Kingdom Hearts Series

News covering the general Kingdom Hearts series, including merchandise and other miscellany.

'Kingdom Hearts' Series Shipped Over 36 Million Units Worldwide

Posted by Meilin Lee : Oct 28, 2022 at 10:29 PM ( 0 , 2,126 )

Earlier today, Square-Enix released their 2022 Annual Report (which can be viewed here), where it was revealed that as of the end of March 2022, the 'Kingdom Hearts' series has shipped over 36 million units (both physical and digital) since the series' inception in 2002, making it Square-Enix's third best-selling franchise (behind 'Final Fantasy' and 'Dragon Quest').

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GameInformer Interview with Tetsuya Nomura

Posted by Meilin Lee : Jun 14, 2022 at 9:25 PM ( 0 , 2,579 )

GameInformer recently got a chance to chat with series director Tetsuya Nomura to discuss Kingdom Hearts IV (and the series in general as well). Topics discussed include the reasoning behind the lack of Final Fantasy cameos recently, expanding on Quadratum's role in KH4, and how Nomura was hesitant at first in allowing Sora to join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Check out the interview below:

The series recently celebrated 20 years. How does it feel to look back on the last two decades, and what do you hope Kingdom Hearts' legacy will be?

I feel like 20 years is a very long time, except it also doesn't really feel that way. I have vague memories of visiting the Disney offices in the US and having meetings throughout the long history that we've had. But, when it comes to memories of the development and just making the actual game – it's just kind of fuzzy. It doesn't feel like anything has become a memory because the series is still continuing, and it's all still in real-time. The series is always evolving; the stories are still going on. Regarding the legacy, I suppose the heart is a central theme to the story of Kingdom Hearts. We will continue to depict that and tell the story of the heart in different ways.

The series is known for its cliffhanger finales. How did you approach keeping these satisfying but still ensuring fans felt like they had some answers?

With every title, we just try to create a game that is contained within itself. There’s an actual ending in a sense to each game, which is probably something similar to any game that is made. But since the Kingdom Hearts storyline has so many mysteries and the story is ongoing, there are just so many different things that we can get into. Fans say every time they think they figure something out, there's now a new mystery that they need to figure out.

I suppose it's a combination of just trying to make sure that the game is contained within itself and comes to a clear stop, but then also it’s just trying to prepare a new mystery so that fans are aware of what will be important in the next title or the next part of the story that's coming up. Personally, I feel like this approach is not really anything special, it's something that all game developers might be considering when they make their games.

What has been your favorite cliffhanger to see fans’ reaction to?

The first thing that comes to mind is the ending for the original Kingdom Hearts. I feel like that was maybe really unexpected on the player’s part because people playing that first game probably didn't think that the story would continue beyond that. Also in Kingdom Hearts III, when Luxu takes off their hood at the very end … I really enjoyed seeing the fans’ reactions, just because it was something that I’d really hoped for.

Did you expect characters from games like Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days to become so popular? Do you feel like their stories are complete, or we can expect more of these characters to pop up in Kingdom Hearts IV?

I really didn't think that the characters from these two titles would become this popular. I had thought that players wanted to see more of characters like Sora or Riku. It was kind of unexpected that the characters from these two titles were so well received. As far as including them or continuing their story in Kingdom Hearts IV … The story for Kingdom Hearts IV is focused more on Sora’s disappearance. I'm not quite sure if there will be room to really explore the other characters’ stories as much, but I'm aware and the team is aware that these characters are very popular and people want to see more of them. So, if possible, it would be great to include more of them or continue to share more of their story in future opportunities.

Another area where we saw Kingdom Hearts’ popularity surge was seeing Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Can you talk about your feelings on having Sora involved?

Obviously, I was very happy that we were able to have Sora make an appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most of the feedback when Sora was [announced] for Smash Bros. Ultimate was, ‘I can’t believe Disney okayed for him to be in this game.’ Behind the scenes, I was actually the one being very picky about his appearance in Smash Bros. Disney was the one that was like, ‘Go ahead! This is a great opportunity.’ I thought it would be tough to pull off because it might clash with the established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds, so it was an opportunity I had to consider very carefully. After seeing how happy everybody was in welcoming Sora to Smash Bros., I feel like the end result was really great.

