Tetsuya Nomura spent most of the interview talking about Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix. The game is slated for release next year while Final Fantasy X HD, which was announced in 2011 doesn’t have a release date.
Why? Nomura explained that Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was decided on before Final Fantasy X HD. Nomura talked to the Osaka team (they did Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3DS) about making something that utilizes the power of the PS3. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix had some development setbacks. For close to a year, only two programmers from the Osaka team were working on the project. The programmer in charge of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix has not been with the Kingdom Hearts team in the past. While the Kingdom Hearts staff in the Tokyo team has changed over the years, the Osaka team has been basically the same.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was originally supposed to be a remade game, but new work took precedence. Nomura explained that the movie for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will cover 70% of the story. There will be supplemental text for the Disney Worlds. Altogether, this will be between two to three hours long. There will be new voice acting and you can select the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days movie when you start the game.
While other Kingdom Hearts games had a secret movie as a teaser for the next title, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix will not have one. Development work is in the final stage and Nomura is considering how to include trophies in the game. Nomura also said aside from the trophies there aren’t major additions. The team made Kingdom Hearts easier to play with a camera based on Kingdom Hearts II and assigning the triangle button for special actions.
Nomura reiterated that it’s difficult to follow the Kingdom Hearts series because the games were spread out on multiple consoles. For the series’ 10th anniversary, he wants new users to be able to get into Kingdom Hearts. Nomura also said, more specifically, that it would be "unusual if there wasn’t a [Kingdom Hearts] 2.5."
The Kingdom Hearts saga has been focused on Xehanort so far and this chapter has an official name – the Dark Seeker chapter.
Published: Oct 10, 2012 10:20 am