Kingdom Hearts 4 will lead to a series conclusion, allowing Nomura to retire

Kingdom Hearts 4 is being developed with the intention of the series being “a story that is completed.”

That’s what director Tetsuya Nomura said in a new interview with the Japanese medium YoungJump.

Nomura was asked if he could foresee an ending to the Kingdom Hearts series, especially given the many sequels and spin-offs.

Nomura responded that he only has “a few years left until I retire” and so “needs to decide whether to retire first or finish the series first” (via Google Translate). As such, he is developing Kingdom Hearts 4 “with the intention of it being a story that will be finished.”

Furthermore, the game will be a reset of the story (it’s notoriously complex), with new writers hired and a new logo, making it easier for newcomers to get into the series (thanks, Aitai Kimochi).

Additionally, the story will finally bring an end to Sora’s famous line from the first game: “Is this all real or not?” That line comes from Quadratum, described as an “unreality within reality.” Nomura indicated that this in-game world based on Shibuya had been an idea since the first game.

Elsewhere in the interview, Nomura discussed the development of Final Fantasy 7, for which he was lead character designer.

He first explained that Aerith was designed first, but with Tifa’s personality. However, he decided to avoid conventions and have two heroines, taking Aerith’s personality and creating Tifa as a separate character. Aerith’s new personality was then born from the destiny she had to fulfill in the plot.

Aerith was meant to be a glamorous heroine, contrasting Cloud’s dark side and Barret’s toughness. This resulted in her red clothing and bright hair, but this was tied together because polygons couldn’t express the flowing texture of it.

Interestingly, Nomura also commented on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s confusing ending. Spoilers follow.

One of the goals of the Remake trilogy was to play with the ‘distortion of perception’ based on players’ memories of the original game, which must have changed somewhat in the years since its release.

As such, the scene towards the end of the game with Sephiroth and Cloud in white space witnessing multiple visions is meant to capture the multiple distortions of memory – while all of the visions represent Final Fantasy 7 (including the game’s world in the player’s mind), they are all subtly different. This is to represent the fading of memory and how, through various spin-offs and the passage of time, the original story has been distorted.

In a separate interview last week, Final Fantasy series producer Yoshinori Kitase promised that the final installment of the Remake trilogy “will not betray fans of the original.”

It’s still unclear when the final installment will be released, but there’s certainly a balance to be struck between meeting fan expectations and providing a satisfying conclusion to the complex multiverse plot.