Xehanort is such a memorable villain, and now we’re going into the Lost Master Arc. How do you follow that up and create fresh conflict with new adversaries?

As you mentioned, Xehanort is a really memorable character. We did take a lot of time to flesh out this enemy presence throughout the series. It all started in the original Kingdom Hearts, where there's Ansem and Kingdom Hearts II with Xemnas – basically, these two figures that stem from one person. In the first game, we explored just the heart portion. In the second game, we explored the physical body. It all led up to the full physical embodiment of the character. I really like that we took this slow-burn approach to build up the character. I feel the presence of the enemy character is so important for them to be a really good character. It gives the story a lot of depth and density. I feel like we pulled that off.

And now we’re moving on to the next saga. In the trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV, we mentioned The Lost Master Arc. We’re going to be delving into a new enemy figure for the continuation of the story. This new enemy has a lot to do with the masked characters that appear at the end of Kingdom Hearts III. They’re going to be obstacles that stand in front of Sora. Also, in Kingdom Hearts 2.8, we showed what kind of characters they are, so the enemies have already appeared within the series. We’ll be reintroducing them, and obviously, there will be more new characters as well, but we really can’t go into detail on those characters just yet.

Do you feel it’s important to keep Sora as the main protagonist, or do you ever see the series moving beyond him?

As far as spin-offs go, we've had main characters that were not Sora, but in terms of the mainline series, I think Sora is actually the only real candidate for the main character. I think if Sora is no longer the main character then I would also feel like that would indicate the end to the numbered titles. He's that important to the series.

We saw Donald and Goofy in the Kingdom Hearts IV reveal, but one question a lot of fans have is how much will Disney still be integral to the series?

With regards to Kingdom Hearts IV, players are definitely going to see a few Disney worlds in there. I just want to mention that they don't need to worry so much about this aspect of the game. It might feel slightly different from previous Kingdom Hearts titles, but once players have had a chance to play the game, I'm sure they'll be relieved to find that it is definitely a Kingdom Hearts title. It’s the game series that they've come to know and love.

As far as the graphic qualities... since with each new title, the specs have been really increasing and there's so much more we can do in terms of graphics, it kind of limits the number of worlds that we can create in a sense. At this time we're considering how to approach that, but there will be Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts IV.

When did you start working on ideas and planning for Kingdom Hearts IV, and what things did you know you wanted to incorporate early on?

Whenever I’m working on a title, I’m already thinking about what I want to incorporate in the next one. For example, with Kingdom Hearts IV, I had already started thinking about what I wanted to do with it while making Kingdom Hearts III. This is more in terms of characters, worlds, or gameplay systems I want to implement. Every time it’s the same process; I’m constantly thinking of what to improve or change in the next title.

For example, in Kingdom Hearts II we introduced the reaction command system. I felt like fans didn't take to it well, and it wasn't that popular. So in Kingdom Hearts III, we took that system out, but then fans said, 'Why’d you take it out?' So now we’re considering bringing it back in Kingdom Hearts IV. The challenge is with the action gameplay. It’s hard to execute the satisfying action moves when the footing isn't very secure. That's something we're working on and hoping we can realize as an aspect of gameplay in Kingdom Hearts IV.

Will we be spending a lot of time in Quadratum? Does having a more realistic setting give you bigger opportunities to try new things with the gameplay?

I think it will be a pretty good amount of time since it is set as the initial base within the game. You spend time there and then go to different worlds and then go back there. Because the graphics are more realistic this time around, I feel like there’s more of a realistic daily life aspect to Sora’s life. You can see him go in and out of his room and spend time there. I feel like players will get to see more of the day-to-day routines he goes through.

