Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Interviews Kingdom Hearts II “Scanlation” (Famitsu)

Will FF charaters be appearing in this game as well?
Nomura: They will. But, the FF characters in Kingdom Hearts are guests. That won’t change. Even if they do appear, it’ll be about the same number as the first game. And not just new characters, some characters who appears in the first game are going to be in there too.

Why has Sora’s clothes changed?
Nomura: Why Sora changed into these clothes is something that will be revealed in the story. Actually, there’s a secret about the battles hidden in his new outfit. That’s all I can say now (laughs). Please wait for the next article.

Will the identity of the hooded men be revealed!?
Nomura: The man in the center of the image with the 5 hooded men standing side by side is the character Sora fought in “Final Mix”. And the man in the robe who Sora is attacking is the same person who is talking to the character with red clothes. In fact, this is something even the staff don’t know (laughs).

Perhaps this is…
A town engulfed in the light of the setting sun, with neither day nor night, Twilight Town. This place will be the starting point of this adventure. A train runs through the town, and the area is quite large.

A Mickey clock?
If you turn the clock face upside down, is this Mickey Mouse? When we asked Nomura, he said “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” So is it not?

An overhead railway?
An overhead structure surrounding several places in Twilight Town. This is probably where the trains run. If that’s so, then in the first game, there was then Tarzan Slider mini-game where you move between areas, perhaps travelling on the train is a mini-game!?

A city map?
If you look under the clock you can see the word “STATION”, so it seems like that’s what this place is. And, if you look inside the station, there are two map like objects hanging up. This must be a map of Twilight Town. Incidentally, it seems Twilight Town consists of three large areas.

What is the secret of the train?
Nomura: This is the starting place. Image-wise, it’s close to Destiny Islands, maybe. However, the scale of this one is bigger. Here, there’s a play tutorial and the start of the story. While it is the prelude, it won’t be long. For the time being, I’ll say you will be riding the train. Afterall, the train will be a story device……

Will they be making an appearence in KHII?
In the first game ‘Kingdom Hearts,’ there were more than 80 Disney characters!! Certainly, this was the first time so many Disney characters have appeared in a single game. What we’re interested in is how many Disney characters will be appearing in KHII. But, it’s a shame that it’s still a secret. We want to know soon!

A new main character!? What’s his true identity?
The main character of this game Sora, carrying on from the first game, but there’s another character we’re interested in…… Yes, the boy who knows about Keyblade-wielding Sora. Who on earth is he? It seems like he’s preventing the hooded man from meeting Sora, but…… It seems there’s no mistake that he’s an important character in this game. And, another interesting point. That’s the battle system! According to Nomura, the pace will be driven by the action of the first game’s command selection style. And, the summon magic system has been updated too.

2 Keyblades
A character using two Keyblades at the same time. In the original game’s secret movie there was also a fighter with two weapons! Perhaps…?

Secrets of the Keyblades
Nomura: The Keyblades the boy-who-knows-Sora is holding are the Oathkeeper and Oblivion from the first game.

The connection between the red haired hooded man and the boy who knows Sora.
If you look at this line (“Are you insane?!”), perhaps the red haired hooded man and the boy who knows Sora know each other. Or, maybe they were friends like Sora and Riku……

The story for “Chain of Memories” is different from the main game, will it be like a side story?
Nomura: No, it’s a part of the KH series time line. KHII is 1 year after the first game, so in “Chain of Memories” will be the story that delves deep into that 1 year void. If I were to tell the truth, we plan not to make anything about it in KHII. There’s also story connections, the opening of KHII will overlap with the ending of Chain of Memories. I intend to solve all the mysteries left from the first game, in Chain of Memories and KHII.

Starting with Kazushige Nojima, are the development staff for “KHII” all the members from the first game?
Nomura: Some people are missing and transfered to other teams, but we’ve gathered as many of the original staff as possible. I’m writing the plot, the main story of Sora and co. Other people are in charge of the plots for the events that will happen in each Disney world. Combining that with Nojima, we’re completing one scenario.

How is the story going to advance?
Nomura: Twilight Town will be the starting place. The opening stages will have a tutorial as well, but it won’t be a long stay. It’s a town big enough for a train to run. This time the story will be very complex. I’m concerned about the timing in which characters will appear, what will happen this time, what will happen then, the arrangements and everything.

Sora’s costume in KHII is every adultish; it’s changed to a cooler tone. Is there any meaning in that?
Nomura: If you compare it to Sora from before you’ll understand, he’s also grown up. The episode (part of a story) about why he changed into those clothes will be told too. There’s a certain ability hidden in these clothes themselves.

Has there been any big changes added to the battle system in KHII?
Nomura: The base is a command selection action like the first game. We’ve added some improvements to the command selection parts to be able to deal with the real time, and we’ve also improved the responces. With the overseas edition and such, the staff have also grown and gained some know-how. This time we’ve expanded the strategy, and added more things you can do, so each person can enjoy their own method of strategy.

Have the voice actors been decided, or is it tentative?
Nomura: In regards to the voices, nothing has changed yet since even the scenario isn’t complete yet. [He talks about Sora’s voice in the first being a 14 year old’s, and at the time of recording his voice changed. If it gets to the point where they can’t record, they’ll need more time to think about it.]

In the first game, characters like FFVIII’s main character Squall appeared, but will characters from the FF series be appearing in KHII as well?
Nomura: They will, the number will be about the same as the first game. Like with the first game, the FF characters are guests in KH, that won’t change. Some new characters will be in there as well, and there will be some characters who appeared in the first game but won’t in KHII.

When do you estimate the release date will be?
Nomura: At the moment we have some big titles waiting, so after those have been released, we’re going to consider the release date of KHII. The release that was announced at the Tokyo Game Show at the end of September is due to rumors preceding and incorret information appeared. We prepared it in a hurry.

The theme of the first game was connections of the heart, but what will the theme of KHII be?
Nomura: KH is different from Final Fantasy in that the same character is always the main character. As the title says, “connections of hearts” will be the theme. Since at the end of the first game, there were a lot of promises made, the keyword this time is “promises.”