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All info from Tetsuya Nomura's new interviews

Gematsu collected it all.

Nomura on a Second Playable Character

“So it would be tough to introduce many, multiple playable characters, but there is an intention of adding a playable character aside from Sora,” Nomura teased. “Unfortunately we’re not able to disclose who it is yet, but there will be [another playable character].”

Nomura on Bigger Parties

Kingdom Hearts III will feature a party system that allows for more than two additional members to fight alongside Sora. This, in part, comes from the decision to get rid of the “Dimension Link” feature from the PSP game Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.

“D-Link, that has been done away with,” Nomura said. “It was actually a compromise in a previous iteration because we were not able to display multiple characters on that platform in that game,” Nomura said. “We’re able to depict multiple characters. Up to five people can join, even more, multiple characters can join your party.”

Nomura on the Gummi Ship

“In terms of the Gummi Ship making its return, I can confirm on that, but how it is or what has become of it, we’re not able to reveal it at this point,” Nomura said. “We ask you to stay tuned for more information.”

Nomura also hinted at the Gummi Ship offering new or improved elements.

“The staff members on our development team always want to try something new, so even with previously introduced mechanics, they always try to make it their own or tweak it. Even if it is small or minor, we customize it so that it’s for Kingdom Hearts III.”

Nomura on the Toy Story World

Nomura has longed for Toy Story to appear in the Kingdom Hearts series since the release of Kingdom Hearts II.

“Just looking at the trailer, I feel Sora really fit in and matched well with that world, and it’s something I always personally wanted to see – that image of Buzz and Woody coming face to face with Sora in his toy form,” Nomura said. “I had been imaging that in my head, and to be able to execute that into the game is something I’m really excited for and I’m hoping fans feel the same way I do.”

Rather than follow the story of the original film, Pixar made a special request for the Toy Story in Kingdom Hearts III.

“[Pixar] preferred for us to not follow the film directly. They said, ‘Please create something original to Kingdom Hearts,’ so we did not draw any inspiration from the films. It is completely original and exclusive to Kingdom Hearts, so you can almost say it’s a sequel of some sort.”

Nomura his team considered all of the films in the series and made a decision about where to place it. “We placed the narrative in Kingdom Hearts some place after Toy Story 2.” He said he worked very closely with Pixar to get its approval on the new story for the game. “So many rounds of review! I couldn’t believe how many back and forths I had,” he laughed.

The trailer shows Sora, Donald, and Goofy team up with Woody and Buzz to search a new area called Galaxy Toys.

“Galaxy Toys is going to be your primary stage where a lot of the action is going to be happening in this world,” Nomura said. “Because Sora, Donald, and Goofy are toys and very small, the playing field is going to feel very large. We also have multiple floors and each section has its own personality, so to speak.”

The story of the Toy Story world involves searching for Andy, who has gone missing, as well as figuring out why Organization XIII has appeared in that world.

“Rather than having multiple different little worlds, we wanted to make sure we’re providing rich gameplay in an individual world, so we put in a lot of effort and allocated a lot of resources to create these worlds, and it would be sad for players not to enjoy the world and breeze right through it,” Nomura said. “Therefore, we made sure that each of the worlds is designed so players can take their time and enjoy the gameplay that’s available.”

The trailer shows Sora ride a mech, called Gigas, to fight enemies in the area. According to Nomura, this is “to showcase that with the specs of the current generation hardware, it is possible. We’re hoping there’s a surprise element with each new mechanic that is introduced with Kingdom Hearts III, and we’re going to be revealing more information as they become available.”

Nomura on a Switch Version

“The Nintendo Switch is definitely a very interesting piece of hardware, but if we lightly say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll be on the Nintendo Switch,’ I’m sure people will come back and say, ‘But what about the PS4 and Xbox One? We want them out first. Don’t focus on other platforms,’” Nomura said. “So for now, we want to focus on what platforms we’ve already announced we’re going to be releasing Kingdom Hearts III on. And so after, perhaps, maybe we can start thinking about other possibilities.”

Nomura on Kingdom Hearts Collections for Xbox One

“Just like with the previous answer, if we were to announce yet another non-Kingdom Hearts III [project]…people are going to be like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ So we will want to focus on releasing on the platforms that we have already announced,” Nomura said. “Do the Western audiences want Kingdom Hearts titles on the Microsoft or Xbox platforms? Japan might say ‘well, we don’t want any more on Xbox.’”

