Kingdom Hearts III
"Kingdom Hearts III" was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan and other Asian countries, and is scheduled to be released on January 29, 2019 elsewhere. In July 2017, at D23, it was announced that the game would release in 2018. Almost a year later, at an additional performance of the "Kingdom Hearts" Orchestra World Tour in Los Angeles, the game's North American release date was revealed to be January 29, 2019. Nomura spoke to moving the game's release date outside of 2018, stating the development team had been told the original release date they had considered was not "good timing in the year" to release the game, especially considering "differences in holiday lengths and how stores behave in different regions". In addition, Square Enix requested the game be released as simultaneously as possibly between Japan and the rest of the world, and not wanting to move up the release at the expense of development, resulted in the January 2019 date being chosen. The game's epilogue is planned to be added to the game on January 26 for Japan and January 30 elsewhere, while the secret film content is planned to be added worldwide on January 31, 2019. This was done in order to help prevent them from leaking beforehand, since Nomura called them "the biggest spoilers" in the game.
Kingdom Hearts III
Tamoor Hussain of "GameSpot" called "Kingdom Hearts III" an overall "enjoyable, if uneven, third entry" in the series. Hussain was critical of some of the story and felt some of the worlds "feel either empty or lacking in what they offer", but did praise the design of the worlds, while also enjoying the amount of gameplay variety. While the combat felt "fast, frenetic, and spectacular in its cinematic flourishes", Hussain noted the game should be played on the "Proud" mode difficulty "if you want the game to challenge you". Speaking to the game's ending, Hussain felt there was "heavy-handed storytelling that inevitably culminates in battles that are impressive set-pieces but feel cheap and spammy to play" with the story wrapping up "in an incredibly unfulfilling way." In an unscored review, "Polygon"s Allegra Frank was more critical of "Kingdom Hearts III" calling it "little more than a lackluster leftover from 2006" as it had "a flat story, repetitive gameplay, and very few surprises." Frank felt Sora's characterization was "off", with his positive attitude continuing as if the events of previous games in the series "have had zero impact on him". Regarding the various worlds, Frank called them "lifeless dioramas... with fewer details and references to the films themselves". She ultimately concluded that "Kingdom Hearts III" was "an example of what can go wrong when a series that once stood in contrast to its peers as a lighthearted alternative loses its way".