Dark Road finale to be delayed further due to major scenario additions
- Details
- Published on February 28, 2022 @ 03:01 am
- Written by Cecily
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, which was scheduled to receive its offline version and remaining story this winter, will be delayed further due to major additions to the scenario.
【お知らせ】
— キングダム ハーツ DR公式 (@KHDR_PR) February 28, 2022
今冬配信を予定しておりました『KHDR』オフライン版アップデートは、大幅なシナリオ追加のため、リリースまでもう少しお時間をいただくこととなりました。
少年から青年、そしてマスター時代まで。
ゼアノートの辿る物語の再開まで今しばらくお待ちください。#KHDR #KHUX #_KH pic.twitter.com/Z9Vf03RMaU
From boy, to youth, to master... Please wait a little longer until the story of Xehanort's journey resumes.
COMMENTS
My shitpost in DR General awoke the PR team.
Still banking on Battle Network tbh.
I knew this would happen. It sucks but eh, they can take their time.
At least they didn't wait until March 19 to tell us lol
Does anyone else suspect that this has something to do with them gearing up for the next stage of Phase 2?
They probably were finalizing key story elements in Phase 2 and were waiting to iron those out before including them.
It kind of sucks that such important scenes are being reduced to KHUX graphics. It looks like the scene where Xehanort uses No Name for the first time (or steals it) is going to be shown. That would have been epic to see in KH3.
Does anyone else suspect that this has something to do with them gearing up for the next stage of Phase 2?
They probably were finalizing key story elements in Phase 2 and were waiting to iron those out before including them.
It kind of sucks that such important scenes are being reduced to KHUX graphics. It looks like the scene where Xehanort uses No Name for the first time (or steals it) is going to be shown. That would have been epic to see in KH3.
Personally, no. DR was still extremely early in its story when the game was taken offline: only 3 episodes had been released, and they were still worldbuilding and establishing the setting and characters. We have no idea how many episodes they had remaining, and thus no way of accurately predicting how long it should take them to finish all of that work. Even when the game was on a regular schedule and alternating with UX, it seemed like they were struggling to get story updates out on time. IMO their original release schedule vastly underestimated the amount of work they had left to do and led everyone to set the wrong expectations.
While the tweet does say the further delay was caused by major additions to the scenario. I don't think those would have necessarily come from Phase 2/other titles (although it is certainly possible!), but rather that stories can evolve unpredictably as they are being written and the team may have simply decided to expand DR's scope.
Anyways, I'll take this time to remind everyone again that there's only 2 cutscene animators working on this game and of the impact the pandemic has had on game development, you know the drill, yadda yadda.
Personally, no. DR was still extremely early in its story when the game was taken offline: only 3 episodes had been released, and they were still worldbuilding and establishing the setting and characters. We have no idea how many episodes they had remaining, and thus no way of accurately predicting how long it should take them to finish all of that work. Even when the game was on a regular schedule and alternating with UX, it seemed like they were struggling to get story updates out on time. IMO their original release schedule vastly underestimated the amount of work they had left to do and led everyone to set the wrong expectations.
While the tweet does say the further delay was caused by major additions to the scenario. I don't think those would have necessarily come from Phase 2/other titles (although it is certainly possible!), but rather that stories can evolve unpredictably as they are being written and the team may have simply decided to expand DR's scope.
Anyways, I'll take this time to remind everyone again that there's only 2 cutscene animators working on this game and of the impact the pandemic has had on game development, you know the drill, yadda yadda.
Well what I meant was that they probably got so far ahead with Phase 2, while Dark Road's production was constantly delayed that they got new ideas from Phase 2 to throw into Dark Road.
They probably would not have gone in that direction if Dark Road had stayed on schedule.
If this is the case and they put Phase 2 stuff into Dark Road, I'm actually not sure how I feel about that. On one hand it is connecting Xehanort's story to Phase 2, but on the other hand it somewhat robs Xehanort (and the Dark Road characters) their own stories independent of Phase 2. I'm not too fond of continually using solo stories to explain future stuff. Dark Road should really be about Xehanort's downfall - not about shocking reveals like "Xehanort went to Quadratum!"
"64 years later" is how long this update is taking.
I'm still wondering if this is a story that really needs to be told.
I fucking hate Dark Road.
This just makes me even more curious how much content Dark Road will wind up having.
And even more surprised that it's still free.
This just makes me even more curious how much content Dark Road will wind up having.
And even more surprised that it's still free.
should you even c a r e
I'm still wondering if this is a story that really needs to be told.
