From a 2016 release date on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, the highly-anticipated crossover role-playing game “Kingdom Hearts 3” has been pushed to an early 2017 roll out.
Game director Tetsuya Nomura, in a recent interview, disclosed that the main reasons why the release date of “Kingdom Hearts 3” has been pushed back is because of the recent switch in the game engine, the new battle system, and the increased number of playable characters, notes Gameranx.
Nomura said that the switch in the game engine to Unreal for “Kingdom Hearts 3” meant that they have to start from scratch, recreating key effects in the engine, as well as moving their new shader to the new game engine.
The game director also said that the development team also went through the different battle systems used in the past games and they practically banked on new technology to improve the game’s battle system. As a result, protagonist Sora will have new and different moves in “Kingdom Hearts 3” including the Keyblade Transformation, which is already part of the combat and the story of the game.
Nomura refuse to disclose the number of playable characters in “Kingdom Hearts 3” as it is the game’s biggest secret thus far but based on the hint, there will be new additional characters possibly from both the Marvel and Star Wars universes.
A partnership effort all the way
In a different interview, Nomura also said that while Square Enix had to seek the approval of Disney in the development of “Kingdom Hearts 3” given the fact that a number of characters from some Disney worlds will be crossing over to the role-playing video game, Disney would not be able to create the game if it is left to do it on its own, details Gameranx.
While there were disagreements during the development process, that did not stop both companies from continuing the collaboration which has already proved its mettle in the past two video games of the “Kingdom Hearts” franchise.
Nomura revealed that the pitch of Disney during the development process is to give the game a lighter tone or a happy ending, which has been a trademark Disney approach ever since.
He said that they may have agreed on some points but overall, Square Enix made the final call as it knows the game better and really understands what fans and gamers want in the third iteration of the very popular video game franchise.
January 2017 release
Based on latest reports, “Kingdom Hearts 3” seems likely to be released in early 2017 even though game developer Square Enix has yet to make a statement or announcement to either confirm or deny those rumors.
The game was apparently delayed when Square Enix announced during the Tokyo Game Show 2015, held last month, that it will soon be releasing “Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue.”
“Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue” actually includes a remastered HD edition of “Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance,” a movie depicting the happenings of the mobile game called “Kingdom Hearts X (Chi) Back Cover, and the long-anticipated “Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Volume 0.2A Fragmentary Passage.”
Accordingly, the “Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Volume 0.2A Fragmentary Passage” will give players a sneak preview of that “Kingdom Hearts 3” will be all about since the plan was to incorporate it too in the third game of the franchise.
Based on a supposed e-mail from Amazon to a user, “Kingdom Hearts 3” will be hitting video gaming shelves on January 2, 2017 and the reason for it was a change in its earlier release schedule.
While Square Enix has not made any announcement about the release date of “Kingdom Hearts 3” in the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, many fans of the franchise were thinking that the game would be released ahead of “Final Fantasy XV,” another highly-anticipated role-playing game from the Square Enix roster.