Kingdom Hearts 3 News - Haley Joel Osment AMA

[IndomitableSam]

Hey guys;

Quick tidbit.

Haley Joel Osment (Sora) is doing an AMA on Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/] right now and someone asked a question about KH3:

Artvandelay1 15 points 1 hour ago

Have you started working on Kingdom Hearts 3 yet? What do you know about it that you can legally share with us?
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[?]HJOsment 32 points 55 minutes ago

Wow, lots of Kingdom Hearts questions! I am a fan of the series too, so I am excited to see what they do with KH3. I only have about as much information as you all do at the moment; they are still making the game, and my part is one of the last steps in the process. I won't be involved until later in the year at the earliest. But I will let you all know if I hear anything more!

Link to permanent [http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/cer804q].

Do you guys this this is confirmation that KH3 will be out in the next couple years? Whatever the news, it's probably something he wasn't really supposed to say as it kind of confirms he's got work lined up for it.

I'm at work, so this is the extent of a post I can make, I haven't read through it all yet... but it does sound encouraging, if voice recording is end-stage and he'll be doing it within the year. So maybe a 2015 release for the game?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

If and when they do release KH3 they better fucking wrap things up with it. I'm sick of all this SomebodyHeartlessNobodySomebodyagain resurrection cycle bullshit.

 

[RaikuFA]

If and when they do release KH3 they better fucking wrap things up with it. I'm sick of all this SomebodyHeartlessNobodySomebodyagain resurrection cycle bullshit.

This, a joke between Disney and Square has turned into the gaming equivalent of LOST.

 

[klaynexas3]

I'm almost certain it'll be out by 2015, 16 at the latest. The reason is that since it first came out, there have only been at most a two year gap between KH game releases of some sort, and even then it's been a while since we've been that long without a release, so with 2.5 due for this year, that should mean no more remixes(I doubt 3D would get its own remix, thought it's possible for it to have a PS3 release at some point), and since they said the next one was 3, that means no new KH game could come out in 15 besides 3. At least, that's just speculation on my part.

 

[Artaneius]

I stopped caring about KH since KH 2. It became pretty obvious they were purposely just making cliffhanger after cliffhanger to milk the franchise.

 

[Roxas1359]

Would he still be the voice of Sora? Has he done it for any of the other KH games since the second?

He's done Sora for every Kingdom Hearts game in which Sora is a playable character. You also have to remember, Sora is gonna be 17/18 by the time of Kingdom Hearts 3, so if he didn't sound older that'd be strange.

 

[Auron225]

So the news is that there isn't any news yet?

...right. I think I'll check back when something actually... y'know, happens.

 

[Simple Bluff]

If and when they do release KH3 they better fucking wrap things up with it. I'm sick of all this SomebodyHeartlessNobodySomebodyagain resurrection cycle bullshit.

The central plot will be wrapped up but the series itself will continue on, so says Nomura. He sees the current storyline as a "saga" of sorts, the first of many in the KH franchise. Which disappoints me honestly.

Anyhoo, my bet is that the game won't be released until 2016 - not outside Japan at least. Really, I reckon the best we could hope for (if you're not planning on importing) is a 2015 Christmas release. And even then I'd think that's a tad optimistic. But I must say, after all this time, it's good to see it's actually in development.

 

[nyankaty]

I stopped caring about KH since KH 2. It became pretty obvious they were purposely just making cliffhanger after cliffhanger to milk the franchise.

As much as I LOVED KH, I'm kind of in the same boat. I haven't played any of the many spin-off storylines; I've stuck only to KH1, KH2, and a brief, rage-filled partial playthough of CoM and if KH3 doesn't wrap up Sora, Kairi, and Riku's story, I'm done. I won't buy KH4, 5, 10, 283. It's going to turn into the goddamn Land Before Time franchise where there's so many sequels that they didn't even bother numbering the last few. Screw that nonsense.

Instead of making so many random games with what seemed to me to be subpar characters, I really think they should have focused on the great thing they had going with the original three instead of making up whatever crap they could to make as many games as they could on as many consoles as they could (as exclusives).

