Tetsuya Nomura speaks with Hero Complex of the Los Angeles Times about the future of the Kingdom Hearts series.

Kingdom Hearts III is not just the third numbered entry in the series; it is also the culmination of ten years of Kingdom Hearts games, including various handheld titles that have all contributed to the story at large. Regardless of these significant yet smaller titles, though, fans have been clamoring for a numbered, console sequel to Kingdom Hearts II since 2006.

In an interview, Nomura shares his process when it comes to determining the right time to develop such a sequel: “First and most important is the determination in my mind. That will launch the project. It’s difficult to explain what kind of determination I am talking about. As you can imagine, expectations by the fans for franchise with sequels go up each time.” Nomura then explains that fans are particularly excited for Kingdom Hearts III, and briefly mentions other influences such as gaming technology and the presence of Disney worlds. As Nomura has stated within the past few weeks, although he thinks it would be interesting if Kingdom Hearts could adapt Pixar properties, such decisions must ultimately be worked out with Disney.

Nomura once again mentions that he has been working with the same counterpart at Disney for the past ten years, and that although they have “very heated discussions” about the franchise, they also have a steady relationship with one another.

Not surprisingly, Nomura does not like referring to the Kingdom Hearts series as a trilogy. One reason for this is because he plans on continuing the series beyond Kingdom Hearts III; another reason is the fact that so many titles exist outside of the numbered entries, making it difficult to truly call the series a trilogy.

Nomura urges fans to play Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for the Nintendo 3DS in order to get a glimpse at the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. As we already know, Dream Drop Distance connects with the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III not only in terms of story, but also in gameplay experimentation.

The interview closes out with Nomura explaining that he must go along with Square Enix’s policies, although his own “creative policy” doesn’t change.

To read the original piece with quotes from the interview, check out Todd Martens’ article on the Los Angeles Times website.