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Shinji Hashimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players"



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wii.red24

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IGN got a chance to speak with Shinji Hasimoto on Kingdom Hearts III and here are some of the things he had to say.

*( Shinji Hasimoto: On how people have grown up with KH)

"It’s been 11 years since the original game was out and now we’ll have Kingdom Hearts III at some stage in the future," he said. "The people who played the original game, at the time they were probably around 12 or 13…but now they’re in their twenties.


"While fans of Disney are usually quite young and Final Fantasy players are much older, they come together to create a Kingdom Hearts audience that’s very unique. The feelings people have towards the series are so deep these days because they spent many of their teenage years, which is a very sensitive period of your personal life, with Kingdom Hearts."


*(Yoko Shimomura on Kingdom Hearts 1.5)

"I felt really nostalgic revisiting my old project, but at the same time I found lots of new things too, things that I’d forgotten doing," she said. "So it somehow felt strangely new, too. It was fun.

"Of course the basic music across the series is all the same in terms of themes and the like, although it does vary slightly depending on which Kingdom Hearts game it is. But I always want to bring something new to the games."



*(Shinji Hasimoto: on kingdom Hearts III)

"The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up," he says. "After so many years, the players’ personal growth is closely tied to the game’s story at this point, so that’s the most important thing about the series and what we want to put into the game. For Kingdom Hearts III, players will be able to resurrect the happy memories they have from being teenagers when playing Kingdom Hearts III. So it’s very contemplative, and will match the personal experiences of much of the audience very closely."


*(Shinji Hashimoto on Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix)



"If everyone plays 1.5 HD ReMix, if everyone likes it and everyone supports us, then 2.5 HD ReMix could happen," he says. "So at this stage, we just have to encourage people to play 1.5 HD ReMix!"




*(Shinji Hashimoto: when asked about the future of Kingdom Hearts)

"I can’t really say anything about the future beyond Kingdom Hearts III," Hashimoto asserts. "I’m the producer, not the director, so it’s totally out of my hands. It’s up to Tetsuya Nomura whether or not we’ll see Sora in future Kingdom Hearts.

"As I said earlier though, the Kingdom Hearts storyline is designed to mirror the player’s personal experiences. If people play HD 1.5 ReMix they remember what it’s like to be a teenager again, access those memories and experience some enjoyable nostalgia from their past. That theme is something we want to keep with future titles as well. About the characters, we can’t say anything…but that’s the theme we want to continue."


*Source http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09...h-its-players?abthid=5242e2157debf3a12f000002
 
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Sign

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LightUpTheSky452

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Re: Shinji Hasimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players".

Thank you for your above post, Sign:) You're a lifesaver. Though I should have known Hashimoto was only talking like that to promote I.5, I was a little worried that maybe they weren't going to make a II.5, after all. So that comment you made was really a breath of fresh air=)

And these comments of his, man. They're so heartwarming, and really ring true with me. I'm glad that SE sees all of this, and are trying to remain true to our feelings and our lives. This might be one of the nicest snippets I've ever read about KH, in my opinion, and I'll be interested to see how KHIII is effected by these thoughts.

And yet... I'm also really ticked, that once again, people are acting like Kairi doesn't exist. I know I shouldn't be upset, because I know she's done nothing, and what else did I expect at this point? But... I'm sort of offended, actually.

Hashimoto was just talking about how much KH means to people, and that they feel something because they grew up with Sora and Riku. And yet... he unintentionally knocked Kairi, who is one of my fav parts of KH... but as I don't want to make this post a Debbie Downer, I'm just going to shut up now.

I just really hope KHIII fixes all this terrible Kairi treatment, and that Square is being quiet about her, because she's secretly doing something amazing in III or something.

Also... I'm a little worried that people are going to take Hashimoto's comments to mean SoRiku is canon now or something. -sigh-
 

Nazo

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Re: Shinji Hasimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players".

Were you wary that 2.5 wasn't going to happen? Hashimoto really just made that comment to promote 1.5.

No, I just meant that the article had a tidbit about 2.5, and since everyone was all disappointed about 2.5 not being announced at TGS, that even a hint that small might garner interest. Of course I know 2.5 is a thing. Nomura already said so. SE just has to pull back the covers on it.

And yet... I'm also really ticked, that once again, people are acting like Kairi doesn't exist. I know I shouldn't be upset, because I know she's done nothing, and what else did I expect at this point? But... I'm sort of offended, actually.

I completely agree. I read that and I was like "Are we forgetting that Kairi is the first of Sora's friends that we're introduced to?" Riku may play a much larger role in the series, but I feel like Kairi is constantly being neglected which sucks because I love her character. They just need to develop her more, WHICH WON'T HAPPEN IF THEY KEEP IGNORING HER.

Ahem...

Also... I'm a little worried that people are going to take Hashimoto's comments to mean SoRiku is canon now or something. -sigh-

Even if people misinterpreted it, that would never ever happen. Why? Because Disney would forbid it. KH's affiliation with Disney would ruin any chance of that ever happening.
 

Ruran

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Re: Shinji Hasimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players"

Not to turn this into a Kairi debate (because it can very easily sway that way) but the more I look at her character throughout the series the more I think that she was never really meant to be on par with Sora and Riku. Part of the reason why people expect so much of her and why she seems to get the most attention from the fandom, as far as her handling goes, is because she's part of the "main trio". Personally, I always saw SDG as the main trio of the series and while SRK can be considered the main OC trio, it's only by a loose sense. The story, even all the way back in the first game, always focused on Sora's and Riku's relationship, with Kairi being a buffer (a.k.a, the third wheel). Basically, even though she's a main character associated directly with Sora and Riku she's more on par with the other protagonists as far as the mainstream storyline goes. I don't think they'll change that anytime soon.

