Prerelease:Kingdom Hearts

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Kingdom Hearts.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

To do: Make the article look more pretty. Interviews: interview regarding the World selection and other stuff from Official U.S. Playstation Magazine, October 2002 Ultimania Interviews, June 2002 [1] [2] [3] [4] Prerelease Stuff: Early development images Old artcles from 2000/2001 [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Images from here. Get better footage that isn't super low-res. Rewrite the descriptions. Some of the Ultimax game guides have interviews with Tetsuya Nomura and they may also have pictures from development. Concept Art here

Developmental Timeline

2000

• Feb. 18 - A Disney and Square Enix collaboration game is announced at the Sony Festival 2000.

2001

• May 23 - Kingdom Hearts is revealed at E3 2001.
• Oct. 12 - More footage of the game is shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2001.

2002

• Jan. 31 - More images are shown.
• Mar. 28 - Kingdom Hearts is released in Japan.
• Jul. 29 - English localisation for the game is announced.
• Summer - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is announced.
• Nov. 15/22 - Kingdom Hearts is released in North America.
• Dec. 26 - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is released in Japan.

Initial Concepts

Scrapped Concepts

Rikku

To do: Rip the artwork from the Kingdom Hearts Series Memorial Ultimania pg. 184

At one point during development, Rikku was originally going to fulfill Yuffie's role in the story with Yuffie being in another world entirely, but was ultimately scrapped. We'd see Rikku in a different form in Kingdom Hearts II.

2001

May

Game is revealed at E3 2001.

May

E3 2001

Trailer

The game was fully unveiled at E3 2001, which had a release date of Winter 2001. The exact same trailer can be found on a Square Preview Disc.

• The models for Sora, Kairi and Riku look less high-poly in cutscenes, which could probably mean that cutscene models weren't made for them yet.
• The cutscene at the beginning of the trailer takes place at daytime rather than sunset.
• Donald and Goofy wear their regular clothing rather than the ones designed by Nomura.
• Sora could originally jump higher without the High Jump ability.
• The HUD was different, and had some minor changes;
  • The Magic spells showed how much MP they use on the sides.
  • The icons for Donald and Goofy were different, matching their original outfits.
• Traverse Town had yellow lighting and color scheme rather than orange, matching up with the initial concept art for the location.
• Donald and Goofy spawn in the middle of Olympus Coliseum, likely a result of spawning placement issues.
• The sand in Olympus Coliseum was less detailed.
• The vines under the treehouse in Deep Jungle were a more dull color.
• The camp at the Deep Jungle clearly looked unfinished; the tents were missing the graphical touches and the one where the Save Point, is open.
• Disney Castle could be accessed, as Sora is seen running down a hallway of it.
• The Summon sequence for Dumbo was shortened, likely for the trailer. Sora didn't also shrink when he rides onto Dumbo.
• The cutscene where Kairi talks to Sora on the pier is at a different angle, and takes place during the daytime.
• There's a scarpped cutscene of Riku on top of Big Ben which may have been an earlier version of an existing one.
• Sora is seen approaching the keyhole on the door inside the secret cave of Destiny Islands. In the final game, the keyhole is absent from the door except for when it is seen briefly by Riku in a flashback cutscene.
• The animation for Sora running onto the Darkside's arm isn't present in the final game, signifying that Reaction Commands were planned for it.
• When defeating the Darkside, it seemed to have originally exploded into red smoke.
• There is another scrapped cutscene of Sora running towards Riku in the crumbling Destiny Islands. The "That's right, Sora. Your body, your soul, your whole existence... they're all going to disappear!" This text is not even in the final game.
• There is an animation of Sora using his Keyblade towards the fourth wall, representing the Destiny Islands secret place door. This may have been made just for the trailer.

October

Tokyo Game Show 2001 Trailer

• Much closer to the final version in this trailer.
• Early Sora model still. Donald and Goofy have their final appearances.
• Alice's trial cutscene is different.
• HUD character portraits are the same as the final's at this point in development.
• Shows Riku on Big Ben in Neverland briefly.