Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix development report

Krowley · Oct 10, 2012

More details from Nomura himself regarding the HD Remix Release. Gematsu, who has summarized Famitsu's interview, reveals the directors thoughts on the project, including the fact the the Collection is almost finished production. The interview goes on to acknowledge the Osaka team's involvement, and a few more interesting bits of information.

Famitsu said:

According to Nomura, development on Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix, Square Enix’s upcoming HD remaster of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories announced at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, was decided before Final Fantasy X HD, which has kept quiet since its Tokyo Game Show 2011 announcement.

The high-definition work on Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix was made possible by the great efforts of two programmers from Square Enix’s Osaka team over the course of a year. The Osaka team is basically unchanged, and it’s thanks to them that Kingdom Hearts has continued to progress. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix‘s development is in its final stages.

In addition to two games, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix also includes high-definition cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. This totals in at about two to three hours of footage, according to Nomura.

Back to the games, camera function has been modified to be based on Kingdom Hearts II‘s. And don’t expect a secret movie when you beat them. Nomura says there won’t be one.
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Discovery Credit goes to Libregkd.

super_rocker_90 · Oct 10, 2012

hmmmm interesting looks like its a early 2013 then : D

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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exile0025 · Oct 10, 2012

libregkd said: ↑

As with what I did when I first found this news...

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its been so long since i played kh2 someone remind me again how was the camera?
and libregkid what is that pic from?

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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Krowley · Oct 10, 2012

exile0025 said: ↑

its been so long since i played kh2 someone remind me again how was the camera?
and libregkid what is that pic from?
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The Camera centered on Sora and was controlled by the Right Analog Stick.
The GIF is from Maria Holic.

exile0025 · Oct 10, 2012

Krowley said: ↑

The Camera centered on Sora and was controlled by the Right Analog Stick.
The GIF is from Maria Holic.
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oh okay thanks guys

Nate_River · Oct 10, 2012

Q2 2013. I'll put money on it.

I'm wondering just how HD it'll be though. I mean the DmC HD pack wasn't overly HD, and neither was Jak and Daxter.. They just looked a little nicer, so I'm wondering if that's what'll happen here as well, or if it will actually be like swapping from a PS2 game to a PS3 game.

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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Nate_River · Oct 10, 2012

libregkd said: ↑

You seem to be misunderstanding what "HD" means. In all the remasters that have been done (Including the DmC and Jak ones) them being in HD essentially means that the original game was re-rendered in an HD resolution (usually 1080p for these remasters but a few are at 720p). That does not necessarily mean that the games will receive substantial upgrades to the textures used in the game or make the game "look" better or even, as you put it make it look like a PS3 game. Many cases, just getting the games to play at a higher resolution makes them look better just because playing the original SD versions of teh game on an HD TV makes them look horrible.

Now that doesn't mean that some companies don't go beyond simply rendering the games at a higher resolution. The Shadow of the Colossus, God of War Games, the MGS games, and even KHHD do have instances where the textures or models are being upgraded (In KH's case they are using 3D's character models for Sora and the like) so it isn't just a simple up-resing job but at the same time, these are still PS2 games and wouldn't pass for being a PS3 game. However given KH's art style, even without the updated textures the game would still look really good if it was simply just rendered at a higher resolution.
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I was under the impression that a HD remake, or HD remastering meant that they would be upgraded from the old models, and at least shaded a bit better and rounded some more. That's all.

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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Krowley · Oct 10, 2012

Nate_River said: ↑

I was under the impression that a HD remake, or HD remastering meant that they would be upgraded from the old models, and at least shaded a bit better and rounded some more. That's all.
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This collection will be using Sora's character model from KH3D, so they're technically upgraded I suppose.

unknown_keyblade · Oct 10, 2012

More importantly, will we ever see this coming to North America? I just wander what it feels playing the Final Mixes in English version. I know it's still too early for that, but I just can't resist.

