Famitsu: Extended Interview with Nomura on Kingdom Hearts 3 from E3 2018
- Details
- Published on July 15, 2018 @ 08:50 pm
- Written by Cecily
Famitsu posted their new recent KINGDOM HEARTS 3 interview with Series Director Tetsuya Nomura online, with some additional questions that were excluded from the physical print. He goes more in detail with characters and scenes from the Frozen and Pirates trailers from E3 2018, as well as character designs for the main cast, designs in the Pixar worlds and his thoughts on the new theme song.
We've isolated the new questions and thanks to goldpanner, you can read the translations below:
-- There was a scene where you can sled down the snowy mountains on Goofy's shield.
Nomura: A battle takes place as you're sledding down the mountain. Like the snowboarding in FF7, after you pass through that part in the story, you'll be able to return to the area and play it again as a score attack.
-- The characters [in PotC] look so realistic. Was it difficult to balance the photorealism with the KH style?
Nomura: It was pretty difficult. We needed to create special detailed models of Sora, Donald, Goofy and even Luxord to make them fit into the realistic art direction. We're still revising the models for Jack and the others though, so the ones you've seen are not the finished product.
-- You even changed Luxord's model for this world?
Nomura: We actually did temporarily try putting in the same model of Luxord that we use in other worlds to begin with, but it was very odd (laugh). It'd be easier to adjust if the whole game was photorealistic, or if the visuals for all the movies we are using were more consistent, but in KH3, the style changes significantly from world to world, which is time consuming. I'm trying to be conscious about ensuring that the visuals of each world are as faithful to the source material as possible.
-- In the latest trailer, there was a scene where Sora slides around as if he's wearing ice skates. Is that one of the [Keyblade] transformations?
Nomura: It's the transformation of the Keyblade that you obtain in the Frozen world. You can skate around anywhere, not just on ice, and you can set up a melee attack by approaching enemies at a high speed.
--In this game, we will be able to use magic as a method of movement, and Shotlock to zoom up on enemies and such, right? In the demo, we felt that the tempo was so great - even movement itself was gameplay.
Nomura: That is another thing I try to be conscious about. In the Pirates world, if you jump at certain enemies using Shotlock you can ride them around.
--By the way, how will the growth system work, with Sora already so strong?
Nomura: It will be an evolved form of the traditional levelling up and synthesis systems from past numbered titles. In the handheld titles we made gameplay out of the growth systems, but as KH3 is a numbered title it is already full of gameplay, and as such large enough in volume that we want to keep that area simple.
--That makes sense. Returning to the topic of battle, in the demo, we got to experience a Link where Ralph from Wreck-It Ralph appears.
Nomura: The Link component has changed several times. Originally, it was implemented as "Summons." Then, once it had settled into its current form of borrowing the strength of Disney characters, the name became "Link." As I'm sure you know from the puzzle element you saw Linking with Ralph, KH3's Links are unique in that the Disney characters don't appear and do a technique and leave - you, the player, can intervene and control things. Simba, who appeared in the recent trailer, can be ridden by Sora - and he will perform techniques according to commands you can choose.
--The more Sora grows, the more his hair spikes point upward, don't you think?
Nomura: When he was a kid, his hair pointed down. In KH and KH2 it stuck out sideways. Now, I wouldn't quite say his hair points upwards - it points back. The bits that used to stick out sideways are folded back, or something (laughs).
--So that's how it is (laughs). Riku and Kairi look fresh too with their new haircuts.
Nomura: We've already seen the chronology of Riku's hair growing really long and then all getting cut off into a completely new style. Kairi, however, hasn't had an update to her image in a while, which is perhaps refreshing.
-- Riku's also gotten a new Keyblade. His previous one appears to have broken.
Nomura: For certain reasons, Riku's original Keyblade breaks and he gets a new one from Yen Sid. I noticed that a lot of modern house keys look like this now, so I referenced them when I was designing it.
--Sora, Donald and Goofy get different outfits in different worlds - their Monsters Inc. looks in particular stand out.
Nomura: For those, we took in ideas from Pixar designers. I did make some of my own changes at the very last minute. The white of Donald's eye was very pronounced so I made his pupil bigger, and I made Goofy's eye size and color asymmetrical. I did that because his Halloween Town form had eyes like that in past titles. Also, Sora started out with a shape based on a dragon. From there I adjusted the color of his body and the amount of space around his eyes, making it closer to his Halloween Town look, and made his mouth cat-like.
--We heard that the Toy Story world forms also took a lot of back-and-forth with Pixar.
Nomura: Yes. At one point, there was a time when they were going to look like pixel characters. Like pixel art made 3D. As we adjusted them to look more realistic, they began to look more like figurines - which is how they ended up with their current look.
