Merilly

As Zeldablade7 says, the browser translation may not be accurate so you're probably right to keep expectations low. It's not like they have to include every Pixar movie right off the bat and not every movie is necessarily suitable for the franchise. Of course I'm also hoping for another world, it's just that people are hyping this up a lot without really knowing if it's an accurate translation. Japanese isn't always as clear about the wording and while they have gotten better, those translation softwares do not replace translators. I think there were many issues because of inaccurate translations before, so it's best not to jump to conclusions. Best example would be the newest update for KHUx where people don't know whose sister Strelitzia is. It's a bit ambiguous at times, even for proficient speakers. I think the translation provided by Matt Hunt seems a bit more likely, considering that this text box seems to be more of a general description of the game rather than an announcement. It just has a feeling of a synopsis, though I can't know for sure either and the browser translation could still be correct for all we know. What I'm actually a bit surprised about is that there'll be no demo available. It felt like KH3 appeared everywhere and at every bigger (gaming) event in so many different countries. The fact that it won't appear in Japan again is a little strange, especially if we think about the scope of the event, that KH3 will have a presence and that it's the origin country of the franchise. I'm not speculating there has to be a special meaning to it, I just think it's odd.

I expressed my disdain toward Kearsley in the past and will do so again. He doesn't seem to care for the franchise at all apart from its popularity, considering he didn't express any desire to get into the games unless he gets to work on an animated series for it. I'm not saying that his motivations have to be like this, the interviews he's given suggest it though. If it gets approved, count me out unless people are involved who actually know the series and won't turn it into either a ridiculous show for infants or make it laughable. Yes, it is harsh and I'm not saying every interpretation done by others needs to be bad, after all not every Disney show is terrible and some are really great, but I'd rather they leave Kingdom Hearts be and refrain from turning it into a cash cow just because they suddenly realized it has a considerably solid fanbase. I'm not a fan of him, his style or the works he's been associated with. KH is far from perfect and there's much they could tell but it doesn't need to be an animated series. It usually doesn't work out that well to adapt games.

Me neither, that's why I said I'm not too concerned about this being datamined. Because if that really was so easy, it would be done more often and then it wouldn't be offered for preload anymore, especially not this early. The possibility is always there though. It's really slim but there's just no way to prevent it 100% from happening. I personally don't believe anyone would put in that kind of effort it would take for a game that comes out in less than two months. Admittedly, I know very little about datamining but considering how long it took for them to find assets in 0.2, I doubt it's a process that can be done in one night or even days. In the end I believe gaming companies and those associated with them are trying hard enough to keep their paid content from leaking. It cannot be prevented in all cases, but people would need a lot of determination and know-how to try that and then even have the motivation of spreading it.

To be honest, I'm not too concerned about someone hacking the preloaded game. If that was such a common issue, I doubt they would offer it this early. I'd be more worried about insiders leaking something. Though I did not expect it to become available this early. I have nothing against it since it's just a preload but it still is very far away. To be fair, I don't buy digital copies so I won't know exactly, but is just seems rather early. It's better to be careful of leaks, fake or not. What was once seen can't be erased after all since we can't filter it beforehand and conveniently decide whether it's real or not and then allow it in. Even if Xbox preloaded content is considered safe, something unexpected can always happen and we have to be careful regardless ever since the game went gold. The game being available for preload only serves as a reminder of that.

I think fans were overexaggerating when they said the main story would be 100+ hours. Nomura said the story would be around 40 hours I believe and over 80 for 100%. Cutscenes can potentially be condensed quite a bit in size and 80+ hours for full completion probably also includes all of the mini games. A lot of them seem to be rather simple and likely won't take much space. To be honest, I don't know where people still take the notion from that the main story will take 100 hours. First of all, that isn't a good idea because the replay value decreases if the main games takes too long in my opinion. Of course they could fit that much content into KH3 with how many characters there are and give more insight on loads of things, but I don't think that was ever a real possibility. I don't see many games which have such a long main story. (And it doesn't count to the time to get distracted by side quests either.) Another thing is that they have to be compared to other games. We can't compare them to the recent vast open world games since despite being larger, KH is still mainly story-driven and doesn't focus too much on exploration and all those extras which make people sink hundreds of hours into the games. Apart from the mini games and the occasional treasure chest, there likely won't be a plethora of things to do but fight enemies since it's still mostly a hack'n'slay type of game. There's no hunting, no survival, no completely seamless open world, so I think roughly 36GB still translates well to 40 hours of main story. There are lots of games which have similar or even smaller file sizes despite being rather large in terms of content. Persona 5, Monster Hunter World, the new Dragon Quest, etc. all have smaller file sizes if I recall correctly. I can't say I don't have any doubts either after all this talk about having difficulties to fit the game onto the disc because it was so large. I do fear story-related content was cut to adjust to that and so they can make more money from DLC. But the first insecurity I had was quickly debunked by seeing how many other games have this kind of file size without losing in quality. It's not the best idea to compare it to open world games and those which already had considerably large patches though as I've seen some do. It might be smaller than some people imagine but as you said, it will likely still be bigger than any other KH game before. More than file size or what could be added (which, to be honest, will always be a lot in terms of KH since there are always more side stories and character relationships/character development to explore), it's important that it will still be a complete experience, although it might not be as long-lasting as some people hope it will be and won't be able to address absolutely everything we want to see. In that regard, KH3 will only be able to lose. But better that than letting it drag on and on with needless extensions or way too many cutscenes in a small amount of time. (Like in KH2 where you sometimes couldn't take 5 steps without being assaulted by a cutscene. Don't get me wrong, I love story and everything, but some were just too much without giving the player some time to actually play the game.)

