Square Enix has released the D23 Expo Japan 2018 trailer and announced the official theme song for Kingdom Hearts III.
The D23 Expo Japan 2018 trailer confirms the rumored Monsters, Inc. world featuring Mike, Sully, and Boo, as well as the appearances of Vanitas and Marluxi. It also shows more glimpses of the Toy Story and Tangled worlds, with Sora and company fighting alongside Woody and Buzz, and Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, as well as what appears to be an Ariel summon.
The theme song for Kingdom Hearts III is called “Don’t Think Twice” in English and “Chikai” (Oath) in Japanese, and is sung by Hikaru Utada.
Square Enix also revealed further details about the game (via GameSpot). The Gummi Ship segments will return and are split into two phases. The exploration phase is likened to being more open-world, and there is a combat phase with more enemies than ever before.
All 100 staff in Square Enix’s Osaka studio are reportedly working on development, which is split into early, middle, and late sections. There are around three worlds per section, but Square Enix noted that this does not mean there are nine worlds in total. Development on the early phase worlds are 90 percent complete, while middle section worlds are around 60 percent complete. The end section was described “something [director Tetsuya Nomura] always wanted to do and put into Kingdom Hearts, ever since the days of working on Final Fantasy.” He added, “It is bound to surprise everyone.”
Watch the trailers below.
D23 Expo 2018 Trailer
With English Subtitles
With Multi-Language Subtitles
Without Subtitles
Hikaru Utada Theme Song Trailer
English: “Don’t Think Twice”
Japanese: “Chikai” (Oath)
(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story suggested a release date was to be announced at E3 2018. This was an error and the tweet we sourced was not actually in attendance of the event.)