The Kingdom Hearts Series: KINGDOM HEARTS 4 ANNOUNCED! STAR WARS POTENTIALLY TEASED (page 175)

[KHCast]

Extended look at the tangled announcement.

 

It's possible considering it isn't using the mess known as the Luminous engine. Remember, Unreal Engine makes development far more streamlined, it's why so many companies pay out for the license.

I'm not writing it completely off, I'm just saying givin Square's track record, I'm not obligated to believe it will actually be the case. I'm still of the thought that it will get at least one delay and end up releasing mid-late 2017.

 

Anyway, looking on facebook, a lot of fans seem split when trying to determine if this Xehanort is younger than 3D Young Xehanort. Huh, guess they never checked out Ben's tweets when I asked him lol.

Edit: Drive forms potentially returning? Cool, I guess? I mean I love them, but at the same time have to ask if they will be really of any legit benefit at this point if summons, and flow attacks and disney rides are gonna be also included.

 

Edit 2:

---We were able to see a conversation between a young Xehanort and Eraqus. Will that be the actual opening scene to KHIII?

Yes, it will. After their conversation, the story of this title starts. We only showed an excerpt of their conversation in this video, and the scene is actually longer. As you can tell by their outward appearance, it's a scene set rather a long time ago, and that connects to the plot of KH Unchained Key.

 

Well that's actually some juicy info to know!

[MegasonicZX]

I'm also a bit skeptical releasing in 2016 but then again square has made some strange decisions before so it actually wouldn't surprise me if they had two big releases right next to each other (especially with how they seem to have a bunch of big projects planned for these next two or so years).

[Brad]

"There's a huge decrease in load times too. In previous games, you'd run to the end of an area and it would go dark before transitioning to the next stage -- now it's become seamless, as you can see in the trailer when Sora jumps off the mountain you've just battled up. The environments themselves, in KH3, things will be affected by real-time actions, a tornado spell will swirl the blades of grass surrounding it."

 

Seamless world exploration confirmed - no more area to area transitions. 

 

Hearing that Disney are so involved in the project and the development of the title is quite far along is giving me a lot of positivity for the future of this game. This could be the best one yet.

[KHCast]

Seamless transitioning is something I was expecting this game to do so it's great to hear will be a thing. Will be a bit weird at first, but I'll quickly adjust lol. I will miss the logo thing every time you went into a new room.

 

Oh and seamless battle sections are confirmed too going by the trailer!

[Wraith]

Kingdom Hearts 3 seems to be moving pretty fast since they moved to the new engine and everything. I could believe it coming out at the end of next year/beginning of 2017 at the rate it's going. Square's been slowly getting better about releasing games in a timely fasion recently.

[KHCast]

Eh, we'll just have to wait until Square actually can discuss that at this point. No use in speculating a window time.

[Komodin]

I haven't really said this yet, but with all the recent stuff shown this week, I guess this is the best time to say it: Not to poopoo on the graphical quality of the previous games, but after sticking with (sub-)PS2-level graphics, at best, for well over a decade (though, of course it couldn't really be helped with the capabilities of the PSP, DS and even the 3DS), it's so refreshing to see Kingdom Hearts 3's vastly improved visuals. Everything just feels genuinely new again, and I really love that.

[Gabz Girl]

Winter 2016 seems too early, especially with FFXV coming out soon. I'm expecting a summer 2017 release in Japan and everywhere else later in the year.

[Brad]

I am actually living for all the crazy theories the fanbase are creating right now. There's one about the calendar in the background of the Eraqus/Xehanort scene which points to either one of the two months - 

 

 

which I mean is crazy right? W-wait...

So, uh, how about Winter 2016?

 

...oh

[KHCast]

Yeah I pointed that out earlier today. Still not convinced lol.

[nintega137]

I am actually living for all the crazy theories the fanbase are creating right now. There's one about the calendar in the background of the Eraqus/Xehanort scene which points to either one of the two months - 

 

 

which I mean is crazy right? W-wait...

 

...oh

If there's one thing I've learned about the fandom (ESPECIALLY KHINSDER) never and I mean NEVER underestimate the fandom and their amazing prediction abilities. Seriously these guys managed to actually predict the time travel plot of DDD months before it actually came out somehow, they guessed that ventus already had a darker half before vanitas was even known, and that xehanort was searching for the hearts of darkness and light by DDD. Predicting release dates? As Tails once said "that's about as easy as taking a nap".  

[Mega]

The leaked trailer is fake. Sorry guys. Someone posted a youtube video explaining how they made it. Don't have the link on hand, but it was in great detail, from the voice impressions to how they set up the camrip look.

[kboyrulez12345]

The leaked trailer is fake. Sorry guys. Someone posted a youtube video explaining how they made it. Don't have the link on hand, but it was in great detail, from the voice impressions to how they set up the camrip look.

[KHCast]

And I'm not surprised. After the Smash Bros. crap that went on, it does not surprise me one bit that a hyped title like KH3 would get the same treatment.(not that the release date even was filling me with belief and confidence anyway.)

