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News ► KH 20th anniversary event Q&A masterpost



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The Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event was held today in Japan, wherein Square Enix confirmed the new release date for the final chapter of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, as well as announcing two brand new titles: Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link and Kingdom Hearts IV. A fan-powered Q&A with development staff and special guests also took place at the event. We will post information here as attendees and official sources share details.

Bear in mind that this is paraphrased based off of impressions and the actual answers may differ once we learn more. 

Sources: @zexion0613, @loxas_xi@aibo_ac7@rhyme_monsta@toro_cocoron0tejyaco_juice

Update 4/11/2022: Updated with further context and corrections from press recaps (Famitsu [1] [2] [3]Gamer.ne.jp, 4Gamer)

On KH4:

  • Can't say much about the game right now. It was only shown early to avoid leaks, so there won't be any more news for a while. There won't be any news on KH at E3 either (Nomura is saying it now before people jump to conclusions all over the internet.)
  • Everything you saw in the PV are rendered in real time in UE4. However, development is moving to UE5 so this footage is being discarded.
  • When the team sent Nomura the video of the forest, he thought, "Why are you sending me live-action footage?"
  • Takes place post-MoM, which is 1 year after Sora's disappearance in KH3.
  • The visual style is a result of being in Quadratum.
  • Donald and Goofy were shown at the end to assure everyone that Sora will still appear in the familiar KH style.
  • World selection is currently in progress.
  • The logo has changed because the Dark Seeker Saga has concluded. It was tough to settle on the new design.
  • Nomura was torn between Verum Rex or KH4 for the next title, and discussed it with Yasue. In the end, he decided to prioritize KH4 because it'd be difficult to develop two big console games at the same time, and there were many fans who were worried about Sora.
  • People tend to say "Verum Rex" with a short u like "veram" but the dev team actually pronounces it with a long u like "veroom" (ヴェラム vs ヴェルム, the latter is correct)
  • The same actor provided the narration for both the ML and KH4 sections of the trailer. Nomura wouldn't reveal the identity of the character they play, only confirming that it's not Brain.

On Missing-Link:

  • Nomura started working on it before UX concluded.
  • Has action like in the mainline series
  • Supports battles with up to 6 players
  • Screen can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode
  • Set during a blank time period between UX and DR
  • A story that connects all of the mysteries up to now
  • Key words: The Multi-Layered City of Scala ad Caelum, Founder Ephemer, Secret Society of Keyblade Wielders. Everything is connected.
  • Beta testing is scheduled for Fall 2022
  • There are two systems: one is a story mode where you advance through quests, and the other a walking mode like Pokemon Go.
  • As fans can imagine, Nomura doesn't particularly like AR games. He also doesn't want to walk and knows players wouldn't be receptive to it either if it were required, so he made it possible to play the game in the comfort of your own home. 
  • There's a base from where you can go out into the world map and explore to collect "pieces," which can be set onto your Keyblade to enhance abilities.
  • "Pieces" take the form of figurines, like what you see in the trailer when the player uses an ability.
  • Start quests from the base and complete them to advance the story.
  • Quests and world map are the two main components of the game.
  • Nomura talks about dreaming of traveling to places that he'd like to visit but wasn't able to. He thinks it wouldn't be very KH-like if you aren't able to go wherever you wanted and are instead limited by how far you can walk.

On Dark Road:

  • Final chapter is scheduled to be released in August 2022.
  • The UXDR team has already disbanded. As a result, they can no longer do periodic updates and must release everything all at once.
  • The current work on DR is being done by the two animators who worked on the UX event scenes (Reminder that the second animator was only hired in the final year of UX's service.)
  • A number of improvements have been made.
  • Resolves various mysteries up to now.
  • It took a lot of work to recreate the chess scene for DR.
  • There were many tough hurdles for D-san (Disney?) 

