Kingdom Hearts χ
Kingdom Hearts χ,[a] stylized as Kingdom Hearts χ[chi], is a Japanese role-playing browser game developed by Square Enix (in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios), BitGroove and Success, and published by Square Enix for web browsers as the eighth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. Gameplay involves players navigating a customized avatar through Disney-inspired worlds fighting enemies, along with taking down bosses in multiplayer matches in competition with other teams. A version of the game for mobile devices called Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ was released as the ninth installment of the series in Japan in September 2015, and worldwide in 2016.
Kingdom Hearts χ
Square Enix
Success
BitGroove
Square Enix
- Tetsuya Nomura
- Hiroyuki Itou
- Satoru Imai
- Hisazumi Arai
Hironori Okayama
- Masahiro Ishihara
- Yu Suzuki
- Haruki Nakano
Takahiro Hojo
- Tatsuya Kando
- Takeshi Nagata
- Akihito Nonami
Masaru Oka
Tetsuya Nomura
In April 2017, Unchained χ was rebranded as Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]. It was rebranded once again in June 2020 to Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road with the release of the standalone game Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, the thirteenth installment in the series. Dark Road is accessed within Union χ. It was announced in February 2021 that Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road would be shutting down its online features and transitioning into an offline app, starting with Union χ in May 2021 and Dark Road in August 2022.[1][2]
Kingdom Hearts χ is a prequel to the Kingdom Hearts series as a whole, taking place centuries prior. It takes place before the Keyblade War, which established the organization of the Kingdom Hearts universe as of the original game. The player assumes the role of a Keyblade wielder who joins one of five factions led by Keyblade Masters fighting for control of the limited light existing in the world. Union χ acts as a sequel, retelling part of the story of Kingdom Hearts χ before diverging and telling a new story set after its events. The game's plot is connected to Kingdom Hearts III. The title refers to the χ-blade, a weapon central to the series' story arc. Kingdom Hearts Dark Road explores the origins of series antagonist Xehanort and his eventual turn to darkness.
The game was designed as a playing experience that newcomers to the series could come to. Its presentation was compared to that of a fairy tale, as depicting the usual style of the series would have been difficult on the platform. Both Tetsuya Nomura and Yoko Shimomura, veterans from the main series, returned as director and composer respectively. The game received favorable reception from critics. A companion film, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, was released as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue in January 2017.
Development[edit]
Kingdom Hearts χ was co-directed by Tetsuya Nomura, one of the series' creators, and Tatsuya Kando, who had previously directed Nintendo DS game The World Ends with You.[10] The game's music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, a regular contributor to the series' music.[12] The game was co-developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Success Corporation.[13][14] Square Enix originally handled the planning and design itself, but due to their developers' inexperience with creating browser games, development was transferred to the Success Corporation, who were familiar with the process. Despite multiplayer elements being included, the game was "fundamentally single-player", as with most other entries in the series.[14] Chirithy, the player characters' companion, was designed around the concept of a supportive yet unobtrusive guide.[15] Nomura based the character's design on the Scottish Fold domestic cat.[15]
Due to difficulties that arose adapting the core Kingdom Hearts experience into a browser game, the presentation was designed similar style of fantasy classics of the locations encountered previously by series protagonists Sora and Riku. And because the game was to be played with a mouse instead of a game controller, the gameplay focus became simple controls and "flashy" battles.[6][16] In an interview, Nomura stated that the work on developing Kingdom Hearts χ was paused for a time so developers could work on Kingdom Hearts III. He also stated that at the time they were exploring ways to allow more fans of the series to experience the game.[17] The stories of Kingdom Hearts χ and Kingdom Hearts III were both written at the same time, and thus share a strong connection.[17] Despite this strong link, it was described by Tetsuya Nomura as a title where story was not the focus, and that its content was completely separate from the main series, making it accessible for newcomers.[16] The game's title refers to the χ-blade (chi-blade), the original Keyblade and a weapon central to the Kingdom Hearts storyline.[6]
The creation of a mobile version of the game was decided upon while the browser version was still being developed. Nomura initially planned to release both titles simultaneously, with each being updated individually. However, as development went on, the team's efforts became focused on finishing Kingdom Hearts χ, and development on Unchained was halted. The original plan was to make the game a simpler version of its browser counterpart, but with the increasing specs of mobile devices, the workload increased, contributing to the halt to development. As mobile devices employ a different control set-up to web browsers, Unchained could not work simply as a port of Kingdom Hearts χ. Its title "Unchained" signified the gameplay and story of Kingdom Hearts χ being released into a mobile format. One of the changes instituted during the games mobile remake was to make the gameplay more "casual" than Kingdom Hearts χ, with battles being shorter and potentially easier.[7]
In March 2017, ahead of the first anniversary of the North American launch of Unchained χ, Square Enix announced that the mobile game would be rebranded as Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] in April 2017. The relaunch of the title would include a new Union Cross multiplayer mode, allowing parties of up to six players to take on the Heartless together through the game's matchmaking feature as they communicate with each other through emotes and text options, and a theater mode to rewatch unlocked cutscenes and animations.[18] In September 2018, a series of special "Classic Kingdom" minigames was added to Union χ; by completing certain objectives in these minigames, players were able to get early access to the "Starlight" Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts III.[19]
In January 2020, a new mobile game called Kingdom Hearts Dark Road was revealed, initially under the working title Project Xehanort,[20] being developed by the same team working on Union χ.[21] It was later clarified that Dark Road would be a standalone game accessed within Union χ and that the app would be rebranded as Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road upon Dark Road's release. Players would be able to access Dark Road without needing to meet certain criteria within Union χ and would have the ability to link the two games.[22]