Tetsuya Nomura, the renowned Japanese developer who worked as a designer onFinal Fantasy VIIand directed the entireKingdom Heartsfranchise, recently did an interview forYoung Jumpmagazine,where he revealed what his plans forKingdom Hearts 4are.
PerSiliconera, theYoung Jumpinterviewer asked Nomura about the possible conclusion of theKingdom Heartsseries. The legendary developer jokingly responded that he only has a few years left before he retires, so he must consider what comes first. Although he specifically mentions that he at least plans to finish his work on the highly-anticipatedKingdom Hearts 4.
This response may catch fans off guard, since Nomura has barely mentioned his possible retirement in the past. Whilemany of them claimed they were saddened by the news, most of them also agreed that, after taking a look at his extensive career working with Square Enix,his statement is completely reasonable.
With the release ofKingdom Hearts 3in 2019, Nomura finally concluded the Dark Seeker Saga that he established in 2001 with the release of the first installment, meaning that he has been directing this franchise for over 20 years. Not to mention that he’s worked on many other Square Enix titles, likeFinal Fantasy VII Remake.
Passing off the torch to new writers
But the inevitable question is, what will happen toKingdom Heartsif Tetsuya Nomura retires? It’s most likely that Disney and Square Enix will keep pushing for the development of new games, and fortunately for fans, Nomura is already testing the waters with a fascinating experiment: he revealed that he hired new writers that have never worked in theKingdom Heartsfranchise to write scenarios for the upcoming mobile game,Kingdom Hearts:Missing Link.
Ultimately, he is still in charge of writing the main script, but only time will tell if this experiment is going to benefit the franchise or not. The plot ofMissing Linkwill cover a brand-new period in the timeline, so I’d be curious to see what new characters and worlds they will meet in this new title. It’s at least refreshing to know that Nomura is already hiring new people to bring new ideas to the series.
Another point of interest in the interview was the overwhelming complexity ofKingdom Hearts‘ story, something that has affected the franchise’s reputation over the years. Nomura acknowledged that the scenarios he writes can be quite complex, and even revealed that voice actors often have difficulty following the plot of the games. Nevertheless, he and his staff usually help other people comprehend the story, and he even encourages them to ask him about it whenever they need to do so.
