As you might have heard, the rhythm-action game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is coming to the Nintendo Switch this November. As excited as we are about it, of course - we would love to see the mainline series made available as well.
Unfortunately, though, there are no other Kingdom Hearts games planned for the Switch right now. This is according to Kingdom Heart's director, Tetsuya Nomura, during a recent interview with Nintendo Enthusiast:
"Through a translator, Tetsuya Nomura confirmed there are currently no specific plans for more Kingdom Hearts games on Switch."
Apparently Square Enix considered porting the existing titles in the series, but found it to be "technologically difficult".
Nomura himself said he still finds the Switch appealing and apparently expressed how it was possible another game could make the switch to Nintendo's hybrid system in the future.
Check out our own Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories interview featuring Tetsuya Nomura and Masanobu Suzui. Would you like to see more Kingdom Hearts games come to Switch? Tell us down below.
[source nintendoenthusiast.com]
Comments 103
I understand KH3 but how hard can it be to port PS2 games? Even The Witcher 3 runs on that thing
Bull. Pure bull.
It wasn't too difficult. KH games are less demanding than several games we already have.
No no and no, KH collection is totally possible on Switch.
Square Enix only publish their remakes of the most beloved series on Switch, that being Final Fantasy and a few Dragon Quest games. The rest are either short exclusivity deals (Octopath, DQ 11) or things no-one wished for like this game.
The Switch seems to get the short end of the stick once again.
Well, go [you-know-what] yourselves, Square. Really - the Switch can run Witcher, but not a bunch of up-rezzed PS2 and handheld RPGs? Something here doesn't quite add up.
Honestly, after the horrible disappointment that KH 3 is I don't care about this franchise anymore.
Already enough with the port begging phenomenon. I'll wait when they announce or play them on other platforms.
Hmmm ok Square, that’s massively disappointing 😟. I’m no game dev but I find it strange that they feel these would be too difficult when you see what else we already have.
I don't really mind if the developer still haven't porting their games to Nintendo Switch.
I will buy the available console version to save my day.
PS4 or Switch, i support both of them.
>KH Collection is 95% PSP-PS2-3DS games
>Square already ported PS2 Final Fantasy games on Switch
>People keep asking for KH collection on Switch
>Squenix: idk bro, that’s too hard
it doesn't even look that nice to be fair
That's fine. We have enough shovelware already.
Idk how it can be so hard to the point they just scraped the idea, look this is going to sound pretty snooty but they need to figure it out we have been asking for them for A long time, its just like @mariomaster96 said even the Wtcher can run on that thing but they cant port a ps2 game to that I call bs.
@mariomaster96 They also had a game on the 3ds.
Too difficult....more like too lazy.
Claiming that the Switch is not capable of running enhanced PS2/PSP/NDS/3DS games is sure a bold hill to die on.
Especially considering that Melody of Memories - a game that is coming to Switch - runs on the same game engine as those old Kingdom Hearts titles...
If it really is technologically difficult then you employ the wrong developers, everyone else seems to manage it...
I find it amusing that he thinks anyone would believe that excuse.
Used copy it is. Buying a new one to support them is too difficult.
'Technologically difficult' doesn't mean they think they can't port the remasters like some people here are making out. Obviously it's possible. Square Enix must think its not worth the investment of porting all of those games when the collections are already sold for very little on other consoles
Hmm... whenever I see issues involving the KH series I also wonder how much of a hand Disney has in making them happen. Square Enix SAYS that it’s technologically difficult but then you also have to consider the possibility of Disney not feeling up to the task of giving them the A-OK to do so.
@BrintaPap Ironically enough the idea of a Theatrhythm Kingdom Hearts has been one that some fans have been wanting to see for long time quick search engine run scanning for the phrase “Theatrhythm Kingdom Hearts” yields results from as far back as 2014.
Translation: We don't think it will sell.
Ughhh its soooo disappointing, guess I'll just have to give up on kingdom hearts.....😔..... darn heartless...... I hate mother fluffing rhythm games
Technologically difficult? I doubt Kingdom Hearts is that advanced that it would chug on the Switch.
