Editorial ► Where Does Kingdom Hearts Go From Here?

[Chaser]

~The game is here~

KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5 ReMIX-(hereto HD 1.5) released in Japan last week! Since its reveal at the annual Tokyo Game Show, fans across the globe have been anticipating this collection. Containing both full editions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, fans everywhere have been excited at the very idea of playing these games in high definition. Through the leak of the official game a week ago, the official trophy list, and the HD 1.5 video galore, fans of the series were excited to see their favourite cutscenes all over again.

H-high definition? I don't know how
I feel about that...

~358/2 Days~

Also included in this package is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. The original game was released for Nintendo DS back in 2009, and was met with mixed reception from fans. Many found the way the player could equip magic and abilities to Roxas to be a great addition to the series, but criticised the restricted gameplay and the plot, especially the addition of member XIV in Organization XIII. The gameplay portion of the game was scrapped in HD 1.5 due to time constraints, and now focuses on the plot of the game in the form of cutscenes, which go for nearly 3 hours.

Are we... relevant yet?

~What does this mean for the rest of the world?~

Through this HD collection, many countries across the globe are able to play the final versions of the games. Countries like Europe and Australia are finally able to play the full re-make of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and every country other than Japan will be able to play the exclusive Kingdom Hearts Final Mix content.
Does this mean that any sort of Final Mix content released in the future now will be available for all regions? Most likely, yes! Gone are the days of region-exlusive games due to DLC(Downloadable Content) easily distributing any sort of extra game content online via the Playstation Network, for a small fee.

 

Welcome to the club!

~But the wait~

While fans outside of Japan still have many months left to wait until they can get their hands on HD 1.5, it is important to remember that this is the beginning of the end. HD 1.5 releasing marked the day we return to the basics of Sora's story and everything between now and then will lead to the final clash in Kingdom Hearts III. Even though there is still a long way to go, I'm sure that series creator Tetsuya Nomura is grateful for your dedication though all these years and is thankful that even after 11 years, Kingdom Hearts still brings you joy.

What about us? Will we be available
on the Playstation 3?

~The future of 2.5~

And with the game finally out in Japan, this can only mean one thing. Work on Kingdom Hearts -HD 2.5 ReMIX- will surely be underway, if it hasn't started already. As revealed the other night, it appears that Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded will be in the second collection of HD games. While some cutscenes of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix have already been upscaled into HD(referring to the opening scene of 358/2 Days), the rest of the games still have a long way to go but one thing is for sure. Tetsuya Nomura will not disappoint his fans. Now, it all just depends on when they announce the collection whether it be at the Tokyo Game Show, Jump Festa, or E3 this year.

And to all Japanese fans of Kingdom Hearts, I hope you enjoy playing this game. Congratulations on 11 years Kingdom Hearts!

 

[Chaser]

Apologies for this mess. It was originally going to be posted as a "Kingdom Hearts 1.5 has been released in Japan" article but due to some obscure requests we had to push this back and change it and now it's ugly and useless and enjoy reading!

 

[Thundah]

I need this so much in my hands.

This will be the longest year of my life.

 

[axel95]

Apologies for this mess. It was originally going to be posted as a "Kingdom Hearts 1.5 has been released in Japan" article but due to some obscure requests we had to push this back and change it and now it's ugly and useless and enjoy reading!

It's not ugly or useless! This is a great article! Nice job!

 

[Sorarocks93]

Oh GAWD, What is this!!?

 

[Chaser]

It's not ugly or useless! This is a great article! Nice job!

Aw thank you! That means a lot! I was pretty bummed out to wake up on March 14th and see a different article was published, but I'm glad I managed to get it out!

Oh GAWD, What is this!!?

Something I hope they never go back to...

 

[flurryflames]

Huh? I didn't know that Xion was criticitized in 358/2days. I am sorry to say Noruma, but you did disappoint me with the theater mode.

 

[Shinra]

Oh GAWD, What is this!!?

It looks like Sora in HD with a pedosmile

 

[ajmrowland]

I do t think that's pedo smile.......

Okay a little bit pedo!


butq seriously, it's from the beta trailer.

 

[Chaser]

Huh? I didn't know that Xion was criticitized in 358/2days. I am sorry to say Noruma, but you did disappoint me with the theater mode.

Many KH fans criticise Xion because of her role in Days.

It looks like Sora in HD with a pedosmile

It's not HD, and I think the smile is more of an uncomfortable smile due to Goofy.

 

[Moonlight Aqua]

I just hope that the next series of KH don't become like fanfic-esque. No offense to fanfic writers (I'm one myself) But you know, the typical fanfic story: Sora and Kairi's kids or whoever's kids become the next keyblade master... etc. I rather have a new character that we never met and has their own back story.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

I just hope that the next series of KH don't become like fanfic-esque. No offense to fanfic writers (I'm one myself) But you know, the typical fanfic story: Sora and Kairi's kids or whoever's kids become the next keyblade master... etc. I rather have a new character that we never met and has their own back story.

The next series will still have Sora as main protagonist and his friends, that has been repeatedly stressed by Nomura already.

 

[skyfoxx]

I just hope that the next series of KH don't become like fanfic-esque. No offense to fanfic writers (I'm one myself) But you know, the typical fanfic story: Sora and Kairi's kids or whoever's kids become the next keyblade master... etc. I rather have a new character that we never met and has their own back story.

Sora will be the main protagonist until the end of the series. Nomura has stated that he already has an ending for the KH series, but it does not end at KH3.
Also, it's obvious that the charm of Sora and overall importance to his character is that he's meant to be very child-like and innocent. A guy who's able to have a positive attitude even in the darkest of times, so I don't see Nomura aging him up that much. Shoot, there's only one KH game in the entire series where Sora is a year older (I guess you could say KH3D as well, but his body was changed to his younger self, so I don't think that counts) so I don't see Sora aging much at all.

 

[ajmrowland]

To be fair, if he can be aged to 15, it wouldn't be a huge difference to get him to 17 at least, since he already hit puberty. But assuming time does its job, there won't be a huge need for that.

 

[Moonlight Aqua]

Sora will be the main protagonist until the end of the series. Nomura has stated that he already has an ending for the KH series, but it does not end at KH3.
Also, it's obvious that the charm of Sora and overall importance to his character is that he's meant to be very child-like and innocent. A guy who's able to have a positive attitude even in the darkest of times, so I don't see Nomura aging him up that much. Shoot, there's only one KH game in the entire series where Sora is a year older (I guess you could say KH3D as well, but his body was changed to his younger self, so I don't think that counts) so I don't see Sora aging much at all.

I'm glad they are keeping him then! :3

I wouldn't mind him aging just a tad... prob to 17 if they want to keep that charm of his.

 

[Monkey D. Rocky]

I'm glad they are keeping him then! :3

I wouldn't mind him aging just a tad... prob to 17 if they want to keep that charm of his.

Yeah, just because someone is 17, doesn't mean they can't be child like. I admit in KH2 Sora became a little less childish, but I feel that Nomura has realized this and is gonna change that in future installments. And think about it, Sora can't stay 14 for the entire series!