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Dark Road finale to be delayed further, new release date TBD



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The_Echo

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It certainly should have been told sooner than now. The Xehanort Saga had a distinctive lack of Xehanort as a person before the villain, but oh well.

I wouldn’t say Dark Road bloated things. UX was really the start of that mess by making Xehanort from Scala instead of from Destiny Islands. It’s bullshit and ruins the connection Sora and Riku had to Xehanort. It was great to see the main villain and heroes come from the same background. Humble beginnings, as it were.
I don't know how much of a difference it really makes when he was taken to Destiny Islands as an infant and spent his entire childhood there.
For all practical purposes, he is from Destiny Islands. Unless his origins and/or lineage become a plot element in Dark Road, Xehanort may never have even known where he was born.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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I don't know how much of a difference it really makes when he was taken to Destiny Islands as an infant and spent his entire childhood there.
For all practical purposes, he is from Destiny Islands. Unless his origins and/or lineage become a plot element in Dark Road, Xehanort may never have even known where he was born.
There was no reason for the team to introduce this piece of info without it eventually becoming relevant in the future.
 

The_Echo

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There was no reason for the team to introduce this piece of info without it eventually becoming relevant in the future.
I agree, but we don't know how it will be relevant. It could be something for DR, it could be something for later.
And even if Xehanort finds out he's Scalan, does that change his Destiny Islands upbringing? No, not really.
 

Absent

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Its important because Sora will bury the X-Blade in the sands of DI and take up the name Skywa- I mean No Heart to honor his legacy.

Sorry for the shitty reference.
 

kirabook

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I don't want to be hard on Nomura and the team but I guess I'm just so frustrated with how UX and Dark Road are going. Even when there are interesting lore parts here and there, it's soured every time they add something unnecessary with it.

In the past I feel like I'd have a general idea on where the story was going and what Nomura was trying to do. I even sorta guessed that Ven could be from the past/a dandelion because it was "small" enough to kinda make sense I guess.

But now? I feel lost. Wouldn't be more worth their time and effort to make an ACTUAL show or movie or something to present this information? Nothing against the animators cause I know they're working their asses off, but there's no way they're going to be able to market this to the wider Kingdom Hearts audience and make them care about this story when moving into "phase 2".

I feel like they're writing themselves into another "Here was a whole game you probably missed but you need this very important information or some stuff in the future won't make sense! 🥰"

Doesn't even matter how much I like or dislike it, I just want to be able to chill in a fandom where everyone is on the same page, the story is able to be followed by at least 75% of the fanbase, and where the bald headed villain guy is finally laid to rest. I'm sorry Nomura but at the end of the day, I just don't like Xehanort like that. Ok? He was a alright villain and I really enjoyed how he tortured my favorite characters and all, but for him, I'm not interested in his anti-villain/anti-hero framing.

Edit: Also, to make it clear, I don't hate Xehanort. I don't know, I just am not sure I like this direction with him at all. Not in the slightest. The best Xehanort moment for me in KH3 was when babynort essentially said "F-U" to Sora as he was fading away in the final battle. Yeah, I'm interested in why he was being such a spiteful excited prick at that moment but everything else? .... EH. It's a conflicting feeling really.
 
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Clue.Less

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Well I'm actually grateful that they gave us a heads up this time, and excited that there's a lot of story to be expected!

I really love watching those little cutscenes. I consume them like the best fan comics. I can't wait to watch/read everything in one or two sittings! I wish there was a way to let those two animators know how grateful some fans are for their work. It must be tough to be just two people and read nothing but complaints online.
 

Sephiroth0812

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Can't say I am surprised about this. If one looks at the whole premise and setting of "Dark Road" as well as what has been released so far the whole story has at best the tutorial/opening act and Episode 1 out of what most likely would be at least a 10 Episode thing overall.

I bet they're already condensing wherever they can and it is still a huge buttload of story to tell nonetheless.

On a personal note I can't say I'm to thrilled about it either way, imho I wasn't from the very beginning as Xehanort as a character is really starting to overstay his welcome. KH III was supposed to be the last hurra with that character in an central role and now we're still stuck with him.

No offense to Aqua and I do really like playing as her in 0.2, but in all honesty any and all supposedly important additional backstory of Xehanort should have been included in that title or during KH III itself somewhere.

It is such a weird storytelling order to investigate and show off the past life and backstory of the main villain after they have been already defeated and their actions unmasked and identified as evil regardless of any possible "noble" intentions.

It's like as if Harry Potter and co. started to dive into the early life of Tom Riddle (Voldemort) after Deathly Hallows (book seven) already happened instead of in book six.
 

Violet Pluto

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YAY! I've been waiting with baited breath for this. My body is ready. I don't really care that it's late as long as it's good. Really IMO, they could have just made it a novel or something, but they probably wanted to give those who waited something, and decided not to just end it off outside of game like the "True" ending of FFXV.

