'Kingdom Hearts 3' release date: Focus is on prologue game first; Worlds and enhanced magical experience teased

A screenshot of Sora from "Kingdom Hearts 3" Square-Enix

Fans who have been waiting for more details on "Kingdom Hearts 3" will have to wait for a while, with developer Square Enix choosing to focus on the "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue" first.

Speaking to Venture Beat, game director Tai Yasue stated that despite their excitement to share details about the highly-anticipated game, they recognize that there is a "right time" for this.

"We want each announcement to be special. We want to exceed our fans' expectations and we want to do it in a good way. We want to plan things out, the way we announce things. It's not that stressful, at least for me," he explained.

This would also explain why "Kingdom Hearts 3" was sidelined in last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3. However, he admitted that it was a "difficult decision" not to have the spotlight on the game.

With "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue" out this December, Yasue's team wants fans to focus on it first. After all, it is an important game to experience before moving into "Kingdom Hearts 3."

Thankfully though, Yasue shared details on the worlds to expect in the game as well as the improved gameplay that will be most noticeable in the magical point system and combat.

"As a whole, the story and the worlds and the gameplay — everything we incorporate, we want aspects of the Disney world throughout. For the combat systems as well, we don't have that much for 0.2, but having Disney aspects combined with Sora's aspects is important," Yasue said.

"Obviously the worlds, for example, we don't want them all to be Kingdom Hearts original worlds. We want the rich Disney worlds as well as the original worlds," he went on to say.

As far as magical spells go, Yasue said that "meaningful" interaction between environments and enemies was made possible in "Kingdom Hearts 3."

He said that this type of experience in the game will linger and won't last in just a snap, which is something that fans should look forward to.

"Kingdom Hearts 3" has no release date yet, but it is said to come out early next year.

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