The Kingdom Hearts series has had a revival lately with the release of the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, along with the release of the very first Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer this summer at E3. Now, series producer Shinji Hashimoto has discussed the series with IGN and explained the pressure caused by releasing 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts 3, due to the series' unique audience.
"It's been 11 years since the original game was out and now we'll have Kingdom Hearts III at some stage in the future," he said. The people who played the original game, at the time they were probably around 12 or 13...but now they're in their twenties...While fans of Disney are usually quite young and Final Fantasy players are much older, they come together to create a Kingdom Hearts audience that's very unique. The feelings people have towards the series are so deep these days because they spent many of their teenage years, which is a very sensitive period of your personal life, with Kingdom Hearts," said Hashimoto to IGN.
While gamers are playing Kingdom Hearts 1.5, many are wondering if Square Enix and Disney will release another HD collection consisting of Kingdom Hearts 2, Birth by Sleep and RE:coded. Hashimoto revealed that the success of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 will determine if another Kingdom Hearts collection is made:
"If everyone plays 1.5 HD Remix, if everyone likes it and everyone supports us, then 2.5 HD Remix could happen. So at this stage, we just have to encourage people to play 1.5 HD Remix!"
When pressed about when Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released, Hashimoto refused to provide an answer, instead stressing that developers are working hard to make the game feel organic and return players to the time when they first played the series:
"The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up...After so many years, the players' personal growth is closely tied to the game's story at this point, so that's the most important thing about the series and what we want to put into the game. For Kingdom Hearts III, players will be able to resurrect the happy memories they have from being teenagers when playing Kingdom Hearts III. So it's very contemplative, and will match the personal experiences of much of the audience very closely."
Look out for more news about Kingdom Hearts 3 right here as the game continues development.
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