News ► KH 20th anniversary event Q&A masterpost

[HakaishinChampa]

What I love about all of this is the fact that the devs are hearing the community's complaints. "KH3 was too easy" - they added ReMind which is the hardest challenge the series has ever provided, just behind from the egg minigame from the bistro. "No FF characters & Kairi still does nothing" - they added them in ReMind and made her playable for the first time. "Too much Disney, not enough original content" - well KH4 looks like it's shaping up to have a decent mix of the two.

And now we have reaction commands returning and hopefully the end of those dreadful situation commands. The final product could be amazing.

Difficulty wise, what KH4 needs is Critical Mode from the getgo

Also I personally think Critical Mode shouldn't be some unlock after you beat the game once, I feel like you should be able to jump straight into critical

 

[Chie]

Oh yeah I saw the TWEWY question.

Guy asked about if Sora will reunite with Neku and crew and Nomura instead just talked about the world itself.

Nomura is always more coy about this than people's summaries suggest.

The last time he was asked about it he just said there isn't necessarily a connection and what's more important is that Neku's and Quadratum's are both (to paraphrase based on intention) SHIbuya instead of Shibuya, though I didn't realize the point of that until now. But this is always reported as him just saying "nothing, don't think".

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

Sigurd from UX finale; Odin, Baldr, Bragi, and Hermod from DR. Have I forgotten someone?

I'm guessing that the narrator will be present in both games. And since time travel is a thing and Nomura introduces alternative methods of time travel that break pre-established rules of time travel....

Anyway, the game begins while Brain is still young, thus none of the keyblade schoolchildren are born yet. My best guesses are union x MC, Darkness, Sigurd, a younger Odin, or that old guy who took Xehanort to Destiny Islands.

Don't know how MC can exist between UX and DR, but Nomura always finds a way to force things to happen.

This particular Darkness could be the one that just upped and vanished after fighting Luxu off-screen at the end of UX. Or maybe the Darknesses trapped between Data Daybreak Town and Game Central Station broke free and..., I guess, aimlessly fucked around for over 100 years.

Sigurd, younger Odin, and that old guy simply cuz why not. Any of them could've gone to Quadratum after dying.

 

[Chaser]

I'm guessing that the narrator will be present in both games. And since time travel is a thing and Nomura introduces alternative methods of time travel that break pre-established rules of time travel....

Anyway, the game begins while Brain is still young, thus none of the keyblade schoolchildren are born yet. My best guesses are union x MC, Darkness, Sigurd, a younger Odin, or that old guy who took Xehanort to Destiny Islands.

Don't know how MC can exist between UX and DR, but Nomura always finds a way to force things to happen.

This particular Darkness could be the one that just upped and vanished after fighting Luxu off-screen at the end of UX. Or maybe the Darknesses trapped between Data Daybreak Town and Game Central Station broke free and..., I guess, aimlessly fucked around for over 100 years.

Sigurd, younger Odin, and that old guy simply cuz why not. Any of them could've gone to Quadratum after dying.

It's Sigurd.

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

It's Sigurd.

Like, confirmed? That was quick.

 

[Chaser]

Like, confirmed? That was quick.

News ► - Famitsu interviews Nomura on Kingdom Hearts 4 and Missing-Link

Famitsu has released an interview with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura. He shares his thoughts on the 20th anniversary and discusses the newly announced Kingdom Hearts 4 and Missing-Link. -- Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of the Kingdom Heart series. Nomura: Thank...

www.khinsider.com

It really was quick, I couldn't believe how fast ivaannom solved it.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

So it's confirmed to be Sigurd? Aww, I was going to suggest that it's the old guy who dropped dead on Destiny Islands watching Xehanort growing up. Seriously, who is that guy? It bothers me we are just glossing over this random dead dude. I think I'll name him Destiny Island-Dead-Dude, or maybe just Destiny-Dead-Dude for DDD.

Though I am curious who Sigurd is too, but the come on, we gotta learn who that old guy was.

 

[the red monster]

there's already theories about sigurd being demyx. like clockwork.

 

[Squood!]

there's already theories about sigurd being demyx. like clockwork.

"I hate that this character is/is connected to this other character.

Anyway this guy whose name doesn't spell demyx when the letters are switched around is obviously Demyx"

 

[NoWay]

I really can’t at Nomura saying it’s a character we all know when Sigurd only appeared in the end cutscene of Ux (a mobile game!) and is such an unknown character compared to others.

