Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue is the Last HD Collection to be released, after Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. It will contain an HD Port of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, and an all new 'episode' title Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage. The HD Collection is being made for the PlayStation 4.

The game was released in Japan on January 12, 2017 and the rest of the world on January 24, 2017.

Games[]

Kingdom Hearts HD: Dream Drop Distance[]

A HD remaster of the Nintendo 3DS game.

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth By Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage[]

A new chapter that happens after the events of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep from the perspective of Aqua as she goes to different worlds being engulfed by the Realm of Darkness.

Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover[]

Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, told through HD cinematics, tells a new tale of the Foretellers and reveal new parts of the series' history. It will serve as a prequel to the Kingdom Hearts series, set before the ancient Keyblade War. Nomura revealed that Back Cover would utilize the Unreal Engine 4 technology being developed for Kingdom Hearts III, and would be approximately one-hour in length. Kevin Quinn provides the English voice of Master Gula, while Karissa Lee Staples provides the English voice of Master Invi.

Development[]

In January 2011, with the release of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix a secret ending was discovered, titled "Birth by Sleep: Volume 2". The content, which looked like it bridged the gap between Birth By Sleep and the original Kingdom Hearts, was believed to be a potential future game in the series. In October 2014, on the content seen in the secret ending, series director Tetsuya Nomura stated, "It shows the existence of Aqua's story in the Realm of Darkness. It means that she didn't just wander about in the Darkness for ten years, but that she passed through many experiences. However, it is a "Fragmentary Passage", as the name suggests–that story was severed and wasn't told. I hope I can tell it when given the opportunity."

In the credits of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, clips of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance were shown as well as the inclusion of a secret ending related to the game, hinting at a possible additional collection. In September 2015, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, for release in 2016. Also in the month, Nomura stated the collection, which is being developed alongside Kingdom Hearts III, was created to allow players to experience new elements being developed for Kingdom Hearts III "sooner than later", and it was decided to release the collection on the PlayStation 4. On how the name of the collection was determined, Nomura stated that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is considered "number 2.6" in the series since it follows the events in HD 2.5 Remix, and the χ games, with the absence of Sora, are considered 0, while Birth by Sleep is 0.1, thus resulting in 0.2 for A Fragmentary Passage. When added together, the numbers total 2.8. In December 2015, a trailer for the game was debuted at Jump Festa, with the game being praised for its aesthetic quality. A trailer released in September 2016 at the Tokyo Game Show featured a new remix of "Simple and Clean", produced specifically for 2.8 and its opening cinematics.

Gallery and Promotions[]

Trivia[]

The game was originally scheduled to be released worldwide in December of 2016, but was pushed back to January 2017, due to development changes, having the game also on the Playstation 4 Pro, and to avoid competition in sales on another Square Enix title, Final Fantasy XV.
The box art for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue were designed with several secrets linking them together, and to Kingdom Hearts III, director Tetsuya Nomura has revealed. In an interview with Dengeki PlayStation, translated by KH13.com, Nomura explains that the designs of these three illustrations were made to work together to show the passage of time and evolution of Sora's character. "Extremely attentive Kingdom Hearts fans might have already discovered [the secrets], but one is that Sora's movements change from sitting, to standing, to walking," Nomura said. "One more is that when you line up the three illustrations, you'll notice that they show the flow of time with changes in the sky. [KH1.5] is sunset becoming night, [KH 2.5] is the middle of the night, and [KH 2.8] is night breaking into dawn.

"Those three illustrations have a message regarding the final chapter, [Kingdom Hearts III]," Nomura continued.

What that exact message about Kingdom Hearts III is, Nomura does not elaborate on in the interview. As Nomura previously explained at E3 this year, the team won't be saying much about the upcoming sequel until Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 is released.