The official upcoming KH game is set to release an HD remastered version of the franchise’s most recent game (2012) and a short continuation? spinoff? of its third most recent game (2010), along with a movie that further explains the lore. Did that make sense? After 4 years, fans are getting a game they already played, and a tiny teeny continuation of a game they played 6 years ago. But! Excitement is still there.
First, let me explain what this new release even is. To catch everyone up, and keep everyone on the same page, Square released half titled (bear with me) “remastered/remixed” versions of the handful of releases that are part of the same timeline. To make that sentence make any bit of sense, a visual: (sorta)
Kingdom Hearts I (2002;PlayStation 2) -> Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004;Gameboy Advance) -> Kingdom Hearts 352/8 Days (2008;Nintendo DS) = Kingdom Hearts 1.5 (2013;PS3) (half titled release!)
Kingdom Hearts II (2005;PS2) -> Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2009;PSP) -> Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded (2011;Nintendo DS) = Kingdom Hearts 2.5 (2014;PS3)
Since the games have been released out of order in the KH timeline, and exclusive to random systems, these half titled releases serve to help make sense of the timeline and to catch up anyone who couldn’t afford a whole different system to play a single game.
This upcoming release, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, recounts the events that happened between KHII and KHIII, and, since KHIII hasn’t been set for release yet, it can’t be called KH3.5. Square also wouldn’t have waited until after the third installment because KHIII is assumed to be the very last game of the franchise, at least that follows the same characters.
Apparently, this “ridiculous universe” presented in 2.8 is hardly recognizable to the casual fan that left the franchise in 2005 with KHII. Also, according the article, it feels rushed and “desperate”…. so to make way for KHIII. The claim is that Square needed to release 2.8 to catch up fans on the events in between, so they released it as quickly as possible so that they can get on with the end of the series.
Judging by the fact that 2.8 was delayed……….. sure, buddy.