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Kingdom Hearts III Status Report

As something of an amateur historian I've undertaken to give a chronological account of the development of Kingdom Hearts III from its conception to its current state. My arrangement here is probably not the most convenient, and as such this report is subject to future alteration. Nevertheless, this should serve to introduce those unaware with the current state of KHIII with a somewhat more than cursory look at the primary events thus far. I've referenced my sources without including specific citations simply because first, I'm not a scholar and this is not intended in any way to promote the author, and second because this is common knowledge by now and anyone serious enough to confirm the information can find it by a simple Google search, or at least playing 21 questions on a Kingdom Hearts forum. So without further ado, here you have it, a summary of KH3's development.

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The first trailer coupling the announcement of the development of Kingdom Hearts III for PS4 and Xbox One was revealed at E3 in 2013. The trailer showed no official in-game combat but did show Sora confronting a horde of Shadows in Twilight Town, as well as displaying him on Destiny Islands, wearing the same clothing from KHII, pointing to a return of Drive Forms, as has since been confirmed, picking up and holding Defender, Master Eraqus's keyblade. Later developer Testuya Nomura announced that perhaps it was a bit premature, saying that they just wanted to announce KHIII alongside FFXV.

Kotaku.com reported details from a Famitsu interview with Nomura on what we should expect in the game. At that point Nomura said that they were still trying to decide what new worlds to introduce, but confirmed that the main crux of the game was the final confrontation with Xehanort. He said that Sora would have the ability to shapeshift his keyblade, comparing this ability to Aqua of BBS. There were also hints that online features were on the table for discussion, though the nature or finality of these features have not to this date been verified. When asked about the possibility of controlling other characters such as Riku and Kairi in-game, Nomura replied in characteristic vagueness, "I will not deny the possibility of that." KHInsider's Zephyr noted in his reading of the same interview that Sora "learned the Keyblade's truer strength during the Mark of Mastery exam."

IGN reported on Sep. 10, 2013 that producer Shinji Hashimoto said we should expect a wait between Final Fantasy XV and KHIII due to Nomura's vocation as director of both games. This cast a shadow on the thrilling news of the game's development considering FFXV itself had been in the works for almost a decade (though under a different moniker), with some doubt about whether the game would even be finished. It would be after TGS at D23 Expo Japan (October) that a new trailer for KHIII was revealed featuring actual gameplay, including combat. In the trailer we saw Sora teamed up with Donald and Goofy in Twilight Town, casting a fire spell against Shadow and Big Body heartless, before the Keyblade transforms into a pair of guns showcasing one of Sora's new abilities. Kotaku would later report on this new feature, translating from the ever helpful Famitsu's interview with Nomrua, that the different transformations vary depending on the keyblade and that battle style changes depending on the keyblade. The second part of the trailer is helpfully illuminated by the same interview. "The other new ability category is the Attraction Flow which, according to Nomura, is 'an evolution of the Free Flow of Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance.' In Japanese, 'attraction' refers to theme park rides. In the trailer, Sora can be seen riding Disney attractions while attacking enemies. Nomura explained that this Attraction Flow can be selected depending on the location or enemy."

At E3 2014 a Kingdom Hearts 2.5 trailer featured what was later confirmed by Kotaku via information from KHIII co-director Tai Yasue to be the starting sequence to the game. Said sequence features the opening of the song "Dearly Beloved" set to a slower tempo with rich bass notes. The "trailer" lacks video but it does exhibit line art of two mysterious figures, commonly speculated by the fanbase to be young Master Eraqus and young Xehanort. The translated dialogue reads as follows:

"Have you heard of the anicent Keyblade war?"
"Many years ago, Keyblade wielders started a war over the ownership of light."
"Yep, the Master loves telling that story."
"Then I take it you also know of the 'lost masters?'"
"Nope, where'd you hear about that?"
"On that land shall darkness prevail and light expire."

A Square press release in September announced that Tetsuya Nomura was stepping down as the director of FFXV to focus on Kingdom Hearts III. Afterward we learned from Famitsu via Kotaku that while development of the game was on schedule, there were difficulties rendering images due to a change from the in-house game engine to Ureal Engine 4. There were no major trailer releases in September as there had been the previous year, but another Kotaku report in December stated that, according to Tai Yasue, newer Disney acquisitions were being considered for KHIII. "Yeah, I can’t go into specifics, but there’s a LOT of new Disney stuff and we have our plates full... Theres a lot to consider - we’re looking at all of Disney, the new ones as well, they have a lot of pull and draw." Yasue related information concerning the process of selection, "We have to come up with a world that has a lot of originality. We want variety in our new Kingdom Hearts, so we don’t want too many of one sort of world, that would look the same. For each world there has to be some meaning for it, in the plot; in Birth By Sleep, for instance, in the Cinderella scene, the characters learn something specific by relating to Cinderella. Also, gameplay-wise, is that world something that would make gameplay fun? There’s a lot I can’t say, but there’s so much to consider." When asked specifically about Star Wars and Marvel, Yasue replied, "They’re all under consideration." Said Yasue, "Nothing’s off-limits, we’re considering all of the worlds. There are so many wonderful concepts. We’re happy about that, but at the same time it’s really tough to choose."

New footage of KHIII was shown at the KH2.5 launch event according to KHinsider, a source which had three event attendants. They reported that "the footage is raw and very unlikely to be released to the public soon." According to KHI Land of Departure was included in the trailer with an extended scope, as well as a previously undisclosed transformation of Sora's keyblade into a canon after transforming the guns. They said that Sora switched between Valor and Wisdom form outfits. Allusions to KHχ [chi] were also observed. They also noted new heartless were seen but the descriptions were dubious. The KHI's full list as well as a few unofficial pictures have been included below in the "Trailers" section until its official release.

Just before the turn of the New Year Japanese source 4Gamer conducted an interview with Yasue. Gematsu's translation of the interview read as follows: "Now that we've worked out Unreal Engine 4 as our development environment, as well as the general structure of the team and fresh new look for the game and its accompanying shader, development of Kingdom Hearts III is moving forward as we now focus on making things like new Attractions and Keyblade transformations. We’re hoping to be able to show our fans the fruits of these labors step by step during 2015, so stay on the lookout for more information!"

Development news in 2015 has been scant and basically insignificant. KH fans have stooped to believing spurious rumors concerning a certain goofy voice actor, as well as mediums. I'm bracing for big news in the second and third quarters of the year, expecting the locus of development news to be E3 and TGS.


Kingdom Hearts III Trailers and Misc.:
The first trailer, with Nomura speaking at the beginning.
The D23 trailer. Most detailed look at the gameplay released to the general public to date.
KHIII opening cinematics from the end of the KH2.5 trailer in 2014.
An attempt by the staff of KHI to recreate an image of the unveiled trailer from the KH2.5 release party
Recreation of KHIII Weapons by KHI's Zephyr.
KHI recap which includes description of the unveiled trailer.
A list of the main takeaways from the aforesaid trailer, without detailed explanation.