Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

[DarkosOverlord]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Thanks for the translations! For a hot minute I thought the whole thing was forgotten after Union Cross and the other news.

The best part about this for me was probably the fact that introducing guest characters is gonna be difficult. I don't like them, nor I look forward to them.

About Riku... I'm also surprised about the reactions in the comments here. Then again maybe I'm the biased one, considering I now almost despise current Sora and hopped on the Riku train.
But it's not like I don't understand the fear, we saw what Nomura can and will do if he wants to shoehorn a character to the audience.
KH III is always at risk to be Days 2.0, a game featuring a lot of characters but focusing on 2-3 of them, because who cares about underdeveloped characters when you can have marketeable ones.

 

[VoidGear.]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Tbh I think Kairi saying that Riku is like Sora was just a very bad way to have the players feel the awesome connection between those three. Other than that, sure, Riku might listen to his heart more but he's still not like Sora much. He's always cared for his friends a lot.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

According to 0.2, his attitude is more Sora-like now… make what you wish out of that
(he says he listens to his heart more now, instead of trying to be the role model)

That's doesn't mean to say that he's going to be a carbon copy of Sora.

The best part about this for me was probably the fact that introducing guest characters is gonna be difficult. I don't like them, nor I look forward to them.

I'd rather have the Fortellers, new Union leaders and the somebodies of Marluxia, Luxord, Larxene and Demyx be the "new" characters for Kingdom Hearts III. Honestly, there's way too many characters to count at this point, and adding even more new characters would bloat the narrative.

The original Kingdom Hearts was effective with letting all the original characters have their moments, because the original characters at the time were just Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I'd rather have the Fortellers, new Union leaders and the somebodies of Marluxia, Luxord, Larxene and Demyx be the "new" characters for Kingdom Hearts III. Honestly, there's way too many characters to count at this point, and adding even more new characters would bloat the narrative.

The original Kingdom Hearts was effective with letting all the original characters have their moments, because the original characters at the time were just Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

Agreed, I think that's what Nomura is worried about too (maybe).
I can easily picture he'd want to give the main story all the spotlight, so there's not much time for FF characters shenanigans.

 

[yuyayuzu]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Whether people like to admit it or not, official promotional material for Kingdom Hearts III state that Riku and Mickey are looking for the "Scarred Keyblade Wielder" (Aqua). In order to see where that narrative goes, there has to be moments dedicated to Riku because of this narrative element.

And besides, he's now a Keyblade Master who's overcome his fears of Darkness. He's not going to have an inferiority complex anymore. I'm intrigued as how his attitude will change now that he's more akin to his original Kingdom Hearts personality.

I can't see the relationship of not wanting riku to have more screentime and hating riku. Personally, I don;t hate him, I am just worried that giving him more screentime will steal the spotlights of other people even the main character sora himself. If it is only about riku and mickey interaction, then it is fine, I just don't want it be " Oh, sora is in trouble again, I have to save him again " . Even if sora is in some real trouble there are still donald and goofy and even kairi but it is possible that riku will save sora himself since he is the center of attention and I really don;t want that to happen

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Tbh I think Kairi saying that Riku is like Sora was just a very bad way to have the players feel the awesome connection between those three. Other than that, sure, Riku might listen to his heart more but he's still not like Sora much. He's always cared for his friends a lot.

This.
Heck, in KH1 you could say Riku was manipulated by Maleficent BECAUSE of how much he loved his friends.
He saw Sora with new friends and got terribly mad at the though he might've been replaced, and he braved every dark step to find Kairi.
As friendliness goes he was on par with Sora, if not even a bit more. Perhaps too much.

 

[Muke]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I can't see the relationship of not wanting riku to have more screentime and hating riku. Personally, I don;t hate him, I am just worried that giving him more screentime will steal the spotlights of other people even the main character sora himself. If it is only about riku and mickey interaction, then it is fine, I just don't want it be " Oh, sora is in trouble again, I have to save him again " . Even if sora is in some real trouble there are still donald and goofy and even kairi but it is possible that riku will save sora himself since he is the center of attention and I really don;t want that to happen

Yes, how dare he save his friend.

Seriously though, I get where you're coming from and I partially agree about the spotlight -- but I'd take Riku saving Sora over Kairi saving him, simply because Kairi did NOTHING and it would just be weird when she suddenly saved Sora. I guess you could say she did it in KH1, too, but still.

 

[WastedPenguin]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I think that Riku deserves more love.
After Sora, Riku is my all time favorite character in the series and he deserves more love since his character has a lot of potential to being a total badass so im glad to hear Nomura is considering to let Riku shine more, at least storywise.
Also i think that all the other less important characters like Aqua, Terra and Ven had enough screentime in the last years so it is about time that Riku is the next in line to get more focus and that the series returns to its roots aka Sora, Riku and Kairi.

 

[Muke]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Also i think that all the other less important characters like Aqua, Terra and Ven had enough screentime in the last years so it is about time that Riku is the next in line to get more focus and that the series returns to its roots aka Sora, Riku and Kairi.

??????

Ven? What? He did nothing after BBS, he was sleeping the whole time. Why would you say Ven had enough screentime? And Terra? When was the last time we saw him? Yeah, in 0.2… he had like 8 lines.
Please, I get that you want Riku to get a even more prominent role, but other characters shouldn't get screwed over just because of that.
Look, I'm really not hating Riku, but he really had a lot of screentime in the last years. Give others some screentime now. Riku was the protagonist of DDD, one of the most latest entries (the other one being 0.2). He had lots of focus.

