Jeff Grubb expects Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event to happen this Spring

[Theme]

Grubb has a proper solid track record. No grains of salt needed.

 

[blank points]

There were only 3 years between KH1 and 2, after all. But as I've gone on about before that's because development conditions were so much more favorable then. Could it be possible for Nomura to have figured out how to make KH4 quickly? I'm not sure.

I don't think the next game is actually KH4. We are due for a new title soon, definitely, but I think people are getting a bit too hung up on it being KH4. I think the KH4 listed in the leak was either a placeholder title, or a miscommunication. (And considering the KH series has been plagued with the latter over the years by many news sites, I wouldn't be too surprised.) I think the actual next game is more likely to be the Verum Rex story, or maybe possibly something else. It seems a bit to early for the actual KH4 yet.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

Honestly i can see it being KH4

https://twitter.com/x/status/1480222839118737420

Please no. That would be a slap in the face for the 20th Anniversary.

It'd be like: KH games coming to Switch! KH games coming to Steam!

Then: Kingdom Hearts 4 is PS5 exclusive

 

[Launchpad]

Disney might squeeze Nomura's arm to get us to KH4 faster. KH3 got a lot of attention and sales, and from a business perspective, there's no real reason not to make another big game now that there's new hardware to put it on and yet more Disney properties to include. I can't assert that the gap between KH2 and KH3 was a healthy or normal thing for the franchise. I think this assumption that from now on, a numbered KH game has to be the payoff to the side-games that came before it is a bit nonsensical and just goes to show how weird the side-games-into-KH3 dynamic was.

KH4 could be closer to KH1 and KH2 (aside from the CoM additions), setting up its own storyline with its own players, introducing characters and concepts and wrapping up in its own way. KH3 was extremely set up by its predecessors but was that really a good thing for KH3?

Another issue is hardware. Outside of the Switch, which I guarantee isn't getting a KH exclusive, there isn't really 'lesser hardware' to work with anymore, other than phones. Days, BBS, Coded, and DDD all released on lesser hardware and with lowered production value, both in presentation and volume of content compared to their numbered sisters. Some like to claim that BBS and DDD were equivalent to numbered titles, but the content on offer really doesn't compare. These games got away with this due to their platform and a general public understanding that these games were side-games. How do you get away with this in a generation where $70 is the norm for new games? Every classic-style KH game should probably be on par with 3 moving forward.

Nomura's also no spring chicken. Not to say he's reaaally old or anything but if I were him, I wouldn't want to spend another 13 years setting up a game that's essentially all payoff. I think I'd be hungry to release a lot of big great games over the next decade or so, and definitely making sure one or two of them are impressive, modern Kingdom Hearts games.

Prevent your expectations from disappointing you, but.. Feel free to have high expectations, honestly.

 

[the red monster]

Please no. That would be a slap in the face for the 20th Anniversary.

It'd be like: KH games coming to Switch! KH games coming to Steam!

Then: Kingdom Hearts 4 is PS5 exclusive

KH3 sold well. so of course sony would try to money hat square like they did with XVI. saw it coming, hardly a surprise.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

KH3 sold well. so of course sony would try to money hat square like they did with XVI. saw it coming, hardly a surprise.

If it happens, it happens but I imagine there would be a huge uproar in the community.

 

[Chie]

I am highly negative about the idea of continuing to use numbers at all, but I've come around to thinking that might indeed be what happens.

After KH3 I was like, "these numbers are a plague on the series" because KH3 having the false connotation of "finally! the sequel to kh2!" on it gave it a bunch of nonsense expectations it was living up to to be a "big game" even though it's just the next in a long line of games. Those expectations also made Square Enix and Disney conscious of the massive number of eyes on it.

But KH3 was also mostly made up of "you know all the stuff we said was gonna happen? well, it happens. the end", and if KH4 came next, it would be exploring all the recently-teased ideas in earnestness for the first time. So it could be nothing like KH3. The numbers would still be arbitrary, but it might not be so bad if it happened, especially if every game is going to have to be made for home consoles anyway so they would all take the same amount of time.

 

[Chaser]

It would be a bit counter productive to port every game to Xbox and PC, and develop Cloud versions of those games for Switch, to then make the next game Sony exclusive. But it's Square Enix and they've done weirder, and stupider, things before so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a timed exclusive.

 

[MATGSY]

Square's for sell, maybe not literally but it feels most of what Square does is moneyhatted by platform holders. Nintendo published DQXI's Switch port, hell lots of DQ games only ever came stateside because Nintendo took over publishing. PC ports only happened when Epic paid for exclusivity. There's honestly no reason for Chocobo Racing to be Switch exclusive so I'm assuming there was a deal made on that. I bet ya KH would've been native ports instead of cloud & come years sooner had Nintendo paid for them.

& now Sony's probably getting antsy over Microsoft buying Bethesda they'll pony up the cash to get as many exclusives of their own like that Star Wars KOTOR remake (a game that may I point out the original version of which has still yet to ever grace a playstation console). Sony apparently paid to keep RE8V off of Game Pass too. & lord knows there's gotta be some damn reason reason Atlus hasn't done a Switch version of Persona 5 yet. It's like we're seeing the end of 3rd parties actually being 3rd party.