Guh. KH is a touchy topic for me!

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

I'm not sure if alot of people know this, but in a issue of gameinformer (I think it was the December one? Someone correct me if I am wrong.) The writer of Kingdom Hearts III came out and said KH3 will end Sora's trilogy (He called it the Ansem trilogy I think.) But they are not ruling out a new trilogy or other games with different new main characters.

After I get that out of the way; I am most excited for this game. Kingdom Hearts made me childhood worth wild, and even though I was too young when I played KH1 (I couldn't beat it back then, but thanks to 1.5 I finally beat it. Super proud.) I did waste my entire childhood career on KH2. So the news that KH3 was actually fucking happening made me cry. I am willing to wait, but I personally think 2015 or early 2016 at the latest. I mean, one would have to think Localization would take a few months seeing as the franchise is so big over here.

 

[FPLOON]

...There's a part of me that feels like after KH3, they will pull a Bleach post-Aizen super-arc... considering the other news that we've learned through the creator himself...

Don't get me wrong... I have not yet given up on this series (despite most of the plot twist and cliffhangers that basically made it so that you originally could not play the games in true chronological order), but I'm hoping the gameplay/content of KH3 isn't as easy/BS as it was in KH2...

(In other words, I have EXTREME mixed feeling about having the chance to play KH2 Final Mix once II.5 gets localized... hopefully before 2014 ends? ...Also, that AMA quote basically didn't really give anything "new" in the news department... except the possibility of recording English audio BEFORE syncing it up to the overall game... which is stretching it just a bit...)

I'm not sure if alot of people know this, but in a issue of gameinformer (I think it was the December one? Someone correct me if I am wrong.) The writer of Kingdom Hearts III came out and said KH3 will end Sora's trilogy (He called it the Ansem trilogy I think.) But they are not ruling out a new trilogy or other games with different new main characters.

...You are correct! It was on Page 73 of the December 2013 GameInformer...

Also, taking all bets that Nomura's waifu Lightning will appear in KHIII.

...with Sora staring at her... and Kairi Donald slapping the back of his head, telling him to stay focus or something like that...

 

[Saltyk]

So we may get Kingdom Hearts 3 sooner than I thought? That's what this means right? Please?

Would he still be the voice of Sora? Has he done it for any of the other KH games since the second?

He's done Sora for every Kingdom Hearts game in which Sora is a playable character. You also have to remember, Sora is gonna be 17/18 by the time of Kingdom Hearts 3, so if he didn't sound older that'd be strange.

Is he going to be 18? Didn't know that.

And honestly, it's not that big a deal. Dante Basco was in his 30's when was voicing Prince Zuko in Avatar. And Johnny Yong Bosch is just as old and also voices several young characters in anime and such. The age of the voice actor isn't important. It's their voice or ability to change their voice that matters.

 

[Roxas1359]

Is he going to be 18? Didn't know that.

And honestly, it's not that big a deal. Dante Basco was in his 30's when was voicing Prince Zuko in Avatar. And Johnny Yong Bosch is just as old and also voices several young characters in anime and such. The age of the voice actor isn't important. It's their voice or ability to change their voice that matters.

I'm speculating he is going to be around that age. But then again he might just only be around 16 or 17 for Kingdom Hearts 3. It depends on how long it is between Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3. For Kingdom Hearts 1 to Chain of Memories, it was 6 months. For Kingdom Hearts 2 it was a year from when Kingdom Hearts 1 took place. I don't know the time frame though between when Coded takes place after Kingdom Hearts 2, probably not that long, and then Coded goes into Dream Drop Distance which has to be some amount of time at least.

Plus yeah, if a voice actor is good then they can do wonderous things. I mean hell, Dr. Nefarious is voiced by Armin SHimmerman, and he's 64 yet he can do this voice perfectly:

[sub][sub][sub]I love having an excuse to post that video. ^.^[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Would he still be the voice of Sora? Has he done it for any of the other KH games since the second?

