Fusing the worlds of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy games with Disney’s stable of beloved, animated characters in an action-RPG, Kingdom Hearts was one of the most surprising hits of the PlayStation 2. Kingdom Hearts II followed just a few years later to even greater acclaim. Despite a dizzying array of spinoffs and prequels in the intervening years, including the nonsensically titled Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, fans have been waiting for a proper sequel for more than a decade. Thankfully, you can grab all of the Kingdom Hearts games in one convenient package dubbed Kingdom Hearts – The Story So Far.
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You don’t have to wait much longer for Kingdom Hearts 3, as it arrives January 29 on PS4 and Xbox One. Here’s all of the intel we’ve gathered so far about the game to date.
Gameplay
In general, the action RPG gameplay will be familiar to fans of the series as an evolution of the action in Kingdom Hearts II. As shown in the latest gameplay trailer above, however, successful ideas from the handheld titles, specifically Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, will be integrated as well. There will be a greater emphasis on mobility, with Sora able to jump on certain enemies and to wall run. Major new features revealed so far include:
- Attraction Flow – These new super attacks, somewhat analogous to the powerful and elaborately animated summon attacks from Final Fantasy games, will invoke iconic rides from Disney’s theme parks. Moves revealed so far include the Teacups, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Pirate Ship. The attacks will be triggered under “certain battle conditions,” but it is not yet clear what these are.
- Keyblade Transformations – Protagonist Sora’s iconic Keyblades make a return, with the added ability of dramatic transformations in battle. Each weapon will have a unique transformation, such as into a pair of colorful guns, or a chariot pulled by a pegasus.
- Guard Form – Drive forms, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, will return. Guard form was revealed on Twitter.
- Power Form – A power form alters the Keyblade into a different weapon, but we don’t yet know what that weapon looks like.
- Second Form – In the latest trailer, we see Sora enter his “Second form,” which gives him the power to unleash special solo or collaborative attacks on a group of enemies.
Story and characters
Sora returns to lead the cast of Kingdom Hearts 3, along with series mainstays Goofy, Donald Duck, King Mickey, Master Eraqus, and Master Xehanort. Continuing the story from Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Sora, Goofy, and Donald will search for the seven masters of light while Xehanort attempts to overcome the “tyranny of light” by restoring equilibrium between light and dark. King Mickey and Riku, meanwhile, will search for previous Keyblade masters. All of this will likely lead to a climactic confrontation between Sora and Xehanort.
Like numerous other entries in the series, there will be an additional playable character beyond Sora. Based on the Final Battle trailer released in December 2018, we know that longtime major character Riku will be playable in Kingdom Hearts 3.
As in past games, Kingdom Hearts 3 will feature a game world based on popular Disney properties. According to trailers and gameplay demos, the game will have the following worlds (there will likely be more that haven’t been shown):
- Olympus Coliseum (Hercules)
- Kingdom of Corona (Tangled)
- Toy Box (Toy Story)
- Monstropolis (Monsters Inc.)
- San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6)
- The Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean 3)
- Arendalle (Frozen)
- Twilight Town (Kingdom Hearts)
- Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh)
As revealed at D23 2017, Square Enix teamed up with Pixar to recreate the world of Toy Story, marking the first time that Pixar film has made an appearance in the franchise. Demonstrated by the trailer above, Sora, Donald, and Goofy have their own Toy Story-themed costumes while in the world. At D23, we learned the premise of the Toy Story storyline. Sora and crew must seek the help of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Hamm, Rex, and Sarge in order to find Andy, who has mysteriously vanished. The story will be unique to Kingdom Hearts 3, but locations and characters from the films are likely to appear (Andy’s bedroom is shown in the trailer).
Besides the setting reveal, the D23 Expo trailer showed that Sora can have more friends fighting alongside him at once than ever before. Sora teamed up with his old pals Donald and Goofy, and his new acquaintances Buzz and Woody — all at the same time. Nomura confirmed to IGN that, unlike previous entries, players won’t have to swap out characters or limit themselves to a party of three. “Up to five people can join, even more, multiple characters can join your party,” Nomura said.
In a gameplay trailer released just before E3 2017, we received an extended look at the Hercules-inspired world (Mount Olympus). Sora was with his pals Donald and Goofy, and we also saw Maleficent, Hades, and Pete talking in another part of the world. The trailer ended in Twilight Town, with Sora speaking with Xemnas about Roxas.
In many cases, those worlds often feature characters who temporarily fight with Sora: It appears that Rapunzel will join him in the Tangled world, and the inflatable robot Baymax will back him up in Big Hero 6 land. Rapunzel was apparently the first new Disney character considered, because of her strong personality and the mechanical possibilities of her hyperbolically long hair.
