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Tai Yasue discusses Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- with Famitsu

With new gameplay shown at E3 2016, allowing players to go hands on with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Tai Yasue, co-director of the Kingdom Hearts series, sat down with Famitsu to discuss the new gameplay mechanics on Kingdom Hearts 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage-, the flow of the game, the controls, the lighting/graphics, and more on how Unreal Engine 4 has made developing Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- easy for the team. You can read the main highlights of the interview below.
 
 
We will have the full interview translated as soon as possible.
 
Even though not much is new discussed by Tai Yasue, it's still great to hear about the flow of the game and what we can expect in the gameplay aspect for Kingdom Hearts III.
 
Are you excited for the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue? Would you like to play the demo on the PlayStation store? Let us know in the comments below!
Jake

Kingdom Hearts at E3 2016 summary

With E3 2016 coming to an end, this means it's time to wrap our coverage of Kingdom Hearts at E3! This year's E3 was filled with announcements by Square Enix, including the big one that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will have a worldwide release date, yes you heard right -- The first Kingdom Hearts title to have a simultaneous worldwide release! Could Kingdom Hearts III join that group in the future? Let's hope! Additionally, Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ has been released in Europe! Exciting news, isn't it?
 
Check out all the interviews, trailers, and more from E3 2016!
 

Kingdom Hearts III/Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue




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- New Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue trailer released announcing December release WW; Kingdom Hearts III news coming this winter
- Square Enix announces playable demo of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue at E3 2016
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue banner spotted within LA Convention Center; Background includes similar item included in the E3 2015 Kingdom Hearts III trailer
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue confirmed to appear in the next Famitsu Weekly article
- Impressions of the Kingdom Hearts 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- E3 demo by Toominator!
 

Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ




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- Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ to release in Europe at 12 AM, USA PDT! Aqua medal to be gifted to all players at 12 AM PDT as well!
 
 

Tetsuya Nomura & Tai Yasue Interviews




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- Dengeki releases interview with Tetsuya Nomura about Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III!
- No Final Fantasy based worlds will be featured in Kingdom Hearts III says Tai Yasue
- Tai Yasue says Kingdom Hearts HD collections on PS4 not ruled out completely!
- Famitsu posts interview with Tetsuya Nomura focusing on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and it's connections to Kingdom Hearts III!
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Trailers




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Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - E3 2016 Trailer


 




 

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - E3 2016 Gameplay Trailer


 




 

SEP (x) Tai Yasue



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Screenshots




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Even though E3 2016 has ended, we will more than likely receive even more Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue news in the fall as it nears its release, and we will definitely be receiving Kingdom Hearts III this winter. Expect our News Team to continue providing coverage for Kingdom Hearts throughout the 2016 year. We hope you enjoyed this year's E3 and we hope to see Kingdom Hearts at next year's E3!
Jake

Players team up with Hercules & Cloud to defeat Hades in new Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ story update

Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ in North America will be receiving 25 new story quests in a new story update being released by Square Enix! In the new story quests, you will be able to team up with Hercules and Cloud to finish off Hades and advance along in the story even further. With these 25 new quests, you will receive an Orichalcum upon completion. The new story update will be released on June 16th, 2016 at 2:00 AM USA PDT.
 



 
Are you excited for this new story update? Let us know in the comments below!
Jake

Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ releasing in Europe at Midnight PDT June 15th, 2016 and new Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Aqua medal to be gifted to all players

During the Square Enix Presents discussion about Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, it was announced by Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ producer Hironori Okayama that Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ will release June 16th, 2016 at midnight PDT in Europe! With this release, Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ will be made available in over 100 countries (listed below).
 



 
On top of that news, it was also announced that all players will be gifted the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Aqua medal that was previously only available in Japan at 4:00 AM PDT on June 16th, 2016 as well.
 
