While Square Enix has quite a stable of popular gaming franchises, Kingdom Hearts 3 and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake remain two of their most anticipated releases.
Some of the reason behind this is connected to both projects being kept under wraps for quite some time.
The Kingdom Hearts 3 release date has already been delayed till 2018, while news on the ambitious FF7 project remains thin on the ground.
Something that has been revealed recently is how other parts of the Final Fantasy world, fits in with some of the franchise’s most popular games.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed some new details in a recent interview with the EDAMAME Arcade Channel.
First of all, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see the return of turn-based battling. This is something already announced for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which will feature something closer to FFXV battle mechanics.
Kitase also commented on other links between FFX and FFVII, revealing that they could be set in the same world.
“A little. There is a character in FFX called Shinra,” he commented.
“The scenario writer suggest that he might have something to do with the Shinra Company in FFVII.”
Yosuke Matsuda, president of Square Enix, told investors in November that the company would be making release date announcements between April 2018 and E3 2018 in June.
Titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 weren’t mentioned by name, but they are easily the company’s biggest new releases.
Recently Matsuda also promised that the Final Fantasy franchise would continue to “evolve” from next year onwards.
He said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fans of the Final Fantasy series.
“I’m pleased to see that after 30th years, everyone continues to love the franchise.
“On behalf of the company, alongside our gratitude towards everyone, we’ll prepare several anniversary events.”
Kingdom Hearts 3 is another big game that console fans are hoping will arrive in 2018.
Currently only confirmed for PS4 and Xbox One, the popular Square Enix project has seen a lot of delays in its development cycle.
The new launch window does put the Kingdom Hearts 3 release date during 2018, although fans are still waiting for a crucial update on what month it will arrive.
But while Square Enix are still tight lipped on that front, a recent retail listing has sparked talk of another long wait.
Target recently changed their placeholder date to November 1, 2018, something that caught the eye of fans.
While the Kingdom Hearts 3 placeholder doesn’t come from Square Enix directly, it’s certainly more specific than the usual “December 31” we usually get.
There have also been reports of new leaked images appearing on Discord, showing off a new world in the game.
These reportedly show the game dropping in on the Monsters Inc. characters, with Mike and Sully seen in the background.
It’s unclear if these new images are the real deal but if they are, it would mean some interesting new information for fans who have been left waiting for a new update.