Nomura: With Kingdom Hearts 3D, first of all, I was getting colour imagery. I thought, black and pink.

- It's surprising that colours were what you imagined first.

Nomura: We do decide on a thematic colour every time, but it was quite rare for it to have happened the way it did this time.

- How did things develop from there?

Nomura: We revealed that we were going to depict the Mark of Mastery Exam in Re:coded, and we had decided roughly on the contents of the story, but at that point we were worrying over where to set it. We thought about what Sora would have to do now, and about how ‘sleep' was a key word in the second last title in the series, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. ‘Sleep' and the ‘dreams' that follow replaced ‘black and pink' as our inspiration broadened, and then we thought of the keyword ‘drop', as in how you ‘fall into dreams'. (Translator note: Or 'drop off to sleep'.)

- In this title, the way we see flashback scenes (regarding things like the journey and the residents of those worlds) when alternating playing as Sora and Riku is incorporating a directing style we haven't had up until now, isn't it.

Nomura: People who want to forge into the game can choose to skip those and watch them later. That's an influence from the drastic change to non-interactive cutscenes we are including in Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which we've been developing side by side. It's a result of us keeping tempo in mind, and trying to make as much as we can interactive. Although, in the end the game finishes with the longest cutscene in the series (dry laugh).

- It would need to be that long, to explain so many mysteries (laughs). With things such as the introduction to the story beginning with a sudden battle, the plot felt like it moved pretty fast.

Nomura: As for that introduction section, I thought it would be best to enter the exam from the start. It would have been tiresome to make Yen Sid give a long explanation summing everything up right at the start, so we wanted to try breaking it up into flashbacks (laughs).

- The ‘memoirs' feature, where we can check flashback scenes and the series summary, is so thoughtful.

Nomura: It's a feature we wanted to have for a long time, but couldn't do for various reasons, and it's not much, but we finally introduced it. The number of titles in the series has increased too, and there are parts that new players wouldn't really understand. I'm sure this will help the understanding of anyone who is worried whether they can play the newest game without playing all the others up until now.

- Please tell us the reason for implementing the "drop" mechanism which causes the character you are playing as to switch out suddenly.

Nomura: It's difficult to balance, but it'd have been uninteresting for the players if the game was too generalized. For example, in the job system of Final Fantasy V, you could only choose one ability set. You were restricted to make choices where you would toss out something in order to gain something, how you made these decisions was an important factor. Above all else, what sort of game will I make? That's always on my mind. In Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep the playable characters were switched up as well, however people said that having the character's scenarios split made the games feel like short stories and they wanted to play one whole story in one game. So I made the system where you can switch between Sora and Riku's story in one work, where the only thing restricting your play is the "drop" device.

- Now the concept for KH3D was "bold action", can you tell us about the process for this?

Nomura: If from here on out, I were to leave the operation systems of the series titles as is, then I wanted to make a distinction from FF Versus XIII which I am currently developing. I think we spoke about it previously, but from the very beginning Final Fantasy Type-0, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts are each action based RPGs, and working on them simultaneously, I wanted each of their differences to be clear. To indicate in what way Kingdom Hearts was different, I came up with the "bold action" concept.

- The co-op play with the Dream Eaters is very showy and "bold" indeed. I was surprised at how Riku's fighting style turned out.

Nomura: You could play as Riku in Chain of Memories, but since this is the first time you can do your actions freely, the link styles are each fairly distinct. I thought of showing his personality different from Sora's and I think it turned out interesting.

- Sora cooperates with the Dream Eaters directly, but Riku combines with them and fights as an individual. Why is that?

Nomura: The difference between them was something I decided on from the very beginning, but how the styles would be; I knew it'd have to be clearly defined. From the start, I wanted the system and the story to link, so their difference too has meaning and a reason for it regarding the story. The last scene will have a lot of impact. Various connections are developed upon and it ends just in prelude to the final battle.

- I can't wait! Lastly, a message for the fans?

Nomura: Finally, the plot that has been in the works throughout the whole series is being developed, so for people who are experiencing the series since the beginning or for those who haven't touched it before, I think that you'll be happy to get your hands on it. It may be a title for a portable gaming device, but it isn't at all inferior to the titles before it. So please by all means enjoy it.