Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV Will Have to Wait

[roseofbattle]

Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV Will Have to Wait

Kingdom Hearts fans have been waiting for the conclusion to the Xehanort saga as well as answers to dozens of questions, but fans are going to have to keep on waiting.

After years of fan speculation on when Square Enix would finally work on Kingdom Hearts III, the announcement at E3 this year confirmed that Square Enix was indeed creating the next installment to the series. However, the wait will have to continue as the director for the project, Tetsuya Nomura, is working on Final Fantasy XV at the same time.

"Both have Tetsuya Nomura as their director, so we can't create these two big games at the same time," Kingdom Hearts producer Shinji Hashimoto told IGN. Hashimoto explained that the company decided to announce Kingdom Hearts III despite lack of significant progress because speculation had been rampant. "A lot of people have wondered for the last couple of years if Square Enix has actually been working on Kingdom Hearts III; that's why we announced it at E3 this year. But please, we need you all to understand that there's a lot to do."

Final Fantasy XV was officially announced in 2006 and originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Nomura is still working heavily on the game. Final Fantasy XV has been in development for years, and seeing how common the presence of Final Fantasy characters are in the Kingdom Hearts games, it would not be surprising to see Kingdom Hearts III have to wait until Final Fantasy XV nears completion.

Kingdom Hearts II was released in the U.S. in 2006. Seven years is a long wait for the conclusion to the Xehanort saga, and it looks like we're all going to have to wait longer.

Source: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/10/expect-a-wait-between-kingdom-hearts-iii-and-final-fantasy-xv]

Permalink

 

[Terramax]

That's typical. KH3 announced as a PS3 title to rally up sales of the machine, only to find later they'll have to wait likely a VERY long time for it to appear on store shelves. Anyone else reminded of the Gran Turismo 5 fiasco? Or even the still-in-limbo 'The Last Guardian'?

CAPTCHA: IS IT ENOUGH

No, I guess it isn't.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

And Square Enix wonders why it's games need to move 5 million copies to be considered profitable. Could it be because you keep every title in development for years and years so that by the time they ship they're grossly over their budget? Could it be because you're setting unreasonable goals, teasing fans so early that they get excited too soon and then that excitement turns to dismay? Nope, must just be the cost of the DVD manufacturing.

 

[Dunesen]

Longer it takes for KH3 to come out, the longer before I need to buy a PS4.

 

[Triforceformer]

I'm guessing all those handheld games don't count story-wise, eh Escapist?

That's typical. KH3 announced as a PS3 title to rally up sales of the machine, only to find later they'll have to wait likely a VERY long time for it to appear on store shelves.

KH3 was never announced for the PS3. You mean PS4?

 

[Miss G.]

Oh, well that makes sense. As long as the payoff is worth it in the end, I can wait. I don't want us who're still waiting on these two titles to end up like those disappointed Duke Nukem fans.

 

[Ghonzor]

I thought this was common knowledge years ago. That's why a lot of KH fans were up in arms when it was said the Versus team (now XV I suppose) was being shifted to work on Lightning Returns.

 

[james.sponge]

Can't they just hand the project over to somebody who isn't Nomura? The guy isn't irreplaceable for crying out loud.

 

[wooty]

I dont mind waiting, I really don't. Iron out those bugs and polish it all up before another game sends me into a Rome 2 rage......which is still ongoing.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

I'm guessing all those handheld games don't count story-wise, eh Escapist?

That's typical. KH3 announced as a PS3 title to rally up sales of the machine, only to find later they'll have to wait likely a VERY long time for it to appear on store shelves.

KH3 was never announced for the PS3. You mean PS4?

Not officially, but it was consistently teased as a launch title. KH3 is like Half Life 3; no matter how much you say it isn't happening everyone will still think it is. It doesn't help that they say "making the next KH game" and then make all the side games. If it's not the third KH game don't call it KH3 Square, you're just getting everyone's hopes up.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I'm actually okay with this. The Kingdom Hearts games (the main ones, anyway) don't end on cliffhangers. Okay, so Kingdom Hearts did, but it wasn't a bleak cliffhanger--and it wasn't even really a cliffhanger to me. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were fine and continuing their adventure to get back home. And Kingdom Hearts II I thought ended the series. I had no idea there was supposed to be a third one that continues the main cast's story. Unlike other series, which end with utterly crushing cliffhangers and then expect you to wait for YEARS (glares at Valve), I don't need to know what happens. So yeah, I'm okay with waiting for the next game, no matter how long it takes.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

KH3, rearrange the letters, go back one letter for the K and you get HL3... Squeenix confirms HALFLIFE3!!!

