When are we expecting news?

[MATGSY]

It really is the year of RPGs isn't it, and EYO PLAYABLE ZELDA?

Capcom make a new Ace Attorney game

Still got the Professor Layton crossover & that 1 Harvey Birdman game before they are officially out of games to port. THEN they can start making a new one!

 

[Phoenix]

Yeah both franchises made the same “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” choice to have these big reveals at the milestone anniversaries.

Also, we seemingly have the full line up for their 2024 console release dates now. Yet still no word on where Missing Link fits in.

Dawntrail - 7/2/24
Visions of Mana - 8/29/24
Romancing SaGa 2R - 10/24/24
Life is Strange - 10/29/24
DQIII HD2D - 11/14/24
Fantasian- TBD Holiday 2024

Plus our first 2025 title in DQI&II HD-2D.

The only notable gaps between releases are between Dawntrail and Visions as well as the latter and Romancing SaGa. Maybe Missing Link will slot in somewhere in those gaps. I could see it being late September at this point.

I hope a 2025 AAA release will be revealed late summer. Either KH4 at D23 or that, DQXII, or FF9 during TGS season. There’s at least one claim from a gaming journalist that FFIX is still a ways off though, seemingly refuting Midori’s claim of it releasing this fiscal year.

Just as an aside, kind of funny that we have two console SaGa games in the same year, but no KH titles since 2020. “Not funny haha, funny weird.”

Oh I don't know, it's a bit funny haha.

 

[Darkspawn]

Linking Hearts is running through at least 9/22/24. So if the intention is for it to be a tie-in event with Missing Link, maybe we’ll get the game by then. (Note this is the Korean version and the JP one goes thru August.)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1803229104902381998

 

[olu]

I didn’t even put it together that the Linking Hearts could be connected (or linked) to Missing Link.

Either way, I’m glad mine arrived unscathed a couple days ago after like 1 and a half months in transit (dog wasn’t included)

 

[Chaser]

I didn’t even put it together that the Linking Hearts could be connected (or linked) to Missing Link.

Either way, I’m glad mine arrived unscathed a couple days ago after like 1 and a half months in transit (dog wasn’t included)View attachment 16474

SOOOOOO CUTEEEEEEE

 

[Darkspawn]

I didn’t even put it together that the Linking Hearts could be connected (or linked) to Missing Link.

Either way, I’m glad mine arrived unscathed a couple days ago after like 1 and a half months in transit (dog wasn’t included)View attachment 16474

Aww cute pup!

Yeah these lotteries have only happened in conjunction with either a game release or the 20th anniversary so far. Melody of Memory’s was called Second Memory. So it seems likely this naming convention is intentional for Missing Link.

That said, it was also being planned prior to the delays we saw with the beta. So I think they had to keep the dates for the lottery where they were even though the full game has been internally delayed. I think the original intent was to have the game out by now.

 

[Launchpad]

Yeah... two years and three months with no release date for a mobile tie-in gacha game is so rough. You expect a chunky wait for a real AAA release, but something like this taking over two years to develop, two plus years paying a team to work on it... this has money-sink written all over it, lol. Even more unfortunate that they seemed to have that lottery tie-in locked down but couldn't release the game in time.

Not only that, but the betas seemed super rough around the edges. Like the standard play experience is meant to be frustrating and bogged down by menu bloat and stingy limitations for daily activity. I'm hoping that this inevitable failure marks the end of SE splintering important lore information into esoteric, impermanent games.

 

[maximumlight8]

yeah I hate how KH went from being all about accessibility for the old games, but then make gacha games that literally close down forever. Even the lore important part is bad on KHUX, everything is presented out of order. It's not a good sign when watching a youtube video is the easiest way to comprehend your game. Maybe KHML will be better but to me if they didn't even organize the cutscenes for KHUX, what makes you think they'll do it for KHML?

 

[Launchpad]

For some perspective, KH2 was announced on September 17th 2003 and released on December 22nd 2005. That's 827 days from reveal to release for a mainline Kingdom Hearts title.

KH Missing Link was revealed 803 days ago, so unless it comes out within the next two weeks exactly, it'll have a longer reveal-to-release cycle than KH2. That's crazy.

 

[Darkspawn]

For some perspective, KH2 was announced on September 17th 2003 and released on December 22nd 2005. That's 827 days from reveal to release for a mainline Kingdom Hearts title.

KH Missing Link was revealed 803 days ago, so unless it comes out within the next two weeks exactly, it'll have a longer reveal-to-release cycle than KH2. That's crazy.