Dragon Quest 11 was 30 GB on the PS4 yet that game fit on the Switch just fine.
We know that is a big lie.
@Entrr_username The file size for the Switch version of Dragon Quest 11 is actually around 13-14 GB.
Unless the original games are running some hardcore spaghetti code, I don't think "It would be too difficult" is the reason. The Switch quite literally runs Crysis, Witcher 3, etc. I imagine chances are more likely that Disney plays a role in this series not being ported. It's a decision that would naturally involve Disney, and assuming they are open to it, it is possible they are minimizing new expenses during COVID to mitigate losses (they have lost over five billion in theme park revenue this year because of COVID-19. I'm sure that's a drop in the hat for them, but it's reasonable to assume they would be implementing some temporary restrictions on product development budgets to weather the dry spell). Additionally, I would think Square are more open to investing in ports for their own IPs rather than spend their resources porting games that come with external partners tied to them.
@ZebZed I know. I mentioned how the PS4 version was larger yet it didn't seem "technologically difficult" to port it.
Was it too difficult? To port the 2 classic complications from ps3? Well thanks for making that clear, I guess we can't count on much else from square for switch.
Nice. Hopefully it stays that way.
Not difficult, more like not willing to pay Disney royalties and other red tape. I’m glad these games aren’t hitting the Switch, anyway. Overrated and ridiculously convoluted.
This is so pathetic given that the Bioshock Collection, Alien Isolation and several Bandai Namco titles run very well on the Switch. I'm grateful for what Square Enix has already put out on the Switch, but this is such a bad look.
Welp, one of my biggest hopes for the Switch - basically the only remaining franchise I wanted on the console - just went down the drain, just like that.
Here's hoping for Sora in Smash. That's all I ask at this point.
Too difficult to port a PS2 game 😂😂😂
Even KH3 shouldn't be too hard if The Witcher 3 can run, basically they can't be bothered
Hahahahaha good one. If it doesn’t make sense to you financially say so. This is just an embarrassing cover story.
That's a little disappointing but I can't be mad at Square Enix.
They've been good to Switch, giving us a ton of Final fantasy games, Octopath Traveller, DQ11, all the games by Tokyo rpg factory, DQ builders, the upcoming Bravely Default 2, seriously they're one of its biggest third party supporters
@Menardi very unlikely to be Disney. I doubt they have much input in the series other than approvals and a cut of the money.
I think most likely a resource thing on squenix's part. They looked into it and decided it would take too much time/money Vs the expected return. Disappointing as I was hoping for a port of at least the first few (not played any yet!)
Knowing Nomura, it’s probably some sort of spaghetti code issue. Even then, this is just plain weird. They’re PS2 games at heart but PS3 games even upscaled.
Translation:
Watashitachi wa lazzzzzzzzyy desu!!!
Maybe they hard coded all the prompts to press circle or triangle
Feel free to rally up and retweet this, if you happen to care for Kingdom Hearts as much as I do.
https://twitter.com/TheBozz89/status/1303246095393456129
The Switch is more powerful than the Xbox 360, which itself got remasters of the previous entries in the series... Yet the Switch can't handle them? Yeah pure BS from Nomura.
Laziness is the real answer as to why we won't get them.
Just like Capcom and not porting any of their remakes of RE
I don't care.
I want NEW games.
Do people want to play new games anymore???
I suspect this has to do with Disney being mad at Nintendo for choosing Universal as their partner for, you know, the Super Nintendo Theme Park instead of choosing the mouse company.
Not to mention that Disney wanted to have Mario in the Whreck-It-Ralph movie but he didn't make an appearance because certain reasons (some say is because they weren't allowed to make Mario talk and that make it difficult, but we don't know what is the true).
As my old boss used to say "a bad workman always blames his tools"
Well, there's a surprise.
rolls eyes
They have put some good games onto the Switch tbf, but come on.....
Squeenix is just full of themselves after crystal chronicles it just shows that they look at switch for milking purposes.