I wonder if having KH3 "grow up", along with the audience, is in response to a good chunk of them. Many have said for years that they wanted KH to be more mature because they grew up and wanted KH to grow up too.

*strokes chin*

I don't know how to feel about that it that were the case.
 
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gosoxtim

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Re: Shinji Hasimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players".

And these comments of his, man. They're so heartwarming, and really ring true with me. I'm glad that SE sees all of this, and are trying to remain true to our feelings and our lives. This might be one of the nicest snippets I've ever read about KH, in my opinion, and I'll be interested to see how KHIII is effected by these thoughts.

And yet... I'm also really ticked, that once again, people are acting like Kairi doesn't exist. I know I shouldn't be upset, because I know she's done nothing, and what else did I expect at this point? But... I'm sort of offended, actually.

Hashimoto was just talking about how much KH means to people, and that they feel something because they grew up with Sora and Riku. And yet... he unintentionally knocked Kairi, who is one of my fav parts of KH... but as I don't want to make this post a Debbie Downer, I'm just going to shut up now.

I just really hope KHIII fixes all this terrible Kairi treatment, and that Square is being quiet about her, because she's secretly doing something amazing in III or something.

Also... I'm a little worried that people are going to take Hashimoto's comments to mean SoRiku is canon now or something. -sigh-

i dont think people will take this as soriku bt as friendship but i believe kh3 is game that will test sora and kairi friendship/relationship and i think will find more about kairi as a character with some character devlopement
 

Sign

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Re: Shinji Hasimoto on "How Kingdom Hearts III will grow up on its players".

And yet... I'm also really ticked, that once again, people are acting like Kairi doesn't exist. I know I shouldn't be upset, because I know she's done nothing, and what else did I expect at this point? But... I'm sort of offended, actually.

Hashimoto was just talking about how much KH means to people, and that they feel something because they grew up with Sora and Riku. And yet... he unintentionally knocked Kairi, who is one of my fav parts of KH... but as I don't want to make this post a Debbie Downer, I'm just going to shut up now.

I just really hope KHIII fixes all this terrible Kairi treatment, and that Square is being quiet about her, because she's secretly doing something amazing in III or something.

So far, the only characters they've "confirmed" for KH3 have been Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Xehanort. Hashimoto said it himself that he is only the producer and doesn't have any inside information to share about the story or whatever, and mentioning Kairi would be completely irrelevant.

All he is saying is that Sora (the traditional Disney protagonist) and Riku (the traditional Square Enix protagonist) are the two characters that we, the players (and especially the original audience), have grown up alongside, so he really wants to stress that because ultimately, Kingdom Hearts, is our adventure. He strongly believes that this sentimental connection is key to the series, so he's just putting it out there.

After Kairi's continued absence over the past few years, I can understand why you'd be upset, but there's no reason to be so every time she isn't mentioned in interviews. She'll get her time, just wait!
 

kupo1121

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Another thing to mention as to maybe the reason he specifically stated that we grew up with Sora and Riku is because the 2 of them have (in terms of OCs) been the only 2 characters to consistently appear across all KH games (in some way, shape, or form)? Just a thought...I don't like the idea of Kairi just being flat-out ignored either haha so I'm just running through reasons in my head.
 

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Whether Kairi is fighting along side the other GoL or stripping for dollar bills in the school yard, as long as she doesn't get kidnapped I'm happy.
I don't know how I feel about a more mature Kingdom Hearts, need more information.
 

Chaser

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I don't get the problem? So he didn't mention Kairi. Big whoop. She's coming soon. The ending of Dream Drop Distance, combined with Nomura saying they will reveal a new outfit for her soon as well as the known plot of KHIII shows she will be in it, and will probably have an important part. Just because they're not talking about her now doesn't mean she's ignored. Remember Aqua? She didn't exist until like 2008 when they finally said "oh yeah, the third character is the girl" and now look at her. She's one of the most popular Kingdom Hearts characters.

Also; "The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up,"
This is true. Through all the games, we've mainly seen how Sora and Riku's friendship developed. Birth by Sleep we saw them as children(before Kairi was there). KH1 had them take different roads to achieve the same cause. CoM had them both trying to find each other(Sora knew Kairi was safe back on the islands). Days had Riku protecting Sora. II had Sora looking for Riku and Kairi and Riku trying to help Sora out(Kairi was important to the plot I guess). The bromance moments in Coded (safe on the islands). Dream Drop had Riku go into Sora's heart to help bring him back from Darkness (safe on the islands).

We've seen these two characters develop over the course of the series. His comment isn't directed to insult Kairi, or to say she won't be important. He's saying that we've watched these two specific characters grow, we've seen their friendship develop and strengthen, and we've grown with these characters and Kingdom Hearts will be the pay off.
And now the time has come for Kairi to leave the islands and become a Keyblade Master. It's her story too, and she will get time to shine. However, being really early in development, it's not her time yet.
 

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Yeah this guy really knows what he's talking about. Seriously I was in tears when I first saw the KH3 reveal. I'm also currently having a blast playing KH1.5Re:Mix. It's a nice refresher and fills me with waves of nostalgia and a longing for that time. I just can't believe it's spanned more than half of my lifetime now. I still am curious to see what happens with the success of this current game and or if there are any plans for a 2.5Re:Mix. KH2 still is to date my favorite KH game of all time and I'd love to be able to play the Final Mix version even if I had to wait for next gen.
 
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