The latest issue of Dengeki Playstation features Kindom Hearts 3, covering all of the new information revealed at E3 2018 along with a brand new interview with series director Tetsuya Nomura on Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean, the surprising collaboration with the director and staff of Einhänder on the Gummi Ship section of the game, "Chikai", and more!
Translations of the full interview are now available, thanks to goldpanner:
KINGDOM HEARTS III
DIRECTOR’S VOICE
Tetsuya Nomura-sanKINGDOM HEARTS 3 now has a release date set, two worlds have been revealed - and anticipation runs high. We ask director Tetsuya Nomura about the latest info, jam-packed with highlights.
—In the new video, two new worlds and the long-awaited release date have finally been revealed! First, please tell us about "Frozen", making its debut in the series.
Nomura: We were considering including "Frozen" since early on in development. I had the opportunity to attend a private advance screening of the film around the time when I was selecting worlds. It was quite a wonderful movie, and as soon as I saw it I thought I'd like to try and include it. Many people around the world have been asking for "Frozen", too. I absolutely understood.
— How does the plot go?
Nomura: It follows the chronology of the original film, with the plot of Sora & friends progressing behind the scenes of the story of Anna and Elsa. There's a scene in the trailer where they're sliding on Goofy's shield, which is one of the highlights of the world. There's a part in the story where they're sliding around, so we've decided to make it into a minigame too.
—In the trailer, Sora was fighting with weapons resembling ice skates. What were those?
Nomura: That's one of the Keyblade transformations, specifically for that of the Keyblade from the world of "Frozen".
—In the "Frozen" world, will Elsa or Olaf or the others join the party?
Nomura: Unfortunately, Elsa and the others will not be fighting. Instead, there are moments, as seen in the trailer, where Marshmallow (the ice monster created by Elsa) will lend their strength.
—Moving on, the graphics in Pirates of the Caribbean have an amazing impact!
Nomura: To tell the truth though, I wanted to pin down the graphics even better. In this world, we made Sora, Donald, Goofy, and also Luxord look more realistic to fit with their surroundings.
—Sora in pirate form is refreshing.
Nomura: That is something I've wanted to do. I always thought that if we were to make a continuation of the world of "Pirates of the Caribbean", I would definitely like to dress Sora up.
—This is the first time Pirates of the Caribbean will appear since Kingdom Hearts II. What made you choose it now?
Nomura: I wanted to include one of Disney's live-action films. The staff put together some proposals regarding which ones they thought were best, and among those was the ship sailing idea, which I found very appealing. With sailing the ship on the sea and battling mid-air, this world includes elements of land, sea and air. The city of Port Royal appears, too, of course.
—It is based on the third film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, isn't it?
Nomura: Yes, it is. As those who have seen them know, the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean films are something like two halves of a single story. Since the world in KH2 was based on the 1st movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, I did go back and forth on whether to use the 2nd movie in KH3. However, you simply can't end things at the first half of the story. That's why I went with the 3rd movie - but I have made sure that the scenario will make it obvious what happened in the 2nd movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
—Seeing the battles on the pirate ship and underwater battles in the trailer, we got a sense of a broad variety of gameplay.
Nomura: As I've mentioned earlier, elements on land, sea and air are included, so this world offers quite a lot of unique gameplay features. We were given a comparative amount of freedom when making the PoTC world, so we made sure to stuff it with as many gameplay elements as we could. By the way, this world's Keyblade can even transform into a spear and a flag.
— As of this trailer, have all of the Disney worlds been revealed to the public?
Nomura: There's still the matter of the world based on Big Hero 6. I think I'll be able to show some footage of it next time.
—We also saw other Disney works such as "Wreck-it-Ralph" and "Ratatouille" appear for the first time, didn't we?
Nomura: I believe we did previously reveal "Wreck-it-Ralph" in an in-battle link command. The recent trailers unveiled "Ratatouille" for the first time, in a mini-game. Scrooge has opened a new restaurant in Twilight Town, where Sora can go to cook with Remy using ingredients gathered from various worlds.
—In May, there was a playable demo available at an event overseas. How did the people who played it react?
Nomura: Although the people invited were reporters and media influencers rather than specifically fans, their passionate reaction to KH3 was amazing. They were able to play for several hours at that event, so the people who participated got a thorough experience of the two modes we included.
— We were able to play the worlds of "Hercules" and "Toy Story" in the demo. Why did you choose those two?
Nomura: That was a request from the Osaka team. Those two worlds are the closest in quality to the commercial version.
— Are any changes to be made based on the feedback from the demo?
Nomura: There are a few things, such as further fine-tuning of the camera rotation for example. The characters in KH3 have a high degree of mobility, and the camera was having difficulty keeping up. This is an important point so I intend to keep hammering it out for as long as possible.
— As I played the demo, I was very surprised by not only the gameplay but also the graphical quality that has been achieved. The cutscenes in the Toy Story world could practically be mistaken for the original film.
Nomura: I'm happy to hear that. We can't rely on previously made assets this time, so the team worked very hard to make everything from scratch. We're working to achieve that same level of quality in all the worlds, so please look forward to it.
—Did the Toy Story demo mostly contain the same gameplay content as the commercial version?
