από Scott_Pilgrim » 13 Μάιος 2012, 13:31
Nέες συνεντεύξεις
— It’s been over a month since the sale date dropped, how has the player’s response been?
Nomura: Overall, people seem to think the story this time was difficult to understand. (Wry laughter.)
— The setup certainly was different and trickier than before. In their travels this time they were essentially supposed to go to the worlds shut by sleep, but in the end, an entirely different world sets the stage.
Nomura: There are other worlds shut by sleep, from the start which ones they would go to was not decided. Even Yen Sid didn’t know which worlds they would go to. Amidst that, they were guided by two members of Organization XIII to the World That Never Was.
— What about when Riku looked upon the Brown Robed Figure and dived into another world, was it assumed he’d join Organization XIII?
Nomura: Since they knew he’d wake up soon, it’s reasonable to assume as much, but that wasn’t necessarily why the Organization had guided him. Still, they weren’t ready to completely give up on Riku, they wanted to win him over into the Organization. However, Riku had developed a resistance to darkness and as a result, they gave up.
— Riku really rose to the occasion, especially in the final battle, shouting lines like, “Still there?”
Nomura: As tension leading to the end of the story, I steadily added bosses that weren’t originally planned since it’d feel anticlimactic without a battle. As I was making progress writing the scenarios, I called the Osaka development team and asked if they could add more. The battle with the armor after the last dive was one that they added for me, I didn’t think it’d be clearly understood without a fight sequence.
— Riku had a lot going on this time. In comparison to Sora, he has the charm of a dark hero type. How do you see him?
Nomura: Riku grows while carrying various troubles with him, he’s a lot like a retro Square hero I think. Final Fantasy-esque, so to speak. On the other hand, I made Sora the sort of character you wouldn’t see in a retro Square game.
— Sora’s just a regular boy, huh. Why isn’t he the daring hero type?
Nomura: There is the thought that the player is equal to Sora. Naturally, there are people who are not like Sora. (Laughs.) But I had the premise that a heart like Sora’s exists within all the players. Sora is “ordinary”, therefore everyone is “ordinary”. I figure even if you’re “ordinary”, for something important everyone can exhibit a special power just like Sora.
— I want to ask more about the World That Never Was. Is that world a part of reality? Or is also a world of sleep?
Nomura: When that world’s logo appears, it indicates the boundary between the dream and reality. When Sora arrives, it’s reality and then goes into a world of sleep. Riku arrives in the sleeping world, and as you progress and the world logo appears, that’s when it becomes reality.
— When both of them are in the reality parts, they don’t return to their original bodies. Why is that?
Nomura: It’s because of Yen Sid’s magic that they’ve taken their old forms. If they didn’t return to Yen Sid’s place, their bodies wouldn’t return back to normal. Incidentally, their new outfits were thanks to Yen Sid’s magic as Sora suspected.
— Riku fights a Nightmare wearing a black coat in this world, just who was that?
Nomura: That Nightmare was the personification of the nightmare Sora was having.
— What about Xemnas and Ansem, essentially they weren’t inside anyone, was it due to circumstances of the worlds of sleep?
Nomura: First off, when Young Xehanort made contact with the Brown Robed Figure, that is to say, the Xehanort who called himself Ansem, his abilities were transferred to him. As a result of Master Xehanort tossing his physical body, he was able to exceed time, and this power was carried into the Brown Robed Figure. Thus when Young Xehanort made contact with him, he gained this power. Possessing this power. Young Xehanort functioned as a “portal”, summoning Xemnas and Ansem each time they appeared. That’s why Young Xehanort was there whenever they appeared. Additionally, when Sora and Riku dropped into the worlds of sleep, simultaneously Young Xehanort himself goes into the world of sleep.
— What about Vanitas?
Nomura: Vanitas is different than Xemnas and Ansem; he doesn’t necessarily have a physical form. He reacted to Ventus within Sora, so that’s how he was visible.
— After generating and before attacking Sora, were Xemnas and Ansem somewhere that exceeded beyond time?
Nomura: That’s right.
— When King Mickey stopped time, Young Xehanort began to move. Since he can control time, was he breaking the King’s spell?
Nomura: Young Xehanort wasn’t using his own power at that time. The King’s magic was broken because Master Xehanort was assimilating with Young Xehanort. Only “the mark of heresy” was added by Organization XIII.
— It was when the figures started appearing in the thrones.
Nomura: Indeed. Time was stopped just as Master Xehanort was materializing. So he moved his consciousness to Young Xehanort’s body. Reacting to this, King Mickey exclaimed, “That’s impossible!” Young Xehanort was holding a Keyblade that he originally wasn’t able to handle thanks to Master Xehanort’s power. Though the keychain on it is different, the Keyblade he takes out is Master Xehanort’s.
— I see. Young Xehanort himself is still in Destiny Islands and isn’t able to wield a Keyblade yet.
