Kingdom Hearts II – 2005 Developer Interview

—To start, could you tell us about how Kingdom Hearts II came to be?

Nomura: As you might recall, the secret movie included as a bonus in Final Mix (the hidden video you could view after clearing certain requirements) hinted at it, but we already had the concept for KHII in mind back during the first development. We said that if the first game was well-received, it would be great to make KHII. And thanks to the overwhelming acclaim Kingdom Hearts received worldwide, we were able to smoothly shift gears right into production on KHII.

—When did actual development on KHII begin?

Nomura: There isn't really a single moment where you could say, "This is where it officially started." Independent of KHII, the team already wanted to build a new game together. Even before KHII was formally pitched, we were doing prep work behind the scenes, drawing concept art and writing test code using the original Kingdom Hearts engine.

—What is the overarching theme of KHII?

Nomura: It shares the same theme of the first game, that is, the bond between hearts (kokoro no tsunagari). Beyond that, "promises" serve as a central theme of both games as well. At the end of KH, Sora says to Kairi: "I'll come back to you, I promise." You could say the word "promise" acts as a major new keyword this time around.

—So the idea of a promise ties into the entire narrative?

Nomura: Exactly… though it's not meant to feel heavy or overly dramatic. It's woven into the story naturally, but it carries a deep significance.

—What kind of story will KHII tell?

Nomura: I actually tried mapping out a character relationship chart, but it ended up being so convoluted that I couldn't make heads or tails of it myself… (laughs) So yeah, it's that kind of story!

—There's one image among the media you provided today that really stands out... (points to the photo of the mysterious youth)

Nomura: My strict instruction for this screenshot was, "Whatever you do, don't show his face!" (laughs) There's also his relationship with the red-haired man and a few other things going on, but for now, I'll let everyone's imagination run wild. KHII is packed with mysteries like this. I suspect looking at this first batch of news might actually leave fans with even more questions than answers. (laughs)

—He's wielding a Keyblade, isn't he? If that's the case, combined with Sora's Keyblade and the one King Mickey held at the end of KH, that would make four...

Nomura: Well, as you know, equipping different keychains alters the Keyblade's shape. If you attach the keychain Kairi handed to Sora at the end of the first game (the one where she says, "Promise you'll bring it back to me") it turns into the exact same shape as the one this boy is holding…

—Wait, really?! Does that mean...?

Nomura: Yep, that's… a mystery! (laughs) The release is still a ways off, so I can't go revealing something so obvious right off the bat. For now, I want everyone to speculate and writhe in suspense a bit!

—Sora's costume design has changed quite dramatically.

Nomura: In the first game, his outfit was built around a red color palette inspired by Mickey Mouse. But since King Mickey actually makes a proper appearance in KHII, we decided to change it up. (laughs) Furthermore, since the story takes place a year later and Sora has grown, I redesigned his outfit to reflect his own distinct personal style. Though in that screenshot of Sora with his eyes closed, he's actually wearing his outfit from KH...

—There seems to be a secret behind that!

Nomura: Oh, there is. (laughs) Players who know the original game are going to be completely caught off guard when they boot up KHII. It opens in a way that will make people go, "Wait, what is this?!"

If you played Chain of Memories, it'll all make sense… or rather, you'll get the general idea. Even if you don't play the GBA game, we do provide an explanation of what transpired during that missing year, but playing it will certainly give you a deeper appreciation of the narrative. Since KHII is still a ways out, anyone who can't wait should give the GBA game a try. Though I guess that sounds like a shameless plug! (laughs)

—One of the biggest draws of Kingdom Hearts is its massive crossover cast of Disney and Final Fantasy characters. Who can we expect to see this time?

Nomura: Well… some characters will return, and some won't. Not every single character from the original game will be coming back. As for specifics… all I can really say for now is that you'll be seeing plenty of characters! (laughs)

—Will characters like Winnie the Pooh make an appearance...?

