Kingdom Hearts

[Dirty Duck]

So the mobile game Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link has been cancelled. A shame as the beta seemed promising if a little directionless in the state it was in. It was also nice knowing something besides KHIV was coming that could drop earlier to bridge the gap a bit. We've had nothing since Melody of Memory 5 years ago.


Buuuut new KHIV image. Is this the first look at the game since its announcement? Maybe we'll see it at Summer Game Fest as Geoff Keighley is the one who posted these.


I gotta say that largest pic looks a little bit awkward. I know its likely very far from the final thing but I feel like they could have got one that looked a bit cooler.

[NateDog]

About fucking time.

[Dirty Duck]

Was Missing Link supposed to be set in Scala ad Caelum? I don't really remember. This concept art looks cool though:

[Bread]

Fucking loved Kingdom Hearts back in the PS2 days. I've fallen off the franchise pretty hard since then.

[NateDog]

Was Missing Link supposed to be set in Scala ad Caelum? I don't really remember. This concept art looks cool though:

Some people theorised it given it has some similarities but architecture is quite different.

[Dirty Duck]

https://www.thegamer.com/nomura-kingdom-...ried-sora/
This is old news but I wonder if a Verum Rex game will ever happen given KH4 happening. I do think it would have been a cool thing to do to have it be its own game but maybe fans would have received it delaying another mainline entry badly? I think Yozora and everything around him in KH3 was really interesting and I do think Verum Rex would have worked as a game but I suppose the mystery around Quadratum would be lost.

[NateDog]

https://www.thegamer.com/nomura-kingdom-...ried-sora/
This is old news but I wonder if a Verum Rex game will ever happen given KH4 happening. I do think it would have been a cool thing to do to have it be its own game but maybe fans would have received it delaying another mainline entry badly? I think Yozora and everything around him in KH3 was really interesting and I do think Verum Rex would have worked as a game but I suppose the mystery around Quadratum would be lost.

To me this honestly sounds like a bit of a whimsical idea of Nomura's that was never likely to take off, I'd say something like a Yozora "slice of life" playable mini-game in a KH game would have been more realistic. 

As it is I'd say it'll be likely we well might get him as a temporary party member in KH4, or even playable given it looks like Mickey might be playable for a section too. Nomura clearly still harbours pain over Versus. I'm absolutely here for anything Yozora related anyway after Re:Mind.

[Dirty Duck]

I think it was more likely before Square's recent 'Quality over Quantity' shift in business model. Any chances of it now are likely dashed but something KH related that had a chance to also offshoot into it's own continuous IP could have been a project Square were behind I feel.

[NateDog]

I think it was more likely before Square's recent 'Quality over Quantity' shift in business model. Any chances of it now are likely dashed but something KH related that had a chance to also offshoot into it's own continuous IP could have been a project Square were behind I feel.

I think if this was back in the 2000s or so, for sure it could have happened. But games cost so much money and take so much time to be made these days that I just couldn't see Square entertaining the idea at any stage after what happened with the initial release of FFXIV and that window where they really struggled to get projects finished.

I think these last few years in particular will have given them a lot of food for thought. The reception to and sales of FFXVI, lengthy development times for AAA projects, Kingdom Hearts being put on the backburner because of the (hugely successful) FFVII remake project, titles like Metaphor: Refantazio and Clair Obscur releasing for lower than average prices and receiving incredible acclaim across the board, FFXIV still raking in new users and retaining them impressively. There's a lot there to inform them going forward, feels like there have been a lot of structural changes at board level and with the establishment of the business unit teams in the company in the last 10-15 years, let's see if the "new" plans and aims really mark anything significantly different right now.

[Sword]

This may be an unpopular take but I think they should drop all the Disney stuff from the franchise, it's only holding it back. And not just for my own personal taste, but for generational/demographic reasons too. Are Disney animated films that relevant any more?