Kingdom Hearts Missing Link Is Dead!
- AfroCloud
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Sad yet not surprising!
Square Enix has canceled the development of Kingdom Hearts Missing Link. Despite the development team's best efforts to develop and adjust the game for players to enjoy, they decided that they couldn’t make it an enjoyable experience in the long run. So, with a heavy heart, they canceled the game.
For those of you who didn’t know, Missing Link was a mobile side game being developed for Kingdom Hearts. It was a GPS Action RPG.
More importantly, Missing Link was supposed to act as a bridge between Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory and Kingdom Hearts 4. The game was also going to cover the story of the Blank period, which occurs after KH Union Cross and Dark Road. Like its two predecessors, there was going to be a significant story of KH’s lore. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
What Does This Mean For the Series?
With Missing Link’s cancellation, Kingdom Hearts 4 is truly the next game to come out for the series. Since I’m not a mobile game, KH4 is the next in the series that I’m looking forward to. The Missing Link development team did confirm that Square Enix is working hard on KH4.
As far as Missing Link’s story, I can’t see Tetsuya Nomura leaving that narrative to die. Since ML’s story was heavily tied to KH4. Missing Link would have presented a major period in the story.
Now, the format of the story remains unknown. Could it be a proper KH side game from the good old days? Could they do a movie like Back Cover? Or could ML serve as a demo and a prequel for KH4, like Fragmentary Passage was to KH3?
There are various ways for Missing Link’s story to be told. Also, these possibilities are just conjectures on my part. But the story was the one thing I was looking forward to when it came to Missing Link. I suppose Missing Link’s narrative will stay missing for now.
The Bright Side
While I feel bad for all of the developers that spent the last six years on Missing Link. I also feel bad for all of the fans who wanted to play this. I’m also relieved that this game was cancelled.
Square Enix’s track record with mobile games been mixed. Those results have ranged from good to bad. There have been some major failures such as First Solider. Even some successful mobile games have been shut down by Square Enix. Examples like Nier Reincarnation, Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, and a few others.
In Kingdom Hearts’ case, I’m relieved that another major piece of KH lore won’t be trapped in a mobile game. KH’s overall story expands from the console games, side games, and mobile games. Huge pieces of KH’s lore are trapped in the deceased Union X and Dark Road.
They feature some of the best stories in KH. They are also vital to the next arc of KH. The only way to view them now is on Youtube.
Lastly, Missing Link had to release first before Kingdom Hearts 4. With Missing Link’s cancellation, this is no longer the case. Kingdom Hearts 4 can now release without this limit.
I think ML’s development was stifling KH4. The development was split into two teams. One is working on Missing Link, and the other is working on KH4. Now, the two teams can be combined into one again.