Square Enix Talks More Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts II hits the US this week, but Square Enix is saying that there's already more in the offing.

The mashing together of the worlds of Disney and Final Fantasy was, in retrospect, always going to be a winner. Kingdom Hearts is one of the most popular games on the PlayStation 2 and the sequel, released this week in North America and due in Europe later this year, is already making waves for its broad cross-pollination of franchises. Now comes word that the series' creator is already mulling a third.

It's early days yet, but lead creator Tetsuya Nomura told Japanese site Famitsu.com recently that he would like to draw the next game out of the main storyline slightly, while still keeping some connections with what's come before.

"It's difficult to explain it," Nomura conceded to Famitsu, as reported by GameSpot. "I'm thinking about how to talk about it [without giving things away], which means that there will be some twists to it. Up until now, the series followed along a [straight] time line, going from Kingdom Hearts to Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. But the idea I have right now doesn't follow that flow."

"However, as long as it inherits the Kingdom Hearts title, it needs to have some connection [to previous instalments] in terms of storyline, so it won't be too distant from the other titles.

The blanket of confusion could soon be lifted, though. GameSpot reports that Square Enix is planning a big presence at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, and there will be announcements at the Tokyo Game Show later this year too.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games