 

[redcrown]

I've sort of started to prefer the side games (or at least some particular ones) over the the main numbered titles in recent years; mostly I guess cause they felt like they were allowed the freedom to have unconventional plots and underrated Disney properties as worlds, and focus on individual character arcs that got to be explored instead of the usual schtick of solo protagonist Sora traveling with Donald and Goofy traveling to worlds of popular Disney films and saving damsel Kairi (or have as the romance subplot), which got old even by KH2 in 2006.

If all bets are off in this new saga which I guess it obviously will be, maybe I won't mind only numbered titles in the future. Unless they're also PS5 exclusive while its still over $300.

 

[KingdomKurdistan]

I just want something that at least tries to be a creatively bold and visionary as A Fragmentary Passage.

 

[Chaser]

I just want something that at least tries to be a creatively bold and visionary as A Fragmentary Passage.

Preach. I went through 0.2 the other day and really wished KH3 had incorporated more of its platforming, aesthetic, and level design.

I harp on about Disney saying they are releasing restrictions on their IP and point to those mobile games like Twisted Wonderland and Mirrorverse as examples of how KH could be with character design and crossover but I fear SE and Disney not making that leap with KH. 0.2 was a step in the right direction but 3 had nothing on that.

 

[Face My Fears]

I hope it's a PS5 exclusive. Sony needs to lock in those sales.

 

[MATGSY]

I hope it's a PS5 exclusive. Sony needs to lock in those sales.

PS5 has literally never not been completely sold out for every moment since it launched. Console exclusivity only serves to deny others a chance to experience a game.

 

[KingdomKurdistan]

Imagine a decades-late effort to make the series more accessible by getting it onto other platforms and PC only to then make the next game PS exclusive again anyway.

 

[DraceEmpressa]

Preach. I went through 0.2 the other day and really wished KH3 had incorporated more of its platforming, aesthetic, and level design.

I harp on about Disney saying they are releasing restrictions on their IP and point to those mobile games like Twisted Wonderland and Mirrorverse as examples of how KH could be with character design and crossover but I fear SE and Disney not making that leap with KH. 0.2 was a step in the right direction but 3 had nothing on that.

Oh man, glad I'm not the only one who thinks the same.
I am about to raise the argument Twisted Wonderland get away with the creativity that they are expies instead of the disney characters themselves, but first, it's a "well no, but actually yes" situation as they look like expies, are expies in plot but heavily implied to be reincarnations of disney characters they are based from, and second, we have seen Mirrorverse let the alternate designs for the actual disney classic characters, so logically, it should be fine

I feel like Disney is like that because they aren't trusting Japan with their classic work yet, and only now they let Japanese creators to go ham with the acid trip.

I am at the opinion acid trip does not necessarily being horror, but one of the appeal of 0.2 it feels very Silent Hill with the psychological horror, and I honestly want KH to go full blown acid trip instead of selling the "anime boy meet disney char and save his damsel" premise all over again.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

I hope it's a PS5 exclusive. Sony needs to lock in those sales.

Why though?

Only way I think it'd be Playstation exclusive is if they had a Spiderman world in it but even then - the world, it'd just be exclusive to the Playstation console.

(please never do exclusive worlds Square Enix)

 

[MATGSY]

Why though?

Only way I think it'd be Playstation exclusive is if they had a Spiderman world in it but even then - the world, it'd just be exclusive to the Playstation console.

(please never do exclusive worlds Square Enix)

I mean, I'd be kinda down for a world based on the '93 live action Mario movie Disney made as a Switch exclusive. I'm sure I'm the only one who wants that....

 

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

Well, we can (probably) rest assured the rumored upcoming PS exclusive is unlikely to be the next KH game, according to Jordan Middler (though admittedly I’m struggling to find the primary source for this):

Rumor: Final Fantasy 16 Has Delayed Square Enix's Next PlayStation Exclusive Reveal - PlayStation LifeStyle

The next PlayStation Exclusive Square Enix game was delayed to wait for FF16, and will not be a Kingdom Hearts or Dragon Quest title.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

“Square Enix reportedly delayed the announcement of its next PlayStation console exclusive title in order to wait for the release of Final Fantasy 16. The rumor is in line with recent statements from the Japanese developer, which has expressed interest in developing more titles exclusive to PlayStation consoles. Notably, the upcoming PlayStation exclusive will not be a new Kingdom Hearts, nor a new Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.“

What the heck could it be though I’m going to optimistically cross my fingers for new NieR

 

[Chaser]

Well, we can (probably) rest assured the rumored upcoming PS exclusive is unlikely to be the next KH game, according to Jordan Middler (though admittedly I’m struggling to find the primary source for this):

Rumor: Final Fantasy 16 Has Delayed Square Enix's Next PlayStation Exclusive Reveal - PlayStation LifeStyle

The next PlayStation Exclusive Square Enix game was delayed to wait for FF16, and will not be a Kingdom Hearts or Dragon Quest title.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

“Square Enix reportedly delayed the announcement of its next PlayStation console exclusive title in order to wait for the release of Final Fantasy 16. The rumor is in line with recent statements from the Japanese developer, which has expressed interest in developing more titles exclusive to PlayStation consoles. Notably, the upcoming PlayStation exclusive will not be a new Kingdom Hearts, nor a new Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.“

What the heck could it be though I’m going to optimistically cross my fingers for new NieR

There are rumours that the Chrono Cross Remaster or Chrono Trigger Remaster, I can't remember which one, is a PS5 exclusive. But there are other rumours that say it is multiplatform (maybe PC? Cause Square likes making console exclusives rather than full exclusives.)