I wanted it told ? just not in this format
I still don't understand how something that just looks horrifically easy to animate takes so long to animate
What a shit show.
I wanted it told ? just not in this format
I do get that. I mean, I'm all for lore dumps. But... this is just ridiculous. The format isn't good and Xehanort's story is supposed to be done, I just don't know why this has to be told through his point of view I guess. I feel like things are getting a bit too bloated or something
should you even c a r e
Whether or not I """should,""" I do, I guess
I don't get twisted in knots over mobile games like everyone else around here. And this one isn't even a gacha-based online service anymore, just a little KH game on your phone. For free. No reason to get butthurt about it.
I still don't understand how something that just looks horrifically easy to animate takes so long to animate
It's not just animating. It's character design and spritework, writing the dialogue, sound design and music implementation... and that's just the cutscenes.
It's still a game, too, so any additional elements on that end also take time to develop.
Ultimately we'll have to wait to see how much content is actually in the game before we can determine whether the dev time was justified.
I do get that. I mean, I'm all for lore dumps. But... this is just ridiculous. The format isn't good and Xehanort's story is supposed to be done, I just don't know why this has to be told through his point of view I guess. I feel like things are getting a bit too bloated or something
It certainly should have been told sooner than now. The Xehanort Saga had a distinctive lack of Xehanort as a person before the villain, but oh well.
I wouldn’t say Dark Road bloated things. UX was really the start of that mess by making Xehanort from Scala instead of from Destiny Islands. It’s bullshit and ruins the connection Sora and Riku had to Xehanort. It was great to see the main villain and heroes come from the same background. Humble beginnings, as it were.
[IMG width="338px"]https://en.meming.world/images/en/a/ab/Traumatized_Mr._Incredible.jpg[/IMG]
[ISPOILER]I'm sure this whole Dark Road fiasco is some deep metaphor for something.[/ISPOILER]
Yeesh.
The tweet gives me the impression they had to make several last minute tweaks/additions to the story, probably as they’re finalizing scenario writing for whatever big game they’re going to announce soon. The cutscene teasers are both titillating and disheartening; the latter because it increasingly seems like the lore implications for Phase 2 being stuffed in here are truly significant. I want to see the continuation of the YX + MoM scene for realz, not like this.
They really should’ve pulled the plug on this a year ago and transitioned to either integrating the essential plot elements into the next game and/or turning Dark Road into a Back Cover-like movie or something. Seems to me they fell into a sunk cost fallacy and just kept digging a hole they couldn’t get out, and now they have to finish this ridiculous thing as-is lmao
At least they didn't wait until March 19 to tell us lol
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say they didn’t mean meteorological winter, of which today is… the last day ?
It certainly should have been told sooner than now. The Xehanort Saga had a distinctive lack of Xehanort as a person before the villain, but oh well.
I wouldn’t say Dark Road bloated things. UX was really the start of that mess by making Xehanort from Scala instead of from Destiny Islands. It’s bullshit and ruins the connection Sora and Riku had to Xehanort. It was great to see the main villain and heroes come from the same background. Humble beginnings, as it were.
I don't know how much of a difference it really makes when he was taken to Destiny Islands as an infant and spent his entire childhood there.
For all practical purposes, he is from Destiny Islands. Unless his origins and/or lineage become a plot element in Dark Road, Xehanort may never have even known where he was born.
I don't know how much of a difference it really makes when he was taken to Destiny Islands as an infant and spent his entire childhood there.
For all practical purposes, he is from Destiny Islands. Unless his origins and/or lineage become a plot element in Dark Road, Xehanort may never have even known where he was born.
There was no reason for the team to introduce this piece of info without it eventually becoming relevant in the future.
There was no reason for the team to introduce this piece of info without it eventually becoming relevant in the future.
I agree, but we don't know how it will be relevant. It could be something for DR, it could be something for later.
And even if Xehanort finds out he's Scalan, does that change his Destiny Islands upbringing? No, not really.
Would Xehanort even care where he comes from when he inevitably just gets sick of the places he lives
Its important because Sora will bury the X-Blade in the sands of DI and take up the name Skywa- I mean No Heart to honor his legacy.
[ISPOILER]Sorry for the shitty reference.[/ISPOILER]
I don't want to be hard on Nomura and the team but I guess I'm just so frustrated with how UX and Dark Road are going. Even when there are interesting lore parts here and there, it's soured every time they add something unnecessary with it.