Nomura: I feel like Pooh is an absolute necessity. Honestly, there's no way we could leave Pooh Bear out. (laughs)

—We'll also be facing non-Heartless enemies this time, right?

Nomura: Yes. Enemies bearing a brand new mark. It creates a three-way dynamic between this new faction, the Heartless from the previous game, and the Disney characters.

—With so many characters involved, how many worlds will there be?

Nomura: The basic structure is largely identical to the first game. You'll travel from world to world in sequence. The very first location you visit is a place called Twilight Town.

It might sound a bit cliché, but where the first game was a story about Light and Darkness, this time we wanted to begin the story in a world that is neither light nor dark… neither day nor night, but right in between. So we set the opening in a world permanently bathed in twilight.

As for the total number of worlds, it will likely surpass Kingdom Hearts, though the exact count isn't set in stone. That said, I don't think simply inflating the sheer volume of content is necessarily the right move. It’s less about the raw number of worlds and more about depth. I want to make sure every single world is packed with things to do.

—Are there any dramatic changes to the game mechanics?

Nomura: The core fundamentals aren't radically different. The signature Kingdom Hearts style--an action game disguised as a menu-driven command system--remains intact, but we've refined and upgraded nearly every aspect of it. After all, that core gameplay loop was the very reason we made this game in the first place!

In KHII, we've expanded the command menu and made the combat feel so much tighter and more responsive, while also refining the camera. Though to be honest, it's an ongoing process of trial and error. We're constantly tweaking things. (laughs) And, of course, we're packing in plenty of completely original mechanics as well.

—Could you elaborate on those?

Nomura: We have a major gimmick tied to Sora's clothing this time around. I can't go into detail just yet, but you could call it the core of KHII's gameplay system. When I say that, people will probably picture something like the Dressphere system from FFX-2, but it's quite different from that.

—Is it tied directly to combat?

Nomura: Well, yeah! (laughs) Either way, combat in this game is going to have a lot more depth.

—So players have more choices in combat now?

Nomura: Considerably more. We've also categorized enemy types much more granularly, which should open up a vastly wider range of tactical options. Summons weren't utilized very often in the original, but they've been completely redesigned into something you'll want to use much more frequently as a core tactical choice.

At the same time, Kingdom Hearts has a large demographic of younger players and women, so making the game overly complex or difficult would be a mistake. We're currently working on measures to cater to both casual players and hardcore action enthusiasts alike.

—Something akin to the difficulty options introduced in Final Mix?

Nomura: Yeah, something like that… or rather, exactly that. (laughs) We definitely plan to include measures along those lines. Our underlying philosophy for this project is "Build it like Final Mix right out of the gate." Anything that was possible in Final Mix ought to be in the base game here. As a full-fledged sequel, it would be unacceptable for our systems to fall short of Final Mix.

—Has the Gummi Ship system seen any changes?

Nomura: Ah, the Gummi Ship… let's see… I think I might have caught a glimpse of something like that recently. (laughs) I happened to glance at one of the programmer's monitors the other day, and what I saw was mind-boggling. I was like, "Are you guys seriously going that far with this?!" I'm still not sure what I saw on that screen! (laughs)

—Finally, do you have a message for our readers?

Nomura: Our core philosophy hasn't changed: we want to elevate that pure, tactile joy of action gameplay. I want players to experience a game that is intuitively fun to play, without needing any complex justification. Naturally, we aren't cutting any corners when it comes to the visual presentation either, but tactile moment-to-moment fun remains our highest priority.

As for pre-release information, I ask that fans hold off on believing every rumor they hear and wait for official announcements. Rumors are just rumors, after all. There's still a bit of a wait ahead of us before release… actually, quite a long wait. (laughs) But please look forward to it!

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Kingdom Hearts II - 2005 Pre-release Interview

originally featured in Hyper Playstation 2 magazine

—It's been two years since Kingdom Hearts II was first announced, and the release date is finally upon us. How are you feeling right now?