As far as worlds go, in the past, we’ve featured a lot of Disney worlds and among those, the most realistic one was probably Pirates of the Caribbean. This time around we’re spending some time in the actual real world. This was a challenge we had for ourselves – just to see how realistic can we make this, and that's something that we're working on right now. For now, we can't really dive into any further details than that.

Fans have been very concerned about the lack of Final Fantasy characters in newer entries. Do you still want to dial down on the amount of them in the series, or is Kingdom Hearts IV a chance to bring in more cameos?

I understand there weren't that many Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts III. One thing I want to clear up is that a lot of fans are saying that Kingdom Hearts is this collaboration between Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. But I really feel like that's not the basic concept of Kingdom Hearts; that's not exactly what Kingdom Hearts is.

When we released the first title, we had only a few original Kingdom Hearts characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet. And so, we had a lot of Final Fantasy characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original Kingdom Hearts] characters better.

Now, there are so many original characters from Kingdom Hearts that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters. With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We're trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren't too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That's something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it's hard to say what the exact balance is going to be and how it will play out in Kingdom Hearts IV. We can't really give you a firm reply on this just yet.

Do you want to give one final tease for fans about what they can look forward to?

With regards to Kingdom Hearts IV, unfortunately, there's not any new information that I'm going to be able to share for a while. But if people could really dive into this interview that we had today, I did reveal a little bit of new information and more details during this conversation. So it'll be great if people could consider that and find some new information that way.

I also wanted to mention Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link. We're working towards launching the closed beta within the year. I know that not everybody is really into smartphone games, so some fans might not be really excited for it, but we are making it so that it's something that anyone can jump right into. Compared to our past mobile releases, it's a lot closer to the series and also connected in many ways to Kingdom Hearts IV.

The easiest way to get more new information and hints about Kingdom Hearts IV would be first to play Missing-Link. There will also be some more mysteries, not related to Kingdom Hearts IV specifically, but just throughout the series in it. Also, some figures that appear in Missing-Link are tied to Kingdom Hearts IV. That’s all I can really say now.
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Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event Q&A

Posted by Meilin Lee : Apr 10, 2022 at 11:05 PM ( 1 , 2,968 )

Following the major announcements regarding the future of the series (including the confirmation of Kingdom Hearts 4!!!), the development staff conducted a Q&A session with fans in attendance, providing some interesting pieces of information. Several Twitter users who attended the event posted what was discussed, and KHInsider was able to compile all the answers, which can be viewed below:

On KH4:

Can't say much about the game right now. It was only shown early to avoid leaks, so there won't be any more news for a while. There won't be any news on KH at E3 either (Nomura is saying it now before people jump to conclusions all over the internet.)

Everything you saw in the PV are rendered in real time in UE4. However, development is moving to UE5 so this footage is being discarded.

When the team sent Nomura the video of the forest, he thought, "Why are you sending me live-action footage?"

Sora's appearance is a result of that world. It's how he looks post-MoM timeskip.

World selection is currently in progress.

The logo has changed because the Dark Seeker Saga has concluded. It was tough to settle on the new design.

Was torn between proceeding with Verum Rex or KH4 for the next title, but decided on KH4 because it'd be difficult to develop two big console games at the same time, and there were many fans who were worried about Sora.

People tend to say "Verum Rex" with a short u like "veram" but the dev team actually pronounces it with a long u like "veroom" (ヴェラム vs ヴェルム, the latter is correct)

The narration over the KHML and KH4 segments of the PV is by an existing character.

On Missing-Link:

Nomura started working on it before UX concluded.

Smartphone game

Action like in the mainline series

Up to 6-player battles

Screen can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode

Set during a blank time period between UX and DR

A story that connects all of the mysteries up to now

Key words: Multiple Scalas, Founder Ephemer, Secret Society of Keyblade Wielders. Everything is connected.

Beta testing is scheduled for Fall 2022

There are two systems: one is a story mode where you advance through quests, and the other a walking mode like Pokemon Go.

Collect materials in the walking mode to strength the Keyblade.

