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「IPv6になぜ移行しない」海外の掲示板でエンジニアが激論に【海外の反応】「最近何を壊した？」海外掲示板の質問スレ、猫の心を折った話に反響The story
Tetsuya Nomura, director of “Kingdom Hearts IV,” revealed in a Famitsu interview that because the series has so many characters and such a complicated story, even the staff on the recording floor sometimes disagree on how to interpret the lore. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board, the comment set off a wave of criticism over the series leaning on mobile spin-off (“χ”) tie-ins and piling up lore so dense that following the numbered titles alone isn’t enough to understand it — though some threads also lit up with jokes parodying the infamous “l’Cie from fal’Cie get Purged from Cocoon” line (a nod to Final Fantasy XIII’s notoriously baffling opening exposition).
—Also, in the footage there are lines suggesting Sora belongs to the Dandelions (*), a young Xehanort shows up in a black coat that looks like Xigbar’s, and so on — to borrow the King’s own line, there’s a lot packed in there (laughs).
So what are the Dandelions in this game? Is Sora trying to get back to his original world as one of them?
Master Ava organized them with the goal of sending people out into the outside world like dandelion fluff on the wind, to carry the future forward.
Source: famitsu.com / Original article here
What people said
Looking forward to it, but I don't even play mobile games.
That's probably a story Switch fanboys (derogatory slang: "Nishi-kun") could never wrap their heads around.
Re: #3
Even the staff who've worked on the scenario for every single game in the series don't understand it lol
Even the staff who've worked on the scenario for every single game in the series don't understand it lol
Re: #3
Forget console wars — if anyone outside the staff has the whole lore memorized, that's a genuinely respectable level of dedication.
Forget console wars — if anyone outside the staff has the whole lore memorized, that's a genuinely respectable level of dedication.
Re: #3
It's just "l'Cie from fal'Cie get Purged from Cocoon," right?
Gets you pumped, doesn't it?
It's just "l'Cie from fal'Cie get Purged from Cocoon," right?
Gets you pumped, doesn't it?
As usual, they keep tying the story and characters directly into the mobile spin-offs, basically assuming you've played them.
That's exactly what makes it so hard to get into.
Nomura: "Kingdom Hearts IV" is, in a sense, a continuation of the "χ series" (*a line of titles centered on mobile phones, each with a "χ" [read "key" or "cross"] in the title). If you played the mobile version all the way through, you'll probably recognize both Vali and Sigurd, but don't worry — even if you haven't, the game shows you who they are.
That's exactly what makes it so hard to get into.
Nomura: "Kingdom Hearts IV" is, in a sense, a continuation of the "χ series" (*a line of titles centered on mobile phones, each with a "χ" [read "key" or "cross"] in the title). If you played the mobile version all the way through, you'll probably recognize both Vali and Sigurd, but don't worry — even if you haven't, the game shows you who they are.
Re: #4
Wait, isn't that mobile game's service already shut down? The barrier to entry is way too high.
Wait, isn't that mobile game's service already shut down? The barrier to entry is way too high.
—I see. (What is this guy even talking about?)
Re: #6
Same here —
I was cracking up thinking "you don't actually get it either, do you?" lol
Same here —
I was cracking up thinking "you don't actually get it either, do you?" lol
Basically it's like Mito Kōmon (a classic samurai drama where the hero travels around beating up bad guys for a happy ending every episode) — you visit different worlds, beat the bad guy, happy ending.
It's Nomura's own original characters that drag it down.
It's Nomura's own original characters that drag it down.
Re: #1
>> "If you're only following the numbered entries, this'll be news to you" —
the lore's already broken beyond repair right there.
>> "If you're only following the numbered entries, this'll be news to you" —
the lore's already broken beyond repair right there.
"Who cares, just put the Disney characters front and center."
The reason KH's lore is such a hodgepodge is on "D," who's been there since the very beginning.
Just reboot the whole thing already —
we don't need any more black-coat guys (Organization XIII types).
we don't need any more black-coat guys (Organization XIII types).
This could've been kept really simple, but the FF team turned it into this bizarre, convoluted mess.
They still haven't recovered from that late-'90s "Evangelion sickness" (the trend of piling on cryptic, over-explained lore inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion).
They still haven't recovered from that late-'90s "Evangelion sickness" (the trend of piling on cryptic, over-explained lore inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion).
—Many of the works you direct have quite complex lore. How do you pull it all together and get it across to the production staff?
I don't think even the staff fully understand it. During recording sessions, when someone other than me explains the setting or characters to the voice actors,
they'll check with me like, "This is right, isn't it?" and I'll say "Nope, wrong" — that kind of exchange happens (laughs).
I don't think even the staff fully understand it. During recording sessions, when someone other than me explains the setting or characters to the voice actors,
they'll check with me like, "This is right, isn't it?" and I'll say "Nope, wrong" — that kind of exchange happens (laughs).
Re: #14
It's impressive he can say this stuff publicly.
Normally you'd be embarrassed that you can't write something people can actually understand.
It's impressive he can say this stuff publicly.
Normally you'd be embarrassed that you can't write something people can actually understand.
