blue490246

The artwork for the Kingdom Hearts III, II.8, Unchained χ & Union χ [Cross]- Original Soundtrack has been revealed, you can view it in the gallery below 
Both the physical and digital versions of the soundtrack are set to release November 11, 2020. What do you think of the album artwork? Let us know in the comments below! 
UPDATE: It has been revealed on the Japanese Square Enix website that pre-ordering both Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory and the Kingdom Hearts III, II.8, Unchained χ & Union χ [Cross]- Original Soundtrack will reward customers with a bonus disc containing two new arrangements from Melody of Memory!
No word of this promotion has been announced on the North American Square store or any other regional stores as of yet, as the soundtrack is still not purchasable from any of the non Japanese stores.

View full article

Thanks for combining them! lol I should've probably checked again whether I could edit the posts or not ?
And oh yeah, for sure, not really mindblowing news here ? it's also following the pattern with KH1.5 and KH2.5 OSTs, they basically bundled the odd few exclusive tracks from the side games into the last discs for those releases too. In this case, they had enough exclusive tracks from the side games to put all of them on a separate disc. It's just nice to get as much confirmation on what to expect now before they drop the main pieces like the tracklist and art covers 

You're good! I combined them  .
I thought that was an interesting tidbit too. I guess it's kind of easy to guess that even without the confirmation from SE, if you think about it 2.8 and Unchained X / Union X are both smaller scale games in comparison to KH3 with less newer tracks, they also reuse tracks from older games so it would make sense that their share of tracks wouldn't take up as much space as KH3's. 

Amazon JP updated their product page regarding the size of the "Mega Jacket" preorder bonus - it will be 24cm x 24cm.
Sorry for the double post, but just found another small update from Square Enix Music's Twitter - looks like Discs 1-7 are all KH3 songs, leaving Disc 8 to be potentially all the remaining tracks from the other games - 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Unchained X / Union X.
https://twitter.com/sem_sep/status/1290105102930411520?s=20

I'll try to update! I preordered the Amazon one. I've preordered other OSTs from Amazon before with their "Deka"/Mega/large jacket covers and honestly, it's like receiving a really large postcard with the cover design printed on it. So nothing particular fancy but they actually make for great pieces of wall decoration ?   here's hoping for some new Nomura art for the OST cover ?   but id also be satisfied with the KH3 game case cover too
 
EDIT
I just noticed - 160 tracks, in which only about 90 are from the main game. OST rips for KH3 have went up to as much as 202 tracks from the main game alone, so to compress that to 90 tracks ...
I wonder if they blended together a lot of the tracks into single tracks. Like, maybe both the on-field theme and the battle theme for each world are blended together into one track, given how seamless some of the transitions are in the OST this time round. So maybe many tracks will be suites in general. I just hope they don't axe any of the tracks, especially the rearranged versions of older tracks...
This OST was definitely a mammoth compared to any other game's OST in the series to date - KH2.5 was the most # of tracks so far for any single KH game OST, and it maxed out at 96 tracks, including 2 extra tracks from BBS. 

if any of the other Square Enix OSTs are precedence recently, like FFVII Remake's OST, then the KH3 OST will probably also end up on iTunes. I think with the last KH OSTs, the timing wasnt right in terms of the demand for digital - I think the last KH OST (excluding the Tour CDs) we got was KH1.5+2.5 which was back in 2014. Nowadays, digital has literally taken over most of the music distribution industry. They'll probably take this opportunity to put up the other KH OSTs too, otherwise, I honestly question what their marketing dept is thinking as it would be a huge missed opportunity.

