For over two decades, Disney and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts franchise combined the classic animated films with the best JRPG genres. Given the size of the fanbase, many other smaller projects were created under the game’s banner. One of these was the upcoming mobile game Missing-Link. However, Square recently announced a surprise delay for the game. Since this is one of its biggest franchises, many fans are probably eagerly awaiting an answer. Here is a breakdown of this shocking news for this new Kingdom Hearts spinoff.
Kingdom Hearts Mobile Delayed
According to Crunchyroll, the upcoming Kingdom Hearts mobile game, Missing-Link, has received a surprise delay. Square originally intended to release the game by the end of the year. However, they announced that they gave a surprise delay for the game. Given that the game was intended to be released in barely two months, this likely frustrated many of the series’ most die-hard fans. Currently, no proper explanation was given for the delay, though several possibilities remain.
It is confounding that the game doesn’t have a proper release date. While delays are common in the gaming industry, this one’s short notice worsens because it happened without a replacement date. In the same announcement, Square told fans to wait for further information, implying there was more to the story. Furthermore, the developers had the courtesy to apologize for the choice.
What Was Missing-Link
While the game may have been delayed indefinitely, Square gave fans several insights and previews into the upcoming game. Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was initially announced in 2022 alongside the fourth game, three years after the main trilogy concluded and 20 years after the first game. Like Nintendo’s ubiquitously popular Pokemon Go!, the game uses GPS/Satnav to connect fans worldwide for events and teams.
The original trailer on the main website gave fans a clear look into the project. The game takes place in the city of Scala ad Caelum, introduced in Kingdom Hearts III, with a cast of original protagonists. Per usual, players could assemble teams from various Disney and Pixar films featured in the mainline games. Despite being a mobile game, its 3D gameplay and visuals rivaled the mainline games, showing how far technology has come.
The Original Series
Apart from this project, the Kingdom Hearts franchise remains one of the genre’s most dominant, successful JRPGs. Beginning with the original PS2 classic, the games were a collaboration between the media giant Disney and the developer Square Enix. The games followed the heroic Sora, who joined with Donald, Goofy, and several other allies to cross through classic Disney films to summon the power of “Kingdom Hearts” to defeat “the Heartless.”
The series is known for two things: its cheesiness and its complicated plot. The games are filled with corny speeches about the heart, darkness, and the power of friendship. All this occurs between a layered, ever-branching plotline split between several plotlines and spinoffs. Furthermore, the game did crossovers with the Final Fantasy and The World Ends with You franchises.
However, over the years, Kingdom Hearts has become one of the most beloved JRPG franchises ever for those exact reasons. They managed to bridge the usually divided fanbases of Disney films and Square’s lineup. Therefore, a new mobile game will be a great way to bridge the fanbase even further.
Conclusion
It’s disappointing that Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link would receive such a huge delay on such short notice. The game was clearly nearing release, so such a sudden, unannounced delay was shocking. Hopefully, this choice was better for the team to finely tune their product. While the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts 4 remains far away, there is no denying that the hype for the game remains strong. Hopefully, Missing-Link will arrive soon enough to revive the fandom in time for the sequel’s arrival.
