brannymcp

I think the industry's budget still doesn't allow full-fledged 9th gen titles. Technology for developing proper games that take FULL advantage of today's consoles is still being developed and tested (namely Ray Tracing and its APIs), plus the market share for 8th gen consoles is still strong. People is moving on from the previous to the new quite slowly. Just take a look at many titles that were eagerly announced for PS5 and Xbox Series, but had to be taken back and released on PS4 and Xbox One as well, thanks to a variety of factors that might be present when KH4 releases, or then again, maybe not. One never knows with these companies. But that's not to say that they might not get arrogant and develop their titles solely for next-gen consoles, even if they can perfectly be adapted to 8th gen systems. Kingdom Hearts games have never been extremely demanding experiences. KH3 is only poorly optimized, but it is not by any means the most demanding game of the systems it was released for. Before anyone tries to argue that, please do take a look at Uncharted 4, Halo Infinite, The Last of Us Part II, Red Dead Redemption II, God of War, and so on. Now THOSE games really squeezed the life out of their respective systems. Nomura and their team are just not cut out for optimizing their games.

In my opinion, KH4 should be released cross-generationally. But that's just wishful thinking. I don't have the money to afford any new consoles for just one game, AGAIN. On the other hand, they didn't announce any platforms, which makes me doubt about how long in development the game actually is, or how well it currently is. I for sure wouldn't expect a release date for as early as 2024. My guess is sometime around 2025 or 2026, with PS5, Xbox Series and PC as targets.

(If I were to play KH4 in a console instead of PC, which I'd rather like, I'd choose the Xbox Series S, for it's cheaper and still competent for 9th gen titles, and I'd keep my PS4 for all of the games I already bought for it. No more PS consoles for me for a long while)

What I meant with my first paragraph is that games are every time more expensive to produce, yet the price tag for each copy must remain 60 or below. When people heard about 70 dollar games, everyone wanted to freak out. Guess what? If you want 9th gen games, get ready for standarizing the 70 dollars price tag.

You know, after doing some research, turns out Unreal Engine 5 IS confirmed to be supported by current gen systems like PS4, Xbox One and even Switch, although with less graphical detail. That obviously doesn't mean we will get KHIV for our older consoles, for it's extremely possible that they aim for a more photorealistic style, which would only be steadily supported by new gen systems. But at least, it's possible they consider bringing KHIV to PS4 and Xbox One. I sure hope they consider a cross-generational release, like Capcom and many other companies did. But let's just wait and see. By the time KHIV releases, maybe it will be just too late for us too.

I have a theory that is most likely true. The Kingdom Hearts IV trailer is just a real-time rendered video, but not actual gameplay. And that means the game still hasn't started full production. Here are some conjectures of my own. You are free to disagree:

1 - Square-Enix has admittedly done it before. Kingdom Hearts III's first teaser trailer from 2013 was a prerendered trailer for a title that still hadn't started full production. When the game was first shown at D23 2013, the game did not look nearly as polished as it looked in the previously shown teaser released months prior. Same thing with Final Fantasy VII REMAKE. And I think the same thing happened with Forspoken and Final Fantasy XVI. 

2 - The development team admitted they released the teaser to avoid getting leaked. That's a completely different reason from "It's time to announce an upcoming title that's getting released within the next 12 months because it's nearing completion".

3 - Kingdom Hearts III took 5 years and some months to fully develop, and even so, it came out as a merely decent game, due to many time constrains, side projects being developed alongside it, its main director split among many other games that are nowadays released, etc. If KHIV is to be developed in the same circumstances (which I hope not), it's only natural the game will take some reasonable 5 years at the very least, and then release with whatever result it will bring. Otherwise, it's going to take even longer. I personally would be fine with this last possibility. 

4 - There are EVEN MORE side games that need to get released before KHIV, like Dark Road and the recently announced "Missing-Link". As you know, every Kingdom Hearts game is treated as a full-fledged sequel, and there are no "side games" or "spin-offs", for their story always ends up being of most importance. I don't see KHIV necessary for the next few years, and I'm sure they don't either, so that's why the game might have not started full production just yet, even though it's good to know it exists. It's just not their focus for now, and has no reasons to be it. We all have learned to be patient with this team with Kingdom Hearts III, haven't we? It's just how they work.

