Kingdom Hearts 3 has no release date in sight, but director Tetsuya Nomura still has a ton of passion for the franchise he pioneered in 2002. In a recent interview with Final Fantasy Dream, as translated by KH13, he discussed his love for Sora and how the franchise forever changed his life.
Speaking to our spiky-haired protagonist in place of a Mickey Mouse lead, Nomura said “I showed [Disney] a design, and it turns out that I often do not listen too much to what people are telling me.” He later expounded. “I said to them: ‘No, I do not want to do that’, and finally it happened…It surprised everyone. From there they did not continue too much to impose their ideas on me.”
In other words, Nomura had always wanted a new hero to helm the Kingdom Hearts franchise because it meshed with his original vision. With the outsider’s introduction to the plot, its creator gained the control to spawn nearly 10 sequels. In few words, Sora was the seed of all the unique content to come.
With that creative direction in mind, it’s no surprise that Nomura immediately replied “Kingdom Hearts” when asked which game he considered to be a turning point in his career.
Of course, with the fifteenth anniversary of the first game’s March 28 Japanese release just weeks away, there’s plenty of Kingdom Hearts nostalgia on the brain. On that day, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 will be released on PS4. On March 10, the first stop on a tour of live Kingdom Hearts concerts will take place in Japan.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is in development for PS4 and Xbox One.
Do you think Sora’s oppositional origins will play a role in Kingdom Hearts 3? Was discovering this series a turning point for you as a gamer? Tell us in the comments section!
