r/SquareEnix

After several years of hard work, we're re-rebalancing again all of KH3 on PC, with many new features!

“Light vs. Darkness Edition” (LvD) is a fan-made PC mod that fully rebalances KH3's gameplay, adding depth, mechanics, music and enhancements. This large overhaul will be updated to a major “2.0” update after several years of intensive work and community effort.

This major update will rebalance and integrate further all of KH3's gameplay, including combat, synthesis, stats, rewards, enemies, party members, abilities, NPC logic, UI… This will come alongside new additions, such as Terra as a party member, new music arrangements, Unique Commands for several playable characters, revamped Battlegates and Formchanges, and more—this trailer only covers some of the mod's changes!

Whether you enjoy casual playthroughs or hardcore KH3 speedruns, and no matter if you prefer offense, magic or defense, this update will be for you… provided that you play your cards right.

Hi everyone,

I recently got to spend some hands-on time with the upcoming The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, as well as have a Q&A with the game's Producer Naofumi Matsushita and I wanted to share my preview and Q&A with everyone here! As always there is both a written and a video version of this preview for your preference that go over changes since the last demo and what to expect in the game. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer any that I can, but do keep in mind there might be a few things I am not allowed to talk about still. Hope you all enjoy!

Producer Naofumi Matsushita Interview - https://www.rpgfan.com/feature/adventures-of-elliot-the-millennium-tales-producer-qa/

Written Preview - https://www.rpgfan.com/2026/05/18/adventures-of-elliot-millennium-tales-preview/

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Z0xyGoG_w

Thanks,

Scott

RPGFan

I truly believe we need to band together and influence the creation of some party level sync system. Level sync already exists as a function in dungeons and FATEs and other content. A toggle in the party menu to allow players to match the lowest level in your party would allow us all to play with our new friends without ruining their experience by being too powerful.

Pros: Better experience for new players with experienced friends The ability to go back to old zones and appreciate the enemies. Increased likelihood of players grouping up because they can without penalties like no xp gain.

Cons: ???????????????????

recent "BIG" rumor going around in Kingdom Hearts community in the pas few days is a complete nonsense. The guy has no idea what he's talking about, "Union Cross/Dark Road remake movie" is the funniest thing if you know what they are doing with that.

I will not be disclosing how I got this information, but it is from the inside

I know you just want the news about KH right away, but I will be disclosing what they are doing with Square Enix as a whole first.

before Takashi Kiryu (隆司さん) take over as president, Square had multiple Creative Businesses took care of their "IP" CBU 1 (Final Fantasy Offline, Kingdom Hearts, Saga, etc.), CBU 2 (Asano Games, and many random project), CBU 3 (Final Fantasy Online), CBU 4 (Mana, and many small projects IP), Tokyo RPG (Setsuna trilogy), and Luminous (Forspoken).

Now they are doing a complete different approach, the IP itself will not be exclusively being worked by their respective unit because there are now a new division / upgraded? division to specifically took care of their big IPs, specifically Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Drakengard / Nier, and the already existing Dragon Quest Team. (the west division isn't included ssince the only information I know is what they are doing inside the Japanese side of the company.)

If you don't understand what these Team do, they are like a shadow council, they will be there beside you for the whole process of developing till the finish line but they will only be mentioned internally. Imagine you(Creative Studio) need to cook a spaghetti but your mom(IP Team) is always there beside you, she might be just there to make sure what you make is a spaghetti, or she might also be making it with you.

There are also 7 Creative Studios now in square, and each one of those is at least involved in 1 AAA Project.

KH4 is now being developed by Kingdom Hearts Team (formerly Osaka HQ Team), directed by Nomura-san (which is also a lead for the Kingdom Hearts Team). The only team developing this game is Kingdom Hearts Team and no other studio is directly involved with this one.

Final Fantasy XVII and XVIII, is being worked on by The Final Fantasy Team. XVII directed by Nomura-san, and XVIII is planned to be directed by Naoki Hamaguchi but it is still undecided. these 2 projects are developed together by 3 studios: Creative Studio 1, Creative Studio 2, and Creative Studio 3.

Final Fantasy XVII, have finished the system prototype, and around 50% of the game content, and now already separating another team to worked on the next one, this will happen again once the prototype for XVIII is finished, so they can keep on developing and improving fast. This game will be released in late 2028, and planned to be revealed next year.

