Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event Q&A

Meilin Lee · Apr 11, 2022

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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Zelda · Apr 11, 2022

i, personally, cannot wait to learn more of the xehanort hair lore

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Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event Q&A

Meilin Lee RPG (Red Panda Girl)

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