Final Fantasy & Kingdom Hearts Union

There have been some significant updates to Kingdom Hearts Union X and we're going to be talking all about them throughout today's episode!

On top of that, there's also time for plenty of cool questions from the community, so we hope you all enjoy the show!

It's time to revisit Final Fantasy IV in our continuing series of replaying the older games.

Throughout this episode, we discuss the story, the characters, and the best version to play... all while talking about NieR Replicant

The ending update for Kingdom Hearts Union X has been delayed and there has also been a change of plans... as the update will now be released in two parts, as opposed to one.

We also run through some of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Mods that have been released into the wild so far :D

We have brand new information relating to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as Episode Yuffie has now been named!

Outside of discussing the name, we also run-through some of the new characters who're introduced, touch on Fort Condor and have a brief segment focussed on our excitement for the upcoming release of NieR Replicant v1.22

With so much talk about the PlayStation 5 and its fancy SSD, we discuss how this might affect any future installments of Kingdom Hearts on the next generation of consoles.

In addition, there's some news related to Melody of Memories, the release of Kingdom Hearts on the Epic Games Store and an update on NEO: The World Ends With You.

Final Fantasy has featured some pretty impactful moments and as part of today's episode, we're discussing the ones that had the most emotional impact!

In addition, we also have plenty of questions from the community relating to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, favourite summons and how we've enjoyed the older games on our Twitch stream!

With KHUx coming to an end, it's time to discuss everything that's happened since the release of Kingdom Hearts 3!

Throughout this episode, the crew take a deep dive into the canon story of KHUx while also taking time to recognise the 19th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts!

It's another episode and it's another huge update about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake!

Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura have been speaking to Japanese media about what to expect from Intergrade, with some loose talks about Part Two, and there's also new information about First Soldier, Ever Crisis and... Forspoken (although that's not Final Fantasy-related!)

Numerous games have gone down the path of creating a prequel and that's the main discussion for today's episode... would it be worth Square Enix making a full on Kingdom Hearts 0?

If so, what would the story look like and would it be a full-game or just a segment of another game?

After months of nothing, Square Enix decided to announce a load of news and games related to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake... all on the same day!

Throughout this episode, we're discussing Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Final Fantasy 7: The First Solider and Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis... it's going to be a hell of a ride!

After many, many years, development on the Kingdom Hearts mobile game will be ceasing as both games are now complete!

Nomura revealed the news in an open letter, where he stated that once both teams had wrapped up their current workloads they would be merged with the rest of the Kingdom Hearts team. An offline version of the game will then be made available for fans to enjoy.

Based on some new comments from Naoki Yoshida, it feels like Square Enix will be taking a more measured approach with the marketing of Final Fantasy XVI.

Throughout this episode, we discuss what this means for the next 6-12 months and why we're pleased with the comments Yoshida has made.

After many, many years, every major Kingdom Hearts game will now be coming to PC.

It sees Kingdom Hearts 1.5, 2.5, 2.8, 3 and Melody of Memories all arrive as Epic Games Store exclusive titles and there will be some exclusive keyblades available too!

Having completed our playthrough of the last Final Fantasy game to appear on the NES, it's time to have a discussion about what it brought to the table!

There's also a brief run-down of some recent Final Fantasy news, specifically relating to Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, the next expansion.

It's surreal to think it's already been two years since the release of Kingdom Hearts 3, but we thought it'd be a great time to reminisce!

We've also got some new relating to a Kingdom Hearts novel that's being released and addressing some fan concerns about burnout with the franchise.

It's the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy X and we felt it would be prudent to discuss why we hold the game with such reverence.

It leads to some interesting discussions around the specific elements that we feel make Final Fantasy X such a special experience and we hope you enjoy!

With EA's exclusivity deal now ended, does that open for the door for Star Wars characters to start appearing within the Kingdom Hearts universe?

That's the main topic of this episode, but there's also room to talk about Melody of Memory, its impact and some of the story elements that are a bit more nuanced.

The year has only just begun and there's already Final Fantasy 7 Remake speculation!

Throughout this episode, we run-through the latest Final Fantasy trademarks, discuss our views on Final Fantasy XVI and run-through the various games we're excited to see and play throughout the year!

