KINGDOM HEARTS Missing Link Coming 2024!

[Luminary]

This Twitch VOD has the new world in action starting at 13:30.

Definitely has more exploration than I was expecting! Still no indication of what it is though. I saw someone say they saw a scene in the private video with the player running along a beach they thought was Destiny Islands.

Also, Nomura said he wants to wait to release the game until it’s more comfortable to walk. He mentions how it warmed up around May this year so that may be a good time.

Source: http://www.ff-reunion.net/?p=33483

 

[KeybladeLordSora]

View attachment 16307

This tweet made me chuckle.

Same user said one of the scenes in the video showed the character running along the beach with a boat nearby. They think it is Destiny Islands. Keep in mind these are just impressions though.

Also, apparently the prologue in the CBT is cut down significantly from the final version.

Source: https://x.com/k_ephemeraif_h/status/1730913886348722430?s=46

Who wants to bet they think its DI cuz that's the only world in the series where a beach and a boat were in the same area

 

[horto12485]

So what was the New World that was shown on Twitch? (A Disney World or an Original World?)

 

[Luminary]

So what was the New World that was shown on Twitch? (A Disney World or an Original World?)

We have no idea. In the trailer, it was shown after the line saying the game would feature Disney worlds. So a Disney world seems more likely. But no one knows for sure yet. All we know is the world is accessed through quests that you start by talking to one of the Scala NPCs. (Which at least rules out it being an area of the Astral Plane for tropical real world settings like some people were claiming. Not sure why people thought this when the graphics were so different.)

 

[LoneFox]

Is there a list of all available pieces somewhere?
I think I'm noticing some interesting patterns among them...

 

[Luminary]

Is there a list of all available pieces somewhere?
I think I'm noticing some interesting patterns among them...

I saw one picture shared on Not Twitter that showed a lot of them. I’ll see if I can dig it back up.

I think these are most, if not all, of them.



Source: https://x.com/eclair1031/status/1731929016204951649?s=46

 

[LoneFox]

So, what we have is:

• Almost full KH1 story cast, including the summons and the princesses, but not Final Fantasy. Also missing seem to be Ansem SoD, Merlin, and Geppetto.
• At 2-star rank, there are characters from KH3 worlds, except Caribbean and Arendelle have been replaced with Neverland and Pride Lands.
• Then the 1-star rank is filled with less important characters from KH3 worlds, everybody from the old princess worlds, and less powerful duplicates of higher rank pieces.
• Randomly, there is Pete. It's just Pete, so it's probably not a big deal .

For some reason even the relatively unimportant side characters from Olympus, Kingdom of Corona, Neverland, and Pride Lands are at 2 stars, while for other worlds they are at 1 star. San Fransokyo may also be part of this, but we can't know for sure, because it doesn't have any side characters. Of these worlds, Olympus and Corona are confirmed to be in the game, and Neverland is a strong candidate for being that mysterious jungle world. It also makes a lot of sense that characters from worlds that are in the game would be considered more important than they otherwise would be. So, I think it is reasonable to predict that this will be the set of Disney worlds in the initial release of the game.

The other confirmed world is Dwarf Woodlands, and it just happens to be the only one of the old princess worlds where significant part of the cast is missing, as none of the dwarves are in the game. I think this means they are going to release both the world and its characters in the same update. So, we should look for other worlds that are under-represented or completely absent as candidates for same treatment. The most likely ones are Arendelle, Atlantica, and Halloween Town. But we should remember that it's possible to add characters without adding their world, so this isn't very reliable.

 

[NoWay]

So if ML releases in 2024, does this mean KH4 will release in 2025? Or can we still hope for late 2024 release?

 

[Luminary]

So if ML releases in 2024, does this mean KH4 will release in 2025? Or can we still hope for late 2024 release?

I think early 2025 is most likely. SE hasn’t really been releasing any of their AAA games in the latter half of the year recently. I think it just tends to be such a crowded space for gaming that they’d rather avoid it for their bigger releases. They still release games, but typically more niche titles like Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai or Star Ocean this year.

Let’s take at look at SE’s console game slate next year.

February 24: FFVII Rebirth
Spring 24: FFXVI DLC
Summer 24: FFXIV Dawntrail
TBD 24: Foamstars (this game already had its open beta, so I suspect it’ll be out by end of summer.)
TBD 24: SaGa: Emerald Beyond
TBD 24: Visions of Mana

I could see those last two releasing around September and November respectively. We could see VoM could get a bigger marketing push. The trailer looks gorgeous and it could be an opportunity to bring that franchise more into the mainstream. I’ve never played a Mana game but it has me intrigued.

