Kingdom Hearts Series Thread: This Is The Remix

[Yoshi]

Square Enix has revealed Kingdom Hearts is finally on its way to current-era home consoles. In typical wacky naming fashion for the publisher, the bundle including HD remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts - Re:Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will launch in 2013 under the banner of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix.

No stranger to re-releases, the Kingdom Hearts franchise will further update the PS2 re-release of Chain of Memories – originally a GBA game – to the PS3. Final Mix was a Japanese-exclusive re-release of the first game, which added new content found in the North American version of the game. Though the DS-exclusive 358/2 Days would probably see the most tweaking to get it to land on home consoles, speculation based on a Famitsu report is the PS3 release will only feature remade cutscenes from in the handheld title and not its gameplay.

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I still can't explain why this series intrigues me, but this would be a great place to jump in I suppose.

[bbobb]

Why exactly isn't 2 included?

[Timber]

So they can sell you Kingdom Hearts 2.5 in a year?

[MechDeus]

My body is ready.

[Geo]

Not surprising in the least, but - other than splitting it across two HD collections - this makes total sense. With KH3 finally coming next and returning to consoles to do so, it's the right move to have the previous installments playable on current hardware in preparation.

Although development will take who knows how long with certain people in charge, I still think we'll see KH3 released on PS3 if not also 360 (at least in NA and Europe) and probably Wii U as a multi-platform release. None of the new consoles will immediately come close to the PS3 userbase in Japan or the HD console userbase worldwide.

Square Enix is no stranger to this, Final Fantasy IX and Dragon Quest VII came out after the PS2 launch, and FF XII released around the same time as the PS3 launch. They just released DQ X in Japan for the Wii in early August, although they are quickly porting that to the Wii U now. At this point in the lifecycle, consoles are almost as cheap as they'll ever be and their libraries are expansive, and as such they are entering family households.

I enjoyed KH1 when I played it some years ago, but I seriously doubt I'd play it again in this HD collection - especially after using the battle system and Flowmotion of KH 3D. If Square Enix puts out a standalone Birth By Sleep HD for XBLA, I might be interested, but otherwise I'm most likely going to pass on this.

[Mzo]

It's been years since I beat the original, so I'm down for Final Mix.

[MechDeus]

It's especially nice because KHFM has some really strong encryption which is why it's the only Japanese KH to never get a fan English translation.

[Compass]

So they can sell you Kingdom Hearts 2.5 in a year?

Yep.

I don't love these games enough to play twice, so I'll be skipping this, trophies or not.

I'm playing BBS right now and really enjoying it. Probably the most of any of them save the godly CoM. Aqua's existence as a playable character has me nurturing the foolish hope I will be able to wield a keyblade as Kairi some day...

[Geo]

[George]

Yeah I'm thinking KH2 FM and BBS HD just before the big ol' KH3 announcement. I just kinda played through KH2 FM using a translated ISO and actually really enjoyed myself. Some of the best boss fights Square's made in an action RPG are in the various Kingdom Hearts games.