2020 has been a pretty crazy year on all fronts, and it's been one to remember for Final Fantasy.

Throughout this episode, we have a focus on discussing the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition and the reveal of Final Fantasy XVI... as well as a brief look at our expectations for 2021!

Thank you all again for sticking with us this year <3

Kingdom Hearts is an expansive franchise that appeals to all ages, but when it is best to start?

This is one the many questions discussed on today's episode as Branden and Churro venture into other topics like SEJ's new working from home policy and Yoko Shimomura's music retrospective series!

Boss battle are always pretty intense and this episode we're running through five of the best!

It's a shorter episode this time around though, as Darryl is flying solo. It means there's not so much discussion, but at least you get to listen to Darryl rambling about stuff and attempting to justify his weird opinions!

Now that Melody of Memories has been out for a little while, we've decided to do a full-on spoilercast to run-through everything relating to the ending!

That then leads into discussions about the future of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, as there were some quotes from a recent Dengeki Interview that tie-in well with content that was shown within the ending of the game.

Final Fantasy II released not too long after its predecessor, but even though some elements were similar, others were vastly different.

During this podcast, Lauren and Darryl talk about their recent experiences with the game, running through the story, gameplay, music and why Final Fantasy II often features at the bottom of most people's tier lists!

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory has now released and we have plenty of thoughts about what was housed within!

It means we're going to be talking about gameplay and thoughts about how the final product has turned out compared to initial impressions. But there's also time for some spoiler discussion too relating to the ending and what it means for the future of the franchise!

We have new information relating to Final Fantasy XVI and we couldn't be more excited to run-through all of the tiny details that lay within!

Throughout this episode we discuss the characters and world, while also talking about what we're hoping to see from the next media blast.

With a new console generation now just weeks away, how will it affect Kingdom Hearts? Will Square Enix produce a new suite of re-releases of the original Kingdom Heart series, or will backwards compatibility suffice?

In addition to this main discussion point, there is a whole host of news to run-through, such as the potential for a collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV and how Melody of Memories came to be!

With numerous video games properties being made into Netflix shows, this episode we discuss the potential for Final Fantasy.

It makes for a lively topic, as Lauren and Darryl pick two different Final Fantasy games that could work and two different formats as well.

We hope you enjoy the discussion and we can't wait to hear what your recommendations would be!

Square Enix has released a demo for Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory and we've been playing it a ton!

Famitsu also released an interview with the composers who worked on the Kingdom Hearts 3 soundtrack and they talked in-depth about production.

In addition, there are also plenty of questions to discuss, such as the whether Kingdom Hearts will come to the Switch and viable plots for Kingdom Hearts 4!

Final Fantasy has a long and rich history and for today's episode, we figured it would be a nice change of pace to move away from Final Fantasy XVI and talk about where it all began.

It leads to a spirited discussion that has numerous segues (sorry!) and hopefully as we continue on with our journey, there will be many more opportunities to talk about the classics.

If you're interested in checking out our progress, follow us on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lozzadar

Square Enix and Disney have enough a strong relationship through Kingdom Hearts, but what if DIsney decided they no longer wanted to be part of the arrangement?

It's an interesting topic and it forms the basis for one of our main discussions on this episode, which also has updates on the latest from Melody of Memory!

Final Fantasy XVI has been officially announced and we've got a whole episode dedicated to discussing various elements that were disclosed!

In the initial sense, it means we're going to discuss the initial reaction, but there's also plenty of tangents about why we're excited about the direction and staff involved!

Darryl even gets on a bit of a soapbox!

With Melody of Memory releasing shortly, Tetsuya Nomura has already spoken about the future of the Kingdom Hearts franchise!

Speaking with Famitsu, Nomura said that fans should look forward to 2022, the franchise's 20th Anniversary and that planning has already started on the next Kingdom Hearts game.

As always, there's also plenty of questions from the community to discuss and it makes for a pretty lengthy discussion episode!

Rumours about the appearance of Final Fantasy XVI have been building up steam over the past three months and they have surfaced again on the eve of a brand new showcase for the PlayStation 5.

