IGN Japan: 11 new pieces of information about KINGDOM HEARTS 3
- Details
- Published on February 10, 2018 @ 04:54 pm
- Written by Cecily
The KINGDOM HEARTS Fan Event last night may have only been 80 minutes long, but in that time, they released a flurry of new information and content. Between 2 new trailers to the long awaited reveal of Utada Hikaru's theme song, there's a lot to cover. So, IGN Japan compiled 11 new pieces of information from the event that you might have missed in all the hullabaloo!
Read translations below, thanks to Saken:
11 New pieces of information from D23 Expo Japan that have shed some light on Kingdom Hearts 3
While the most crucial piece of information, the release date, is still unknown, at today’s D23 Expo Japan we received plenty of new information on Kingdom Hearts 3.
We have taken this information and summarised it for your reading pleasure.1. Monsters Inc. World
In the latest trailer, “Monsters Inc.” was revealed as a new world. Following Toy Story, Monsters Inc. is the 2nd Pixar world that has been introduced into KH3. Taking on appearances similar to those of Mike and Sully, Sora and friends set out on an adventure in the new Monsters Inc world, with plenty of new gimmicks to play around with.
2. Utada Hikaru’s new song “Oath” set as the theme song
Having already compiled songs for both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, after 13 years Utada Hikaru returns again for the theme song of KHIII. The name of this one is “Oath”, which can be partly heard in the recent trailers.
3. Transformations of Gummi Ships to the Open World
A staple of the series, the highly customizable Gummi Ships are something you use to fly through space in order to reach brand new worlds. In KH3, they’re back again, with ever more the customizability. Additionally, what used to be linear stages have now been revamped into open world environments with a 360 degree view, where you may freely fly and travel as you see fit. The gameplay seems to have been separated into 2 phases: Battle Phase and Searching Phase. With the updated system and customizations, it’s become a much richer experience.
4. Worlds have become busier
One of the most compelling aspects of the Kingdom Hearts series is how you can travel around to many different Disney worlds. In KH3, effort has been put not only into the action developing on the battle field, but in the actual towns themselves. The presentation showed off the Rapunzel world, which contains a town surrounding the castle. The town contains countless NPCs who come and go, with houses and shops that line up the alleys. Compared to before, KH3 will really make you feel like you’re actually in the respective Disney worlds.
5. The programming for Rapunzel’s hair was extremely tough
Tangled was one of the first worlds announced and worked on but, the reason that there wasn’t much gameplay footage within there was, out of everything, the fact that in order to get Rapunzel’s hair to act in the way it does it took a huge amount of time. Up until now there hasn’t really been a character in a game with as much hair as Rapunzel, and so processing that hair was really tough. For a while, it was just floating there. During the presentation, however, we are shown scenes of Rapunzel walking, where her hair flows in the wind and falls completely naturally as if in real life. She’s also seen to be able to interact with environment using her hair, like wrapping it around a tree etc. which we think will go down in gaming history as the most effort ever put into a game character’s hair.6. The background modelling was done by the largest team ever at Square Enix
In terms of development, one of the most vital parts were the backgrounds for the fields and towns. From Square Enix alone, the team developing the backgrounds in KH3 involved 80 people, and above that they also outsourced to studios overseas. This is a first in Square Enix, being the biggest team used for developing backgrounds ever. Look forward to seeing incredibly rich environments within KH3.
7. There’s a collaboration with Kingdom Hearts Union Cross
There seems to be some sort of collaboration going on with the Kingdom Heart’s series mobile app, “Kingdom Hearts Union Cross”. From today a collaboration with Final Fantasy Record Keeper has begun, which includes a Gummi Ship mini game within Record Keeper, a Gilgamesh and Kefka raid battle within Union Cross, and characters appearing as avatars in the classic Final Fantasy pixel style. As for collaborations with KH3 there was nothing in particular announced, however developers did talk about how they want to link KH3 and Union Cross in some way.
