The release of the eighth installment to the highly-anticipated “Kingdom Hearts” crossover action role-playing video game series “Kingdom Hearts 3” on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One has been delayed to 2016. Earlier reports have indicated that Square Enix may release the game on the next gen gaming consoles towards the latter part of this year.
Apparently, game developer and publisher Square Enix is still finetuning the game’s visuals and quality because it is experiencing troubles with the image processing of “Kingdom Hearts 3.”
Tetsuya Nomura, game director of “Kingdom Hearts 3,” disclosed that his team is currently doing research concerning graphics of the game to be able to meet the technical requirements of the next generation gaming consoles.
He said that the development team is not satisfied with the current look of the game so they are all working heavily to ensure that “Kingdom Hearts 3” comes out perfect in terms of visuals and quality. The creator said that when the game is finished, it will have brush-like visuals.
Another reason for the delay
In addition to the finetuning works that the development team is doing on “Kingdom Hearts 3,” Nomura also revealed that the other cause of the delay is the fact that the game’s development team is also busy with other projects for Square Enix including “Final Fantasy Versus III,” details Venture Capital Post.
Square Enix announced the development of “Kingdom Hearts 3” as early as the early part of 2013. But its noticeable absence on the 2014 Square Enix video game lineup made every gaming enthusiast believe that “Kingdom Hearts 3” will arrive sometime in 2015.
That’s in addition to the fact that there have been reports that the development team has not been too busy with its production after Square Enix made the announcement early in 2013 and its very challenging objective of not just upgrading but actually making a complete overhaul of the visuals of its predecessors.
First game on more than one platform
While “Kingdom Hearts 3” is the third game in the well-loved and appreciated role-playing game series from Square Enix, it is actually the first installment in the series that shall be released on more than one gaming console. Its predecessors were released exclusively on the PlayStation consoles.
The game features the protagonist Sora as he sets forth on an adventure with the classic Disney characters Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.
“Kingdom Hearts” was released on the PlayStation 2 in March 2002 and earned an average score of 86.4% on GameRankings. Four years later, the game has sold over 5.6 million copies.
“Kingdom Hearts 2,” on the other hand, was released in the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and eventually to the PlayStation 3 a few years later. It garnered an average score of 87.46% on GameRankings. More than two years after its release, the game has sold over four million copies worldwide.