-- So apparently there is going to be a secret event this time...?
Nomura: I think the effect of the story will change depending on if you’ve seen not just the ending, but the secret event as well. How it will play out in the end I can’t say, but the secret event won’t only just connect to the next game, but will tie the story together.
-- What sort of requirements will there be for watching the secret event?
Nomura: Like always there are many different requirements. You can choose from three different difficulty levels, but the highest level has the easiest requirements. At the easiest level you won’t be able to see it at all. I hope you’ll play through the game, and be able to watch it for yourself.
Tetsuya Nomura’s new games in 2010?
-- I want to ask you questions about the videos you showed at the event at the end of the year. The mobile game “Kingdom Hearts coded” will soon be releasing it’s last episode, right?
Nomura: “coded” has finally reached it’s climax. “coded” and “Birth by Sleep” have deep connections, and they both connect to the story after KHII.
-- You mean they connect to KHIII?
Nomura: Perhaps. But since we’ve had so much story up 'til now, I’m thinking it might be best to set it all out in a way that it can be easily understood first. Though I can’t say how that is going to turn out just yet.
-- So, last of all, please give a message to all the fans waiting for “Birth by Sleep”.
Nomura: I feel we’ve made an extremely exciting game, so I think you could even use it as a stress reliever (laugh.) I think people who like RPGs but aren’t good at action games can have fun switching and playing around with their Deck Commands, so I hope everyone tries it. If you’re interested, please pre-order the game.
Dengeki PlayStation (Volume 463)
Thanks to HEARTSTATION.ORG.
The last part of our special is an interview with director Tetsuya Nomura. The man who created the series talks of this latest game in the series that has been waited by fans. “There is enough packed into this game that it is on par with a console title.”
You have to watch the secret movie
--- The release date is almost near isn’t it? First, I’d like to ask you some things about the story.
Nomura: I really don’t think I’ll be able to say much (laugh). With the story we have this time, if I talk about it even a little bit it’s a spoiler.
--- Well that’s a problem (laugh) One interesting point of this game is that you can choose which of three main characters you want to play with. But which order do you recommend?
Nomura: Terra, Ven and Aqua is the best order. We wrote the scenarios in that order, and you’ll probably understand why while you’re playing it. Also, Ven is very easy to use, but Terra is a little heavier and moves slowly. So you could begin playing with the character that best fits your play style. But if you choose to play as Ven first and then go on to Terra, you’ll probably feel too slow.
--- So the scenarios for the three characters are really quite different?
Nomura: Yes, we set it up that way. If three friends were to play the game and choose different characters, after ten minutes the story would be completely different. If you choose to play as a different character than your friend, you both should be careful of spoiling each other.
--- Instead of using one character until the end, can you play each character a little bit at a time?
Nomura: For the most part yes, you can. When you first create a save, it creates saves for all three characters. But if you play them together it becomes confusing, and I wouldn’t recommend it.
--- Alright then, now can you tell us what kind of characters the three heroes are? Starting with Terra.
Nomura: Terra, as we’ve shown in trailers and screenshots, becomes [closer? entangled?] with darkness, which is the highlight of his story. But he doesn’t just fight the darkness in his heart, he tries to hold back his desire while being invited into the darkness. He can also use the moves that we saw from “Lingering Sentiment” in KHIIFM, so that will be fun.
--- Next, I want to ask about Ven, the one everyone is wondering most about.
Nomura: Since Ven has a lot of mysteries about him, I can’t really say clearly what sort of character he is. But when you play the game, you’ll find out more about who he really is. While the connections in the series haven’t been explained, we’ve made it so you can imagine who he is. Also, as I said before he will be an easy character to use for newcomers, since he is the quickest.
--- And Aqua is watching over the both of them.
Nomura: Yes that’s right. Aqua’s position is what I guess you could call their “guardian”. And unlike Terra and Ven, you can’t easily see how she connects to the series. I’d like for everyone to watch her to see what lies in her future. Since she is a magic type character, she has trickier moves than we’ve seen in the series to date. Also, like Final Form in KHII, she has a Style where her keyblade floats in the air.
--- How will their Master be involved in the story?
Nomura: Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort used to be fellow students. Their way of thinking is different, but deep down they are connected in some way.
--- And what about the mysterious Master Xehanort and Vanitas?
Nomura: Vanitas wears a mask and we can’t see his face, but eventually we will find out who he is. I want you to watch out for how Master Xehanort connects to Ansem the Wise’s apprentice Xehanort that was introduced in KHII.
--- In screenshots we see Master Xehanort saying something about the “Keyblade Wars”...
Nomura: The “Keyblade Wars” were something that happened quite a long time ago, so there is no one who actually experienced the war can explain more about it. They can only speculate on what happened. But that isn’t really what is important, what I want you to pay attention to is the “Mystery that is hidden within the keyblades” that is in connection with the war. The place where Xehanort is talking about it is close to the climax of the story, and all of the story’s highlights will be summarized there.
