It’s been a long time since we saw the light of Kingdom Hearts 3. Among the darkness, there have been little flickers of screenshots and information from interviews, but other than that, nothing, for close to 2 years. Will Square Enix finally open the door and envelop us in light with new trailers and information? Let’s look into this.
Many questions lie ahead of us at this year’s E3. The most prominent is the release date. Recently, Square Enix put out a sales report (page 3), which states that “plan to launch [Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy VII Remake] in the next three years or so.” It has been since E3 2013 since we have known about Kingdom Hearts 3’s existence, so it’s getting to a point in which seeing “Now In Development” at the end of trailers will get old.
Something else to keep in mind is the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra – World Tour concert that will be playing in Los Angeles the same week as E3. This cannot be a coincidence. Square Enix may be planning something big for the event with the concert being so close by. Perhaps Yoko Shimomura could reveal a sample of the new soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts 3 in a new trailer? Maybe even Utada Hikaru could take the stage for a live performance of Kingdom Hearts 3‘s theme?
Other interesting tidbits have occurred over the last few months as well. Ming Na, the voice actress for Mulan, posted on Instagram that she was voicing Mulan for a Disney project. She did not state what she was working on, but as the character is relatively old in the spectrum, it’s possible she could be reprising her role for Kingdom Hearts 3.
A rumor spread by a supposed Square Enix insider Jose Alamo has stated that the game has been pushed for a 2018 release date with cuts to previous planned content. He said, thanks to a KH13 translation, “If everything goes according to plan, there will be a trailer at E3 and the game will be released in 2018, even if it’s unfinished.” He later clarified that the project is not being rushed. A 2018 release date sounds logical as 2017’s Birth By Sleep 0.2 ever so aggravatingly ended with a tease that immediately lead up to Kingdom Hearts 3. After such a tease, they won’t want to make fans waiting for long.
So what could get announced at this year’s E3 for Kingdom Hearts 3? New worlds could be announced, like the inevitable Frozen, or perhaps Treasure Planet, which was produced by Roy Conli. Conli is a producer at Walt Disney Animation Studios and has consulted Square Enix with the Disney brand for Kingdom Hearts 3, and two producer credits of his, Tangled and Big Hero 6 have been revealed to be worlds in the game. Treasure Planet is the odd one out. Pixar is also not out of the question. Previously Buzz and Woody (_ ExMajik) were planned as summons for Kingdom Hearts 2 but that never came to fruition. Now, with the power of the PlayStation 4, perhaps the series can get a Toy Story world. Other Pixar works that would work fantastic in the Kingdom Hearts universe would be The Incredibles (with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in superhero outfits), Brave, and The Good Dinosaur.
As for the trailer, we might finally get footage of Sora exploring San Fransokyo, and get more cinematics from the game. We’ve seen enough of Olympus, Twilight Town, and Tangled‘s world. It’s time to show us something new! Here’s hoping the force is strong with us for a Star Wars world reveal! Bring on that lightsaber keyblade!
Perhaps with the success of the Nintendo Switch’s launch, we’ll get a confirmation of a port for Kingdom Hearts 3 on the platform. The series has had a history on Nintendo platforms with Chain of Memories (2004), 358/2 Days (2009), Re: Coded (2010), and Dream Drop Distance (2012). If you don’t count the ReMIXes, that’s more games on Nintendo platforms than on PlayStation. With the game being developed on Unreal Engine 4 and the system being fully compatible, it’s a possibility. It would be great to take this game out on the go. Some fans might even be used to it at this point with the amount of portable titles the series has received.
Something that is small but would make a large impression would be the reveal of the cover art. It would give us that feeling that the game is still a real prospect and entice people to preorder. As a side, it would be great to have a metallic look on the cover like the other numbered entries.
What are you hoping to see from Kingdom Hearts 3 at E3 this year? Let us know in the comments below!