New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue & Tetsuya Nomura Interview!
- Details
- Published on March 14, 2013 @ 04:40 am
- Written by Cecily
And the news just keeps coming! As you already know, we had previously heard that KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- would be featured in this week's issue of Famitsu Weekly, with a gorgeous new CG key art on the cover and interview with Director Tetsuya Nomura, Co-Director Tai Yasue and Composer Yoko Shimomura.
Famitsu just updated with plenty of new screens, the key art and the interview with Yasue and Nomura! We'll have translations coming soon, so stay tuned!
Edit: Thanks to Zephyr, we have translations of the article!
KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX is finally released.
New footage and mini interview from the development staff!In the HD remastered version, I am deeply moved by the impressive story once again in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX.
Square Enix released KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX on March 14th, 2013. KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX coincides along with KINGDOM HEARTS’s 10th anniversary. KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX and KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories are upscaled in HD and KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days has been made into three hour long footage which are the three works in this collection. That is, to commemorate its release, Director Tetsuya Nomura, Co Director Tai Yasue have been interviewed about the new footage that have been released to the public.Seven titles are published for the KINGDOM HEARTS series. We used the overseas version as a base for making KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX. In chronological order, KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep starts the earliest on the timeline which leads into Sora’s story in the series. KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX includes three works that’s meant to be played one after the other. We’re introducing the beginning portions of the series in full/perfect content to prepare for the upcoming battle.
Trophy support is added to the three works in this collection. In KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX, there’s an ability which is obtained at the beginning of the game that allows you to not gain experience, EXP Zero. The camera controls are modified and revised for easier play.
KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX
In the first game, Sora sets off in a journey and meets with Donald and Goofy. KINGDOM HEARTS previously was released in March 2002 and in that same year, the North American version was a vital component for creating KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX. In KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, the FINAL MIX version has been upscaled into HD and the English voices has been converted to Japanese voices in this version. Let’s enjoy this nostalgic excitement from the past reborn with greater visuals.
STORY
Warm sunshine pours on this peaceful world, Destiny Islands.Residents of Destiny Islands, Sora, Riku, and Kairi embark on an adventurous journey to the outside world.
The day before they set off on their journey, Destiny Islands is engulfed in darkness and the three of them become separated.
However simultaneously, Donald and Goofy from Disney Castle were given orders from the King who had recently left to accompany a person who wields the “Key”.
Sora was flown into the outside world and there, he meets Donald and Goofy. When Destiny Islands was swallowed by darkness, Sora was given the Keyblade. Together with Donald and Goofy, they embark on a journey.
Changes from the original version:
- Character models are updated in high resolution.
- English voices are now changes to Japanese voices.
- Trophy support is added.
- You can obtain a custom PS3 theme when you clear the game.
- Abilities like EXP Zero, no experience is gained, and Combo Master, continue combos regardless of missing, are added.
- Controlling the camera has been switched to the right analog stick. The R3 button is placed in the back.
- “Talk” and other special abilities are performed with the triangle button.
- “Magic” and “Summon” are given individual command slots.
KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories
Immediately after the events of KINGDOM HEARTS begins the story of KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories; unfolding the mysteries of Organization XIII in Castle Oblivion. You will be able to play in the perspectives of Sora and Riku’s fate. It should be noted that KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories, included in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5, was originally bundled with KINGDOM HEARTS II FINAL MIX+ which was released for the PS2 in 2007. This is also a remake of the Gameboy Advance version released in 2004, KINGDOM HEARTS Chain of Memories.
STORYAfter finishing the final battle between one person, the whereabouts of Riku and the King are unknown. Sora, Donald, and Goofy continued their search in unexpected locations. Along the way, Sora was led to Castle Oblivion by a man in black coat. A mysterious girl named Namine is awaiting in the castle along with a man in black coat who’s “Lord of the Castle” and part of a mysterious Organization. Around the same time, Riku was guided to Castle Oblivion by a mysterious man. In this castle, to find is to lose and to lose is to find.
Changes from the original version:
- The menu and user interface are given higher resolution.
- Trophy support is added.
- You can obtain a custom PS3 theme when you clear the game.
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days
The story revolves around the mysterious schemes of Organization XII; which one year has passed between the events of KINGDOM HEARTS’s end and KINGDOM HEARTS II. In KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories, the truth has been realized and it explains the whole details behind KINGDOM HEARTS II’s prologue; helping you uncover the mysteries of the series. KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days, being part of KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5’s collection, the original version was released for the Nintendo DS 2009 and the story has been made into about three hour long footage. Roxas writes in his Diary, “Roxas’s Diary”, and there is also a “Secret Report” fully detailing information from other members of the Organization.