I honestly think this release is marketing at its rawest, dullest and most shameless... Can they get anymore "creative"...? It's completely unnecessary, especially at this point when Re Mind is still fresh in everyone's minds - the release date for this is not even 2 months after Re Mind's release ... Who is this bundle even targeting?? And why in March? Almost like SE's way of filling in what would've been FF7R craze for a mere few weeks (since it's now being released in April) just to compete with ... Animal Crossing? P5R? lol... Why not save this all-in-one release until the full release announcement of the PS5 and just put out a PS5 version with some extra enhancements? They'd probably also capture some of the crowd that already owns all the games on PS4 again.
Right now, aside from the fancy cover slip (even though it's just old art again), there is literally no reason for people who own the games on PS4 to double dip (or triple / quadruple dip for that matter). And yeah, can't believe they couldn't bother to even include the DLC in this all-in-one package. They should've actually released this at the same time as KH3's release for a physical edition like they did in Japan.
If they're capturing newcomers to the series, they also missed the mark. They should've released this at the exact same time as Re Mind's release to maximize sales. What better time to join the series than when they're given new content as a reason to catch up? Newcomers would've found it daunting too to have to get multiple games all over the place just to play the DLC - you can't even play the DLC without having the KH3 base game...
I am hoping though they decide to release at least 1.5 and 2.5 for the Switch, with actually playable 358/2 Days and Recoded (since those came out on the Nintendo DS). With rumours of a higher powered Switch coming in the future (maybe next year), I hope that'll make it possible to port 2.8 and 3 to the Switch as well.

No worries! Thanks for the quick fix!

Don't know how I missed that – you're right, it wasn't configured correctly. Fixed now. I've also double checked all of the other databases.

I've created these databases here:
https://www.kh13.com/wiki/companion-books/
https://www.kh13.com/wiki/manga/
https://www.kh13.com/wiki/novels/
https://www.kh13.com/wiki/songs/
https://www.kh13.com/wiki/soundtracks/
Please create the topics for them in this forum if you'd like to lead these projects. Otherwise, please feel free to start adding pages, or request any extra needed fields in these databases.

FYI Walkman is like Sony's iPod, it's a brand name. So the Walkman they're referring to is basically a modernized portable (digital) audio player. One of the major selling points is its capability to play Hi-Res audio as well. I had to look this up too cuz I was thinking the old school ones playing CDs lol. I didn't know they actually have many models and are still coming out with new ones - they're just not as well known outside of Japan I guess. https://www.sony.jp/walkman/?s_pid=jp_top_PRODUCTS_WALKMAN
That post / photo is also a bit misleading, I believe the left side with the rectangle shape is the back lid of the Walkman. The right side with the two circles is the design patterns on the headphones. So they're selling a KHIII-themed Walkman device and a KHIII-themed pair of headphones, which imo look awesome.
-------
I like that theyre subliminally previewing tracks from the soundtrack this way lol. Would love to hear more tracks / news of the soundtrack ?

Thank you so much for this! I'm going to use this and an additional YouTube video to secure my copy
Glad I'm able to skip a step instead of making that mistake! 

Yeah for real Nimoy was perfect. With that said Xehanort's new voice has grown on me a bit, but it's just not... gravelly enough?

There's also always the possibility to use a proxy service, though I believe this book will be sold by other sellers too once it comes out. At least this was the case for all the other Ultimania books. It never remained exclusive to one retailer.
 
The price surprised me a bit. It's not really more expensive than the other Ultimanias, though they're probably inclined to keep the page count as low as possible because the others already have hundreds of pages. Even if KH3 ends up larger than any other game before, it likely won't receive a bigger volume, unless they decide to split it in two. Even the larger size probably can't make up for that.
I'll definitely get this one, too. I already own most of the others even if I don't understand Japanese. I really wish they would publish them in English....
I would also like it if 0.2 is included in this volume since it probably won't receive a proper one by itself and it is the prologue which was initially intended to be part of the game. It would only be suitable if it would be included in this Ultimania.

If you're looking for a better quality preview with those extra lines, iTunes Japan Store previews for the Japanese and English versions of Face My Fears includes them - full 1:30 previews. Too bad there's no way to rip previews from the iTunes Store...

If you're looking for a better quality preview with those extra lines, iTunes Japan Store previews for the Japanese and English versions of Face My Fears includes them - full 1:30 previews. Too bad there's no way to rip previews from the iTunes Store...

So every one of those links says the console's sold out lol. So they are not still taking online preorders. The only places in Japan that have it available are either with re-sellers or on auction sites, which are also re-sellers basically. So in the list in the post for example, Yamada Web (ヤマダウェブ) and Yahoo Shopping (Yahoo!ショッピング) are sites that allow re-sellers to put up products, similar to how Amazon has a Marketplace (even in Japan). That's why there's an incredible markup on the PS4 Pro on those sites, which are the only ones that still list it as "available".
 
In all honesty, the PS4 Pros were gone pretty much the instant they went up on Japanese retailers' sites. Don't mean to be cheeky, but I'd rather this post be retitled to not give people false hope. That may be a list of retailers that carried the PS4 Pro, but they haven't had any stock of it for quite a while now.
 
