‘Kingdom of Hearts III’: Marvel and Star Wars considered for the 3rd game sequel; Yasue explains shift from Luminous to Unreal Engine 4

By Staff Writer

Dec 07, 2014 10:50 AM EST

Marvel and 'Star Wars' characters are deemed as an inclusion in the much-awaited video game sequel-this is what Tai Yasue, co-director and game designer in 'Kingdom Hearts III' and the 'Kingdom Hearts' 1.5/2.5 HD remasters, revealed in an interview with Kotaku in London.

Yasue, at first, spoke generally about the breadth of material offered by the Disney license. When asked more specifically about the inclusion of Marvel and Star Wars properties, Yasue confirmed that they were within the realm of possibility, wrote Comicbook.

"Yeah, I can't go into specifics, but there's a LOT of new Disney stuff and we have our plates full," said Yasue. "Theres a lot to consider - we're looking at all of Disney, the new ones as well, they have a lot of pull and draw.

"We have to come up with a world that has a lot of originality. We want variety in our new Kingdom Hearts, so we don't want too many of one sort of world that would look the same. For each world there has to be some meaning for it, in the plot; in Birth By Sleep, for instance, in the Cinderella scene, the characters learn something specific by relating to Cinderella. Also, gameplay-wise, is that world something that would make gameplay fun? There's a lot I can't say, but there's so much to consider."

'Kingdom Hearts' is the Japanese action-RPG video game series created by Tetsuya Nomura. The game requires a player to control a young protagonist and travels through a multiverse. The worlds in the game realm are Disney properties and the 'Final Fantasy' game franchise. The player wields a unique weapon, called a Keyblade, against dark creatures called the Heartless, wrote Comicbook.

The idea might have been received with criticism thinking that these unrelated properties just can't work together and that it might just be a recipe for disaster. Well critics were in for a surprise when the game became an instant hit leading to a sequel 'Kingdom Hearts II' released in 2005. The series also had plenty of spinoffs and remakes but the 3rd main game has just recently been developed whose footage was revealed just this year.

Meanwhile, Tai also shared what he and the team thinks about going for Unreal Engine 4 over Luminous, and he said that so far the team was impressed with it. Also, according to its chief developer, the switch has been progressing seamlessly, Eurogamer reported.

"The technology is moving forward a lot," he said. "That's something we've learned from the West, I think, in a big way. We're using Unreal Engine 4 right now, and that really has changed the way we make the game."

Is there anything wrong with Luminous? Is the shift necessary? Yasue said that there's nothing wrong with it but Unreal 4 is just the perfect fit. "There was nothing wrong with the Luminous engine at all," Yasue countered. "We decided that Unreal 4 was right for us. There was a huge network of people actually using it, we were communicating with the Japanese people at Epic a lot - it was like a complete product.

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