We discuss the signs that point towards a reveal of Final Fantasy 16 during this upcoming event and talk about how we hope things might change for the better if the game does indeed get announced.

Square Enix has revealed a whole host of details about Melody of Memory, including its release date, the price and some key story details!

Join us, as the KHU crew dive into all the latest details and answer some pretty interesting questions from the community as well!

Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition has now released and within this episode, we run-through out thoughts... warts and all.

It means we will be talking through the various enhancements and attempted improvements, with a focus on the multiplayer and how it actually works and affects the experience.

Thanks to an Austrian retailer, a potential release date for Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory has been revealed and it's sooner than you might think!

In addition to discussing what that might mean, there are plenty of questions about spirit animals, the Master of Masters and potential Remakes!

It's a game that was never made, but within this episode we delve into the possibilities that Final Fantasy X-0 would bring to the table.

For the first part, we discuss the merits of a scenario that would focus on Braska, Jecht and Auron and how they could have built this out to make it more interesting, despite us knowing small parts about the beginning, middle and end of their story.

This then shifts to how this particular narrative might appear, should it ever get made! And we round out the show with a brief look at Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition!

It's a Kingdom Hearts news bonanza episode this time around and it all kicks off with a crazy story from Japan.

This relates to the creation of Kingdom Hearts and how despite already having a decent concept, Disney Japan did not seek approval from their parent company before starting work on the game with Square.

In addition to this amazing story, there's also plenty more news and updates!

It's been a few months since the Final Fantasy 7 Remake released and Square Enix has started talking about what's next...!

Senior figures on the project, including Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase and Naoki Hamaguchi took part in an extensive segment within Famitsu and shared insights into the development of the first part and offered hints about what will appear in the future.

Episode 200 of Kingdom Hearts Union has arrived and it's time to celebrate!

For this episode, we took the extreme measure of livestreaming the recording so that as many people could join-in the celebration as possible. It should make for a slightly different experience, but one that we hope is enjoyable!

Thank you for all the support over the years, and here's to the future!

Final Fantasy has had so many great antagonists over the years... but who are our favourites?

That's the main topic of discussion today as Lauren and Darryl choose their favourite main antagonist and then choose a secondary antagonist for good measure and talk about why they feel as though the characters fit the roles in the way they do.

After a period of relative quite, Kingdom Hearts is back in the spotlight and we may have a new game to play sooner than we think!

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory has now been rated by the ESRB, which means it's perhaps further along than we thought. But not just that, Dark Road is well underway and they even just announced a brand new anime for The World Ends With You!

Music has played such an important part in the success of the Final Fantasy franchise, but everyone has different tracks that appeal to them and different reasons for why.

Within this show, we discuss personal music picks from various games, discussing why they resonated and why the types of tracks may change over time. 

We hope you enjoy this rather different style of episode!

After a whole host of announcements, the 2nd phase of the Kingdom Hearts franchise has begun!

This episode runs-through what we know about the 2nd phase, starting with Kingdom Hearts 3: Remind, Kingdom Hearts Union x Dark Road and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory!

With the PS5 now much more tangible thanks to the successful reveal event, it's time to start talking about Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PS5!

In this episode, we discuss the PS5 Reveal, bounce around the games we were interested in and then discuss the realities of how Final Fantasy 7 Remake may appear on PS5.

Then, it's a fun discussion about what the future of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Universe may look like on the PS5... spoiler free of course (in relation to the Remake, at least!)

There have been a ton of Kingdom Hearts reveals over the past two weeks and we're going to be running through all the important details!

PlayStation 5 also had its big reveal with the console showcased alongside a whole host of games and when you factor in a boat load of questions from the community, it makes for a bumper show!

As we approach the void left by E3 2020, rumours have started emanating about what might be getting revealed and some of them relate to Final Fantasy XVI.

That specific rumour spoke of its impending reveal during the Summer Games Fest, with Naoki Yoshida positioned as the director. However, Yoshida took the time to address the rumour, shooting it down by stating his commitment to Final Fantasy XIV.

In related news, Square Enix also published an interview with a new hire within Yoshida's Business Division... who was hired as the Battle Director for a brand new AAA Action RPG. The plot thickens!

