News ► Famitsu: KHMOM interview reveals no plans for DLC, no secret ending & more

[Oracle Spockanort]

Famitsu spoke to KINGDOM HEARTS series producer Ichiro Hazama, KINGDOM HEARTS series director Tetsuya Nomura, and KINGDOM HEARTS Melody of Memory co-director Masanobu Suzui about the development of KINGDOM HEARTS Melody of Memory, revealing that Chirithy was intended to be the original narrator for Melody of Memory, COVID-19 caused issues for the game, there are no plans for DLC, and the next KINGDOM HEARTS project is currently in development.

Full translations will be available soon. Thanks to Antifa Lockhart, we have a summarized list of key points from the Famitsu interview. You can read them below:

• The Theatrythm team has wanted a KINGDOM HEARTS game for some time and proposals began about five years ago.
  
  
• Special attention has been paid to make this game feel like an extension of the rest of the series, from character animation to the sound of the cursor.
  
  
• Though this game doesn't use the stylized chibi designs, they do make cameo appearances in the menus and have been rigged so they have fluid wiggles and wobbles.
  
  
• You can tell from the key art that Kairi is considered the main character of this story, though Nomura was working on it right up until the deadline.
  
  
• Originally, Chirithy was going to be the narrator but Nomura decided Kairi was more appropriate, and when he asked his team to make new cutscenes for this game they were surprised but did it anyway.
  
  
• There are no secret episodes or movies, everyone gets the same content regardless.
  
  
• To keep up with the theme of KINGDOM HEARTS as an action series, the gameplay broke from the tradition of side-scrolling and took on the same appearance as the 15th anniversary memorial music box. Still, special consideration had to be paid to avoid players from feeling motion sickness.
  
  
• There are over 140 songs, and choosing them was difficult. Suzui used the concerts' setlists as a guide for popularity then made edits based on what was appropriate for the story.
  
  
• There are 47 normal worlds, 16 of which are "Kingdom Hearts" worlds, and 31 of which are Disney worlds. In addition to that, there are about 33 boss arenas.
  
  
• If you follow the story and play through the world trips to get to the end quickly, it should still take about 10 hours.
  
  
• COVID-19 made some things difficult, mostly being able to record overseas but they were able to make it work.
  
  
• Nomura is keeping in mind that 2022 is the 20th anniversary of the KINGDOM HEARTS series.
  
  
• The team's been working on the next project and he can't say when new announcements are coming but they'll be amazing.
  
  
• There are no plans to add new songs or any DLC, the team wants this to be a definitive omnibus for the series.

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[Zettaflare]

Nomura is keeping the series 20th anniversary in mind? Wonder what he has planned for it? Maybe that will be th announcement of DDD Volume 2

 

[AdrianXXII]

Lot's of cool little tidbits here. I think the biggest shocker for me is the no DLC for this game statement, figured this game would be perfect for DLCs.

The keeping 2022 in mind for the anniversary is quite interesting though.

 

[Cumguardian69]

1) the game is perfect for music track DLC, see ROckBand and Guitar Hero
2) no secret ending is a bummer but to be fair this is a covid-19 release so we can't complain too much
3) 20th anniversary so we'll be getting KH2FM UE4 edition right? I kid

 

[Darkspawn]

Nomura is keeping the series 20th anniversary in mind? Wonder what he has planned for it? Maybe that will be th announcement of DDD Volume 2

I sure hope the 20th anniversary is celebrated by more than just an announcement. Lol. If they’re already working on the next title, it could probably be ready by then or 2023 at the latest.

 

[Xagzan]

There are 47 normal worlds, 16 of which are "Kingdom Hearts" worlds, and 31 of which are Disney worlds. In addition to that, there are about 33 boss arenas.

Wait what? We even have 16 original KH worlds?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

There are 47 normal worlds, 16 of which are "Kingdom Hearts" worlds, and 31 of which are Disney worlds. In addition to that, there are about 33 boss arenas.

Wait what? We even have 16 original KH worlds?

No but...

1. KH1 Destiny Islands
2. KH1 Traverse Town
3. KH1 Hollow Bastion
4. KH1 End of the World
5. COM Castle Oblivion
6. KH2 Twilight Town
7. KH2 Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden
8. KH2 The World That Never Was
9. BBS Land of Departure
10. BBS Radiant Garden
11. BBS Keyblade Graveyard
12. DDD Traverse Town
13. 0.2 Realm of Darkness
14. KH3 Keyblade Graveyard
15. KH3 Scala Ad Caelum
16. BC Daybreak Town

Idk?

It's a possible breakdown.

 

[Dandelion]

No but...

1. KH1 Destiny Islands
2. KH1 Traverse Town
3. KH1 Hollow Bastion
4. KH1 End of the World
5. COM Castle Oblivion
6. KH2 Twilight Town
7. KH2 Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden
8. KH2 The World That Never Was
9. BBS Land of Departure
10. BBS Radiant Garden
11. BBS Keyblade Graveyard
12. DDD Traverse Town
13. 0.2 Realm of Darkness
14. KH3 Keyblade Graveyard
15. KH3 Scala Ad Caelum
16. BC Daybreak Town

Idk?