--- We see quite a lot of characters that look like Organization XIII members in Radiant Garden, don’t we?
Nomura: But they don’t have a lot to do in the story, they just appear as residents in Radiant Garden. Except for Braig, since you fight him and he is quite involved in the story. In KHIIFM and KH 358/2 Days there was a lot going on with him, and he is a character I think you should pay attention to.
--- Of course you usually have a secret movie at the end, do you have one this time too?
Nomura: Yes there is one. Except this time it isn’t a pre-rendered movie that gives a hint as to how the story will develop later, but is shown like an event scene. There is dialog, and in all it runs about ten minutes. It is set up as one episode. Instead of showing us what will happen in the future, it is more like a true ending. I would really like everyone to see it. There are characters that will only show up there in it as well.
--- I wonder what sort of things will be required to see the event.
Nomura: Of course there are lots of requirements. This time too, it depends on the difficulty. It’s pretty difficult to get on Standard Mode, and on Proud it becomes easier. On Beginner you can’t see it at all. Well, I’m sure fans of the series can imagine the requirements.
An enemy even stronger than “Lingering Sentiment” will appear!?
--- Even just playing it a little bit, I found the Deck Commands quite interesting, but in the beginning you can only equip three.
Nomura: If you give lots of options in the beginning it actually makes things more difficult. It’s because you have that limitation that it becomes fun. If you were able to equip lots of them in the beginning it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. You can have up to eight slots by the end, and probably the urge to get more Commands will give people more of a motivation to play.
--- This time even the Finish Commands have levels, it seems that having to think about leveling them will make it a little confusing?
Nomura: Even the our development team said as you go through the game that maybe there were too many levels. Well, I think that there will be some people who will get into having that sort of leveling system. But beginners can just have fun and don’t really have to bother thinking about all that.
--- Using keyblades to move between the worlds looks quite interesting. Nomura: Unlike before with Gummi Ships, they aren’t a mini-game, but instead you can use the Keyblade Ride to have a race. Also, this time the worlds screen is like before, and you can choose which world you want to go to freely.
--- I’m quite happy that when you play on wireless you can upgrade your Deck Commands, you can bring those over into single player as well.
Nomura: We didn’t want to have a separation between multiplayer and single player. For KH 358/2 Days there were people who said that they couldn’t gather all of the Mission Crowns, so we were thinking about that. In “Mirage Arena” there are items you can’t get anywhere else, but you can get them all even if you are playing offline by yourself. Of course it is made for several people to beat together, so it would be quite difficult by yourself. The strongest enemy that appears in multiplayer is about equal to the hidden boss in single player.
--- There is a hidden boss this time too!?
Nomura: Yes there is. We wanted to make it even stronger than Lingering Sentiment. But, you can only defeat it by having a certain set of Deck Commands. You’ll have to wait until you see it. You could also say that if you don’t think about your attacks [or it’s attacks?] you won’t be able to win.
--- Something even stronger than Lingering Sentiment must have taken quite a lot of fine tuning...
Nomura: We had Debuggers who are really good at action games help us with it, so we were able to make it into quite a difficult boss. It is strong, but it doesn’t have high HP. It is just a battle of attack against attack.
--- With both single player and wireless, I’m a little worried about loading times...
Nomura: I very much recommend Data Install. There are three different sizes you can choose from, but please choose the largest one. It will change the way you play the game. You can also go into Config and change the speed and color mode.
Braig is a Dark Horse!
--- This time there will be quite a few things, I think, but in the story and battles what do you think is the highlight of each?
Nomura: In the story, it’s the connections with the rest of the series. Since Sora isn’t the main character we didn’t give it a number, but there is no difference between this one and the PS2 games. I think the KH series has a story with lots of mysteries that the player can have fun imagining what will happen next. They don’t have to imagine something from nothing, there are lots of little hints left everywhere in the story. So everyone can take those hints and imagine what will happen. For battles, the actions using the Deck Commands. With Shoot Locks and Dimension Links, there are lots of different ways you can fight and have fun with it.
--- So which character do you think people should be watching out for?
Nomura: Definitely Braig. Everyone is thinking about all the other characters, but no one is watching Braig. But he will have quite an impact on the story.
--- “KH 358/2 Days” had quite a sad story, but what about this story?
Nomura: I’m sorry to say, this one is also pretty sad (laugh). The stories I make usually make the character sad, or they have lots of troubles along the way. But since the theme this time is “bonds”, I think the story connects to a bright and hopeful future.
--- “KH coded” has reached it’s climax, so are you thinking of what is going to happen in the future?
Nomura: Of course I’m thinking about it. But right now I’m too busy with “FF Versus XIII”. Of course it wouldn’t be any good to make our fans wait for years for it, so we’re planning something. But first I’d like you to enjoy this latest game. All the fans who are excited for the game, I think you ought to pre-order it.
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