Latest Kingdom Hearts Trailer Predictably Doesn’t Satisfy
The new Kingdom Hearts II.8 and III trailer frustrates more than it delights fans with two games still “in development”.
Yesterday, Square Enix promised (via
) a Christmas gift in the form of a new Kingdom Hearts trailer, showcasing footage both from Kingdom Hearts II.8 and the long, long-awaited Kingdom Hearts III. Kingdom Hearts II.8 is the final bridge game before III, featuring a remasted version of Birth by Sleep, along with two new games: Kingdom Hearts Unchained X Back Cover is a cinematic new story, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage is a new game where you play as Aqua. The full title of the games together is Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue….phew. What a mouthful. Anyway, here’s the trailer:
So, “now in development” disappointment aside (for BOTH games!), let’s look at what we have. Dream Drop Distance is standard–we’ve already seen the game on the 3DS, though it looks gorgeous on the PS4 (as does everything in the trailer). We see nothing new at all of Birth By Sleep 0.2. Kingdom Hearts X is the most interesting of the three in II.8. It sounds like there’s a missing page, a prophecy that the heroes don’t know about, and it reveals that someone in their midst is a traitor. Conveniently, that page has been stolen…likely by the traitor him/herself. I’m delighted to see how they pull this one off, as every single one of the Guardians of Light are lovable in one way or another, and their turn would be heartbreaking to anyone who has followed their story.
Finally, we get to Kingdom Hearts III, and it’s…mostly more of the same. We see some new battle footage in the Tangled universe; there’s also a battle in Twilight Town and around Yen Sid’s tower. All of the footage is jaw-droppingly pretty, especially the Tangled world, and the detail in the landscape is something we only could have dreamed of while playing the first Kingdom Hearts. The coolest part of the trailer is when Sora summons a little bumper-car buggy thing and hops in with Donald and Goofy, dons some cool glasses, and starts shooting the many enemies before him with red sparkly lasers.
Kingdom Hearts II.8 will release on the PS4, and Kingdom Hearts III on PS4 and Xbox One….someday. The “now in development” mantra is so tired by now, that they may as well not show us anything else until there’s a release date for something. For a game that was originally concepted in 2006 and announced in 2013, the perception of the development progress from the fans is incredibly low. Maybe we’ll see KHIII sometime before 2020.