8. Each world is rich full of content, as if they are their own games
According to the developers, this Kingdom Hearts game is “on a whole different level”. In each and every world they have put the utmost effort, so much so that each world could be considered its own game with the amount of mechanics and gameplay that they have packed in. In the gameplay portion of the trailer, you could see Sora riding rockets, hanging from factory belts, there truly are many diverse elements that you can look forward to experiencing.
9. The appearance of “Giantland” in some form?
In the presentation, some images were showcased of the current development situation, and among those an image with the words “Giantland” was seen. It was quite a basic picture, and not seen within any of the footage shown of the KH3 gameplay, but there must be some intention of incorporating it into the game. “Giantland” is known in Japan as “Mickey’s Giant Conquest” which was released as an animated film in 1933, which was based on the English fairy tale, “Jack and the Beanstalk”. We wonder how this will be used within KH3…
10. Rare Heartless confirmed!
Kingdom Hearts 3 will include Rare Heartless which may only be defeating by using special strategies. Different from regular heartless, you’ll be able to do things like ride on their heads, and each will have designated missions prepared. We think these will become quite the important pieces of additional content to enjoy.
11. The last stage will involve something that Tetsuya Nomura has wanted to implement for a very long time
Tetsuya Nomura said that in KH3, the last stage will include “Something I have always wanted to do, ever since making Final Fantasy”. What was said was very vague, among it also was the input of the developers, who said very interesting things like: “You will be able to do anything” and “It will be compilation of everything up until now”. What they meant will probably remain a mystery until we can play it, but that whole segment really got us wondering…
COMMENTS
11 means the game's final level, right?
That's what I thought. So the 7 lights vs 13 darknesess may not happen at the Keyblade Graveyard but this secret world Nomura is planning.
11 makes me think of only one thing.
WE'RE GOING TO KINGDOM HEARTS BOIS
11 makes me think of only one thing.
WE'RE GOING TO KINGDOM HEARTS BOIS
When they say Collaboration of everything up until now - I hope it's like End of the World from KH1 where we get to visit a room from every single world from KH1 to BBS to DDD to KH3. (minus tarzan)
Because isn't Kingdom Hearts the heart of all worlds?
I'm curious to see this final world. If it's actually Kingdom Hearts this time I will be genuinely pleased.
The final stage is an actual stage and the 7 Lights and 13 Darkness will have a dance battle.
The final stage is an actual stage and the 7 Lights and 13 Darkness will have a dance battle.
Vanitas and Ven putting their freestyle breakdancing to good use.
I've studied some 3D animation before and I still can't believe the hair. The three hardest things to animate are clothes, realistic water, and hair. Lots of it.
Giantland?!!!!! do you think it's a secret boss like Julius? or mini-world like timeless river? i'm hoping for a boss!
| 10. Rare Heartless confirmed! Kingdom Hearts 3 will include Rare Heartless which may only be defeating by using special strategies. Different from regular heartless, you’ll be able to do things like ride on their heads, and each will have designated missions prepared. We think these will become quite the important pieces of additional content to enjoy. |
I wanted Raid Bosses with missions being sent from Chip and Dale, but I'll take Rare Heartless. I'm hoping they're not as finicky as the gumball machine heartless from Kingdom Hearts 2, or as annoying as the Sniper Wild in Traverse Town from KH1.
rare heartless are those anoying mushrooms right like the ones were in deep jungle?
rare heartless are those anoying mushrooms right like the ones were in deep jungle?
I mean Final Mix had quite a few, KH2:FM had the Organization Heartless.
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Giantland?!!!!! do you think it's a secret boss like Julius? or mini-world like timeless river? i'm hoping for a boss!
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]These were my two thoughts too, the sign being shown makes it sound more like an area, but I guess we could fight the giant in his own arena sorta thing.[/FONT]
Yeah, I'm guessing the Giant is an optional boss.
I wonder if the final stage being a compilation of everything up to now means the final battle will flash in and out of various final battle stages from the past (thanks to time travel or whatever). One battle in a TWTNW area, another in a Keyblade Graveyard area, another in Castle Oblivion, another at Twilight Town (like the Xion battle in Days), Destiny Islands, Hollow Bastion's Grand Hall, etc. Sort of like Pete in Timeless River during KH2 on steroids, with all the various villains/heroes.
