Raxaimus

Nomura stated that the 2.8 delay was only happening due to FFXV releasing around the same time, and he didn't want sales of either game to be decreased by having the games come out so close together. This has nothing to do with the development cycle, so I think KH3 will be right on track to release in late 2017, assuming that was the original plan.

A new Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue trailer premiered at Tokyo Game Show 2016. Both story and gameplay received significant attention, with a particular focus on new areas and plot points. Since the footage shown within this trailer tends to jump from game to game, our analysis will cover each game as a whole instead of covering the trailer chronologically. Playing in the background is a brand new remix of Hikari/Simple and Clean, created especially for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, titled "Hikari/Simple and Clean -Ray of Hope MIX-". Unfortunately, this version of the song has yet to be released to the public. Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD While there is very little completely new footage shown in the Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD segments, this is the first time the game's HUD has appeared in a full trailer, confirming that what we see is likely to be the final design. Additionally, one very significant HUD element appears to be missing; the Drop Gauge. In the 3DS version of the game, as well as in the playable demos that we have seen thusfar, this infamous timer forced players to swap between characters when it was depleted. If a player happened to be fighting a boss as the Drop Gauge was completely expended, they would return to that particular character's story only to find that the game had sent their character back to the point before they entered the boss fight. One small detail to consider is that Drop Gauge orbs (the teardrop shaped objects in the screenshot below) still appear to be present within the game, as Riku defeats an enemy which drops them. However, this could be a temporary situation, as the removal of the Drop System is most likely a recent development which has not fully been completed. What are your thoughts on this mechanic's supposed removal? Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover The footage focusing on Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is split into two parts. In the first, we see Ira and the Master of Masters discussing Ira's goal of saving the world, a goal which the Master of Masters seems skeptical of. Meanwhile, Aced approaches Ava with the offer of an alliance between the two of them and a third participant. Ava then plainly states that alliances are forbidden. Afterwards, Gula is shown in an alleyway, musing on the advice to "trust no one but himself". Invi, meanwhile, ponders about circumstances which will lead to the Keyblade War. What do you think each Foreteller's goals and motivations are? In the second part of the Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover footage, we see Aced grabbing Gula and asserting that they don't know who the traitor is. The next scene shows Ava asking Invi if she considered that her actions could be making things worse for those involved. The final scene of this segment shows the Master of Masters closing a Book of Prophecy, remarking that Luxu should "get started" and will have to "go alone from here on out". Luxu responds by asking about the Foretellers' involvement in what his master has planned. What do you think the Master of Masters could be planning, and how are his apprentices involved? Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- This portion of the compilation received a significant amount of screen time. The CG footage we see is most likely taken from the opening of the game, especially when considering the abstract, surreal nature of many of the scenes. When examining the in-engine footage, the graphics appear to be slightly improved from the previous trailer as well as the playable demo for the game. This slight graphical touch-up could be the very first evidence we have of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue's compatibility with PlayStation 4 Pro. The gameplay segments in the trailer take place within Dwarf Woodlands, one of the worlds which was sent to the Realm of Darkness sometime after the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. We see Aqua heavily relying on magic and triggering the Blizzagun command style, though it does not get activated. We also see her battling a living reflection of herself, which was seen earlier in the trailer. Within another area, we see Aqua strike a pillar in order to seemingly reverse the gravity as well as phase through the floor. This allows her to reach a previously inaccessible treasure chest. If this sort of variety in the gameplay is common, what other types of unique gameplay mechanics would you like to see? The story elements take place in two segments. First, Aqua is seen in Dwarf Woodlands approaching Snow White's glass casket, which is revealed to contain Ventus. The next scene shows Aqua facing the Magic Mirror, with the mirror's spirit nowhere to be found. As her reflection begins to come to life, it taunts her by asking what point there is in continuing to fight, ending with "Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's". Aqua refutes this claim, preparing to battle this living reflection. The second segment of story-related footage takes place at the end of the trailer. We see Aqua falling through an abyss, accepting her fate to become one with darkness. As her Wayfinder slips out of her hand, Mickey appears and returns it to her, asking if she is okay. In the trailer's final scene, Aqua is shown confronting a group of Darksides in Enchanted Dominion. These Darksides release orbs of dark energy into another very massive orb of dark energy floating above them. The trailer ends with the game's logo and release date, January 12th, 2017 for Japan and January 24th, 2017 for the rest of the world. If you would like to delve into further analysis of this trailer, be sure to check out Soraalam1's analysis video! Additionally, you may be interested in the following discussion video, featuring KH13 staff member Toominator! What are your thoughts on this new trailer? Did you notice anything that we may have missed in our analysis? Please let us know in the comments! Click here to view the article

UPDATE: Information about Lea’s Keyblade Keychain bundle from the Japanese Square Enix E-store has been translated by Goldpanner! The original article follows: A bundle has been posted on Square Enix Japan's online store, featuring both Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue as well as a new, limited version of the Lea's Keyblade keychain, in red as opposed to the normal version's silver. This bundle will retail for 9,304 yen, and Square Enix Japan is currently accepting pre-orders. You can view the listing here. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue releases on January 12, 2017 in Japan, and on January 24, 2017 everywhere else. An extended Tokyo Game Show 2016 trailer was released today. Click here to view the article

Roxas SP, Axel SP, and Xion SP aren't available in this draw, only in Epic Medal Carnivals. Just a heads up.

Still saving for Illustrated Kairi, so more jewels are never a bad thing. I just wish they'd make it permanent at this point...

