Kingdom Hearts 3 has been on our minds since the Toy Story reveal last weekend during D23, and this new report from KH13’s Dengojin has us even more intrigued. Recent translations from game director Tetsuya Nomura suggest Kingdom Hearts 3 will have fewer Disney-themed worlds than its PS2 predecessor, Kingdom Hearts 2. That much was gleaned from the upcoming issue of Famitsu as translated by the popular Kingdom Hearts fansite.
In other words, that means Kingdom Hearts 3 plans to have less than 12 Disney-themed locales, if our calculations are correct. Of course, Nomura was keen to mention that, despite the lack of locations, each world in Kingdom Hearts 3 will be “vast and have more content” than its 2006 counterparts.
In fact, we’ve already seen evidence of this from the few trailers that currently exist. Both Olympus Coliseum and the Toy Story world bring Sora to several different areas that are essentially separate settings within the same universe. In the most recent clip, for example, Sora explores Andy’s bedroom, his front lawn and Galaxy Toys. In past franchise titles, the worlds haven’t been as diverse. They tell a complete story, but it’s mostly done in one small area.
Even if that increase in scale is impressive, though, it’s a bit disappointing to know that between Olympus Coliseum, San Fransokyo, Corona and Toy Story we’ve nearly exhausted half the roster of Disney-themed worlds for the entire game. Between now and Kingdom Hearts 3’s expected 2018 release date, Nomura intends to reveal every single one of them.
The full Famitsu story goes into much greater detail beyond world counts, of course. Nomura also admitted that much of the content shown during D23 was comprised of concepts he’d hoped to feature in Kingdom Hearts for quite some time. In particular, he mentions that Toy Story was pushed for franchise inclusion since Kingdom Hearts 2, but it took a “number of negotiations” to get the job done. The scene where Sora takes control of a toy robot was also one of the earliest ideas to have been envisioned during Kingdom Hearts 3’s development.
With regard to story tidbits, Nomura revealed that Sora’s Toy Story narrative takes place after Toy Story 2, in accord with the series’ canon timeline. Andy’s collection is surprised when they first encounter our heroic trio, and they initially mistake Sora for another character from a new game. With the threat of Organization XIII looming overhead, Buzz and Woody lend their talents to bring peace back to their haven.
As for what world reveals may be coming next, Nomura was keen to mention San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6. Concept art of the location was first shown during D23 2015, but we’ve yet to see what its actual design looks like in action.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is set to release in 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One.
Are you OK with Kingdom Hearts 3 having fewer but bigger worlds on its roster? Which worlds are you hoping to see before the game releases? Tell us in the comments section!