Nomura also noted Microsoft’s recent announcement of its more powerful Xbox One X, adding, “It also makes you think, ‘Well, do we want to have [the collections] on the Xbox platforms? Isn’t it a bit late in the game?’”
 

L.O.R.D

Member
Nomura on Kingdom Hearts Collections for Xbox One

“Just like with the previous answer, if we were to announce yet another non-Kingdom Hearts III [project]…people are going to be like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ So we will want to focus on releasing on the platforms that we have already announced,” Nomura said. “Do the Western audiences want Kingdom Hearts titles on the Microsoft or Xbox platforms? Japan might say ‘well, we don’t want any more on Xbox.’”

Nomura also noted Microsoft’s recent announcement of its more powerful Xbox One X, adding, “It also makes you think, ‘Well, do we want to have [the collections] on the Xbox platforms? Isn’t it a bit late in the game?’”
So,maybe after KH3 release,they think about the collection on X1?
still strange they don't give this hop for other company to do the port.
 

xzeldax3

Member
I still think it's cool that KHIII will be released on XB1. I'll never forget the reactions when FFXIII was announced for 360.
 
Nomura said. “Do the Western audiences want Kingdom Hearts titles on the Microsoft or Xbox platforms? Japan might say ‘well, we don’t want any more on Xbox.’”

What the fuck is this answer?

Japan doesn't give a shit about Xbox anyway so why should they decide what players around the world have access to.
 
What the fuck is this answer?

Japan doesn't give a shit about Xbox anyway so why should they decide what players around the world have access to.

I think his point is that Japanese gamers may get upset at them for spending time porting those games to the Xbox instead of finishing up KH3. So, he feels obligated to get it done before thinking about any ports.
 

wrowa

Member
I think his point is that Japanese gamers may get upset at them for spending time porting those games to the Xbox instead of finishing up KH3. So, he feels obligated to get it done before thinking about any ports.

It seems rather silly that Japanese players being upset by Xbox support is a concern, while western Xbox owners feeling treated as 3rd class citizens doesn't seem to be much of a concern. The KH collections should have been multiplatform from the start if they wanted KH3 to be successful on Xbox.

I suppose they don't really put much stock into the Xbox version of KH3 to begin with, though.
 

BHK3

Banned
So the Toy Story chapter is canon?

Doubt it, they are just saying Pixar didn't want to be involved and said do your own thing. It's after Toy Story 2 and Andy went 'missing' aka probably high school or out with friends or being a young adult. It would also mean they can avoid having any characters from 3 in it and focus on the main Toy Story characters along with Sora and co.

It seems rather silly that Japanese players being upset by Xbox support is a concern, while western Xbox owners feeling treated as 3rd class citizens doesn't seem to be much of a concern. The KH collections should have been multiplatform from the start if they wanted KH3 to be successful on Xbox.

I suppose they don't really put much stock into the Xbox version of KH3 to begin with, though.
I really don't think Square will do it, FFXV sales was 80% PS4 20% XB1 and Type-0 HD was even worse.
 
Doubt it, they are just saying Pixar didn't want to be involved and said do your own thing. It's after Toy Story 2 and Andy went 'missing' aka probably high school or out with friends or being a young adult. It would also mean they can avoid having any characters from 3 in it and focus on the main Toy Story characters along with Sora and co.
What? They said Pixar was involved and Nomura was surprised at the amount of back and forth he had to have with them in order to get a story. They also requested an original plot for the world.

Andy is missing along with the toys because Xehanort is trying to find the connection between their hearts or some shit.
 
I think his point is that Japanese gamers may get upset at them for spending time porting those games to the Xbox instead of finishing up KH3. So, he feels obligated to get it done before thinking about any ports.
His next statement kinda refutes that and makes it feel likebyet another excuse:
Nomura also noted Microsoft’s recent announcement of its more powerful Xbox One X, adding, “It also makes you think, ‘Well, do we want to have [the collections] on the Xbox platforms? Isn’t it a bit late in the game?’”

I think if anything releasing the final chapter on Xbox but no others is the very definition of "late in the game".

Besides there are many studios that can port the work already done in a reasonable time frame ahead of the 3 release.
 

Akai__

Member
What the fuck is this answer?

