When are we expecting news?

[Luminary]

It's funny, I just saw this, and immediately thought of this myself. The main character is literally almost a dead ringer for Yozora. It does look cool, so I'll probably pick it up, but it does seem odd that Nojima would come out with this when he probably knows Nomura is working on VR for KH. Wonder what Nomura thinks about this.

I think it’s unlikely, but it brought to mind when Nomura told Shimomura about something that changed the direction of the KH series. Wonder if they had been planning these concepts for the Verum Rex/KH4, but maybe Nojima decided to go off on his own when VR didn’t move forward. That’s purely speculation.

But I also think this is interesting…. An excerpt from a Nomura interview about KH4 compared to an official description of this game:



Both exploring worlds based on reality. Both exploring contrast between characters in “different positions”…

 

[Chie]

This is the most bizarre thing on top of how bizarre the entire Verum Rex plot has been thus far already

 

[blank points]

I think it’s unlikely, but it brought to mind when Nomura told Shimomura about something that changed the direction of the KH series. Wonder if they had been planning these concepts for the Verum Rex/KH4, but maybe Nojima decided to go off on his own when VR didn’t move forward. That’s purely speculation.

But I also think this is interesting…. An excerpt from a Nomura interview about KH4 compared to an official description of this game:

View attachment 16371View attachment 16372

Both exploring worlds based on reality. Both exploring contrast between characters in “different positions”…

Huh. This is interesting. Granted, the context in the descriptions does seem different. Nomura in his interview seems to saying that the different positions are between the characters in two different realms. Sora being in "unreality", and the others back in "reality", while Reynatis's description seems to be describing the two protagonists are in two different factions, which seems to be closer to what Versus was going to be, if memory serves. It should be noted that Nomura did say he chose to make KH4 over a Verum Rex game. So maybe he did intend to make an actual VR game, but it did not go through, and Nojima recycled it? That would be kind disappointing, at least for me, as I was looking forward to the VR content. We don't actually know yet of course, but the sad thing is, this may well be a possibility. Sheesh, who would of thought the Versus situation would have gone this far? lol

 

[Luminary]

Huh. This is interesting. Granted, the context in the descriptions does seem different. Nomura in his interview seems to saying that the different positions are between the characters in two different realms. Sora being in "unreality", and the others back in "reality", while Reynatis's description seems to be describing the two protagonists are in two different factions, which seems to be closer to what Versus was going to be, if memory serves. It should be noted that Nomura did say he chose to make KH4 over a Verum Rex game. So maybe he did intend to make an actual VR game, but it did not go through, and Nojima recycled it? That would be kind disappointing, at least for me, as I was looking forward to the VR content. We don't actually know yet of course, but the sad thing is, this may well be a possibility. Sheesh, who would of thought the Versus situation would have gone this far? lol

Yeah that’s what I’m leaning toward as a possibility.

Also it’s a bit curious to me that the game’s title is a play on renatus which is the Latin word for rebirth… and they announced this the week before FFVII Rebirth comes out, which Nojima also wrote the scenario for. Lol.

There’s a bigger trailer releasing next week on the 26th too, so we’ll see more here soon. Maybe we’ll get official word on if it will be localized. I’m not really sure how to feel about it all at the moment.

 

[Chie]

One of the characters in that trailer is just palette swapped Shoko from Neo TWEWY...

 

[MATGSY]

Not KH news, but was interesting enough I thought I’d share here. In the Japanese Nintendo Direct, a new game from FuRyu called Reynatis was revealed that looks an awful lot like it’s pulling similar concepts as Verum Rex/KH4… And Nojima is writing it with Shimomura doing the score…

No indication of a global release, but it’s giving some Versus XIII vibes.

Damn, & here I already made the "we have KH at home" joke in the Epic Mickey thread.

 

[Luminary]

Something else to point out with the name… Rey means king in Spanish while natus means born in Latin. So it could be an amalgamation of “born king.” Like how Verum Rex means “true king”…

I hope we get a KH4 update soon to clarify the direction it is going. It would be good to know one way or another if this has impacted the game at all.

I just think it’s unlikely Nojima and Shimomura would both work on a game so obviously using the same concepts as Verum Rex and VSXIII without Nomura’s blessing. Not that they don’t have the right to considering they were both part of the OG VSXIII team. They have as much right to bring their contributed ideas to life as Nomura. But why not work together with him in Verum Rex/KH4?

Square Enix or Disney shutting down the Verum Rex ideas seems to be the most likely answer to me. Nomura couldn’t pursue it elsewhere because he’s an SE employee. But the other two are freelance, so they were able to find another studio to bring it to life.