I literally forgot about him

 

[*TwilightNight*]

People are really making assumptions and jumping the gun about who's popular or not. The only ones who are the most popular characters are Sora, Roxas, and Aqua, consistently, to the point where it's painful in a good way (if you like them). The rest are extensions. The poll that was done beforehand and kept showing up was a limited demographic and doesn't encompass a worthwhile percentage of the fanbase. Nonetheless, let's break it down. For example, if you think Xion is popular because of that poll, then Kairi (the one that is not "well written") must be as well considering there was only a 20 vote difference between them, and Naminé, who Nomura has screwed over in multiple ways by sidelining her, still managed not to be far either...which is crazy considering how much of a non-presence he's made her and is now trying to make up for it. In comparison, Aqua leads far ahead of all three to an eyebrow raising degree. Sora and Roxas were basically about to go head to head.

I feel like Axel is mid (now more than he ever was, the CoM and KHII love is dwindling), and I've gotten the impression that Riku is more loved and/or appreciated in the West.

On top of that, we don't know what subset or section of the fandom the staff were looking at. Or if people wanted these characters to return because they wanted the happy ending for them and that it would be unfair. Was it during the wake of feeling bad for these characters? Opinions vary upon this subject. I'm more than certain there are Japanese fans who think they shouldn't have come back similar to how they exist in the West.

The loudest =/= majority.

But it does get attention.

Wow, this is a little surreal. So, I was actually the one who asked Nomura if Roxas and Xion were always meant to come back. I also asked about Isa's scar (though it's possible I wasn't the only one). On the topic of Roxas and Xion, personally, I never got the sense that either were meant to come back physically, and to me, their return in KH3 felt like cheesy fanservice. That is why I asked the question in the first place (which I can't believe he actually answered honestly, holy shit!).

Wish you could have included Naminé in that, because now I wonder where she landed on in that decision-making process. I feel she was left with bread crumbs compared to the rest in the sense that she could have a role in the future. The character story in the Character Files, the recent abundance of merch with her and her placement in the anniversary art drives that further. That, or Nomura is feeling guilty as hell.

Speaking of her, of all things that could have been asked about her, it was that? And those who were in charge of the questions, this was what they picked?

Before KH3, my interpretation of the story was that Roxas was born with Ventus's heart. Due to that, I assumed that when Ventus was finally revived, he'd have all of Roxas's development and memories. Roxas's character arc would thus be resolved through Ventus's revival. That was what I always assumed was meant by healing Roxas's torment in Re:Coded. To me, Roxas and Ventus were the same person. That is always how I saw the story going, and based off of Nomura's response to my tweet, I am now utterly convinced of it.

I believe that's exactly what they were going for as well or they were teetering at the edge of it, but Nomura finalized them as different people. Correct me if wrong, but I vaguely remember an interview back then how he wanted to keep things open and that making Roxas be Ventus was "too predictable", and it's really that kind of mindset that makes the narrative subpar. He was worried Aqua wouldn't be popular because she wasn't tied to or connected to any other character (i.e. look-alikes) even. Rule of Cool and Rule of Shock are what basically drives his choices. Whether he learned from them is another thing, but the cloning nonsense should have stopped (and ended) at Roxas and Naminé, period. Everything else feels hand-forced. Half the cast are basically Sora derivations with one [actual] Kairi.

It makes sense that Roxas would be Ventus. The lore behind both of them interconnects them, that Ven's heart went inside the vessel that was Roxas, how they had Lea meet Ven in the past, etc. It would resolve the body situation since Roxas would have one waiting for him (I'm sorry, I still find the whole blank mannequin thing creepy...you put a Heart in something, and somehow, that makes them indistinguishable from humans because with that, they suddenly and magically get organs that weren't there and stuff...then suddenly and magically, they don't have those organs and brains and blood once the Heart is out...lmao). Roxas dual wields because he can use both his and Sora's Keyblades...honestly, if it wasn't for Nomura separating them, it's practically seamless.

Since he decided not to do it though, I would have felt some type of way if Great Value Roxas got to return and be more proactive in the next saga while not bringing back the original (by creation order), who has the better personality, is the better character, and who's waaaay more popular. Nomura doomed Ven the second he went with him looking exactly like Roxas; there's no individuality. He has off-brand Sora's personality with Roxas' face. No wonder he didn't make a splash. And I know Nomura is attempting to bring some...life and attention to the guy by inserting him in Ux, but like, should have thought of the bigger picture. He never thinks of the bigger picture and how those hedonistic decisions impacts a character.

I do see how there's a lot to pack with one character with two lives (three?), but honestly, that would have just made Roxas one of the bigger focuses of the series. Worst case scenario is that he parallels his importance to the series the same way as Sora. But is that really a worst case scenario?

Her lived experience would kind of be "passed on" to Kairi. And that was why the Lea/Kairi relationship was such a strong focus in KH3.