Misc. Comments:

  • Nomura didn't finish the anniversary artwork until 10:00am this morning. He stayed up all night to get it done in time.
  • Asked Hazama to help him buy some shampoo but he didn't make it in time before the event started so here we are. 
  • Is exhausted by rehearsal.
  • Nomura was burnt out after KH3.
  • He realizes that he's really been recognized in these 20 years. Back when the first game released, he wasn't very well known. Now that the series has become much more prolific, he doesn't have as much freedom as they used to, but his development ideology hasn't changed.
  • KH3 has sold a record high of 6.7 million units as of September 2021.
  • Nomura reminisces about his school days, when he lived only 5 minutes away from the ocean. He's inserted some of his own life experiences into the games, such as spending time eating ice cream with friends.
  • He isn't very good at action games, but tries to be conscious that KH can be played by everyone.
  • He's not keen on too much fantasy. Instead, he prefers something inbetween reality and fantasy, with just a little bit out of touch with reality.
  • Nomura wants to convey two key points in KH: that our hearts are connected, and anyone can be the hero.
  • Sora may be gone, but his heart is still connected to others. 
  • First started work on KH in 1997.
  • They've given out all of the information they can right now. Perhaps the next time Nomura appears in-person will be on the 25th anniversary?

— Regarding superbosses.

Hazama: Sephiroth was terrible. I could barely even hear the One-Winged Angel playing in the background as Sora floated around in the air (laughs).

Nomura: Isn't it hilarious though? To be so thoroughly beaten out of nowhere. I can't defeat them myself, but it's fun to see someone else losing like that (laughs)

— Regarding the lack of livestream.

Nomura: When you're livestreaming something, there's a lot of work that goes into making it available for the overseas audience, subtitling it, and having to adhere to a script. Then I might inadvertently leak some undisclosed information, in which case I'd say "Boy am I glad we didn't livestream this (laughs)."

Hazama: So says the one always getting angry about it...


— Are Nobody emblems natural? Do humanoid Nobodies have them?
Nomura: Is this something you all care about? (laughs) No, the humanoid Nobodies don't have them. Think of them as the Nobody equivalent of a Pureblood Heartless, they all lack emblems.

— Who exactly is Demyx?
Nomura: This question was asked a lot. I'm going to withhold the answer because if I reveal it here, then there'd be no point in showing it in a future game, and I'd rather save it. He's the only character in Organization XIII who is still shrouded in mystery, so I am thinking of touching upon it someday.

— Hikaru Utada is in charge of the theme songs throughout the series. Do you draw any inspiration from her work?
Nomura: Always. When it comes to the Kingdom Hearts series, I only start thinking about the opening movie after I receive her songs. I work on it with them in mind, so they're indispensible.

— At the end of UX, the Player melts into Xehanort's heart. Were they inside him the whole time?
Nomura: This will become clear when you play Dark Road. Please look forward to it.

— Riku hands Kairi a Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts 2, but where did he get it? Are there any plans to show how that happened?
Nomura: This would be another one of those questions that I can't show if I tell you the answer (laughs). I'll try to follow up on it somehow, otherwise it'll just go to waste. 

— The story diverges based on who wins or loses the battle against Yozora, which I believe is a first for the KH series. What is the significance of this?
Nomura: There isn't any. Yozora is a very powerful foe and therefore difficult to beat, so I thought it'd be better if players could see something even if they lost the battle. It'd be upsetting for those who couldn't defeat him no matter how hard they tried, and receive nothing for their efforts.

— Did Ephemer realize the Player's true intentions in UX's ending?
Nomura: It's a sad goodbye, but there's still a lot to be said about Ephemer, so I will refrain from answering. However, past stories will be resolved in Missing-Link, so be sure to check it out. 

— When did Namine and Ansem meet?
Nomura: When there was no one else left in Castle Oblivion. Organization XIII had been eliminated, and Sora and Riku were gone, so they were like "Well now what we do?" (laughs)

Hazama: It wasn't that amicable, was it? (laughs)

Nomura: It wasn't. I didn't show it because I thought people would be able to figure out what happened on their own.

— Why did Riku's hair get cut in KH3D?
Nomura: Everyone kept saying that his hair is too long in KH2 and that he should cut it off, so off it went (laughs)

— While we're on the topic, is there anything else you've changed in response to fan feedback?
Nomura: Roxas and Xion's return in Kingdom Hearts 3. I was struggling with the issue until the very last minute, and even considered a scenario where they wouldn't be revived at all. However, everyone's feelings were so strong that I felt I had no choice to bring them back.

There are parts of the story that I won't budge on, but when I'm having trouble, I will consider what everyone is saying.

