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- Oct 13, 2007
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I was thinking about the "mystery KH game" again, and I've come up with a theory of sorts.
First, the context.
The "mystery" KH game was first referenced in March 2010, when Nomura claimed that there were two KH games in development other than Kingdom Hearts 3, one of which would be out that year.
It was believed that the "mystery" game would show up at E3 2010, and Re:coded showed up at that convention with a 2010 release date. However, Nomura made it clear that Re:coded ''wasn't'' in fact the "mystery" game -- rather, Re:coded's existence meant that "one game was added" (wish I had a reference for this, but I definitely remember reading it firsthand from a trustworthy source) and the original "mystery" game had instead been removed from its intended E3 showing.
As of the Re:coded Ultimania interview (the last time the "mystery" game was properly mentioned), Nomura was saying that he had intended to hint at a different project from Re:coded, 3D, and Birth by Sleep Final Mix when he made that initial quote, but that 3D and Birth by Sleep Final Mix came first (with the implication being that he couldn't say anything else about that project at that time).
So. Something seems fishy here.
If Re:coded ''wasn't'' the game Nomura was referring when he made the "two games before KH3, with one releasing in 2010" comment, that means that (at the time), Nomura was expecting the "mystery" game to have a very quick turnaround. If it was a direct sequel to Birth by Sleep, as hinted in the FM ending, that wouldn't have been insurmountable, since most of the necessary assets would already exist.
But then, why make it disappear the way it did? Even if they couldn't have gotten it out in 2010 like they wanted, they certainly could have finished it by 2011, which was left without a proper full release (since they admitted outright that BbSFM didn't really count towards the one-game-per-year goal). And, if it was ''just'' a PSP sequel to Birth by Sleep, it would pose virtually no threat at all to 3D's sales, since no one would be investing in a new system for it. If it was, instead, a 3DS sequel, it could actually likely help 3D's sales by moving people over to that system sooner (if it came out earlier) or giving people another future release to look forward to on the system (if it came out later). Why not show it?
Here's my theory: the "mystery" game changed platforms sometime between March 2010 and E3 2010, and that platform change made it much more likely to spoil their existing plans than it would have been otherwise. Nomura and the KH team seem to be very receptive to suggestions from platform holders; he essentially said outright that KH3D was put on 3DS and 358/2 Days existed in large part because Nintendo approached him to make games for their systems. If Sony handed him a new handheld and suggested that he'd probably be able to sell more than 400k copies of his next game in the West if he didn't release on the floundering PSP platform, he might have found that rather appealing too.
Of course, a Vita game would be a much larger prospect than a quick second PSP game, likely requiring the entirety of the Osaka team to help develop it, and could potentially wreak havoc with 3D's sales potential if that game pulled a Versus and ended up sucking up all of the fandom's attention too soon due to being the first proper increase in graphical quality we've had since KH2. And so, Squenix corporate could have relegated that game to the same fate as Versus -- total non-disclosure, at least until they find it convenient to release information again.
One other thing that's rather interesting in light of the mystery of the missing "mystery" game is the Secret Episode of Birth by Sleep Final Mix. It's not too hard to imagine that, if the Secret Episode is supposed to directly hint at the "mystery" game, the Realm of Darkness assets that they used for it might have been intended to have a different/dual purpose originally.
First, the context.
The "mystery" KH game was first referenced in March 2010, when Nomura claimed that there were two KH games in development other than Kingdom Hearts 3, one of which would be out that year.
It was believed that the "mystery" game would show up at E3 2010, and Re:coded showed up at that convention with a 2010 release date. However, Nomura made it clear that Re:coded ''wasn't'' in fact the "mystery" game -- rather, Re:coded's existence meant that "one game was added" (wish I had a reference for this, but I definitely remember reading it firsthand from a trustworthy source) and the original "mystery" game had instead been removed from its intended E3 showing.
As of the Re:coded Ultimania interview (the last time the "mystery" game was properly mentioned), Nomura was saying that he had intended to hint at a different project from Re:coded, 3D, and Birth by Sleep Final Mix when he made that initial quote, but that 3D and Birth by Sleep Final Mix came first (with the implication being that he couldn't say anything else about that project at that time).
So. Something seems fishy here.
If Re:coded ''wasn't'' the game Nomura was referring when he made the "two games before KH3, with one releasing in 2010" comment, that means that (at the time), Nomura was expecting the "mystery" game to have a very quick turnaround. If it was a direct sequel to Birth by Sleep, as hinted in the FM ending, that wouldn't have been insurmountable, since most of the necessary assets would already exist.
But then, why make it disappear the way it did? Even if they couldn't have gotten it out in 2010 like they wanted, they certainly could have finished it by 2011, which was left without a proper full release (since they admitted outright that BbSFM didn't really count towards the one-game-per-year goal). And, if it was ''just'' a PSP sequel to Birth by Sleep, it would pose virtually no threat at all to 3D's sales, since no one would be investing in a new system for it. If it was, instead, a 3DS sequel, it could actually likely help 3D's sales by moving people over to that system sooner (if it came out earlier) or giving people another future release to look forward to on the system (if it came out later). Why not show it?
Here's my theory: the "mystery" game changed platforms sometime between March 2010 and E3 2010, and that platform change made it much more likely to spoil their existing plans than it would have been otherwise. Nomura and the KH team seem to be very receptive to suggestions from platform holders; he essentially said outright that KH3D was put on 3DS and 358/2 Days existed in large part because Nintendo approached him to make games for their systems. If Sony handed him a new handheld and suggested that he'd probably be able to sell more than 400k copies of his next game in the West if he didn't release on the floundering PSP platform, he might have found that rather appealing too.
Of course, a Vita game would be a much larger prospect than a quick second PSP game, likely requiring the entirety of the Osaka team to help develop it, and could potentially wreak havoc with 3D's sales potential if that game pulled a Versus and ended up sucking up all of the fandom's attention too soon due to being the first proper increase in graphical quality we've had since KH2. And so, Squenix corporate could have relegated that game to the same fate as Versus -- total non-disclosure, at least until they find it convenient to release information again.
One other thing that's rather interesting in light of the mystery of the missing "mystery" game is the Secret Episode of Birth by Sleep Final Mix. It's not too hard to imagine that, if the Secret Episode is supposed to directly hint at the "mystery" game, the Realm of Darkness assets that they used for it might have been intended to have a different/dual purpose originally.