--- There was another scene in the trailer that piqued our interest. The current Riku was sitting with someone who looked exactly like a younger Riku... Is that the Replica?
Nomura: Who knows? He may be an illusion (laughs).
--We are sure there have been many difficulties since development was first announced in 2013. For example, the game engine was switched from an in-house one to Unreal Engine 4.
Nomura: Yeah, that's right. However, the Unreal Engine 4 has a substantial library, and Epic Games helped us a lot with how to use it, so in some regards that part was actually quite easy. Of course, there are merits to using our own company's game engine - but if we had, then progress on the game itself would have been tied to expansion of the engine. Then, the number of things we'd have had to watch would have kept growing. For that reason, although changing the game engine did increase the length of development, I am still very glad that we are using Unreal Engine 4.
--What were your impressions upon hearing the completed song?
Nomura: "Hikari," for example, was a straightforward song, but "Chikai" isn't strong in a way that smacks you from the beginning. Instead, thanks to the complexity of its composition, it has a strength that pierces deeper and deeper into you the more you listen to it. I think it's a beautiful song.
Thanks Zip for the heads up!
COMMENTS
I’m looking forward to seeing what Luxord will look like in the standard engine.
I’m thinking that scene with Riku on the beach might be a dream-like sequence after Aqua knocks him out and breaks his Keyblade. I think it would be weird for Riku to just chill at Destiny Islands while everyone else is out fighting the good fight. Lol. From screenshots, we know Riku ends up on his butt and it looks like Mickey may have just brought him to. So this scene could certainly happen while Riku is unconscious.
Maybe this is Repliku’s spirit and we’ll get closure for him by knowing he is at rest in the afterlife, a nice nod to the final scene between him and Riku in Re:CoM. But during the scene, he could inform Riku about the “other him†that Riku leaves Way to Dawn for. Nomura previously said Beach Riku and the Other Riku may not be the same person. Perhaps, the “other me†is Riku-Ansem after all.
So does Yen Sid have a closet of spare keyblades somewhere in his tower?
I love it. Especially what he said about Chikai. Although I wonder if the translation for what was said about Sora's hair was mixed up? I personally think it's pointing more downward than before. Also Riku's keyblade is straight up a car key.
That's not a mistake. The sides of Sora's hair are pointing up
Wasn’t there also mention of TWEWY in this interview, or was I just crazy the whole time?
Wasn’t there also mention of TWEWY in this interview, or was I just crazy the whole time?
There was. Was neither important nor relevant, so we chose not to bother.
There was. Was neither important nor relevant, so we chose not to bother.
Not to sound selfish or anything, but I feel like it would be practical to have mentioned that. But don’t worry, it’s alright if you’d rather not.
Not to sound selfish or anything, but I feel like it would be practical to have mentioned that. But don’t worry, it’s alright if you’d rather not.
I'm sorry if you were looking forward to it but it was just the same spiel he's given in other interviews. "The graphics have been improved, there's stuff from Solo Remix, Koko and this new girl are there, BTW you should totally play while while waiting for KH3." You missed absolutely nothing.
Not to sound selfish or anything, but I feel like it would be practical to have mentioned that. But don’t worry, it’s alright if you’d rather not.
That part of the interview's been posted and is very straightforward. TWEWY, coming September, new stuff in it, play it to pass the time before kh3.
Speaking of practicality, though, your signature's too long.
So does Yen Sid have a closet of spare keyblades somewhere in his tower?
Im pretty sure there’s a bunch of them hiding under his hat.
Although I wonder if the translation for what was said about Sora's hair was mixed up? I personally think it's pointing more downward than before. Also Riku's keyblade is straight up a car key.
Nope, his hair is more up! Check it out:
Also, my house key happens to look like that :3
I love it. Especially what he said about Chikai. Although I wonder if the translation for what was said about Sora's hair was mixed up? I personally think it's pointing more downward than before. Also Riku's keyblade is straight up a car key.
Google “dimple keys†and you’ll see the inspiration behind Riku’s Keyblade.
Guys, come on.
The side spikes on Soras hair are located more upwards, but if you pay attention during the trailers, his spikes also face more backwards in direction.
It's right here in the Frozen trailer
[spoiler=Big picture]
[/spoiler]
Guys, come on.
The side spikes on Soras hair are located more upwards,
That's what the interviewers were talking about.
[FONT=-webkit-standard][FONT=Arial]――ソラã¯ã€æˆé•·ã™ã‚‹ã«ã¤ã‚Œã¦ã ã‚“ã ん髪ãŒä¸Šå‘ãã«ãƒ„ンツンã—ã¦ãã¾ã—ãŸã‚ˆã。
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Sora wa, seichÅ suru ni tsurete dandan kami ga uwamuki ni tsuntsun shite kimashita yo ne.
上å‘ã = upward.