Also, why would you say Aqua, Terra, and Ven are less important than anyone? They are as important to the whole story as, say, Xion, Roxas, and Naminé are. TAV set Kingdom Hearts as we know it in motion. I just really don't understand

 

[VoidGear.]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Food for thought: If characters like TAV are seen as "less important", isn't that already enough proof that they desperately need more screen time?

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Of course Terra had his own share of screentime, being in the single game he was introduced and then as a sentient cameo for less than 5 minutes each time (in which he definitely didn't get introspection or something that adds to his character).
It's not like Riku has been a prominent character in every game outside of BbS and Re:Coded, after all.

I actually had similar discussions these days. I don't know if it's because they're numbered titles, or simple personal preference, but people seems to think BbS and its characters are inferiour relevance-wise to KH and KH II, while regarding KH III it's almost the opposite.
Ironically enough you'd lose more of the plot if you haven't played BbS and DDD rather than the two "main" titles.

 

[Muke]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Of course Terra had his own share of screentime, being in the single game he was introduced and then as a sentient cameo for less than 5 minutes each time (in which he definitely didn't get introspection or something that adds to his character).
It's not like Riku has been a prominent character in every game outside of BbS and Re:Coded, after all.

I actually had similar discussions these days. I don't know if it's because they're numbered titles, or simple personal preference, but people seems to think BbS and its characters are inferiour relevance-wise to KH and KH II, while regarding KH III it's almost the opposite.
Ironically enough you'd lose more of the plot if you haven't played BbS and DDD rather than the two "main" titles.

Even in Re:Coded, (Data-)Riku had his share of screentime. He 'is' the journal, remember? (well, a vessel, but you get it) In the coat?

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I concur, I just wanted to cement the main point home and avoid getting stuck into a "That doesn't count as Riku!" side.argument.
Riku IS one of KH's main pillars, that's also why Nomura was surprised.

 

[Hirokey123]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Even in Re:Coded, (Data-)Riku had his share of screentime. He 'is' the journal, remember? (well, a vessel, but you get it) In the coat?

Ug I really hated that plot point because like it doesn't even make sense. KH1 Riku was hella corruptible and not all all a good form of protection so he was likely literally the worst person they could of chose. I mean like you can sorta accept it when you consider it's not even the actual data Riku just the journal cosplaying as Riku but then the whole vessel selection feels even more arbitrary. The most logical choice would actually of been Kairi but you know as in all things Kairi the plot is pretty adamantly against her doing anything.

 

[palizinhas]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I would have been up for fighting evil skirt Data Kairi.

And the thing with Riku is that... He was the protagonist of the latest full game. Let other characters have some spotlight now.

I mean, assuming anyone besides SDG will have meaningful screentime, and KH2 doesn't exactly inspire confidence there.

 

[catcake]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Well, I don't really know what I'm hoping from KH3 since basically all of it could be done either well or... not so well. I'm not really a fan of Kairi, so giving her more screen time could either be annoying, or make me like her more. I love Riku, and seeing his new self would be great, especially if he gets to interact with Sora and Kairi, but then again if his character development and the good things about him are suddenly negated like kinda happened with DDD Sora it can also be bad. I want to see more Namine, but I don't want any stupid asspulls to try and force her in, same with Vanitas.

So yeah, never know how it might turn out no matter what happens so I'll just... try to trust that Nomura knows what he's doing and see what happens xD

 

[DefiantHeart]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Fans: Riku is not our favorite character.
Nomura: Here's more Riku.

If CoM and 3D didn't do the job, stop trying! It's good he's analyzing this poll, but I'm worried he's looking at the results the wrong way. People said they liked Lingering Will more than Phantom. This doesn't mean you should re-introduce Phantom with an upgraded skill set. Atlantica didn't even place in the world section. Imagine if this makes Nomura bring it back with a new and improved rhythm mini-game.

Yeah, sounds like Nomura really wants to make the characters he really likes, characters that other people like as well. I can get that, as he still knows stuff about Riku that he hasn't told us yet, so he wants to convey those feelings without giving away spoilers at the same time.

I'm glad they did a survey to gauge player interests.

 

[Grono]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Hmm, so it's just as I thought. It seems like Nomura never really expected X to be important or to really kick into high gear, but the success of it has made it a major part of the series. I like hearing that Union X [Cross] will answer questions related to 2.8, but I still would have liked not having so many unresolved plot points for those games. Was that all of his statement on Kingdom Hearts III, or is there an actual statement later in the article?

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

Id' be down to play as Riku during the scenario where they possibly save Aqua, or just more cutscene exposure. I don't think Nomura will go to the extreme and make KINGDOM HEARTS III a two campaign experience between Sora and Riku.

 

[alexis.anagram]

Re: Nomura's comments on Famitsu KH15 anniversary survey results

I never saw these survey results, pretty interesting stuff. Nice to see the love for Days in Japan, I always got the impression it was more well-regarded over there-- which makes sense, given that it's sort of a Disneyfied Banana Yoshimoto novel.

Ug I really hated that plot point because like it doesn't even make sense. KH1 Riku was hella corruptible and not all all a good form of protection so he was likely literally the worst person they could of chose. I mean like you can sorta accept it when you consider it's not even the actual data Riku just the journal cosplaying as Riku but then the whole vessel selection feels even more arbitrary. The most logical choice would actually of been Kairi but you know as in all things Kairi the plot is pretty adamantly against her doing anything.

I never even thought about how much more sense this would make in light of how little sense Riku's presence as the journal makes, and now I'm even less enamored of Re: Coded and grrr.

Also, gotta love how Nomura interprets polling. Considers rank 4 too low for Riku in the character poll, but interprets it as "being popular" where Dream Eater functions are concerned. I feel like there's a joke about the 2016 elections in there somewhere.