TGS 2012: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix proves Square Enix is shameless

Technology Tell Writes: "If you’re waiting for Kingdom Hearts 3, it may be smarter to save yourself some grief and just give up hope on the final entry in the series. Square Enix is going to milk this series for all it’s worth, and the proof is in its 2012 Tokyo Game Show announcement. Kingdom Hearts is coming to a console again, but it’s not the Kingdom Hearts you want. It’s Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, a compilation of two PS2 games in HD for the PS3."

[jc48573]

I don't think we ever got Final Mix and I never really got around playing the ds game.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

What's shameless is the fact that SE is releasing the hd remixes in parts instead of all in one. They are trying to rape KH fans' wallets and I'm not having any of that. I'm not buying this until all the remixes are out or are bundled all in one. I'm not falling for SE's scam.

[-Mika-]

Sigh another entitled gamer.

You have to remember this is an RPG.God of war 1 and 2 will maybe take you 15-20 hours all together to finish. With KH, this is obviously not the case. You're going to get 50+ hours out of KH1 alone. That Is so worth the $40 price tag.

Stop being entitled. You would definitely be getting your money worth out of 1 KH game alone compared to the other HD collections on the market.

[Godchild1020]

The way I see it (Not trying to say you should see it the way I do) it's one step closer to getting Kingdom Hearts 3 and at least we are getting Kingdom Hearts back on a home console.

I'm happy because I will be able to play Kingdom Hearts in HD and earn trophies for one of my favorite games.

[camel_toad]

I agree with you but it may be an indefinite wait. They have to pay the bills somehow since Final Fantasy (their bread and butter) has completely gone down the toilet.

[D3athTillDawn]

Considering that the original Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories are over 10 years old, they alone are definitely not worth a $40 price tag.

If Square would have included KH2, Birth By Sleep and maybe DDD like a normal HD collection would have, I could see them justifying a $40 or $50 price tag.

[cgoodno]

***The way I see it (Not trying to say you should see it the way I do) it's one step closer to getting Kingdom Hearts 3 and at least we are getting Kingdom Hearts back on a home console. ***

Sounds like SE has people thinking just the way they want.

I guess we'll see some more FF rereleases and we should all think that it would bring us one step closer to a FFVII remake (not that I want one)?

Don't buy the game for this reason alone. Same with any other game being remade as an HD release.

[crXss]

i completely agree with you @Outside_ofthe_Box. i refuse to pay $80 for entire collection (assuming there's no 3.5 HD Remix).

but more importantly, i don't give a crap about CoM, 352/2, or Coded. i'm just going to wait until KH1, 2, and BBS hit the PSN store individually.

[killerhog]

Mika you must suck, because I know I beat kh1 (100%) in less than 15-20 hours.

[badz149]

@-mika-
since when are games' price judged by their length? SE can't put all KH games in a package of $40 just because every single one of them is 50H? that's just ridiculous! I call BS!

and KH1 50H? really? for an RPG, KH1 was short! I finished my 1st playthrough on normal in under 30H granted that I missed some trinities and the dalmations but that's not LONG by any means considering KH was my 1 RPG! I played to completion the 2nd and 3rd time around just around the same lenght as I've known where to go and finished the game with Sora at lower levels!

I agree that this is just SHAMELESS! we've seen Sony putting up to 5 games in their collections. the latest GoW collection and 4 of those are game released post 2007! Jak Collection is considered LONG because Jak II and Jak III are open world! Sly 2 & 3 were long too! R* released the GTAIV + episodes from Liberty City which is like 3 full games! and how can you forget MGS collection? all 3 games are long! I'm a KH fan, but this is a BS move from SE!

[showtimefolks]

Look I am just happy we are getting hd collection and we know SE will release another so of you are a KH fan time to spend 39.99 each time.

I know t sucks but it is what it as, I am just hoping we won't have to wait a year and half just to play these in us or EU.

My thing was release KH complete HD collection charge full price of 59.99 but I guess SE knows fans will e willing to pay extra 20 for 2 different collections.

Sometimes I wonder if these Japan publisher gets the gamers at all because the way they act sure look like its not the case

SE and capcom both doing a lot wrong this gen. I mean FF13-2 and now lighting returns yet nothing on versus 13? And 13-2 didn't even sell that well

If you gonna do a HD collection make sure to include all games because that way for the next sequel of that game there may be even a bigger fan base.

