Merilly

To be honest, I was unsure whether we would even get a trailer at all and not just the announcement and some details. While it isn't uncommon for DLCs to get trailers, I'm not sure how much substance this DLC will have in the end so I didn't really expect all that much. If I take that into account, we received a lot more than I thought and I wouldn't have minded if we got nothing either. I liked KH3 and it certainly can use more original content, but with how much criticism it received, it might be better not to raise unnecessary expectations once more and lay a little low with generating hype. The way they handled it suits me rather well. The trailer is short and doesn't promise too much. From the few things we've seen, it could be a short DLC or a longer one while not making it seem bigger than it actually is. Expectations are always problematic but for KH somehow more so than with other games from my perspective, so this is a lot better than revealing too much.

You can use a proxy if you can't. They'll buy it and then send it to you in case it won't be sold in Europe. Edit: AmiAmi has them up for pre-order. https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=GOODS-00303450

For something that is basically a skin with only minor form changes and gameplay utility, ~1/14 of the full game price is actually a lot in my opinion. Yeah, 4-5$ alone doesn't sound like much but for such a small change which doesn't even have such a marvelously different set of skills attached, it's a lot, especially when we consider this was a free pre-order bonus once. They will earn a lot of money with something that didn't cost them much to devise. But if people want it, I certainly won't tell anyone how to spend their money and what they deem worth it. I just consider it a lot of money for something that had already been developed to be offered as a bonus for free and was hardly any extra work for them to make available anymore. Yes, work went into it and it's okay to want to make money, but the pricing is steep for something such as this. Add to that that there seems to be a new Keyblade and form coming for free as DLC, this feels like a rather expensive trinket.

That's the problem with KHUx in particular. It throws tons of questions at you and hardly provides any clear answers yet. They really need to clarify some things soon regarding the datascape, etc. or people will really fail to follow at some point. Theories like the sleeping realms theory can only exist because they expect the fans to fill in too many blanks. (Which doesn't mean said theory is entirely true because of something the ultimania explains differently already while confirming other aspects to exist, but it just shows how little effort they spend on actually taking the time to explain since DDD.) I agree that a movie is more likely but I am fairly certain we will get some sort of console port in one form or another. The main reason is that KHUx is crucial to the understanding of the general plot and mobile games tend to cease accessibility after a while because it's too expensive. Alternatively, they could release a mobile version with just the story and a few features for a set price and no MMO parts after it's over to make sure people don't have to resort to YouTube while not having to maintain servers that much.

I think you'd have a good chance of winning that bet if we just base it on what Nomura has said. Of course things might have changed in the meantime but I highly doubt it. Why go out of his way to say it is a world that does not appear in KH3 just to go back on it and have it be Scala ad Caelum? I also think a Disney world is most likely. KHUx's only original world so far has been Daybreak Town along with the Keyblade Graveyard (which might not be a different world), both of which originating from KHUx. There's also the realm of darkness, though I don't really consider a shapeless stage of purple, red and black much of a world on its own, considering it's its own realm. Since the current KHUx basically uses data to simulate worlds, the chances it will use a new original world is slim and as mentioned above, a known world would be going against previous announcements. Final Fantasy and TWEWY are also out for me for the reason that there's no real purpose to introduce a world for either of them currently. Most FF characters were tied to Disney and/or original worlds and recent interviews make it seem like TWEWY isn't of much interest right now. Since Disney plays a large role and we're still missing some new Princesses of Heart, it's fairly reasonable that the new world will be a Disney property that has not been featured in KH so far. Too many factors point in that direction. Old worlds are also out for the count because there's no real reason to hype them up so much. And Radiant Garden would likely be among those worlds which have been missing entirely due to that Darkness fellow claiming there are things that they don't want anyone to see due to them being a possible danger. Another thing is that the developers know people are getting tired of visiting the same old worlds. Agrabah has become so much of a running gag that all parties are aware of it and it's not even funny anymore. KHUx needs new content if it wants to hold the interest of people and that can't be done with 5 minutes of relevant cutscenes every few weeks or even months with the rest being fillers of worlds every single one of us has likely played and seen for the hundredth time already.

Not only that but unless he went back on what he said, it was confirmed it would be a world which has not been in KH3.

