New Kingdom Hearts Dark Road information revealed; Xehanort's past, standalone game, Union χ[Cross] player benefits and more

[OrpheusJoshua 126]

Brand new information on Kingdom Hearts Dark Road that was promised back during its announcement has finally been revealed! 

There are several details regarding how Dark Road plays as well as other notable aspects. The battle system consists of cards instead of medals, and you seem to play as both young Eraqus and young Xehanort. The combat is said to be reliant on your reflexes too.

Depending on the level of completion for the medal album in Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross], players can obtain points to trade in for battle cards! This event is called the KHUX & KHDR Link Campaign. Basically, this campaign for the album to point conversion will only occur once for the release of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, and any album progress made in Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] after this campaign's end will not contribute towards any points.

Lastly, this game is launched from within the Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] app, and is launched from the title screen! However, Kingdom Hearts Dark Road does not require progress in Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] in order to be played.

Take a look at our gallery for screenshots of this upcoming title! 

Are you excited for Kingdom Hearts Dark Road due to this plethora of new information! Let us know how you feel about it in the comments below!

 

 

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[Kaweebo 3,617]

I know this is gonna upset some people, but frankly I’m completely okay with this. It’s like a little mini expansion for UX. However, I will be a little miffed if they just recycle the Disney worlds again and have Xehanort and Eraqus interact with future holograms of Aladdin and others. I’d honestly rather the worlds just be backdrops with no characters in that case.

[AxelRoxasXionKH 105]

4 hours ago, Kaweebo said:

I know this is gonna upset some people, but frankly I’m completely okay with this. It’s like a little mini expansion for UX. However, I will be a little miffed if they just recycle the Disney worlds again and have Xehanort and Eraqus interact with future holograms of Aladdin and others. I’d honestly rather the worlds just be backdrops with no characters in that case.

That's what I was thinking as well. I really don't want to have the same 'Hi I'm Aladdin, let's solve this problem!' we've had in KH, CoM, Re:Coded and UX again. Although it does seem a little cheap to be using the same backdrops since a lot of players did pay for the other game and that money is basically rendered useless now. 

[ocean's rage 772]

hmm dont know what to make of this

[JTD95 1,107]

Errr, there can't be emblemed Heartlesses in Agrabah at this point in time. Unless they travel through dream/data/memories/future versions of the worlds.

[Kyon 2]

14 minutes ago, JTD95 said:

Errr, there can't be emblemed Heartlesses in Agrabah at this point in time. Unless they travel through dream/data/memories/future versions of the worlds.

True. Only after BbS with Ansem's experiments do the Emblem Heartless are born. 

[Zak6009 2]

8 hours ago, AxelRoxasXionKH said:

That's what I was thinking as well. I really don't want to have the same 'Hi I'm Aladdin, let's solve this problem!' we've had in KH, CoM, Re:Coded and UX again. Although it does seem a little cheap to be using the same backdrops since a lot of players did pay for the other game and that money is basically rendered useless now. 

 

I think scenarios like Days would be best. Worlds mostly backdrops, characters still present but very minimal, each world having its own original arc unrelated to the movie.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

So uh, is no one else going to point this out? No? Okay, guess I'll be the first then. I'm so glad that they're actually using the Card system again from the original X, I always wanted to use that more than the medal system!

[2 quid is good 2,209]

Like @Hero of Light XIV mentioned, it's interesting to see the cards mechaninc used instead of medals, which is consistent as the medals are specifically for the unchained state.

Any potential interest I might have had (which wasn't) all that much, is totally gone. But I expect that this game will eventually be given the UX treatment of being dearly beheld by a sub section of KH fans that just pump in enough money to not let it die.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

1 minute ago, 2 quid is good said:

Like @Hero of Light XIV mentioned, it's interesting to see the cards mechaninc used instead of medals, which is consistent as the medals are specifically for the unchained state.

Any potential interest I might have had (which wasn't) all that much, is totally gone. But I expect that this game will eventually be given the UX treatment of being dearly beheld by a sub section of KH fans that just pump in enough money to not let it die.