It's a possible breakdown.

It's also possible they count 3D TWTNW, Disney Castle/Disney Town, Mysterious Tower as original worlds

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

It's also possible they count 3D TWTNW, Disney Castle/Disney Town, Mysterious Tower as original worlds

That too. The combinations are endless depending on what songs they are using and how they classify things.

 

[Launchpad]

No but...

1. KH1 Destiny Islands
2. KH1 Traverse Town
3. KH1 Hollow Bastion
4. KH1 End of the World
5. COM Castle Oblivion
6. KH2 Twilight Town
7. KH2 Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden
8. KH2 The World That Never Was
9. BBS Land of Departure
10. BBS Radiant Garden
11. BBS Keyblade Graveyard
12. DDD Traverse Town
13. 0.2 Realm of Darkness
14. KH3 Keyblade Graveyard
15. KH3 Scala Ad Caelum
16. BC Daybreak Town

Idk?

It's a possible breakdown.

Don't forget Dive Into The Heart and The Final World.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

With no secret ending, I can play on baby-one-button mode if I want without the fear of knowing I'm making the secret ending harder to get. Because there is none, mwahaha. Still think I'll at least try Standard mode at first.

 

[Absent]

• There are no secret episodes or movies, everyone gets the same content regardless.
• If you follow the story and play through the world trips to get to the end quickly, it should still take about 10 hours.
• There are no plans to add new songs or any DLC, the team wants this to be a definitive omnibus for the series.

 

[MATGSY]

It's also possible they count 3D TWTNW, Disney Castle/Disney Town, Mysterious Tower as original worlds

I think Disney Castle & Mysterious Tower are treated as Disney worlds. I remember Disney Town being advertised as 1 of BBS' Disney worlds in a trailer before.

 

[LoneFox]

I believe the idea is to follow Sora's journey. He never visited Disney Town or Daybreak Town, so those don't count. Mysterious Tower to my knowledge is a Disney World from Fantasia. But if we double count worlds that have two versions (Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure, and real/data Twilight Town), count Disney Castle as an original World, and include the world where Sora is now, there seems to be exactly 16 of them.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

I wonder if Cavern of Remembrance counts? Yeah it's part of Radiant Garden, but has it's own theme song.

 

[Dandelion]

I believe the idea is to follow Sora's journey. He never visited Disney Town or Daybreak Town, so those don't count.

We literally play as TAV and RAX, though. You unlock stages from non-Sora games, too. We see Sora fight Maleficent on her turf from BBS, and Stitch is shown as a friend summon on the trophies with the Deep Space logo even though he's never been there.

 

[KH_Is_Light_999]

I’m super excited for Melody of Memory! This new information just makes me even happier! While I do wish we could get more new story details than what has been confirmed, I’m still very much looking forward to this entry. I’m excited to revisit different key points throughout the series in the form of a rhythm music game, and even though the new story information we’re getting is probably going to be on the smaller side, I can’t wait to see what hints Nomura has for us this time. I was personally very impressed and excited by all the hints of what’s to come from the endings of Kingdom Hearts III and the ReMind DLC, so even if it’s just something small again, I’m very excited to play the game on November 13!

 

[Sakuraba Neku]

I guess this game serves as a recap before we dive in the next saga. No secret ending is disappointing though.

Nomura is already thinking about the 20th anniversary and seems confident that the next announcements will be amazing, so hopefully no more rhythm games or mobile games.

We still don't know what kind of game one of the four KH teams is doing.

1 - Osaka team is most likely doing the next "normal" KH game
2 - Mobile team is handling Union X and Dark Road
3 - MoM team
4 - ????

A Verum Rex game seems inevitable. Now which team will do it and if it will become its own IP its another thing.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I believe the idea is to follow Sora's journey. He never visited Disney Town or Daybreak Town, so those don't count. Mysterious Tower to my knowledge is a Disney World from Fantasia. But if we double count worlds that have two versions (Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure, and real/data Twilight Town), count Disney Castle as an original World, and include the world where Sora is now, there seems to be exactly 16 of them.

We literally play as TAV and RAX, though. You unlock stages from non-Sora games, too. We see Sora fight Maleficent on her turf from BBS, and Stitch is shown as a friend summon on the trophies with the Deep Space logo even though he's never been there.

Deep Space also gets a song in the game just to mention.

I guess this game serves as a recap before we dive in the next saga. No secret ending is disappointing though.

Nomura is already thinking about the 20th anniversary and seems confident that the next announcements will be amazing, so hopefully no more rhythm games or mobile games.

We still don't know what kind of game one of the four KH teams is doing.

1 - Osaka team is most likely doing the next "normal" KH game
2 - Mobile team is handling Union X and Dark Road
3 - MoM team
4 - ????

Keep in mind they aren't saying game, they are saying "project". Normally the distinction wouldn't need to be made but KH isn't just getting new games. We need to remember this for the coming 2nd Phase.

 

[Cumguardian69]

Keep in mind they aren't saying game, they are saying "project". Normally the distinction wouldn't need to be made but KH isn't just getting new games. We need to remember this for the coming 2nd Phase.

But double feature = KHDR and KHMOM