Japan doesn't give a shit about Xbox anyway so why should they decide what players around the world have access to.

I'm asking this myself every time I see such an answer. Instead of trying to further establish an audience on Xbox, they are just taking the cheap way out and come up with bullshit excuses.

Devs have said numerous times that porting is relatively cheap and easy between PS4 and Xbox One. I doubt that it would have interfered with KH3 any further. That game has been announced in 2013 and just now they are saying "Coming 2018", which I very much doubt still.

I really don't think Square will do it, FFXV sales was 80% PS4 20% XB1 and Type-0 HD was even worse.

If that 80% PS4 and 20% Xbox One split is real, then it is actually a pretty good achievement for them. Means sales are above 1 Million, which clearly shows that there in fact is an audience for JRPG's on Xbox One.

Type-0 HD doing worse is easily explained. It's a freaking port of a PSP game and also not a main entry in the series. Even I could have told you that the game won't do well. Type-0 should never be the metric.
 
With Nomura again putting weight in the sizes and increased time spent in the worlds I think the amount of Disney worlds will be relatively small compared to 1 and 2 (that had 9 and 11 respectively).

Hell, I predicted Toy Story being at D23 so here is my next nostradamus effort: amount of Disney worlds in KH3 will be 7.

I think it's a good way to go too. It gives more time to flesh out the world specific stories and give the characters more screentime. As shown with Olympus and Toy Story (plus how he talks about it) there will be focus to have each world have variety within themselves.

I really don't think they will go the way of having a huge amount of worlds while increasing the amount you spend in them. KH has always worked better as relatively accessible RPGs when it comes to lenght (30+ hours) and I doubt they want to make it some 70+ hour task even if they had the resources to do it.
 
Hell, I predicted Toy Story being at D23 so here is my next nostradamus effort: amount of Disney worlds in KH3 will be 7.
Could happen.

Confirmed: Twilight Town, Mysterious Tower, Olympus, San Fransokyo, Kingdom of Corona, Toy Story.

That's 6. Two originals, four Disney. You guessed there might be 7 Disney worlds in KH. That brings it up to 9.

Add in Radiant Garden (I believe we have been promised the RG FF crew?) and the Keyblade Graveyard (Xehanort said they would meet there) then we are at 11 worlds.
 
Could happen.

Confirmed: Twilight Town, Mysterious Tower, Olympus, San Fransokyo, Kingdom of Corona, Toy Story.

That's 6. Two originals, four Disney. You guessed there might be 7 Disney worlds in KH. That brings it up to 9.

Add in Radiant Garden (I believe we have been promised the RG FF crew?) and the Keyblade Graveyard (Xehanort said they would meet there) then we are at 11 worlds.
Edit: nevermind I'm the one that needs to read again and put down the bottle.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Since KH3 is Unreal Engine 4, isn't it just a matter of clicking "export to Xbox One" and call it a day?

I'm only half joking. I assume it would be very little work.
 

RobRivers

Member
Omg, how xbox will players play kh3 if you don't give them the opportunity to buy the previous episodes? That's an abysmal marketing decision!
 
Read again fam, I said Disney worlds specifically for the amount. I didn't count the other worlds for KH1 or 2 either.

Yeah, and I added your 7 Disney worlds in for a total amount of a potential 9, which I then bumped up to 11 with two other worlds. I took your base for Disney worlds and considered a full world total overall.

Edit: Glad we got that sorted lol
 
the xbox comment really makes one wonder why the xbox version is made in the first place

It was unknown what the console climate would be like. Xbox was the "winner" of last gen I believe, so Square went in with a few Xbox One games (KH3, FFXV, Type-0) and ultimately, when the PS4 shot into the lead, they decided not to cancel any of the Xbox ports for some reason.
 
Lastly: haters stay losing with Gummi Ship coming back.

CMgpW79.jpg


I'm ready.

isnt 2.8 basically DDD?
DDD had the summaries of all the games and 0.2 had additional detailed summary for BBS (which 0.2 is a direct sequel of).
 

mejin

Member
Those kind of questions always put developers on a bind. They can't literally say fuck switch or xbox.


Anyway, hope for more Pixar Worlds.
 