Uhuh... I feel like he's been saying that a lot these past months and even a year ago when the new world was announced for who knows when... But whenever it felt like the story would pick up, there's been months of fillers in-between. I just hope with KH3 out of the way, they finally do what they've been announcing time and time again.

It's definitely not the most demanding but even my old PS4 was reaching its limits with certain battles and scenes. The Switch doesn't exactly shine with a comparable hardware but Nintendo has never attempted to compete in that aspect anyway since they define themselves by lots of exclusive titles and being the family friendly console with different types of controls. Especially the portable aspect is interesting but since that thing is hardly larger than a regular tablet, the hardware possibilities are actually fairly limited in comparison to its competitors which mainly attract gamers. But quite frankly, it doesn't have to. High-end performance isn't everything and neither are pretty graphics but of course that also means that porting from other consoles becomes difficult when the games are made for a more advanced/more powerful hardware. There's nothing bad about that, it's just a limitation a lot of developers aren't willing to adjust to just to release it on another console. It probably wouldn't take that much for KH3 to be made to fit but it's still time and money that goes away from developing the next game. I can understand that sentiment, too. The Switch is a product that caters to a different need than the PS4/Xbox One do and they made it with exactly that in mind. However, it also means that fans have to accept the idea that not every game is possible on the Switch. Which should be obvious if people just compare the data sheet. It's by no means a bad console, just not made for everything. I think the best example is BotW. The Wii U version and the Switch version barely have a noticeable difference and I doubt that's only because the developers were too lazy. That comparison is awesome though. Yozora will forever be known as the Joy-Con character for me now. Thanks for that.

I doubt it will come to the Switch if they will keep the standard they have now. Apparently, KH3 likely wouldn't run well on the Switch due to it requiring better hardware than the Switch can offer and I'm not sure SE would adjust to that just so they can publish it on the Switch. I would be happy if it could be ported for those who want to play it on the Switch but I also don't want them to spend too much time tinkering with any future game or even saving in quality just to make it possible. Especially now that they've gotten used to the engine, I hope they will just stick to that and not resort to too many experiments. Right now, I don't think they will do this console hopping again. The handheld consoles are starting to disappear one after another without new ones taking their place and I think the whole purpose of the remixes was to get it all on one console again. It would be kinda ironic if they now started with the whole console hopping again. I also don't see a reason to. Most people who play KH own a PS4 (or maybe even PS5/whatever the successor will be called by then) by now or an Xbox One with older consoles. Veering off to the Switch now with an exclusive title or changing the game's technology seems like a stupid move. Which isn't to say I don't support the Switch but I currently see no reason for them to consider it if it really would mean too much extra work and I'd rather they work with what they know for now instead of trying too many ambitious projects. For now it would be a good start to just bring the remixes to the Switch and especially the Xbox One so that they're going away from favoring one console over the other. Especially the Xbox One shouldn't be too problematic. With the remixes on the Switch, they can already gauge how interesting the franchise is for the audience since Nintendo's consoles have also always been aimed at families and not just gamers. I personally believe the Switch is actually a great console for KH if it weren't for the rather drastic hardware differences. KH is a franchise that also appeals to a younger audience and the idea to always take the games with you is very interesting. It might be a good way to get new fans into the series as well.

I'm looking forward to getting it >_< I already got a mail earlier this month that it will be shipped earlier than expected. I don't understand a thing and would love to have an English version but I rather like them anyway.

I'd like to believe that the sheer amount of negative comments will also impact the additional content we'll get to see. It won't be able to fix my main issue with the pacing but I'm happy nonetheless that we'll get more for the original plot. Maybe that will appease some of the overly negative fans as well, even when it can't change everything that was criticized (and shouldn't have to. Yes, there's a lot of understandable criticism but a lot of it is also extremely subjective in the manner that it's obvious where that person is coming from but KH3 still doesn't need to cater to every headcanon, no matter how nice it sounds). I'm not getting too hyped though. KH3 has shown me that I found it much more enjoyable and agreeable in the end when I had a more diverse view on it rather than hyping it up too much. For example, hearing about the spoiler-free rage toward the ending actually made me anxious only to find out it wasn't actually that bad in my opinion. Instant relief. It doesn't hide it's flaws but at least my expectations were reasonable so that might actually be something to be grateful for to the ones who were rather blunt in their hate for certain aspects.

