Next year will be the year of Kingdom Hearts (though really every year is)
Tetsuya Nomura, aka my childhood hero for helping developFinal Fantasy X, is the director ofKingdom Hearts 2.8,Kingdom Hearts III, and theFinal Fantasy VII Remake, and is a character designer forWorld of Final Fantasy. In an interview with Dengeki Online, he discussed these exciting upcoming titles, and also spoke aboutWorld of Final Fantasy.
Originally,World of Final Fantasywas meant to be a simulation game. They created the chibi and normal-sized characters, but the simulation game had a lot of issues, so they used those characters in thesmartphone gamePictlogica Final FantasywhileWorld of Final Fantasybecame its own thing.
RegardingKingdom Hearts 2.8, which Nomura confirmed will support 4K on PlayStation Pro, he revealed that the box art contains secrets if aligned with the covers ofKingdom Hearts 1.5and2.5. Before I write what they are, see if you can spot them:
First of all, Sora’s position goes from sitting, to standing, to walking. Along with that, if you compare the skies you will see that on1.5it is “sunset becoming night,”2.5is “middle of the night,” and2.8is “night breaking into dawn.” Nomura states this is “a message regarding the final chapter,Kingdom Hearts III.” I’m pretty sure everyone was expecting a happy ending.
This ex post facto narration of the series’ tones reminds me how Hideo Kojima twisted theMetal Gear Solidinitial trilogy into a “Gene, Meme, Scene” thing. Oh, I got your memes alright.
As most would figure, Nomura confirmed thatKingdom Hearts IIIwill be an evolved form of the gameplay present inKingdom Hearts 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage, though it’ll be much improved. For one, he mentions how Aqua’s keyblade can’t be changed while Sora’s can inKHIII. Even if they didn’t make improvements,0.2plays so fantastically it would be enough, but if they want to go even further I’m not here to hold anyone back!
He says we’ll hear Hearts IIIafter the release ofKingdom Hearts 2.8(secret ending, anyone?), adding that 2017 is the 15th anniversary ofKingdom Heartsso we can expect to hear a lot of news. Which means I’ll have to get new giant earplugs that have been battered from the barrage ofFinal Fantasy XVnews and gameplay footage. I played the first twoKHgames not knowing anything about them. Going into a big game likeKHIIIwithout knowing what worlds and major gameplay elements will be featured just isn’t possible in this day and age, I suppose.
Finally, with regard to theFinal Fantasy VII Remake, Nomura explains that despite fan demand, the old ATB system is out, action combat is in. He wishes they would have shown what the battle system looks like in the past so fans wouldn’t be confused, so he plans to do that in the next update. Working on titles such asKingdom HeartsandFinal Fantasy XVwould lead most to believe the system would resemble the system in those, but we’ll just have to wait to see for ourselves.
He closed by mentioning that likeKingdom Hearts,Final Fantasy VIIwill also have an anniversary in 2017: its 20th. For it Nomura would like to do something special, but he hasn’t decided quite yet.
Read the full translation:
Tetsuya Nomura says Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will support 4K resolution through PS4 Pro, theme song for KH3 undecided, no new KH3 news till after KH2.8’s release, & more in latest Dengeki PlayStation issue[KH13]
