General feeling towards the game for now?

[Face My Fears]

In addition to the timing not working out, it's possible that the form Dark Road took was the only way Nomura was able to get a game featuring Xehanort's backstory greenlit at all.

In theory Xehanort should be old news. He's the big bad of the Dark Seeker saga which was supposed to end with KH3. Missing-Link is part of the new direction the series is taking and will presumably feature new marketable concepts.

So under those circumstances it's possible that the choice wasn't between Xehanort's backstory getting told with 2D chibis or a game with a decent budget, but instead between accepting recycled KHUX assets or not getting told at all.

I thought the rumours going around were that characters from Dark Road will appear in KH4. Whatever the "new direction" is for the series, Nomura could have just shoved it all in Dark Road (as Missing-Link).

Well, I just hope that Dark Road gets a CGI film soon.

 

[Chie]

Like I'm always saying, Nomura is entirely at the mercy of the state of the game industry and the bosses at Square Enix. That's really all there is to it. Different doors open and close, and he takes his opportunities he can get.

 

[Sign]

He should have waited for the budget to open up now to do Dark Road instead of Missing-Link.

That's not how this works. It doesn't matter how influential he may be within the company; he isn't entitled to anything, much less the funding for whatever idea crosses his mind at any given moment.

 

[Xickin]

Eh, neutral 5, maybe 4.5 for the game. I don't think we need another mobile game, and to be honest, do we really need an explanation for what happened between UX and Dark Road? Truly? Some stuff we (the audience) can come up with and put together on our own.

 

[Launchpad]

It'd be nice to play it on my TV, despite how crappy the graphics seem to be. It's not the kind of thing I'm too excited to pull my phone out for. I can't help but feel like this is a good idea being done in a very strange and counterintuitive way... Taking assignments to wipe out heartless in different arrangements in generic, but well-themed arenas is such an easy idea to sell, I'd rather it just be a full-priced game with real mechanics and a multiplayer focus.

 

[Agroogrooiya]

What kind of gameplay will it have? Is it gonna be KH action gameplay or is it gonna be garbage mobilephone gameplay?

That's ultimately what matters. If it's gonna be another "tap your PNGs or flick your PNGs upward" kinda game then I'll pass. But if it is an actual video game on the phone, then it has potential. I recently downloaded Final Fantasy 7 First Soldier and that game is completely legit. But then you look at shit like KHUX and you're just like "jesus christ how did I ever play this for 5 years"

 

[Alpha Baymax]

My anticipation for the game has skyrocketed now that the writer for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is writing the story.

 

[Sonofjafar]

I can’t wait to see how the player character in this game will somehow end up becoming one of the main bad guys in the mainline gamess

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

As long as the walking mechanic is good, then I’m cool with it. I want to be able to walk my little heart out to earn stuff.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

It’s a neat idea, and a nice way to bridge the X[chi] era with the modern KH look. While I haven’t really been following the story for Union Cross, I am interested in seeing where this new era of Keyblade wielders takes us.

 

[MATGSY]

He should have waited for the budget to open up now to do Dark Road instead of Missing-Link.

Hopefully they do a Dark Road film.

No more films plz. I just want offline console/handheld games.

 

[cakito123]

No more films plz. I just want offline console/handheld games.

I"ll never forget an old interview where Nomura is asked something about KH in other medias (TV, Comics, Books, etc) and he states that his priority when giving a new story to the KH universe is to just make a new game and let the players experience the story in first hand.

Really wish some part of that is still true.
Never liked Back Cover too much, the format is a pain to watch because they didn't make the cutscenes more intertwined and presentable as a movie. There was a whole game lacking between cutscenes and feeling that is a bummer

 

[Chie]

Really wish some part of that is still true.
Never liked Back Cover too much, the format is a pain to watch because they didn't make the cutscenes more intertwined and presentable as a movie. There was a whole game lacking between cutscenes and feeling that is a bummer

1) It is. Nomura does not control the game industry. He would make a full KH action game every year if he could. He can't.

2) Back Cover was an original movie, there's no game part you're missing there. Naturally Nomura is not an experienced movie director (see answer 1) but that's still what it is.

 

[cakito123]

1) It is. Nomura does not control the game industry. He would make a full KH action game every year if he could. He can't.

2) Back Cover was an original movie, there's no game part you're missing there. Naturally Nomura is not an experienced movie director (see answer 1) but that's still what it is.

1) It makes sense. Sometimes I wonder what is Nomura's decision and ideas and what it is not. We will never know exactly, specially in game development, but understanding that Square enix won't choose the same as nomura is really important nonetheless.

Answering 2), I know there's no game - but the cutscenes are framed and edited in a way that SCREAMS VIDEOGAME for me. It is a collection of short stories featuring the foretellers - like 6 or 7 different short movies - and it reaaally feels like there should be some kind of game or different thing between those scenes. I remember being weirded out watching it because they marketed as one big movie - so I was expecting like a 1h30min movie with those beautiful (and new, at the time) engine models and lighting.

 

[Face My Fears]

No more films plz. I just want offline console/handheld games.

Are there "handheld games" anymore that are not mobile games?

I think if Nomura hired a talented writer/director to do the Dark Road film, that would be great. I just HATE watching those chibi sprites deal with such major storylines and character development. It makes me feel like we're robbed of those moments and instead get a text bubble and a 2D sprite. At least CoM had more depth to it and that's a GBA game.

 

[The_Echo]

Are there "handheld games" anymore that are not mobile games?

Kingdom Hearts for Playdate, here we come

I think if Nomura hired a talented writer/director to do the Dark Road film, that would be great. I just HATE watching those chibi sprites deal with such major storylines and character development. It makes me feel like we're robbed of those moments and instead get a text bubble and a 2D sprite. At least CoM had more depth to it and that's a GBA game.

I'd say UXDR is way more expressive and capable of conveying the mood than CoM was... but maybe that's just me.

 

[Face My Fears]

Kingdom Hearts for Playdate, here we come

I'd say UXDR is way more expressive and capable of conveying the mood than CoM was... but maybe that's just me.

At least CoM showed facial reactions and had better models. Dark Road is either happy/sad/angry emotions etched on a tiny 2D chibi sprite.

 

[MATGSY]

Are there "handheld games" anymore that are not mobile games?

Melody of Memory on Switch. Sure, it's also on PS4/XB1 but it's still a handheld game.

Why they aren't using those Unity assets for a real game is beyond me.

 

[Face My Fears]

Melody of Memory on Switch. Sure, it's also on PS4/XB1 but it's still a handheld game.

Why they aren't using those Unity assets for a real game is beyond me.

Does the SWiTCH count as a handheld console?

 

[Sign]

Does the SWiTCH count as a handheld console?

Depends on who you ask.