
Originally Posted by
Nomura interview
-- As big fans of The World Ends with You, we’re excited to see its characters appear in Dream Drop Distance. What role do they play in this game?
Nomura: In previous games in the Kingdom Hearts series, Final Fantasy characters made appearances and gave Sora guidance to help with his adventure. This time, it’s characters from The World Ends with You who perform that role. The basic story is that the characters wandered into this world while playing the Reapers’ Game, and became separated from their partners. Their stories begin with the teammates searching for each other.
-- Aside from yourself, did anyone on the Kingdom Hearts team work on the World Ends with You?
Nomura: The illustrator who worked on TWEWY, Gen Kobayashi, is now serving as the art director for Dream Drop Distance. That games composer, Takeharu Ishimoto, has also created some music for DDD. Finally, the director of TWEWY, Tatsuya Kando, is working as this game’s animation supervisor.
-- What are the origins of the Dream Eaters? And can you explain the difference between the two types: Spirits and Nightmares?
Nomura: Actually, as you may have seen in the debut trailer, I was originally planning to go with Heartless and Nobodies. But when I started thinking about setting the game in a dream world with enemies who could grow and fight alongside the player, I felt that it wouldn’t really make sense to be raising Heartless and Nobodies. So I came up with the Dream Eaters as a new kind of enemy that appears in Sleeping Worlds and that feeds on dreams instead of being focused on hearts the way Heartless and Nobodies are.
Nightmares are the Dream Eaters who eat dreams born in these worlds and sow nightmares instead; they appear as the main enemy for this installment. Spirits are good monsters who eat nightmares, and they fight alongside Sora and Riku as allies.
-- Will Sora and Riku fight alongside Disney characters at any point? Or do they strictly fight alongside their Spirit allies?
Nomura: In this installment, they will be fighting almost exclusively alongside their Spirit allies. To be clear, this game isn’t a spinoff, since it’s a continuation of the series’s main story. But when I’m working on a game in the series that isn’t a numbered title, I like taking the opportunity to incorporate ambitious new systems like this.
-- The action in Dream Drop Distance is a lot faster and more frenetic than in the previous Kingdom Hearts games. What was the motivation behind that?
Nomura:I have a clear direction for how I want the Kingdom Hearts series evolve, and this change is part of moving in that direction. The games in the series are known as RPGs with a high level of action, in which anyone can perform flashy moves. In order to make the gameplay even more dynamic, we’ve implemented a new system called Flowmotion. With that, I think we’ve taken another step towards our ultimate goal for the series.
-- In a recent trailer, we spotted various Nobodies like Xemnas, Xion, and Axel. How is it that they’re around for the events of this game?
Nomura:I can’t discuss details just yet, but the mysterious boy in the black cloak has something to do with this. They will confuse Sora and Riku wherever they go. Who would you say is the main villain in Dream Drop Distance?
I can’t make a definitive statement because that would be giving away a secret, but I will tell you once again, the mysterious boy in the black cloak is the key to the answer.
-- Will this game take advantage of StreetPass or SpotPass?
Nomura:The game does take advantage of StreetPass capabilities, and uses them in the Spirit-breeding system.
-- Who’s composing the soundtrack for the game? Will it include a new theme song?
Nomura: With this installment, Yoko Simomura will continue her role as the series’s main composer. Takeharu Ishimoto and Tsuyoshi Sekito-who have worked on previus installments like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep-will also be contributing music to this game. Ishimoto will not only be handling songs from The World Ends with You, but from other games as well. As with our previous titles, the theme music is going to be a song by Utada Hikaru.
-- Will all of the US voice actors from previous Kingdom Hearts be reprising their roles in Dream Drop Distance?
Nomura:That’s certainly a plan. In fact, the voice recording for the North American version is already underway.
-- This year marks the 10th anniversary of the series. Do you have anything special in store for 2012 to celebrate this occasion?
Nomura:In Japan, we’re planning to release a 10-year commemorative box set. We don’t have any other solid plans, but the series has a lot of support from fans in North America, so I hope we can do something special for them as well.
-- Finally, if we ask nicely, would you share something about Dream Drop distance that you haven’t mentioned anywhere else?
Nomura:This is the first time we’re doing this, but there’s a surprise during the end credits. So even when the credits start to roll, don’t put down your N3DS, and don’t let your guard down!