I will say one thing publishers think we are stupid as gaming community but most of us know who is doing right and wrong and usually look at the sales number will show what gamers approve and doesn't approve

COD aside

[Blastoise]

@Mika

50+ hours for Kingdom hearts 1? Are you mental?

This collection should have been, KH1, KH2, Chain of memories & Birth by sleep. And should have included all the Final Mix stuff too. Definitely gonna be waiting for a price drop.. Shameless indeed.

[SonyNGP]

@Mika

"Sigh another entitled gamer."

Oh the bloody irony!

[BusterFang]

Lol I'm just going to wait til I see the price around $20 or less (like most HD Collections end up) before picking this up.

I do agree that there should have been more packed onto this disc, but I guess SE gotta get the most cash for their franchise to hype everyone up for the eventual release of KH3. Possibly attract some new fans to the series. I just hope that the KH HD 2.5 or whatever will have more on the disc...hopefully...

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Entitled?

How am I being entitled? I'm not declaring a petition to boycott the remix. If you see value in it buy it.

Personally I don't. I don't mind waiting for the price to drop or waiting for SE to release a special edition that includes all the KH games in HD. I've already played most of the KH games. I know how great they are, but the fact that I've already played the games is exactly why I don't mind waiting.

If you want to go out and buy whatever SE throws at your face then so be it, just don't force your **** on me.

[ReservoirDog316]

All I know is I'm finally gonna play the Final Mix versions and that's all that matters. This will probably come out 2013, 2.5 will come out late 2013 and KH3 soon after that.

It points in the right direction and at least we have that.

[jc48573]

I really don't mind having it in parts. I know they're trying to make money here, but I do not think cramming all the Kingdom Hearts game in one disc is a good idea even if the blue disc is big enough for all the games.

[D3athTillDawn]

Why exactly do you think saving people money and only having to buy one copy of an HD collection would be a bad thing?

[badz149]

@jc
you don't happen to be Wada in disguise, are you?

[Omar91]

To be honest Im so excited for this that It doesnt even bother me that they are basically trying to make money. I know that was there biggest reason to not have all the games in one disc. I could care less as long as they have a decent price for these collections and as long as they do a good job upscaling the games and adding trophies.

[colonel179]

I would have expected to make and HD version of KIngdom Hearts 1, 2 and Birth By Sleep. Why are they including the spin offs? I don't think there are a lot of people who care about them.. or is there going to be another HD collection? because if not, Square Enix is very out of touch..

Edit:
Kotaku is saying that it might be just the movies of the games and not the games themselves? Does anybody knows Japanese?

[andrewf91]

358/2 is going the have HD cutscenes and the rest are playable.

[GenericNameHere]

NONE of the games are "spin-offs". They all add to the plot.
BBS is the story of Terra, Ven, and Aqua, and what happened 10 years prior to KH1.
CoM is the story between KHI and II, which is the Org XIII trying to look for Ventus' body, and what Sora and Riku did in that time frame.
358/2 Days is the story of Roxas, Sora's Nobody.
Coded... Pretty much felt like a giant waste IMO, but it's still not a spin-off. It's about trying to fix back Jiminy's Journal, and while that screams "Spin-off", it does get directly mentioned in DDD.
DDD happens after Coded, which is after II. It's about Sora and Riku finally taking the Mark of Mastery, and will directly lead to KHIII (if the next game is finally III, and not just another game that will expand yet confuse more people)

Well, whatever. I love everything KH, so I will buy this no questions asked. Finally finished both games during the summer on my PS2, but I'd be more than happy to replay them again on my PS3, in "HD", and with collectible trophies :D

[colonel179]

Thanks for the explanation. Then it may be more likely that they will release another HD collection (2.5?) To include 2, BBS, DDD and like 358/2, have only the videos of Coded.

Then Kingdom Hearts 3 for next gen.