5 - They might have a lot more experience this time around, but any proper AAA title from nowadays takes the aforementioned amount of time to (properly) develop. Kingdom Hearts II was amazing in its combat, but everything else, from exploration to world design was pretty bland. And guess what? It got released only 3 years after the first Kingdom Hearts game. Time is key for a game to be good. Plus, I see potential for a more complex adventure, with more resources being delved into it, and more quality is expected from an Unreal Engine 5 title, which I heard is the engine they are aiming for, though the teaser was rendered with UE4 (lame, because that probably means no PS4 or Xbox One versions... ).

6 - Have you noticed? All of the screenshots showcase exactly what the teaser showed itself. It's almost as though they directly ripped some pictures out of the video. That's not the case when a game is far in development, where proper screenshots from other parts of the game are used to promote it. At least, different shots of the same scene, but not the ones directly shown in the teaser. Conclusion? What only exists from KHIV is a video. Otherwise, they would have released just something else.

7 - The last reason I could bring for now is the most obvious one. They didn't even announce what platforms the game will be released for. Yes, we can expect PS5 and Xbox Series at the very least, but if not even those were announced, it's pretty weird.

I could go on and on. But I think my point is clear enough. But I don't feel bad about any of this, at least for now. If what I stated turns out to be true, that means I will have enough time to build up some money to afford an Xbox Series at least. That way, I will be able to play it when it releases in whatever year it does.

14 hours ago, Double OKP said:

Goodbye, Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]!

I remember that day I got the game...I was so excited. Those first months I played it for two hours straight every day. I only played this game for 367 days, but I will dearly miss it  

KHUX also helped me through this pandemic. Being able to have something to look forward to every month....it sustained me   

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, Tetsuya Nomura, Megumi Yamamoto, Mayu Shimizu, and the KHUX team! I'm so glad I got to be a part of this wonderful game!

I didn't play it day one when the global version was released as I was saving up money to get a better phone I could play on. And oh boy, I was just as excited as you say when I finally got to play it myself back in June or May 2016. It's been a long road but here we are. All I have to say is goodbye to this experience. This game saw me grow up in so many areas of my life. No matter how much time passed, it always seemed to stick around. 

13 hours ago, Movies798 said:

Goodbye Kingdom Hearts Union X. Now that the mobile game is finally over hopefully upcoming major storylines in the Kingdom Hearts universe can finally be on major consoles. Mobile system has been really holding the franchise back for far too long.

I respectfully don't understand why you say that. It's not like mobile platforms are to blame. In fact, I think it was a smart move, as everyone, whether is a KH fan or not, has a mobile phone to experience the story. Yes, it kinda ruins the story that can be told in such games because a mobile phone game has to be created for a broader audience instead of a more specific one such as the KH fandom, but still, one can't say the story was "held back" because it was released on a mobile platform. Just because it's not a console game doesn't make the story it tells unworthy or something. Such a long story as this one wouldn't have been told in a console game. If KH3 has showed us something, is that Nomura needs time, and a lot, to properly write something spicy  and coherent enough - otherwise, it will just be all plot twists with no real relevance other than cheap intrigue for next installments. As a matter of fact, both KH:Com and KH:Ux are two of the best stories in the franchise - yes, better than KH2. And to your surprise, both come from mobile "spin-offs". 

42 minutes ago, Keyblade Master XIII said:

Almost made it 1300 days. I looked into the new theater mode but can't seem to find the final episode, after Candy Kingdom. 

I agree with you. The series as a whole belongs on a big screen. 

True, but the story wasn't "held back" by any means. I mean, we're talking story, not overall presentation which, being a mobile phone game, looks phenomenal like not many other games out there with a superb sprite-based art style. It reminds of CoM for the GBA which is by far one of the best-looking games of its console. So, while it was 2D and all, I still don't see how the story was held back. I deeply enjoyed it nonetheless, and I bet you did too.

6 hours ago, ocean's rage said:

does that it cant be replayed?

Sadly, the game does not exist any longer. We cannot play it anymore. Now, the app consists of only the theater mode, avatar customization system, Classic Kingdom minigames and a record system which I don't know what it keeps track of. And it's 100% offline now. As of right now, this updated version of the app weighs some 1.8 GBs, so it's up to you if you want to keep the app. I personally don't think I will for a long time, but I will definetely come back when Dark Road is fully updated this September.