Dark Road final update releases on August 26

[Sign]

Square Enix has finally released the recap video for the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event. Included with it are some surprise snippets of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road's final update, which will be releasing on August 26th! 

This update will deliver a playable offline mode, as well as the rest of Xehanort's journey, from his days as a young student of Keyblade mastery, to his infamous time as a seeker of darkness. 

【お知らせ】
お待たせしております『KHDR』オフライン版アップデート(Ver5.0.0)は2022年8月26日に配信が決定いたしました！
先ほど公開された『KH 20th ANNIVERSARY EVENT』当日の模様と併せて未公開シーンをご覧ください。
▶️https://t.co/fXfLgUpL8M#KHDR #KHUX #_KH pic.twitter.com/NHnnBhAK0O

— キングダム ハーツ DR公式 (@KHDR_PR) August 8, 2022

 

[okhi12]

It's like they've read my mind, a few hours ago I was thinking they should make an announcement this week after the last one passed without any news.
I was hoping for the update to be released mid august but at least they're going to meet the august deadline and it hasn't been delayed again.
I'm glad Dark Road will be playable, that will be more entertaining than a bunch of cutscenes. I hope they remove the absurd excessive grinding to level up, it makes no sense now that it's an offline game.
I can't wait to see if the ending gives it a good closure or it's more questions than answers as usual.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Good to know. I had almost forgot about Dark Road. Perhaps now we'll finally learn the identity of the old guy who dropped dead on Destiny Islands. I will not let that go, I need answers on this very pressing manner. But anyway I'll be sure to mark it on my calendar and see what happens. I do like Dark Road, I just wish it was released in better circumstances. And I wish I got to know Xehanort's classmates a little more too.

 

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

Ayy they actually did it! In a way it’s really a marvel they’re managing to push through and actually release Dark Road as a free game after Union X got shut down. Glad we’re getting something to tide us over.

Nomura from the 20th recap event: “I’m sure that people have their doubts about all kinds of things - but a lot of mysteries will become clear if you play [Dark Road]. I’ve solved quite a few mysteries here.”

 

[Squood!]

The UX tradition of releasing stuff at the end of the month remains.

 

[Zettaflare]

Finally. Can't wait to find out how Xehanort became bald. Among other things, lol

 

[HakaishinChampa]

It's like they've read my mind, a few hours ago I was thinking they should make an announcement this week after the last one passed without any news.
I was hoping for the update to be released mid august but at least they're going to meet the august deadline and it hasn't been delayed again.
I'm glad Dark Road will be playable, that will be more entertaining than a bunch of cutscenes. I hope they remove the absurd excessive grinding to level up, it makes no sense now that it's an offline game.
I can't wait to see if the ending gives it a good closure or it's more questions than answers as usual.

If they get rid of the crazy grind, I might try playing it again

 

[Sign]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience with other idle games? How does DR's grind compare?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

A baby…he is precious. no, KHDR staff why have you made Xehanort so precious.

Also I’m so glad I got my iPad so I can play this on there. My phone is too vital to have it constantly running KHDR. Really hope they got rid of the insane grind, too. We can’t even buy cards so hopefully we can all just run through it without too much hassle.

 

[Darkspawn]

Not the first to make this observation, but it’s a nice touch that it appears the Robed Person and Babynort lived in the shack on Destiny Islands.

 

[Zettaflare]

It is interesting that the robbed man was involved in Xehanort's life and raised him to a degree. From the way his death scene was portrayed I assumed he just watched him grow from a distance

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Ugh, I want to see who the old robbed guy is even more now. Who is this mystery person? What if it's a female? What if it's a old lady Skuld or something like that? This is the biggest mystery left by Union X and I will not rest until I know who that is. Sora and friend's are playing on their burial grounds for crying out loud!

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

View attachment 15567
Not the first to make this observation, but it’s a nice touch that it appears the Robed Person and Babynort lived in the shack on Destiny Islands.

The play island was Xehanort’s home oh no I love this so much

 

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience with other idle games? How does DR's grind compare?

I‘ve only dabbled with other idle games but DR’s grind and gameplay did strike me as particularly offensive (though that may be because I was eager to advance the story content). I’m imagining they’ll adjust the balance and make it more engaging for the 5.0 release since there’s no gacha/P2W option anymore, it’d be pretty silly if they didn’t, but….

 

[Light&Darkness]

I literally was thinking about KHDR just a few days ago and been wondering if we'll get any news yet. Then here we are.

 

[Sakuraba Neku]

Completely forgot this game existed. I will only believe it when I see it.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Gotta second the notion that I literally forgot about the fact there still being outstanding stuff from Dark Road, lol.

Of course I'll follow the story content once videos of it are out but more or less on the side.

Also looks like we can add another Nort to the collection, can't we? Union X finale gave us Babynort and now we got Toddlernort, or would Kiddienort be more fitting there?
Don't really know, what I do know however is that Nomura seems to be really determined on keeping Xehanort around in some form despite KH III supposedly closing the lid on him and also at least to some degree trying to go on a sort of drum-up-sympathy path for him despite most of the series' suffering so far being his doing.

I certainly agree with those who think that this stuff should have been explored either before or during KH III rather than afterwards.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Gotta second the notion that I literally forgot about the fact there still being outstanding stuff from Dark Road, lol.

Of course I'll follow the story content once videos of it are out but more or less on the side.

Also looks like we can add another Nort to the collection, can't we? Union X finale gave us Babynort and now we got Toddlernort, or would Kiddienort be more fitting there?
Don't really know, what I do know however is that Nomura seems to be really determined on keeping Xehanort around in some form despite KH III supposedly closing the lid on him and also at least to some degree trying to go on a sort of drum-up-sympathy path for him despite most of the series' suffering so far being his doing.

I certainly agree with those who think that this stuff should have been explored either before or during KH III rather than afterwards.

I'm disappointed they skipped Fetusnort. They could have showed him controlling his mother from within, giving her the yellow eyes. She literally would be his first ever vessel to manipulate and control. Richard Epcar can even voice her when he's in full control of mother.

On the topic, Nomura will never get rid of Xehanort. I'm expecting him to appear in KH4 in some shape or form. Realistically Dark Road should have been the story they focused on after DDD/0.2 over Union X as it would have been timed better. Union X could happen after or something. It feels like Nomura loses interest in too many of his old ideas when new ones pop up as shown with so much of the mobile titles in KH3. But yeah, Xehanort ain't going anywhere. He's probably a main staple like Sora and Riku at this point.

 

[LoneFox]

I certainly agree with those who think that this stuff should have been explored either before or during KH III rather than afterwards.

Realistically Dark Road should have been the story they focused on after DDD/0.2 over Union X as it would have been timed better.

But isn't this exactly how Nomura originally planned it? Dark Road was supposed to be an independent game, it got cancelled by some necktie clowns, and then much later was reinstated as UX add-on?

 

[Sign]

But isn't this exactly how Nomura originally planned it? Dark Road was supposed to be an independent game, it got cancelled by some necktie clowns, and then much later was reinstated as UX add-on?

More or less. It was something Nomura wanted to do before KH3 but didn't have the opportunity. If the UX team hadn't approached him, asking to let them work on another game, DR would have never seen the light of day.

It's not really anything to do with UX as that was always a lower scale project, whereas this Xehanort backstory would have ideally been a console game, judging by how Nomura talks about it.