Kingdom Hearts 3

Overview

Kingdom Hearts III is the long awaited follow up to Kingdom Hearts II, and follows chronologically after Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It will be the first game in the series built from the ground up for HD-capable consoles.

It was first revealed during the 2013 Sony E3 press conference, where it was announced as coming to the PlayStation 4. On June 11th, 2013, Square-Enix also confirmed the title will be released on Xbox One as well. Kingdom Hearts III will be the first game in the series to see release on a Microsoft console.

The game is planned for release in January 29th, 2019 (January 25th in Japan), and will feature a new theme song from Utada Hikaru titled "Oath" for the Japanese Version and "Don't Think Twice" for the English version.

Story

Following the events of Dream Drop Distance, Sora searches for the Power of Waking so he and others can assemble the 7 Guardians of Light to battle Master Xehanort's 13 Darknesses and the latter's mission to form the χ-blade.

Development

Kingdom Hearts III began development in 2010, after the PSP prequel Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep was completed. Because the development team behind the original Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II is working on Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III is being made by the Osaka-based team that made Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance. Tetsuya Nomura stated in an interview during the Square Enix Presents E3 presentation that they are using DirectX 11 to develop both Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV to allow for easier cross-platform development. It was later revealed that due to initial development issues, development had switched from Square Enix's internal Luminous Engine to Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4.

Worlds

Disney

• During Square Enix's E3 2015 Press Conference, a new trailer confirmed that a world based on Tangled will be included(the name of the world is unknown at this time).
• A world based on Hercules has been shown, featuring the Rock Titan. However, this may not be Olympus Coliseum, instead being based on specifically Mount Olympus.
• At Disney's D23 Expo in 2015, it was revealed that a world based on Big Hero 6 would be in the game. This version of the world will take place after the film and feature the Heartless corrupting an older version of Baymax.
• At Disney's D23 Expo in 2017, it was revealed that a world based on Toy Story would be in the game. It features an original story made in collaboration with Pixar and will feature toy versions of Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
• At the Japan version of D23 in 2018, a world based on Monster's Inc was confirmed, featuring monster versions of Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Original

• The trailer also showed footage of Twilight Town and a scene featuring a younger Eraqus and Master Xehanort playing chess, presumably in Land of Departure.
• A trailer released at Jump Festa 2015 showed the heroes fighting at Yen Sid's Mysterious Tower. Though it's unknown if the Mysterious Tower is an independent world, similar to recent games in the series, or if it is part of Twilight Town like in Kingdom Hearts II.