Would you still be interested in KH if Nomura was no longer involved?

[Deleted member 246005]

A writer with more contemporary influences would be nice. Especially if Sora sticks around because he became an Ash Ketchum style cliche that became hard to put up with over the years. I'd prefer if he got retired with 4 but a different writer might change my mind.

I'm liking FF7R so maybe Nojima-san could come back. But I haven't liked Sora much since the first game so I don't know if that would make a difference. A new writer would just be different, not better or worse yet. My feelings about the series might remain unchanged so it's a gamble for me personally.

I'm more concerned about how Disney worlds would be handled but that might fly over their head. A new writer/director could be stuck with the same restrictions Nomura has to deal with when incorporating the Disney worlds.

So some things could change, but some things would stay the same.

 

[vaderskywalker]

I am on the fence about this, on one hand, to me, Nomura is to Kingdom Hearts as George Lucas is to Star Wars, (I don't think I phrased that right), and we've all seen what happened when he stopped directing Star Wars, (the good and the bad), a similar thing could happen if Nomura passed the franchise to someone else, then again, the fanbase is already pretty divided on certain things in the series, like the complicated story some people hate it, some people love it, me personally, I love it, on the other hand, change is good, so changing directors probably wouldn't be so bad, as long as they show respect to the characters we already have, and they don't get killed off, (looking at you Rian Johnson, J,J Abrams, Alan Taylor, and Tim Miller),but yeah I'm in this until the series reaches a definitive ending.

But if the story starts to make any sense, then I am out.

That one made me laugh a bit, but like I said I'm willing to give a simple story a chance.

I had an idea awhile back for a game where Mickey, Donald, AND Goofy are are all playable

That was almost what happened, someone from Disney wanted Donald to be the main character, and someone from Sqaure wanted Mickey to be the main character, but Nomura stepped in, and created Sora, sometimes I feel like we missed something with that, and yet, it feels like we gained so much more, I seriously doubt we would have the same story we have now, also no original characters and no Nobodies, we probably still would have gotten Heartless, I don't all we can do is speculate, unless someone at Square reveals what the story would have been, but I doubt they would have had any story set up at that point.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

A writer with more contemporary influences would be nice. Especially if Sora sticks around because he became an Ash Ketchum style cliche that became hard to put up with over the years. I'd prefer if he got retired with 4 but a different writer might change my mind.

I'm liking FF7R so maybe Nojima-san could come back. But I haven't liked Sora much since the first game so I don't know if that would make a difference. A new writer would just be different, not better or worse yet. My feelings about the series might remain unchanged so it's a gamble for me personally.

I'm more concerned about how Disney worlds would be handled but that might fly over their head. A new writer/director could be stuck with the same restrictions Nomura has to deal with when incorporating the Disney worlds.

So some things could change, but some things would stay the same.

Kazushige “Tidus gets blown up by a landmine” Nojima is not as good of a writer as you think he is lol. Nomura had to reign him in a little while making FF7R.

Not sure how familiar he is with Kingdom Hearts in particular but Toby Fox has been known to be a fan of JRPGS as awhile so seeing his take on a Square franchise would be cool. At the very least, he can do the soundtrack

Ehhh…I’d rather Toby Fox be allowed to make his own IP. He is too good of an auteur to be wasted on a franchise like Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Liodin]

For those of you who say you don't care as long as someone competent took over.

Would you be satisfied if all the remaining unanswered questions were answered by someone other than Nomura?

Like, who is Yozora, MoM, Luxord or Subject X, what's in the box, what happened with Brain or Demyx, etc.

I just would feel like every big reveal is fake, fanfiction. That when MoM finally takes the hood off we won't see the real him, the one Nomura envisioned in his creation, but whoever the new director decides.

Same for whatever it's inside the box. We will never know what was really there and the original purpose when MoM gave it to Luxu in Back Cover.

It's Nomura's vision what makes Kingdom Hearts real for me.

But that's only if you care about the plot. If what matters most to you is gameplay, crossovers or anything else then I understand that you wouldn't care about him not longer being involved.