— How do you read the "world of ※" that the Master of Masters tried to disappear to? Is the ※ a hidden character?
Nomura: It is. The name was written properly in the script. We're keeping it under wraps for the time being, but you'll find out eventually. However, if you have a good sense, you might be able to figure it out on your own.

— When and how did Isa receive the scar on his face? Also, why is it in the form of the Recusant's Sigil?
Nomura: Good question. There's a story with Lea and Isa and the girl they were trying to rescue. Stay tuned for the future.

— Why was there noise in the sky after Ephemer and Skuld left the data world in UX?
Nomura: There's no deeper meaning to this. It's just an effect.

Hazama: People tend to misunderstand this kind of thing.

— Master Xehanort hijacked Terra's body to see what lies beyond the Keyblade War, but it seems like Young Xehanort was already pretty powerful. So why didn't he do anything about it while he was still young?
Nomura: Because he didn't have the power to do so. Not enough.

As for Xehanort himself, the mysteries surrounding him will be revealed in the final chapter of DR. You'll also find out why Xehanort's hair became the way it did.

— What is the difference between falling to darkness (as happened to Riku and Aqua) and becoming Heartless and creating Nobodies?
Nomura: Falling to darkness and losing your heart to it are two different phenomena. When the heart falls to darkness, it still remains with you, but when it becomes a Heartless, the heart departs the body.

Dark Aqua is pretty cool and I like her a lot, so I wanted to show her a little more.

— You mentioned that the reason why Maleficent believes the black box contains the Book of Prophecies would be revealed in UX, but are there any plans to elaborate on that in the future?
Nomura: The scenes with Darkness and Maleficent in UX hinted at the reason, even thought it wasn't explicitely revealed. Since it wasn't clear to everyone, I think I'll have Maleficent talk about it sooner or later.

— In KH3, Xemnas breaks Lea's Keyblade and says "Your Keyblade is no more," yet Lea continues to use it regardless.
Nomura: There were a lot of these kinds of retorts. It doesn't mean that Lea's Keyblade is gone for good, since Xemnas does not have the power to do that. The nuance is that Xemnas has destroyed it on the spot, sending a message to Lea that even if he were to summon his Keyblade again, the same thing would happen. He's got a Keyblade now, but he can't use it.


VA Talk Session:

Thoughts on their auditions:

  • At the time, both Miyu Irino (Sora/Vanitas) and Risa Uchida (Kairi/Xion) were in middle school.
  • Uchida performed a line for a scene in Destiny Islands for her audition. She lived near the ocean at the time, and read her line while thinking of those familiar views. She auditioned because of her love of the ocean.
  • Miyu Irino doesn't remember his audition and jokes that it's just like Sora to not remember anything.
  • Yoji Shimizu (sound director) recalls his first impression of the two, saying that they were 13 and 14 year olds without fear, just like Sora and Kairi. That quality, along with the similarities in ages with the characters, contributed to their casting.
  • His first impression of KH was of original characters and Disney characters existing on the same screen and having conversations with each other. The frequent interaction between characters from completely different worlds and cultures "almost made him faint" when he first heard about it, but as he proceeded to work on the project, he realized just how interesting it was.
  • Shimizu oversees the recording of around 100-150 characters per KH game.

Mamoru Miyano's (Riku) video message:

  • KH is the work that made him who he is, taught him the joy of being a voice actor, and was a chance for him to make himself known to the world.
  • He recalls working part-time at a bookstore when the Ultimania was released, and convincing the owner to let him display the book prominently in the shop.
  • Says he was happy to perform with Uchida on stage.
  • His two favorite lines are "Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that." which he'd often say to his friends in private, and "Having you for a friend." as they express Riku well. 
  • Would love to see another title where you can play as Riku.
  • Shimizu's first impression of Miyano was that he was a bit troubled and skeptical of the world at times, making him best suited for the role of Riku. Irino and Uchida, on the other hand, said they were doing it with the thought of having fun.
  • It's precisely because they have the same personalities as their characters and have such great rapport that they've been able to get along with each other for over than 20 years.
  • Irino comments that Miyano is "the one who will always play the leading role."