In the past I feel like I'd have a general idea on where the story was going and what Nomura was trying to do. I even sorta guessed that Ven could be from the past/a dandelion because it was "small" enough to kinda make sense I guess.
But now? I feel lost. Wouldn't be more worth their time and effort to make an ACTUAL show or movie or something to present this information? Nothing against the animators cause I know they're working their asses off, but there's no way they're going to be able to market this to the wider Kingdom Hearts audience and make them care about this story when moving into "phase 2".
I feel like they're writing themselves into another "Here was a whole game you probably missed but you need this very important information or some stuff in the future won't make sense! ?"
Doesn't even matter how much I like or dislike it, I just want to be able to chill in a fandom where everyone is on the same page, the story is able to be followed by at least 75% of the fanbase, and where the bald headed villain guy is finally laid to rest. I'm sorry Nomura but at the end of the day, I just don't like Xehanort like that. Ok? He was a alright villain and I really enjoyed how he tortured my favorite characters and all, but for him, I'm not interested in his anti-villain/anti-hero framing.
Edit: Also, to make it clear, I don't hate Xehanort. I don't know, I just am not sure I like this direction with him at all. Not in the slightest. The best Xehanort moment for me in KH3 was when babynort essentially said "F-U" to Sora as he was fading away in the final battle. Yeah, I'm interested in why he was being such a spiteful excited prick at that moment but everything else? .... EH. It's a conflicting feeling really.
Well I'm actually grateful that they gave us a heads up this time, and excited that there's a lot of story to be expected!
I really love watching those little cutscenes. I consume them like the best fan comics. I can't wait to watch/read everything in one or two sittings! I wish there was a way to let those two animators know how grateful some fans are for their work. It must be tough to be just two people and read nothing but complaints online.
Can't say I am surprised about this. If one looks at the whole premise and setting of "Dark Road" as well as what has been released so far the whole story has at best the tutorial/opening act and Episode 1 out of what most likely would be at least a 10 Episode thing overall.
I bet they're already condensing wherever they can and it is still a huge buttload of story to tell nonetheless.
On a personal note I can't say I'm to thrilled about it either way, imho I wasn't from the very beginning as Xehanort as a character is really starting to overstay his welcome. KH III was supposed to be the last hurra with that character in an central role and now we're still stuck with him.
No offense to Aqua and I do really like playing as her in 0.2, but in all honesty any and all supposedly important additional backstory of Xehanort should have been included in that title or during KH III itself somewhere.
It is such a weird storytelling order to investigate and show off the past life and backstory of the main villain after they have been already defeated and their actions unmasked and identified as evil regardless of any possible "noble" intentions.
It's like as if Harry Potter and co. started to dive into the early life of Tom Riddle (Voldemort) after Deathly Hallows (book seven) already happened instead of in book six.
YAY! I've been waiting with baited breath for this. My body is ready. I don't really care that it's late as long as it's good. Really IMO, they could have just made it a novel or something, but they probably wanted to give those who waited something, and decided not to just end it off outside of game like the "True" ending of FFXV.
It is such a weird storytelling order to investigate and show off the past life and backstory of the main villain after they have been already defeated and their actions unmasked and identified as evil regardless of any possible "noble" intentions.
It's like as if Harry Potter and co. started to dive into the early life of Tom Riddle (Voldemort) after Deathly Hallows (book seven) already happened instead of in book six.
Anime does it all the time. Also FFXV did it.
The story of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road was really good, it's such a shame that it was stuck in the mobile format instead of being a home console game but Nomura has his reasons I guess. I'm willing to wait if it means that we get a better product.
Anyways, I'll take this time to remind everyone again that there's only 2 cutscene animators working on this game and of the impact the pandemic has had on game development, you know the drill, yadda yadda.
That's insane, just two people?! I know that this is no longer a paid product but you'd think there's be more people working on Dark Road so that the game would be completed quicker.
Well, here we go again lol.
While I can't say I am pleased to hear of a further delay, I am quite intrigued at the new scenarios that have been teased. Sounds like we are getting a bigger story then we thought out of this.
They obviously want you to walk in Xehanort's shoes and that means being as old as he is when they release the finale. So we can feel the gravity of his journey. It's genius really.
For me, I guess I'm just wondering what is this leading too? Union X wasn't just a Keyblade War backstory, it carried over into Kingdom Hearts 3 with sequel baiting to the point where it felt more important then KH3 actually concluding the Dark Seeker Saga. What is Dark Road setting up? Are Xehanort's classmates going to travel into the present day as well? Who are these upper classmen? Because there is no way this is just a simple Xehanort backstory, which should have been told by now. Are they going to answer any questions left by Union X's ending?
