It’s so exciting to watch! This game has come such a long way since it’s early productions, the characters are all appealing and fleshed out. I like the look of the school, with the staff it reminds me even more of Final Fantasy VIII’s “garden” concept.
Monthly Archives: July 2011
Final Fantasy Fashion Friday – Lightning
- Harness Boot (Urban Outfitters), $99.00
- Safari Suede Shorts (Nasty Gal), $58.00
- Stitched Leatherette Stretch Belt (Forever 21), $5.44
- Coral Potion Pendant (Nasty Gal), $18.00
- Kimchi Blue Halflight Dress (Urban Outfitters), $69.00
- Lauren Shoulder Bag (Forever 21), $20.80
- Fingerless Driver Gloves (Top Shop), $36.00
- Crème Lipcolour in Tawny (Top Shop), $15.00
- Good Knight Ring (ModCloth), $22.99
- Rose Earring in Olive (KarmaLoop), $7.95
- Directions Pastel Pink Hair Dye (La Riche), $4.55
SQEX Manga at Comic Con
Photos courtesy of Square Enix Staff.
Final Fantasy Type-0 / Seven
The newest Final Fantasy Type-0 character being introduced this week in Jump. Her name is Seven, her voice actor is Mayuko Aoki. She looks familiar, doesn’t she? I bet Lightning looked the same when she was a punk teen.
Kingdom Hearts Interview with Tetsuya Nomura
I’ve translated the interview out of Famitsu Weekly magazine with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura, no more summaries. Scans of the article are in the prior post. Please re-read this version!
Interview with Tetsuya Nomura – Part 1
– From the survey, most fans like Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix the most.
Tetsuya Nomura: Since I often hear that fans usually like one title in particular, it was a little unexpected to see that Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was the top and that Kingdom Hearts II ranked second. Birth by Sleep is a subtitle, but since it’s a part of the main series, I’m happy to see that it ranked highly.
– The results of the survey show that the part people like most about the series is the story. You are the one who writes out the plot for all the titles of the series, so when writing up the story what do you focus on above all else?
Nomura: Making it “surprising.” While I’m writing out the plot, if things seem that you can predict the outcome on your own, then I think of a different, unexpected development.
– You really can’t predict the ending of every title. Do you discuss and make decisions on the final outcome of the story with the staff?
Nomura: I don’t. I ask the staff to flesh out things for the scenarios, even with that I make the final supervisions. Since I’m the only one who knows the whole story and the developments that take place afterward, I have a hard time figuring out how much to tell the staff about. (Smiling wryly)
– Are there modifications to the story to suit overseas fans?
Nomura: I believe that if the story is interesting, it will be well received; so it isn’t regulated only for specific regions. Though those at Disney said it has a very Japanese sense about it, I guess you could call it ‘Eastern thinking.’ (Laughs) Still, I had been thinking that I would make the story more clear and simpler. But while I was developing the first Kingdom Hearts, I received a single piece of advice from Sakaguchi-san*. That was, “If you don’t make it more complex like with Final Fantasy, you won’t be able to compete.” So accordingly, I decided to develop the story in a way that fans could imagine on their own the remaining story how they like.
*Hironobu Sakaguchi is a former developer who had worked on the Final Fantasy series for Square.
– Is the story of Kingdom Hearts 3D mysterious too?
Nomura: It’s fairly complicated. Right now I’m telling Disney about the scenarios, but it’s hard for them to understand it all at once. I’m explaining the reason and the established connections for each mystery one by one. It’s difficult since their approval is necessary to move forward with localization, but there are many people in Disney who love the Kingdom Hearts series as well. They want to create the game accurately too, so somehow they’re following along with me.
– Along those lines, looking at the age group of those who responded to the survey including the overseas fans, it seems the series appeals the most to a young generation.
Nomura: There’s a sense that Kingdom Hearts appeals to wider age range of fans compared to Final Fantasy. Also that ratio wise, it seems more fans are female. I’m especially happy to see that there is strong support for the series from fans in foreign countries too.