Impressive dialogue:

  • Irino on Sora: "My friends are my power."
  • He remembers struggling to record "I've been having these weird thoughts lately" for KH3.
  • Uchida on Kairi: "Don’t ever forget. Wherever you go, I’m always with you."
  • Uchida on Xion: "You're both my best friends."

Thoughts on Roxas: "My summer vacation... is over."

  • Irino: "I had a friend who loves Roxas and would often say that line to me, because I'm Sora."
  • Shimizu recalls an interesting episode where he noticed something in common between Irino and Koki Uchiyama (Roxas). According to him, many children would turn fearfully to look at the teacher's face when they make a mistake or perform poorly, but these two are the only ones who have never done so since they were kids. Rather than worrying about how the adults would react, they kicked themselves for not being able to do it. Considering Roxas is Sora's alter ego, he finds it interesting that their two actors share such similarities.
  • Irino is the intuitive type, while Uchiyama tends to worry. Shimizu remembers Uchiyama struggling to grasp Ven.

Thoughts on Axel: "Go on, you just keep running. But I'll always be there to bring you back!"

  • Shimizu got goosebumps during recording of the aforementioned line. His job requires him to be objective so he tries to not get too absorbed, but this one time, he was very moved by Fujiwara's performance. 
  • Fujiwara once had to do 70 takes for a certain line of dialogue, but did it without a sour look on his face. Shimizu is very grateful to him.
  • Nomura: "When I talk about Axel, I feel sad."

Message from Hikaru Utada:

  • It's difficult to write both Japanese and English versions, but it's a special task.
  • "I'm not good at games, but I've got a copy [of KH] and would like to play it with my son when he's old enough. He said he was thinking of trying it."

Closing remarks by Shinji Hashimoto:

"I think back to all those times myself, director Nomura, and others would travel to the U.S. to give presentations, have meetings, sign contracts, and climb stairs, and before I knew it, it'd been 20 years. I'm truly happy that we were able to pass the baton to the next generation, and that [KH] has become a work loved by people all around the world. I believe the world of KH will continue to expand with KH4 at the forefront, so I'd like to ask for your continued support in the future. Thank you you all very much."

 
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Sephiroth0812

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It's somewhat funny that some of these questions go back all the way to BBS or even CoM, showing just how many gaps there still are leftover from the old saga that KH III didn't address so the next saga certainly won't be a completely fresh thing but still retain several hooks to the older titles.

Ephemer continuing to appear is quite a positive piece of news though, looking forward to that.

Also this one:
Q. What is the difference between falling into darkness (as happened to Riku and Aqua) and becoming Heartless and creating Nobodies?
A. Whether or not the heart remains. The situations are completely different.
Glad to finally get that cleared that up, but if only this information would be also in the main medium.
 

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We're still asking things like how Riku got Kairi's Keyblade? I thought by this point people just accepted it wasn't planned out from the beginning. Some of these questions I have to wonder, like did they really think we'd learn who Demyx is from a Q@A? Oh who am I kidding, I would have probably done the same thing lol. Though I'm glad a question was asked about Lea's Keyblade. A better one would have been why he needed one in the first place...
 

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man i knew UX localization replacing the "world of ※" with some made up thing was a mistake 😭 i s2g that game is like left hand not knowing what right hand is doing
 

Sephiroth0812

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What kind of symbol is this ※ anyways? An X with four points...like the four realms (light, dark, in-between, sleep) or what?

This reminds me somewhat of the Rebuild of Evangelion movies which also had a knack for using rarely known but actual existing symbols.
 

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※ is pretty common in Japan, you use it to indicate a kind of footnote/side note.
 

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Added a bit more.

  • The UXDR team has already disbanded.
  • The story had to be put together in full and couldn't be released piece by piece.
  • The current work on DR is being done by the two animators who worked on the UX event scenes (reminder that that second animator was only hired within the last year of UX's service)
  • They were originally not going to revive Roxas and Xion, but fans' voices were so strong that they felt they had no choice but to bring them back.
 

Sephiroth0812

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Added a bit more.

  • The UXDR team has already disbanded.
  • The story had to be put together in full and couldn't be released piece by piece.
  • The current work on DR is being done by the two animators who worked on the UX event scenes (reminder that that second animator was only hired within the last year of UX's service)
  • They were originally not going to revive Roxas and Xion, but fans' voices were so strong that they felt they had no choice but to bring them back.
These two animators really deserve a big medal and some extra money for all the hard work they're dishing out.