Damn, & here I already made the "we have KH at home" joke in the Epic Mickey thread.

Crazy that we basically had all the ingredients of KH4 without actually getting KH4 in this direct.

 

[MATGSY]

Crazy that we basically had all the ingredients of KH4 without actually getting KH4 in this direct.

I half-expected Disney Infinity Gold Edition to get a port announced so the Disney crossover facet would be covered as well.

 

[2 quid is good]

This Versus XIII hyperfixation really has to end at some point. Stop tryna make fetch happen!

 

[Luminary]

Check out this interview:

Reynatis Kingdom Hearts Inspiration, Shimomura Nojima Interview

Following the announcement of the Furyu-developed action RPG Reynatis, Famitsu interviewed director Takumi Isobe and fellow staff.

noisypixel.net

The director specifically quotes KH and FF as influences. At the very least, I am glad he is crediting the franchises. And it is cool to see people who grew up with the franchise get the chance to create something with folks like Nojima and Shimomura.

 

[MATGSY]

This Versus XIII hyperfixation really has to end at some point. Stop tryna make fetch happen!

Tell that to Nomura. He's the one that clearly hasn't gotten over it

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

It just raised so many questions, namely "what the ever loving f--- is even going on in there at SE HQ?!" and I'm like "Japanese work culture must be one hell of a...hell" if Nomura had to have his "revenge" this way. It also made me think, "how on earth did the exec team even allow that secret ending in KH3 vanilla and Remind when they know quite a few of their disgruntled employees from the Crystal Tools days are still nursing a grudge? More disgruntled employees at the QC team?"

Edit: Decided to go down the rabbit hole. It seems that FuRyu has a bit of a reputation of developing and releasing games that are inspired by bigger, more mainstream titles, which isn't bad, but obviously not something completely favorable for two things: reputation, even if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the resulting works being hit or miss. Of course, that's just the opinion of some few others and not even the majority in the J-gaming scene who knows of them think that way. But if Nojima and Shimomura are actively participating in this while Nomura is clearly in a bind, one can't help but wonder...

It's not up for speculation since we don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and we really shouldn't, but it is food for thought at least.

 

[Phoenix]

This whole Versus situation is getting out of control.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Honestly, I’m all in for it. If Nomura moved on because he’s so over it, then I’m happy for him, and if he wants to send a big fat middle finger to the exec team…well, this should be fun to watch.

Of course that’s just me. I just love a good revenge. I think there was a time I spent an entire year and a half just amusing myself with a certain subreddit about revenge.

 

[Chie]

The director seeking out those two himself makes me less scared that Verum Rex/KH4 got fucked over. But it wouldn't surprise me if that did happen, because the industry sucks.

 

[Launchpad]

Even if there's a heap of overlap with staff and directors, I still find it immensely frustrating that so many ideas here are straight out of Verum Rex. Even if Verum Rex isn't this massive game idea that'll eventually culminate in its own title-- even if it's just a concept that exists within KH4, it's really annoying to see something that is (from what I can see) using Verum Rex as inspiration.

It's like going to see a musical on broadway, but before the show starts, a bunch of pitchy teenagers are singing all the songs in the lobby. Like damn, shut up!! We're all going to see the show when its time to see the show, I don't want your inferior approximation

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Something happened, something that not even the multi-billion entertainment conglomerate that is Disney could intervene in, and I’m just dying to find out what.

 

[KeybladeLordSora]

I will say this is what happens when you basically stay extremely quiet for nearly two years.

Neither KH4, Verum Rex, and Versus are actual concrete released things[KH4 is kinda concrete but y'know what I mean]and all three are gettin a copycat[no shade on the devs of the other game].

 

[2 quid is good]

Mmm

I will say this is what happens when you basically stay extremely quiet for nearly two years.

Neither KH4, Verum Rex, and Versus are actual concrete released things[KH4 is kinda concrete but y'know what I mean]and all three are gettin a copycat[no shade on the devs of the other game].

Exactly. Square made a big show of their new "we won't announce games early!!!" policy and then proceeded to announce KH4 early. If it wasn't going to be promoted til after 7RR, then why bother? I doubt it would have changed much over the past few years, the franchise won't *die*. KH always gets views and clicks. Especially mainline entries.

 

[Luminary]

Here’s the full Reynatis trailer.

Nomura, your response?

EDIT: It’s confirmed to be releasing in the west this fall sometime, published by NISA who has localized several FuRyu games in the past.

REYNATIS coming west this fall for PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC

NIS America will release FuRyu and Nastume Atari-developed dark action RPG REYNATIS for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam this fall in the west, the publisher announced. The PC…

www.gematsu.com