 

[Dandelion]

Liodin, in what world are you envisioning a scenario in which Nomura would no longer be working on the project and have no paper trail of his intentions/ have successors/proteges filled in?

 

[Liodin]

Liodin, in what world are you envisioning a scenario in which Nomura would no longer be working on the project and have no paper trail of his intentions/ have successors/proteges filled in?

In one in which he dies unexpectedly, for example.

And as the title says, it's a hypothetical question in which Nomura is not involved in any way, so there would be no notes or anything.

In reality? I hope he has his plans for the future of the series well documented in case the worst happens, but from the way we know he works I imagine that if he has something it would only be about the next game, not the next saga.

 

[BufferAqua]

Would you be satisfied if all the remaining unanswered questions were answered by someone other than Nomura?

Honestly? Yeah. If Nomura left over some notes for the new writer to complete, then I'd be fine with it.

 

[Sonofjafar]

What if they were to split the franchise into 2 series after Nomura’s retirement. Square takes care of everything that the original series left off at in Verum Rex and Disney does all the side games that don’t fit into the prime narrative under a different name I haven’t figured out yet

 

[Deleted member 246005]

@Sonofjafar
You could just keep the name KH but I see them just switching to a more episodic format rather than splitting into two separate franchises.

@Liodin
I read alot of Marvel and DC Comics. So I'm used to one writer continuing another writer's story. It's not innately good or bad.

 

[KairiTheMang0]

I think that unless the games ended up being really mediocre I’d still enjoy everything that came out, even if Nomura wasn’t apart of it

 

[Sonofjafar]

Which developer would you give the chance to make a kingdom hearts spin off starring multiple toon based ips: Studio MDHR or The Meatly?

 

[Deleted member 246005]

@Sonofjafar
I'd be into Tim Schafer doing a KH spinoff but I rather see him doing another Psychonauts. However it could be a Psychonauts crossover with KH. Just give Raz a keyblade and some Disney companions and I'm there.

 

[Elysium]

@Sonofjafar
I'd be into Tim Schafer doing a KH spinoff but I rather see him doing another Psychonauts. However it could be a Psychonauts crossover with KH. Just give Raz a keyblade and some Disney companions and I'm there.

He could show up in an Inside Out world, heh.

 

[Rydgea]

For me, Nomura has proven he is capable of the melodrama - which is the perfect fit for Disney x FF. The twists are great and all, too.

But for all that's worth, the events seem to happen to mostly two-dimensional characters. There's a lot of them and they have really flashy designs (and, yes, I like his buttoned-up art for the series too), but they have the characterization of a box of.. well, a cardboard box - filled with nothing. The latest cast in Dark Road was the biggest bunch of nobodies outside the Organization XIII. I did not care about them. I didn't know them. They need to do stuff - unique, interpersonal stuff and be given background and history to make them more likeable and real. And not necessarily have to lock that stuff behind however many future titles. I didn't give a crap about Roxas until he got his own game. Why? Kairi, this far in, has not been done justice. Why? Why is Shiro Amano so much better at giving them personality?

I also feel if the reigns were passed over, Square wouldn't be so touchy as to not include SE characters that weren't designed by Nomura, as he has stated in the past as being a reservation of his. And any salt he had for the FF franchise would be water under the bridge.

At this point there have been so many games, the swings and misses don't necessarily convince me Nomura needs to stay on this project forever. I mean, his baby is now grown and of legal drinking age. People change and if his heart is no longer in it, I hope it gets passed on to someone who will diligently look after it. I appreciate that Nomura has given us a wild ride, and several titles remain my all-time favorite games, but who's to say it wouldn't be best for the series if he moved on? We just don't know.

 

[TrinityXaos]

Maybe. It just depends on how Kingdom Hearts is handled by the new lead. As long as they keep true to Kingdom Hearts' original spirit and Nomura's wishes, then it's worth some time.

Before all that happens though, I say let some new blood lead the production, direction, and writing for spin-off titles that use the foundations laid out over the years (the realms, enemy types, the book of prophecies, unreality, Datascape) and work with making unique stories. If they do well, they might help out with the main series, or continue on with what they developed into a sub-series.