I dislike how things have to be "passed on" because Xion was created from the sample of Sora's memories, and took a form of Kairi because those were his strongest memories. It just makes the entire friendship and relationship of these two characters completely disingenuous because it's more or less a replacement goldfish situation. I detested when they poisoned it by doing just that in III but conveniently ignored that in KHII. Especially when paired with the non-reaction to Kairi's, uh, "demise". From now on, Kairi's friendship with Lea will feel superficial to me. It's fine if you are going to retcon a character in Days, but the fact that these tidbits of "Xion" and subconscious memories of her were possible in the first place and yet nothing was done with that in previous games just sticks out that they clearly wanted to avoid the plot hole of KHII of why no one mentioned this one girl and why she wasn't a thing. More so because Axel did interact with Kairi.

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

So it's confirmed to be Sigurd? Aww, I was going to suggest that it's the old guy who dropped dead on Destiny Islands watching Xehanort growing up. Seriously, who is that guy? It bothers me we are just glossing over this random dead dude. I think I'll name him Destiny Island-Dead-Dude, or maybe just Destiny-Dead-Dude for DDD.

Though I am curious who Sigurd is too, but the come on, we gotta learn who that old guy was.

For all we know, the old guy could be Old Sigurd.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

For all we know, the old guy could be Old Sigurd.

You know the mobile game Final Fantasy Dimensions had a Dark Knight named Sigurd. Two mysterious Sigurds in Square mobile games. I smell a conspiracy!

I don't know who that old guy is but he needs a backstory like right now. Sora and friends have been playing on his graveyard for years now. Think about every time you play KH1's opening. Every time you play as Sora collecting coconuts, every time he and Riku race, every time Selphie plays jump ropes, they are doing it on some random old guys grave, mocking him with their happiness. No wonder the islands fell to darkness. Don't blame Riku, it's this guys fault. This needs to be brought to everyone's attention, and I shall not rest until this old guy gets his story told!

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

Oh yeah, that Japan-only popularity poll. That rubbed me the wrong way. The elephant in the room: Japan-only. The most jarring thing: (to my knowledge) it was an unranked poll.

It was a simple "vote for your #1 favorite male and female character". That's really reductive and limiting. This video explains the importance of ranked surveys better than I can, much of which is in the first 70 seconds. We could've learned so much nuance behind those placements, and said placements may have even changed.

 

[*TwilightNight*]

Oh yeah, that Japan-only popularity poll. That rubbed me the wrong way. The elephant in the room: Japan-only. The most jarring thing: (to my knowledge) it was an unranked poll.

It was a simple "vote for your #1 favorite male and female character". That's really reductive and limiting. This video explains the importance of ranked surveys better than I can, much of which is in the first 70 seconds. We could've learned so much nuance behind those placements, and said placements may have even changed.

Exactly. It's good if we take it as a starting basis back then, but if we are talking female characters, Aqua is the one of note. Male characters, Roxas and Sora. So the discussion about popularity in Japan, what is the basis for it? How does one know [insert character] is more popular in the East than the West? What are we critiquing? All Nomura said was that there was fan demand for characters to come back. That could vary. What did he listen to, where, were they discussions amongst fans talking about it, etc. Was it just Roxas and Xion? Because the question itself was asked in a way that makes them the primary focus.

I know for sure that Roxas was the primary target to come back with that demand, considering Nomura hinted it in KHIII itself how everyone misses Roxas and not her (Naminè). And that's definitely meta.

 

[Zettaflare]

For all we know, the old guy could be Old Sigurd.

I thought the same thing too when I first saw him at the end of Union. If Eraqus is really descended from Brain it makes sense for Sigurd to be an old man by the time Xehanort is born in Scala.

 

[Chie]

I never actually considered that before but that would make complete sense. Sigurd is the "blue" of the group!

 

[Squood!]

I never actually considered that before but that would make complete sense. Sigurd is the "blue" of the group!

The blue of what group?

We barely know the guy why are we applying him to a group now

 

[Absent]

Poll contests are weird depending on where you are. The biggest example of East vs West is the Pokémon fandom.

The Subway brothers and Gum Leader Erika are super super popular, meanwhile they’re go under the radar in the West.

 

[Chie]

The blue of what group?

We barely know the guy why are we applying him to a group now

Sigurd is part of an unknown organization that uses wireless communication (the "keyblade secret society" i suppose) and seem to be the protagonists of Missing Link.

I know my bringing up the color thing is kind of a random "me thing" but he's absolutely part of a group.

----

The colors thing is more esoteric but, even though this is a game where you play as your own custom character, there's a member of this group wearing all white in the pre-rendered cutscene in the trailer. We see him and people wearing all red and all green as players in the gameplay bits. This is probably nothing to most people, but it's something I think about. Sigurd is kind of a bluish-purple, and the old man wears a blue robe.