Part 2
– Sora was the top ranked favorite character.
Nomura: It must be because he’s an uncomplicated guy. (Laughs) For the promotional trailers, we look for scenes with particularly good lines to highlight. But he gives us trouble finding lines that are suitable for the trailers; since Sora is a simple guy who doesn’t think too deeply about things, he doesn’t really say lines we can use. (Smiles wryly)
– Roxas ranked second, his heartrending destiny seemed to influence the top rated favorite scene.
Nomura: Roxas is someone the fans think a lot about, they say he’s like a Final Fantasy type character. Along with his friendship with Axel, they’re an impressive set, huh?
– What scenes left an impression on you?
Nomura: The most impressionable scenes for me were the endings of KH1 and KH2, after that the scene in KH2 when Roxas’ summer vacation ends left a deep impression on me.
– Next are the results concerning the favorite abilities. Glide and Dodge Roll were popular.
Nomura: I’m not surprised those two abilities were the most popular. They have a reinvigorating feel to them, I like them too. Even in Final Fantasy Versus XIII we’re including a one-handed rotation ability similar to Dodge Roll too.
– Continuing, what about your favorite Keyblade?
Nomura: Oathkeeper carries a deep meaning with the story and the design of it is clean, so it’s the one that I’m most pleased with.
– About the worlds, Twilight Town was the most popular. A lot of people said they liked the music.
Nomura: We really fussed over embodying the image of coming from school as the sunsets; it’s a world that left a deep impression on me too. As for the song, I gave Shimomura-san* a lot of trouble and pushed her to improve it. We had an image derived around another artist’s song, but it really worked out well, the result was a song with a completely different sort of anguish.
* Yoko Shimomura is the series music composer.
– On the flip side, the most unpopular world was Atlantica.
Nomura: It’s difficult to move around there, huh? Sorry about that. When you are in the water, you are not just swimming, but fighting enemies, we had trouble adjusting the character’s movement to do both simultaneously.
Part 3
– The top ranked favorite enemy was the very familiar Shadow Heartless. Out of those appearing in the ranking, which ones did you design?
Nomura: The Shadows, Neo Shadows, White Mushrooms, Dusks and so on; I drew them myself. The enemies dictate the overall design aspects of the series, so I work them out with the staff afterwards.
– Oppositely, the Dancer Nobody was the least popular.
Nomura: It was formidable enemy, so of course it wasn’t popular huh.
– Well, let’s move on to the topic of mysteries people are interested in. There is a lot of interest about Organization XIII’s past.
Nomura: Most of it isn’t related to the main story of the series, so I haven’t paid too much attention to it. (Wry laughter)
– Many fans brought up the “data concealed within Sora.”
Nomura: That’s what Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance deals with. The other mysteries will be something to deal with another time.
– Alright, last question on the topic. There are an overwhelming number of people who want Kingdom Hearts 3 to be released.
Nomura: The answer for them has been prepared in KH3D.
– Many fans want the series to keep continuing afterwards as well.
Nomura: The series that has developed so far as “the Xehanort saga” should end once and for all in KH3. However, I’ve outlined a tentative plot that takes place afterward, so we could continue onto a new chapter. Sora would remain the main character; that wouldn’t change.
– By the way, the 10th anniversary of the series is next year. The number of titles in the series has really increased since it started. Some have said they want to play HD remakes of the past titles…
Nomura: Whether we release one or not is a different story; we’re concerned with the HD technical limits of the past titles.
– As for the current developments, how is KH3D coming along?
Nomura: I’d say the development status of KH3D is about 40%-50%? We’ll start recording the voices soon. The theme this time was “bold action”, but we also wanted to stress the importance of the story’s tempo. Though the story is important to fans as shown by the results of the survey, it won’t be drawn-out.
– Does that mean you’ll be decreasing the number of cutscenes?