Square Enix has delayed Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, citing current conditions as the reason!

We discuss what this means as well as diving into detail about the heavily rumoured CG show that's in production at Square Enix for Disney+. This comes from numerous high-profile sources and we can't wait to hear more!

This episode rests in the hands of our community, as they asked a whole host of questions about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and beyond!

It leads, as always, to plenty of interesting debates between Lauren and Darryl as they discuss NPCs they dislike, what's going on with the Crystal Chronicles Remaster and Final Fantasy XVI... outside of important questions, such as Weapons, Summons and DLC within the Final Fantasy 7 Remake!

After Epic Games showed off their new technology for the PS5/XSX, we discuss what that might mean for the Kingdom Hearts franchise in the future.

We also discuss thoughts around the potential for Kingdom Hearts to be remade in the same way as Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Would this be good for the franchise and what story could be added?

Square Enix has released the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Ultimania Guidebook and there's so much to dive into and explore (spoiler-free of course!)

There's a strong focus on nuggets the development team revealed about the development of the game, but also what the future holds for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project... and it makes for a rather passionate episode!

Cloud Strife and Sephiroth were absent from Kingdom Hearts 3... but will they return in the future? That's one of the main topics on today's episode as we answer a ton of questions from the community.

There's also some news relating to Kingdom Hearts Union x and the Summer Games Fest, a huge digital event that will be lasting for four months.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has managed to sell 3.5 Million in three days, but what does this mean for the future of this mini-franchise?

What started off as a rudimentary news episode ended up becoming a much more intense discussion about what's next for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but it also expands into Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and PlayStation's Big In Japan sale!

We hope you enjoy the heated discussions!

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has now released, and given it has Tetsuya Nomura as the director... we wanted to discuss the many similarities that exist between both games.

It makes for an interesting episode, as Branden and Churro run-through the story, gameplay and many other aspects that tie together to make a pretty comprehensive Final Fantasy experience.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake has now released worldwide and the five year saga has now closed... before another one begins!

Within this episode, we take a look at our first impressions of the game (spoiler free of course) and this relates to gameplay, presentation and with a light-touch on the story.

We hope you're all enjoying the game so far (if you picked it up!)

Dengeki had the chance to speak with Tetsuya Nomura following the release of Remind and it revealed some juicy details about the future.

For one, Nomura spoke about the similarities between Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Verum Rex... stating that despite seeming the same, in reality they are very different. There will be a connection with Kingdom Hearts, but that connection has yet to be revealed and it will be shocking.

This, and more, with another action-packed episode!

We're joined by YouTuber The Night Sky Prince (aka Ryan) on the eve of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake's release to talk all about the build-up to this monumental game.

It's a pretty hefty episode in that regard, as we talk to Ryan about how he got started on YouTube and how much things have grown over the past few years. From there, it's all about FF7R, as we talk about our history with the game and reminisce about the journey we've taken to get to where we are.

We hope you enjoy!

With Sonic showing its possible to make a decent video game movie... what if Kingdom Hearts was given the same treatment? That's one of our questions in today's episode in addition to thoughts about why Kingdom Hearts skipped the PS3 and questions Branden and Churro wish they could ask the development staff.

All that in addition to talking about the PS5/XSX hardware specifications, which have now been released into the wild!

Final Fantasy XIII is now over 10 years old, so we thought it would be rather apt to talk through some of our favourite things about the game.

We're talking characters, gameplay mechanics, story moments, music and more in this extravaganza of a retrospective episode! And we even have a special guest!

Now that some time has passed, we know way more details about what's going to be coming with Kingdom Hearts Dark Road and in this episode we're talking about platforms, cards, story and how it'll work alongside Kingdom Hearts Union x.

In addition, Churro talks about his experience at PAX and we've got plenty of questions relating to Kingdom Hearts 4 and the potential for Kairi to become a main protagonist.

There's been a huge poll conducted in Japan relating to Final Fantasy where almost 500,00 people took part and it has some interesting results!

The poll related to favourite game in the series, favourite characters and favourite pieces of music.

Join us, as we look into how the Japanese public voted as there are plenty of shocks and surprises!