[DragonKnight]

*facepalm* Why SE? Why in the hell would you do this? You know, the proper HD collection most people would FIRST expect is KH 1 (Final Mix is good), KH 2 (Final Mix +) and some other 3rd game or ALL of the KH games in one collection. Instead you're doing this. You're becoming the Activision of Japan, only instead of new games released yearly you're doing that with re-releases. Releasing this collection in parts? *sigh* And if you're trying to do it in chronological order, then Birth By Sleep should be in the first collection instead of 358/2 days.

[MobyRoyale]

I would be happy if it were just KH1. Add the fact that it includes a game that I never took the time to play(the gba one) and this is a steal for me personally.

Would I prefer if this were some sort of colossal mega-pack that included seven games? Yes and no.

I'm a glass half full kind of guy. That's how my grandmother raised me.

Odds are we will get this sooner than we would if we were waiting for all of the games.

Also it forces me to spread it out. Taking into account that I haven't played the ps2gba one, nor the ds one, nor have I played the excellent looking BBS.

It has been almost a decade(wow) since I have played the first Kingdom Hearts. I am just grateful that I finally get to see those stain glass steps in glorious HD.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Honestly I'm very excited. I don't mind if its in parts. Its final mix so that's a bonus. And it HAD to happen. KIndom hearts started in 2002 this will pull in new fans and old to prepare for KH3.

I'm gonna guess KH 2.5 will have KH2:FM, BBS:FM and HD cutscenes from RE:coded. The point is ill be picking up both parts.

[amaguli]

I understand that the preferable collection is Kingdom Hearts 1, 2, and Birth By Sleep, but at least Square Enix is trying to please us. That is more than what other companies have been doing lately.

And you wonder why they won't remake Final Fantasy 7...

[colonel179]

If everybody wants KH 1, 2 and BBS how is bringing this trying to please us?

If you asked Santa for a SNES and brought you a Genesis were you happy?

[amaguli]

1-Up had a great article about the difficulties of creating an HD Collection. It is more than just uprezzing, anti-aliasing, and adding a trophy set. These guys essentially have to start from the ground up from the start of the conversions, and so much can be lost in translation. This is what sets the good collections apart from the bad ones.

A game like Kingdom Hearts lasts for about 50 hours. The other two don't last as long, but having to re-create a 50 hour game will take a lot of time and money. While the current collection may not be to your liking, it just makes sense to go this route.

Look at it this way. There was a rumor floating around a while ago stating that Namco was giving the Xenosaga trilogy an HD treatment. After the majority of the first one was done, I believe 3 workers killed themselves because they learned they had 2 more games to do. After reading the 1-Up article, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

[Chard]

Is this going to end up like the Final Fantasy X HD remix? That was announced at the last TGS, and we have not heard a single thing about it since!

[Monkeycan8]

If they had just put all of them in one package I would have payed a full 60 bucks for it.

[AIndoria]

HD Collections retail for less. At least in my country they're 39,99.

[LinLeigh]

I should be annoyed by them splitting the HD collection but the thought of finally playing kingdom hearts on my ps3 just takes over.
Super excited and will be a preorder

[mobiusoneac4]

I just want BBS:FM in 1080p at 60fps. Mysterious Figure fight would be glorious that way.

[Qrphe]

I'm so pumped for this I don't even care.

[DarkBlood]

never played a single title in the series so if i get this they are in correct order right?

[jghvhv]

Nope,Birth By Sleep on PSP is the first game in the KH Timeline.
http://kingdomhearts.wikia....

[amaguli]

^ Beat me to the punch.

Not exactly. The official order is thus:

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 *
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories *
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

* happens at the same time.

[Tonester925]

I don't see the hype with this game. I watched my little brother play it all the time and I even left the room because the little mermaid song was a too much for me to bear.

I guess this is good news for the fans

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

Watch during Hollow Bastion or when you fight Sephiroth. It's not all childish. The difficulty is actually pretty hard. I tried BBS on Proud mode and it was hard. I can't imagine how hard it was on critical. And the story is great too. I f you accept it for what it is and don't think you're too mature for Disney then it could be one of the best games you ever play.

[Tonester925]

no

[kenoh]

I love kingdom hearts. (In my own way) but I hope this hd remix is Proper and true 1080P.

Why is it most PS2 remaster's are in 720P when a last gen game like KD:H1 should be rendered in true HD?