"...and Virtuos was busy at the time"😆
The collection is said to be a tricky bit (KH1 code was lost at some point, for one), but engine and PS architecture hijinks are harder to write off as hopeless after a good lineup of PS2, PS3 and PSP games made it to Switch library. Guess Square Enix's subcontractor budget lies elsewhere at the moment (hopefully with FFXIII as some prior Virtuos sightings in its SteamDB may or may not suggest😏).
Worst case scenario, I'll chance the collection on Remote Play - there were reports on r/vita that 1.5+2.5 offered quite manageable controls in the mode, and I don't imagine TSSF bundle would starkly differ. But I remain in the market for a Switch version regardless - with Birth by Sleep, for instance, I'd readily cope with replaying the Aqua route already beaten on PSP before - but having to do the same on a stream, or investing as much time in the included board game I frequented back then... can feel like a tougher sell.
@MagnaRoader You mean Resi 2 and 3? They’re completely different from this as they’re current gen games that push the PS4 and Xbox One to their limits, never mind Switch. These are old games, the Resi remakes really aren’t.
@nessisonett you do know Capcom is directly responsible for the Switch having 4 gb ram and that the original plan was for RE 7 to be ported to the Switch at launch? Capcom just decided to be lazy and give the world RE7 cloud edition and because that back fired, hey games don't sell on the Switch. Someone on YouTube even tried using the specs of the Switch with RE7 on pc just to see if it worked and it did surprisingly well. And after Doom and Witcher 3 working fine on Switch, I doubt anyone when they claim the Switch can't handle PS4 ports
Wrong choice of words the press release should have read “we have no plans to release any KH games at this time”. Simple.
I’m disappointed but its okay moving on.
@MagnaRoader ...you’re not a developer are you lmao. It’s really not that simple.
to difficult for Square Enix. They can't even port a FF game from the GameCube to the Switch without breaking it.
difficult :DD:D:
Considering doom eternal is coming to switch i highly doubt that some ps3 games and 1 ps4 game couldn't work on switch.
@nhSnork
Wait, they actually said that "Virtuos was busy at the time"?
I'm sure that Panic Button and Saber Interactive would gladly get some money from Disney and Square if they could if that's the case. Hell, I'm sure Virtuos is also very much not busy now.
@harouhiko
The Switch has broken the barrier between home console gaming and handheld gaming. This is the right time to catch up, so yeah, some older games are the priority. Capcom alone has now made Devil May Cry and the PS2 Mega Man X games portable. Nintendo's own Super Mario 3D All-Stars is giving up a portable version of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy for the very first time.
This is the time, this is the place.
Another third party developer to stingy to had it off to the wide selection of switch porting experts.
But... Dream Drop Distance and Birth By Sleep were BOTH on weaker handhelds then the Switch... Why not port those over at least??
There are old kingdom heart games that could be ported, this is just laziness
@AlexSora89 no, that part's a joke on my end, although, as I was discussing next, I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case. There are plenty porting experts on Switch, but a lot of their realistic schedules at a given moment, on top of the budget and contractual bureaucracy it takes to hire one of them, is kinda outside our field of expertise here.
As is the case-by-case ease or difficulty of porting a game, to be honest.
Well gee, Square, if there's no chance of you doing ports of the actual Kingdom Hearts games, then maybe I don't feel the need to support this franchise on Switch. Sony's got you by the nose, huh? They don't mind Xbox, a system with no presence in homeland Japan, getting ports, but Nintendo platforms get lazy spin-offs and nothing more.
As others said this has more to do with Disney denying SQE to port the game. Saying it was Disney decision would make then look bad so he makes excuses for them. As mentioned by others you got Witcher 3 and now Crysis on Switch so the excuse doesn't hold water. For those uneducated Disney holds the rights to those characters without their agreement they can't do so by themselves that's Business IP 101.
@Slowdive only Collection of Mana, TWEWY, and BD2 are exclusive, and I don’t mean that Square Enix is a bad publisher. It’s just that they publish more games of them on the Switch. Mostly their jrps’s.
