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E3 may be over, but the news continues with an 8-page feature on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix! The spotlight shines on Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix in this spread, showing off the glorious graphical upgrade and all the new additions set to finally grace western shores, including new Christmas Town outfits, Sora's Limit Form and the infamous Lingering Sentiment battle.
Thanks to Zephyr, you can read the interview with Co-Director Tai Yasue below:
Co-director Tai Yasue Interview (1)
- KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, three games from the series have been HD remastered for the first time, was released last year. How were the fan reactions?
Tai Yasue: KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX in general received positive feedback. However in the cutscenes of KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days, we received opinions that it was “difficult to understand because there were no battle scenes”. So KINGDOM HEARTS Re:coded was created in the same manner in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX as footage with both battle scenes and event cutscenes. The battles will be one of the highlights of this title.
- KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX has been decided to release on October 2nd. Is the development progressing smoothly?
Yasue: About 90% of it has been finished. Further events are followed by fixing bugs. During the time of KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, there were times where we felt progressing was troubling. However this time, it has been progressing much more smoothly. In KINGDOM HEARTS II and KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep, concentrating on making the models and textures more beautiful has been going good so far. Especially for the PSP title KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep, we are raising the quality of each character model about 4 times and we are pushing the limits of the PS3’s memory with the quality.
Co-director Tai Yasue Interview (2)
- When working on the HD Remasters, what kind of work was done specifically?
Yasue: We had to redraw almost all of the textures. It’s surprisingly low tech (laughs). The programmers were asked to convert updated textures (with software technology to clean the images). In the KINGDOM HEARTS series, a whiff of the Disney titles have a smooth gradation and we are putting our efforts on color saturation. So designers with skilled techniques are very important.
- So the craftsmanship of the designers have achieved the graphical look?
Yasue: That’s right. Because of concerning parts from the original version, HD remastering it has to be done by hand. If done otherwise, the quality cannot be obtained. Thanks to the hard work of designers working diligently, the differences between the original version and the HD version is evident.
- That’s the KINGDOM HEARTS team for sure.
Yasue: Yeah. The look on Tetsuya Nomura’s face was priceless because we took particular care and attention. (laughs)
Co-director Tai Yasue Interview (3)
- In the latest promotional video of KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX, we have been wondering about the two character illustrations, “Lost Masters”, and “On that land, darkness shall prevail and light will expire”. Is that KINGDOM HEARTS III?
Yasue: You are correct! In fact, the project of KINGDOM HEARTS III has been proceeding considerably. It was an excerpt of the beginning of the storyboard Nomura drew in the footage.
- Those two are new characters?
Yasue: It doesn’t seem to be, it definitely isn’t. Our hint is that it’s someone from the past. I wonder if I said too much. (laughs)
- Interesting. (laughs) Concerning the action, it looks like the Keyblade can transform. Nomura said there were also “ridiculous transformations”.
Yasue: Yeah. (laughs) In worlds where there is [omitted], the Keyblade can change into [omitted]. The Keyblade will also be reflected on the style of the world.
- Give us a roundup of KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX!
Yasue: The staff had poured all of their emotions into this title for the KINGDOM HEARTS series. All of these works have been building up to KINGDOM HEARTS III. By playing KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX and KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 ReMIX, you will have a deeper understanding of the story and you will be able to experience KINGDOM HEARTS III more deeply. Personally, my favorites are KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep and KINGDOM HEARTS II and they can be enjoyed in this collection in its best state. Please look forward to it by all means.
Source: Exeforce87 via Twitter
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