He's done Sora for every Kingdom Hearts game in which Sora is a playable character. You also have to remember, Sora is gonna be 17/18 by the time of Kingdom Hearts 3, so if he didn't sound older that'd be strange.

I doubt KH3 is going to wait 1 or 2 years before happening. Seems like by the end of DDD KH3 was just around the corner, so Sora will still be 15.

 

[Mnixos]

I'm not sure if alot of people know this, but in a issue of gameinformer (I think it was the December one? Someone correct me if I am wrong.) The writer of Kingdom Hearts III came out and said KH3 will end Sora's trilogy (He called it the Ansem trilogy I think.) But they are not ruling out a new trilogy or other games with different new main characters.

What Nomura said was that KHIII would be the end of the Xehanort Saga (main bad guy), but that the story could go on with Sora and co.

 

[Mnixos]

I stopped caring about KH since KH 2. It became pretty obvious they were purposely just making cliffhanger after cliffhanger to milk the franchise.

As much as I LOVED KH, I'm kind of in the same boat. I haven't played any of the many spin-off storylines; I've stuck only to KH1, KH2, and a brief, rage-filled partial playthough of CoM and if KH3 doesn't wrap up Sora, Kairi, and Riku's story, I'm done. I won't buy KH4, 5, 10, 283. It's going to turn into the goddamn Land Before Time franchise where there's so many sequels that they didn't even bother numbering the last few. Screw that nonsense.

Instead of making so many random games with what seemed to me to be subpar characters, I really think they should have focused on the great thing they had going with the original three instead of making up whatever crap they could to make as many games as they could on as many consoles as they could (as exclusives).

Guh. KH is a touchy topic for me!

As much as I despise the kind of commercial tactics that go into doing spin-off games, I have actually played most of those games (by luck/friends with the good portable console,...etc) and in the case of KH I would say some were worth their while:
-Birth by Sleep has the best gameplay of the serie and an interresting storytelling structure
-358/2 Days has the worse gameplay but a terrific story with great characters. In the end Sora and Kairi aren't such interesting characters in term of depth, Riku has a little bit of development but it stays simple stuff (from light to darkness and back again). Meanwhile Roxas, Xion and Axel are much more interresting in Days
-Chain of Memories is a good link storywise between KHI and KHII. But the gameplay is so frustrating and so different from the rest of the serie that I never understood what it was doing there
-Coded, I haven't play but it brings nothing to the story and re-use assets from previous game. If you have to past one of these, past this one
-Drop Dream Distance...is fun experiment I'd say. The story is difficult to understand on a first playthrough (even by KH standards) and only becomes important to the serie in the end, as a kind of introduction to KHIII.

Anyway, time to end this thing

 

[SaberXIII]

I stopped caring about KH since KH 2. It became pretty obvious they were purposely just making cliffhanger after cliffhanger to milk the franchise.

True, but unfortunately it still didn't stop me from buying the bloody things. Obviously as a profitable franchise, letting it rest would've been a stupid decision, but KH2 served as a fantastic series conclusion. It was an awesome game which built on its static-console predecessor and didn't leave anything that needed explaining unexplained.

 

[FPLOON]

-Coded, I haven't play but it brings nothing to the story and re-use assets from previous game. If you have to past one of these, past this one
-Drop Dream Distance...is fun experiment I'd say. The story is difficult to understand on a first playthrough (even by KH standards) and only becomes important to the serie in the end, as a kind of introduction to KHIII.

Anyway, time to end this thing

Well, with Coded (or Re: Coded), it was a mix-match of different gameplay styles that just reminded you of other games that do said gameplay styles better... That's not to say the game was bad, per se... Just that this game, unlike 358, is more suited for cinematic cutscenes instead... Dream Drop Distance tried to change up the combat a bit, but it still barely came second behind Birth By Sleep's combat...

But, yeah... I do have doubts about the future of the KH games after 3 gets localized... (with Xehanort metaphorically playing the role of Aizen and, in a more joking manner, Maleficent is just the [true] Gendo Ikari of the series...)