(I'm looking at you silent hill 2/3)

I hope we get lossless audio because I love Kingdom Hearts Music.

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

Yeah the music IMO is top 5 in the business. Personally I think it's better than FF and Chrono, but it really depends on how I'm feeling when I play it.

[JasonXS12]

I don't care what the price, I'm getting it. Been a KH fan since the beginning.

[NBT91]

So have I but it's people like us they are feeding off so I'm not buying it.
It needs to be done properly and from the sounds of it that isn't the case.

[Orokana]

Lol. See you at launch.

[Alos88]

People beg for this for years, and when it finally gets announced Square Enix are "shameless" for answering your prayers. :/

[NBT91]

We begged for a proper had remaster of the games; we only get (according to the article) the first game and CoM which does explain the 1.5 in the title but is not great. SE are literally making every wrong decision they can make and seem to be self destructing. I guess if they only remaster the playstation titles then they can only really release 2 collections but it still should be in one.
And in addition it means KH3 is once again showing no sign of development.

[Alos88]

What makes you think they won't make a KH 2.5 with KH2 FM and BBS?

[jambola123]

I don't know what he means by
2final entry in the series" kh3 will just be the end of the xehanort saga

[josephayal]

Cant wait for the WII U VERSION IN 1080P 60FPS

[AIndoria]

Kingdom Hearts is PlayStation exclusive. Apart from Nintendo, of course, but I don't think they'll ever go anywhere except DS/3DS and PS

[KentBlake]

If they release the collection "that everyone wants" with KH1, KH2 and BBS, nobody would buy the second collection, with the smaller games.

So, I'd rather have ALL games divided into 2 collections than only 3 games at once.

I've been waiting for a KH Collection since...well, since ever. I'm really glad they are including the Final Mix version and the smaller games, and I'm pretty sure there will be a second collection.

But, if you prefer to cry and whine like a lot of gamers this generation, go ahead. I'll be playing my KH 1.5 collection.

[BlueEye]

Shameless? Fans have been asking for this for years!

[gamejediben]

LOL!

We should have had Kingdom Hearts 3 YEARS ago. Like back in 2009 or so. Most of the kids who played the originals won't care by the time a 3rd game finally releases.

The series has been on life support (and only on handhelds) for 6 years. By the time SE gets done milking whatever fans are left with 2 HD collections, there won't be any hype or interest in a KH3.

Square Enix. Making bad business decisions since the day they merged.

[Iveyboi]

I'm all for the collection, HOWEVER Square needs to stop announcing games (FFXHD) and then forgetting about them and annocuning other games.
Please release Versus :-(

[iNMyFiN4LH0uR]

Honestly, there is no defending Square Enix, there is a serious disconnect between what their fans/consumers want and what they put into the market.

[TenkoTAiLS]

Need I remind people that not a single HD Collection has EVER had ALL of the games in a series on it. Also are people conveniently forgetting God of War? Two HD Collections with only TWO games each. Yet people were fine with that. People were fine with the Ratchet HD Collection missing three games, fine that Jak & Daxter missed two, fine that Metal Gear Solid Collection was missing the first game, same with Silent Hill.

Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, NONE of them had the entire series. But Kingdom Hearts, oh hell no! That can't possibly miss any games in the series or pull a God of War HD Collection and release in two volumes. That's greedy and only Square could be so low!!

They haven't been the best lately and I'll be the first to agree with that. But for christs sake people, so many of us have asked for this, we are even getting the Final Mix version of KH, and the Europeans will finally get to play the PS2 version of Chain of Memories. Not only that but they are throwing in HD versions of the cutscenes from Days to help bring the story all in one place like we asked. Can't you be happy for small miracles, we know there will be a second volume, we can pretty much guess it will have KH2 Final Mix, BBS Final Mix and the HD videos from Coded (I doubt the would include 3D as its still a very recent release), we didn't mind getting volume 1 & 2 of God of War. Calling them greedy and then turning round and demanding all 4 main games and the videos from the other two all at once is kinda the pot calling the kettle black >.<

[AIndoria]

Eh!? I need this HD version. No matter what this article or you say. What's wrong with wanting to play a game which I never played?! I have every Final Fantasy game with me but sadly Kingdom Hearts was never released in my country.