It is such a weird storytelling order to investigate and show off the past life and backstory of the main villain after they have been already defeated and their actions unmasked and identified as evil regardless of any possible "noble" intentions.

It's like as if Harry Potter and co. started to dive into the early life of Tom Riddle (Voldemort) after Deathly Hallows (book seven) already happened instead of in book six.
Anime does it all the time. Also FFXV did it.
 

Alpha Baymax

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The story of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road was really good, it's such a shame that it was stuck in the mobile format instead of being a home console game but Nomura has his reasons I guess. I'm willing to wait if it means that we get a better product.

Anyways, I'll take this time to remind everyone again that there's only 2 cutscene animators working on this game and of the impact the pandemic has had on game development, you know the drill, yadda yadda.
That's insane, just two people?! I know that this is no longer a paid product but you'd think there's be more people working on Dark Road so that the game would be completed quicker.
 

blank points

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Well, here we go again lol.

While I can't say I am pleased to hear of a further delay, I am quite intrigued at the new scenarios that have been teased. Sounds like we are getting a bigger story then we thought out of this.
 

SweetYetSalty

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They obviously want you to walk in Xehanort's shoes and that means being as old as he is when they release the finale. So we can feel the gravity of his journey. It's genius really.

For me, I guess I'm just wondering what is this leading too? Union X wasn't just a Keyblade War backstory, it carried over into Kingdom Hearts 3 with sequel baiting to the point where it felt more important then KH3 actually concluding the Dark Seeker Saga. What is Dark Road setting up? Are Xehanort's classmates going to travel into the present day as well? Who are these upper classmen? Because there is no way this is just a simple Xehanort backstory, which should have been told by now. Are they going to answer any questions left by Union X's ending?

I don't hate the delay. I'd rather a delayed project then a rushed one. I'm just curious what exactly we're setting up here?

Edit: On a personal note, I like Xehanort standing before the Magic Mirror from Dwarf Woodlands.
 

PikaPal

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Secretly Xehanort must have gotten himself lost somewhere in a very dark road and therefore Square Enix are trying to locate where the old geezer has gone so they can wrap up the story.
 

SuperNova

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I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
 

SweetYetSalty

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I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
That's likely what is going to happen. Even though he's gone Xehanort is still playing a role in the series like in Melody of Memory. I don't think he is leaving, even if he exist as a memory or through his research that expands every game.
 

Sign

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That's insane, just two people?! I know that this is no longer a paid product but you'd think there's be more people working on Dark Road so that the game would be completed quicker.
Yeah, and the second cutscene animator was only hired in the last year of UX's service, so from the original KHX until then, there was only one. People tend to overlook it but Bitgroove is a very small mobile developer. Iirc they only have like 40-ish staff? And of course, not everyone is working on games, let alone this one; there's also people in HR, finance, etc.

It's possible they may have hired more people since then, but best not to assume.

On a related note, Nomura did say the staff turned green when they saw the stack of pages for Episode 1 alone. If they've expanded the scope by a significant degree, it's no surprise this update is taking so long.
 

Zackarix

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They really bit off more than they could chew with Dark Road, didn't they? Using Xehanort's backstory to extend the life of the KHUX app was already a questionable choice that didn't work out. But at least they're trying to conclude the story instead of cancelling it outright? I wonder how Square Enix convinced Bitgroove to spend so long on a game that isn't going to make them any money?
 

The_Echo

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I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
Xehanort will always be relevant due to the life he led and the research he conducted.
Personally, I prefer this to the more gamey/shonen storytelling where the Big Bad is defeated and immediately forgotten.
It makes sense for Xehanort to still have purpose in the narrative even after he's gone.
 

kirabook

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I'm cool with the villain still hanging over the heads of the hero. I've been playing FFXIV recently and they do a pretty good job showing not only the long lasting effects the heroes have on the world, but also the villains. Crap the villains did all the way in 1.0 (which was blown to pieces by the developers and can no longer be accessed by players) is STILL screwing up their world today. The effects on the land are an eyesore. Every new plot development can be tied back to them and the mess they made.

I don't think it should be "Xehanort who???", I just prefer to not have him literally walking around in whatever form he decides to take STILL affecting the current plot in a literal manner. The trauma and heartache he caused to the heroes, the worlds still recovering from stuff he set in motion ages ago, that's great stuff right there.

But he himself? It's what I've dubbed the "Orochimaru disease". Never freakin' dies and lives long enough to become a "good guy" despite his past absolutely horrible atrocities and crimes against humanity. For me, it's worst to keep a villain around seemingly for the sole purpose of making him a good guy. A "Well aktually, he was good all along" situation would kill me.
 

Sakuraba Neku

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Jesus, what a mess... They keep giving us deadlines they can't meet.

Why the story is expanding when there's few people working on this?! It should be the opposite...
If there is so much content why they don't release it in parts like Union Cross?!
 
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