Miles · Oct 10, 2012

Wow the new camera is going to be awesome!

Meilin Lee · Oct 10, 2012

First of all, my response to the new camera:

And I also found this on KH13.com:

In regards to the HD Remix:

- Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX- development was planned even before Final Fantasy X HD was announced on September 13, 2011, prior to Tokyo Game Show 2011. This means that Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX- development has been planned for over a year. Square Enix's Osaka team was consulted over whether they could do something to make best use of the PS3's performance.

- Actual development was kickstarted because the Kingdom Hearts series had been spread over several consoles, and secondly, by the series' 10th anniversary, it had become difficult for new gamers to join in.

- HD remastering was very difficult, but two great programmers from Square Enix's Osaka team spent close to a year on this, allowing it to come to fruition. Square Enix's Osaka team are the team responsible for Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance].

- The Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX- trailer from Tokyo Game Show 2012 was released thanks to the Osaka team. The programmers that handled the HD remastering were merged in from a team that hadn't been involved in the Kingdom Hearts series up until now.

- There are Kingdom Hearts staff in the Square Enix's Tokyo team too, but there have been drastic changes. You could say that the basically unchanging lineup of the Osaka team forms the true present staff for the series. The series is able to continue because of them.

- The remade HD cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days total in at about two to three hours of footage, according to Nomura.

- Nomura thought about perhaps remaking 358/2 Days as a game, but it would have taken over a years so he decided to give priority to the new title and instead have 358/2 Days, necessary for inclusion, as a video volume.

- You don't have to play through the games in order to unlock 358/2 Days' video volume. You can select to watch 358/2 Days straight after starting the game.

- Some of Sora and the other's models have been replaced with the latest ones.

- The camera function for Kingdom Hearts has been modified to be more similar to Kingdom Hearts II's system.

- There is PlayStation 3 trophy support. Nomura himself hasn't had much to do with the trophy feature, so he is still researching now as to what sort of content to include. Discussion over whether or not you'd need them for clearing worlds and first obtaining Keyblades and such is still underway.

- The game controls have been adjusted a little to make them easier to use than they had been. Special commands display for the △ button, and camera controls have been made closer to the base ones in Kingdom Hearts II. There aren't really any big additions. He'd like you to think of HD remastering and trophy support as all the additional components.

- There will not be a new secret movie.

- Nomura hasn't thought about making a bundle edition.

- It would be unnatural to make Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX-, but not Kingdom Hearts -HD 2.5 ReMIX-.

- Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX-'s development is basically in its final stages. Development is doing well, so Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX- is planned for release in 2013. Nomura wants to deliver as soon as possible.
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In regards to the Browser game:

- Kingdom Hearts for PC Browsers will be a typical browser game. Controls will be simple and using cards, with the content not strongly action-oriented. Co-operating with several people is also a feature, however, the game is fundamentally for one person.

- Development is not done by Square Enix's Osaka team, it is done somewhere else.

- It will be a spin-off title, completely removed from the story of the main series. Due to the nature of a browser game, they couldn't put in any grand set up for the story.

- There are new characters, but Nomura won't say whether or not they will be involved in the main series.
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EvilMan_89 · Oct 10, 2012

i'm a little confused at the lack of a secret movie. i'm hoping that Deep Dive is still intact for the HD Release. i know it lacks the whole mystery and such now that Kingdom Hearts 2 has been out for some time, but it's still an awesome scene to watch. i hope that they mean that a NEW secret movie is what is lacking.

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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Kyubi the Keyblade Master · Oct 10, 2012

One thing does concern me about this remastering. The creators lost the rights to use Deep Jungle. Wouldn't they technically be re-releasing that world if they made this game? I hope they don't get into trouble.

libregkd · Oct 10, 2012

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chibiwings · Oct 10, 2012

So glad it's based on KH2's camera! I hope it releases overseas. :)

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Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix development report

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