Nomura: Yes. I'm sure you remember the various kinds of battle gameplay - we made it so you could have a general experience.
—Is the level of difficulty in the demo equal to what would be called the Standard Mode in the commercial version?
Nomura: I wanted the demo to allow players the opportunity to try all sorts of things and progress through the world, so we set the difficulty to a degree where it'd be quicker to defeat enemies than Standard Mode. That level was easier than Standard Mode but more difficult than Beginner Mode. It turned out that sometimes the enemies would be defeated before the people playing the demo could pull off the attack chains they wanted to try, and we talked about adding more enemies in the Standard Mode in the final product.
— The growth system hasn't been shown in detail yet. Is it the same mechanic as previous titles where the characters will obtain new abilities by leveling up?
Nomura: Yes, it's the same as KH1 and KH2. Obtaining new magic and upgrades will follow the format set by previous numbered titles.
—We were able to see scenes of the gummi ship in the new trailers. It appears to be quite fun to play.
Nomura: The gummi ship is being developed with the director of Einhänder (a side-scrolling shooting game released in 1997), who is joining our staff for the first time. I'm really looking forward to the its completion, since I really loved that game. There will be a 'battle specialization mode' and 'free movement mode', so we are calling it an 'open world gummi ship'. There will also be a customization feature like in previous games - please wait for more information about it coming soon.
—It seems as though we will be using the gummi ship to visit worlds in KH3, too. Is there a set order we will be visiting the worlds in?
Nomura: This too will follow the format set by previous titles - the order in which you visit worlds will be mostly fixed. In previous numbered titles, there were some worlds you didn't have to visit - there basically won't be any of those in KH3. In the past we did that to create a sense of freedom for the player, but since most everybody visits all the worlds anyway we decided there was no point.
— We are interested in the idea of online components.
Nomura: There aren't any at this point, but I'm thinking about it. I'd like to include components like that. There are some ideas under consideration.
—Do you have any plans to release a downloadable demo like the one available at E3 for the fans waiting eagerly for the release date?
Nomura: I am asked that a lot, but a demo like that would very different to the kind of demo we made for E3. Creating something to be distributed to a large number of players would require a different level of manufacturing process and budget compared to something created to be experienced in a temporary and restricted space. Although you may think that since we created a demo we should be able to make it downloadable, that's just not how it works. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the time or resources to prepare a downloadable demo.
—There were new scenes of Larxene and Luxord in the trailers. Are they members of the New Organization XIII?
Nomura: Yes. As you can gather from previously established information, the New Organization XIII has already gathered quite a few members, hasn't it? The trailers we have showed so far have mostly focused on Disney worlds rather than anything else, and the main story of KH3 has only appeared in fragments. As the release date draws nearer, I plan to reveal information a little at a time.
—How about that scene of Aqua seeming to have fallen to the darkness?
Nomura: Aqua had been doing her best in the Realm of Darkness all this time, but something happened...
— Kairi, Lea and even someone who looks like the Riku Replica have appeared, haven't they?
Nomura: This was the first time KH3 Kairi was revealed, wasn't it? She's cut her hair and gotten a new outfit. We see Kairi and Lea in a place where they are training. You won't visit that area as a player. I hope you'll look forward finding out more about the person who looks like the Riku Replica,including whether or not he is indeed the "other me" Riku spoke of.
— Those who are playing KH Union Cross (currently ongoing) must be very concerned about the presence of Marluxia.
Nomura: I think if you play both Union Cross and KH3 you will be able to understand what's going on with him.
—Wth such a large number of characters appearing, it really does feel like a culmination of the series thus far.
Nomura: There certainly are a huge number of characters appearing, since one of the main themes of KH3 is "a conclusion for everybody."
—We also think the new theme song by Utada Hikaru is a huge point.
Nomura: Since the songwriting process had to fit alongside Ms Utada's other artistic activities, we started working on it at a very early stage. I think perhaps the energy of KH fans all over the world has reached Ms Utada.
—Mr Nomura, did you have any specific requests for the theme song?
Nomura: I provided an explanation of the series so far and some simple details about the content of KH3, and then left it in Ms Utada's hands.
— A limited edition PS4 Pro and an All-in-One Package were also announced alongside KH3, right?
Nomura: The PS4 Pro has been in production for a while - I actually had to have it remade several times in order to achieve the ideal color. When you actually hold it, you'll notice it's been manufactured with a leathery texture. The controller also features a glossy finish, a design on the touchpad, and monochrome buttons, which I don't believe is done very often.
— Please give a message to those looking forward to KH3.
Nomura: The release date has been set, and we're very sorry to have to make you wait a little longer than planned. Please prepare for KH3 by playing past titles and KH Union Cross until the game's launch. Also, the truth is we are realizing that there's a chance we will run out of disc space, and as I did touch on very briefly just now I am thinking about future online components, so in the meantime I'd like for you to make sure your console can connect to the internet and sit tight.
— Finally, how is FFVII Remake doing?
Nomura: I know some misinformation has caused people to worry, but development is actually progressing along smoothly, and we're really getting into the thick of it. The reason we have been keeping info on the downlow isn't due to the state of the game - it is because our current priority is the release of KH3 and other titles from the company. We are focusing on the next opportunity to release info, so please wait a little longer.
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