I certainly hope they'll be able to hit 60 FPS in A Fragmentary Passage. During the press conference, Crystal Dynamics stated that they'd be able to bring Rise of the Tomb Raider "north of 45 FPS" when running in high-framerate mode. However, that's a game that's already been released, not one that's one-month out of the launch window. So it's hard to tell either way if Square will be able to optimize 2.8, at the very least, to run at high framerates. I certainly am hopeful, though. I'll be picking up a PS4 Pro on launch day and testing it with FFXV, personally. I want to get an idea of the direction Square will take it.

At the PlayStation Meeting on September 7th, Sony announced an enhanced version of their PlayStation 4 console, the PlayStation 4 Pro. This new console is incredibly powerful compared to its predecessor, demonstrating the capability to render upcoming games in 4K resolution. Other improvements were also shown. For those without a 4K television or monitor, some developers are implementing an alternate mode for their games, allowing them to be rendered at 1080p with a significantly improved framerate. Additionally, some previously released games may also be patched to offer improved performance on the PlayStation 4 Pro. While it is not confirmed that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue or Kingdom Hearts III would benefit from the new hardware in terms of either resolution or framerate, Sony had this to say about the new features: "Following PS4 Pro's launch on November 10 in North America, virtually all new PS4 game releases moving forward will be able to take advantage of PS4 Pro capabilities on day one, or in some cases shortly after launch via a downloadable update." Sony notes that while most games will certainly utilize this new hardware after the launch date, there is the slight possibility that some games, possibly including the upcoming Kingdom Hearts releases, might not take advantage of it. However, since Final Fantasy XV was also shown briefly at this event, chances are high that Square Enix will fully utilize the improvements that the PlayStation 4 Pro offers. The PlayStation 4 Pro launches in North America on November 10th, 2016. Do you think we will see enhanced performance in games such as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments! Click here to view the article

There was a bit of it in a montage, but no specific comments on improved performance or anything like that. If I had to guess, the game will take advantage of the new hardware, but they're just not making a big deal out of it like some Sony exclusives that appeared.

From what I read on Reddit, you'll want to unlock all but one of a specific medal (eg. Mirrors). Click Menu, then click Medal List to refresh the page. All but the locked medal should be stacked. Unlock the final medal and refresh again for the stack to be complete. You can then lock the entire stack. This works on EXP medals (including the combined HDL), all evolve medals, Chips, Dales, Cids, and Mirrors. I just wish it worked on identical Scrooges. I have way too many attack and defense boosts that I don't want to waste.

I don't believe Sony has any plans of having existing games run significantly better on the Neo. Some games may incidentally have performance improvements (similar to how Smash 4 runs better on the New 3DS), but unless developers implement a dedicated "Neo Mode" as Sony is mandating for every new game after September 30th, existing games will likely not be able to fully utilize the new hardware. Chances are high that they will still be locked to the specific framerates, resolutions, and textures that they were initially designed to support. I am, however, very hopeful for this to be the case. Previously, FFXV fell right outside the window for Neo Mode to be a mandatory inclusion, so I was wary that we wouldn't see it come to pass. Now that it's delayed for another two months, though, it's far more likely that we will get something in that regard.

The Kingdom Hearts series has a chance to appear at two upcoming Sony-related events. The first is known as the “PlayStation Meeting”, and is occurring on September 7th at 3:00 pm ET at the PlayStation Theater in New York City. It is worth noting that Sony may also use this conference to unveil the next PlayStation 4 console, codenamed “Neo”, where Kingdom Hearts III could very well appear on the list of games for this new powerful console. The second event is part of the annual Tokyo Game Show expo. Sony will be hosting their pre-TGS press conference on September 13th at 4:00 pm JST (3:00 am ET). Several games have made appearances at Sony's TGS-related conferences in the past, and the Kingdom Hearts series is no exception. Additionally, a trailer presence for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue was recently announced for Square Enix's lineup at TGS, so this trailer could very well be present at this press conference. KH13 will be livestreaming this event on our YouTube channel, so be sure to tune in! What do you hope to see at these events? Let us know in the comments below! Click here to view the article

I'm all for this. Too often, an open-world game's story gains a sense of urgency, but the world does not change to reflect this. You are able to wander off and do sidequests and chores for minor NPCs, all while some faction is off attempting to get the McGuffin. However, said faction suddenly pauses in their endeavors, simply because the player does as well. They could be sitting with world domination a stone's throw away, and as long as the player doesn't care, they won't budge. In my opinion, this dissonance can absolutely destroy immersion, and can even take me out of some of my favorite games of the genre. So having the game start guiding the player more stringently once the plot really picks up is a very good move, in my opinion, in order to avoid the standard story pitfall of open-world games. And to anyone who think this may end up like FFXIII, remember that Toriyama and Tabata are total opposites in regards to their directing styles. This won't be Final Corridor XV, it will simply be more guided than the rest of the game.

I did like it, but I felt there were a few too many unanswered questions, such as Luxu's whereabouts, why the world had Dream Eaters if there wasn't a Realm of Sleep yet, and why Ava was acting the way she was in the final battle. We are getting the epilogue on Monday and Back Cover in December, though, so here's hoping these questions get answered. Not to mention the fact that Unchained χ will likely expand upon this story for years to come. I know some people were really upset that we didn't see the χ-blade, Kingdom Hearts, or the shattering of the worlds. Ultimately, this isn't about that. This is about the story of the player and his/her two best friends, and their journey concluded shortly before those final events took place. It only felt right to cut off when it did. Overall, though, the ending was incredibly heart-rending. At first, I couldn't believe I was crying at a mobile game, but this is Kingdom Hearts. Of course I'd end up crying!

I am beginning to change my username on all of my accounts to something a bit more original, so I would like my username changed to Raxaimus. Thanks a bunch!