Nomura: Well, we're almost at the finish line! When the release date was officially locked in back at the Tokyo Game Show, we actually weren't in a place where we could rest easy yet. Internally, I was sweating a bit: "Oh wow, they really went ahead and announced it!" (laughs) Before that, we had only spoken about the release timeframe in vague terms, so having a concrete date on the calendar tightened our focus. Honestly, looking back, I'm just amazed we managed to cram everything into the game.

—When the release date was announced, were you still in the middle of putting all the pieces together?

Nomura: Yeah, we were still missing a lot. I was working on stuff up until very recently, getting all the necessary elements into the game. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious, but we managed to get everything we planned for into the final build, so I can breathe a sigh of relief for now.

—To step back a bit, where did the original concept of collaborating with Disney come from?

People often associate Disney characters with content strictly for young kids, or audiences who don't play video games. But I felt certain that there were ways to reach the core gaming demographic too. Depending on how you handle the characters, there's tremendous room for growth and so much more that can be done.

—Building on the foundation of the first game, what kind of new approaches did you attempt for the sequel?

Nomura: For the first game, we were very focused on making every world blend seamlessly into the overall game experience to create a unified tone. This time, however, we decided not to worry so much about that constraint, which allowed us to include more unique worlds like Pirates of the Caribbean and Steamboat Willie.

In our minds, we felt we had successfully achieved that sense of cohesion in the first game. But of course, cohesion is subjective, and some players might feel otherwise. Rather than forcing everything to blend together, this time we decided to emphasize the distinct personality of each individual world. In reality, different Disney films don't necessarily share the same look or feel anyway, so combining them was always going to create a bit of a clash. There's no way to completely smooth that over. So we figured, why not lean into it and make those distinct styles stand out?

—Including live-action properties like Pirates of the Caribbean and TRON certainly makes a huge visual impact.

Nomura: Yeah. It adds a lot of variety. Way back when we were making Final Fantasy on the Super Famicom, we had the underlying concept that FF should be like an upturned toy box, a game where you dump a bit of everything together into one package. That spirit carried over into Kingdom Hearts. Obviously, what we're making isn't Final Fantasy, but if the toy box is filled with all kinds of different elements, with fun packed into every corner, we felt more people would be able to enjoy it.

—On a personal note, what is your favorite Disney film?

Nomura: I love The Lion King. I actually wanted to include The Lion King in the first game, but controlling a four-legged character required a completely different setup from normal bipedal movement, which was a huge hurdle for us at the time.

—You mean it clashed with Sora's standard movement?

Nomura: Yes. Sora normally walks on two legs, so switching to quad-pedal movement felt like building an entirely separate game engine, which was extremely difficult. We had to give up on it the first time, but for KHII, we designed the project from day one with The Lion King in mind. We had our programmers prepare for it well in advance, and somehow we managed to make it happen.

—In the original game, 101 Dalmatians appeared without having its own dedicated world. Are there any similar Disney inclusions this time?

Nomura: Yen Sid makes an appearance. He's Mickey's master from Fantasia. He isn't a flashy character, but he plays a crucial role. If you spell "Yensid" backward, it spells "Disney." That's how special he is within the Disney universe.

—He's that stern-looking sorcerer, right? What role does he play in the story?

Nomura: Pretty much what you'd expect! True to his original character setup, he appears as Mickey's master. In this game, he acts as a mentor figure in the early stages, offering various pieces of advice in Mickey's place.

—How does Organization XIII fit into the overall narrative?

Nomura: For the most part, they are constantly on the move, popping up in one world, then moving to another. So they don't function as simple, static boss encounters. As the name implies, Organization XIII originally consisted of 13 members, but several of them were already defeated by Sora in Chain of Memories on the Game Boy Advance, leaving only eight. Naturally, the members defeated in CoM won't be returning.

—We also see a new type of enemy introduced this time: the Nobodies.

Nomura: Heartless act purely on instinct. Their sole drive is to steal hearts, making them act almost like animals. Nobodies, on the other hand, operate as an organized force, acting directly under the command of their Organization XIII superiors.

