A new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3 gives a look at one of the series’ most nefarious villains, Xehanort, as well as people’s memories of the series.
The Japanese trailer, which you can see below, showcases American fans talking about the series, including their first memories of the franchise and how it affected their lives. The trailer also showcased worlds already shown in previous trailers, such as Tangled, Big Hero Six, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Frozen. Characters shown include Winnie the Pooh and Wreck-it Ralph.
Near the end of the trailer, Sora confronts several members of Organization XIII, the antagonists of the series, and also has a few words with King Mickey. The very end of the trailer has him lunging forward to attack lead bad guy Xehanort.
Kingdom Hearts 3 has been in development for a long, long time, with the speculation of a third title being even longer, dating back to Kingdom Hearts 2’s release in 2005. The first footage of Kingdom Hearts 3 was shown back in 2013 in a teaser trailer, with news regarding the game being scant for several years.
Tai Yasue, director of Kingdom Hearts 3, said in a recent interview that the game’s long development cycle was a result of needing to rework the game engine, with developers needing time to adapt and adjust.
But the game is real, and it’s finally due for release on January 29 in the west for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. In fact, a person has reportedly been arrested for reportedly stealing Xbox One copies of the game from a production factory.
The ending to Kingdom Hearts 3, however, won’t be known until after launch. Patches released in the days following the game’s launch will include a memory archive that will explain the games very intricate story, the epilogue (which everyone will be able to access after beating the game) and a secret ending that can be unlocked once the player meets certain requirements.
