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Many of you will know, since the release of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the community has been speculating about a new Kingdom Hearts title. This title is, of course, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep -Volume Two-.
Cutscenes from the Secret Episode of Birth by Sleep Final Mix heavily hinted at a future title of the Kingdom Hearts series with that given name. The scenes show Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, above shown viewing the Castle of Dreams after it has fallen, King Mickey in the Realm of Darkness, and scenes from throughout the series. Symbolism is used to hint that the game occurs between "KH0" and "KH1", making this KH0.5. In other words, occuring between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts.
This all fits in with Nomura's "mystery game", a game which Nomura has referred to in the past but not given details about. Supposedly, this started production after the release of Birth by Sleep. The game was said to appear at E3 2010, and many thought that this was referring to Kingdom Hearts Re:coded and Kingdom Hearts 3D. However, Nomura later stated that the "mystery title" did not appear at E3.
So, it is pretty much confirmed-- that the "mystery game" Nomura has discussed earlier is in fact Birth by Sleep -Volume Two-. However, we lack an official announcement from Square regarding the game. So, this leaves us with two big questions-- what console, and when will it be released?
What console?
Birth by Sleep -Volume Two- appears to use the same "game engine" as the original Birth by Sleep. What this means is that the game shares models, such as that of the characters, namely Aqua and King Mickey and any other characters reappearing in the title, as well as maps, such as Castle of Dreams and any other reappearing worlds.
As these models and maps were used for Birth by Sleep, which was on the PlayStation Portable (PSP), it would make a lot of sense for Square to use the game engine on the same console, rather than porting it. This means Birth by Sleep -Volume Two- would likely be on the PSP.
Another possibility is the PSP2 or "PlayStation NGP", as game engines are easily ported from the PSP to this, however this does not make as much sense as the PSP2 would not utilize the improved graphics capabilities of the new console if using the old game engine. Also, if we assume it is true that development started after Birth by Sleep, then the PSP2 does not fit in the development timeframe. So, PSP is the obvious console.
Release date?
Speculation about the release date basically comes down to who is developing the title, and when did they start? As discussed earlier, it is likely that the Osaka team-- the team responsible for Birth by Sleep and later Dream Drop Distance-- are likely the ones developing. This is because the same game engine would imply the same developers, and also, the main Kingdom Hearts team is busy with Final Fantasy Versus XIII-- so, it must be Osaka.
It being the Osaka team leaves us with two possibilities. One, that the game will be released before Dream Drop Distance, or two, that it will be released after. Dream Drop Distance is a major game, on a new console with a new game engine. This means the game will take some time to develop, and probably won't be completed until the second half of 2012 at the earliest.
So, given this, it would imply that due to Nomura aiming for a Kingdom Hearts title every year, Birth by Sleep -Volume Two- will probably release before 3D, probably towards the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012. Due to the probability that game development started last year after Birth by Sleep, and considering the shortened development time due to the reusing of a game engine, this seems likely.
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However, what do you think? We probably won't get an official announcement until E3 2011 in June, where Nomura has stated he wants to reveal something special, so until then it is really up to speculation. So, let us know, what console do you think it will be on and when do you think it will release? Post in the poll.