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Tag: Kingdom Hearts

  • 20-Year Old ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Pilot Animatic Released Online

    20-Year Old ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Pilot Animatic Released Online

    Seth Kearsley has recently opened up about the Kingdom Hearts animated series that never was. It has been 20 years since he worked on the project and it was something he held quite dearly, which is why he no longer wanted to keep it a secret from the world. In a surprising twist, however, instead of just talking about the project he went on to release the entire animatic for the world to see online, which you can check out here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Iyg6gQZFhc

    It’s definitely a bold move, as he highlights that he doesn’t own the right to publish this. Disney holds onto the rights even with Square-Enix being the creator of this Disney-Final Fantasy mashup. Many have long wondered why we never got an adaptation of any kind, but it’s great to get a look at what could have been after all these years. Kingdom Hearts has lived on as a massive franchise spanning books, multiple consoles, and ongoing musical concerts but still no cinematic or TV adaptation.

    While this move won’t lead to the series getting a renewal after all these years, there is still the potential for them to consider an adaptation. Disney+ may unshackle them to explore many different types of stories and such a massive IP would definitely be the perfect touch, no matter if they go an animated or even live-action route. Kingdom Hearts still remains as one of Square Enix’s popular entries and we’ll see if the upcoming fourth entry alongside this leak potentially reviving interest to explore a project based on it after all.

    Source: YouTube

  • ‘Eight Crazy Night’s Director Almost Adapted ‘Kingdom Hearts’ as an Animated Series for Disney

    ‘Eight Crazy Night’s Director Almost Adapted ‘Kingdom Hearts’ as an Animated Series for Disney

    There have been many theories that Disney has been trying to adapt Kingdom Hearts in some capacity beyond the games. Considering the series is based in the many worlds from their long-running IPs, it seemed like the perfect show for them to adapt that plays into nostalgia while also offering something new to draw an audience in.

    As it turns out director Seth Keasley, famous for the Adam Sandler animated film Eight Crazy Nights, was actively working on a Kingdom Hearts pilot that even managed to test well. While the initial script he received was just like the game featuring characters from the game series reliving the Disney story, he got a chance to rewrite the script that tested incredibly well. Yet, the project seemingly never picked up and a recent experience seemingly led to him wanting to share what that pilot would’ve been like.

    At the time, we weren’t even really allowed to do sequential story, like every episode had to stand on its own and also with the pilot, it had to stand on its own, it had to be ‘episode seven’. I couldn’t do the origin story… so I said, I like it, I wanna do it and then they gave me a script and I read the script and the script read like an episode of Aladdin co-starring the characters from Kingdom Hearts. And I was like, ‘I don’t wanna do that’, I said, ‘I don’t like the script, I wanna do a rewrite,’ and they said, ‘You’re fired,’… I was like, ‘It’s not that I hate the script, it’s that this reads like an episode of Aladdin co-starring Kingdom Hearts characters and I really think that this should be like an episode of Kingdom Hearts that happens to take place in the world of Aladdin.’ So I got to do a rewrite. I spent a lot of time with a writer and we came up with a new version that definitely felt like Kingdom Hearts.

    Seth Kearsley

    In his YouTube video, he highlighted that he had no idea about the gaming franchise before tackling the project but did explore it. He seemingly fell in love with it once he gave it a shot and tried to give it a chance. It’s crazy to think that this project never picked up and only now details are finding their way online.

    There were some rumors hinting at a potential Disney+ series being in some form of development, which has never been officially announced or even hinted at. It still is a project that would make a lot of sense fo the Disney-owned streamer but we’ll still have to wait for more details on the fourth entry in the gaming franchise. Perhaps the next entry might spark some interest to revive a TV project once again.

    Source: YouTube via ScreenRant

  • ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Will Feature Disney Worlds

    ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Will Feature Disney Worlds

    Here’s a rather curious surprise, as Tetsuya Nomura, the man behind Kingdom Hearts, has offered some insight into what the upcoming fourth entry has to offer. We were teased about the new world known as Quadratum some time ago, but it seemingly hinted at a very different game moving forward. Yet, it turns out that those worried we won’t get a chance to visit Disney Worlds.