The Roxas and Xion bit is interesting, so in the beginning there was only the intention to save/bring back the BBS trio?
The decision to change that however had to be made already by the time Blank Points, the secret ending of the original BBS was made as there Roxas and Xion were already included.
 

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They were originally not going to revive Roxas and Xion, but fans' voices were so strong that they felt they had no choice but to bring them back.
See this is what I don't understand. Everyone in the fanbase loves saying (and I agree to an extent) never listen to the fans because we don't know what we want. On the flip side there's been plenty of instances where fan demand made the KH team do something, but in the other hand there's been plenty of times where demand for something is really quite high and its snubbed out of what seems like spite.

How does the team decide which fan demand to listen to and which not to? Because I'm not gonna pretend like demand for Sephiroth was not a lot higher than Roxas (debatable) and Xion (I know she's popular in Japan but against sephiroth?).

Anyway this is really good stuff, interesting to see a lot of questions on games as far as KH2, I really appreciate the staff for putting this together
 

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These two animators really deserve a big medal and some extra money for all the hard work they're dishing out.

The Roxas and Xion bit is interesting, so in the beginning there was only the intention to save/bring back the BBS trio?
The decision to change that however had to be made already by the time Blank Points, the secret ending of the original BBS was made as there Roxas and Xion were already included.
I remember a lot of discussion pre-KH3 that "mending their hurt" or whatever doesn't necessarily equate to a revival, but helping the characters resolve unfinished business and regrets. Presumably that's what they meant to do for Roxas and Xion.

And this is just me, but the fact that this entire trio has cheated death purely due to their popularity really doesn't sit well. I hope they won't shoehorn them into places they have no business being in because of this.
 

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Because I'm not gonna pretend like demand for Sephiroth was not a lot higher than Roxas (debatable) and Xion (I know she's popular in Japan but against sephiroth?).
Sephiroth was popular for being a cool character from FF, Roxas and Xion were popular because of their emotional story that is directly linked to the main cast.
 

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Q. Did Ephemer realize the Player's true intentions in UX's ending?
A. Ephemer will continue to appear in the future.
This is all that matters to me, Ephemer as a character feels like an amalgamation of Sora and Riku's personality so it's nice that we'll be seeing more of him.

See this is what I don't understand. Everyone in the fanbase loves saying (and I agree to an extent) never listen to the fans because we don't know what we want. On the flip side there's been plenty of instances where fan demand made the KH team do something, but in the other hand there's been plenty of times where demand for something is really quite high and its snubbed out of what seems like spite.

How does the team decide which fan demand to listen to and which not to? Because I'm not gonna pretend like demand for Sephiroth was not a lot higher than Roxas (debatable) and Xion (I know she's popular in Japan but against sephiroth?).

Anyway this is really good stuff, interesting to see a lot of questions on games as far as KH2, I really appreciate the staff for putting this together
Nomura didn't add Final Fantasy characters for Kingdom Hearts III because there were already so many spin-off games featuring Final Fantasy characters. Clearly, Nomura miscalculated the demand for them hence why they returned for ReMind.
 

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Sephiroth was popular for being a cool character from FF, Roxas and Xion were popular because of their emotional story that is directly linked to the main cast.
The reasons for popularity don't mean anything when it was the levels of it that got them included, I mean Nomura must have been asked at almost every event KH3 was shown "what about the FF characters" but I digress, I'm bitter about it and everyone knows that. It was fan demand that bought Vivi into KH2 as well after all.
 

Sephiroth0812

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See this is what I don't understand. Everyone in the fanbase loves saying (and I agree to an extent) never listen to the fans because we don't know what we want. On the flip side there's been plenty of instances where fan demand made the KH team do something, but in the other hand there's been plenty of times where demand for something is really quite high and its snubbed out of what seems like spite.

How does the team decide which fan demand to listen to and which not to? Because I'm not gonna pretend like demand for Sephiroth was not a lot higher than Roxas (debatable) and Xion (I know she's popular in Japan but against sephiroth?).

Anyway this is really good stuff, interesting to see a lot of questions on games as far as KH2, I really appreciate the staff for putting this together
I guess it depends on in what area the demand is as well as how the devs themselves feel about it. Remember how Lea/Axels role in the story got vastly expanded because so many of the involved members of the dev team liked him so much?

