Kingdom Hearts II.8: Final Chapter Prologue Announced for PS4: because try-hard naming and we forget Xbox

[The DanMan]

So, last night was Square's TGS press conference, and yeah.

It will come to PS4 in 2016 (pretty much confirming that KHIII won't come until 2017).

It will include 3D, the epilogue of Birth By Sleep (that actually looks REALLY GOOD, visually), and a video of unknown length entitled "X back cover", which will explain the lore while tying X to the the series better (AKA, something that I'll just watch when Everglow or somebody else uploads it to youtube).

...So, the title probably tells you my opinion on this. The name sounds like it's trying way too hard to be cool and makes me wonder why they changed it from simply 2.9.

Plus, there's the not-so-tiny fact that they announced KHIII on Xbox One as well. Since porting costs between systems are the lowest they've been, I don't see the reasoning here.

So, I don't see this selling much; it's only got one game remaster that was released on the most popular system this generation, and all the other stuff will be quickly uploaded to youtube once released.

So, yeah. Really don't care much for this.

[Ragnell]

This game is a mess. First off, though, KH 0.2 BbS -A fragmentary passage- is not the epilogue of BbS. It is the entirely new game teased in the end of BbS Final Mix. Yeah, we're now mixing in remakes and totally new games. The naming is obviously a freaking nightmare, and Square Enix really ought to have caught on by now that their naming is considered laughably bad and confusing in the West. Apparently they don't care.

The funniest part about it being PS4 is that it is now a different console than I.5 and II.5, ruining the entire stated purpose of these titles, which was to remake all the games for the same system so that the plot makes a modecum of sense leading into KH3. The fact that it's not on Xbox just proves that the KH3 release on Xbox is just as coincidental as the KH releases on Nintendo systems, all of which have now been remade for Sony systems.

[Tryhard]

Even I don't get the naming.

[IceBrand]

Watch 2.9 be 1.5, 2.5, and 2.8 all on one disk for PS4.

[Water Mage]

There's something I've been thinking:

Every game of the series, with coded being an exception, introduces a new character to the story, so I wonder what kind of character will be introduced on 2.8, and makes me wonder what new elements and characters will be introduced in 3, consdering how large the core cast is.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Water Mage

[Dandragon]

working on this instead of KH3

I SEE WHERE THE PRIORITIES LIE

[bookofholsety]

II.8

oh dear god, squeenix. i can live with ridiculous titles comprised of english words, but mashing up roman and arabic numerals like this? just looking at it makes my head hurt. this is a crime against mathematics

[The DanMan]

This game is a mess. First off, though, KH 0.2 BbS -A fragmentary passage- is not the epilogue of BbS. It is the entirely new game teased in the end of BbS Final Mix. Yeah, we're now mixing in remakes and totally new games. The naming is obviously a freaking nightmare, and Square Enix really ought to have caught on by now that their naming is considered laughably bad and confusing in the West. Apparently they don't care.

The funniest part about it being PS4 is that it is now a different console than I.5 and II.5, ruining the entire stated purpose of these titles, which was to remake all the games for the same system so that the plot makes a modecum of sense leading into KH3. The fact that it's not on Xbox just proves that the KH3 release on Xbox is just as coincidental as the KH releases on Nintendo systems, all of which have now been remade for Sony systems.

Only found out about that part later. Probably going to be a Ground Zeroes-type of deal.

DOUBLE EDIT: Looks like hoping for something was too much. It's up for pre-order with "Only on Playstation" on the cover label. Still think it's a dumb decision; even if an Xbox One port just broke even, it would cultivate the brand on the system and inevitably lead to more sales of KHIII on it.

EDIT:

It's funny, but while everyone is focusing on II.8, what really got my attention is the trailer are Foretellers, there's so many theories in my head about these guys, that I'm really curious. (I may have criticized KH's, but making theories about is a guilty pleasure of mine) It's very likely that the Foretellers have connections to specific characters, and I wonder who's the traitor...