/* This is just a speculation on my part, but the reason they made these multiple IP Managing teams, is probably because of how modern Final Fantasy, specifically FFXVI, had multiple feedback about how it is not the game the fans expect. */

Now I will be focusing on just Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 4, began development since late 2019, but around the same time they start developing it, Square Enix ask some of the Kingdom Hearts team to help some FFXVI feature, which happens to multiple teams, but the KH team member have no idea how the engine in that game works, so it took a very long time to help. In 2021, You might not believe this, but Disney is very much disagreeing with how Kingdom Hearts wanted to go with its story, but after a long back and forth, Kingdom Hearts is now a CERO D game. Kingdom Hearts IV will be very much the same game as KH3, but 3x better, it plays fast and quick, the world are very vast and the direction choices are very very creative. The biggest addition and the best one is probably the build system. This new system is basically like a you can do anything system, You fill out the FORGE meter by collecting scraps, you can earn it by literally picking up trash around the world or collecting enemies scrap after you defeat them. Then you build something with your keyblade based on that. You can build a spear, a sword, a tornado, a bullet, a drive form, a skateboard, and a lot more, and you can level up each build. Final Fantasy Character does show up in a new modern design, and yes that guy 'rumor' is true.

KH4 World and playable character

• ⁠Sora: Forest Moon Endor, Land of the Dead, New York, and Riley. The world will not be a filler like kh3 and will have an actual consequences to the overall story.
• ⁠Mickey: Scala ad Caelum, and Mysterious Tower
• ⁠Riku: Quadratum
• ⁠Kairi: Radiant Garden (Castle)
• ⁠Donald and Goofy scenes are cutscene only

KH4 will have gummi ship but it will not be an actual one. In KH4, the way Sora travel to these worlds are through a rift, and to go to another world Sora use a 'build' Gummi. You can customize new parts by getting special scraps and level up.

Story in the beginning Sora has nothing, no level, no money, and no memories. Sora will walk around Quadratum for a while, but then the huge heartless show up, sora didn't know what it was, but he still run towards it to help people, thats the tutorial. Most of the story is just sora trying to recover his memory a little by little with the help of Strelitzia and Sid (later revealed to be Sigurd), and by the end of the game, Sora won't meet any of the old character (beside Riku) or goes back to his world, but he will recover his memories. this might sound surprising but Yozora involvement in this story is less of an involvemnt, and more of an introduction to him and this fake world (Quadratum). First time you meet him, you will fight him once, and you won’t meet him again, until later near the end they will meet once cause their stories collided.

KH4 was planned to be released by 2025, and it goes to late 2026, and now its planned to be released by the end of 2027 or early 2028, and will be having a new trailer later this year.

Kingdom Hearts Missing Link, Cancelled because higher ups don't think this is profitable.

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chained X, Its been developed since 2023, and its around 40%-50% complete. The team developing this is CS3 with a Kingdom Hearts Team overseeing the project. It will include every world from KH1 & KH2, and there is a 10-year plan of this game service. This is the best MMORPG CS3 has made, and it is being made by using the same engine as FFXVI. Planned to be released in 2028.

Kingdom Hearts 3.5, the second cancelled project, and never get announced. Being developed internally around mid 2023, as an in-between title. They were planning of releasing a bundle of KH3 final mix, recap movie of the whole series before 3, and a small Kairi game called Kingdom Hearts: After Promise (was called project Quintet). Scrapped.

Not my content

Square Enix has released its earnings report for the 2026 fiscal year (which ended on March 31, 2026).

While overall revenue dropped, the company is more profitable compared to last year.

The big numbers show net sales dropped by 8.3%. However, the focus on efficiency paid off, as operating income surged by 34.9%, and net profit rose 21.3%.

So what are the key takeaways? Let me break it down by major business segment:

• HD Games (Console/PC) business is growing

This was a massive profit driver for the year. The growth was due to steady sales of new titles like Final Fantasy Tactics (Sept. 2025), Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Oct. 2025), and Dragon Quest VII Reimagined (Feb. 2026). Sales of older "catalog" titles were also on the ups.

• MMO Down YoY: revenue dropped as expected

This is a tough comparison to the previous fiscal year (FY2025), which was boosted by the major launch of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail. So sales on that front were down YoY.

• Mobile (Smart Devices) business is run more efficiently

An interesting result where sales actually decreased, but profits were up, showing the company is running this division more efficiently.

• Merchandising business is booming

This continues to be a major grower for Square Enix. Net sales for the merch segment are up 31.4%.

• Publication business is slightly soft

The print and publishing business was one of the few weak spots, with net sales down 3.4% and profits also declining.

Link: https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/news/pdf/26q4slides.pdf

Anyone here secured VIP tickets for the Uematsu concert in Seattle? I got stuck trying to get the VIP meet and greet so I gave up and just bought the regular tickets. Was wondering if anyone here did manage to buy them, because it looked like a fault in the system or something.