I wanted Raid Bosses with missions being sent from Chip and Dale, but I'll take Rare Heartless. I'm hoping they're not as finicky as the gumball machine heartless from Kingdom Hearts 2, or as annoying as the Sniper Wild in Traverse Town from KH1.
I agreed, I'm not ready to do this again on the PS4.
What if the rare Heartless are the Final Mix re-colourings of Heartless? or maybe an alternate variation of a Heartless type like 358/2 Days?
Woah, Woah, Woah, the info on "Giantland" is WAY off.
First off, there are no known movies with this title (or Mickey's Giant Conquest) releases indo 1993.
The first thing that comes to mind are the 1930's shorts "Giantland" and "Ye Olde Days", both with presence of a giant for Mickey to fight.
However, it was also stated that this was based on Jack and the Beanstalk, which leads to the film that I think is the most likely to have based this world on: "Fun and Fancy Free", which is split into two shorts, the second one being Mickey and the Beanstalk. Aside from it being the last time Walt Disney voiced Mickey, it is by far the most famous appearence of giants in a Mickey cartoon, featuring the lovable and naive Willy the Giant.
| "According to Square Enix, everyone in the Osaka studio is working on Kingdom Hearts 3, with 100 people from its Tokyo studio also involved. Development is split into three sections: Early, middle, and late. There's around three worlds per section, but Square Enix noted that this doesn't mean there's nine worlds in total. The early phase worlds are 90 percent complete, while middle section worlds are at around 60 percent. It didn't confirm what stage the end section is, but Tetsuya Nomura, director of the series, said it was "something he's always wanted to do and put into Kingdom Hearts, ever since the days of working on Final Fantasy." He added: "It is bound to surprise everyone." source |
has this been confirmed? 100 people wow
Woah, Woah, Woah, the info on "Giantland" is WAY off.
First off, there are no known movies with this title (or Mickey's Giant Conquest) releases indo 1993.
The first thing that comes to mind are the 1930's shorts "Giantland" and "Ye Olde Days", both with presence of a giant for Mickey to fight.
However, it was also stated that this was based on Jack and the Beanstalk, which leads to the film that I think is the most likely to have based this world on: "Fun and Fancy Free", which is split into two shorts, the second one being Mickey and the Beanstalk. Aside from it being the last time Walt Disney voiced Mickey, it is by far the most famous appearence of giants in a Mickey cartoon, featuring the lovable and naive Willy the Giant.
There are pictures of the Giantland thing already, it is based on the short. They are in the thread about how KHIII and UX are made. Also it looks like a mini-game, not a world.
I wonder if the final stage being a compilation of everything up to now means the final battle will flash in and out of various final battle stages from the past (thanks to time travel or whatever). One battle in a TWTNW area, another in a Keyblade Graveyard area, another in Castle Oblivion, another at Twilight Town (like the Xion battle in Days), Destiny Islands, Hollow Bastion's Grand Hall, etc. Sort of like Pete in Timeless River during KH2 on steroids, with all the various villains/heroes.
It's possible. They already implemented a miniature version of this during the Timeless River boss fight with Pete in KH2, so I wouldn't put it pass them. My question is how would it be done? Would they just have you fight a single person across multiple areas like with Pete? Would they have you fight that person across multiple areas as different people? (Fighting as Riku in Hollow Bastion, Roxas in TT, Ventus in Castle Oblivion, etc.) They could also have us fight a series of boss battle with different people. and finish it with us having the whole gang take on Xehanort as a massive team all at once. There are many possibilities here.
There are pictures of the Giantland thing already, it is based on the short. They are in the thread about how KHIII and UX are made. Also it looks like a mini-game, not a world.
It could be both, actually. There's no guarantee that we'll be getting back to the 100 Acre Wood in KH3, so this world could be a replacement for that. After all, if there's anything we do know, All "numbered" titles (and even some "non-numbered" ones) have to have at least one minigame-centric world.