I better stop here, if I start writting theories this post gonna long and off-topic.

Most popular theory about them: http://forums.khinsider.com/kingdom-hearts-iii/194630-rebirth.html

Edited September 16, 2015 by The DanMan

[Water Mage]

It's funny, but while everyone is focusing on II.8, what really got my attention is the trailer are Foretellers, there's so many theories in my head about these guys, that I'm really curious. (I may have criticized KH's plot, but making theories about it is a guilty pleasure of mine) It's very likely that the Foretellers have connections to specific characters, and I wonder who's the traitor...

I better stop here, if I start writting theories this post gonna long and off-topic.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Water Mage

[The Funniest Valentine]

I'm told X is the last game in the chronology. Would that make it Kingdom Hearts -1? Or Kingdom Hearts -1[negativus unum] for that extra Square flavor.

[Zera]

Jeez, eight games in and we're STILL not at KHIII?

[NICKT™]

Can we go back to the first game where the enemy was just darkness and we fucked around with Disney characters whacking black blobs with a key?

This series has gone to shit, down a very, very dark hole that it'll never, ever get out of.

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

it feels good to have never ever gotten into the series after seeing how abused the fans are in general.

[The DanMan]

Can we go back to the first game where the enemy was just darkness and we fucked around with Disney characters whacking black blobs with a key?

This series has gone to shit, down a very, very dark hole that it'll never, ever get out of.

That's one opinion.

I found the first game to be fairly bland and simplistic on multiple levels, with Chain of Memories being were it started coming in to its own.

Will I deny that Nomura is a far-from-stellar writer? Nope; he writes plot twists for the sake of it with little build-up or foreshadowing. Couple that with Square mlking the series and there's four different games released between II and III, and only two of those (BBS and 3D) are good or really added anything to the plot (358 developed Roxas as a character, but most everything else left something to be desired; Re;coded did nothing new whatsoever).

Do I enjoy theorizing about and deciphering the lore, the gameplay, and some of the characters? Yep. Heck, I've never even played a Final Fantasy game in my life, and generally don't like anything Disney-related.

I'll defend 1.5 and 2.5, but not II.8; it's a remaster of a game most fans still have, a movie that will be uploaded to youtube within a week of release, and a tech demo; all selling for full price.

[Jedi]

Oh my god Nomura stop padding...

[The DanMan]

Oh my god Nomura stop padding...

Considering 2.5 didn't sell all that well, and this game has less content while being sold for full price...

I'm starting to think they skipped Xbox on this because they expect the PS4 sales to be pretty low.

[Jedi]

Its still dumb padding, we just want KH3. Not all this senseless bullshit, we've toyed around long enough with all the spinoffs that all tie into the main plot and were fun, but in the end are just nothing but build up for 3.

Just focus on 3 so we can have it sometime before 2018/20

[Zera]

I believe Square Enix and Nomura are purposefully putting as many games between KHII and KHIII as possible, because they are aware that folks like myself, who are tired of unnecessary additions and general jumbling of the plot, are probably not going to buy any games beyond KHIII.

[Jedi]

I believe Square Enix and Nomura are purposefully putting as many games between KHII and KHIII as possible, because they are aware that folks like myself, who are tired of unnecessary additions and general jumbling of the plot, are probably not going to buy any games beyond KHIII.

Nomura confirmed 3 will be the end of Sora's story, not the end of Kingdom Hearts.

[secondworld]

Nomura confirmed 3 will be the end of Sora's story, not the end of Kingdom Hearts.

I thought it was said that it will be the end of Xehanort, and that whatever happens next would still star Sora?

[Jedi]

I thought it was said that it will be the end of Xehanort, and that whatever happens next would still star Sora?

Hmm I seem to misremember the wording, but regardless the end of 3 will be the end of the Xehanort saga.

[IceBrand]

KH is shoving out more uneeeded content than FF13!