The footnote is hilariously long, and even the footnote itself is packed with stuff you could question. Lol.
It's turned into a series where paying off the foreshadowing is as brutal as Super Robot Wars OG (a crossover series notorious for its dense, hard-to-follow continuity).
Though since new entries keep coming, this might still be a bit more manageable than that.
Though since new entries keep coming, this might still be a bit more manageable than that.
I bet most people think the story wrapped up with the first game.
That's the side effect of milking spin-offs nonstop.
Take a page from Yakuza's book.
Take a page from Yakuza's book.
Why didn't they just go the Zelda route — "a reincarnated Sora has a new adventure in a different parallel world every time"? It's honestly impressive, in a bad way, that a Disney-collab game meant to rope in casual players ended up this unwelcoming to newcomers lol.
It's way too incomprehensible.
Most people probably dropped off by the third game.
Most people probably dropped off by the third game.
Not my problem, but this one's on you, Nomura.
This guy's bad at wrapping up storylines, so he really should stop opening new ones.
They were trying to make something like FF7 Ever Crisis — a stopgap game to recap and consolidate the story while also raking in cash —
but apparently trying to stay faithful to the material is what sank it.
but apparently trying to stay faithful to the material is what sank it.
A textbook case of piling on needless lore and making everyone around you suffer for it.
If you let this guy run a presentation, it'd seriously be nothing but bloated slides and footnotes.
If you let this guy run a presentation, it'd seriously be nothing but bloated slides and footnotes.
Re: #44
Reminds me of how student manga submissions are said to be all worldbuilding and no actual story lol
Reminds me of how student manga submissions are said to be all worldbuilding and no actual story lol
I'm surprised Disney even signed off on this.
Seems like it'd sell better if Nintendo or Capcom got to remake it.
Seems like it'd sell better if Nintendo or Capcom got to remake it.
Re: #57
Disney is strict about character and world-setting approval,
but the story itself is Square Enix's original creation, so Square Enix holds the rights to that part — meaning it's left up to them, I'd guess.
Though honestly, at this point Nomura himself probably doesn't even understand it anymore.
Disney is strict about character and world-setting approval,
but the story itself is Square Enix's original creation, so Square Enix holds the rights to that part — meaning it's left up to them, I'd guess.
Though honestly, at this point Nomura himself probably doesn't even understand it anymore.
The most brutal part is that following the numbered titles alone isn't enough to understand it.
Re: #58
Spin-off titles are one thing, but dragging in mobile-game elements too is just idiotic.
Spin-off titles are one thing, but dragging in mobile-game elements too is just idiotic.
Re: #1
—After "KH1.5" and "KH2.5," "KH2.8" really surprised me. Could you tell us where the "2.8" in the title comes from?
Nomura: It carries a few different meanings. For one, "KH3D [Dream Drop Distance]" (hereafter "KH3D"), included this time as "KHDDD," comes after the previous HD release "2.5" — so it's positioned as the equivalent of "2.6." Meanwhile, the "χ" series — "KHχ," "KH Unchained χ," and "KHχ Back Cover" — we consider a Sora-less "0." "KH BbS" is "0.1," and this time's "KH0.2 BbS," as the title itself shows, is "0.2." So "2.6" + "0" + "0.2" gives you the number "2.8."
—I see!
—After "KH1.5" and "KH2.5," "KH2.8" really surprised me. Could you tell us where the "2.8" in the title comes from?
Nomura: It carries a few different meanings. For one, "KH3D [Dream Drop Distance]" (hereafter "KH3D"), included this time as "KHDDD," comes after the previous HD release "2.5" — so it's positioned as the equivalent of "2.6." Meanwhile, the "χ" series — "KHχ," "KH Unchained χ," and "KHχ Back Cover" — we consider a Sora-less "0." "KH BbS" is "0.1," and this time's "KH0.2 BbS," as the title itself shows, is "0.2." So "2.6" + "0" + "0.2" gives you the number "2.8."
—I see!
Re: #67
You could've just said "because it's between 2.5 and 3,"
and left it there.
You could've just said "because it's between 2.5 and 3,"
and left it there.
Re: #37
See, he can't actually explain it, so all he can do is dodge the question.
See, he can't actually explain it, so all he can do is dodge the question.
Re: #69
Alright then, go ahead and explain it lol
If you dodge, change the subject, or start swearing, that means you're an "airplayer" (5ch slang for someone who talks big without having actually played the game) and you lose lol
Alright then, go ahead and explain it lol
If you dodge, change the subject, or start swearing, that means you're an "airplayer" (5ch slang for someone who talks big without having actually played the game) and you lose lol
Funny how he barely said anything when President Iwata (Nintendo's late president, known for the "Iwata Asks" interview series) had him on, yet he's this chatty with just any interviewer.
Re: #91
Is that the guy who once said "the cutscene movie is the spec document"?
Is that the guy who once said "the cutscene movie is the spec document"?
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) board thread “Tetsuya Nomura: ‘The Kingdom Hearts Series Has So Many Characters and Such a Complex Story That Explaining the Scenario Is Really Tough’”.
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