Exactly. Disney is a part of KH just as FF is for me, but the balance is key and this time it felt like Disney took the entire focus for itself to let itself look good. Unlike quite a few others, I don't think KH3 lacks soul or heart but it's undeniable that the focus has shifted away from the original plot way more than necessary and likely more than Nomura and the developers wanted because they had to do what Disney/Pixar told them. They realized KH was popular and wanted their own franchises to look best. That's at least how it appears to me. That's especially visible in worlds like PotC or Arendelle. They are visually stunning, no questions asked, but they don't actually need Sora. Just like how KH2 was criticized for the worlds being too disconnected from the main plot, KH3 has the issue that it fails to give Sora a purpose to be there. Even the Power of Waking gets lost in Disney's original plots. I liked the Disney worlds. They were fun on their own but once you regard their integrity in the overall plot, which is what most fans were looking forward to since it was the final, KH's original plot becomes somewhat irrelevant. And I can't help but think that Nomura isn't the only one to blame for that but rather Disney wrenching control over its properties away from him and barely allowing him any creative freedom to include his own ideas. I can't agree more with you on the fact that their involvement looks good on paper. Having some sort of peer review with people familiar with the franchise to watch over the original plot and Disney employees to make sure that the main ideas of each movie are presented correctly is a good thing to prevent a single author from going in a direction only they understand. That's understandable because as an author, you sometimes don't realize it doesn't make sense to the readers/players since they can't look into the writer's head. But as you said, it can also be negative if there are too many and they are nitpicking. I don't believe I would have cared about an exact line of sight if they had added more original content. These details are sweet and lovely but they also take time and should be left for when most is done. I personally believe that Radiant Garden was originally meant to be playable and maybe even serve as a Hub-world but they couldn't really fit it in anymore with all the Disney worlds. I'm not hating on Disney but they've never cared for KH's original plot in my opinion and only saw it as advertisement to their own movies. And neither SE nor Nomura can go against their demands since they own the franchise. I still enjkyed KH3 despite that. I just feel that the endgame could have been drawn out by having a midgame section solely dedicated fo original plot points. They could have saved some characters earlier to actually give them time to interact with each other outside of the tension of a final battle. I am fairly happy with what we got but there's no denying it could have been more and that the pacing/structuring is none too stellar. Despite that, I wish that fans would also lower their expectations a bit, stop blaming everything on Nomura/SE and look at the development more. Roughly 4 years of development (since the engine switch) are not a whole lot when you have to build everything from scratch. I think a lot had to be sacrificed because it took them quite a while to adjust to the new engine. And Disney was probably unwilling to sacrifice a property of its own to accomodate that. Add to that that the fans were getting impatient and Nomura didn't have the resources of other big titles (in particular money and employees), it's actually quite a lot that they managed to achieve. I wouldn't be too discouraged yet. There's also a lot of negative criticism which doesn't sound like entitled fans throwing a tantrum and the developers have shown to take notice of complaints in the past. That is also something Disney/SE can't ignore when presented to them. We also have to take into consideration that they're more familiar with the engine now and won't have to build everything from scratch anymore, which effectively leaves them with more time to focus on other things. And if Disney/Pixar keep their nitpicking a bit more to themselves, I'm sure it has the potential to show off more original content in the future.

No, I had no crashes at all. There were a few lags and minor display issues when a lot was going on but I never had the game failing me this badly. I think there was only one time I feared it did but it managed to load in the end. It's strange that it crashed for you... I spent a lot of time in the Caribbean though I admittedly swam across the whole map most of the time. ^^' Were the crashes mainly during ship battles?