Nomura: Not meaning that we’ve decreased the number of cutscenes, but having each one explained one by one reduces the tempo of the game, so we’re introducing a new system to make up for it. It’s a directionally different system like what’s being introduced in Final Fantasy Versus XIII which won’t have cutscenes; it’ll be a sort of integration where you can play during the event scene. Along with that, Sora will fight alongside different friends. There’s also a secret movie being prepared, so please look forward to it.
– It’ll be a while until our next follow up report, huh. Well then, what’s the last message to all the fans.
Nomura: I’ve had your support for almost 10 years. Thanks to you guys, Kingdom Hearts has become a long series. To everyone who gave their opinions, I’ll read them very carefully. Thank you so much. Also, from this summer to next spring, we’ll continue releasing information and sales dates for KH among other titles from the first development department, so please look forward to it.
Famitsu Weekly Scans – KH Survey and KH3D
KH3D Play Impression
I translated a summary by 速報＠保管庫(Alt) of a reviewer who played a demo version of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in the new issue of Famitsu Weekly.
I was able to play a little of the demo version. You can play in the familiar Traverse Town world. Two new characters are your teammates.* The bright bursts from the battles are even more illuminating than before. You’ll be able to climb up buildings. The battle system is large scale and has a flashy action style, it has a fun feeling. I’m surprised that the party members will be characters who haven’t appeared before. I think it seems the [main] battle opponent won’t be Heartless or Nobody.
*The magazine edits out the character’s names.
More KH3D Details From Famitsu
I translated the interview with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura featured in the most recent issue of Famitsu Weekly as summarized by 速報＠保管庫(Alt). I’ll post the survey results later and the scans of the articles when I can.
———————————
On the Ranking Results
Since I hear a lot of opinions that fans really like one particularly, I’m surprised to see that KH2 Final Mix ranked number one and then KH2 ranked after it. I didn’t want Birth by Sleep to seem like a spin off, so I’m happy to see it ranked in the top five.
My favorite character Sora must be ranked number one since he’s an uncomplicated, good guy. He gives us trouble though; when we make the promotional trailers it’s hard to find lines of his we can use since he doesn’t really say much useful.
The second ranked character Roxas, fans think he’s the most Final Fantasy-esque. Along with his friendship with Axel, they make an impressive set.
The most impressionable scenes for me were the endings of KH1 and KH2, and the scene in KH2 when Roxas’ summer vacation ends.
My favorite abilities are the popular Glide and Dodge Roll as well. They have a reinvigorating feel and are comfortable to do, so I like them. Along the same line, we’re including a one-handed rotation ability similar to Dodge Roll in FF Versus 13 too.
My favorite Keyblade is the top ranked Oathkeeper. It carries a deep meaning with the story and the design of it is clean, it’s the one I’m most pleased with.
With the most popular world, Twilight Town, we really fussed over embodying the image of coming from school as the sun sets. That song gave Shimomura-san a lot of trouble and pushed her to improve. We had an image derived around another artist’s song, but it really worked out well, the result was a song with a completely different sort of anguish.
The worst world to deal with was Atlantica, sorry it was so difficult to move. We had trouble adjusting the character’s movement while swimming and simultaneously fighting.
The popular enemies like the Shadows, Neo Shadows, White Mushrooms, Dusks and so on; I drew them myself. The enemies dictate the overall design aspects of the series, so I work them out with the staff afterwards. The hardest enemy for me was the Dancer Nobody, it was formidable enemy.
On Story Development
The story is mixed with elements of surprise. I try to develop it so that the parts that you expect to go one way go another.
We don’t come together and decide on the story from beginning to end. The staff helps flesh things out and I supervise myself making the final decisions. Since I’m the only one who can see the big picture and knows what happens after each development, I have a hard time figuring out how to draw it up for the staff.