STORYOne boy was awakened in a place named Twilight Town. The boy’s name is Roxas and he has no memories of the past. Roxas became a member of Organization XIII doing daily missions with his mentor Axel. Their friendship continues to strengthen. They have daily and silly conversations on top of the clock tower while watching the sunset in Twilight Town.
Slowly becoming familiar with the Organization, a new mission was given that day. The fourteenth member, Xion. A new presence joined Organization XIII.
Ever since they’ve met her, the fate of those three begins to change significantly.
Changes from the original verson:
- Event scenes from the original version are upscaled.
- Event scenes from the original version that didn’t have voices are now voiced.
- You can enjoy their days in the form of chapters.
- “Roxas’s Diary” is available from the start and the “Secret Report” is available after finishing the footage.
- A character glossary with detailed descriptions of those characters are added.
- After checking all of the contents, you can get a PS3 theme.
- Trophy support is added; depending if you’ve watched a certain point
Staff Interview
Finally, we have published an interview of Tetsuya Nomura, director of the KINGDOM HEARTS series, and Co Director Tai Yasue. We will have an interview of Yoko Shimomura, music composer of the series, who was also responsible for recording the orchestra “gaQdan”. The interview will be revealed later at Famitsu.
Interview with Tetsuya Nomura
Please tell us what difficulties did you encounter in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX?
There was a time where I had to work with data and there was little time remaining. Although I was suppose to be the one exploring the program, I was being helped by programmers. I was given orders where I could change the quality. There were a number of things I’ve been told that couldn’t be changed. In addition, KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days is summarized into footage that ranged from elements from KINGDOM HEARTS II.
In the HD version, is there a scene do you particularly recommend?
For those that already played the game, the movie is much more beautiful and it gives you a strong sense of nostalgia. I guess the impressions depend for each person. During the time of KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories’s PS2 version, the image quality was not great considering its capacity. It may be very fresh for you to see it once again in high quality.
About the boxart illustration, please tell us what’s the concept and the interesting aspects about it?
The illustration has a similar design to the artwork of the first game’s soundtrack. Since I wasn’t able to have more opportunities, I tried to remake/remaster it just like the game itself. Also, the picture is divided into three sections to reflect the three games.
Finally, what other messages do you want to leave for readers?
KINGDOM HEARTS has become a very long series. For those that are being introduced to the series for the first time or are veteran players, it’s nice to be able to offer this opportunity for others to play. I want to commemorate it with many people as much as possible before the final battle.
Interview with Tai Yasue
Working with HD, tell us how did the development process go? What about the returning staff who worked on the original version?
Currently, I’ve been working as the Co Director in charge of the KINGDOM HEARTS series. I’ve been in situations where I’ve been working on multiple projects at the same time. Our working schedule has been very complicated. For KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, there are five programmers from Osaka and a large number of planners and designers from Osaka and Tokyo. The staff from the original version of KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX weren’t involved too much. Masaru Oka was serving as the cutscene director for KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days. Most of the staff I’ve worked with are very KINGDOM HEARTS minded. (Laughs)
What difficulties did you had with this work and where did you get stuck?
I had problems with adding the new control operations and the abilities. We’ve tweaked/improved a lot of things from KINGDOM HEARTS into KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX. Because the game was already completed before, side effects occurred whenever we’ve tried added something manually. Also, while playing with the ability EXP Zero, I couldn’t beat a particular boss no matter how hard I tried. Finally, starting into the cold, I repeatedly did some adjustments during the last minute debugging phase. I had a hard time in terms of sorting all of those problems.
During the development, were there any memorable moments?
In the axis of development, there are two programmers who are like comical duos and bug reports came from testers in the second half of the development from an impressive berserk transformation of a character. While this Final Fantasy character had his attack powered up in berserk mode, the programmers had to force “C++ power” in there and they were fixing the bug with a ferocious look. There was a force on par with the Final Fantasy character that’s in berserk mode that I was afraid and I backed away. I putted sound effects that made it feel like “Passion! Gooooooo!”
What scene do you particularly recommend in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX?
In KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX, Peter Pan told Sora, “Fly Sora! Believe and you can do it!”, and Sora flies when he jumps down. I also recommend the part where Sora battles Captain Hook. Not only are the visuals beautiful, the camera can be turned more easily with the left analog stick and fighting Heartless are much more comfortable. In the original version, I remember how I was impressed with the battling and how it’s linked to the story. Having this revived in HD, I was impressed once again.
Finally, what messages would you like to leave for readers?
Developing KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, I felt very confident about the hardware changes. No matter how much technology has evolved, the nature and world of classic games with its narrative and visuals does not fade; even after many years. Three works are included in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX and they are masterpieces that are great in different aspects. Being revived for the PS3, it had become a lot more colorful. Please play it by all means.
COMMENTS
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
Not used to all this info at once...I'm feeling spoiled but i love it~
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
Not used to all this info at once...I'm feeling spoiled but i love it~
Prepare for the worst tomorrow, you'll keep checking KHi...but nothing new will be waiting for you :(
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
Prepare for the worst tomorrow, you'll keep checking KHi...but nothing new will be waiting for you :(
I'd welcome that with open arms xD We seriously need a vacation after all this.
Gosh, Sora is a cutie.
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
I'd welcome that with open arms xD We seriously need a vacation after all this.
lol I completely forgot you guys have had no sleep for like...what is this, 25 hours now? Sorry about that >_< You guys do an awesome job editing the site, I wish there was someway I could help but I am bad...like...atrocious at understanding the text you guys use to edit the front page so if anything...the site would go down in flames within 10 seconds after I take the lead haha
These images look so amazing. Hype just increased by 100%. I think I will eat them in the corner now...
Sign and Chaser are melting and they need to be put in a bed for a week or given a vacation.
Guh these images are gorgeous. (but Fami why so tiny?)
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
lol I completely forgot you guys have had no sleep for like...what is this, 25 hours now? Sorry about that >_< You guys do an awesome job editing the site, I wish there was someway I could help but I am bad...like...atrocious at understanding the text you guys use to edit the front page so if anything...the site would go down in flames within 10 seconds after I take the lead haha
Rofl, there's no need to be sorry! xD The news high carries us everywhere and you all make this job worthwhile!
We just want them to slow down a bit rofl. There's gotta be a limit on how much news you can put out so soon after a release.
Re: New KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX- Images + Tai Yasue Interview!
We just want them to slow down a bit rofl. There's gotta be a limit on how much news you can put out so soon after a release.
But SE is all like...WE MUST RELEASE IT NAO!!!!
Dear SEJP,
Yeah we love giving you guys news ;A; We wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it! (but we do like sleep!)
now that's just grooossss
everything else looks pretty great though
Sign and Chaser are melting and they need to be put in a bed for a week or given a vacation.
I'm not melting. I'm just having a nervous/mental breakdown from all this stress + no sleep + school work + illness.
Dat Keyart...just gorgeous.
(Could be a bit bigger though, Famitsu!)
Big thanks out to all the staff to keeping up with this avalanche. ^__^
I take a big guess and assume you all need some Red Bull or Coke to stay that highly tuned. ;)
Actually it's the news high! Works much better~
Wheeeeeeeee~
Actually it's the news high! Works much better~
Wheeeeeeeee~
I see, well, that "drug" is certainly much cheaper than buying some caffeine drinks. ;)
Oh my God... that CGI art. Most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Anyone else notice Goofy casually flying in the Xemnas battle screen? Much better idea than fighting him!
Come on Famitsu!!! Give us the image but larger...I'm nervously waiting in my seat for it >.< The small photo looks kind of rough around the edges of the characters I'm assuming because the image is too small. NOW IF THIS WERE MADE INTO A 1000 PIECE PUZZLE...MY GOD!
*Dies from beauty of images, comes back to life because he can't believe what he just saw, then dies again*
OK. This has got to be one of my new favorite pictures for KH. To remake the main Key Art of the series in CGI is personally the coolest thing I've seen. I just truly love it so much. I'm so saving it in my photos.
Thanks for the awesome translationsZephyr!
Thanks for the awesome translationsZephyr!
No problem ShinobiMuramasa!
I feel like a little kid when I was reading the interviews and looking at screenshots. I know to some of you guys this is just another game while we all await KH3 but Im really exited for this release!
Nice to have those interviews translated. ^__^
Both Nomura and Yasue seem to be very enthusiastic about the entire project, don't they? :D
For KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX, there are five programmers from Osaka and a large number of planners and designers from Osaka and Tokyo.
