What do you want out of Kingdom Hearts on smartphones?

As we know from a Famitsu interview, Nomura has teased a smartphone entry for the Kingdom Hearts series. The game will hopefully be unveiled later this year at D23 Expo Japan. Most are speculating it will be a port of Kingdom Hearts χ (Chi), which is only available as a browser game in Japan right now.

Personally I'd be happy with that, especially given the strong ties Kingdom Hearts 3 will more than likely have to χ. But I think there's a lot of potential beyond it, too! I really loved the Command Board game in Birth by Sleep, for example, and I think it could be really fun as a smartphone game, and one that could act as a companion to Kingdom Hearts 3 -- you can earn commands, items, etc. that you can later use in-game. Kingdom Hearts 3 is far off, though, so I don't see that happening any time soon.

What about you guys? Expecting a simple KHχ port, or something more?

 

Well, Square (and all game developers) are looking at the mobile market as a huge cash cow, because it is. If the initial app is free, I can guarantee you that there will be some sort of micro-transactions integrated with it. Even if they have an initial purchase price attached to it, I can see there still being micro-transactions. But I'd happily pay a few bucks for the app.

Yeah, it definitely has a Mario Party vibe to it. It's a pretty simple game and one that could work really well if played with friends, because it's turn-based. You play your turn, close the app and continue with your day, until you get a notification that Friend A has played their turn and you're up, and so on.

I'm a big fan of the style they used for KH Mobile and then improved on for Theatrhythm and KHχ, but I can't see them resurrecting Mobile over KHχ. I'm all for connecting a mobile app to future titles, though.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a neat little mobile release of Square's that a lot of people are praising -- I'd be interested to see a similar premise used with the Kingdom Hearts series, though given that so many Kingdom Hearts games have already forced players to sit through the same worlds and boss fights, it might not be as entertaining as Record Keeper.

 

Honestly I don't. I understand that the smartphone market in terms of games can be a very strong one, and from a business standpoint, them choosing to do something on smartphones is a fantastic idea in terms of sales (at least this is my assumption). However, in all honesty, as someone who (during 9+ months out of the year) has almost no free time, I couldn't be any less interested in something like this. Even if I had more free time I do not think that the mobile market is something I want to see Kingdom Hearts on, or rather if I had a choice between a Kingdom Hearts mobile game or something like Hearthstone for example, I'd pick Hearthstone 9 times out of 10.

My reason for that is, what I liked about Kingdom Hearts was mainly prevalent in Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 (and to an extent Re:COM, but only about 50-60% of the game). I enjoy handheld consoles, as well as certain mobile games but the last thing I want to see out of Kingdom Hearts is another one. Now if I had more free time perhaps (maybe during the summer, but even then that is a stretch because I will most likely do other things) I would consider it, however due to my own situation, I probably won't touch this game.

 

/heavy breathing

I would so love something like this.

 

Whatever the title is, I can't imagine that it will be absolutely essential to the plot of Kingdom Hearts III -- or at least, you'll be able to safely play Kingdom Hearts III without having played the smartphone release, akin to how you can play Kingdom Hearts II without having played Chain of Memories. I'm sure there will be some goodies for those who have played the smartphone title (if only small references here and there), but it simply wouldn't make sense to make a smartphone release integral to the series when few can or will play it. The Kingdom Hearts series does have plenty of bloat, though, you're right.

I don't play Hearthstone or anything, though, so I'd be totally cool with a little Kingdom Hearts-themed minigame to play with friends.

Yeah, the Dragon Quest Theatrhythm opens the doors for other series to also be adapted to Theatrhythm. And even if Kingdom Hearts Theatrhythm never happens, I can see it being added as DLC to a future release -- The World Ends With You, Romacing SaGa, and Bravely Default were all added as DLC to Curtain Call. Ichiro Hazama is open to the idea, too:

 

An HD remake of the V Cast title.

Sarcasm aside, I primarily hope it isn't freemium. Though having been playing Final Fantasy: Record Keeper, Square (or maybe DeNA) isn't too heavy handed about micro-transactions. That and something turn based instead of active time. I feel like most higher end games tend to be riddled with bugs and lag because of hardware fragmentation and not everyone meeting the specs you designed for, if the game waits for you then dealing with those doesn't completely break the experience.