Kingdom Hearts 3 really is taking a beating as far as general awareness, mindshare, and anticipation for it goes right now. I suppose the fact that the game has no date, beyond a nebulous ‘some time after March 2017,’ hurts it, but still- Square Enix can’t be too happy with how poorly the game fares in the Famitsu Most Wanted charts every week.
This week, for instance, Kingdom Hearts 3 is only at #8 on the weekly chart which ended on 3rd July. This means it’s not even Top 5- worse still, this is probably the highest position the game has had in months now. As it stands right now, Final Fantasy 15 and Persona 5 are far and away leading the charts in the top two spots, with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and both, the PS4 and 3DS versions of Dragon Quest 11, forming the next three spots. They are followed by Pokemon Sun/Moon, which has its strongest showing on the charts yet, and Tales of Berseria. Kingdom Hearts 3, meanwhile, is followed by Etrian Odyssey V and Yokai Watch 3.
So far, my argument has been that no matter how good Kingdom Hearts 3 may look right now – and I am not even sure it looks that good, to be very frank – people don’t have the patience to be hyped for something that, owing to incessant delays and no concrete release date, amounts to basically being an abstraction. But considering just how well games like Dragon Quest 11 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake are charting on the charts, I am no longer convinced that is the case here- the possibility remains that Kingdom Hearts as a brand is now finally suffering after years of mismanagement by Square.
[Thanks Nintendo Everything]