 

[Tony2077]

well as long as its made i don't care how long it takes besides doing anything but wait is pointless

I'm guessing all those handheld games don't count story-wise, eh Escapist?

That's typical. KH3 announced as a PS3 title to rally up sales of the machine, only to find later they'll have to wait likely a VERY long time for it to appear on store shelves.

KH3 was never announced for the PS3. You mean PS4?

Not officially, but it was consistently teased as a launch title. KH3 is like Half Life 3; no matter how much you say it isn't happening everyone will still think it is. It doesn't help that they say "making the next KH game" and then make all the side games. If it's not the third KH game don't call it KH3 Square, you're just getting everyone's hopes up.

i have to wonder what you mean by that last part

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Oh, we're gonna have to wait even longer?

http://images.wikia.com/glee/images/1/14/Haha_no.gif

Square, I thought you were trying to get it together? Focus on & release one, then I'd be fine waiting for the other

 

[Frostbyte666]

I wonder if they're trying to get fans of both franchises to have a battle royale and the last fan group standing gets their game finished first. On the 1 hand go FFXV, on the other the longer it takes to get it out the longer I can put off a decision for buying the PS4 and if the cost would be worth it, since I'll be waiting for reviews before buying both items anyway.

 

[shrekfan246]

Focus on & release one, then I'd be fine waiting for the other

Misleading title aside, that's what the article says they're doing. They're working on Final Fantasy XV, and will be focusing on Kingdom Hearts after that is released, or at least close to finished. Which is what I expected to happen, personally. Dunno why the title added FF XV to the "will have to wait".

 

[Mahorfeus]

No surprise. The KH3 E3 preview showed like, ten seconds of gameplay and "Now in development." As in, it's very possible that they just started making it this year. I very much doubt we will see it in 2014.

As for FFXV, a release mid-late next year seems likely. Though as long as it has taken, I wouldn't be surprised if they take even longer with it.

 

[KeyMaster45]

well as long as its made i don't care how long it takes besides doing anything but wait is pointless

I'm guessing all those handheld games don't count story-wise, eh Escapist?

That's typical. KH3 announced as a PS3 title to rally up sales of the machine, only to find later they'll have to wait likely a VERY long time for it to appear on store shelves.

KH3 was never announced for the PS3. You mean PS4?

Not officially, but it was consistently teased as a launch title. KH3 is like Half Life 3; no matter how much you say it isn't happening everyone will still think it is. It doesn't help that they say "making the next KH game" and then make all the side games. If it's not the third KH game don't call it KH3 Square, you're just getting everyone's hopes up.

i have to wonder what you mean by that last part

What he means is that despite it's title being KH3, it is not the third title in the series; they're actually up to something like 5 or 6 games in the franchise. Even then KH3 isn't the 3rd game to advance the main story as Chain of Memories for the GBA [footnote]re-released to the PS2 with console graphics as Re: Chain of Memories[/footnote], and KH: Dream Drop Distance advance the plot between KH1 and 2, and KH2 and 3 respectively. Going by that, KH3 is more like KH5. In terms of the games that aren't hand-held spin-offs, a prequel, or gap fillers, KH3 is the third entry into the main plot thread that shares its combat mechanics with 1 and 2; the games that come between the 3 often have contrived variations of the system that's in 1, 2, and presumably 3.

Yes, because Nomura has spent so much time on FF13 Versus FF15 [footnote]no thanks in part to him scrapping the game when it was almost ready to go to print originally[/footnote] we have ended up with a contrived web of hand-held games that mostly run on the same technology from the PS2[footnote]Obviously so they don't have to spend money on bringing the series up to modern visual standards until KH3 proper is released; not necessarily a bad thing[/footnote], and have been trying desperately to find way to keep the franchise alive till Nomura ceases dicking around on Versus FF15, and burning boatloads of SE money.

I honestly don't expect we'll see KH3 before 2017 or, god forbid, the start of the next decade.