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Square Enix lists upcoming games, doesn't list Kingdom Hearts 3 as 2017

LordKasual

Banned
Its 2019 or 2020 at the least.


Heck I wouldnt be shocked if its another Versus XIII and it misses this entire generation and gets retooled by a better team in the early 2020's

Versus XIII was a really specific set of issues that SE had to overcome, though. Aside from poor development infrastructure, they were ill-equipped to develop HD modern games. In 2016-17 though, Square has their own internal engine that actually seems to be pulling its weight, and they now have 2 games that have been pulled from hell due to more modern development practices.

The real question though is whether or not these advances have reached Nomura's development team yet. FFXIV and FFXV both took advantage of Square's own engine technology, and it seems as though it's allowing them to create content at a pretty brisk pace. But Nomura's team is going from PS2/PSP/3DS games into Unreal Engine 4. They probably jumped from Luminous because they started development too early, but now that Luminous is proven tech, I assume they're too far along now to feasibly jump back (if they wanted to) since it's been years since then.


Nomura's development team may be the last of Square's big development studios to be stuck in the transitioning phase. I have no real evidence for this, but seeing as they're all credited as different development teams, it wouldn't be far fetched, these games are all being developed in parallel and they may not have gotten time to study each other adequately before jumping on huge modern-gen projects.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Do you guys KH3 will even be a big deal? i feel like the franchise has been so mismanaged due to all the platforms and what not. Plus no original console version in ages.

i mean the original KH fans are adults now. And the esoteric storyline will be hard to entice a new audience.

I have some friends which don't even game anymore, or nearly so, which jumped on a PS4 when they heard KH3 was releasing.

KH is pretty much the strongest nostalgia brand in videogames.
 

AAMARMO

Banned
If I was a Square Enix Executive:

Outsource the game to Platinum Games to help speed up the production

or

Hajime Tabata Magic
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Nomura's development team may be the last of Square's big development studios to be stuck in the transitioning phase. I have no real evidence for this, but seeing as they're all credited as different development teams, it wouldn't be far fetched, these games are all being developed in parallel and they may not have gotten time to study each other adequately before jumping on huge modern-gen projects.

CC2 and UE4 proves this wrong. Nomura's excuse for FF7R is not 'they are in transition phase', its just that the game is taking a while to come together.

Its not an internal team working on FF7R in the first place, CC2 knows how to make games and hit dev timelines. Even though they have not made a game as ambitious as this before, they are learning as they go and they definitely have the skill and competency
 
Versus XIII was a really specific set of issues that SE had to overcome, though. Aside from poor development infrastructure, they were ill-equipped to develop HD modern games. In 2016-17 though, Square has their own internal engine that actually seems to be pulling its weight, and they now have 2 games that have been pulled from hell due to more modern development practices.

The real question though is whether or not these advances have reached Nomura's development team yet. FFXIV and FFXV both took advantage of Square's own engine technology, and it seems as though it's allowing them to create content at a pretty brisk pace. But Nomura's team is going from PS2/PSP/3DS games into Unreal Engine 4. They probably jumped from Luminous because they started development too early, but now that Luminous is proven tech, I assume they're too far along now to feasibly jump back (if they wanted to) since it's been years since then.


Nomura's development team may be the last of Square's big development studios to be stuck in the transitioning phase. I have no real evidence for this, but seeing as they're all credited as different development teams, it wouldn't be far fetched, these games are all being developed in parallel and they may not have gotten time to study each other adequately before jumping on huge modern-gen projects.

Final Fantasy XII, XIII, XIV, and XV all went through development hell. I like some of those games much more than I like the others, but I don't think it's fair to blame the extended development on the directors when it's clear that there's a managerial issue affecting the entire franchise. And it'd be especially unfair to blame some of the directors selectively but absolve some of the others just because I like some of the end products more.

Saying that XII got delayed for years because Matsuno is a tortured genius that the suits fucked over and XIII/XV got delayed for years because Toriyama and/or Nomura is a piece of shit would be terrible analysis *and* wildly unfair.
I wonder what functional changes they are making to KHIII that would make it take this long to get out. The only games basically had pretty small worlds so unless they are really expanding the world size I wonder why this game is taking so long. FF7R is even weirder because they said it would come out in episodes so it would get out faster and it's been in development since 2014 and we have barely seen anything.

I'm putting my money on lots of ill-advised big-budget set pieces. KH2 was really chasing the QTE trend at the time with its reaction commands, and KH3's Attraction Flow bits look like they're designed to do the same thing with Uncharted-style set pieces.

It's a shame. Kingdom Hearts should really focus on being a fucking excellent ARPG with tight combat and lots of content and super-polished character animation - it's at its very best when it does so.
 

Socivol

Member
I wonder what functional changes they are making to KHIII that would make it take this long to get out. The other games basically had pretty small worlds so unless they are really expanding the world size I wonder why this game is taking so long. FF7R is even weirder because they said it would come out in episodes so it would get out faster and it's been in development since 2014 and we have barely seen anything.
 

Koozek

Member
They can just rename Unchained/Union again, and call it a day.
8Xok1sA.png
 
People were expecting KH3 this year??

Not down on it at all, but I'm not even certain it'll come out in 2018. Let Nomura take all the time he needs. I'll happily play KH3 and VIIremake when they're ready.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Who is kingdom Hearts even marketed towards anymore? The games take so long to even release, that most of the original fans are adults now.
 
Who is kingdom Hearts even marketed towards anymore? The games take so long to even release, that most of the original fans are adults now.