Nomura: Right. Even when he appeared as an additional boss in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, he wasn’t using a Keyblade.
—By the way, Braig’s dealings with Master Xehanort in Birth by Sleep make sense, he was to become a vessel.
Nomura: There is a certain reason for Braig to proudly exclaim, “As for me, I’m already half Xehanort.” Isa (Saix) is included too. I think you’ll understand the details about their circumstances eventually.
— What happens to the hearts of those who have had Master Xehanort’s heart planted within them?
Nomura: They’ll gradually be swallowed by it. As for Master Xehanort, he plans to control them completely. The planted parts of the heart are captured rather than disappear.
— Lea (Axel) ended up playing an unexpected role. I was wondering what was running through your mind when you thought to make him a Keyblade wielder.
Nomura: I figured since he had returned to being human, he wouldn’t have much luck bringing back the people he wanted without some sort of power. Throwing his chakrams doesn’t really count. (Laughs.)
— It’d be bad if he started a fire, huh? (Laughs.) Is he still able to pass through the Corridors of Darkness like before?
Nomura: Diz is also human and can pass through the Corridors of Darkness. Since Lea has the memories of being Axel, he saw the message Ansem wrote on the wall in Radiant Garden and thought that was the only way he could travel. Of course, using the Corridors frequently is dangerous.
— After that, he came to Yen Sid hoping to train.
Nomura: Yes. Since the Mysterious Tower is in an unknown spot, first you have to enter via King Mickey’s world. After that, they’re training in a place where time flows differently, managed by Merlin, the great magician who can exceed time, as well as the Fairies.
— Did he have any prior knowledge?
Nomura: In order to wield a Keyblade, the most important requirement is to be “the owner of a strong heart.” Regardless if it’s a good heart or a bad heart, a strong heart is necessary. Right now there are a lot of things that Lea wants to regain. That desire is connected to the strength of his heart.
— Even though Axel had been eliminated in Kingdom Hearts II, since that time, had you considered having him appear again in his human form Lea?
Nomura: I thought a lot about that. Should I leave him as he was or should I bring him back again? However, when I considered the people that Lea wants to bring back, his existence plays a big role. I think Lea has successively become a key character.
— Incidentally, Ventus’ body is in Castle Oblivion and his heart is with Sora right?
Nomura: Right. Even though he only appears a little bit in the end of KH3D, when Sora was surrounded by Dream Eaters, you see that he smiled because of it.
— I see. Were there certain intentions in that scene with the Dream Eaters?
Nomura: That scene was added in the final stages of production. It wouldn’t feel right to have worked so hard raising the Dream Eaters without some sort of closure. Also, since Sora has obtained the power to open doors into the worlds of sleep, I purposely wanted to show a scene where he used that power.
— Speaking of the previous titles, about when do you start thinking of the ‘next title’?
Nomura: It’s a gradual process. When Kingdom Hearts was in production, I was considering ideas for Kingdom Hearts II and Chain of Memories. And when those two were in production, I was thinking of ideas for the next three, 358/2 Days, Coded, and Birth by Sleep.
— Were you thinking of KH3D when those 3 titles were in production?
Nomura: KH3D was put together relatively quickly, I was still concepting the story when I brought it to the table.
— What about in the secret movie of Birth by Sleep Final Mix…?
Nomura: Well… (Laughs.) Now that you mention it, that secret movie was referred to as “A fragmentary passage”, meaning bits and pieces of something whole. A story connected to Kingdom Hearts exists out of that, but I don’t know whether or not it’ll be told hereafter.
— The secret message and secret movie of KH3D were loaded with things to wonder about. Is it finally time for KH3?
Nomura: I’ll leave that up to everyone’s imagination. Though, it might be a curve ball. (Laughs.)
— Lastly, a message for our readers.
Nomura: We’ve decided to distribute a KH3D demo in North America as well as Japan. You can play part of Sora’s scenario in Traverse Town. So if your friends haven’t played it yet, you can recommend it to them. And of course, give the co-op mini game Flick Rush a try. Also, an unannounced title is being prepared as well, though it’s something lighter. There are still songs continuing to be distributed for Theartrhythm Final Fantasy so you can look forward to that as well.
The storyline ends with Sora and co. preparing to fight against Xehanort and his cohorts. Before the final battle takes place, we will question Nomura about the storyline of KH3D.
— Is the first cutscene we see in KH3D a flashback to 10 years before the first Kingdom Hearts when Xehanort and co. lost their hearts in an experiment?
Nomura: That’s right. That’s because in a sense it was the beginning of the story of this title.
— The Brown Robed Fgure, a Heartless born from that experiment, says “This world has been connected.” While in KH1 that meant that the island was connected to the darkness, in this title does it signify that Xehanort and co. have connected to the dream world?
