Square Enix teases Kingdom Hearts Missing Link

[LoneFox]

Anybody know how we can keep an eye on the latest tweets without having to sign up for ex-Twitter? Because whenever I looks at them, they're a jumbled mess of random dated ex-tweets/posts and never the latest ones.

Nitter. There have been a couple of times when some change on Twitter's side broke all instances at once for several days, but other than that it has worked quite well.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

I do hope it comes to consoles & PC too.

I hate how whenever I bring this up, people always reply and say that it won't work because the GPS/Pokemon GO feature.

There's a chance that it'll (GPS feature) get scrapped or it will be phone exclusive.

 

[MATGSY]

I do hope it comes to consoles & PC too.

I hate how whenever I bring this up, people always reply and say that it won't work because the GPS/Pokemon GO feature.

There's a chance that it'll (GPS feature) get scrapped or it will be phone exclusive.

It's still rather telling that Square would go the route of making the game more difficult to port to begin with. You'd think after DDD they'd learn their lesson.

 

[Chie]

I remind you that when Nomura first showed off the pokemon go stuff, he immediately followed it up with "well I hate games like that so I made it so you dont actually have to use it at all".

I do appreciate games like this being on PC so I can actually play them at all, but technically "the abusive game having a wider range of victims" and "abusive games being normalized outside of phones" aren't Good at all, so I don't know if I do want to selfishly hope for such a thing.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I remind you that when Nomura first showed off the pokemon go stuff, he immediately followed it up with "well I hate games like that so I made it so you dont actually have to use it at all".

I do appreciate games like this being on PC so I can actually play them at all, but technically "the abusive game having a wider range of victims" and "abusive games being normalized outside of phones" aren't Good at all, so I don't know if I do want to selfishly hope for such a thing.

I do get not wanting to essentially have more gacha games or heavily monetized games on the market like that, but they are already there given we have stuff like Fortnite and Genshin out there already. I would rather at least have access to this.

 

[Phoenix]

That's where I'm stuck at. I don't like the fact that these kind of games exist. At best, the game is good in spite of the gacha bs, and at worst, they're outright predatory and take advantage of the most vulnerable, by design.

On the one hand, I hope y'all can enjoy it. On the other, I'm not really rooting for it. I'm stuck in a similar boat with Persona, with their upcoming mobile game.

 

[Raz]

I wonder what the construction site is all about.

We don't know much about where this game is supposed to slot in on the timeline, right? Or has it just been so long that I've forgotten...

 

[Keyblade Knight 1st Class]

I wonder what the construction site is all about.

I think it's meant to be a metaphor for the game being "under construction" aka in development, a work in progress etc. That's how I interpreted it but I could be totally wrong.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I wonder what the construction site is all about.

We don't know much about where this game is supposed to slot in on the timeline, right? Or has it just been so long that I've forgotten...

It’s after UX but still probably generations of years before DR.

Scala seems to still be in its Industrial Revolution era in ML lol

 

[Launchpad]

Really, whether or not the story is decent or the gacha systems are abusive aren't the things that'll get me interested or keep me away. The fact that they showed real time 3D combat with KH3 assets has me insanely curious on whether or not this is a legitimate KH game or an auto-battler where you summon trophies. If it's the former, I will be there no matter how shit the surrounding content is. If it's an auto-battler, maybe I'll watch the cutscenes online, or maybe I'll just figure out the story by osmosis when KH4 comes out

 

[Sonofjafar]

WOOOOOOO! YEAH BABY!!! That’s what I’ve been waiting for! That’s what it’s all about! WOOHOO!

 

[Luminary]

Really, whether or not the story is decent or the gacha systems are abusive aren't the things that'll get me interested or keep me away. The fact that they showed real time 3D combat with KH3 assets has me insanely curious on whether or not this is a legitimate KH game or an auto-battler where you summon trophies. If it's the former, I will be there no matter how shit the surrounding content is. If it's an auto-battler, maybe I'll watch the cutscenes online, or maybe I'll just figure out the story by osmosis when KH4 comes out

Gameplay spoilers from the prototype test:

Spoiler Show

It does have an auto battle feature, at least in the prototype. Based on the images/video that leaked, you can equip at least three trophies and tap them to use the attack. There is a jump button in battle and a button with a Keyblade symbol that may be for basic attacks. So there’s at least some evasion and seemingly the ability to attack between cooldowns. Probably no blocking though and I’m not sure if you can control your character’s movement or position at all in combat.

Of course the above could be totally different now considering how long it has been since the test.

My biggest ask for this game right now: keep it simple. I know the gacha elements are unavoidable, but just make it straightforward without a bunch of completely unnecessary growth systems, currencies, etc. Don’t bury the core game in all that mess.