European fans, what are you most excited to try out first in Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ? Let us know in the comments!
soraspromise

[UPDATED]: Famitsu interviews Tetsuya Nomura to discuss Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Update: We have provided full translations for the Famitsu article thanks to Kayla Copeland ([email protected]). You can read them below.
 
In the most recent issue of Famitsu Weekly, a spread was dedicated to Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue which features screenshots and a few details about Dream Drop Distance HD, χ Back Cover, and Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage-. It also provides a much closer look at the art that was initially revealed at E3 2016 on a banner for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.
 
Famitsu also interviewed series director Tetsuya Nomura to discuss the game. Nomura revealed brand new information pertaining to each of the three titles present in the HD collection and their connection to Kingdom Hearts III. You can read the full interview as well as Famitsu's comments below.
 
You can find a partial scan of the article below thanks to Twitter user @bKvEBVAvUq.
 
 
 
 



 
 
 



soraspromise

Impressions of the Kingdom Hearts 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- E3 demo

Hey everyone! As you may or may not know, I have been at E3 2016 representing KH13.com to cover anything and everything Kingdom Hearts-related at the event. I had the opportunity to play the Kingdom Hearts 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- and I would like to fill you in on everything I learned while playing the demo. Enjoy!
The first thing to mention is the look - the frame rate wasn't precisely 60fps but it was somewhat close, so expect something close to or exactly 60 fps in the final product.

The HUD:
There is no command deck, so we are back to the command menu from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.
The Focus meter is confirmed to fuel Shotlock commands (which have obviously made a return).
The shortcut menu has multiple pages, and they can be used for spells and items. You seamlessly switch between shortcut pages with the D-Pad.
MP Charge is back (if you run out of MP, it automatically charges back to full).

Gameplay:
Combat is very fluid and fast-paced. The combat is not floaty or clunky like it was in Birth by Sleep.
Magic Spell Combos are back. If you perform the same magic spell multiple times in a row, there will be a "finisher" magic spell that is stronger than the base spell.
Flowmotion is in 0.2 and as far as I can tell, the only way to trigger it is to cast Blizzaga near the ground, which leaves a stream of ice on the ground, and jumping on it triggers Flowmotion.
The "parkour" movement is triggered without pressing any buttons. There will be a group of sparkles on surfaces where this parkour action can be performed (such as the rock wall Sora runs up in the Kingdom Hearts III gameplay trailer).
Spellweaver has returned and triggers randomly, much like it did in Birth by Sleep. However, once it has been triggered, there is a 30 second timer that starts, and you can activate Spellweaver at any time in that 30 second time frame. Also, when Spellweaver activates, Aqua's Keyblade will glow.

Miscellaneous:
The Shadow heartless turn into actual shadows when they crawl into the ground and avoid attacks, as opposed to becoming flattened, 2D versions of themselves crawling around the floor.
In the trailer, you could see that Aqua can target/lock onto lamp posts. They can be attacked to get HP/MP/Focus orbs, but they cannot be destroyed.
The section of 0.2 that the demo consisted of was very vertical. There were a lot of spaces you could jump up to/climb up to.
Aqua will grab ledges when she doesn't quite make the jump.

Cons:
The camera worked brilliantly for the most part, but there were times where locking onto an enemy completely destroyed the camera angle and I couldn't see anything.
There are too many lamp posts, so when trying to lock onto an enemy, I locked onto lamp posts instead very often.
The frame rate not being 60fps is a negative thing since we learned that Dream Drop Distance will be in 60fps.

Overall, the demo was great. It was a good length (about 15 minutes) and I was very happy with the combat. There are obviously things to fix and fine-tune, but I am very happy with it. It looked absolutely gorgeous, and I'm very excited for you all to play it.
 
If you have any questions about things I did not mention here, leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them!
Toominator

Famitsu Interviews series Director Tetsuya Nomura about Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Discusses Progress on English Recording

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura recently sat down with Famitsu to give an interview on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, focusing on specific details in each of the three portions of the collection. Though the interview covered many of the same topics as the earlier Dengeki interview, Famitsu's team managed to pose some interesting questions, and received equally interesting responses.
 