People said the same thing about FFVIIremake yet the reception to it's reveal online was insane. Fans will still be here for it. Also, despite not being a casual game, it'll always have casual appeal cause Disney.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I wonder what functional changes they are making to KHIII that would make it take this long to get out. The only games basically had pretty small worlds so unless they are really expanding the world size I wonder why this game is taking so long. FF7R is even weirder because they said it would come out in episodes so it would get out faster and it's been in development since 2014 and we have barely seen anything.

according to famitsu, you can go all the way up to the top of mount olympus and down again without hitting a loading screen. that's pretty big just for one single world.

FvWyAyR.gif


FF7 is not episodic, its multiple full games. They equated it to the lightning trilogy. so its not being cut up, its multiple titles sharing a code base, assets and such.
 

bigol

Member
Who is kingdom Hearts even marketed towards anymore? The games take so long to even release, that most of the original fans are adults now.

It's the final chapter of the dark seeker saga, everyone (who loved KH1 and 2) wants to know how it will end after so many years waiting.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
also as others have stated, pretty sure FY18 starts in October


edit: actually I think FY18 started the first of april


as the last fiscal year which had FFXV in it was 17 ended march 31st
 

mindatlarge

Member
It's nice to know a game you're looking forward to is in the pipeline, but at the same time, when it's announced too early the waiting game is rough as well. Not really sure what I prefer. Probably at least knowing, I guess.
 
Who is kingdom Hearts even marketed towards anymore? The games take so long to even release, that most of the original fans are adults now.

The same kind of people that the first two games attracted: the many people enchanted by the novelty of being able to take part and play in their favorite classic Disney stories, recreated with high production values. Big hero 6, tangled, and whatever mega franchise they want to dabble in; these are the selling points of the game.

People keep focusing on the nostalgia of the old fans, who will definitely be there, but they're not investing millions just to tap into this audience.
 
Don't worry guys, KHIII is being made on U4. It's such an agile and competent engine, they will ship games way more easily now. And it has been confirmed multiple times that KHIII is a different team from FF7R so there's no overlap between the two and Nomura is actively working on KHIII as well. At last but not least, with XV out of the way this game is bound to come out soon.

Please kill me already. Cannot wait for the key art we will get in the winter....
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Seemed obvious from late last year/early this.

If it fails to make 2018 Nomura shouldn't be allowed near a Directors role ever again.
 

Byvar

Member
Uh, this means nothing. FY2018 has already begun, and KH3 hasn't got a release window announced yet, unlike the games on that slide which do have a release window/date under them. Why does anyone think they would announce a release date in a presentation like this?
As for Dragon Quest XI, that is the Japanese release window they had before announcing the release date this month. This presentation was shown in February.
 
They are projecting a pretty strong FY2019, so I imagine we'll see the release of a Marvel licensed game (Avengers most likely) + KH 3 + FFVIIR Episode 1.

There's also this 2014 quote from Nomura:

"“My schedule is by and large mapped out until 2019 and I’m involved in a number of projects that will be more formally announced next year and beyond."
 
Wait...people actually expected this to launch in 2017? Lolz


Don't forget they've barely shown any footage, there was never a chance at that happening.
 

Mett

Member
It was expected to come out this year? I figured next year anyway, but looking at their lineup, Square has some damn good games coming out.
 

Magnus

Member
The fact that they're still calling this segment "HD Gaming" speaks a lot to how behind they were in acclimatizing to development last gen. Remember HD towns? lol

And yeah, this is MAYBE a 2018 title. Probably 2019.
 

Justified

Member
Its FY18 for SE now though.

The slide is confusing to some because its using Fiscal Year, and Calendar year

I was always under the impression that their fiscal years end on 31 March and begin on 1 April, so their FY 2016 would have just recently ended.

EDIT: I see you edited.

Actually FY17 just ended
 

Lucreto

Member
I was hoping FFVII remake was this year since it's been in development since 2014.

It's the 15th Anniversary so I expected at least the first part.

Edit: It's Financial Year 2018 so it might be out this year then.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
All this stuff about KH3 being way more ambitious and easy bigger than any game before it.

How exactly do you parse that from less than 10 minutes of gameplay footage over 4 years?

Throwing a bunch of Heartless on screen in a barren map with some particle effects ain't exactly on the level of The Witcher 3.

True story.
 

PixlNinja

Banned
Remember when we used to get a couple Squaresoft gems on an annual basis? Man, those were the days. It's crazy to look back at Square's output on the PS1 and just how many quality games they were releasing, in multiple genres, in a timely fashion.

And honestly I don't even get why they announced this for Xbox One. The other 2 games aren't on there and for some mysterious reason Square only releases HD Remasters on Sony platforms.
 

Piers

Member
Seemed obvious from late last year/early this.

If it fails to make 2018 Nomura shouldn't be allowed near a Directors role ever again.

I think it might actually be Square who thrust him into the directors seat again, if I recall the interview where he mentioned wanting to settle down at this point.
 

LordKasual

Banned
Remember when we used to get a couple Squaresoft gems on an annual basis? Man, those were the days. It's crazy to look back at Square's output on the PS1 and just how many quality games they were releasing, in multiple genres, in a timely fashion.

the best fuckin years of gaming

I really feel like Square made the PS1 for me.
 

zulux21

Member
O_O

there is english itadaki street info in that image.

who cares about kingdom hearts 3 this year if we get that :p

more seriously though, how often does SE include stuff in english reports like this that don't release in english?
 

jennetics

Member
idk, but i think FFVII will hit this year ^_^

The fact that you think FFVII is releasing this year is, frankly...saad.

I'm sorry, I had to :)

But for reals, that would be amazing if it happened. Doubtful it will, but amazing nonetheless.
 
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