That only happened in JP so far. Global is currently just before the Maleficent battle in Enchanted Dominion. We still have quite a few quests to even get there.

The possibility for that to happen is slim. We're several months behind JP in terms of story and unless they decide to catch up after all (which they didn't plan to apparently, though SE has been vague), we will only be up to date in about 5-6 months. Don't expect to see her before KH3 comes out. And these updates are usually not for the whole month of December. They announce the recurring stuff like Coliseum rewards, Monthly Gem Challenge, etc. on the 1st because they run the entire month but they are not an outlook of what will happen. Story updates are only announced a day before actual release and we usually get around one each month. There's an update like this about every week for the weekly stuff.

It would be nice to see, though I understand it's as you said... They want to show it off in the most advantageous way possible. Though to be honest, I won't upgrade to a Pro either way because it's still expensive and I have a working PS4. However, it may be a good thing for those who have neither yet and are trying to decide if it's worth it or are debating to upgrade in the near future. Though I'd be fine with it if it works like 0.2. While the game wasn't smooth sailing all around, I did not experience any major frame rate issues. The only thing I'm worried about is a potential input lag persisting, though it seems like that's more of a general problem.

Yeah, the similarity is definitely there.

Diamond Select is at it again with his face... Is it really so hard to get it right? I also think the price is a little steep for the quality. For a bust this size, they need to be extra careful with details and shading. This doesn't look worth paying that much money for. It doesn't look utterly terrible but for a list price of roughly 200$+shipping for a 25cm bust (a part of which actually consisting of a plain stand), I personally expect more attention to detail. The material also looks fairly cheap and too glossy, though that might just be the lighting. And for a bust of this dimension, it would make sense to have his necklace be an actual one and not sculpted onto the figure and then painted. I think it lacks plasticity, depth, shading and diversity in the use of paints. The paintjob looks inconsistent and the lines around his eyes a little rough, although it's a lot easier to be detailed with busts and also necessary. The hair also could use more brown hues to actually make it look like hair. It's easy for me to pass up on this... I can overlook some static faces and inconsistencies in smaller figures because you need to get up close to see the face, but a bust would mean that the flaws would be glaring at me the entire time. Faces are very important for figures, even more so for busts, and Sora constantly suffers from very mediocre to outright terrible quality. I actually saw a doodle with the comment that it's simply impossible to capture that much sunshine in a figure, which admittedly made me chuckle, but for 200$ this is non-negotiable in this case.

I put it under a spoiler tag, even if it may be a little too late, though I still have no idea what the "leaks" actually entailed. xD' I apologize if that supported spoilers and will take responsibility for it in case anyone feels offended by my post.

Finally! I was somewhat peeved by the fact that most characters are depicted with their Keyblades quite often and Kairi only ever got the most generic of stances, despite having a weapon, and was never featured alongside them. It's really great to finally have some renders with her in action.

As I mentioned before, there's a good chance that quite a few fan theories will come true simply because there are so many and even if some part of supposed leaks became true, it would not mean those were real. After a game has gone gold, leaks would need to be at least 99% accurate for me to acknowledge that the one posting them actually had a credible source. Otherwise all those theory posts which will have some truth in them could also claim they were leaking stuff. If I wrote a post with my theories, there's a good chance some of those would be correct, too and I could go around boldly proclaiming "I knew it because I had access to the game!" but in the end, all the wrong information has to be taken into account as well to determine if it's truly a leak to be believed.

I kinda expected a little more when I read Ultra Detail, though these could still be prototypes. They look nice enough, though the faces and hair could use more attention to detail and the clothes could use a better paintjob with a better use of shadows. They don't seem too tall, so I definitely wouldn't pay more than 40-45$ per figure. I'm still hoping some of the better quality companies will get a license eventually... Not that all figures are bad but I feel like the average or worse quality ones are drastically outweighing good quality ones. But I'm glad that these are static figures and not action figures, but the outlines still don't look too clean in the pictures.

