Dengeki recently posted an interview with Kingdom Hearts series producer Tetsuya Nomura, in which he revealed more details of the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (which you can see the trailer for here). Much like the ReMIX games, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 will include three different stories: Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep–A Fragmentary Passage. The latter two of these three are new, never-before-seen titles that will expand the ever-growing story of Kingdom Hearts.
Because of its ties to Kingdom Hearts III in both story and gameplay, A Fragmentary Passage is of especial interest and was highlighted the most in this interview. Nomura had previously described the length of this game as being similar to that of a Kingdom Hearts world, but in the interview he clarified that it would be closer to the length of a Kingdom Hearts III world to assuage fears of it being too short and claimed that it would be a decent length. In terms of the gameplay showcased in the E3 2016 trailer, he noted that the battle system was a blend of Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts II. The command deck has gone, but magic now can affect the surrounding area, and different combinations of spells can also create new effects. Additionally, he noted that lighting and height were important focuses in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 and Kingdom Hearts III. Dramatic lighting effects have been utilized rarely, if ever, in previous games in the series, so it will be great to get a taste of how they will be used.
He also detailed some new information about the HD update to 2012’s Dream Drop Distance. The game will run at 60 FPS, which one would hope the PS4 would be able to handle considering this game released on the 3DS originally. A new Dream Eater is set to appear in the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 version of Dream Drop Distance, known as a Catnuki, a cross between a cat and a tanuki. Also, Nomura stated that he was interested in bringing back characters from The World Ends With You, as they are featured in Dream Drop Distance, but apparently there is some difficulty in bringing them back.
Nomura ensured that, though news of Kingdom Hearts III has been pretty scarce, the game has not been delayed and is progressing in development; he expressed hope of revealing more information later this year. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more of that information comes out, as well as more info on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue before it launches in December.