    In an interview with Game Informer, he reflected on his time with the franchise and also discusses some minor aspects of what the future has to offer. In it, he also confirms that we’ll definitely be visiting Disney worlds yet wouldn’t elaborate on which ones.

    With regards to Kingdom Hearts IV, players are definitely going to see a few Disney worlds in there. I just want to mention that they don’t need to worry so much about this aspect of the game. It might feel slightly different from previous Kingdom Hearts titles, but once players have had a chance to play the game, I’m sure they’ll be relieved to find that it is definitely a Kingdom Hearts title. It’s the game series that they’ve come to know and love.

    Tetsuya Nomura

    Of course, there’s been a lot of speculation that one of the “Disney” worlds they’ll visit might turn out to be from Star Wars. The new art style also seemingly hints at a possible Marvel inclusion, as the game has seemingly moved away from its more cartoon-inspired roots in its graphics. Well, it turns out that also played a key factor as they approached the project.

    As far as the graphic qualities … since with each new title, the specs have been really increasing and there’s so much more we can do in terms of graphics, it kind of limits the number of worlds that we can create in a sense. At this time we’re considering how to approach that, but there will be Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts IV.

    Tetsuya Nomura

    They may have made some decisions based on the graphical challenges, as the more realistic the designs get, the more difficult it becomes to adapt some franchises to keep the design consistent. It’s a shame they didn’t keep a more stylized look, but the upcoming

    Source: Game Informer

  • ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ to Revive the Popular Reaction Command

    ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ to Revive the Popular Reaction Command

    Kingdom Hearts 4 has just recently been announced with a teaser trailer showcasing the new design direction. As Sora has found himself in a new world that was first teased in the third game’s Re:Mind DLC and later would be revealed to have the name Quadratum. Not just that, we even got some gameplay that teased some familiar and new elements, such as Sora summoning a drill out of energy. The button prompt did catch some veterans’ eyes and it didn’t take long for Tetsuya Nomura, the creator of the franchise, to confirm that it is indeed Kingdom Hearts 2‘s “reaction command.”

    Nomura confirmed its return in an interview with Famitsu and highlighted that the drill-ability seen in the Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer was indeed a reaction command input and that it was connected to the moment the enemy was charging up its punch. As we didn’t see the triangle button showcased in the trailer, there were theories it might include different button prompts, but he highlighted that it was “simply because we have not announced which models are compatible with it.”

    Its return was the result of fan outcry of its absence in the last entry. The second entry made the action command a popular addition, as it involved Sora using the abilities of his enemies against them. Kingdom Hearts 3 took a different route by having special abilities and interactions with the environment connected to the same button. It was originally removed due to complaints it made the game too easy but ended up being highly requested after it was removed. So, many fans might be excited to see its return.

    Source: SegmentNext, Gaming Bolt

  • Eagle-Eyed Fans Notice ‘Star Wars’ Tease in New ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Trailer

    Eagle-Eyed Fans Notice ‘Star Wars’ Tease in New ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Trailer

    After a long wait, Kingdom Hearts 4 has finally been confirmed. Not only that, but we even got a first teaser trailer that reveals Sora stuck in Quadratum. The location is strongly inspired by real-life Shibuya, which was teased in the Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC. It looks like a new direction for the franchise with a more hyper-realistic design moving forward. goofy and Donald do make an appearance, but it seems like the franchise is heading in a new direction. Yet, some eagle-eyed fans may have noticed a tiny detail that might be part of an AT-ST from the Star Wars franchise.

    As the following tweet from @dallin1016 highlights, it seems that the leg of an All Terrain Scout Transporter, better known as an AT-ST, is hiding in the background. Some believe that the location might even be part of Endor. While the trailer teases an open-world concept, perhaps we’ll see multiple worlds connected to one world. While most of us hoped to see more Square Enix representation after their absence in Kingdom Hearts 3, it does seem that Disney will still have a role of some kind.