Guilty as charged! XD As long as it keeps funding more KH3s, I'll pump as much money as reasonable for someone with my budget...which admittedly isn't much more than the occasional $15 deal every other week or so, lol. I'm just waiting in the shadows for the super strong medals needed to clear the Keyblade War to become more readily available later on.

[2 quid is good 2,209]

2 minutes ago, Hero of Light XIV said:

Guilty as charged! XD As long as it keeps funding more KH3s, I'll pump as much money as reasonable for someone with my budget...which admittedly isn't much more than the occasional $15 deal every other week or so, lol. I'm just waiting in the shadows for the super strong medals needed to clear the Keyblade War to become more readily available later on.

The money they get from UX doesn't really get funneled to KH main titles as I understand it. I also think that Disney is involved somewhat with the budget though I'm not sure in what way.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

1 minute ago, 2 quid is good said:

The money they get from UX doesn't really get funneled to KH main titles as I understand it. I also think that Disney is involved somewhat with the budget though I'm not sure in what way.

Even then, it at least still financially incentivizes Disney and Square to make more KH titles because they know it makes money (an in turn, hopefully, more overt marketing through things like merchandise and theme park presence, fingers crossed). I would understand if the concern was that this would only encourage them to make nothing but these mobile games and an occasional console title (a new "portable spinoff age" as it were), but I honestly don't see that as being the case here. I think this is just going to be isolated to Xehanort's story, and at most maybe the story of Mickey's past if they ever want to tell that, and everything else will likely be for mainline titles. Also, I much prefer having this than going years and years without a new title AGAIN.

[2 quid is good 2,209]

2 minutes ago, Hero of Light XIV said:

Even then, it at least still financially incentivizes Disney and Square to make more KH titles because they know it makes money (an in turn, hopefully, more overt marketing through things like merchandise and theme park presence, fingers crossed). I would understand if the concern was that this would only encourage them to make nothing but these mobile games and an occasional console title (a new "portable spinoff age" as it were), but I honestly don't see that as being the case here. I think this is just going to be isolated to Xehanort's story, and at most maybe the story of Mickey's past if they ever want to tell that, and everything else will likely be for mainline titles. Also, I much prefer having this than going years and years without a new title AGAIN.

Then we're coming from completely different angles to this, because I feel not only does financially supporting UX and it's ilk gives SE more incentive to churn out more phone games, but also that the "story" told in these games has significantly decreased the quality of KH as an overall franchise. I was fine with Chi and Unchained, but Union Cross is awful in every aspect. I suppose the artsyle is still cute though.

 

And I dunno which period you're referencing there, we all knew we'd have to wait a while for KH3, imo it would have been better for Nomura to spend those 5 and half years focused solely on KH3 than UX, because before 2013 we were getting new games every year. Some patience is rewuired on our part because it's not normal for franchises like ours to have such frequent new releases. Quality over Quantity.

[littleTSUBAME 483]

I feel like I shouldn’t be too excited for this.

But I kinda am?

I still think it’s a shame that it’s just a mobile game, and I never particularly liked the artstyle they use in UX. And I’m assuming they’re gonna reuse lots of stuff from UX which is a shame (please no more Agrabah...). BUT it’s still better than nothing. And I’m too desperate for a game anout Xehanort and Eraqus to really care tbh.

And also on a positive side, if DR is basically an add-on to UX, my phone will most likely be able to handle it. Also, the card-based combat seems more interesting than the combat system in UX? But I guess we’ll see.

[Hoshiko Hikari 300]

I don't get why everyone always goes on about having to pay money into Union Cross. I never have yet I'm regularly ranking in the top 2000 players in the Coliseum. Anyway I'm looking forward to trying Dark Road even if just for the story.

[rosco258 212]

Im sad that dark road is a mobile game.  The artstyle is way to cheap and khux and khdr dont look or feel like kh games to me.  Ill play for the lore but thats about it.  They just dont match up to the console games.

[JTD95 1,107]

5 hours ago, 2 quid is good said:

Then we're coming from completely different angles to this, because I feel not only does financially supporting UX and it's ilk gives SE more incentive to churn out more phone games, but also that the "story" told in these games has significantly decreased the quality of KH as an overall franchise. I was fine with Chi and Unchained, but Union Cross is awful in every aspect. I suppose the artsyle is still cute though.

