Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 Release Date: Will Two Mammoth Games Launch at the Same Time?

Nov 25, 2015 03:25 AM EST

If you happen to be Square Enix, then you are sitting on a gold mine that is going to take some hard work before you can see profits.  The company owns the rights to not one, but two, gaming franchises that have some very devoted fans: Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3, and this is what we know about the release date and news.

Final Fantasy 15

According to Yibada, some new details about Final Fantasy 15 reveals that Stella, the games' original female lead, could return to the sequel. 

There has also been some new details unveiled about the gameplay, which will use a system that is similar to the Gambit system in Final Fantasy XII.  This enables players to decide what kind of combat style that Noctis, the main character, and his allies will have during the battles, as well as how they will level up.  In addition to that fighting detail, the players will have the ability to attack any body part of their enemies. 

Then there is the element of magic, and it has been explained by game director Hajime Tabata as having two categories.  Characters such as Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ingis will have magic rings for casting Fire Ice, and Protects spells, while Noctis will have natural magical abilities as a member of the Lucis family. 

There is also going to be some DLC for additional summons and it has been revealed that Gilgamesh will be included in the game along with different voice languages and even some airships. 

Kingdom Hearts 3

Kingdom Hearts 3 just had a huge rumor that is starting grow as many are expecting that this game will be coming out in December.  There are so many reasons why this couldn't be true, even though the game doesn't have an official release date as yet.  The Latin Post says that this rumor began as a result of a list of games on Amazon came out, but it sounds like it was more about pre-order information than the actual game itself. 

Like Final Fantasy 15, there has only been a few things heard about this game, like how it will feature an older Sora.  Like always, the Kingdom Hearts universe will blend with the Disney characters of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, and the worlds of Big Hero 6 and Tangled are also going to get involved.  There are rumors that the characters from Toy Story will also get involved.    

The release dates of both Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 have been shrouded in mystery and it feels very slow to fans, as it has been a while since there have been official offerings of these long-awaited games.  With Final Fantasy 15, it should show up in 2016, not in 2017, as Tabata has been quoted as saying.  It could very easily be around the end of 2016, making it one of the most long-awaited games for next year's holiday season. 

This goes for Kingdom Hearts 3, and this game doesn't look like it is even being close to finished.  Game director Tetsuya Nomura has stated that "we pretty much had to start from the ground again".  Part of the delay is the engine utilized for the game being a problem. 

If Square Enix is smart, they will not release two major game offerings at once, but the smart play would be to bring out Final Fantasy 15 in the summer, and then Kingdom Hearts 3 in the fall.