Latest Stories
Kingdom Hearts III director Tetsuya Nomura explains why the Pirates of the Caribbean world returns in a VentureBeat interview
Interviews continue to surface on media platforms across the internet in the wake of E3 2018. And VentureBeat, a website devoted to news on tech and games, had a chance to speak with Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, to ask him a question that had puzzled some fans. During the Sony conference, it was revealed that the Pirates of the Caribbean world from Kingdom Hearts II would be returning, making it the second confirmed returning world next to Hercules. However, while in Kingdom Hearts II the Pirates storyline followed the plot of the first film, Curse of the Black Pearl, the Pirates world in Kingdom Hearts III will be following the storyline of the third film, At World’s End; completely skipping over the second film. When asked why they had chosen to include the Pirates world a second time, Nomura had this to say: “It’s not that we’ve been avoiding the reappearance of worlds from our previous titles,” Nomura told VentureBeat. “They are reappearing as necessary. But for Kingdom Hearts III, one of our ideas or concepts was to try to have as many new worlds as possible. At the same time, I’ve always wanted to have at least one
Nomura talks Kingdom Hearts III development processes, surprises and Final Fantasy characters in Gamespot interview
E3 was a big event for all things Kingdom Hearts III this year, with trailers dropping and news spreading quickly throughout social media platforms. Now with E3 2018 concluded, interviews for the long awaited title are starting to pop up gradually across the internet, and popular gaming news site Gamespot had gotten the chance to sit down with Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, to ask him some questions regarding the three new trailers, among other things. Nomura shared his experiences working on Kingdom Hearts III and the entire series as a whole, revealing some of the struggles the team faced early on in development upon switching to the Unreal Engine. When asked if he felt any pressure from high fan expectations, especially since the game has been in development for a while, Nomura expressed he was nervous, if only for a little bit. “I just naturally don't really feel pressured and that's always been fortunate for me. That's been leading me to successes, but at least for Kingdom Hearts 3 the fan excitement was a lot more than I had expected. So the first time in my life I did feel some kind of pressure from it. But
Tetsuya Nomura discusses Kingdom Hearts III release date, mini-games, the plans for DLC and more
In the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, director Tetsuya Nomura discussed some of the upcoming mini-games fans can look forward to playing in Kingdom Hearts III. He also briefly touched on the subject of downloadable content, and elaborated a bit on why the release date was moved to January 2019. Courtesy of Gematsu, here are the translations from the article: The Frozen world follows the same timeline as the movie, and the scene depicted in the game will develop without change. “Let It Go” will also play out. Anna and Elsa will not join your party, but the snow monster Marshmallow will lend players his power. The Pirates of the Caribbean world takes place during “At World’s End”, the third movie. Details about the second movie, “Dead Man’s Chest”, will be touched upon in the synopsis. Ratatouille is a mini-game in Twilight Town. If you succeed in cooking, you will make a dish that raises your statuses. You can collect ingredients throughout the game’s various worlds. There is a music related mini-game in the Tangled world. Most of the mini-games were proposed by the staff. They’re basically putting in mini-games without stopping. The Classic Kingdom was a project of Tetsuya Nomura,
New Kingdom Hearts III character artwork released alongside high-quality trailer screenshots
Square Enix has released new official artwork for Kingdom Hearts III alongside some new high quality in-game screenshots from the three new KHIII trailers unveiled these past few days at E3 2018. Below are high-quality 3D artwork of Sora, Donald and Goofy's new pirate outfits. We also get a better look at Kairi's new outfit that was displayed in full during the trailer showcased at the Sony conference. The renders for the Disney cast are equally as impressive, and look almost identical to their movie counterparts. And below are the screenshots from all three E3 trailers, giving us a better look at the game's designs and details in still frames. The franchise sure has come a long way graphically since its humble days on the PlayStation 2; the new worlds look absolutely stunning. Kingdom Hearts III is scheduled to release on January 29, 2019 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. For more information and our E3 coverage of Kingdom Hearts III, you can check out our previous articles.
Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] introduces a new Player VS Player mode in latest update
The latest update(v2.6.0) for the popular mobile title Kingdom Hearts Union χ introduced a bundle of new updates, including the series’ first-ever Player VS Player battle mode; adding a new way for players worldwide to play with friends, win rewards and compete for a spot on the leaderboards. The PVP mode for Union χ features asynchronous battles; where players face off against other players utilizing multiple Keyblades. A match is divided into two or three rounds and each player takes a turn to attack the other. The player who deals the most amount of damage wins the round, and the one who wins two rounds is the winner of the match. Players will then be awarded points based on their performance in the battle, and top-ranking players based on total points will earn rewards and recognition for their battle achievements. Below are the other features that had been implemented with the arrival of patch 2.6.0: 7-star Medals: All medals that can be used in battle can now be evolved into a 7-star rarity to greatly strengthen their power. Players must collect newly added materials in order successfully evolve them. New Keyblade Feature 'Subslots': Players can now utilize more medals in a single
Kingdom Hearts III reveals Monsters Inc. World and Hikaru Utada theme song
During the D23 Expo event in Japan, Square Enix revealed quite a bit of news regarding their highly anticipated action role-playing game; Kingdom Hearts III. First off, Square Enix has shared a meaty trailer for the game, showcasing Monsters Inc. as the new world set to appear and revealing new monster costumes for Sora, Donald and Goofy. While no full release date was revealed, the company reassures the game is still slated for a 2018 release. View the trailer down below: Alongside this new trailer, Square Enix also unveiled that Utada Hikaru would again return for the third installment with a new song titled "Don't Think Twice." You can hear a preview of the song below, as well as get a glimpse of Riku and Mickey's new outfits! UPDATE #1: Japanese twitter user and D23 attendee Usamasuku confirmed that there will be open world Gummi Ship gameplay in KH3, complete with a "search" and "battle" function, and described the Gummi Ship's battles similar to those seen in the Star Wars franchise. The Gummi Ship will also remain customizable as well. (Source) UPDATE #2: Square Enix has shared more details with regards to the development progress of Kingdom Hearts III (Via Gamespot). Currently, everyone in the
Tetsuya Nomura scheduled to appear at a Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] fan event in California
Beginning at 12:00pm PST on Tuesday, January 30th, fans of the Kingdom Hearts series can register to attend the first-ever US community event for the popular mobile title Kingdom Hearts Union χ. The celebration is scheduled to take place on April 15th, 2018, at the House of Blues Anaheim in California. Attendees will be able to participate in various activities and try new in-game experiences that celebrate the world of Kingdom Hearts Union χ. Additionally, franchise director Tetsuya Nomura and the game’s producer, Hironori Okayama and several other development team members will be in attendance to provide their insight into the game. For more information regarding the event and ticket sales, visit the official event page at the designated time. Tickets will be sold in limited quantities and will go for $20 plus applicable service fees. KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ is available now as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases on iOS and Android devices.
Kingdom Hearts celebrates the 89th birthday of Mickey Mouse with a Union Cross event
Square Enix and Disney celebrate the 89th birthday of Mickey Mouse by bringing a limited time event to the popular mobile game KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ. The game now features several in-game promotions centered around Disney's beloved mouse; these promotions include multiple Mickey and Minnie Mouse themed avatar outfits, a Zero AP Campaign, a free medal and a special app icon. Starting from November 16 and lasting until November 27, players will have a second chance to access several Mickey and Minnie Avatar Boards, which include: Formal, orchestra, and winter Mickey and Minnie. These boards are also 60% off, with the price now set at 1000 Jewels as opposed to the standard 2500. There is also a new King Mickey and Queen Minnie Avatar Board as well, however these boards are the original 2500 Jewel price. The "Happy Birthday 0 AP Campaign" began November 16th and will last until November 27th, which will allow players the ability to play unlimited Union Cross content. And finally, starting November 18th, Mickey's actual birthday, and lasting until December 18th, players will obtain a free "Fantasia Mickey B" simply by logging onto the game. KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ is available now as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases on
Kingdom Hearts the animated series almost happened
When Kingdom Hearts released in 2002 it was immediately clear to Square and Disney that they had a hit on their hands. In that same year Disney started work on a pilot based off the first game that would hopefully lead to a television series. While this project had been heavily rumored for over ten years it was Seth Kearsley who was heavily involved with this project that proved it's existence when he uploaded a story board he drew for the pilot on his Deviantart page. This story board is from an episode that would feature Sora, Donald, and Goofy visiting Agrabah. Riku is also visiting this world at the same time on a mission for Maleficent. Seth played through the entire first game when he started the project and his love for the game really shows in these few boards he drew. Also since he was working with Disney at the time he was allowed to use the original art used in the movie Aladdin for backgrounds. While the pilot tested extremely well, the project was cancelled before anything else could come from it. This was due to the fact Square had already started planning more titles in the Kingdom Hearts series