Fans of the Square Enix/Disney action RPG mashup Kingdom Hearts have been clamouring for the next instalment in the series ever since Kingdom Hearts 2 landed on the PlayStation 2 back in 2006. There have been spin-offs along the way, not least last year's 3DS outing Dream Drop Distance and this year's Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, but the official Part 3 is now on its way.
The game's director, Tetsuya Nomura, has even let slip some details regarding the direction we can expect the next game to take. It will pick up the story directly after the events of Dream Drop Distance, but no final decision has been made as to which Disney worlds the game will incorporate this time. Whatever happens, Kingdom Hearts 3 will mark the end of the "Dark Seeker" storyline that has run throughout the saga.
"We have a demo version running on the actual hardware, but the action's pretty frantic," Nomura has told Japanese games site Famitsu. "The really bold action we've always had is getting even crazier. Kingdom Hearts 3 has three-person parties, but NPCs and other characters join the fight in each individual world, and the resulting action is really flashy and exciting. The enemy AI is a lot more intricate, too, and I think the gameplay will reflect that new dynamic balance. For example, there's a foe that's shaped like a vehicle, and Sora may jump on it and fly around; that's already implemented."
Kingdom Hearts 3 is in early production, and is being developed for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.