Ever Crisis looks great, has a decent enough combat system, and overall is a concept I really wanted to enjoy. But it has this problem of overstuffed menus and systems that are hard to keep track of. So it lost me within a week. If they’d kept it simple, I would have been more likely to spend money in the game.

 

[Phoenix]

Gameplay spoilers from the prototype test:

Spoiler Show

It does have an auto battle feature, at least in the prototype. Based on the images/video that leaked, you can equip at least three trophies and tap them to use the attack. There is a jump button in battle and a button with a Keyblade symbol that may be for basic attacks. So there’s at least some evasion and seemingly the ability to attack between cooldowns. Probably no blocking though and I’m not sure if you can control your character’s movement or position at all in combat.

Of course the above could be totally different now considering how long it has been since the test.

My biggest ask for this game right now: keep it simple. I know the gacha elements are unavoidable, but just make it straightforward without a bunch of completely unnecessary growth systems, currencies, etc. Don’t bury the core game in all that mess.

Ever Crisis looks great, has a decent enough combat system, and overall is a concept I really wanted to enjoy. But it has this problem of overstuffed menus and systems that are hard to keep track of. So it lost me within a week. If they’d kept it simple, I would have been more likely to spend money in the game.

But see, I don't think they're trying to get you. They're trying to get people who get frustrated by this, and just whale it.

 

[Chie]

Even if you don't pay money, the underlying design is still usually created with the intention of stringing you along in a certain, carefully calculated way. This is in most cases true even if it doesn't have features like literal gacha, autobattle, etc.

I've played and enjoyed some games structured like this as something to do with my hands when listening to podcasts or music, so it's not like value can't be derived from them. But I think the biggest trap they want you to fall into is to see the games as legitimate works, equal to actual games. There's been a big push for this from companies lately; see how Persona 5 X copies the game screen of Persona 5 perfectly, even though it's inherently illusory if the gameplay is crafted on top of an algorithm designed to abuse you. KHML looking like it has KH3's combat is most likely the same tactic, going by those demo details.

I know the gacha elements are unavoidable, but just make it straightforward without a bunch of completely unnecessary growth systems, currencies, etc. Don’t bury the core game in all that mess.

See, this is the issue: that is the core game. That was decided before anything else. Square Enix wanted there to be another Kingdom Hearts f2p game, to derive revenue from that fanbase, and the most effective way to extract revenue from people is to create this specific system. In their eyes this is certainly a necessity to exist; even now-niche series like Mana and SaGa have had multiple gachas, and KH is certainly more potent a revenue source than those. So there is going to be a Kingdom Hearts game like that no matter what. That's the core game.

 

[Phoenix]

Even if you don't pay money, the underlying design is still usually created with the intention of stringing you along in a certain, carefully calculated way. This is in most cases true even if it doesn't have features like literal gacha, autobattle, etc.

I've played and enjoyed some games structured like this as something to do with my hands when listening to podcasts or music, so it's not like value can't be derived from them. But I think the biggest trap they want you to fall into is to see the games as legitimate works, equal to actual games. There's been a big push for this from companies lately; see how Persona 5 X copies the game screen of Persona 5 perfectly, even though it's inherently illusory if the gameplay is crafted on top of an algorithm designed to abuse you. KHML looking like it has KH3's combat is most likely the same tactic, going by those demo details.


See, this is the issue: that is the core game. That was decided before anything else. Square Enix wanted there to be another Kingdom Hearts f2p game, to derive revenue from that fanbase, and the most effective way to extract revenue from people is to create this specific system. In their eyes this is certainly a necessity to exist; even now-niche series like Mana and SaGa have had multiple gachas, and KH is certainly more potent a revenue source than those. So there is going to be a Kingdom Hearts game like that no matter what. That's the core game.

Yup. These type of games are inherently predatory hamster wheels. You can certainly derive fun from them in spite of that fact, but these games exist to exploit addiction and suck money from vulnerable people. That's their whole raison d'etre.

 

[MATGSY]

Really, whether or not the story is decent or the gacha systems are abusive aren't the things that'll get me interested or keep me away. The fact that they showed real time 3D combat with KH3 assets has me insanely curious on whether or not this is a legitimate KH game or an auto-battler where you summon trophies. If it's the former, I will be there no matter how shit the surrounding content is. If it's an auto-battler, maybe I'll watch the cutscenes online, or maybe I'll just figure out the story by osmosis when KH4 comes out

Even if it's real time combat, it can(will) buff enemies to insane levels & make them unbearably spongy 1-hit killers & render the whole thing virtually unplayable.