Here is a summary of each of Nomura's responses in the interview. A full translation will be added as soon as possible.
 
In regards to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage-:
Nomura remarked on the ability for the product to be easily altered with Unreal Engine 4, especially in regards to lighting, as previously mentioned in Dengeki.
What is in the demo will be in the retail version of the game. He wanted to give the players something to explore in the demo, someplace where they would have to get up high to get a lay of the land before proceeding. Nomura says KH3 will have a similar feel, where free-running to a high place and scoping out the map will be necessary.
Nomura states that time has stopped in this place only, and that moving to different locations will result in different 'effects'.
As in the Dengeki article, Nomura explains the battle system, and also says that the concept of Command Styles has been transferred to Keyblade Transformations in Kingdom Hearts III.
Nomura calls the Heartless Swarm a 'Devils Wave', mentions they've been present since the first KH3 trailer, and that they're still not at full power.
Aqua will only gain strength through leveling up--there are no new Keyblades for her to obtain. (Famitsu's interviewer hypothesizes that this is why the Command Styles remain in 0.2, when they won't really be present in KH3, where you can change Keyblades. Nomura doesn't remark on this point one way or another.)
When discussing the length of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage-, Nomura says that it will feature a lot of cutscenes.
The intended play order is Dream Drop Distance, then -A Fragmentary Passage-, then Kingdom Hearts III.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- is not exactly scrapped content from Kingdom Hearts III. It was something he felt the need to make, but Nomura didn't want to bog down the pace of storytelling in KH3 with backstory, so he separated it out and created a separate installment around it.
Kingdom Hearts III will have a short prelude before the game really starts to make sure everyone is caught up.

In regards to Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD:
Nomura mentions the Catanuki, explaining it was something the Osaka team really wanted to add to the game. He also discusses PS4 trophies, 60fps, and the difficulties in transitioning to a game without two screens to work with. He mentions the 'spirit' of developing for the unique properties of the 3DS continues, in now developing for the unique properties of the PS4.

In regards to Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover:
Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is being made with the same tech as Kingdom Hearts III.
Famitsu asked directly if the Black Coat is the Foreteller's Master. Nomura says yes! He is a 'unique glue' between them, and he apparently has nicknames for each of the Foretellers.
Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ has recently hit 4 million downloads, and after the North American release, there was a very strong demand to release in the EU. He is happy for this chapter of Kingdom Hearts to be brought to fans all over the world.
Nomura also hints that the Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ story will soon branch from the Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] story. Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] is complete, but Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ can be considered 'Season 2'.
Nomura anticipates that Kingdom Hearts III may hit Japan slightly earlier than the rest of the world, but it will be nearly simultaneous.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is in the final stages of production, with English recording currently being mastered and timed. He also told fans to please be patient and anticipate this winter for new Kingdom Hearts III information, and focus on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue for now.
Next year is the 15th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, and also the 30th anniversary of Final Fantasy; he told fans to anticipate a lot of features next year relating to those series.

 
Which of these answers has you most intrigued? Let us know in the comments!
Katie Armstrong

Tai Yasue says Kingdom Hearts HD collections on PS4 not ruled out completely

In a recent interview with Gamespot at E3, Tai Yasue, co-director of the Kingdom Hearts series, says that Kingdom Hearts HD collections (1.5 & 2.5) have not been ruled out completely for the PS4. You can read what he said below.
 
 
In addition to stating that about the possibility of HD collections on the PS4, he also says that Kingdom Hearts III is going smooth right now.
 
Are you excited to hear the possibility of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX coming to the PS4? Let us know in the comments below!
Jake

No Final Fantasy based worlds will appear in Kingdom Hearts III

When asked by Gamespot about the possibility of Final Fantasy based worlds in Kingdom Hearts III, co-director Tai Yasue answered that they would not be adding any.
 