The only other confirmed titles in development are DQ3 Remake, DQXII, and KH4. We could see the DQ3 Remake sometime next year too. Maybe July?

That would be 6-7 titles for SE next year not counting Missing Link and any other smaller projects that might pop up. I think that’s a pretty good line up for the year.

With the latter half of 2024 being lighter on major releases, it would give them plenty of time to focus on KH4’s marketing at all the big gaming events. Just like they’re doing for Rebirth now. I think we’ll get a release window around March/April next year and then steady marketing leading up to a January 2025 release. That’s a good eight months of steady promotion.

 

[maximumlight8]

Anyone try the iPad performance? I saw a post about it on Twitter that said it works well but it was just one post. Have an iPad m2 but it's the wifi version, wasn't sure if ML would be compatible or not, unless it works possibly with IP or something

 

[HipsterSora]

Who wants to bet they think its DI cuz that's the only world in the series where a beach and a boat were in the same area

I can't imagine that based on the music alone. Well, maybe they're using a placeholder but... ah, it really does feel like Peter Pan music.

 

[PikaPal]

The other confirmed world is Dwarf Woodlands, and it just happens to be the only one of the old princess worlds where significant part of the cast is missing, as none of the dwarves are in the game.

Snow White and the 0 Dwarves

 

[KeybladeGuy]

Do we know if we'll be able to play on PC as well or does it have to be on phone? My phone's a piece of garbage but I still don't wanna upgrade lol

 

[Luminary]

A very cool find by @iAyeCaptainKai on Twitter. They’ve worked out a lot of the letters of the Scala alphabet and there is a Mary Poppins Easter Egg in Missing Link:

https://x.com/iayecaptainkai/status/1740909927827419529?s=46

EDIT: I did some translating of my own and found that another spot has the lyrics to “Star Light, Star Bright” from Pinocchio in reverse! [Note: switched out my original translation picture with one courtesy of Breezyfeather as it is much cleaner.]




Breezyfeather on Twitter was able to translate some more text that turned out to be “Hey Diddle Diddle!” In reverse!

https://x.com/breezyfeather/status/1741343107432792159?s=46

 

[Luminary]

I’ve been trying to work out a meaning for this, which is found above the “Hey Diddle Diddle” nursery rhyme. It translates to “nO54022”. The twos could also be ones or a combo of 1s and 3s, but I think the twos are most likely.

“nO” is “On” backwards.
5+4+0+2+2=13. There’s also seven characters counting the n and O.
The numbers could also be scrambled for 52024. Like “On 5/2024.” But this message was shown even in the January prototype test, so I think it being a hidden release date Easter egg is unlikely.



There’s also another series of numbers on the opposite side of the screen above “Star Light, Star Bright.” This one translates to: 2241592653582

There are thirteen characters there, so you have seven on one side and thirteen on the other. Not find anything else special about this numbers though.

 

[ShardofTruth]

Do we know if we'll be able to play on PC as well or does it have to be on phone? My phone's a piece of garbage but I still don't wanna upgrade lol

Only iOS and Android are announced yet but since Ever Crisis was released on Steam as well there might be a chance even with the whole geolocation aspect.

 

[maximumlight8]

Nothing about the beta on Android, kinda crazy square hasn't said anything. Wonder if it will be delayed to February at this point.

 

[Luminary]

Nothing about the beta on Android, kinda crazy square hasn't said anything. Wonder if it will be delayed to February at this point.

Considering they didn’t announce the participants of the last one until like the day before, I wouldn’t be too worried. They already have the applications for this one too, so it’ll probably be just as short notice. I think it’ll either run the 10-19th or the 17th-26th.

 

[Luminary]

A fourth Ichiban Kuji Kingdom Hearts lottery will be happening in May 2024. The title is “Linking Hearts.”

It’s worth noting that each of these have lined up with a significant KH event: KH3, MoM, and the 20th anniversary. So there’s a good chance this is commemorating Missing Link’s release. The second one was called “Second Memory” referencing MoM. So “Linking Hearts” is probably referencing Missing Link.

https://x.com/churroz/status/1749294746915500398?s=46

They also just announced Nier Reincarnation is ending service on 4/29. My guess is they finish that and then Missing Link will basically take its place starting May.

Also a good time for a reminder to not dump all your money into these things as there’s no telling how long they’ll stick around.

 

[maximumlight8]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1752179929272537286

Not really that surprised, but I wonder if a PC version will ever be made. They obviously are putting all their resources into making the game mobile friendly. The one fear I have of that is diminishing the quality of the game for a mobile platform. If that is the case, makes me wonder if this game really should have just been a console F2P game or something instead.