Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Famitsu Interview Tetsuya Nomura Cover

Pages 8 and 9 (Full Famitsu Interview) – Ryūji – [In Progress]

Interviewer: First of all, congratulations on the 20th anniversary.

nomura: Thanks very much.

Interviewer: How has it been to be with these shows for 20 years?

nomura: This is still a difficult fact to grasp, to tell you the truth. I have nothing but gratitude to everyone who has supported the show.

Interviewer: And it’s been three whole years since KH3, huh?

nomura: Indeed, and in those three years we’ve released tons of big stuff like Melody of Memory, PC ports and even Nintendo Switch cloud ports.

Interviewer: According to our staff who were present at the event, they said they could feel the passion of the fans inside the event.

nomura: Yes. I’m so glad the series inspired both young and old considering it was a collaborative project with Disney.

[The Interviewer and Nomura then discuss his secret message. This is where we get that comment from Nomura previously where he said that “none of the staff” have figured it out.]

Interviewer: We heard that KH3 is developed using Unreal Engine 5 and the trailer was in Unreal Engine 4. Even though it was an older version, it still has the looking gorgeous.

nomura: Yes, we are continuing development with Unreal Engine 5. The next time* you see Kingdom Hearts 4, it will probably already be fully integrated with the new engine.

*: “By next time” = not in the near future, in this case. Famitsu insists that we won’t see anything beyond the E3 period, which we’ve seen before.

Interviewer: Why did you want to hold the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event in Shibuya Hikarie?

nomura: Shibuya is a world landmark, and I thought it would be an easy choice for the event.

Interviewer: Regarding Shibuya, we know that the characters from The World Ends With You appear in KH DDD, so is there a connection with that?

Nomura: No. I’ve noticed some fans have speculated that the Shibuya in The World Ends With You or the world Jack’s friends are from in Stranger of Paradise has some connection to Quadratum, but I’m the person who can you say it. no, there is no connection with those”.

Interviewer: Is the room where Sora wakes up also in Shibuya?

nomura: It is Minami-Aoyama in terms of location. However, the original location is different from the view from the balcony, so we will have Osaka staff travel there later to do scouting to make adjustments for later game revisions.

Investigator: So it’s organized to that extent?

nomura: Yes, it’s true. We have also specified the layout of the rooms, but the furniture, etc., has not yet been specified, so the interior will be changed. This room will be your base of operations in the early stages of the game.

Interviewer: What kind of world is Quadratum? In “KH Melody of Memory”, it was described as “the other side of reality known as unreality, a fictional world”. Does this mean that he does not belong to the world of light, the world of darkness or the world in between?

nomura: That’s right.

Interviewer: In “KH Melody of Memory”, someone who knew Quadratum appeared. Will she appear in “KHIV”?

nomura: It’s still a secret, I’m afraid. As I said at the event, there was a time when I wasn’t sure whether to name this title ‘KINGDOM HEARTS IV’ or ‘VERUM REX’. But she’s originally a VERUM REX character, I’ll say it all.

Interviewer: I see, I see!

nomura: To be frank with you, I was surprised by the reaction of foreign fans to Yozora. I thought it might not be well received, but I’m glad they proved me wrong. (bitter laugh)

[Next, they talk about the narrator in the trailers, and tie back on how it was a “character we’ve known” and how the voice actor did two tones, and such.]

Interviewer: I noticed the logo changed, huh?

nomura: To signal that we are starting a new saga, we have decided to change our logo. The font and logo design looks simplistic compared to the previous one, but despite being simple, I made sure it would still capture the essence of Kingdom Hearts.

Interviewer: In the trailer, the narrator talks about the Society of Heirs (継ぐ者の結社) and the Society of Non-Heirs (継がざる者の結社). Could you say more about this?

nomura: Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is a story set approximately four generations after the birth of Ephemer. The main family that carries his lineage is known as the Society of Heirs (継ぐ者の結社) while the society of those who do not carry his lineage is known as the Society of Non-Heirs (継がざる者の結社).

Interviewer: Donald and Goofy are seen at the end of the trailer. How will the story evolve if we know that Sora is in the real world (Quadratum)?

nomura: As you can see, they are currently looking for clues to Sora’s whereabouts. Sora looks more realistic because he’s in Quadratum, and since Donald and Goofy aren’t, they kept their cartoon style.

Interviewer: What is the identity of the two black coats we see in the KH4 trailer?

Nomura: Sorry, but it’s still a secret. (Laughs). However, what I can tell you is that alongside me, Akiko Ishibashi and Oka Masaru will participate in writing the screenplay for Kingdom Hearts IV.