Nearly a decade since the last main series entry, anticipation for Kingdom Hearts III has reached a fever pitch.
Update: We added gameplay/story details from new Kingdom Hearts III trailer, and more info to the release date section.
Fusing the worlds of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy games with Disney’s stable of beloved, animated characters in an action-RPG, Kingdom Hearts was one of the most surprising hits of the PlayStation 2. Kingdom Hearts II followed just a few years later to even greater acclaim. Despite a dizzying array of spinoffs and prequels in the intervening years, including the nonsensically titled Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue which hit stores in January, fans have now been waiting over a decade for a proper sequel.
Kingdom Hearts III may still be a ways away, but we’ ve received more frequent updates recently. Accordingly, here is all of the intel we’ ve gathered so far about the game and what to expect.
Nothing has been formally announced yet, but fans reading the tea leaves of Final Fantasy game development say they believe Kingdom Hearts III may be coming out in 2017. The game was first announced at E3 2013 alongside Final Fantasy XV, which is scheduled to finally come out in November 2016.
Both games shared the same director, Kingdom Hearts series’ original director Tetsuya Nomura, for several years. In 2014, FFXV co-director Hajime Tabata stepped up to lead the project, allowing Nomura to focus more on Kingdom Hearts III, but his attention is still split between Kingdom Hearts III and the wildly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake.
In January, Nomura said, “In terms of the state of development, there is still some way to go.”A month later, Square Enix released a couple of new images at the Monaco Anime Game International Conference 2017. In May, Square Enix told investors that Kingdom Hearts III was scheduled for the studio’s 2018 fiscal year and beyond. Square Enix promised more news, including a trailer and new world reveal, at the D23 Expo (Disney Fan Club convention) on July 15.
In general the action RPG gameplay will be familiar to fans of the series as an evolution of the action in Kingdom Hearts II. As shown in the latest gameplay trailer above, however, successful ideas from the handheld titles, specifically Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, will be integrated as well. There will be a greater emphasis on mobility, with Sora able to jump on certain enemies and to wall run. Major new features revealed so far include:
Kingdom Hearts III was announced for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Several fans noticed that the game’s listing disappeared from the Xbox Japan website, leading to speculation that Square Enix was dropping Xbox to make it a PlayStation 4 exclusive. However, Square Enix’s site still lists it for Xbox One, as does the Microsoft Store.
Protagonist Sora returns to lead the cast of Kingdom Hearts III, along with series mainstays Goofy, Donald Duck, King Mickey, Master Eraqus, and Master Xehanort. Continuing the story from Dream Drop Distance, Sora, Goofy, and Donald will search for the seven masters of light while Xehanort attempts to overcome the “tyranny of light” by restoring equilibrium between light and dark. King Mickey and Riku, meanwhile, will search for previous keyblade masters. All of this will likely lead to a climactic confrontation between Sora and Xehanort.
As in past games, Kingdom Hearts III will feature game world based on popular Disney properties. According to trailers and gameplay demos, the game will have worlds based on Disney’s Frozen, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, and Hercules.
In the most recent gameplay trailer, we received an extended look at the Hercules -inspired world (Mount Olympus) . Sora was with his pals Donald and Goofy, and we also saw Maleficent, Hades, and Pete talking in another part of the world. The trailer ended in Twilight Town, with Sora speaking with Xemnas about Roxas.
In many cases, those worlds often feature characters who temporarily fight with Sora: It appears that Rapunzel will join him in the Tangled world, and the inflatable robot Baymax will back him up in Big Hero 6 land. Rapunzel was apparently the first new Disney character considered, because of her strong personality and the mechanical possibilities of her hyperbolically long hair.
Nomura told the LA Times that Kingdom Hearts III will be the concluding chapter for the “Dark Seeker Saga”, which has cataloged the struggle between Sora and the sinister Xehanort. He said he intends for the series to continue on afterwards, however, telling new stories in the same world.
Series newcomers or fans looking for a refresher may want to play through the series so far in preparation for III. With so many spin-offs and remakes, that can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. Here is the series in narrative chronological order:
If you don’ t have ready access to all of those platforms, however, the series has been remastered and compiled into convenient collections:
If you’ d prefer to just get the cliff notes, the now-defunct Game Trailers produced this hour-long Timeline video to explain the series’ story:
If you’ re looking to get caught up on the Kingdom Hearts series’ massive amount of lore and narrative before Kingdom Hearts III releases, you may want to pick up HD 1.5 ReMix, HD 2.5 ReMix, and HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue — or at least their boxes.
In an interview originally translated by fan site KH13, director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that there are two separate “secrets” hidden among the three games’ box art. Protagonist Sora, seen in the center of all three pictures, is sitting in HD 1.5 ReMix, standing in HD 2.5 ReMix, and finally walking forward in HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. In addition, the time of day changes between the three games — dusk, then night, and finally dawn.
“Those illustrations have a message regarding the final chapter, ” said Nomura in the interview.
It isn’ t clear what this secret message actually conveys, but all signs point to it focusing directly on Sora, and not his cast of allies. Only Sora remains in the same position in each cover (Goofy, for example, is on the right in the first two before moving to the left in the third) , and Nomura reminded fans of the other meaning for Sora’s name — “sky” — which seems to have special importance.
One particular fan on the interview’s page puts forward his own theory, saying that in the final Kingdom Hearts III cover art, Sora will be “running for cover” as he anticipates his final battle. He also speculates that the sky behind the characters will be bright, reflecting a “ray of hope” the friends still believe in.
