Nomura Interview - Birth By Sleep (PSP):

Interviewer: Can you tell us a bit about the development of Birth By Sleep?
Nomura: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is being worked on by the same team that created re: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep's development had originally started before the development of re: CoM, but production was stopped to complete re: CoM. At first it felt a bit weird starting the project again. I believe this project started before the other two of the Kingdom Hearts games, and I also believe it will be the last to hit the market.

Interviewer: The game still relates to Birth By Sleep? [KH2: FM+'s secret ending]
Nomura: The secret ending [from KH2: FM+] is actually a scene from Birth By Sleep, therefore the title of the game is also the same. However, because it is difficult to express such a violent battle as playable content, the secret ending [from KH2: FM+] is an image (scene?) of the end.(Is he hinting that this is how Birth by Sleep will end or something else?)

Interviewer: How much talk was put into it, as it seems to be a game taking place in the past.
Nomura: This game goes the farthest back in the Kingdom Hearts timeline, about ten years before the original Kingdom Hearts. There is a screenshot of two children playing on the beach, and I believe the fans can understand what that means. [Sora and Riku as children?]

Interviewer: In the story it's said that there are "Three Scenarios by Three Heroes". Is there a relation between each scenario?
Nomura: There are three Heroes: Terra, Ven, and another character in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. We have already prepared a story for each of them. Therefore, in a way you can say three games were made at the same time. (Laughs) It's difficult to zap through the explanation right now, as we are still creating all of the scenarios. However, the beginning will be a bit hard to understand, but by completing all three scenarios, the player will understand the entire story.

Interviewer: Do the names of the three heroes represent something?
Nomura: In Kingdom Hearts, Sora meant Sky, Riku meant Land, and Kairi meant Sea. In this game, the three meanings make a large impact on the game. [Monkey: Wow, we've been speculating this so long and it came out true!]

Interviewer: Do all of the scenarios take place at the same time?
Nomura: All of the scenarios do take place around the same time, however there are also some gaps between the timelines. Also there are times when all three heroes will meet.

Interviewer: Is the playing order [for the scenarios] decided yet?
Nomura: I believe it would be better if we gave the players a freedom of choice. However this is still being talked about, but I believe it would be better to choose whoever you want out of the three.

Interviewer: What is the importance of story?
Nomura: For example, the name Xehanort is bought up in Kingdom Hearts 2. The game will answer several things like, "Why is the elderly person who appears in Birth by Sleep bringing up the same name?" and ,"Why is he wearing the same clothes as Ansem in the original Kingdom Hearts?" Another thing I want to bring up, is ,"Ven has the same hairstyle, face, clothes, and voice of Roxas, but just who is he?

Interviewer: Is the voice actor of Ven the same as Roxas?
Nomura: Yes, it is the same actor. Therefore the player will only look at Ven as Roxas from Kingdom Hearts 2.

However, are Roxas and Ven really the same character?

Moreover, what about the mystery surrounding the existence of Ven and Roxas?

These are keys that will be revealed from playing Birth By Sleep. You will be able to separate Ven from Roxas with ease; I will hint though by connecting the story between Roxas and Sora, you will understand who Ven is.

Interviewer: May I believe that the one you fight in KH2FM+, and Terra are the same person? Because they both use a very similar kind of Keyblade.
Nomura: If they really are the same person or not is uncertain, though it doesn't matter if you think they are the same person.

Interviewer: In Birth by Sleep, after all three are divided, the king appears?
Nomura: It may be deeply related to the story, however I cannot tell whether or not that he is a"King" at that current age. This is because the development of Birth by Sleep will contain a very serious story.

Interviewer: In Birth by Sleep, is the gameplay done by choosing action commands lined up in command list?
Nomura: I believe it is necessary to say first, The Command Menu that was shown to the public [A.K.A scans, and video] has now changed. A system close to that of re:COM has been created, feeling like a command deck. However, the present screen shots show it was a bit too close to the idea of re:COM. The battle screens you see in the images now, have already been changed. However the operating sense is similar to that of the Kingdom Hearts series. The gameplay has slight influence from the DS game "It's a Wonderful World". [Monkey note: I love that game, sadly It's a Wonderful World was released in Japan only].

Interviewer: Are there any features for the Growth System? (Leveling System)
Nomura: A new Growth System has been added into the game, in which you have to match four obligations with the scenario (?). We tried this variously because it was a bit hard with the PSP. However we made the best use of its Analog.

Interviewer: Are there new enemies you can confirm that are not shown in the screens?
Nomura: The new enemy is not a Heartless, or a Nobody, because the story takes place before even they appear. I can only give out more information, little by little, as time passes: an example being like the Shadow enemies that are heartless, and the Dusk enemies that are nobodies.

Interviewer: With the PSP, will it be possible for two people to communicate through a connection method?
Nomura: It's too early to answer that, however, there will be some features that will be taking advantage of the PSP. [Monkey Note: I believe they are discussing the possibilities of things like wifi, however, only 358/2 Days has been confirmed to have multiplayer].

Nomura Interview - 358/2 Days (DS):

Interviewer: Is the beginning of 358/2 Days going to focus on Roxas' birth?
Nomura: Roxas' birth will be covered in the game's prolouge, however the game really begins at the time in which Roxas enters the Organization XIII.

Interviewer: Will this game have an ending that has already occurred, like Crisis Core had?
Nomura: Where do you think the end is? The point is, how did it get to the point where Roxas to left the Organization? The details of that will be discussed game. (Basically, we may already know the end, we just don't know how it got to that point, like Crisis Core).

Interviewer: Will we be going through Disney worlds in this story, like previous Kingdom Hearts games?
Nomura: The story does not entirely progress going from world to world, but there is a [form of?] progression in story.

Interviewer: Is the 14th Organization Member [Newly Revealed] a new character in the Kingdom Hearts Series? It appears as though the character is...a woman?
Nomura: I should bring it up now, that the XIV member is not Namine, since some people believed it to be Namine by seeing the trailer. However it will be explained as to why there's no pillar for this character, as well as why she never appeared in Kingdom Hearts 2.

Interviewer: In the trailer, four characters are shown playing simultaneously. Is this possible in game?
Nomura: Multiplayer can be played with up to four people [or less if desired]. Not only that, multiplayer gives a sense of freedom, as this mode has no effect on the story. But it is possible to choose less then four, for the multiplayer content.

Interviewer: How does the multiplayer mode progress?
Nomura: The point is to basically complete given missions. For instance, defeating an enemy or whatever the goal of the mission is. There are various goals, both big and small. There is a constant feeling of competition in multiplayer, so sometimes the player may forget just what the goal is!

Interviewer: Is multiplayer mode possible for one player only?
Nomura: Multiplayer mode is rather complicated ; we had to design a growth (leveling) system. For example, when Axel is used in Multiplayer mode, Roxas will gain some extra experience from this as well. Also, you are able to customize your character freely. (He does not go into detail about the customization part, so it is unsure what).