    Influencer JSkeleton has also highlighted this connection, as many more notice this detail in the trailer. Of course, this also opens up theories that we might even see Marvel make an appearance in the upcoming fourth entry. While most of the franchises focused on Disney, and most recently Pixar franchises, it does make sense for them to expand as Marvel and Lucasfilm are Disney subsidiaries. Plus, an open world with many franchises connected could create a very unique experience for Kingdom Hearts that also unshackles them from some of the restrictions we saw in the previous entry. Here’s hoping they continue to tease it moving forward.

    Source: Twitter, YouTube

  • ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Announced During 20th Anniversary Event, New Key Art Released

    ‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ Announced During 20th Anniversary Event, New Key Art Released

    It’s been a long wait for fans of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, but the big event has finally taken place. Many were hoping to see some kind of announcement on the franchise’s future after it took a vow of silence in 2021. Once the doors opened to the Japan-exclusive event, some have been sharing pictures from the event and it seems that the key art of the event gave us our first tease of a fourth entry in the franchise.

    While some doubted if the visual is actually teasing the fourth entry, even if the placement and showcase of Sora counting down with his various costumes seemed like an obvious hint. Luckily, it seems an announcement was done behind closed doors, but luckily @aitaikimochi shared some insights into what the announcement included.

    Shortly after, the official Kingdom Hearts account dropped the full trailer including all the announcements for the event, which offers our first glimpse at a very different version of the franchise taking place within Quadratum.

    It looks like quite the departure from what we’ve seen from the franchise so far, especially with a completely revamped art style and the modern setting hinted at by the Re:Mind DLC’s secret boss. We even get a glimpse of combat that remains a bit flowing but with more interactive elements. It also seems like it might be moving away from visiting multiple worlds but focusing on one singular location. So, perhaps Kingdom Hearts 4 is an open-world game. For now, that is sadly all we know.

    Source: Twitter

  • The Miracle That is Sora Joining ‘Super Smash Bros.’

    The Miracle That is Sora Joining ‘Super Smash Bros.’

    It’s crazy to see Sora from Kingdom Hearts officially joining Super Smash Bros. Not only did we find out he was the most requested character long before the current entry, Ultimate, ever released. the game’s director Masahiro Sakurai has always followed one strict rule when adding new fighters. They always originated from a video game. Sora surprisingly matches that bill, as he’s a Square-Enix character that enters Disney worlds. Yet, the fact he is part of this massive franchise is a bigger miracle than you might consider at first.

    Sora was No. 1 request in a Super Smash Bros.' poll from six years ago - Polygon

    So, the bizarre aspect about Sora is the legal nightmare behind it. Yes, the game was produced by Square-Enix but in conjunction with Disney. As such, it technically belongs to both companies from a licensing perspective. If you noticed, there are no single Disney characters included or referenced in the preview. The only distinction is the Mickey Mouse symbol on his keyblade. Donald and Goofy didn’t even get to join Sora in his Final Smash. They’re also excluded from the Hollow Bastion stage, as they are normally present in the Dive to the Heart section. So, there were certainly cuts that had to be made throughout the process.

    Sakurai also highlighted the difficulties of adding the character was only possible with help to make this a reality. Hell, they couldn’t even announce the most popular character due to fears of legal troubles. Supposedly, rumors are pointing to the rights having been completely taken over by Disney at some point with Square-Enix primarily acting as the game’s developer. Still, they’ll need a sign-off from both companies and their legal teams to include him in a third-party project. Our first hint at this complexity came to light in an interview with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida. He offered some insight after interest rose due to the Nier tie-in event.

    As for a Kingdom Hearts crossover, for this idea, one of the troubles is that we have to coordinate with Disney, and so I feel that there would be so many hurdles and challenges around working with them, so I try not to think about a crossover with Kingdom Hearts.