On Internationalization
Though it’s an international series, it isn’t regulated for specific regions since I believe it will be well received if it’s interesting enough. Those at Disney said it has a very Japanese sense about it, I guess you could call it ‘Eastern thinking’. I thought that we’d make the storyline simple and clear, but I received this single piece of advice from Hironobu Sakaguchi: “If you don’t make it more complex like with Final Fantasy, you won’t be able to compete.” So from there the development moved to make something that would engage the colorful imaginations of the fans.
The storyline for KH3D is considerably difficult to understand. I am discussing it with Disney now, but they couldn’t understand it all at once. I’m explaining the reason and the established connections for each mystery one by one. It’s troublesome for the interpretation and localization, but there are many people in Disney who love the Kingdom Hearts series, somehow they’re following along with it.
There’s a sense that Kingdom Hearts appeals to wider age range of fans compared to Final Fantasy. Ratio wise, more fans are female. I’m especially happy to see that there is strong support for the series from fans in foreign countries too.
On Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Since there are so many mysteries to wonder about that are unrelated to the main volume, we aren’t trying to explain all of them. (Things like the personal information of the characters, the Room of Sleep, and the Room of Awakening.) KH3D deals with Sora’s concealed data, I’ll reveal more about the other mysteries another time.
The development status of KH3D is about 40%-50%. We’ll start recording the voices soon. The theme this time was “bold action”, but we also wanted to stress the importance of the story’s tempo. Though the story is important to fans as shown by the results of the survey, it won’t be drawn-out.
Not meaning that we’ve decreased the number of cutscenes, but having each one explained one by one reduces the tempo of the game, so we’re introducing a new system to make up for it. Again it’s directionally different from FF Versus 13. In KH3D, Sora will fight alongside various friends too. There’s also a secret movie being prepared.
On the Future of Kingdom Hearts
We’ve prepared a response in KH3D for the fans who are always saying, “We want KH3 to release!” The series that has developed so far as “the Xehanort saga” should end once and for all in KH3. I’ve outlined a tentative plot that takes place afterward, so we could continue onto a new chapter. Sora would remain the main character; that wouldn’t change. About an HD remastering, whether we release one or not is a different story, we have to think about the technical aspects of it.
I’ll read everyone’s opinions carefully.
From this summer to next spring, we’ll continue releasing information and sales dates for KH among other titles from the first development department, so please look forward to it.
KH3D Details – Famitsu Special
The newest Weekly Famitsu issue is dedicated to Square Enix titles, showcasing the up and coming with a look at the history and past titles. The issue also has interviews with developer Tetsuya Nomura where he not only discusses the new 3DS title Theartrhythm Final Fantasy, but Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Final Fantasy Versus XIII as well.
Thanks to Aibo from FF-Reunion for tweeting a few previews from the interview!
Kingdom Hearts 3D Details
The story of 3D is quite mysterious and difficult to understand, the data within Sora is what you will be dealing with in 3D. 3D is being prepared in response to all those fans looking forward to KH3.
The current Xehanort saga will end in KH3. There are tentative plot ideas for after that too. The main character won’t change, it’ll be Sora.
Whether we’ll release an HD remake or not is another story, however we are considering doing an HD upgraded version of one of the past titles.
The development of 3D is currently around 40% to 50%. There will be a secret movie.
Traverse Town with “????” and “????” are show, showing a character raising steadily from the top of a building.
I’ll add more details as I translate. I’m buying the issue so expect high quality scans here if no one else posts any.
On another note, I hate when people don’t bother to announce their source. No, no one is ripping me off. I’m talking about “bigger” game blogs, maybe they think it makes them sound more authoritative but to those who no better, it just makes them look like asses.
SQEX Ultimate Members Special Present
Japan’s Square Enix Members will be offering Ultimate Level members a gift incentive again this year, this time they are signature boards from four popular series, including Kuroshitsuji. Members who have accumulated 2500 points or more during 2010 can choose between the four by midnight August 14th.
Yana Toboso, RPG Arrangement May 2011
Aw I want one. It’s fun seeing Sebastian and Ciel in alternative costumes like that, especially the butler in armor!
SQEX☆INFO 