Tai Yasue's quote follows:
 
Yasue also went on to add that worlds are often selected for gameplay and how well they would mesh in with the Kingdom Hearts series, going on to say that they want to make sure there's a variety, with Disney worlds that are recognized but also distinct and unique.
 
Co-director Tai Yasue will be featured in a Square Enix Presents livestream during E3 on June 15th, 2016 dedicated to discussing Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. This livestream will take place from 4:00 to 4:30 PDT. For all the latest E3 news, please check out our coverage article.
 
How do you feel about this news and what Final Fantasy character cameos would you like to see in Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments!
soraspromise

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue to be featured in Famitsu Weekly: June 16th, 2016

On the official site of Famitsu, they share the news that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be featured in the next issue of Famitsu Weekly, which releases on June 16th, 2016. In the article containing Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, there will be an interview with Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series. Nomura will be discussing the development and future of the series and discuss the recent footage revealed at E3 2016.
 
We will provide the interview with Nomura and Famitsu as soon as the article releases.
 



Jake

New Interview with series Director Tetsuya Nomura about Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III

Following the official start of E3 2016, Dengeki has posted a new interview with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura focusing on the newly revealed Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue demo that premiered at E3 2016 as well as other details surrounding the game and it's development in conjunction with Kingdom Hearts III.
 
Here are a few snippets gathered from the interview.
Even though the news is not incoming as quickly as fans would hope, development is not delayed
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- being the length of one world pertains more to the length of one world in Kingdom Hearts III. Tetsuya Nomura promises that this volume will be a decent length.
The battle system in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- is a mixture of Birth by Sleep as well as Kingdom Hearts III; the command deck is not present but special attacks and such consume MP as they would in previous games like Kingdom Hearts II. Magic will effect the surrounding area, as previously talked about for Kingdom Hearts III. Using magic in different sequences will also create different effects on enemies (such as using Blizzard and then Thunder).
Lighting is something they focused on a lot during design for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III even though it hasn't been much of a major focus previously in the series.
Height within the playable features of the world is something that was also focused on for these games.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD plays with 60 frames per second.
A new Dream Eater is introduced in the version of Dream Drop Distance included in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue named Catnuki (or Pondanyan in Japanese) which is a combination of a cat and a racoon dog (more commonly known as a Tanuki)
Tetsuya Nomura would like to give more Kingdom Hearts III news but at the moment it is important to focus on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue so he asks fans to please look forward to winter of this year for more news.
Information will be released regularly from Autumn until launch in December for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Tetsuya Nomura is hoping to get a playable demo for their Japanese audience to experience.

Correction to the previous translation: Tetsuya Nomura talks about the possibility of another installment of TWEWY itself (as in a sequel) being difficult rather than it's involvement in the Kingdom Hearts series.
 
Some screenshots of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue were also included with the interview. You may find those below.
 



 
What are you most excited for in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue in relation to it's relationship with Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments!
soraspromise

AU/NZ retailer MightyApe lists possible release date for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: December 6, 2016

After receiving news that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will release in December, 2016 worldwide, Mighty Ape, a verified New Zealand/Australia retailer, revealed a possible release date for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which is December 6th, 2016.
 
Normally, placeholder dates are December 30th/31st, and on the retailer site, placeholder dates say 'To be confirmed'. However, they have listed the release as December 6th, 2016, which is a Tuesday. Video games have a pre-set of releasing on Tuesdays, making the date more realistic. Aside from the release date, they also have listed a possible rating of 'PG - Parental guidance is recommended for younger viewers.' A rating for the title hadn't been announced officially beforehand, as the trailers say to check ESRB for a rating.
 
Even though the date hasn't been confirmed by Square Enix, the release date revealed by MightyApe very well could be real, with the evidence supporting the date.
 
What are your thoughts? Do you think the release date is real? Fake? Let us know in the comments below!
Kingdomhe

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