Things like Sephiroth or some gameplay elements are most likely just side stuff in the eyes of Nomura & co. while Roxas and Xion are, arguably, parts of the KH series' own central lore and elements and their huge amount of fan popularity will ensure at least partly continuous attention of those who follow KH mainly for those two characters even if they are reduced in the future to "The cavalry" or occasional cameo roles instead of central story plots.

Considering how especially the FF cameo elements were almost completely thrown out (something Nomura apparently did against some dissent from the other devs) I do guess there was a sort of priority list.
I also remember that Nomura once stated the original decision to include FF characters as cameos was solely to fill some roles that couldn't be filled with own original characters back then.

Up to now the KH series has a plethora of its own original characters inhabiting its universe so Nomura probably thought the FF cameos were no longer needed or even in the way of the actual original characters.

In KH III the roles filled formerly by Leon, Cid, Yuffie and Aerith were indeed mostly taken over by characters like Ansem the Wise, Ienzo or Even despite those technically spoken also not being characters that needed to return.

---
The sheer number of questions going back to older games like KH2, BBS or CoM yet again shows how good KH III did with clearing house concerning baggage from older games, lol.
I remember a lot of discussion pre-KH3 that "mending their hurt" or whatever doesn't necessarily equate to a revival, but helping the characters resolve unfinished business and regrets. Presumably that's what they meant to do for Roxas and Xion.
Ah ok, that makes sense too, so the decision did not have to necessarily been made already with Blank Points.
By the time of DDD though it was pretty clear that they were going that route though, with the foundation laid by Re: Coded clarifying some stuff already hinted at in CoM.
 

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Nomura didn't add Final Fantasy characters for Kingdom Hearts III because there were already so many spin-off games featuring Final Fantasy characters. Clearly, Nomura miscalculated the demand for them hence why they returned for ReMind.
It's been 4 years since we've heard this excuse, sorry, I didn't accept it then and I don't accept it now. Idk why people assume that other fans don't know the "reasons" given, we do, we just don't accept them. And actually the reason he gave wasn't because they were in the spin off, it's because he thought there was too much going on in KH3 anyway.
 

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It's been 4 years since we've heard this excuse, sorry, I didn't accept it then and I don't accept it now. Idk why people assume that other fans don't know the "reasons" given, we do, we just don't accept them. And actually the reason he gave wasn't because they were in the spin off, it's because he thought there was too much going on in KH3 anyway.
Personally, I want Final Fantasy characters to return in Kingdom Hearts but I want to see more representation from Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII, and Final Fantasy XIII. Heck, give us a Kefka secret battle instead of Sephiroth again to spice things up.
 

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I remember a lot of discussion pre-KH3 that "mending their hurt" or whatever doesn't necessarily equate to a revival, but helping the characters resolve unfinished business and regrets. Presumably that's what they meant to do for Roxas and Xion.

And this is just me, but the fact that this entire trio has cheated death purely due to their popularity really doesn't sit well. I hope they won't shoehorn them into places they have no business being in because of this.
Well, Roxas and Xion are related to Lea, so I think they should appear in the future. In any case, their return was conceived back in the days of BBS.
 

NoWay

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I’d say the majority doesn’t even demand to include the FF characters into the main plot.
I’d be totally okay with some cool cameos like Cloud and Tifa in KH2 in form of a side quest or an additional boss battle, that’s it. But just give us anything
 

Chie

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The reasons for popularity don't mean anything when it was the levels of it that got them included
How are you extrapolating that much from a single sentence. Obviously the context of actually developing the games is taken into account and Nomura didn't just keep track of fan support until he got 1,000 "support points". Many factors are involved when making decisions about game direction, which shouldn't need explaining at all.
 

Sign

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Well, Roxas and Xion are related to Lea, so I think they should appear in the future. In any case, their return was conceived back in the days of BBS.
Lea is hanging onto relevancy by a thread, frankly, all because the devs continue to allow him to have his cake and eat it.

Anyway, aibo's recounting also suggests that Roxas and Xion's return was not set in stone until very late, so the idea that it was foreshadowed since BBS is false.

 
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