A couple of months ago the Kingdom Hearts franchise turned 20 years of existence, and this was held with advertisements related to future franchise games, a mobile adaptation and the next main title are included here.
This has led its director, Tetsuya Nomura, to have a series of interesting interviews with the media.
Here some answers that he gave to Game Inform :

GI: What does it feel like looking back in the last two decades and what are you waiting for the legacy of Kingdom Hearts?

Nomura : I feel that 20 years is a long time, except that it does not feel like that either. I have vague memories of visiting the Disney offices and having meetings throughout the story we have had. When it comes to memories of development and simply play the game, it is a bit confusing. It does not seem that anything has become a memory because the series still continues. The franchise is always evolving; The stories continue. As for the legacy, I suppose the heart is a central issue in history. We will continue to represent that and tell the history of the heart in different ways.

GI: What has been your favorite cliffhanger to see the fans reaction?

Nomura : The first thing that comes to mind is the end of the first video game. I feel that perhaps it was really unexpected by the user because people probably did not think that history would continue beyond that. Also in Kingdom Hearts III, when Luxu takes off his hood at the end… I really enjoyed seeing fans’ reactions, just because it was something I really expected.

GI: Another area in which we saw an increase in the popularity of Kingdom Hearts was to see Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Can you talk about Sora’s participation?

Nomura : Obviously, I was very happy that we could make Sora appear in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most of the comments when Sora was announced were: I can’t believe that Disney has approved that he is in this game. Behind the scene, I was actually the one who was being very demanding with the appearance of him. Disney was the one who said: ‘Go ahead! This is a great opportunity. ’I thought it would be difficult to achieve it because I could collide with the tradition established in Disney’s worlds, so it was an opportunity that I had to consider very carefully. After seeing how happy they were all welcoming Sora to Smash Bros., I feel that the final result was really great.

GI: Do you feel it is important to keep Sora as the main protagonist, or do you ever see that the series goes beyond him?

Nomura : As for spin-offs, we have had main characters that were not Sora, but in terms of the main series, I think Sora is actually the only real candidate for that position. I think that Sora is no longer the main character, I would also feel that this would indicate the end of the numbered titles. He is that important for the franchise.

GI: When you started working on the ideas and planning of Kingdom Hearts IV What things did you know you wanted to incorporate from the beginning?

Nomura : Whenever I am working on a title, I am already thinking about what I want to incorporate into the next. For example, with Kingdom Hearts IV, I had already started thinking about what I wanted to do with him while doing Kh III. This is more in terms of characters, worlds or game systems that I want to implement. Every time it is the same process; I am constantly thinking about what to improve or change in the next game.

For example, in KH II we introduced the reaction command system. I felt that fans didn’t take it well and it wasn’t so popular. Then, in KH III we eliminated that system, but then the fans said: ‘Why did you eliminate it?’ So now we are considering bringing it back. The challenge is with the action game. It is difficult to execute satisfactory action movements when the base is not very safe. That is something we are working on and we hope we can do it as an aspect of the game in Kingdom Hearts IV.

GI: fans have been very concerned about the lack of Final Fantasy characters in the most recent tickets. Do you still want to reduce the amount of them in the series, or Kingdom Hearts IV is an opportunity to bring more cameos?

I understand that there were not so many Final Fantasy characters at Kingdom Hearts III. One thing I want to clarify is that many fans say that Kingdom Hearts is this collaboration between Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. But I really feel that this is not the basic concept.

When we launched the first title, we only had a few original characters. When they interacted with well-known and loved Disney characters, I felt that nobody really knew these new characters, so it was still more difficult for them to stand firm. And so, we had many Final Fantasy characters involved to help everyone better to the new ones.

Now, there are so many original KH characters that are very dear and people want to see more. With Kh III, since we had so many, it was difficult to find space to include more Final Fantasy characters. We are trying

Editor’s note: It is noted that for now Kingdom Hearts IV is in its first steps of development, but these types of interviews are appreciated to learn a little more about what we are going to face in the future.

There are still many unknowns to solve, but for that there will be more time.