Yeah, I will probably resort to those drastic measures as well. I can't stay off of Youtube but I can at least blacklist some words. I'm not too worried about my Twitter since I don't follow many people and those I do follow wouldn't spoil anything. And I have to click a link for pictures on my old phone, so the risk is fairly low if I don't search for KH. The things I'm most worried about are YouTube and Tumblr because of all the recommended stuff. Sometimes people don't name and tag their stuff appropriately so there's no guarantee nothing will slip through the cracks. Saw that with 0.2 already and it might be infinitely worse for KH3. So I'll just avoid Tumblr altogether. I'm not too worried about this website since the moderators usually keep a good eye on potential spoilers. Of course it's not impossible for something to surface in-between, but it's better monitored than an open and gigantic website. 4chan and Reddit as well as Facebook aren't my thing and I placed a no spoiler policy on my KHUx party due to the wishes of my party members. I guess that means we're as well prepared as one can be without completely going dark. I unfortunately can't afford that so I just hope it'll be enough. It's usually not such a big deal for me when it comes to other games but it will be the last time for quite a while until we get to experience another KH for the first time again and I don't want my friend and I to know all the twists and turns before we start our adventure. I'm fairly certain we can expect the first leaks to pop up at least a week before release. Though it's probably wiser to do it like yourself and watch out several weeks in advance. Even though the most recent one was 99% fake from what I heard, there's no telling when the next one will come after seeing the reaction from the fans and whether it'll be real this time. I know some laugh about that but it happens fairly often that things get leaked so I can't blame fans for being cautious.

I'll probably be gone for about a week once the game launches so even if I would live nearby, no one would probably be able to drag me out of the cave that my apartment will turn into. I think it's a nice little idea though and not the worst marketing technique for the store.

Thank you for throwing yourself into battle for us. Really though, I did not expect them to be true but with leaks being a reality we've got to deal with, it wouldn't be a surprise if something would be posted way before the 25th. The Monstropolis leaks at least had a more credible source with the public server actually being there (though we couldn't be sure it belonged to SE), and images of the quality that were shown would be hard to recreate. But I guess I'm exceptionally cautious for anything story-related. If we think about it, a lot of fans will probably have guessed certain things right since it's not the first KH game and there are theories galore, but claiming it's a leak has me cautious to read it because it's hard to determine whether it's true or not without reading it but you can't erase it once you did. I would also be careful at least 1-2 weeks before the release date. Many people know of ways to get the games earlier through contacts or some stores just not caring, and if the games are meant to be on the shelfs on time, they would probably come in earlier rather than at the last second to manage that reliably. 2.8 was out a week earlier in most western countries because stores didn't care about the release date and there are always those who receive earlier copies and then go online with their Let's Plays, Playthroughs, etc. That's how it was with 2.8 and I doubt they can stop it occuring for KH3... For example, I know the owner of a really small store and even his orders usually come in 3-4 days before release and he sold me copies because we're acquaintances. If someone is in the industry or connected to it, they will get it earlier than the 25th/29th and not all of them are opposed to spoilers.

So far, only the leak with the assets and the screenshots was real but after FFXV got leaked many months before its release, I'm not taking any chances either. Trailers and worlds are one thing because those were something we were meant to see before release anyway, but story is a huge nope for me.

Yeah, it would be. I'm not saying it's necessarily always for the better on a subjective level, but it's just how the industry works and it's understandable that they forfeit the preferencial rights to be chosen by abandoning the position as VA once. (Though 'right' isn't exactly correct since there's no law stating they own the role or are entitled to it, but rather meaning it would only be fair and respectful unless there's a good reason not to offer it.) I think we all have certain VAs we deem better suited but for most, I'd be fine with it if they get the character across in a believable manner. One of the VAs I would have a hard time bidding goodbye to if he wouldn't be able to reprise his role was Paul St. Peter, the voice of Xemnas, since I feel it's rather characteristic, similar to how Leonard Nimoy was for Xehanort. But it's simply how it is that the latter had to be replaced and some things we just have to accept if it doesn't sound too awkward.

Yeah, though it seems like some of their decisions are fairly random. For example, we've got so many screenshots and renders without any occasion, which is why people are probably expecting video material from events at this point. I mean, the concept art was great but it was a world reveal at the same time and way earlier when information was scarce. But you're right, it's not completely unlikely and the dates are tentative and don't imply there won't be any other form of news. Though I agree that I would also be satisfied just to get an interview. I like those since they can share a bit of information on development. It doesn't have to be a trailer all the time, though screenshots would depend on what is shown. We've seen quite a bit already so just seeing a picture of Sora standing near Rapunzel's tower for example wouldn't really make me squeal in excitement. But the screenshot of Maximus was great on the other hand because we didn't see him so far. I generally keep my expectations low. It would be a lie to say I'm not hoping, but I also know that there's no guarantee and feel a lot less disappointed this way. It's wlso not as important anymore. I love the hype around the news and reveals but since the game comes out in 2 months, I feel like I don't need that much more to bridge the wait.

