Square Enix shared part 2 of Kingdom Hearts III‘s Q&A with Tetsuya Nomura, who revealed two new development teams and shared teasers for what’s next.
The Q&A series titled “7 Lights and 13 Darknesses Q&A” featured 7 questions and answers from co-director Tai Yasue in the first part. The following are 13 questions answered by director Tetsuya Nomura:
Q1: What’s the difference between ReMIND and Final Mix that released for previous numbered titles?
Tetsuya Nomura, Director: “For Final Mix we made balance adjustments and additions to the game as a whole. ReMIND is standalone content made for players who beat the game to enjoy. Furthermore, the Japanese version has the option for English voicing, it also adds Limit Cut bosses, and other additionals similar to Final Mix. It doesn’t touch on the main game much, but you can basically think of it as an equivalent of Final Mix.”
Q2: How did you decide on splitting content between the free update and ReMIND (paid update)?
Tetsuya Nomura: “It comes from the thought of Kingdom Hearts III and ReMIND being different content. The version update fundamentally for what’s in Kingdom Hearts III that you already purchased, and ReMIND adds new elements outside the main game. However, the English voice option previously packaged in the aforementioned Final Mix is included in ReMIND. Again, the additional Keyblades, abilities, and such that were previously included in Final Mixes up until now were added in the free update as post-game elements.”
Q3: Does that mean you won’t release a Final Mix next? What about a physical release?
Tetsuya Nomura: “At the moment we don’t have any concrete plans for it. We might think about it when a new platform shows up, but we haven’t thought about whether it’ll be a Final Mix or not.”
Q4: What part of the timeline is the additional story from ReMIND? Also, what can we see in ReMIND?
Tetsuya Nomura: “There are parts that jump around the timeline, but the timeline for the main part as Sora tells us about Kairi’s rescue. It takes place between the end of Kingdom Hearts III‘s last battle and ending. Players get to see the story from a better perspective from Sora, but in ReMIND Sora follows the story from a different perspective different from the main game. It’s kind of tough to explain, but Kingdom Hearts III completes Kingdom Hearts III, and its ending connects to the ending of ReMIND.”
Q5: Does it influence or fix parts from Kingdom Hearts III‘s main story?
Tetsuya Nomura: “There aren’t any changes to Kingdom Hearts III‘s story itself. Since you play it after finishing Kingdom Hearts III it doesn’t influence anything. However, there are multiple parts that we gave up on due to various circumstances that got some modifications with version 1.07. Fundamentally speaking, it is stuff like damage depiction in cutscenes, the sky in the background, and such.”
Q6: Why didn’t any Final Fantasy series characters appear in the main game? And what’s the reason for adding them this time around?
Tetsuya Nomura: “On top of Kingdom Hearts III‘s story developments, there were work-related issues since there wasn’t a reason to stop by Radiant Garden. This time, they appear in ReMIND because its story needed their appearance. That and because of the burning desire from fans. They might not play a big role, but we decided to make their existence felt in the world of Kingdom Hearts III.”
Q7: What are the highlights of the Limit Cut boss? Which characters should we pay attention to?
Tetsuya Nomura: “We decided on making the Limit Cut Bosses using the Real Organization XIII but as development advanced we were conflicted on “whether we should keep Xion.” Development was progressing when I consulted [Tai] Yasue about “should we stop with Xion?” So that happened, but I hope you all feel conflicted while fighting her, too. She’s a tough one.”
Q8: You previously mentioned that you wanted to “add the equivalent of one world” but has that changed?
Tetsuya Nomura: “Actually, we planned on the addition and even worked plans and designs for a new world. However, it didn’t feel right to me to simply just add that world on its own. We decided that we could perhaps make it a candidate to work in from the start should there be another opportunity. For ReMIND, we decided to add many elements, enough elements to make it more than what you’d get in one world. This made it especially difficult to prepare with so many bosses.”
Q9: Is there anything you can tell us about the secret boss & episode?
Tetsuya Nomura: “The secret boss has my thoughts on what’s next, but I don’t think you can guess it with the information that is currently available. There are some parts of the battle that ended way different from what I asked for. But it was surprising, that’s all I’ll say for now.”
Q10: Can you tell us about the lines from the first Kingdom Hearts in the final trailer?
Tetsuya Nomura: “Those were lines I was thinking of putting together if given the opportunity to do so. It might not make any sense, but it was thanks to putting in those lines at the time that the world of Kingdom Hearts was approved. I don’t think any mysteries will be solved with that for now, but I believe it’ll get your foot in the door.”
Q11: Are there any plans for future updates or DLC?
Tetsuya Nomura: “We currently don’t have any plans for updates, but if something comes up down the road we’ll deal with it. ReMIND is the first and last as far as DLC goes. We’re already progressing on the next title.”
Q12: Can you tell us about plans for what’s next for the Kingdom Hearts series if any?
Tetsuya Nomura: “We’ll need some more time as far as the mainline Kingdom Hearts goes, but we have an unexpected surprise coming from the Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ team tomorrow. [Editor’s Note: revealed as Project Xehanort.] We already have two new teams in motion, separate from Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ. One title from one of them will come sooner than expected. ReMIND’s title screen is a foundation for it.”
Q13: Lastly, please share a message for the fans
Tetsuya Nomura: “We saw organizational changes after wrapping up Kingdom Hearts III, but I want to truly apologize keeping everyone waiting longer than expected. The additional content of ReMIND was added as elements with your enjoyment in mind. I tend to go more for the story, but most of the development time was spent on battle and system additions. I really hope you all have fun with the merciless battles only made possible through DLC. We’ve also unlocked almost all of Kingdom Hearts III for the share function. Yasue says that he wants to see your battles with the secret boss in ReMind, so we’ve unlocked as much as we could. So for not, try beating these tough enemies. ReMIND will be playable in a few hours [as of this Q&A] starting at 11:00pm. Thank you for your support.”
Director Tetsuya Nomura
Kingdom Hearts III is available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The ReMIND DLC is now available on PS4 and releases for Xbox One on February 25, 2020. Check our previous report for more details including Data Greeting, Slideshow, Premium Menu, and the new Double Form.