As fans can imagine, Nomura doesn't particularly like AR games. He doesn't want to walk, so he made it possible to play the game in the comfort of your own home without having to use the walking mode.

On Dark Road:

Final chapter is scheduled to be released in August 2022.

The UXDR team has already disbanded. As a result, they can no longer do periodic updates and must release everything all at once.

The current work on DR is being done by the two animators who worked on the UX event scenes (Reminder that the second animator was only hired in the final year of UX's service.)

Various improvements have been made.

Resolves various mysteries up to now.

It took a lot of work to recreate the chess scene for DR.

There were many tough hurdles for D-san (Disney?)

Misc. Comments:

Nomura didn't finish the anniversary artwork until 10:00am this morning. He stayed up all night to get it done in time.

Asked Hazama to help him buy some shampoo but he didn't make it in time before the event started so here we are.

Is exhausted by rehearsal.

Nomura was burnt out after KH3.

Realizes that he's really been recognized in these 20 years.

He wasn't very well known when the first game was released.

Now that the series has become much more prolific, he doesn't have as much freedom as they used to, but his development ideology hasn't changed.

KH3 has sold a record high of 6.7 million units as of September 2021.

Nomura reminisces about his school days, when he lived only 5 minutes away from the ocean. He's inserted some of his own life experiences into the games, such as spending time eating ice cream with friends.

He isn't very good at action games, but tries to be conscious that KH can be played by everyone.

He's not keen on too much fantasy. Instead, he prefers something inbetween reality and fantasy, with just a little bit out of touch with reality.

What Nomura wants to portray in KH is that our hearts are connected, and anyone can be the hero.

Sora may be gone, but his heart is still connected to others. It makes sense for him to disappear.

First started work on KH in 1997.

Have given out all of the information we can right now. Perhaps the next time Nomura appears in-person will be on the 25th anniversary?

— Regarding superbosses.
Hazama: Sephiroth was terrible. I could barely even hear the One-Winged Angel playing in the background as Sora floated around in the air (laughs).

Nomura: Isn't it hilarious though? To be so thoroughly beaten out of nowhere. I can't defeat them myself, but it's fun to see someone else losing like that (laughs)

— Regarding the lack of livestream.

Nomura: When you're livestreaming something, there's a lot of work that goes into making it available for the overseas audience, subtitling it, and having to adhere to a script. Then I might inadvertently leak some undisclosed information, in which case I'd say "Boy am I glad we didn't livestream this (laughs)."

Hazama: So says the one always getting angry about it...

— Are Nobody emblems natural? Do humanoid Nobodies have them?
Nomura: Is this something you all care about? (laughs) No, the humanoid Nobodies don't have them. They're sort of like Pureblood Heartless, in that only Emblems, or in this case, lesser Nobodies, are marked with the symbol.

— Who exactly is Demyx?
Nomura: If I reveal it here, then I'm not going to show it in-game then, okay? (laughs) I'll show it someday.

— Do you get inspiration from Hikaru Utada's music?
Nomura: Always. We don't work on the opening until we receive her music. It's indispensible.

— At the end of UX, the Player's heart melts into Xehanort's heart?
Nomura: You'll understand when you see the final chapter of Dark Road.

— Where did Riku get the Keyblade he gave to Kairi in KH2?
Nomura: We'll follow up on that somewhere in the future.

— Why did the story diverge based on who won or lost the battle with Yozora?
Nomura: It's a difficult battle, so we thought it'd be nice to have something to see even if you lost. That's all there is to it.

— Did Ephemer realize the Player's true intentions in UX's ending?
Nomura: It's a pretty sad goodbye, but there's still a lot to be said about Ephemer, so be sure to check out Missing Link. Past stories will be resolved in that game.

— When did Namine and Ansem meet?
Nomura: When there was no one else left in Castle Oblivion. Organization XIII had been eliminated, and Sora and Riku were gone, so they were like "Well now what we do?" (laughs)

Hazama: It wasn't that amicable, was it? (laughs)

Nomura: It wasn't, but I didn't show it because I thought people would be able to figure out what happened on their own.

