[b
]Nomura details Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix in DengekiSeries director talks Osaka team, development progress, and more.[/b]
Following up on our initial report yesterday, full details on Kingdom Hearts series director Testuya Nomura’s latest Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix interview have been posted online, courtesy of Sokuho@Hokanko. Unlike we originally reported, the interview is from this week’s Dengeki PlayStation, not Famitsu. Find our full summary below. And be sure to follow me at SQEX.info for more translations.
Osaka Team and Development
The plan to make Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix existed before the plan for Final Fantasy X HD. There was discussion with the Osaka team regarding, “Can’t we do something utilizing the PlayStation 3?”
One of the reasons Square Enix began development on Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix is because the Kingdom Hearts series covers a number of platforms, and also by the 10th anniversary of the series, it’s hard for new players to enter into the series. It was difficult to make the high-definition version, but thanks to two programmers from the Osaka team, it was realized within a year or so. The programmers in charge of making the high-definition version are a group that includes members from the team who haven’t been involved in the Kingdom Hearts series until now. There are Kingdom Hearts staff on the Tokyo team, too, but the transfer has been intense. You could say that the existing staff of the series has been the basically unchanged lineup of the Osaka team. As long as we have them, the series will be able to continue.
Development on Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix is in it’s final stages.
“I considered remaking Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a game,” said Nomura, “but since it would take over a year, I decided to make new works a priority and compile the necessary parts of Days as videos in the theater mode.”
It feels like 70 percent of the original Days game has been changed into video clips. The Disney worlds and such have been supplemented in text. There will be over 100 scenes that total at two to three hours of footage. The voices in the new recordings add considerable volume. You can choose to view the Days content immediately when the game starts.
Trophies, Controls, and Character Models
“There is trophy support,” said Nomura. “I personally don’t really have an inclination for the trophy function, so what sort of contents that unlock them are currently being decided on. Aside from things like clearing a world, they aren’t needed for things like first obtaining a Keyblade, so we are continuing to discuss it.”
The handling of the controls have been modified to be a bit easier compared to the previous method. Kingdom Hearts II was used as a base for implementing the camera functions and the action commands using the triangle button. There aren’t any particularly big elements added. “I want you to think of the HD version and trophy support as the changes,” said Nomura. Also, some of Sora and others’ modeling have been replaced with the latest version.
Other, smaller bits include:
- There are no new secret movies.
- He didn’t think about a bundle version.
- “It’d be unnatural for there to be a 1.5 without a 2.5.”
- The work is going into it’s final stages and the development is going well, so the plan is to release it as soon as possible in 2013.
- “The official name of the Xehanort saga is the ‘Dark Seeker Saga’. I definitely want to prepare the HD versions before I ascertain the conclusion of this saga.”
Kingdom Hearts for PC Browser
Kingdom Hearts for PC Browser will be a typical browser game. ACT doesn’t have strong content, it has simple game play using cards. There are also multiplayer co-op elements, but it’s basically a single-player game. Development on the title was done somewhere else, and not within the Osaka team. It is a spin off title completely separate from the main thread of the storyline. As a proper browser game, it doesn’t contain major plot devices concerning the story.
“There will be a new character in it, but I can’t say whether it affects the main storyline,” said Nomura.
Separate Works
- The final decision to putting The World Ends With You on iOS involved complicated reasons occurring simultaneously. “The World Ends With You was a personal favorite of mine,” said Nomura. “I want to expand this title, so I hope many people enjoy Solo Remix.”
- “Concerning Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII,” I designed new costumes for Lightning and Snow, but my own work on the title is already finished.
- “Work on Final Fantasy Versus XIII is continuing as planned. The staff are doing their best, so please wait for the follow up coming soon.”