The PS4 Pros were also not just available by lottery system in Japan. Amazon JP, for example, sold them without a lottery system, which is why they were pretty much one of the first retailers to sell out of the PS4 Pro. From what I saw, the JP Square Enix Store was one of the remaining retailers that still had units almost a month after they went up, but they were selling by lottery. They too are now out of stock though.

They could approach the Zootopia prequel in a fashion similar to the Secret of Nymh.  Humans experimented on the animals, the animals and their descendants that survived the genetic experimentation done to them decided to take over human society but because of different ideals of what to do with the humans.  Some fractured into societies and were left to deal with human lead societies that treat humans better than animals as evidenced by Cats Don't Dance while other animals remained more primitive like Dumbo and Bambi while other animals sought to be like the humans but keep away from them at all costs, hence Zootopia.
 
Granted, it's an insane theory.  We don't see any humans in Bambi but their impacts are felt.  Why not make a series out of a classic?  Namely if Disney can settle the lawsuit with the late creator and have the series be a coming of age focusing on Bambi and Faline's kids.

I think, in order for a movie to get a TV series, it has to have the potential for infinite possibilities.  "The Incredibles" and "The Great Mouse Detective" fit this qualification since, in both shows, the heroes can take on different criminals every single episode with the only limit being the imagination of the show creators.  Other movies that I feel fit this qualification are "Peter Pan" (although it technically already has a show: "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", but I'm talking about a show with Peter Pan as the main character), "The Rescuers", "Zootopia", and "Toy Story" (I know that "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" was a "Toy Story" show, but I'm talking about a show that is like the beginning of "Toy Story 3" in which we see the toys taking on different roles and acting out different stories in different settings depending on how Andy or Bonnie plays with them).

I created a post on the KH Reddit and thought I'd repost it here if anyone was still confused about all the options they have to purchase the game. I think it's at a stage where I've covered everything we know, but feel free to reply on any mistakes or new details I haven't caught on yet, and I'll change this first post.
 
NORTH AMERICA & EUROPE | releasing 2019.01.29  
Physical Versions:
Standard Game | available at most game retailers | Gamestop (US Only) (Preorder bonus: Exclusive Fabric Poster)
Deluxe Edition (Image) | available at most game retailers | Gamestop (US Only) (Preorder bonus: Exclusive Fabric Poster)
Deluxe Edition + Bring Arts figures bundle | SE Store Exclusive North America + Europe
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (contents are TBD; unconfirmed to include either 1.5+2.5+2.8+3 or just KH3) | Stores TBD
Digital Versions:
Standard Game | PSN with preorder bonus (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme) + Star Seeker Variant Keyblade)
Standard Game | Xbox Games Store with preorder bonus ("Download Content": unconfirmed what is included)
All-In-One Package | PSN with preorder bonus (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme + PS4 Custom Keyblade for KH3)
NOTE for PSN: Unclear whether the "PS4 Custom Keyblade for KH3" is the same as the "Star Seeker Variant Keyblade"; also unclear whether the "Star Seeker Variant Keyblade" is the same as the Japanese PS4 Weapon DLC for Keyblade.
NOTE for Xbox Games Store: "Download Content" is most likely to include a Keyblade DLC exclusive to Xbox but has yet to be officially confirmed.
 
JAPAN | releasing 2019.01.25
(See JP KH3 Official Site Product Page for a more visual breakdown)
 
Physical Versions: (NOTE: In Japan, there are no physical versions for Xbox One)
Seven Net Shopping | LINK
Preorder bonus comes with the 3 editions below: Exclusive Keyblade (Digital Code) + Kingdom Hearts III Rubber Strap Sora
Standard Game
Standard Game + Figures Set
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade)
Amazon Japan | LINK
Preorder bonus: Original PS4 theme (Amazon version)
Standard Game: can choose to purchase with or without preorder bonus
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade): can choose to purchase with or without preorder bonus
JP Square Enix e-STORE | LINK
Preorder bonus comes with all editions EXCEPT All-In-One Package: Original Steelbook Case
Standard Game
Standard Game + Figures Set
All-In-One Package (e-STORE Exclusive): DOES NOT have preorder bonus
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade)
Other Japan stores will carry the Standard Game, most likely with no preorder bonus.
 
