Getting Kingdom Hearts' Sora as the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter wasn't the only news to come from the latest Smash Direct. Fans will finally be able to take the whole Kingdom Hearts saga on the go when it comes to the Nintendo Switch in the near future.
It was rumored for some time that Sora was going to be Super Smash Bros.Ultimate's final DLC fighter, not to mention that he had been trending on Twitter ever since the final Direct's announcement. While fans have been desperate for Sora to make it into Smash, Kingdom Hearts' representation on the Switch, and on Nintendo consoles in general, has been pretty scattered. Kingdom Hearts is about to celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 2022, and in that time, the series has only appeared on Nintendo's handheld systems with Chain of Memories on the GBA, 358/2 Days and Re: Coded on the DS, and Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS. Last year's Melody of Memory was the first true Nintendo console release for Kingdom Hearts, and it thankfully, won't be the last.
During the final Smash Direct, Masahiro Sakurai announced that the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise is coming to the Switch. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD Remix, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts 3 will be releasing on the Switch in the near future, marking the first time that the majority of these games will be playable on a Nintendo system. Sakurai describes how these games will allow players to follow Sora's entire story up until now, though players will "need to commit to them to complete them" because they are all massive games.
It may be hard to tell from the name, but Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD Remix compiles the definitive versions of Kingdom Hearts 1, 2, and Birth by Sleep, as well as the 3D remake of Chain of Memories. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is primarily a remaster of the 3DS' Dream Drop Distance along with a prologue that leads into Kingdom Hearts 3. Like the Switch version of the upcoming Dying Light 2, these three titles will all be cloud streamed games, requiring a strong internet connection to take advantage of. More information about these games' release dates and prices will be coming soon.
With these titles, the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts story (more or less) is now on the Switch, something fans have wanted for years. It is great to see Square Enix expanding the platforms where Kingdom Hearts is playable. Earlier this year, Kingdom Hearts finally came to PC through the Epic Games Store, opening up the doorway for modding and all sorts of other PC only features. The only question that remains is if Kingdom Hearts going forward will be a mainstay on Nintendo's consoles.
Source: Nintendo