— Why did Riku's hair get shorter in KH3D?
Nomura: Everyone kept saying that his hair is too long in KH2 and that I should cut it off, so I did (laughs)

— What is the "world of ※" the Master of Masters was talking about?
Nomura: The name hasn't been mentioned yet since we are merely foreshadowing, but it's in the script so you can expect to learn more in the future. However, If you have a good sense, you might be able to figure it out.

— Why was there noise in the sky after Ephemer and Skuld left the data world in UX?
Nomura: There's no deeper meaning to this. It's just an effect.

Hazama: People tend to misunderstand this kind of thing.

— How did Isa receive the scar on his forehead? Why is it a Recusant's Sigil?
Nomura: Good question. There's a story with Lea and Isa and the girl they were trying to rescue. Stay tuned for the future.

— Why did Master Xehanort take over Terra when he was old and not when he was young?
Nomura: Because he didn't have the power to do when he was younger.

— What is the difference between falling into darkness (as happened to Riku and Aqua) and becoming Heartless and creating Nobodies?
Nomura: The difference is whether or not the heart remains. Dark Aqua is pretty cool and I like her a lot, so I wanted to show her a little more.

— Regarding Xehanort in DR.
Nomura: The mystery surrounding Xehanort will be revealed in the final chapter of DR. You'll also find out why Xehanort's hair became the way it did.

— Will we even learn why Maleficent thought the Book of Prophecies was in the black box?
Nomura: I thought we explained it in UX, but I guess it wasn't clear to everyone. I think I'll have Maleficent talk about it sooner or later.

— In KH3, Xemnas breaks Lea's Keyblade and says "Your Keyblade is no more," yet Lea continues to use it regardless.
Nomura: The nuance is that even if Lea summons his Keyblade again and insists on fighting Xemnas with it, he'll just continue to break it. It's impossible for Xemnas to get rid of it for good.

— Regarding Roxas and Xion's return.
Nomura: I actually had last minute doubts about their return in KH3. In fact, I originally wasn't going to revive them at all, but fans' voices were so strong that I felt I had no choice but to bring them back. There are parts of the story that I won't bend, but when I'm having trouble, I will consider what everyone is saying.
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'Kingdom Hearts IV' & More Announcements at KH 20th Anniversary Event!

Posted by Meilin Lee : Apr 10, 2022 at 9:31 AM ( 0 , 2,592 )

During today's 20th anniversary event for the Kingdom Hearts series, some major announcements were made in regards to the future of the series!

First off, 'Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road' will finally get its long awaited finale this upcoming August for free!

Secondly, a new game for mobile devices called 'Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link' was announced, and appears to be a sequel to 'Union X[cross]', allowing players to embark on adventures from the realm of Scala ad Caelum into the real world! A closed beta release of the game will be available in 2022 for iOS/Android devices.

Lastly, the announcement that everyone was most likely waiting for... Kingdom Hearts IV has been officially announced! The trailer shows off Sora's new look in the game, as well as gameplay in Quadrarum where Sora is battling a massive Heartless on his own! While it hasn't been stated which platforms the game will be released, it most likely will be for the PS5/XBOX Series X. Check out the trailer for these three games below:

To celebrate the occasion, Tetsuya Nomura provided the following message on Twitter for fans:

Lastly, artwork that Nomura was working on for the 20th anniversary event was revealed, and includes Sora in his new KH4 look (credit to @tm_bonist for getting a photo of the artwork):

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Tetsuya Nomura Posts 20th Anniversary Message

Posted by Meilin Lee : Mar 27, 2022 at 3:22 PM ( 0 , 2,320 )

On this day twenty years ago, the Kingdom Hearts series was officially born with the release of the original Kingdom Hearts game in Japan! Series director Tetsuya Nomura took the opportunity to post a message on Twitter, giving us a preview of artwork he is currently preparing for the upcoming 20th anniversary event scheduled on April 10th:

The tweet translates to the following (credit to @RyujiBlades for the translation):

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