Kingdom Hearts 3D, Final Fantasy XI, Dissidia and More in Famitsu

This week's Famitsu has a lengthy feature on Square Enix, containing retrospective interviews, and bits and pieces about about the company's upcoming titles. While waiting for our usual full writeup from Sokuho@Hokanko, here's what has surfaced regarding Kingdom Hearts 3D, the Kingdom Hearts series, the Dissidia series, and Final Fantasy XI (yes, that's XI as in not XIV).

Kingdom Hearts 3D

In case you've forgotten in the six months of silence, the three Ds in the 3DS Kingdom Hearts name stand for Dream Drop Distance. Development is currently 40 to 50% complete, Nomura told Famitsu this week. He also confirmed the inclusion of a secret movie.

Sora will be around in future Kingdom Hearts, so why does he look so cross?

Nomura dropped a bunch of vague hints about the game. Here's the vaguest: "XXX and XXX in Traverse Town!" This is apparently supposed to be surprising, so see if you can fill in the XXXs with surprising elements.

The game's story is enigmatic and quite puzzling, said Nomura The story will touch upon the hidden data in Sora.

Just one little gameplay bit: you'll apparently be able to work your way up to the rooftops.

Future of Kingdom Hearts

Regarding the future of the Kingdom Hearts series, Nomura said that those who are anticipating Kingdom Hearts III will find some answers in KH3D.

The Xehanort part of the Kingdom Hearts saga will end with KHIII, he said. He currently has a framework of some form in place for the continuation of the series after that, and Sora will remain as main character.

Regarding possible HD remakes of past titles, Nomura would only say that, separate from whether or not they will release remakes, they're looking into HD techology tests for past titles. (I'm not sure if this question and response is about Kingdom Hearts or just in general.)

The Future of Dissidia Final Fantasy

Back when Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy was about to see release, Nomura told Dengeki that if they made a future Dissidia game it would not be a fighting-based game (see this story). Famitsu asked Nomura this week if he was talking about the 3DS rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. The answer is no -- he was referring to something else.

Final Fantasy XI

As part of the general Square Enix feature, Famitsu interviewed Final Fantasy XI producer (?) Hiromichi Tanaka. Tanaka said that they're investigating a straight port of Final Fantasy XI to the PlayStation Vita, but there's no solid plan for this at present.

Famitsu also asked Tanaka what he'd do if he were Square Enix CEO. He'd revive the company trips, he said, and invest in employee wellbeing.

Who's Your Favorite Square Enix Creator?

Famitsu.com hosted a survey asking readers to name the Square Enix creator they're most looking forward to. The results were posted in this week's issue.

And the top three winners are:

• Tetsuya Nomura: 321 votes
• Akitoshi Kawazu: 235 Votes
• Yuji Horii: 217 Votes

Hmm... one of the three is different from the other two.