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Post by ravenwithoutcause on Sept 14, 2005 21:29:01 GMT -5
On a smoldering Tokyo day, 1UP sat down with Tetsuya Nomura (director of Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children) for an exclusive one-on-one interview. Not only did Nomura grant 1UP exclusive access at Square-Enix's recent Summer Party (located at the Makuhari Messe, where Tokyo Game Show is about to begin in just a few days), he also agreed to let us film him on video -- although the reclusive developer opted to remain obscured from the camera by his hat.
While his presence may be minimal, his words resounded throughout the room. For the first time ever, Nomura admitted freely that, should he find the time once all of his current projects are completed, he would like to take the mouth-watering Final Fantasy VII tech demo for PlayStation 3 and turn it into the complete remake for which fans of the original have been clamoring for years. He then went on to cover all manner of topics, including the just-released-in-Japan FFVII: Advent Children, and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts sequel. Check out the video to see what other surprises Nomura reveals in our exclusive meeting with Square-Enix's most prolific creator.
Taken from 1up.com...
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Post by ravenwithoutcause on Sept 14, 2005 21:29:36 GMT -5
1UP: You guys just announced that you've got Utada Hikaru back on Kingdom Hearts II to do the theme song, "Passion." Hikaru was such a big influence on the first Kingdom Hearts because it was such a great melody translated into piano arrangements, all kinds of different mixes. How does having Hikaru back on Kingdom Hearts II affect the game?
Tetsuya Nomura [through translator]: Originally when the team requested Utada to create a song, they already chose what scenes to use this music for. So since the music is done, they're going to create the scenes to match the songs, and it's going through the opening and ending.
1UP: Judging from the trailer I've seen of Kingdom Hearts II and the gameplay I've seen and how fast-paced it is, it feels like a more confident, more assured game than the first one did. Does it feel as if he's arrived as a game designer?
TN: Of course, KH2 is not completed yet, so he's not relieved yet. So a success of one part is actually not good enough, so he's still not confident yet. But as a team in Square Enix, they'd never created any action-RPG before [the first KH]. It was always command-based RPG. So it was a good challenge that he had. And again, like AC, he had to do everything from scratch. But he had the freedom in KH2 to do so.
1UP: His designs over the years reveal a big tribal influence in a lot of the designs, the costume designs. And he even got a professional tattoo artist to create tattoos for Advent Children and some of the special items. What is it about the tribal style that he really likes?
TN: It's always been exciting and stimulating to work with somebody outside of the company who has special knowledge and skills. So whenever he has a chance he wants to do it so he can learn a lot from those people. And in terms of tribal design, he can always copy from whatever's existing and create whatever he wants to, but when he had a chance to talk to, for example, that tattoo tribal specialist, he learned that each symbol means a lot and has history to it, and once he knows that kind of things exist, he can't just mimic and just create one; he just wants to follow the tradition of it. And that's why he thought it's always good to work with somebody who has special knowledge.
1UP: Nomura-san is synonymous with what I'd call the second era of Square, now Square Enix. Before he emerged as a lead character designer it was mostly Amano-san's designs. But once he arrived, and on his work with Final Fantasy, Parasite Eve, Kingdom Hearts-for all these games-he helped make RPGs sexy. Was this a conscious effort on his part? Were RPGs too dorky before? And how does he feel about being everything, basically, about Square that's really popular right now has his stamp on it.
TN: The reason why he wanted to go into the game industry is because, of course, he had an idea and a suggestion that it should be this way, or that something already existing was already not good. So he had some doubts and some suggestions at the same time, but he thought it's not cool to just make complaints from the outside of the wall, outside the game industry. That's why he decided to jump in and to raise expressions and to suggest it, a new action. So I'm sure there are tons of younger people who are still thinking, probably, toward existing art style and stuff that, "Oh, this is not cool anymore." If those people exist outside of the wall, they should jump in and suggest their own ways, and that's probably the way he thinks it's cool.
1UP: OK. My last question is, the FF7 tech demo for PS3 is very provocative. And there are only probably about 15 million people out there who would like to see it become a game. Is he as interested in seeing an FF7 remake as everyone else is?
TN: The PS3 tech demo was actually not the perfect forum that he wanted to have. It was just timing that we had to submit something in time for E3, for the press conference. So, again, it was not perfect forum. And the 7 remake idea was always, always in conversation, just because it's so popular. And then just because of that tech demo here in the PS3 conference, that probably based more expectations of fans, obviously. And Kitase-san already has told Nomura-san so many times that if there is a remake, that should be created by Nomura. But, again, Nomura-san has so many other projects lined up already in the future schedule, so it's almost impossible to think about that and squeeze that in. But if there is a right time, it would be interesting to create.
1UP: You just started a fire nobody's going to be able to put out. It's going to drive people crazy. Thank you very much.
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Post by Kyoki on Sept 21, 2005 15:56:28 GMT -5
*dies of happiness* Oh my God! That is os damn cool! But I have to buy a PS3. T_T Oh well! I'll beg my dad for one when they come out. XDXD
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