Where is the remake of FF7, the normal Final Fantasy 15, Tomb Raider series, Deus Ex series, that Avengers game, Nier series, and all other games for Pc/PS4/PS5/Xbox.
*laughs in Doom and Witcher
@ZebZed seems that I’m wrong on that part then, thanks for correcting me.
@nessisonett neither are you. And I don't see the point of this conversation anymore. Agree to disagree
the people who sit there all day beggin for Kingdom Hearts and Persona 5 and Sora n Smash.
Get a job.
@AlexSora89 do something else.
@mariomaster96 you dont even develop also there are right issues.
Both the 1.5 and 2.5 remixes ran easily on the PS3. Port them to the Switch, you cowards.
Let's remember KH the story so far was never ported to Xbox One but it still got KH3. Sony probably has some kind of deal with Square
@Blizzia There's a thing where games that would sell aren't getting releases (or full releases) on the Switch. Apparently people hate money?
Eh no problem. I view Kingdom Hearts as more of a PlayStation franchise. No harm done whether its on switch or not.
I've always wanted to try this series but was always unable due to not owning any PS hardware. I'd be totally fine if Kingdom Hearts made the Switch!
"Technologically difficult" as in they don't have a half-assed mobile port of the other games that they could just port and call it a day.
I'd love to see mainline Kingdom Hearts on Switch rather than offshoots - it's the perfect fit I think.
1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix could easily run on the Switch since those ran on the PS3. Dream Drop Distance HD could run on the Switch. Not sure about 0.2 since that used the KH3 engine.
Already played them. Give some Bravely Default 2 updates.
Only said this a day ago. Core Kingdom hearts games don’t get Nintendo release!
Shame as the switch version would outsell any PlayStation version if released at same time.
The Switch can't handle GBA, PS2 and DS games? That is certainly news...
Yeah, the switch is entirely capable of running those games. I'm guessing it's not a simple drag and drop. The game was originally built on a proprietary engine, and I wonder if scaling to other platforms is more effort than they feel it's worth. I mean, at this point, how many people who have played Kingdom Hearts hasn't already played it. Now that they're on Unreal, ports ought to be easier to scale.
We don't need those ports. Some of Square's ports are direct and don't look better than they did years ago. The Mana collection had a black and white game. It still costs 40 dollars. The Secret of Mana was on the level of the SNES Online Service. Some of the controls for Final Fantasy games that were ported had strange controls. Square doesn't like the right analog. Zodiac was annoying.
@mariomaster96 Budget to fo the game run into other engine. Is about money.
@RPGamer - "Poor Kingdom Hearts fans... I seriously feel bad for you guys."
Eh, I've got the series on PS4, so I'm fine. Those who don't have it though, yeah, this is just......ridiculous (especially given both PS4 and Xbox One have most of the series on their respective machines).
Next gen is about 2 months away so I think publishers are concentrating more on the new consoles. Switch's time is about to run out.
Well.. Square-Enix is a disappointment for Nintendo fans so far....
We got a collection of PS1 games but only 7 & 8 on cartridge and only for the Asian market... X/X-2 was half on the cartridge, half as download and, again, full stuff for the Asian market... the only one that saved itself was XII...
Also, no Chrono Trigger, no FFT:WotL, no FFs I-VI Collection... no FF13 Collection and a half-ass downgraded FF15... talk about lazy!
stop being lazy and port the game
everyone buy melody of memory so they change their minds lol
there's no way Switch can't run KH1+2, RE:CoM, Dream Drop Distance etc. The PS3 could just fine.
I'm not sure how difficult it is to port a bunch of 5-15 year old games, mostly from old handhelds to a new monster powered handheld....but whatevs. Porting early '00's handheld games to a 2017 handheld is hard. Making the ending of a 2014 "next gen" RPG is too hard, we'll pass. Making a complete version of DQ11 for PS/XB with the original graphics but Switch features is too hard, we'll just port the Switch version. Nothing screams PS5 power like getting ports from Switch!
