Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Has Plenty Of Elements From Kingdom Hearts III, More Off-Screen Videos

Square Enix had plenty of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 to show at E3 2016, including an interview with director Tetsuya Nomura who shares more on the game and a bit of his thoughts on a possible sequel for The World Ends with You.

The following are some highlights from Nomura’s recent interview with Dengeki:

• The volume of Kingdom Hearts 0.2 is said to be about the size of a world from past Kingdom Hearts games. Nomura played a world from start to end recently while working on Kingdom Hearts III, and realized how it was much longer than he expected. He guarantees that Kingdom Hearts 0.2 will have enough volume so that it won’t be completed in little time.

• The Realm of Darkness that Aqua will explore will show a mix of worlds that have been swallowed by Darkness, so you’ll see fragments of worlds other than Castle of Dreams. There’s a lot going on in each area, meaning plenty to check out in the world.

• Everything in the making, from design to the base engine, of Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep is the same as that of Kingdom Hearts III’s. The battle system also uses that of Kingdom Hearts III’s as a base, but  keep in mind that Kingdom Hearts III will have many other elements to go with it.

• Nomura says that lighting is the biggest difference that makes the designs for Kingdom Hearts 0.2 and Kingdom Hearts III stand out more compared to past titles, since it wasn’t used as much in the designs for past titles of the series. He also mentions that when it came down to deciding on the graphics for Kingdom Hearts III, they struggled in coming up with a good balance for the characters and backgrounds.

• The battle system’s base carries over from Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and even has some elements from Birth by Sleep thrown into the mix. Magic consumes MP.

• Blizzard freezes enemies, Thunder paralyzes them. Magic can also affect the geographical features. For example, using Blizzard on the ground will leave traces of ice, allowing you to slide on top of it.

• Kingdom Hearts 0.2 and Kingdom Hearts III are being made with elevation differences in mind for all the maps.

• Considering that Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance was played on two screens, making it playable on one involved plenty of trial-and-error. The “Link System” and “Reality Shift” features that required touching and sliding the bottom-screen has been changed so that it can be done with simultaneous button presses.

• For the first time in the series, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD will be played in 60fps, making it the main difference from the original version. Other small tune-ups are also being made.

• Several new Dream Eaters have been added.

• Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover will feature a battle scene that is packed with characters. Again, this HD cinematics of it are also being made in the same manner as Kingdom Hearts III.

• Again, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover’s story will be told through the perspectives of each union’s leader (the Foretellers). That said, you’ll learn more about what was going through their minds when the player took care of their own business in Kingdom Hearts χ and Kingdom Hearts χ Unchained. Fans that played Kingdom Hearts χ and Kingdom Hearts χ Unchained might make some connections thinking “could it be that scene?”

• Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover will be about over an hour long.

• The content of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 truly makes it the final chapter, and it’ll also serve as a prologue to Kingdom Hearts III, so he hopes fans that want to get the most out of Kingdom Hearts III gets to play Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8.

• Since the first ideas they had for Kingdom Hearts III would’ve made the volume of the game too massive, Kingdom Hearts 3D and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 were made after they decided to split up how the journey after Kingdom Hearts II begins. That said, the journey of Kingdom Hearts III has already started.

• Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover was written in a way that it connects it to Kingdom Hearts III, so you can consider Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 as the prologue of Kingdom Hearts III.

• Considering that characters from The World Ends with You appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D, Dengeki asks about the chances of seeing the next game for the series. Nomura says that it might not be as simple as it may sound, but the entire staff continues exploring ways to come up with a sequel for The World Ends with You, so he can’t say that it’ll never happen.

Here’s a look at some off-screen footage from E3 2016, courtesy KH Insider:

Birth by Sleep 0.2 E3 2016 Demo Opening:

Birth by Sleep 0.2 E3 2016 Demo Heartless Battle:

Birth by Sleep 0.2 E3 2016 Demo Ending:

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will release in December 2016 for PlayStation 4.