Tetsuya Nomura Considers Retirement, and How to End Kingdom Hearts

You don't know what you've got 'til its gone

Famous for his love of belts and buckles, legendary video game director Tetsuya Nomura says he's considering retirement after an influential career spanning decades. Nomura started as a debugger on Final Fantasy IV in 1991 and, most recently, was the creative director of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Love it or leave it, he is also the man most responsible for Kingdom Hearts, directing most of the 15 games the series comprises, and the prime culprit behind its wildly convoluted story.

Nomura, who will turn 54 next month, spoke to Japanese outlet YoungJump (thanks, VGC) about the future of the Kingdom Hearts series. He said: "I only have a few years left until I retire. I have to decide whether to retire first or finish the series first. I’m making Kingdom Hearts IV now with the intention of it being a story that I will complete."

As VGC points out, this is interesting for a few reasons. Publisher Square Enix says that Kingdom Hearts IV begins an "epic new storyline" called the "Lost Master Arc", and it kind of sounds like Nomura wants to see it through. On top of that, he is presumably on the hook to helm the as-yet-unnamed sequel to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which seems to contradict his desire to retire.

Nomura, later in the interview, commented on the setting in which Sora and company will find themselves next: "I like worlds that are slightly different from “possible” reality, rather than ones that are too false. It’s the same with movies, but if the world is too fantasy based I can’t really get into it. So, I like settings that are based in Shibuya but not the real Shibuya. Rather than complete fantasy, I think 'unrealistic within reality' fits the fantasy view well."

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Will you be sad to see Nomura pass the torch, whenever he does actually retire? Or will Square Enix keep him coming up with new, gravity-defying hair designs forever? Let us know in the comments section below.

[source youngjump.jp, via videogameschronicle.com]

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About Khayl Adam

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

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Comments 8

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• OthmaneAD
• 3:07am

Please end it in 4. Some things have to end at one time

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• Porco
• 3:41am

nomura is a legend. i think the storytelling in the kh games is incomprehensible and pedestrian at the same time, but nomura's character designs are among the best and most influential in gaming history. his work peaked with ff 10, but what a cereer. his definition of "a few years" in referring to retirement could mean another decade in the trenches, so i wouldn't read too much into that. whatever the case may be, giving cloud and sora closure would be a good sendoff to nomura's career.

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• Nepp67
• 3:44am

God I still wish we got the Final Fantasy 13 Versus game he was working on :/

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• PuppetMaster
• 3:58am

I can understand Nomura's reason wants to retired, especially with his age at 54 years old and making big games took 4-5 years. The time he's completed KH 4 and FFVIIR part 3, he probably closed to 60.

I would miss Nomura when he decided to retired though. He made plenty of memorable characters including some of my favorites since Squaresoft era. Nowadays, i think SE lacks new or young artist as talented as Nomura who makes character that looks pop up and very recognizeable. Heck, i think SE still relies a lot on veteran artist like Nomura, Akihiko Yoshida (Nier Automata / Vagrant Story / Bravely series), Hiroshi Minagawa (FF XIV & VI), Isamu Kamikokuryo (Diofield, Harvestella), and Naoki Ikushima (Octopath, Triangle Strat, Live a Live).

And yes i think Kingdom Hearts needs to end with KH 4. I thought KH 3 was the final game in the series but then the ending and DLC showed Nomura is still not finish on torturing Sora lol.

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• Fartingale
• 4:01am

Pure nonsense and failed sales expectations is how kingdom hearts is going to end,

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• Nem
• 4:45am

He still has some years. I think he still has KH5 in him.

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• Coolmusic
• 5:39am

Nomura should have retired a long time ago.

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• SolarSailor
• 45m ago

I'll miss the "Nomura stink" as Dustin would say

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