[KHCast]

Almost Seamless worlds

 

 

Tetsuya Nomura: Compared to the initial first look at the game, in the trailer we're showing now, the visual aspects have evolved a lot. Not only the particle effects within the battles, but also the sheer scale of it. While the world may not be comparable to massively open-world titles, it's far bigger than previous Kingdom Hearts titles. There's a huge decrease in load times too. In previous games, you'd run to the end of an area and it would go dark before transitioning to the next stage -- now it's become seamless, as you can see in the trailer when Sora jumps off the mountain you've just battled up. The environments themselves, inKH3, things will be affected by real-time actions, a tornado spell will swirl the blades of grass surrounding it.

 

Yeah, I don't mind the occasional transition, like from Olympus Coliseum to Mt. Olympus, or from The snuggling duckling to the canyon.

 

Oh and much more interesting stuff to know about including online:

 

 

 

 

Given that the game is coming to PS4 and Xbox One, how are you tackling online?

TN: Online is certainly part of my wish list -- we want gamers to play for a while and an online component helps this. While we may be focusing on the main campaign at the moment, but it's not as if we're going to tack on an online function at the end. In fact, we've already got plenty of ideas brewing at the moment. However, we're still not at the point where we can test these ideas inside the main game.

Why didn't we see many Disney characters in the new game?

TN: Well, Donald and Goofy were there -- and we've announced that we're collaborating with Tangled, something we touched upon in our E3 presentation. Compared to previous titles that we folded into Kingdom Hearts, we have a lot of creators still alive. The process of gaining approvals then is pretty different. Because the animation studios are actively involved, we want to polish up anything we meet to the standards we demand, before taking it to Disney to approval. The hair of [Tangled's] Rapunzel is so unique -- we want to make sure we can realize the vision before we show it.

So how about Frozen?

TN: We're not saying anything on titles not yet announced.

Can we expect far more worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3?

TN: With every Kingdom Hearts title, we plan to deliver more worlds than actually appear in game -- so we have something in our pockets to work with. Then as we begin to hone these worlds and stages, and some do get cut. [At this point], we have prepared more worlds, in that respect, than Kingdom Hearts 2.

Any worlds that weren't realized in KH2?

TN: Man, KH2 was quite a while ago. ... Typically, worlds that we weren't able to put into a game are usually picked up again for work in the sequel. We prepare each stage, planning to include it in a game -- and we love the worlds we come up with.

 

Is anything going to change with how you play the game?

TN: Nothing's set in stone, although naturally, the PS4's controller has that touchpanel, and that's something we're going to have to consider within the control scheme. Coming fromKingdom Hearts 2, there won't be a huge difference in battle controls -- we're not going to change how you jump or anything -- it'll be more of an evolution. Depending on how we utilize the touchpanel, we may not need other forms of control [for certain actions].

Control preferences are different from person to person. Especially with cameras. We took an internal survey at Square Enix about this: And the result was an almost precise split, 50:50.

TN: Having said that, control preferences are different from person to person. Especially with cameras. We took an internal survey at Square Enix about this: and the result was an almost precise split, 50:50. We're going to have to look into this pretty carefully.

 

My biggest question in regards to the tangled world is how they'll work around Rapunzel loosing her magic long hair, as Nomura has stated that this was a big piece for her gameplay.

[Mega]

My guess? No revisits, which I would prefer, honestly, if they can make the world stories meaningful and less rushed than recent outings.

[KHCast]

I think revisits would need to be cut if they are serious about there being more worlds than 2 lol. Something akin to 3D would be nice, just bigger and longer. Though would that mean Rapunzel is only a temporary party member? Cause if so, boo.

 

Also, interesting fan theory:

 

[Gabz Girl]

They seem to be focusing a lot on Rapunzel's hair. I hope this doesn't mean she won't use her frying pan to attack. 8(

[KHCast]

What if the frying pan is a limit reaction command?

[Brad]

Reaction Commands confirmed to be gone.

 

People who saw the intended battles in the trailer may have thought there were plenty of Quick Time events, but in reality, all of those moves are done by the players themselves. So Quick Time Events (when you are prompted to press a button shown in the screen to perform an especific action) won't be present this time.

[KHCast]

Was referring moreso to a upgraded version of the BBS limit moves just used with party members, but eh. RC's were just a phase for KH cause they were a popular thing at the time. KH has been good without them.

Though hopefully the buttons to open chests/talk/access shops is separated from the attack command

[Brad]

Oh, I didn't even realise the topic of conversation. Lol. 

 

RC Commands are probably better off gone despite them being flashy eye-candy. If they were to return I would definitely alter the way they're used. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

It's weird to see Reaction Commands gone, considering they included them into Kingdom Hearts Final Mix HD

[Wraith]

It's weird to see Reaction Commands gone, considering they included them into Kingdom Hearts Final Mix HD

 

Why would they remove such a key(heh) part of the game? :U

 

 

 

Anyways, I don't think they should have gotten rid of Reaction Commands honestly. While I admit Kingdom Hearts II relied too heavily on them, I enjoyed them, and I'd rather them be toned down with the timing and input being more demanding than just pressing triangle. 

 

Either way these games have been good without them and this one will probably be fine.

[Dantemustdie00]

Did they think Action commands made the combat easier or something, I certainly didn't think so.