There's no translation mistake here, and Nomura and the interviewer aren't here, so you're shouting to the void like we're arguing with you.
| --We heard that the Toy Story world forms also took a lot of back-and-forth with Pixar. Nomura: Yes. At one point, there was a time when they were going to look like pixel characters. Like pixel art made 3D. As we adjusted them to look more realistic, they began to look more like figurines - which is how they ended up with their current look. |
Really happy that they changed it. I personally can not stand pixel art so it's great that they turned the character models into the figurines. And if you're getting the Toy Story Bring Arts then you're in for a treat because they are beautiful *U*
That's what the interviewers were talking about. There's no translation mistake here, and Nomura and the interviewer aren't here, so you're shouting to the void like we're arguing with you.
Upon re-reading the thread I see that I was interpreting some of the posts incorrectly. Sorry about that.
Feel free to delete it if you want.
Really nice hearing about how they changed the models for the PotC world; I think it makes a huge difference compared to just throwing the same models in there KH2-style (although I'm sure stuff like lighting tech helps a lot too). Also really interesting hearing about the original ideas for other world costumes. I'm probably happy that the Toy Story costumes didn't end up looking too much like pixel art, but I would really like to see Sora's original dragon inspired monster form.
It’s also wild that they’re still revising the models for Jack and the others. They already look so good! Jack and Will especially just seem so spot on and have such lifelike expressions. I can’t wait to see how they improve.
Hopefully we get to see concept art of Dragon Sora
Because I like dragons, I imagine it'll look like Bahamut
Speaking of old concepts I just realized they had a good opportunity to use Sora's old Lion model for Monsters Inc. Oh well, lol.
Hopefully we get to see concept art of Dragon Sora
Because I like dragons, I imagine it'll look like Bahamut
If you go back and take a look at the leaks from December, you can see a little bit of these early designs. Sora's fluffy ears were previously orange reptilian horns.
If you go back and take a look at the leaks from December, you can see a little bit of these early designs. Sora's fluffy ears were previously orange reptilian horns.
Aren't his Ears technically horns? Cause in Monsters Inc. none of the Monsters from what I've seen, including Sulley ever had ears as most they either were earless, had horns or tentacles on the top or side of their heads.
Also, the orange colored version of Monster Sora was actually his power form so I doubt it was set to be his permanent fur color for this world and could just be his placeholder model before the final touches. Even Monster Goofy's form was an Olive green color in the leaks before he was settled in the Dark Green color on his skin.
Aren't his Ears technically horns? Cause in Monsters Inc. none of the Monsters from what I've seen, including Sulley ever had ears as most they either were earless, had horns or tentacles on the top or side of their heads.
https://images.khinsider.com/KINGDOM%20HEARTS%20III/Renders/Main%20Characters/SoraMI.png
They sure look like floppy ears to me, but you can call them what you want. The point is, they look less furry and more horn like in the leak. Though without seeing the front, who can say.
| Also, the orange colored version of Monster Sora was actually his power form so I doubt it was set to be his permanent fur color for this world and could just be his placeholder model before the final touches. |
Nothing is permanent, not even after the game is out. These "placeholders" are earlier designs that they're working through, they know they're most likely going to change but the fact that they exist at all means they made them based on a design.
| Even Monster Goofy's form was an Olive green color in the leaks before he was settled in the Dark Green color on his skin. |
Yes. Because it was an earlier design. You can see his eyes are also uniform, and they changed it to match his halloween design aesthetics exactly like Nomura said in the interview. This is what he was talking about, and that's what I meant.
Yeah I guess it's all about the angles but I totally see it now. Also that's insane I've never seen a key like that before lol.
For certain reasons, Riku's original Keyblade breaks and he gets a new one from Yen Sid.
I might be reaching a bit far on this, but I kinda wonder if Yen Sid has some dark past we don't know about that might get touched on in KH3. I mean, we know he's an ex-Keyblade Master, but I find it a little suspicious that he's just got a Kingdom Key laying around. Maybe there's a lot more to his story than I thought. He was an accomplice of Eraqus and Xehanort's, I wonder if his involvement with them when they were young has something to do with his retirement.
I'm happy to see that Monsters Inc. is a spiritual successor world to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Though I wonder, what toys are SDG's toy forms based off?
I love how the snowboarding game is blatantly referenced here. The beginning of Disc 2, Icicle Inn and it's snowy peripherals were some of my favorite areas in FF7. Now, he's telling me I'm going to be emotionally wrecked not only with the content related to closing the final chapter on the Xehanort saga, but vicariously through it by making call backs to referenced FF worlds we'll never access in this universe, the example here via one big (potentially literal) avalanche of nostalgic gut-punches. Someone play Dearly Beloved at my funeral; this game will slay me.
TheZX
July 15, 2018 @ 09:40 pmOffline