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[URL='https://s.famitsu.com/news/201901/24170939.html']Famitsu[/URL] has conducted an interview with Tetsuya Nomura ahead of KINGDOM HEARTS 3’s release in Japan. In this interview, he discusses how to unlock the secret ending, writing the scenario and his decision to reconsider future simultaneous worldwide releases of his games as a result of the leaks.
[B]Update: Famitsu has corrected their interview where Nomura was referring to including the series' customary Proud Mode. Critical Mode is not offered in Kingdom Hearts 3. We have updated translations accordingly.[/B]
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Translations by [URL='https://twitter.com/_KH_ENGLISH']goldpanner[/URL].
[QUOTE]
KINGDOM HEARTS III for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is releasing January 25 2019. Director Tetsuya Nomura gave us some of his precious time during the busy pre-release period for an interview.
--I actually did get to play a little of the game. There are so many different things to do! Even once you've cleared a world, you end up coming back just to explore and continue the minigames. The story itself hooks you in as all the pieces of the puzzle come together, it feels so good. It's too awesome for fans.
[B]Nomura[/B]: Thank you. KH3 is, if I had to say, "the story of taking down Master Xehanort." As such, it is the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Chronicle, and serves as an emphatic piece of punctuation to the series. Many mysteries are resolved.
--I'd like you to please explain some things about Sora's goals this time, for those who are about to play. First, tell us about the "power of awakening" that Sora needs in order to face up to Master Xehanort.
[B]Nomura[/B]: It has a few special qualities, but to put it simply it's the "power to return hearts in abnormal states to what they were originally." It can "open that which is closed, and recover hearts from within." In KH3D, they opened a portal… or type of entryway to the sleeping realm, and visited each world. That was partially training in order to gain the "power of awakening." However, thanks to Master Xehanort interfering, Sora wasn't able to properly acquire the "power of awakening." As such, his goal at the beginning of KH3 is to recover that power.
--So in order to gather the Guardians of Light, the people who will face against the darkness, he needs that "power of awakening." He has another goal: to bring Roxas back. But if Roxas has been absorbed into Sora, then how do you define "bringing him back?"
[B]Nomura[/B]: It would be defined as resurrecting him as an independent individual with his own body. In KH2, it seemed as though Roxas returning inside Sora was the resolution to the whole thing. But after that, in KH3D, Sora came into contact with Roxas' heart and memories, and tells him that they are different and that Roxas deserves to be his own person. Sora thinks it is necessary to bring Roxas back because Roxas has his own heart, because there's someone waiting for him (Axel), and because now he wants his help as a Guardian of Light.
--If KH3 marks a turning point in the series, that means the KH series is to continue, right? Even though many mysteries will be solved in KH3, will even more questions come about...
[B]Nomura[/B]: Of course it will continue. KH3 is the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Chronicle, but it is not the conclusion of the KH series - including KH Union Cross. As for future ideas, I think you will find your imaginations ignited if you watch the epilogue (releasing Jan 26) and secret movie (releasing Jan 31) which shall cast a fortune for the future.
--Will there be any conditions for watching the epilogue and secret movie?
[B]Nomura[/B]: The epilogue will play after the ending. If you download it the day after release on the 26th, you'll be able to see it once you have cleared the game. The secret movie will be released on the 31st, and whether or not you will be able to unlock it will be related to how many "Lucky Marks" you've taken pictures of.
--That's a collectibles component where you go around taking pictures of marks that look like the silhouette of the King (Mickey) using Sora's Mobile Portal, right?
[B]Nomura[/B]: How many you need to get depends on the degree of difficulty you select at the start of the game. On the easiest mode, Beginner, you need all the marks. On Standard and Proud mode you can miss a few. You can get by on Proud mode with relatively few, but it's not all that strict on Standard mode either in my opinion.
--Are there any other conditions?
[B]Nomura[/B]: No, just the number of Lucky Marks you snap. This time I made it so people could see it without having to fulfil multiple conditions.
--It sounds a lot easier than in previous titles.
[B]Nomura[/B]: Yeah. Players have different needs these days, and I wanted to make it so as many people as possible would be able to watch them from playing by themselves.
--Speaking of the difficulty levels, I found that on Standard mode I wasn't held up much in battle, and was able to progress quite smoothly. One reason was that the party AI is excellent, and they healed me a lot.
[B]Nomura[/B]: We made the focal point of the battle gameplay the fun in the variety of things you can do, such as Keyblade transformations. Even though boss battles can be tough, we did our best to design levels that players wouldn't get stuck on. We did, however, include our customary "Proud" mode, as well as an ability that stops you gaining XP from the start, so I think people who like to do different kinds of runs will be satisfied. By the way, you can also change the settings of your party AI and stop them from healing you.
--The play style really can be changed depending on each player's choices.
[B]Nomura[/B]: Battle itself is full of options: Keyblade attacks, magic, and even situation commands that keep on coming. We created the gameplay, including for battle, under the concept of the fun of selecting from a wide range of choices.