Digital Versions:
PSN
Standard Game | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (PS4 version)
All-In-One Package | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (PS4 version) + Original PS4 Theme (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme)
Xbox Games Store
Standard Game | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (Xbox One version)

I said this on the KH reddit, but something simple like the trio on a black background would've been good enough. Taking someone else's suggestion as well, the box art might be good too, assuming it is a drawing by Nomura.
 
Either of those would be better than the 3 designs we are choosing between... the posters make it seem like we play KH because we like Woody, Olaf, or Mike/Sully more than Sora, Donald and Goofy... Literally, all I see in the Frozen poster is Olaf... "where are Sora, Donald, and Goo--- oh they're shoved at the bottom, didn't even see 'em. Thought they were Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff"

I would think they'd sell this in the Americas as well, given they showcased it at E3 vs. Tokyo Game Show. The questions are when, where, and for how much?

I created a post on the KH Reddit and thought I'd repost it here if anyone was still confused about all the options they have to purchase the game. I think it's at a stage where I've covered everything we know, but feel free to reply on any mistakes or new details I haven't caught on yet, and I'll change this first post.
 
NORTH AMERICA & EUROPE | releasing 2019.01.29  
Physical Versions:
Standard Game | available at most game retailers | Gamestop (US Only) (Preorder bonus: Exclusive Fabric Poster)
Deluxe Edition (Image) | available at most game retailers | Gamestop (US Only) (Preorder bonus: Exclusive Fabric Poster)
Deluxe Edition + Bring Arts figures bundle | SE Store Exclusive North America + Europe
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (contents are TBD; unconfirmed to include either 1.5+2.5+2.8+3 or just KH3) | Stores TBD
Digital Versions:
Standard Game | PSN with preorder bonus (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme) + Star Seeker Variant Keyblade)
Standard Game | Xbox Games Store with preorder bonus ("Download Content": unconfirmed what is included)
All-In-One Package | PSN with preorder bonus (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme + PS4 Custom Keyblade for KH3)
NOTE for PSN: Unclear whether the "PS4 Custom Keyblade for KH3" is the same as the "Star Seeker Variant Keyblade"; also unclear whether the "Star Seeker Variant Keyblade" is the same as the Japanese PS4 Weapon DLC for Keyblade.
NOTE for Xbox Games Store: "Download Content" is most likely to include a Keyblade DLC exclusive to Xbox but has yet to be officially confirmed.
 
JAPAN | releasing 2019.01.25
(See JP KH3 Official Site Product Page for a more visual breakdown)
 
Physical Versions: (NOTE: In Japan, there are no physical versions for Xbox One)
Seven Net Shopping | LINK
Preorder bonus comes with the 3 editions below: Exclusive Keyblade (Digital Code) + Kingdom Hearts III Rubber Strap Sora
Standard Game
Standard Game + Figures Set
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade)
Amazon Japan | LINK
Preorder bonus: Original PS4 theme (Amazon version)
Standard Game: can choose to purchase with or without preorder bonus
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade): can choose to purchase with or without preorder bonus
JP Square Enix e-STORE | LINK
Preorder bonus comes with all editions EXCEPT All-In-One Package: Original Steelbook Case
Standard Game
Standard Game + Figures Set
All-In-One Package (e-STORE Exclusive): DOES NOT have preorder bonus
Limited Edition PS4 Pro (includes KH3 on disc + Original PS4 theme (PS4 Pro version) + Weapon DLC for Keyblade)
Other Japan stores will carry the Standard Game, most likely with no preorder bonus.
 
Digital Versions:
PSN
Standard Game | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (PS4 version)
All-In-One Package | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (PS4 version) + Original PS4 Theme (KH3 Impossible Odds Dynamic Theme)
Xbox Games Store
Standard Game | preorder bonus: Weapon DLC for Keyblade (Xbox One version)

As of the Square Enix Presents showcase on June 14th, there has been no reveals on more information regarding the Limited Edition PS4 Pro. Questions were directly asked about it on the feed during the live showcase, and the presenters on the show mentioned that those questions were taboo currently and could not be answered at the moment.

Yes, I plan to update it as more release info comes out. I'm on the lookout for the PS4 Pro as well, so I'll be sure to update the post when there's news.