Kingdom Hearts III

Unreleased

Kingdom Hearts III is the upcoming eleventh title in the  series. It was officially announced at E3 2013, and will be the first Kingdom Hearts game available on multiple platforms at launch, releasing on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Kingdom Hearts III will serve as the final chapter of the Dark Seeker Saga, and will focus primarily on the events leading up to the final showdown between Sora and Master Xehanort.

Kingdom Hearts III was originally scheduled to be released in 2018, but at the 2018 E3 presentation, Square Enix announced it had been postponed until January 25, 2019 for Japan and January 29, 2019 for the rest of the world.

There is a playable prologue to Kingdom Hearts III called Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.

The game has two theme songs. The opening theme song is "Face My Fears" which is a collaboration between Utada Hikaru and Skrillex. The ending theme song is "Don't Think Twice" (titled "Chikai" in the Japanese version) performed by Utada Hikaru.

Development
The game was first announced to be in development during the Electronics Entertainment Exposition in June 2013. A trailer was released announcing the game's development. However, news regarding the game became scarce. A trailer was later released at the first D23 Exposition in Japan in October 2013, revealing the gameplay and graphics that had been developed to date.

As part of E3 2014, Square Enix released a new thirty-second trailer as part of a trailer to Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. During the Square Enix Present segment at E3 2014, co-director Tai Yasue revealed that the sequence seen in the E3 2014 teaser would be relevant from the beginning of the game, and that the text seen and heard was going to "be a real integral part of the story". On September 17th, 2014, Square Enix announced that Tetsuya Nomura would be stepping down as director for Final Fantasy XV so that he can focus his efforts on other upcoming titles, namely Kingdom Hearts III.

During Square Enix E3 Conference on June 16, 2015, the Kingdom Hearts series's executive producer, Shinji Hashimoto, revealed the first gameplay trailer for Kingdom Hearts III, which shows Sora in a new outfit. Sora is seen wielding new Keyblades, fighting never-before-seen Heartless, and also exploring Kingdom of Corona, a world based on . During the Square Enix Presents segment of E3 2015, Tetsuya Nomura revealed that Kingdom of Corona was one of the first to be considered for the game. In an interview with PlayStation Access, Nomura confirmed that characters from the Final Fantasy series will appear once again.

During Disney's D23 Expo 2015, Shinji Hashimoto announced a world based on .

In an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Nomura confirmed that the game would contain a secret movie.

In their financial Results Briefing Session, Square Enix President and Representative Director Yosuke Matsuda and Chief Financial Officer Kazuharu Watanabe stated that the expected released of Kingdom Hearts III can be sometime between 2018 and 2020.

During Disney D23 Expo 2017, Tetsuya Nomura showed a trailer depicting a world based on , and announced that the game would be released in 2018. Nomura confirms that game will feature a completely original and exclusive storyline for the Toy Story world, which takes place sometime after , and hints there will be another playable character aside from Sora.

During Disney's D23 Expo Japan 2018 Conference, a private Kingdom Hearts event was held during which two new trailers were revealed. During one, the world based on  was confirmed, while the second one announced that would be performing the theme song for the game, titled "Don't Think Twice" ("Oath" in Japanese). The event also revealed that the game was being developed by the largest developing team in the history of the series, including 100 people from the Square Enix's Tokyo offices. The return of the Gummi Ship was also reaffirmed, and it was revealed that the gameplay for it, now playable as open-world instead of the preset paths from the first two games, had been split into "Battle" and "Searching" phases. The game was revealed to have been developed in three parts, with the first part being about 90% done, and the second between 60% and 70% done. Nomura also noted that the final world would feature "something incredible" that he has been wanting to do for a while, though no details were given.

During the Los Angeles performance of the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World Tour- in 2018, the game's released date was anounced as January 25, 2019 in Japan and January 29, 2019 worldwide. Two trailers were released, the first one confirming that  was a playable world along with confirming a number of returning characters, the second video, a Square Enix E3 Showcase 2018 trailer, which is similar to the first but with extra footage confirming a few more returning characters. Another video was released shortly afterwards to show a new Pirates of the Caribbean world, this one based on . Nomura confirmed that there were no plans for a Final Mix version and that if there was additional content, it would be through patches and DLC.

During the Tokyo Game Show 2018, Tetsuya Nomura stated that like with the previous games, Kingdom Hearts III will also have a Secret Ending. However, the staff are still deciding that unlike past games they might want to use a different unlock method from before of having the Secret Ending exclusive only as DLC to be fair to avoid spoilers and also stated they are also considering adding online features.