Thanks, though I also understand your point of view. For example, I would have also considered it disrespectful if Stoner wasn't available and they chose someone completely new even though Hayden was back in business. I just didn't think it was in this case since Stoner was already cast as Kairi before. And I also think it's perfectly reasonable to prefer her voice work over Alyson's. I can't argue against something which is as personal as enjoying someone's voice or not, and therefore completely legitimate.

I agree whole-heartedly though to be fair, Utada's lyrics often did not fit the games. Simple and Clean didn't really fit too well either and Sanctuary only partly. Of course people can interpret a lot into them but both Oath and Simple and Clean sound more like songs about love and its negative aspects than something suiting the frendship trope of the games. And I feel like the English and Japanese versions are fairly different from ehat we heard so far. Not only judging from the title but also the text itself. I understand they had to adjust the lyrics but it feels like the entire song is sometimes different. In the end we can just wait and see... I don t want to interpret too much into it yet after the precedence of the other songs and the lyrics not really suiting the franchise somehow. While he did say the ending might be hard to take, that also can mean a lot and I personally hope it will be an ending which the series could be closed with if people so want it. KH will go on with Sora but I think it would also be nice to have a proper ending to the saga (with the obligatory secret ending hinting at the sequel eventually), so those who want to end it there can be satisfied. You know, just in case.

But she hasn't voiced her for years. Asking her first, someone who had to abandon the role, would be a slap in the face for the person who has been recast. It's not disrespectful because she doesn't own the character and frankly, Disney/SE can't wait for people to get better if said person is suffering from a condition where no one knows how long it will take and what kind of effect it will have on her performance. It may sound cruel but for them, a recast is very likely final. I think it would be disrespectful to Stoner to move back and forth just because Hayden Panettiere is better again. After all, they had to cast her with the intention of becoming the new permanent voice for Kairi and not as a temporary stand-in because Panettiere's condition is one of those where you don't know how long it takes to get back on track. They may even have a contract with Stoner based on that. I have a lot of sympathy for her situation and her condition. It's not like she could do something against it very quickly, but it's not disrespectful for a company to decide on someone else and ask that person again who is available and did not just get back on her feet. Let's put it differently. Imagine you're working for a company. One of your colleagues gets sick with no set date when they can return and you get handed the project they've been working on because they can't wait for their return. Now you're working for it, may have even done something for the next step and suddenly, your co-worker is better and gets offered the project again, even though they haven't worked on it for years, completely disregarding you. Wouldn't you think that's disrespectful to you as well? I think it's okay if you prefer Hayden over Stoner, but it's really not disrespectful to go to Stoner first instead of Panettiere, considering she's been out of the picture for years. 2017 wasn't so long ago as well and by that time, I think the main cast was already decided on. It doesn't matter that she's been part of the games and no one is diminishing her work for them either, but they had to move on. It has nothing to do with disrespect but rather being respectful of Stoner who had jumped in when Hayden couldn't.

It sure doesn't make much sense to market it like this. For fans which are already invested in the series it can be overlooked but people new to the series will likely find this combination odd for some scenes, especially those related to action-based combat. Though admittedly, I'm not sure how much influence Nomura has on the trailers. It feels like Disney/SE are deciding what will be shown in what manner, too and it feels more likely that it's simply a contractual thing. If it was only setting the mood, they could do this much better by using a variety of songs and not the same one in so many trailers. This will not be the only melancholic song in the game or they could just reuse music from previous games, too. Another thing is that, as you said, it doesn't make sense to set the tone like this but then proceed to show scenes which don't fit that feeling. Though if we look back at the songs like Sanctuary -After the Battle- in KH2, it also sounds exceptionally sad without the ending being terrible at all. In fact, it is the happiest ending of the series in my opinion... I think it wouldn't be right either to try and set the entire tone with just one song. It sounds terribly restrictive to have only one feeling for an entire game, even if it's just underlying it.

I think that's a hope that everyone has, me included. I'm not expecting anything either but it would be a nice surprise nonetheless and having hopes is not a bad thing. I'm just careful to relate news to his presence in Barcelona, like some fans tend to do just to get very disappointed that it didn't live up to their hype, since he's been at so many events. Last year, I would have been more inclined to hope for something but after seeing so many news with him being at a multitude of events, that dampened down a bit to having more restrained hopes.