Yeah that’s insane. I wish they’d at least drop a new trailer so we can see what the heck we’re waiting for. The game releases this year and everything we’ve seen of the game was from the beta. Giving us a tease of the Disney worlds, etc. would at least give us some insight on what they’re cooking.

To me, the overall reception to the beta didn’t seem that bad, So I don’t think they’d be doing any significant overhauls. Beyond development issues, my only idea is that they are working on dividing the story updates to release consistently all the way up to KH4’s release. So maybe they are waiting until the latter has a set release window before kicking off ML.

 

[SuperNova]

If they are waiting to divide the story segments up to be in line with KH4's release at least it would be better than the inevitable 500 missions in Agrbah Desert chasing after the monkey again.

 

[Chaser]

Bold of you to assume we'd be chasing a monkey this time. I'm fully prepared to be chasing Brain's hat around and every time we get close a wind picks up and it floats away.

 

[olu]

Missing Link has been super delayed. We never got an official pre-registration commencement date or start period but it was very clearly meant to be available for pre-reg at the time those wafers were released.

I can only imagine the game's undercooked, especially with what people had to say about the last closed beta.

It's really unfortunate, I was really looking forward to the game dropping asap.

 

[Phoenix]

For some perspective, KH2 was announced on September 17th 2003 and released on December 22nd 2005. That's 827 days from reveal to release for a mainline Kingdom Hearts title.

KH Missing Link was revealed 803 days ago, so unless it comes out within the next two weeks exactly, it'll have a longer reveal-to-release cycle than KH2. That's crazy.

This is really striking, I hadn't realised it was that long. For a mobile gacha game, of all things.

 

[xenosaga]

I think people really underestimate the resources it takes for mobile gacha games. Even something like ML which isn't anything big in current standard it will take quite a bit. Granted I do expect the ML team to be super small even with outsourcing included.

 

[Darkspawn]

If they are waiting to divide the story segments up to be in line with KH4's release at least it would be better than the inevitable 500 missions in Agrbah Desert chasing after the monkey again.

Agreed. He did already say that the long waits between updates would be unacceptable now. Hopefully it will also mean less story filler too.

Nomura also said the content for ML is the size of a full console game. If they’re developing the full game in advance of release rather than doing a lot of it as they go, it makes it a bit more understandable why it’s taking about the same time as a console title.

 

[Liodin]

Ux team, from making a 2D sprite game to a 3D action-RPG, with GPS, in UE4, for phones.

Technical challenges and platform optimization, pandemic impact, localization and global release preparations, voice acting, beta feedback, content volume, 3D characters, worlds and other assets, 3D animation, and more.

And I guess you visit different sites than I do, because the vast majority of people had good impressions of the two betas. Even the second one improving things that people complained about the first one.

 

[xenosaga]

And I guess you visit different sites than I do, because the vast majority of people had good impressions of the two betas. Even the second one improving things that people complained about the first one.

Yeah I haven't seen much ML impressions myself, but the small stuff I saw (all Japanese) were generally positive. Of course there were small issues here and there, but overall it wasn't bad at all.

 

[Launchpad]

And I guess you visit different sites than I do, because the vast majority of people had good impressions of the two betas.

I know you really like the mobile games, so I'm not about to try to convince you of anything regarding their quality, nobody likes a yum yucker. If they bring you joy, I want nothing more than for them to continue to do so, so what I say is less "here's why it sucks and its lame" and more "here's why this game may run into issues"

I came to my conclusion from watching streams for a few hours of the most recent beta. Multiple players seemed annoyed with map navigation and energy limits. A few streamers said the combat was too easily decided by the statues the beta gave them. These issues reared their heads BEFORE the full release, where they'll likely be exacerbated by the pay to win 'solutions' that SE will sell to let the player feel less frustrated by the limitations present in the game. I can't remember a time where anyone liked that in any game.

I think outside of the truly dedicated KH fans that feel its their duty to keep up with and consume all KH media, the game won't do so hot. A longer dev cycle than KH2 for something like that is pretty nuts, to me. I think Nomura's sudden interest in GPS and tying that into the plot is a bad decision, because not only has it likely overcomplicated development, but every person on this earth has already played Pokémon Go and will likely draw unfavorable comparisons to how quick and easy that game is to play.

If I'm wrong and the game ends up having super great gameplay and feels tight as hell and can stand next to the best KH games, I'll eat crow with a big smile on my damn face and play the game all day... but I think this was initially a short-term "let's do a KH lore dump game with MTX to make some cash" project that has become overly mired in features that haven't been novel for almost a decade.

 

[Squood!]

I wouldn't be surprised if Nomura suggested a console title only for it to get shelved and this was the only alternative

Like with Dark Road apparently