That legitimately made me chuckle a bit, but I agree. Which isn't to say it doesn't have the better hardware but if that really required an interview to state that KH3 is running smoothly on Xbox One X is debatable... I'm not sure if it's even that much better than the PS4 Pro though performance-wise since I never had the opportunity to compare them. Other than that, I don't care much for 4k or 60 FPS, as long as the latter is mostly consistent. (Yes, the difference is noticeable but the other KH games, or games in general, were never less fun when they ran at 30 FPS in my opinion.) I played the game on a regular PS4 (one of the older models) and it was mostly smooth. It was obvious it was reaching its limits from time to time which resulted in a few unstable scenes but other than that I see no real reason to buy an entirely new console for one game for slight enhancements. I'm not hating on the Xbox but I'm still questioning whether such an interview was really necessary because it makes it seem as though it is a whole different game all of a sudden. It may have the better hardware but I seriously doubt it's that much better to warrant such excitement...

Likely not. SE's PAKs and BAs have always been quite a bit of hit or miss. Sometimes they look good, sometimes they look off, even if we're talking about the same figure. My friend and I both bought the Riku BA from SE's store and those two have quite a few differences. They're minor in this case but accumulate. Not to mention that prototypes tend to be more detailed and look better overall. While I've seen a few examples of the final product looking better or just slightly worse, companies also tend to put a lot more effort into the prototypes. Axel's nose looks strange though. Way too big, so that is something I hope will be fixed for the release...

I'm still debating whether the Xehanort one isn't actually a threat... Especially if the other party doesn't know Kingdom Hearts.

I wouldn't call this "beating the crap" out of them just because some are defending their own opinion... No one really insulted them nor have they been immensely disrespectful. Of course they have a right to state their opinion, as negative as it may be, but freedom of speech doesn't mean others aren't allowed to do the same and answer with disagreement as long as it's kept civil. That's the point of a discussion, isn't it? If everyone only ever agreed with each other it would hardly be more than a superficial conversation of perpetually agreeing parties that doesn't lead anywhere beyond "I agree". No offense, but they chose to post a one-sided perspective on a public forum. If they didn't want people to disagree with them too then it would be better not to post them openly and talk to people privately who share the same opinion. Which doesn't mean that it wouldn't be better if the discussions would become a little less heated but in this thread in particular, I didn't really see much to warrant it being called "beating the crap" out of them. If it was, I'm sure the moderators would have interfered the moment people went way out of line.