What I wanna know is how will the Gummi ship related elements feel. Based on the description in the topic, it looks like they may be getting the Star Fox treatment. Not sure hot to handle that. =/ I was a huge fan of the setup from KH2, but it looks like they are leaving that behind. I'm also curious as how the rare heartless are going to work in this game. I used to love the Mushroom heartless, but I hated some of the Organization XIII ones. (**** that one outside of Yen Sid's tower AND that one on Beast's Castle's Bridge!) I'm also not a fan of the Sniper Wild Heartless and those with such gimmicky setups. I would love to see the return of something akin to the Chimera and Clock Tower Phantom Bosses though. They were fun! =)
Woah, Woah, Woah, the info on "Giantland" is WAY off.
First off, there are no known movies with this title (or Mickey's Giant Conquest) releases indo 1993.
The first thing that comes to mind are the 1930's shorts "Giantland" and "Ye Olde Days", both with presence of a giant for Mickey to fight.
However, it was also stated that this was based on Jack and the Beanstalk, which leads to the film that I think is the most likely to have based this world on: "Fun and Fancy Free", which is split into two shorts, the second one being Mickey and the Beanstalk. Aside from it being the last time Walt Disney voiced Mickey, it is by far the most famous appearence of giants in a Mickey cartoon, featuring the lovable and naive Willy the Giant.
My apologies, dyslexic me saw 1993, the article actually says 1933 which is in line with the release year of “Giantlandâ€. In Japanese it has a different title, 「ミッã‚ーã®å·¨äººå¾æœã€which I translate directly into English as “Mickey’s Giant Conquest†for the sake of distinguishing a difference between the Japanese and English titles.
It's possible. They already implemented a miniature version of this during the Timeless River boss fight with Pete in KH2, so I wouldn't put it pass them. My question is how would it be done? Would they just have you fight a single person across multiple areas like with Pete? Would they have you fight that person across multiple areas as different people? (Fighting as Riku in Hollow Bastion, Roxas in TT, Ventus in Castle Oblivion, etc.) They could also have us fight a series of boss battle with different people. and finish it with us having the whole gang take on Xehanort as a massive team all at once. There are many possibilities here.
It could be both, actually. There's no guarantee that we'll be getting back to the 100 Acre Wood in KH3, so this world could be a replacement for that. After all, if there's anything we do know, All "numbered" titles (and even some "non-numbered" ones) have to have at least one minigame-centric world.
What I wanna know is how will the Gummi ship related elements feel. Based on the description in the topic, it looks like they may be getting the Star Fox treatment. Not sure hot to handle that. =/ I was a huge fan of the setup from KH2, but it looks like they are leaving that behind. I'm also curious as how the rare heartless are going to work in this game. I used to love the Mushroom heartless, but I hated some of the Organization XIII ones. (**** that one outside of Yen Sid's tower AND that one on Beast's Castle's Bridge!) I'm also not a fan of the Sniper Wild Heartless and those with such gimmicky setups. I would love to see the return of something akin to the Chimera and Clock Tower Phantom Bosses though. They were fun! =)
I sort of think/hope it could be a mini-game not inherently bound to a "mini-game world" like whether its accessible from the menu like the Command Board. Or if its more like the present mini-game in Christmas Town in KH2, so wherever its found isn't a full blown mini-game world.
I say all this because 100 Acre Wood actually is coming back, it was in the leak with Monsters Inc, which clearly is now confirmed. I believe it was just some assets, so its possible its only in cutscenes? But I dunno, I kind of assumed it would be back anyway so it probably is a full world again. Only way I could see a cutscene only thing for that world is if they just sort of show all of Sora's friends through the years. Which sounds like maybe a waste since there is so much to do in the actual worlds lol.
And since this game will probably only have like 9 to 10 Disney worlds I would hate for 2 to be only mini-game based like KH2.
I love the rare Heartless in KH1, and I liked some of the XIII heartless but yea one or two literally took me a year to finish cuz they were so frustrating.
Can we get the giant dancing Mushroom Heartless back? I liked that one.
Xagzan
February 10, 2018 @ 05:08 pmOffline