It was unknown what the console climate would be like. Xbox was the "winner" of last gen I believe, so Square went in with a few Xbox One games (KH3, FFXV, Type-0) and ultimately, when the PS4 shot into the lead, they decided not to cancel any of the Xbox ports for some reason.
in what world was the xbox the winner of last generation when wii sold 15-20 million units more and ps3 sold almost numbers. also they didnt announce FFXIV or DQ XI for xboxone
DDD had the summaries of all the games and 0.2 had additional detailed summary for BBS (which 0.2 is a direct sequel of).

ah got it

i skipped those parts.
 
Winner in the US and it has traditionally been very important market for KH specifically.

KH sold well in japan too and xbox is non-existent there while wii sold almost as much as xbox360 in the US and outsold it by some margin in japan
First time players will be so confused on xbox.
It will be the most crazy ride ever for them lol.

or, more likely, they will just not care. its not like FFXV where you dont really need the predecessors to understand whats going on.. also FFXIII was on 360...
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
First time players will be so confused on xbox.
It will be the most crazy ride ever for them lol.
or, more likely, they will just not care. its not like FFXV where you dont really need the predecessors to understand whats going on.. also FFXIII was on 360...

At the end of the day, it's a game where you run around massively popular Disney worlds. It can easily sell to plenty of new kids who have never touched a KH before.

Considering it's been 12 years since the last mainline one, I bet the actual game will be very newbie friendly. You don't make a Disney game for 25-30+ year olds exclusively.
 

Asd202

Member
At the end of the day, it's a game where you run around massively popular Disney worlds. It can easily sell to plenty of new kids who have never touched a KH before.

Considering it's been 12 years since the last mainline one, I bet the actual game will be very newbie friendly. You don't make a Disney game for 25-30+ year olds exclusively.

But that's the KH fanbase :p

It's not like KH's story makes any sense so starting with KHIII or any other won't change anything.

True.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
But that's the KH fanbase :p

:p lol

But that's like saying the Star Wars fanbase is 35-50+ year olds.

They'll be working for all new young fans and making sure everyone can jump in with this new entry.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
The Xbox version is a complete wildcard. I'm sure internally they expect it to bomb, as do many people, but I suppose there's a minor chance it could do well since KH3 is shaping to be a standout game with lots of different IPs represented that may pull in a wider audience.
 

Asd202

Member
:p lol

But that's like saying the Star Wars fanbase is 35-50+ year olds.

They'll be working for all new young fans and making sure everyone can jump in with this new entry.

Yeah I was just being facetious. On another note isn't the next KH game supposed to be a hard reset?
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
The Xbox version is a complete wildcard. I'm sure internally they expect it to bomb, as do many people, but I suppose there's a minor chance it could do well since KH3 is shaping to be a standout game with lots of different IPs represented that may pull in a wider audience.

The thing that determines how it will do on Xbox imo is not the amount of Square/RPG fans it has (we know there are few), but the amount of "family/kids" audience it has.

Though on that latter front, I don't think it's very strong either.
 

Asd202

Member
The Xbox version is a complete wildcard. I'm sure internally they expect it to bomb, as do many people, but I suppose there's a minor chance it could do well since KH3 is shaping to be a standout game with lots of different IPs represented that may pull in a wider audience.

I could see it doing well in US and UK.
 

13ruce

Banned
Honestly it will probably do well on xbox west wise. Heck in my teenage years i convinced 3 of my best mainstream/casual friends into buying a psp + birth by sleep (they never played any kh) we played the mirage arena to death.

And they liked the game and never asked about the story they were fine with it and not that confused. Heck i got em in with the cgi bbs trailer (that one is fking awesome).
 
At the end of the day, it's a game where you run around massively popular Disney worlds. It can easily sell to plenty of new kids who have never touched a KH before.

Considering it's been 12 years since the last mainline one, I bet the actual game will be very newbie friendly. You don't make a Disney game for 25-30+ year olds exclusively.

yeah no its like 30% disney fan service, 30% janky action combat against foes that are not disney at all and 40% strange KH specific lore.
 

Akai__

Member
Not gonna lie. At this point I would pay a little bit extra, if they did a KH3 Ultimate Edition that also includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 & 2.5 Remix on Xbox One.
 

mejin

Member
Not gonna lie. At this point I would pay a little bit extra, if they did a KH3 Ultimate Edition that also includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 & 2.5 Remix on Xbox One.

They'll actually do, but for PS4. No effort at all, it's all ready to go.
 
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