Tetsuya Nomura, character designer for Kingdom Hearts II, shared his thoughts about the PlayStation 2 title and the future of the series. He said that the differences between the Japanese and US versions are minimal. One of the few changes is on the Pirates of the Caribbean level to make the gun look less like a weapon. (Isn’t it ment to be a weapon?) This means that Square Enix will not be releasing a International version of Kingdom Hearts in Japan.
In previous comments by Normura he had already said that they have big plans for the furture of the Kingdom Hearts series. However, when those ideas will be turned into a project, fans should not expect a new numbered title or something along the lines of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Normura also rules out the the idea of playing in other medias other than games. Famitsuu speculates that one possibility would be something along the lines of a gaiden. Nomura himself admitted that currently only he knew what he wanted to do.
Finally, Normura also promised a major annoucements for this year’s editions of Electronic Entertainment Expo and Tokyo Game Show. Shinji Hashimoto, Square Enix corporate executive director, confirmed as much, saying his company would hold a big “surprise ceremony” at E3.Following the release of Kingdom Hearts II in North America and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII in Japan, the development team of Nomura and Hashimoto is currently working on two confirmed projects: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation Portable and an untitled Final Fantasy installment for PlayStation 3.
Source: RPGFan
