‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ Xbox One And PS4 Release Date Delayed Until At Least March Of 2014

"Kingdom Hearts 3" fans really can't catch a break. Even after the recently released KH3 teaser trailer at the D23 Expo in Japan, the games actual production has been notably slow. The teaser trailer provided fans a quick glimpse of what they can expect from the next installment of the highly anticipated video game series. However, game director, Tetsuya Nomura, revealed that the development team is unsatisfied with the current look of the game. "Although this is our first time showing footage of actual game play, the quality isn't anywhere near what the staff members consider satisfying," Nomura told Famitsu, continuing, "So we'll continue working hard to improve the quality."

So why after nearly a decade of waiting is "Kingdom Hearts 3" still not up to par for Nomura? Well mostly due to a new visual style that could only now be produced due to soon-to-be released home consoles, namely the Xbox One and the PS4. According to Nomura, "Kingdom Hearts 3" will have much more of brush-like visual style in comparison to the more photography look seen in the original "Kingdom Hearts." Nomura revealed that the team is attempting to revamp the visuals in the game with Disney in mind, which has been their desire from the very beginning of production.

The team at Square Enix has been attempting to possess this visual quality since the first KH installment, but the console technology in 2002 could not yet support it. "Ever since the first game, we've strived for a Disney-like brush quality in the graphic gradations," although Nomura's team ran into issues mostly because the PlayStation 2 did possess the processing power to "freely adjust the lighting." But now with the release of both the PS4 and Xbox One, Nomura and his team have all the home consoles they need to produce a new state of the art game.

So with the visuals of Kingdom Hearts 3 being completely overhauled, when will the game actually be released? Well, certainly not this year or next. Square Enix has released a lineup of new video game releases for the next fiscal quarter, which ends in March 2014 and "Kingdom Hearts 3" is notably absent. So with a release date delayed till at least March 2014, will the game be released that spring? Most likely not. When taking into account the lack of production, Nomura's visual overhaul, and KH3's absence from the 2014 Square Enix lineup, it seems unlikely that "Kingdom Hearts 3" will be appearing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One any earlier than 2015. And even this two-year waiting period is optimistic because one must consider that the rumored 2014 release date of "Final Fantasy XV" has now been shot down, after it was also absent from the 2014 release list for Square Enix.

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