Kingdom Hearts III

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Kingdom Hearts III Developer(s) Square Enix Business Division 3 Publisher(s) Square Enix Director(s) Tetsuya Nomura Tai Yasue Producer(s) Rie Nishi Designer(s) Tai Yasue Programmer(s) Hideki Matsuoka Tomohito Hano Artist(s) Tetsuya Nomura Writer(s) Tetsuya Nomura Masaru Oka Composer(s) Yoko Shimomura Takeharu Ishimoto Tsuyoshi Sekito Series Kingdom Hearts Engine Unreal Engine 4 Platform(s) PlayStation 4, Xbox One Release JP: January 25, 2019 WW: January 29, 2019 Genre(s) Action role-playing Mode(s) Single-player Kingdom Hearts III[a] is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is the twelfth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, a sequel to Kingdom Hearts II, and the final chapter in the Dark Seeker saga. Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, returning protagonist Sora is joined by Donald Duck, Goofy, King Mickey and Riku in their search for the seven Guardians of Light and the "Key to Return Hearts" as they attempt to thwart the restored Xehanort's plan to bring about a second Keyblade War. Their journey has them cross paths with characters and visit worlds based on different Disney and Pixar properties. Concepts for the game began as early as 2006 after the release of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix in Japan, with the game not being announced until 2013, following years of rumors and speculation. Kingdom Hearts III sees many returning gameplay features from the series, while expanding parties to five characters total, introducing new "Attraction Flow" attacks that incorporate various Disney Parks attractions, and mini-games inspired by classic Walt Disney Productions Mickey Mouse cartoons in the style of 1980s LCD games. The game was built using Unreal Engine 4. Kingdom Hearts III was released worldwide in January 2019. Upon release, the game was met with generally positive reviews from critics. The game sold over 5 million copies worldwide one week after release.

Game Play

Gameplay in Kingdom Hearts III is similar to its predecessors, with hack and slash combat,which director Tetsuya Nomura stated would be along the lines of the system seen in Kingdom Hearts II, with an evolution similar to what was seen from Kingdom Hearts to Kingdom Hearts II, and closely tied to the gameplay in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.He also revealed that the handheld games of the series were where he could experiment with the combat mechanics, and that some of the well-received additions could appear in Kingdom Hearts III.Nomura noted that new gameplay elements are the "skeleton" of the game, saying, "When creating a Kingdom Hearts game, we start with a gameplay system that I think would be a fun element, and once we have an idea of what kind of gameplay or system we want in place, we flesh out the story around it, surrounding the basic concept of what kind of fun we're going to have with this new installment.