I don't hate the delay. I'd rather a delayed project then a rushed one. I'm just curious what exactly we're setting up here?
Edit: On a personal note, I like Xehanort standing before the Magic Mirror from Dwarf Woodlands.
Secretly Xehanort must have gotten himself lost somewhere in a very dark road and therefore Square Enix are trying to locate where the old geezer has gone so they can wrap up the story.
I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
That's likely what is going to happen. Even though he's gone Xehanort is still playing a role in the series like in Melody of Memory. I don't think he is leaving, even if he exist as a memory or through his research that expands every game.
That's insane, just two people?! I know that this is no longer a paid product but you'd think there's be more people working on Dark Road so that the game would be completed quicker.
Yeah, and the second cutscene animator was only hired in the last year of UX's service, so from the original KHX until then, there was only one. People tend to overlook it but Bitgroove is a very small mobile developer. Iirc they only have like 40-ish staff? And of course, not everyone is working on games, let alone this one; there's also people in HR, finance, etc.
It's possible they may have hired more people since then, but best not to assume.
On a related note, Nomura did say the staff turned green when they saw the stack of pages for Episode 1 alone. If they've expanded the scope by a significant degree, it's no surprise this update is taking so long.
They really bit off more than they could chew with Dark Road, didn't they? Using Xehanort's backstory to extend the life of the KHUX app was already a questionable choice that didn't work out. But at least they're trying to conclude the story instead of cancelling it outright? I wonder how Square Enix convinced Bitgroove to spend so long on a game that isn't going to make them any money?
I feel like I should care more about this than I really do, but really Dark Road needs to end already. I'm scared that they are gonna have Xehanort play a central role in the Phase 2/Foretellers Saga as a good guy or something because why else add all of these extra details. Old geezer needs to go away already.
Xehanort will always be relevant due to the life he led and the research he conducted.
Personally, I prefer this to the more gamey/shonen storytelling where the Big Bad is defeated and immediately forgotten.
It makes sense for Xehanort to still have purpose in the narrative even after he's gone.
I'm cool with the villain still hanging over the heads of the hero. I've been playing FFXIV recently and they do a pretty good job showing not only the long lasting effects the heroes have on the world, but also the villains. Crap the villains did all the way in 1.0 (which was blown to pieces by the developers and can no longer be accessed by players) is STILL screwing up their world today. The effects on the land are an eyesore. Every new plot development can be tied back to them and the mess they made.
I don't think it should be "Xehanort who???", I just prefer to not have him literally walking around in whatever form he decides to take STILL affecting the current plot in a literal manner. The trauma and heartache he caused to the heroes, the worlds still recovering from stuff he set in motion ages ago, that's great stuff right there.
But he himself? It's what I've dubbed the "Orochimaru disease". Never freakin' dies and lives long enough to become a "good guy" despite his past absolutely horrible atrocities and crimes against humanity. For me, it's worst to keep a villain around seemingly for the sole purpose of making him a good guy. A "Well aktually, he was good all along" situation would kill me.
Jesus, what a mess... They keep giving us deadlines they can't meet.
Why the story is expanding when there's few people working on this?! It should be the opposite...
If there is so much content why they don't release it in parts like Union Cross?!
All of the new story content is nice. I just hope it's good enough to justify all of the additional gameplay that we're going to have to slog through.
All of the new story content is nice. I just hope it's good enough to justify all of the additional gameplay that we're going to have to slog through.
Yeah, I think a lot of people have forgotten that DR is going to be fully playable in offline mode so all this new story won't be immediately unlocked in the theater. That's gonna be a long wait for those who didn't grind enough levels and want to experience the story for themselves rather than watching videos.
Iirc, Episode 3 left off with a recommended level in the mid-20s. It is possible to be caught up to that within a day (I've had to repeat the process 8 times when I was recording cutscene variations), but it's what comes after that's gonna be rough.
Yeah, I think a lot of people have forgotten that DR is going to be fully playable in offline mode so all this new story won't be immediately unlocked in the theater. That's gonna be a long wait for those who didn't grind enough levels and want to experience the story for themselves rather than watching videos.
Iirc, Episode 3 left off with a recommended level in the mid-20s. It is possible to be caught up to that within a day (I've had to repeat the process 8 times when I was recording cutscene variations), but it's what comes after that's gonna be rough.