While I get the desire to know more about the motivations of the antagonist, I sometimes don't need to know everything because each answer can make new questions surface into an endless cycle, like a child asking 'why?' for every answer given and demanding even more detail. At some point we just have to accept that not everything can and will be answered without drifting off into territories which are simply not important anymore. To be honest, I am absolutely fine with Xehanort not needing a motivation but rather hearing a story and a prediction for the future and wishing to fulfill it. Might be simple, but not every villain needs to have a terrible past to justify their behavior. Sometimes it's the characters who do things just because they can that are the most interesting. Not to mention that it wouldn't surprise me that he knows about those means through the stories his master told him. No Name was basically hanging on the wall, too. I don't need to know how it got there in detail, considering Keyblades can be passed down. Still, I also wished to have more here and there, especially for those parts which are likely not going to get picked up again in the future. I agree though that the hate is very excessive and not all of that seems justified in my opinion. I saw a lot of hate which wasn't formulated in a way of legitimate and civil criticism but rather just ranting about every single little flaw while praising the glorious KH2. I love KH2 but I find it hard to criticize KH3 for something and then proceed to compliment KH2 for the same procedure in the very same sentence. It's nonsense to insult one game for empty areas but claim they were so much more alive in the other when in reality, they weren't. I remember people complaining about exactly that issue back in the day and suddenly KH3 is that much worse? Just to give an example. Every game has flaws. I have no issue with addressing them or seeing them addressed, as subjective as most of them tend to be. But what KH3 is suffering from are the high expectations and all the fan ideas what the perfect conclusion should look like which is simply impossible to achieve. Which is not to say that KH3 doesn't have flaws galore. Just as all the other games had. Speaking for myself, it's not actually worse or better than the rest of the franchise but simply falls in line with what Kingdom Hearts has always done, both in negative and positive aspects. I think most of the hate stems from overblown hype and expectations and a huge blindness resulting from nostalgia. A lot of fans compare it to the numbered titles which they have first played years upon years ago and quite frankly, nostalgia is a powerful force which lets us forget the issues we would have seen if we were to play it now for the first time. There are things I don't like, things I would have most certainly done differently, and there's no denying that they may have tried to do too much and lost focus of what they actually wanted to accomplish, but for me, the game is still a Kingdom Hearts title at heart. But no one can tell me that they hated every minute of it. And that's where good reviews can be told apart from bad ones. Regardless of score, they should always mention the good and the bad. No game is perfect but in this case, I find it hard to believe there weren't any enjoyable parts either. I hope that what some of the others are saying comes true and that the initial disappointment because SE/Disney didn't cater to a lot of people's overblown demands dies down a little and that they can see things in a little more diverse fashion. Flaws as well as some opinions can't be changed and I won't blatantly disregard them either, but views do change over time in all directions for the more subjective points. For example, the pacing of the KH titles will forever be off for me as I structure my stories differently, but I still enjoy what we get, despite longing for more coverage of the original plot lines and character exposition. I personally decided not to take part in too many discussions and just keep my enjoyment quietly to myself and my closest friends. I won't let my overall positive feeling be crushed by unnecessary hate which completely ignores the same issues in other KH titles. One does not have to be ignorant of the flaws to ultimately enjoy something after all. In the end, most KH games had their outrage. A lot of the fans have just forgotten what they initially disliked about the other games they celebrate even more now and I think the same might happen to KH3. Or do I have to remind everyone of all the complaints the extremely long prologue of KH2 received? The barren rooms at times? How disconnected some Disney plots were from the overall plot? Atlantica? How a lot of fans criticized mashing triangle for fancy moves they otherwise had no control over? Or how the story also only picked up more around the 50-60% mark? Cutscenes following after taking a few steps for things which really weren't all that necessary? And so on and so forth. I remember that clearly. But a lot of that criticism apparently is now forgotten with acquiring a new target. In the end I'd say let the people hate the game as much as they desire. Just like you can't tell others to see the flaws, you won't change anyone's opinion if they have made up their mind. For those two extremes, there's seemingly no option for a civil discussion and I'd rather not get involved with unnecessary bashing or over the top glorification. In the end, it only matters what you personally thought of it. There's always the possibility to take other opinions into account to look at it from different perspectives but if you feel uncomfortable about it, there's no use in trying to talk something worse that wasn't bad to you just to fit in. After all, likes and dislikes are personal and if you enjoy something, I'd hold onto that. There are tons of bad news and stressful situations out there that you don't need to deliberately ruin something for yourself just to understand those who hate on the game, especially when you were mostly content. It yields much more enjoyment to prevent needless arguments and just love the games you do and only discuss it with those you feel comfortable with. Games are made to be fun. If it wasn't, then too bad but at some point, it's easier to move on if it only upsets them. There's little pleasure to be found if they can only talk about the bad and that's why it's sometimes easier to just indulge in your own fun and keep away from negative outbursts. As much as I cherish the franchise, it's still just a game and I don't need to get into arguments over this if a friendly discussion is impossible from the start.