--Another large feature of KH3 is the many new worlds appearing. Which would you particularly like players to notice?
[B]Nomura[/B]: Each world has things about it I'd like players to notice, but the one I'd most like everyone to take their time playing is the Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean), where you can enjoy battling by land, sea and air. I'd love for everyone to experience the exciting adventure of hopping aboard a ship and freely exploring the Caribbean Sea. The world with the most of my personal feelings in it is the Toy Box (Toy Story), I would say. You see, the premise of KH3 always included a Toy Story world in my mind. We began work on it in the very first stages of the project, and I wrote everything from the project to the scenario myself, with lots of consultations with Pixar. It left a deep impression on me.
--You're writing the scenario yourself?
[B]Nomura[/B]: When it comes to the scenario, including the script, in the end I write everything myself. That's not just for Toy Box. I haven't made this public before, but after KH2 generally everything was written by me, especially KH 358/2 Days.
--I see. I had thought that you assemble the plot, and then the script and other small details were assigned to someone else.
[B]Nomura[/B]: That is how it was in the beginning. However, ever since KH2, roughly speaking I will create the outline of the scenario myself, and then (Masaru) Oka will take that and create a springboard scenario, including dialogue, that takes into consideration requests from the level design team. Then after that, I write the final manuscript myself. That's the general flow. Other staff have worked on the scenario in the past, but the KH series lore is complicated, and when lots of people are involved it gets hard to keep everyone updated on it all. In the end, I'm the one with the best grasp on it, so that's why we ended up with the style we have today.
--But, you haven't been credited with "Scenario" in the end credits in any of the titles so far.
[B]Nomura[/B]: I get credited with "Story," so I guess it doesn't need to be said. Plus, I've been in the industry for a long time. I worried that if people were to go into things with the preconceived notion that "Tetsuya Nomura wrote this," it get in the way of their play, so I didn't make it clear. But the series is 17 years old now, and the fact that "an old dude is writing it" is simply the truth (dry laugh). I wrote this game myself too. I wrote all the text: not just the scenario, I even decide the item names myself.
--Even the social media style loading screen?
[B]Nomura[/B]: Oh, yes I did write that. There are a couple of patterns, including ones you see after clearing a world. There are some pretty casual hashtags and things, so I hope you look carefully while waiting for things to load.
--By the way, speaking of item names, the weird name of the Toy Box Keyblade "Fave Deputy" piqued my interest. Didn't it have a different name before?
[B]Nomura[/B]: Infinity Badge, the name you've seen before, was an in-development name. "Fave Deputy" is a shortening of "Favorite Deputy," from one of Woody's recorded voice box phrases, "You are my favorite deputy" (laughs). There was a character limit so I couldn't fit the whole thing in.
--I wasn't expecting that! (Laughs). So, on top of keeping an eye on all the text, you and Mr. Oka are managing that complex scenario just the two of you?
[B]Nomura[/B]: In a management sense, Oka has that spot. This time, I asked (Kazushige) Nojima as Supervisor to do the springboard for the flow from the last battle to the ending, and I also asked his advice whenever I was having trouble with something. We also had four coordinators who proof-read the scenario in the final stages of development to make sure our complicated scenario wasn't missing anything. Even so, that is a rather small number of people for the scale of this title.
--I see. Moving on, I am interested in whether there will be any extra story or battles available as DLC after release.
[B]Nomura[/B]: Right now, staff are taking a break and I can't speak of the details. Nothing has been decided, but if we do have paid DLC, I am thinking about offering one piece with deep content rather than several fragments of things. Also, I am also considering some free downloadable content separate to that. Well, I'd rather prioritize the next game than work on DLC for a long period.
--The next game… of course! Now, the release date is nearly here. How are you feeling?
[B]Nomura[/B]: I had expected to be able to relax, but I haven't been able to take a single break and I've been on my toes the entire time (dry laugh)? We even had some trouble when someone overseas obtained a ROM through dishonest means.
--Is there anything you are able to say about that incident?
[B]Nomura[/B]: The situation has left our hands now, and I can't speak in much detail about it, but… false information was going around and people were thinking that a large number of copies were circulating from many leak sources. In fact, we confirmed that it was limited to four copies, and there was only one leak source who was scattering information to make it seem as though there were many. I say it was only one, but thanks to that one, many people who were looking forward to KH3 were caused distress. It is a humongous shame. This incident proved that worldwide simultaneous releases are highly risky, and I feel obligated to reconsider them for any titles I am involved with in the future, at least for physical editions.
--This incident was disappointing for fans, but I am sure everyone knows that it is nonsense to judge things based on rumours. The release date is upon us, and then all we will have to do is enjoy ourselves.
[B]Nomura[/B]: I would like for everyone to play it and judge for themselves. Making this game fun was my number one priority when working on KH3. The staff have worked very hard in order to make every feature fun. I hope you explore and enjoy every inch of this game stuffed with fun things.
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