Considering how quickly recommended levels escalated while the game was live, I have to assume the difficulty curve will be adjusted (along with level-up BP requirements, 'cause holy shit).
There's no way that much grinding would fly for an offline game.
I feel like if they weren't going to adjust the presently-available content, there wouldn't be a need to completely take the game down. Could've left basic functions like world battles open.
I still don't understand how something that just looks horrifically easy to animate takes so long to animate
IIRC Nomura did say there was only one of two people developing Union X and Dark Road aside from him writing. So that explains a lot.
IIRC Nomura did say there was only one of two people developing Union X and Dark Road aside from him writing. So that explains a lot.
Around a year before UX concluded, he disclosed that they had only just hired a second flash animator to work on cutscenes. Prior to that, since the original KHX, there was only one.
We don't know if there have been any changes in staff since then but yeah, not a lot of hands still on this project. And of course, just because it looks simple doesn't mean it actually is.
They should have just made Dark Road a movie like Back Cover... except better, like an actual movie.
Xehanort could have visited 3 DISNEY worlds: Agrabah (encounter Genie), Atlantica (encounter Triton), and NeverLand (encounter Peter Pan). It could be used to give more lore about worlds, like how Genie is all powerful in Agrabah only or why Peter Pan doesn't age in NeverLand. Not only would that flesh out more DISNEY world lore, but it would also show Xehanort's intrigue in the nature of the worlds grow in an organic way.
The scenario I had for Agrabah was actually Xehanort encountering someone corrupted by Darkness who finds Genie's lamp. Xehanort kills the guy and takes the lamp for himself back to Scala Ad Caelum. Xehanort tries to summon Genie, but he doesn't appear. Xehanort goes back to Agrabah and summons Genie, to find out why that happened.
They should have just made Dark Road a movie like Back Cover... except better, like an actual movie.
Xehanort could have visited 3 DISNEY worlds: Agrabah (encounter Genie), Atlantica (encounter Triton), and NeverLand (encounter Peter Pan). It could be used to give more lore about worlds, like how Genie is all powerful in Agrabah only or why Peter Pan doesn't age in NeverLand. Not only would that flesh out more DISNEY world lore, but it would also show Xehanort's intrigue in the nature of the worlds grow in an organic way.
The scenario I had for Agrabah was actually Xehanort encountering someone corrupted by Darkness who finds Genie's lamp. Xehanort kills the guy and takes the lamp for himself back to Scala Ad Caelum. Xehanort tries to summon Genie, but he doesn't appear. Xehanort goes back to Agrabah and summons Genie, to find out why that happened.
Yes, but also they were probably thinking about money as they decided the delivery method for Dark Road. It’s infinitely cheaper to make simple flash animations with probably pre-rigged actions with a team of 2-3 people in a game they previously could use to funnel money from whales. It was practically free-ish money until it was clear fans weren’t biting.
It is more expensive to properly animate something with the quality of Back Cover.
so the whole 20th KH anniversary will be SE telling us that everything is getting delayed lol? main title? no news. spinoff? delayed.
so the whole 20th KH anniversary will be SE telling us that everything is getting delayed lol? main title? no news. spinoff? delayed.
No? April is when they will do announcements.
This is just old carryover from the abyss.
Lmao I didn’t even realize the NA team hadn’t made the delay announcement yet
2 week+ delay on announcing a… delay…. ?
2 whole weeks after JP dropped the news, too, and you can tell from the wording that they really could not care less lol
Lmao I didn’t even realize the NA team hadn’t made the delay announcement yet
2 week+ delay on announcing a… delay…. ?
When your delay has a delay…it must be the Global UXDR staff!
At least they're good at delivering some comedy.
To announce a delay by having the announcement itself being delayed, genius move.
Now for those who only follow the global announcements the delay will actually be shorter, lol, except if there will be another delay.
except if there will be another delay.
At this point it would disappointing to break the tradition.
The day Dark Road finally comes out it will be a day later than the last planned date.
Did they delay the announcement for the delayed date?
Did they delay the announcement for the delayed date?
They never said they would provide one to begin with. All they did was ask everyone to be patient and wait a little longer. It's very clear that they don't want to commit to a date until they're 100% sure everything is ready to go.
We'll probably have to wait until the Anniversary event for an update, but probably another month or two after that for a release.
It'd be kind of sick if they spotlighted Dark Road during the Anniversary event and said "available now"
Although, wouldn't really work as well when we aren't actually gonna see the event in real time, I guess
Oracle Spockanort
February 28, 2022 @ 03:09 amOffline