As much as I love attention to detail, I still feel like the increased involvement of Disney and Pixar is not a good thing and is hindering the development of the original parts. I enjoyed KH3 but in some instances one could clearly feel Disney's influence. I dare say having the entire song in may not have been a decision made by the development team but rather by Disney since the movie is so popular. Subjectively, the song didn't need to be in there. It was completely random. Of course I can't know if the Disney properties have something to do with it but it feels like both Disney and Pixar have been very demanding and were protective to have their own works look as best as they can which ended up in the original worlds not getting enough development time because they had to spent so much time on every little detail. I love how it looks most of the time but sometimes the original characters fluctuate a lot in quality while the Disney/Pixar ones are relatively consistent. Especially the eyes for the original cast could have used more depth. All in all, it felt like they spent way more time on appearances and adjusting that than making sure that the pacing of the story is good. I liked what we got but as always, I feel they could have added more content for the original plot. It doesn't help that both Disney and Pixar, from my point of view, demanded a lot without actually sharing much of their assets and knowledge. Of course graphics, especially good models with lively expressions, are extremely important for Kingdom Hearts since that's what carries emotion across, but sometimes it felt like they had to cater more to Disney/Pixar's needs than what they wanted to do for the original plot. All in all I was happy with this game and also the Disney/Pixar worlds but I'm a little afraid Kingdom Hearts will get burried by demands of companies which only care about the things they created themselves without caring for the overall plot. It feels like a lot of time was wasted to make things overly accurate to the source material. Which is fine if you have the time but KH3 clearly showed that they could have used some more toward the original plot in my opinion. Just to give the characters and their plot points the attention and time they need and deserve and make it feel less rushed. I'm concerned this will continue into the future with how successful KH3 was and Disney suddenly realizing that it does have a rather large fanbase. Judging from interviews, they're not as lenient toward depiction of violence for example as with the other KH titles anymore. (Which is kinda ironic, considering their own movies have tons of violence and mature references.) It isn't always bad to have more people look toward the game and make sure it turns out great but that only works if they're not solely looking out for their own works. Disney owns the franchise after all so they shouldn't only care to look visually appealing. I enjoyed KH3 a lot more than others obviously, considering all the negative comments, but I can't ignore the flaws and also can't help to attribute some of the blame to Disney/Pixar for burying everything pertaining to Kingdom Hearts itself beneath their properties and making them feel rushed in return, no matter how good it looks. Disney may be a major part of KH but it's not good to be too much of a perfectionist with a game that has another focus beyond Disney movie representations. I was satisfied with a lot of the Disney worlds. I truly did enjoy most of them and also the original story wasn't half as outrageous as I had feared based on the spoiler-free impressions and reviews. But I can't deny that I would have rather sacrificed some of their content and detail in favor of more original content and a more even pacing. It sometimes wasn't as directed as they clearly could have managed and then realized after all the Disney worlds that "whoops, we actually have to do the stuff we teased 10 hours ago." Nomura said there are enough original characters so that FF characters aren't as needed anymore. (Something I couldn't disagree more with.) But the same could be said for the Disney properties then. Apart from a few plot points intertwining, I dare say a lot of us have stayed with KH due to its original plot. Not because it has Disney slapped onto it. I couldn't imagine Kingdom Hearts without Disney and neither without Final Fantasy, but at the same time it felt like the focus sometimes shifted too much away from the overarching plot that actually matters toward excessive visual Disney/Pixar representation for high quality copy and paste scenes from their movies which aren't always necessary. It's entirely subjective of course and I can't say I can prove my claims since I don't know what's going on behind closed doors. I just know that KH3 was lacking in certain areas. Which is completely normal for a game and it was the same in all other KH titles, but especially when trying to connect this many characters and plot elements, they could have used more time toward that and the actual final confrontation instead of focusing on the tiniest visual details. I still loved the game though. I just like to view the game from all perspectives, both negative and positive and for me, Disney's increased involvement does not appear positive. KH stands and falls with Disney of course but I couldn't help but feel that their trouble with the engine slowed down development which ended in other parts being rushed.

I think that depends on the expectation and what the individual considers satisfying. I've seen very mixed feelings even from the most die-hard fans. Some found it to be everything they needed, others are unhappy with just about everything. There's just no way to please everyone and I think if it seems more satisfying to the general public, it's because they didn't have extremely high expectations which are simply impossible to fulfill. I can imagine that the general public was not satisfied by the story since they wouldn't be able to understand everything. Which is not to say KH3 doesn't have flaws. I do have quite a few gripes as well. And there's also the possibility to just dislike something. But I dare say some of that loathing for some is due to overblown hype.

I don't like any of them. I already thought the ones in KHUx were a pain (much like a majority of the people I'm in contact with), but the amount of minigames in KH3 is ridiculous and probably among my biggeet gripes with the game. It's no secret that I loathe minigames and I still wonder what made them think that KH3 needed even more than the rest of the franchise. When you ask people what they like about the franchise, I've never heard the minigames being mentioned a whole lot except for a few side remarks somewhere down the list perhaps in a few select cases. Most of the time people expressed their frustrationnor simply didn't care for them. I really would have appreciated if they had toned that down a little and traded it for something else. Like a quest system, more interactions between original characters, some original worlds being a little larger, a good coliseum like in KH1 or at least an arena like in BBS, or whatever else to make it feel like KH3 isn't 40% minigames (if you were to do all of them)... I'm not even debating to try any of them unless they have to be done or provide something extremely valuable and even then it would mostly be a pain in the neck and nothing to enjoy.