Article: TGS '15: Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue announced for PS4, due 2016

[Linnaete]

[15/09] TGS '15: Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue announced for PS4, due 2016

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Have you finished both the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 AND 2.5 HD collections? You have? And you claim you are ready for Kingdom Hearts 3? Square Enix evidently disagrees, because there is one more package on the horizon. Just announced at the SCEJA 2015 Press Conference is Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, exclusive to the PS4 (sorry, Xbox One) and due out sometime in Japan in 2016. Note that a western localisation is naturally also in the works.

So what do you get with this new HD collection?

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- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD - to the surprise of few, the formerly exclusive 3DS title will now be remastered, allowing for PS4 owners to guide Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam. Sans the 3D aspect, of course.

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- Kingdom Hearts χ [Chi] Back Cover - an original HD movie; Back Cover chronicles the tale of the foretellers of yore, fleshing out the earliest chronological lore of the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts series.

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- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage - Fans of Aqua can rejoice. This will be an entirely original playable scenario that links to the story of Kingdom Hearts III, taking place after the storyline of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep played from the perspective of Aqua.

Curiously, this is a package only for the PS4, despite the previous 1.5 and 2.5 HD releases being exclusive to the PS3. But this is Kingdom Hearts; you come to expect regular cases of platform fragmentation!

Nova Crystallis

 

[greenyxi]

Ok, I've never played DDD and was gonna buy it for 3DS but...I may as well wait now. Good stuff, even if one of the games looks like just an extra chapter rather than a full on game. It's essentially one full game, a smaller game and a cinematic, right?

 

[Linnaete]

This is officially the moment where the Square Enix Name Generator has self-destructed.

 

[Shaissa]

DDD is the only one that looked interesting, I though the BBS 2 or whatever rumor was just that, a rumor, but I guess there was a little truth to it. Also, since it seems they still have the "KH 2.9" title under wraps I think this is bad news for when KH III will actually be coming out...guessing we are going have a long FFXV/Versus XIII wait for it. (hopefully not that long though)

 

[Razberry Knight]

Good to have x in cinematics. I can't wait to see ephemera.

Birth by Sleep Vol.2 wasn't a "rumor". It was an official secret ending with nomura discussing on it. It was scrapped with favor of dream drop distance. Nomura wanted to bring it back, now it seems he will.


This 2.8 stuff really feels convoluted. But then again the whole 1.5 and 2.5 naming was stupid.

 

[Dionysos]

Is 'Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue' seriously going to be its name? They're going to market it with that? Kids are going to ask their Mommy and Daddy if they would 'please go out and buy Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and no other Kingdom Hearts game! Thanks Mommy and Daddy!'

'Stupid Mommy and Daddy! That's the wrong one! I want 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, remember?! I've already got this one you've bought!'

Yes this naming will be a nightmare for kids' parents to remember.

Names like this do put me off. It's one of the reasons why I've only ever stuck with the main entries to the series (1 and 2, and maybe in the future 3 as well).

 

[AuronX]

It's essentially one full game, a smaller game and a cinematic, right?

That's basically what the other HD packages have been though. Sounds fair to me.

Personally I still have yet to play the 2.5HD Remix but I enjoyed the first one so I'll definitely be getting caught up with the series by the time KH3 hits!

 

[greenyxi]

That's basically what the other HD packages have been though. Sounds fair to me.

Personally I still have yet to play the 2.5HD Remix but I enjoyed the first one so I'll definitely be getting caught up with the series by the time KH3 hits!

This is what I'm planning too. Catch up with these 3 remaster games, and then go for 3.

KH 1.5 and 2.5 had 2 full on games (CoM and BBS are full games in their own right for sure). KH 2.8 has this prologue that seems more like what you get with a "DLC extra chapter" as the secondary game (though I don't know anything about it), which is what I mean by the smaller game . I'm not complaining though...at least we're getting new content.

 

[Linnaete]

Extended trailer. It's mostly English, then transitions to Japanese 2/3 in, for reasons that elude me.

 

[greenyxi]

Extended trailer. It's mostly English, then transitions to Japanese 2/3 in, for reasons that elude me.

I think it may be to keep it feeling like a JRPG. Shove some japanese into the trailer and you feel more like you're playing the genre...kinda maybe.