Just curious, in what way is Union Cross worse than Unchained? I hardly ever bothered to play any of them.

[Movies798 1,358]

Geez another Card Base gameplay? Man the Medals gameplay are better than the Card Base. Anyway, it's really sad that Xehanort Origins is going to be explore in the cheap mobile game. But as a Kingdom Hearts fan I decided to play the game and see where the story goes. Especially since I've play all the other previous games on both console and handheld systems. Plus, If I manage to survive that awful Card gameplay from Chain of Memories (GBA) and Re:Chain of Memories (PS2) then I guess playing another Card gameplay wouldn't kill me. Still hoping they will change the gameplay in the USA soon.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Movies798

[2 quid is good 2,209]

13 hours ago, JTD95 said:

Just curious, in what way is Union Cross worse than Unchained? I hardly ever bothered to play any of them.

From a story perspective (which is really all that these games offer to us as fans) chi and unchained were relatively unattached to the main KH plot and had no modern KH characters present, only the foretellers and Ephemera/Skuld. And that was fine, it was a neat little window into the distant past of KH. But then for some insane reason Nomura decided to use Ventus, Marluxia and Larxene in Union Cross and apparently Luxord and Demyx are on the way. Regardless of how others may feel about this twist, I think it's terrible and totally irredeemable. It really ruined the potential of those characters for me. There's not much coherence to any of it and it feels like another one of Nomura's shock value twists.

[JTD95 1,107]

On 2/20/2020 at 1:32 PM, 2 quid is good said:

From a story perspective (which is really all that these games offer to us as fans) chi and unchained were relatively unattached to the main KH plot and had no modern KH characters present, only the foretellers and Ephemera/Skuld. And that was fine, it was a neat little window into the distant past of KH. But then for some insane reason Nomura decided to use Ventus, Marluxia and Larxene in Union Cross and apparently Luxord and Demyx are on the way. Regardless of how others may feel about this twist, I think it's terrible and totally irredeemable. It really ruined the potential of those characters for me. There's not much coherence to any of it and it feels like another one of Nomura's shock value twists.

Ah yeah right. Yeah Nomura really made a lot of weird and dumb decisions regarding Union Cross. Time traveling Maleficent from after her defeat in KH1, Ventus, Marluxia, and Larxene showing up. I don't think Luxord and Demyx will show up though seeing as Union Cross is ending soon. I know Xemnas said they were connected to the ancient Keyblade legacy but I believe they're connected to it differently.

Spoiler

Besides Luxord seems to be coming from the same world as Yozora.

 

[2 quid is good 2,209]

On 2/22/2020 at 8:42 PM, JTD95 said:

Ah yeah right. Yeah Nomura really made a lot of weird and dumb decisions regarding Union Cross. Time traveling Maleficent from after her defeat in KH1, Ventus, Marluxia, and Larxene showing up. I don't think Luxord and Demyx will show up though seeing as Union Cross is ending soon. I know Xemnas said they were connected to the ancient Keyblade legacy but I believe they're connected to it differently.

  SPOILERS: Click to reveal

Besides Luxord seems to be coming from the same world as Yozora.

 

I can only hope that's the case

[ienzo628 548]

On 2/24/2020 at 4:46 AM, 2 quid is good said:

I can only hope that's the case

I wonder how Yozora is connected to UX. 

[Iscreamer1 100]

On 2/18/2020 at 8:33 PM, Kaweebo said:

I know this is gonna upset some people, but frankly I’m completely okay with this. It’s like a little mini expansion for UX. However, I will be a little miffed if they just recycle the Disney worlds again and have Xehanort and Eraqus interact with future holograms of Aladdin and others. I’d honestly rather the worlds just be backdrops with no characters in that case.

Me too, the Disney worlds have outlived their purpose.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

I'm just wondering how long Dark Road will be? Because Union X is going for four years now. Either way, I'm excited to get to play the game!

[ienzo628 548]

When is the game going to start?