I love you, S-E, but it's a shame your head is stuck between your ankles.
@Drommajin To be fair to XIII the problem with that is the whole series was made on Crystal Tools which is a broken boondoggle they're never going to update - it's lost to PS3/360/PPC. The problem is XIII is so relatively unpopular they don't really have incentive to remake the games in a new engine, and there's no need to port the C-T engine, because the only game OTHER than that unpopular trilogy that actually used it was XIV MMO, and they already rewrote the game to use UT. XIII is probably going to be like VIII - a game that is entirely missing for decades until it can just be emulated as-is on current hardware (and on XBox because of BC.)
@Crono1973 Don't be so sure. Porting PS2 games to Switch is too hard for them. But their PS4/PS5 solution is porting Switch games to those platforms.....so it's almost like they only make games for Switch and port it to other platforms now.
sad to hear such thing from your favorite game company
I mean, I would buy, but by this point everyone who wanted to buy KH in the last 18 years has already done so (I have every release including remakes, re-releases and collections, except for the one that includes everything, seemed like overkill). I understand why there is no extra effort into making these games available on switch.
@abbyhitter maybe it's not the switch cant run these games, and is more the work it would take to "translate" them to a Nintendo Switch environment. The amount of resources it would consume is probably too much for the return it would give back
At least put GBA Chain of Memories on it with a Re:Chain cutscene gallery, you cowards! That should be able to run on Switch!
This seems like a mix between The Story So Far somehow being locked behind a backroom Sony contract, and KH3 banned since Disney is still salty with Nintendo. At this point The Story So Far Up To KH3 is off limits.
Think about it, why hasn't EA made a single Star Wars game for Switch in all the 10 years it got its fat contract with Disney?
I don't really need Kingdom Hearts 1-3 on Switch anymore. Melody of Memories can give me the music fix I need from the series, and the cutscenes are all available to rewatch from the entire franchise, replete with exclusive Kairi commentary. My favorite installments were the ones they butchered throughout all the remakes and collections anyway.
I'm just looking forward to TWEWY2 and... Bravely Default 2 if the studio can delay it and fix the art and UI design, which was all over the place in the demo.
@CoastersPaul I would love what Halo Anniversary Collection did: a Chain of Memories remaster where you're able to switch between GBA pixel art and PS2 3D graphics on the fly.
Technologically difficult? But you don't mind using Nintendo systems as one stop drops for the occasional game with relevant material to the overall canon, and I use the word 'canon' generously here.
Bad form, bad form.
Too difficult?! TOO DIFFICULT!?
Screw you Square Enix! That's a load of crap! The HD versions of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 ran on PS360! If you can't do it, hire some competent programmers! The Witcher 3, Doom 2016, Wolfenstein 2, Mortal Kombat 11, Warframe and Rocket League, just to name a few, all got ported to Switch!
I think it's ridiculous that it's 'too hard' to port any pre-Kingdom Hearts 3 game on the Switch.
But to be honest, after Kingdom Hearts 3, I think all I have left in me is one last replay of Kingdom Hearts 2 and that's it. I don't really care what console I do that on.
@Snatcher Yeah and Even 2 for the original DS they were still pretty good looking games( for what the system could handle) and even the 3ds one was good, I'm not sure why they can't put them on the switch they have Devil may cry 1,2, and ,3 from the ps2 era.
Honestly if they brought the first and second Kingdom Hearts games to the Switch i would buy them in a heart beat and really it shouldn't be that hard to port it over and really i don't care if it isn't the 1.5 and/or 2.5 versions.
The current Switch models SD card speeds are capped & they can't keep a constant 60fps. For PS4 users to play Final Mix at 60fps, they still need the pro model. The devs probably are thinking, "Why re-develop with-in the limitations, when the one of the later, more enhance models could allow players the best experience". They aren't going to release the HD remasters twice on a nintendo system.
It is bull crap. The switch can run Doom Eternal on there and yet KH can’t
Just bull
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