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Tetsuya Nomura explains Kingdom Hearts 2.8 title

Square Enix had finally gone too far with their random word generator naming ways.

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Aqua will enter a world of darkness in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage, according to details extracted from Famitsu Magazine. Let’s attempt to understand it together. Firstly, because the games in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX are set before Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, that game is actually “2.6”.

On the other hand, he also explained that “Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep” is technically 0.1, which led to the decision to give the 0.2 title to the more recent installment.

In the interview, Nomura also revealed the meaning behind the “2.8” name.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue was revealed last week at TGS, after rumors of a Kingdom Hearts HD 2.9 prior to the show.

Continuing, he added that the thinking is that the absence of Sora in Kingdom Hearts χ and Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ as well as the χ series in Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is the number zero.

Get it? If you forgot, Final Chapter Prologue features high-def remakes of the aforementioned Dream Drop Distance, as well as Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep 0.2.

And while fans will probably keep discussing the ridiculous nature of the games’ naming and the possibilities for the future of the franchise, some have started to patiently count the days until the release of “Kingdom Hearts 3”.

The problem seems to boil down to technological limitations – the game is apparently based on the engine behind “Kingdom Hearts 3” itself, which is not backwards compatible with the PS3. Square Enix hasn’t said it yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the release included some new teasers/scenes that prepare players for the story in Kingdom Hearts 3, much like the developer did with Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.

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Square Enix has yet to announce an official release date, but the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is slated to hit the PlayStation 4 in 2016.

Kingdom Hearts 3 0.2