    Naoki Yoshida
    Tons of Smash Bros. Ultimate Sora screenshots and costumes art

    If not even an in-house developed game like FFXIV won’t touch the franchise, it’s probably a legal nightmare for external developers to include him. There were many debates about who the final character might end up being and if it would be satisfying enough. Yet, the fact that the most popular voted character and one that seems like a statistical anomaly to ever find its way into another franchise like this is the perfect way to cap off the monolith. Plus, Mario being the one to bring him into the franchise is a beautifully poetic moment, as Kingdom Hearts came into existence the moment Square-Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed Super Mario 64.

    Source: YouTube, EuroGamer, Nintendo

  • How Yozora May Have Been Set-Up Since 2005’s ‘Kingdom Hearts 2’

    How Yozora May Have Been Set-Up Since 2005’s ‘Kingdom Hearts 2’

    I am an avid fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. At first, the base concept sold me, as I could never imagine how Final Fantasy would mesh with Disney. The first time I ever saw the game was on a demo disk that came with Final Fantasy X. I’ve fallen in love with the bizarre concepts introduced with each new entry ever since. The latest entry, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory added a musical spin-off that, in classic Tetsuya Nomura-style, is canon to the ever-growing story of the franchise. What started with a young kid named Sora trying to save his friends from ever-lurking darkness has turned into quite the convoluted chaos. We git introduced to beings known as Nobodys, who are the bodies whose hearts turned into Heartless. Our Keyblade-wielding heroes can jump into dreams, back through time, and who knows what else nowadays. Yet, the latest revelation has given me a feeling that this may have been set-up in 2005.

     

    Keep in mind, if you haven’t played Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory yet, you will get spoiled for the major revelation in that game. Only continue at your own risk.

    The ending of Melody of Memory gave us an essential bit of information on what happened to Sora after he vanished. He now exists in a world beyond the light, darkness, and everything in-between. At first, they describe it as a fictional world known only as Unreality, or Quadratum. The name is Latin for Square, which connects to the new character revealed in Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind named Yozora. His name translates to Night Sky in Japanese, which is the same in Latin for Noctis, who was originally the protagonist of Nomura‘s Final Fantasy Versus XIII. We briefly visit this location in the secret boss against Yozora, which looks like a replication of real-life Shibuya. We get introduced to it in the base game for the third entry, as Yozora was a video game character for our heroes. It fits with the fictional world description. It is a world beyond that of light, darkness, and everything in-between. In a way, it is fiction, as it never existed. There was a location we visited a long-time ago that actually might be connected to it.

     

     

    Now, playing around with that thought, I came to realize we visited a location that technically did not exist. It became the home base for the first incarnation of Organization XIII but was never really fleshed out. It only held the name The World that Never Was, where one could find the Dark City. We never really get a backstory on why this place was the hiding spot for the Nobodys in Kingdom Hearts 2, but it made for a memorable trip. I think many still remember Memory’s Skyscraper, where Sora and Roxas had their final confrontation in that game. It probably was chosen by Xemnas, who was the Nobody of our main protagonist, Xehanort. Going into detail on that character’s history will take quite a lot of time. The reason I bring this up connects to the post-credit sequence of Melody of Memory. Keyblade Master Yen Sid pointed out that the ancient masters could travel between realities, which means that Xehanort was aware Quadrantum existed.

    So, how does it all connect? I believe that The World That Never Was is a remnant pulled from Unreality through the Realm of Darkness. That caused it to turn into the Dark City. A newer character known only as Master of Masters, or MOM, shaped the moon above Quadrantum in a post-credit sequence, which fans know means he is after the True Kingdom Hearts. He may have passed on this knowledge to Xehanort at one point in history, as we briefly see them interact as master and student. This connection would also explain the mystery surrounding the Organization XIII member Luxord. So far, he is the one character who is still shrouded in mystery. Well, that was until the good ending from the Yozora fight. Robin Atkin Downes, who voices Luxord, reappears when Yozora awakes from his battle with Sora in Quadrantum. As such, we can only assume he may have been brought with the city when it turned into The World That Never Was. It’s just a theory, but if it turns out to be correct, I might repeat Luxord’s words from Re:Mind:

    Impressive, is it not?