A fan-favorite Pixar property is also coming to Kingdom Hearts 3. The game will feature a world based on the Monsters, Inc. series, as revealed during D23 Expo in Japan. Both Mike Wazowski and James Sullivan from the film, originally voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, respectively, will make appearances.
Nomura told the LA Times that Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the concluding chapter for the “Dark Seeker Saga”, which has cataloged the struggle between Sora and the sinister Xehanort. He said he intends for the series to continue on afterwards, however, telling new stories in the same world.
The series so far
Series newcomers or fans looking for a refresher may want to play through the series so far in preparation for III. With so many spin-offs and remakes, that can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. Here is the series in narrative chronological order:
- Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ (iOS/Android)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)
- Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (GBA)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4/XB1)
If you don’t have ready access to all of those platforms, however, the series has been remastered and compiled into convenient collections:
- Kingdom Hearts – The Story So Far (PS4): Includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix, and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.
- Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix (PS3): Includes the final versions of Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days in an extended, unplayable cinematic form.
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix (PS3): Includes Kingdom Hearts II, Birth By Sleep, and Re:coded, also as an unplayable cinematic.
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (PS4): Includes Dream Drop Distance, and two new chapters: 0.2 Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, and χ Back Cover.
If you’d prefer to just get the cliff notes, the now-defunct Game Trailers produced this hour-long Timeline video to explain the series’ story:
In plain sight
If you’re looking to get caught up on the Kingdom Hearts series’ massive amount of lore and narrative before Kingdom Hearts 3 releases, you may want to pick up HD 1.5 ReMix, HD 2.5 ReMix, and HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue — or at least their boxes.
In an interview originally translated by fan site KH13, director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that there are two separate “secrets” hidden among the three games’ box art. Protagonist Sora, seen in the center of all three pictures, is sitting in HD 1.5 ReMix, standing in HD 2.5 ReMix, and finally walking forward in HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. In addition, the time of day changes between the three games — dusk, then night, and finally dawn.
“Those illustrations have a message regarding the final chapter,” said Nomura in the interview.
It isn’t clear what this secret message actually conveys, but all signs point to it focusing directly on Sora, and not his cast of allies. Only Sora remains in the same position in each cover (Goofy, for example, is on the right in the first two before moving to the left in the third), and Nomura reminded fans of the other meaning for Sora’s name — “sky” — which seems to have special importance.
One particular fan on the interview’s page puts forward his own theory, saying that in the final Kingdom Hearts 3 cover art, Sora will be “running for cover” as he anticipates his final battle. He also speculates that the sky behind the characters will be bright, reflecting a “ray of hope” the friends still believe in.
DLC worlds, maybe?
In the July 2017 GameSpot interview, Nomura said he expects all of the game’s worlds to be revealed before launch, including the presumed bevy of unannounced worlds. However, he added, “Nowadays games can add content on after the fact through DLC content, so there’s no need to hide any worlds.”
To be clear, Nomura didn’t confirm that Kingdom Hearts 3 will feature post-launch DLC. “Nothing is set in stone, and I’m afraid we can’t go into details, but I have told the team: Just be prepared to be able to accommodate for something like that,” Nomura said.
Kingdom Hearts 3, however, will not have a season pass. Unlike many modern AAA games, Kingdom Hearts 3 won’t have microtransactions.
Release date and editions
Kingdom Hearts 3 will launch January 29, 2019, on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Kingdom Hearts 3 will have three different editions at launch. If you pre-order the standard edition from Amazon, you’ll receive the Dawn Till Dusk Keyblade. Pre-ordering from the PlayStation Store nets you a dynamic KH3 PS4 theme, while a GameStop pre-order gets you a fabric poster.
The Deluxe Edition ($80) includes an artbook, collectible pin, and steelbook case. Again, pre-ordering from Amazon gets you the exclusive Keyblade DLC.
Exclusively available from Square Enix (and currently sold out), the Deluxe Edition + Figures ($230) comes with all of the Deluxe Edition content plus Sora, Donald, and Goofy figurines based on their costumes seen in the Toy Story world.
Sony is releasing a limited edition Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro on launch day. Sadly, it sold out rather quickly and will likely only be available with a big markup through re-sellers.
Though it won’t be available at launch, a Nintendo Switch version may be a possibility. In an interview with IGN, game director Tetsuya Nomura claimed that his team may consider bringing Kingdom Hearts 3 to other platforms, but only after it launches on PS4 and Xbox One.