Each Organization XIII member has their own specific element or attribute. For example, Xaldin commands both the "Wind" element and the "Dragoon" archetype, so the Nobodies under his control reflect that Dragoon style. Because of this, when you enter a new world and encounter a type of Nobody you've never seen before, you can intuitively sense, "Ah, a different Organization member must be pulling the strings here."

—Who is this mysterious youth we've seen?

Nomura: You'll have to play the game to find out his true identity! (laughs) I know people have been speculating, but yes, he is playable. Internal feedback at the studio called him the most tragic player character we've ever created. His backstory is quite bittersweet, so players might find themselves forming a very strong emotional connection with him.

—What about his group of friends?

Nomura: They're residents of Twilight Town and play key roles in that location. They interact quite a bit with the mysterious youth. To Sora, they're the equivalent of Riku and Kairi, his core group of friends.

Telling the story of this boy and his group is something I've wanted to try for a long time. The game takes place during summer break. There's a wonderful, distinct vibe to that setting, a realistic slice-of-life where kids hang out every single day without any real plan or agenda. (laughs) That nostalgic childhood atmosphere really comes through.

Twilight Town also acts as a gentle buffer for players who didn't play the first game. On the flip side, veterans of the original will likely find it intriguing: "Wow, I can't believe the game starts like this!" We designed the opening with both groups in mind.

—How do the other main characters like Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey factor into the plot?

Nomura: King Mickey plays a huge role this time. (laughs) He's as delightfully cool a character as ever, and he gets far more screen time than people might expect. As for Kairi… she makes her own moves in her own way. Meanwhile, Riku still hasn't shown his face. Whether Sora can finally track Riku down is one of the central plot points of the story, so please look forward to seeing how that unfolds.

—Will all the lingering mysteries be resolved in Kingdom Hearts II?

Nomura: Yes, absolutely. While a few new questions might pop up, the core story arc introduced so far is fully resolved within KHII.

—Regarding the new "Drive" feature, why did you decide on changing Sora's outfits to handle transformations?

Nomura: Since this is a real-time action game, having Sora physically transform into an entirely different model mid-combat breaks the gameplay rhythm. It would likely trigger a loading screen. Furthermore, by keeping the character changes minimal, we were able to utilize the transformation process itself as part of the attack flow.

The burst of energy that triggers the moment you transform can knock back surrounding enemies, allowing you to seamlessly link that into a follow-up combo. For example, you can transform right in the middle of a combo and immediately keep attacking.

—Three Drive Forms have been revealed so far, but are there others?

Nomura: There aren't a huge number, but yes, there are more. And the final one is pretty wild! (laughs) It's almost hilarious how over-the-top it is… people will probably think, "Okay, you guys went way too far with this!"

—The Reaction Commands assigned to the triangle button look extremely convenient.

Nomura: Adding Reaction Commands really changed the dynamic of KHII. The team wanted to challenge themselves to incorporate cinematic flourishes while still keeping the hands-on, "I'm in direct control" feel during real-time combat. It's almost like stepping inside a dynamic cinematic sequence.

Truth be told, I originally wanted to implement a system like this back during Final Fantasy VIII, but it was scrapped at the time for being far too difficult to execute. We took that original concept and reworked it specifically for Kingdom Hearts.

—How has the Gummi Ship gameplay evolved?

Nomura: It's received a massive upgrade. While the underlying core remains the same, the visual presentation is completely different from the original game, and the theatrical flair has been ramped up significantly. Chip and Dale provide fully-voiced advice while you fly, and enemies now feature custom ship designs rather than standard Gummi blocks. The customization editor has also evolved considerably.

—Finally, do you have a message for the fans?

Nomura: Even we were amazed by how the final game turned out. You can jump straight in with Kingdom Hearts II, but for anyone who feels hesitant about starting with the sequel, we've released budget re-releases of the original, and even have a special 3-game set available! (laughs) We had a blast creating this game, so please give it a play!

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