 

[Luminary]

But see, I don't think they're trying to get you. They're trying to get people who get frustrated by this, and just whale it.

Unfortunately yes. Until people stop putting money into games with these practices, it won’t change. Which makes me sad to say that I honestly want Ever Crisis to fail in its current form. It sucks as a fan of these franchises that sees a lot of potential in mobile platforms and would put money into it if was more or less a normal game with in app purchases to enhance the experience. Union Cross wasn’t great in this regard, but Ever Crisis seems much worse. Especially with having all these overwhelming systems right out of the gate.

See, this is the issue: that is the core game. That was decided before anything else. Square Enix wanted there to be another Kingdom Hearts f2p game, to derive revenue from that fanbase, and the most effective way to extract revenue from people is to create this specific system. In their eyes this is certainly a necessity to exist; even now-niche series like Mana and SaGa have had multiple gachas, and KH is certainly more potent a revenue source than those. So there is going to be a Kingdom Hearts game like that no matter what. That's the core game.

Actually going to disagree that gacha is a necessity for the company to allow the game to exist. If that were the case, why wouldn’t Dragon Quest Walk (from the same company) have these kind of gacha mechanics like Ever Crisis and Union Cross? They’ve already shown with that game they can do the AR geolocation game thing successfully without gacha.

DQ Walk and Pokemon Go are the two closest games to Missing Link and they are plenty successful without needing gacha systems, constant bombardment with ads, or overly complicated menus/systems. There are still microtransactions, but you can pretty much jump right in and start playing without having all that shoved in your face when you boot up the app.

A big part of this is because these geolocation games can get paid by companies for advertising by drawing them to their stores/businesses. So the gacha isn’t really necessary to turn a profit. This is why I’m hoping Missing Link won’t need to rely on it as much.

On a separate note, claims have been circulating that the Japanese KH portal site was updated to say Missing Link is coming soon. Using the Wayback Machine, it looks like this actually happened back around June. So I don’t think it means much at this point.

 

[Chie]

Actually going to disagree that gacha is a necessity for the company to allow the game to exist. If that were the case, why wouldn’t Dragon Quest Walk (from the same company) have these kind of gacha mechanics like Ever Crisis and Union Cross?

Because there are already like 10 other Dragon Quest gacha games. The geolocation stuff is completely secondary to "there needs to be a KH gacha because that demographic isn't being abused now that UX is ending".

A big part of this is because these geolocation games can get paid by companies for advertising by drawing them to their stores/businesses. So the gacha isn’t really necessary to turn a profit.

None of this is necessary to turn a profit. Turning a profit isn't the goal; if it was, they could just make actual video games. Making the most money possible with the least resources is the goal. The most effective way to do that will always be to create a system that abuses people out of their money indefinitely.

 

[Luminary]

Because there are already like 10 other Dragon Quest gacha games. The geolocation stuff is completely secondary to "there needs to be a KH gacha because that demographic isn't being abused now that UX is ending".

Both Square and Disney also have plenty of gacha games on the market that weren’t around when UX was at its peak.I don’t think theres much more of audience to be reached with this format honestly.

That’s a big assumption, especially considering there’s no confirmation of gacha being in the game yet. The only indication that there might be was the existence of the trophies, which were thought to effectively replace medals. But now it seems those are gathered by exploring the world and defeating enemies, closer to catching Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

None of this is necessary to turn a profit. Turning a profit isn't the goal; if it was, they could just make actual video games. Making the most money possible with the least resources is the goal. The most effective way to do that will always be to create a system that abuses people out of their money indefinitely.

Yeah obviously they want to make as much money as possible. But gacha isn’t the only monetization system that can accomplish that. Making something with the least amount of resources is a big reason Dark Road failed. It’s clearly time for them to try something different or else they would just be reusing the UX format/assets/gacha mechanics/etc.

Also, intentionally making their game objectively worse than its biggest competitor is a surefire way to tank their investment.

UPDATE: The NA Union Cross Twitter account has updated their name to Missing Link.

 

[Chie]

Both Square and Disney also have plenty of gacha games on the market that weren’t around when UX was at its peak.I don’t think theres much more of audience to be reached with this format honestly.

I mean, I'd like it all to crash, maybe it will. But from an executive's standpoint, every fanbase is its own potential revenue stream that's being "lost" if not being taken advantage of. Again, there have been multiple gacha for Mana and SaGa, which certainly aren't the most profitable fanbases, but apparently some executive did think they "needed" to exist because those were distinct fanbases.

And I say "gacha" but that's not necessarily the most important part, the abusive microtransactions substituting for the creation of real games is the important part. Maybe they'll find different ways to do this. But it'll still be completely different than, say, a director and their team making a video game.