On November 20 2018, the development for the game was confirmed to be completed.

In December 2018, several copies of Kingdom Hearts III was leaked online after an individual stole copies from the manufacturer a month prior to the release date. Tetsuya Nomura later released a statement on the Kingdom Hearts official Twitter account, notifying fans that Square Enix are aware of the leaks and are working to rectify the situation, as well as urging fans not to share videos or images of the game before is released on January 29, 2019.

Combat features

 * The Command Menu from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II will return.


 * The gauges for Donald and Goofy now appear next to Sora's in the bottom right corner instead of above. The MP gauge from KHII returns. The "Focus" gauge which originated from Birth by Sleep returns and is also meant for Shotlocks.


 * Drive Forms return. These include;
 * "Guardian Form," a form that transforms Sora's Keyblade into a shield,
 * "Power Form,"
 * "Second Form," a form that grants Sora's clothing similar to that of his outfit from Kingdom Hearts II.




 * Reaction Commands will be replaced by Situation Commands.


 * Attraction Flow is a new feature, which lets the party execute skills based on theme park attractions. This includes "Big Magic Mountain", "Pirate Ship", "Blaster Blaze", "Splash Run", "Magic Carousel", and "Mad Tea Cups".


 * Sora's Keyblade can transform into various items, such as a double bow gun or a chariot to attack enemies. It is currently planned for each Keyblade to have two transformations, with the second activating if Sora connects enough combos, similar to Command Styles or Situation Commands. Trailers indicate that these transformations will sometimes change Sora's outfit, as well.


 * Sora can now switch between three Keychains on the fly by pressing the Right Directional Button while the the cursor in on the Attack Command. Also after activating a Keyblade transformation, said transformation will be saved when switching out. Known Keychains include: "Shooting Star", "Ever After", "Smile Gear", "Infinity Badge", "Rudder of Fate", "Crystal Snow", "Nano Gear", "Starlight", (Kingdom Hearts Union χ event exclusive), and "Dawn Till Dusk" (7/11 / Amazon preorder exclusive), Phantom Green (Xbox One pre-order exclusive), Midnight Blue (PlayStation 4 pre-order exclusive)
 * Furthermore, Keychains can now level up to become stronger.


 * Blizzard and Aero magic will return. Similar to 0.2, magic will affect the surrounding environment—for example, Blizzard will create a sheet of ice to slide on and Aero will move and shape the grass. Sora will be also able to cast fourth tier spells (previously localized as -za, -ja, or -agun).


 * Disney characters will join Sora's team as temporary party members or summons. Trailers indicate that some worlds will have more than one local party member, and that they will be able to fight alongside Sora without replacing Donald or Goofy.
 * The Summon system will operate very differently from in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. Summons are now called Links with Ariel's "Lagoon Showtime", Ralph's "8 Bit Blast", Simba's "Kingsflare", and Meow Wow's "Wonder Balloon". A summon sequence can easily be skipped by pressing.


 * The AI has been improved, so allies can invite Sora into special techniques, and enemies can work together.

Exploration

 * Nearly all worlds are new to the series. However, there is some familiarity seen in Twilight Town, Hercules's world and the Pirates of the Carribean world.
 * Autorunning (Athletic Flow in Japanese), a mechanic based on Flowmotion, will allow the player to interact with the environment, like running up walls that faintly glow.
 * Textboxes when talking to NPCs are removed. The dialog is now voiced.

Other features

 * The game will contain mini-games. There is a cooking mini-game with Remy in Twilight Town.
 * The Gummi Ship will return with a revised system. Traveling is described as being more "open world".
 * Sora has a Gummiphone which can take selfies.

Special Editions
A special and Deluxe edition will also be available alongside the main release. The Special edition is available for $79.99 which includes a exclusive steelbook packaging, a mini-art book with concept artwork by Tetsuya Nomura and a collectible KHIII pin. The Deluxe edition will be available for $229.99 which has the contents from special edition along with three Bring Arts figures of Sora, Donald, and Goofy from their appearance in the Toy Box.

DLC
There is pre-order DLC in the form of Keyblades. These include:


 * Dawn Till Dusk: Obtained through Amazon.com in North America, and 7-11 in Japan
 * Midnight Blue: Obtained through PlayStation Store
 * Phantom Green: Obtained through Xbox Store
 * Starlight: Obtained through achieving certain scores in Classic Kingdom minigames in Kingdom Hearts Union χ