Those hoping to travel to Narshe, Midgar, or Coccoon in Kingdom Hearts III shouldn’t pack their bags and sunscreen. In an interview with GameSpot, KHIII co-director Tai Yasue explained that even though certain worlds had FF characters in them (Hollow Bastion), they’re not ‘adding any Final Fantasy worlds.’
This creative decision is a bit odd considering how many Disney locales have made it into the Kingdom Hearts game. While it’s true there are still a lot of movies and franchises that haven’t been touched (Pocahontas, any Pixar film, oh-dear-god-please Wreck-it Ralph, and the inevitable inclusion of Frozen), it seems silly to have a bunch of homeless characters like Vivi and Tifa. Yasue went on to explain that they want Disney worlds that are appropriate for Kingdom Heart‘s gameplay and ‘are famous, but that are also distinct and unique.’
While it does seem like an oversight to ignore an entire series that can compete with Disney in terms of sheer unique worlds, there is a certain logic that goes with keeping everything within the same macro-verse. There might even be some behind the scenes provisions where Square Enix can only use the house of Mouse’s theme park areas, I mean lands for the cross-over titles. Interestingly enough, Yasue said ‘We want the difference and variety, we don’t’ want a lot of the same thing’ which does seem to contradict the choice not to shake up the status quo.