Nomura: It means both of those things. In that scene, the Brown Robed Figure becomes a “portal” himself as a result of contact with Sora and co., making it possible for the other Xehanorts to intervene within the dreams.
— Why did Xehanort and co. word things as if to try and wake Ventus who is inside Sora?
Nomura: They did so in order to tempt Sora’s heart and have it fall to the darkness. In the story it also talks about how abandoning the self leads to losing the heart. When you see Vanitas (the dark half of Ventus who appeared in KHBBS) overlay Young Xehanort for a moment, that represents Ventus’ heart reacting inside Sora.
— In the latter half of The World That Never Was, despite returning to the real world, why do Sora and co. stay in that form and why do Dream Eaters appear etc?
Nomura: Sora and co.’s form is due to Yen Sid’s magic, so the way it works is that they can’t turn back until they return to the Mysterious Tower, and Dream Eaters were appearing because Sora was still asleep. Also, ever since Organisation XIII was defeated in KH2, the The World That Never Was’
existence as a world has become uncertain. In the first place, the worlds in the rift between darkness and light have different rules than other worlds. The Mysterious Tower isn’t always standing in a fixed place. Traverse Town too reforms its shape every time, which is why the version that appears in this title is clearly different than the version in KH1.
— Did King Mickey’s time magic not work properly on Young Xehanort because Young Xehanort has the power to control time?
Nomura: Not Young Xehanort’s but rather Master Xehanort’s power. King Mickey was surprised at the time, seeing his Keyblade and noticing he harboured the power of Master Xehanort. That Keyblade was designed as the one Master Xehanort used in KHBBS combined with an hourglass, you see.
—Were the 13 Seekers of Darkness, who were meant to be in different times, gathered by transcending time with magic?
Nomura: Just as it says in the story, to transcend time one must ‘first’ discard their form. As a result of the actions of the Brown Robed Figure, they all were in a state where they had gained the power to transcend time. The Brown Robed Figure explains the facts. The thirteen were summoned at the same time, this time thanks to Young Xehanort who borrowed that power. However, apart from Young Xehanort, that does not mean that all the members transcended time.
— In other words, Ansem and Xemnas were, at the same time, existing in the time and space of KH3D as well as having returned to their true human form after being destroyed?
Nomura: Yes, it does turn out that way. However, as I said before, ‘The World That Never Was’, where the thirteen all met, is a special space. The mechanics behind how they were all able to exist at the same time is a mystery. From KH1 on, Ansem has returned no matter how many times he has been defeated, perhaps the same sort of thing happened.
— Lea said the same lines, “Why do I always get the icky jobs,” and “I’ll always be there to bring you back,” to Xion in KH Days when he brought her back. Does he remember that?
Nomura: The nature of the being known as Xion and all memories to do with her were erased, but he would remember other things.
—Why did Lea visit Disney Castle when he should have been looking for his friend?
Nomura: To search for his friend he needed the power to move between worlds, and there is no way to do that other than become a Keyblade Wielder. At the time, wanting to be made a Keyblade Wielder, Lea saw a message recorded by Ansem the Wise in the past and, knowing it was dangerous, used the Corridors of Darkness once more to go talk with King Mickey and the others. That’s why after Maleficent left he was asking at the Mysterious Tower.
— So, in ‘The King Departs’, when Yen Sid said ‘great sorcerers and fairies have hastened the flow of time in a different place for you’…
Nomura: Upon request, those who can manipulate time, Merlin and the three fairies who appeared in KH2, changed the flow of time in a special place, and there Lea received hastened training in order to be able to use the Keyblade, basically. In the original scenario, we had planned to have Lea able to use the Keyblade when he ran to Sora.
— Ansem the Wise is an old acquaintance of Riku’s, why did he ask him his name in the end?
Nomura: That’s what you could call a “wise joke.” (Laughs.) He’s purposefully asking the same thing as he did in KH2 to a Riku who had changed into Ansem’s form.
— While at the time Riku lied and said his name was Ansem, this time he replies with a bright ‘Riku’, doesn’t he?
Nomura: Yes, because the main part of the plot in this title is Riku’s growth. The point that unlike before he can declare ‘I am me’ is intended to show that growth symbolically.
— It was declared from Ansem the Wise’s own mouth that everything can grow a heart.
Nomura: Yes it was, I thought I’d leave it clear in this title.
— Were the members of Organisation XIII that grew hearts unsuitable as vessels for Xehanort?
Nomura: That’s not necessarily the case, however the details are a secret.
— Xigbar and Saix appeared as members of Organisation XIII. Did they return as humans like Lea and the others?
Nomura: The conditions of becoming a human have been met, so you’d think they had returned, wouldn’t you? For them to have been with Xehanort and the others, perhaps they were collected after they had become humans and before Lea and the others woke up. You could say the same for the members of Organisation XIII that didn’t appear in this title, however… I’d rather everyone use their imaginations.