Heheheh, I remember Nomura saying in an earlier interview that there were only two people from Osaka involved, seems they nonetheless needed a bit more manpower to get things done with some more speed.
I felt like posting my own translation of those interviews, since I'm proud of it haha
---------------------------------------------------------------
STAFF INTERVIEWS
Interview with Director Tetsuya Nomura
---Please tell us about any points that gave you trouble or things you were fixated on achieving when it came to KH 1.5.
Tetsuya Nomura (hereon Nomura): For some titles, most of the data from back in the day was no longer available. I had the programmers search through the program manually, and from there they told me various places where raising quality would be impossible. I was fixated on remaking KH 358/2 Days as a video volume and putting the three titles leading to KH2 into one.
---Which particular scene would you recommend from the HD compilation?
Nomura: For those who have already played these games, I am sure that it's not the prettiness of the graphics but rather the memories involved that will be powerful... Seeing as story-wise all scenes have been covered before, I think it will depend on everyone's individual impressions. When KH Re:COM released on the PS2 the image quality wasn't very good due to capacity issues, so perhaps seeing the high resolution product will be fresher than you realise.
---Please tell us about your concept for the box art, and any points you want to draw our attention to.
Nomura: I drew a similar design for the soundtrack of the first game, but seeing as it had little opportunity for exposure, I decided to channel the title itself and remake and remaster it. Also, I felt that having three titles meant I should have three separate images.
---A final message for gamers?
Nomura: As KH has become such a long series, I would be happy if newcomers, those who have only played some of the titles, and those who only played the numbered titles take this opportunity to try playing. I want to draw as many people as possible in time for the anticipated final battle.
Interview with Co. Director Tai Yasue
---How did you go about organising work on the HD remake? Had any of the staff worked on the original games?
Tai Yasue (hereon Yasue): As several projects related to the KH series, which I am working on as co. director, are currently running simultaneously, scheduling and organisation has been rather complicated. Five programmers in Osaka and a large number of planners and designers in Osaka and Tokyo were involved with KH 1.5. Not many staff had worked on the original version of KH Final Mix, but among them there were people like Oka (Masaru Oka, cutscene director of the KH 1.5 version of KH 358/2 Days), who have participated wholeheartedly, stubbornly, enduringly and lengthily in the KH series (laughs).
---Were there any points that gave you trouble or things you were fixated on achieving with this title?
Yasue: The controls and abilities were my sticking point. I referred to things that had worked well in other KH titles to revise many areas of KH Final Mix. However, as this was an already completed game, revising things had side effects... For example, there were some bosses that could not be defeated no matter how hard you tried if you played with the new EXPZero equipped. I ended up adjusting things to clear up all kinds of issues right up to the end of the debug period, suffering chilly stares from those around me the whole time. That was a point that gave me trouble (dry laugh).
---Was there something that left you with a deep impression during development?
Yasue: The two programmers that were pivotal to development, who were normally akin to characters from a duo comedy skit, left a deep impression on me when halfway through development we received a bug report from the testers that made them flip out, transforming them into characters with a Berserk status (laughs). Just like how in Final Fantasy the Berserk status ailment boosts attack strength, these two had a boost in C++ strength, and they got to correcting bugs with terrifying expressions on their faces. Since they were also giving off an aura comparable in intensity to that of a berserked FF character, I tried not to go near them out of fear. If I could have given them sound effects it would have been 'vvvvrrrr! RRRRAAAAAAARRRRGH!!' (laughs).
---Which particular scene would you recommend from the HD compilation?
Yasue: I recommend the scene in KH Final Mix, where Peter Pan tells Sora, 'Fly, Sora! I believe you can!' and Sora becomes able to fly, and goes to fight Captain Hook. Not only is the picture prettier, but flying about defeating Heartless is quite comfortable now that you can move the camera freely with the left stick. I remember that even in the original version I was moved by the nice link between the story developments and the battle, but I was moved all over again seeing it reborn in HD!
---A final word for our readers?
Yasue: While developing KH 1.5, I keenly felt how no matter how much hardware changes or techniques evolve, masterful worldbuilding, gameplay, plot and visuals do not lose their shine no matter how many years pass. The three titles included in KH 1.5 were all masterpieces in different ways. They are even more radiant now that they have been reborn onto the Playstation 3, so by all means play them and see!
kupo1121
March 14, 2013 @ 04:54 amOffline