Kingdom Hearts fans love their Kingdom Hearts. Like, really love it. Whether you’re talking keyblades or characters or who’s going to show up from FF next, they’ve got opinions and they’re not afraid to share them… and one of the biggest loves from the series, it seems, is the music. There’s just something about the music in Kingdom Hearts games (much like the memorable music you find in, for example, Disney movies or FF games… hey, wait…! hmm…) that makes not only fans, but non-gamers sit up and take notice.
So who better than to comment on the platform of the soon-to-be-released (in North America) Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance than the composers themselves? Three of KH’s composers granted an interview with Destructoid recently, all answering the same questions and giving their thoughts on both the series and its appearance on 3DS.
What did they have to say? Here’s a little glimpse from their interviews:
When asked about the impact of the 3DS on composition, Yoko Shimomura said…
“The 3DS hardware is truly brilliant. In the past for Nintendo handheld games I’ve always used the internal sound source to compose. This time, I was able to use a streaming source which enabled me to compose music in a higher quality, which I am very happy about. I didn’t particularly change the way I used sound in the game at this time, but I think it will be a good idea to pursue trying out new types of BGM in the future.”
When asked about his favourite pieces on the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack, Tsuyoshi Sekito said…
“Since I am emotionally attached to all the songs, it’s difficult to choose one song … but if I had to choose one, I’d say I enjoyed ”Ice-hot Lobster” the most in the beginning. Now with the game released, after listening to all the songs, “Majestic Wings” is one of my favorites. When listening to it individually it sounds simple, but after listening to a series of several other songs it sounds more free and bold and it gives me energy (laughs).”
When asked about ten years of Kingdom Hearts and his experience with the series, Takeharu Ishimoto said…
“When you say it’s ten years, I realize time flies. The Kingdom Hearts series has played a big role in my personal growth since I’ve been involved with it, even before I started working on the music composition for the series.”
Regardless of whether you’re a huge fan of the games or not, there’s no denying that this is a talented team of composers who’ve doubtless knocked it out of the park once again with their work on the new game. It’s great to hear their input on their experience with the series – and we can’t wait to hear their work on the 3DS.