  • RECAP: Nintendo Direct Mini August 2020

    RECAP: Nintendo Direct Mini August 2020

    A few years ago, Nintendo started their own digital event series titled Nintendo Direct. They’ve pioneered the approach and started to expand on it. We saw the addition of Indie World to focus on Indie releases. As the current pandemic has delayed quite a few projects, they added the Mini version to showcase some producing partners. We just recently got one focused on Atlus’ games like Shin Megami Tensei. Suddenly, Nintendo decided to drop another one today. As there were quite a few announcements, here is a quick recap from the Direct Mini:

    • Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is confirmed for a November 13th release date. It was leaked a few weeks ago by an Austrian retailer.
    • Fuser will allow multiple players to mix up songs and compete for who gets the most reactions. It will release this Fall.
    • Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is an adventure game based on the popular drumming franchise. This will consist of two separate adventures similar to Pokémon Sword and Shield. Game is confirmed for Winter 2020.
    • World of Tanks Blitz was released the same day for Switch players
    • Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is a tie-in game for the Rocky and Creed films. The boxing game will let you fight iconic characters like Adonis Creed, Rocky Balboa, Clubber Lang and many more. It will also include local mutliplayer
    • Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legends is a re-release of the original Gameboy trilogy. It is the first time it will be made available in Europe. Game will be made available as of December 15th.
    • Just Dance 2021 will release with 40 tracks on November 12th.
    • Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 has also been confirmed. This will once again let players play competitively by seeing if Puyo Puyo or Tetris is the ultimate puzzle game. It also includes an adventure mode that will be playable once it releases December 8th.

    The August Mini ended with a few reminders for the upcoming Minecraft Dungeons DLC; Jump Force‘s Switch release, a new entry in the Captain Tsubasa franchise and this month’s release of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. At first, I thought this Direct Mini was going to focus on rhythm games but the World of Tanks announcement was a surprise curveball. One thing is for sure though, did not expect a game based on Creed two years after the last film was released.

    Also, to accompany the Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory announcement, series creator Tetsuya Nomura also shared a brand-new key art.

    In case you want to check out the Direct Mini, you can watch it here:

    Source: YouTube

  • Retailer Leaks ‘Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’ November Release Date

    Retailer Leaks ‘Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’ November Release Date

    In June, we got the official announcement for the latest entry in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It sadly isn’t an entry in the mainline, which fans are still anticipating. This latest game, as the subtitle Melody of Memory teases, will be a rhythm-action game. It lets you play through the iconic music from the franchise while taking down Heartless. It was revealed in their Kingdom Hearts 2020 video without a definite release date. Sadly, it was uncertain when exactly we could expect this spin-off. Well, looks like an Austrian retailer GameWare has accidentally leaked it online, as Twitter user Ezereal shared. Seems the game is going to be released on November 13th.

    https://twitter.com/So_Ethereal/status/1295057362940760082

    It isn’t uncommon for retailers to create placeholders for upcoming games. Sometimes, they do so just in case an announcement is made. Yet, this is a little to exact to just be a placeholder. While checking is still listed on the Austrian site. Just to make sure, I checked others but this is currently the only platform it is listed. We haven’t had an official announcement yet, so there is a good chance it might be around corner if this has been shared with retailers.

    As a Kingdom Hearts fan myself I am quite excited to get my hands on it. At first, it seemed like a spin-off but fans know better. During the 2020 video, we got glimpses of what seems to be a bridge towards the next major entry. Kairi might be taking center stage as they Kingdom Hearts 3 did tease that they are using her memories to find Sora. It’s been a big year for the game with the release of the Re:Mind DLC and the mobile game Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road. Here’s just hoping the wait for the next main entry won’t take another 14 years like last time.

    Source: Square-Enix, Twitter, GameWare