Kingdom Hearts has now had quite a few entries into the franchise... but will it ever receive a definitive ending?

That's one of the main topics for today's episode, which also has a wider look at gaming throughout 2020, expectations for the PS5 and XSX and a question about what happened to Final Fantasy X's characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe.

As we get closer and closer to the release of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Square Enix are revealing more and more information!

This episode, we have quite a bit to discuss as Square Enix released the full opening cutscene, published details about a brand new NPC, who works with Professor Hojo and even talked about the quest system.

In addition, we've also got some interesting questions relating to former creators and jewellery lines... so there's plenty of topics to discuss!

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road has been revealed... but what exactly is it? All will be discussed this episode!

Initial theories relate to it being a Kingdom Hearts Union Cross rebrand, but it could be something original as well. There's also quite a lot happening with the franchise as the original games are coming to Xbox and KH All In One is getting a physical release on PS4.

Of course, there's also plenty of questions in what's another action packed episode for you all!

Square Enix surprised everyone this past week with a brand new trailer for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake... so it only makes sense to discuss the major details that were revealed!

Throughout the episode we're going to be discussing various points, from the characters and sequences that were revealed, the new details relating to the soundtrack and whether or not the trailer showed off too much.

We hope you enjoy the episode and also enjoyed the trailer!

Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:mind has been released and it conjures up plenty of discussion points that relate to the overall story and of course, the secret endings.

It's also been a bumper week for news too, with Project Xehanort announced and the reveal that two new teams are working on Kingdom Hearts titles outside of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Union x.

Music this episode is from Cateen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlVTWAjCA3A

As we kick-off 2020, there's a ton of news to run-through as one major game (Final Fantasy 7 Remake) has been delayed, and another (Mobius Final Fantasy) has been cancelled!

Both were pretty unexpected announcements, but as we discuss within the episode, it feels like the right decision based on some assumptions we're making!

We've also got an interesting question about Remakes and we take a broader look ahead to other games that we're looking forward to playing this year. Welcome back, and here's to another fantastic year!

Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is releasing pretty soon, and we're super excited to dive into the game's next chapter!

For our first episode of 2020, we're counting down to the game's launch, while also discussing some topics from the wider Kingdom Hearts community, the original voice actor for Yuffie playing the original Kingdom Hearts!

Music is from Coffee Date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b38dwMYFiuw

As we approach the end of 2019, it felt appropriate to do a big update around everything we've seen relating to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake over the past few weeks!

It means we're talking about timed exclusivity, we're talking about progression mechanics for weapons and abilities and we're talking about Choco/Mog. There's also a little bit of time for us to talk about the delay of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remaster!

Thank you all for listening to us throughout the year, next year should be a big one and we're incredibly excited!

Music this episode is by SlayerSantiago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y-gjrDwJY4

We've had a huge update on Kingdom Hearts 3 and it's been confirmed that Final Fantasy characters are coming back!

What we've seen so far confirms that Aerith, Yuffie and Squall will be featuring within Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:mind and we now have a release dates for both the PS4 and Xbox One editions (they're different!)

Music from this episode is provided by FantasyReborn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2LLahQ6Ybk

Square Enix has unleashed a whole load of new information relating to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and within this episode, we're going to be delving into some of it.

Our main focus will be around the developer interviews, as Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura, Kazushige Nojima and Motomu Toriyama each had interesting anecdotes to share with us adoring fans.

Music this episode is from Papos!

Square Enix must have been listening to our previous show as the original Kingdom Hearts games (1.5 + 2.5) are now coming to Xbox!

But that's just the tip of the iceberg for this episode as there's a whole host of news to cover as well as plenty of questions to sift through!

There have been a ton of different female protagonists featured in the Final Fantasy franchise... but who's the best one? Well, that's our main topic of discussion for this episode!

For this particular topic, we'll be running through each major female protagonist talking about what they brought to their individual game, but also the franchise as a while before each deciding on our favourite!

Outside of that, we've got a ton of different questions from the community focussed around Final Fantasy XVI!

We spoke last episode about recruitment for a new Kingdom Hearts game, but it goes much deeper than that as the Kingdom Hearts team are now part of Business Division 1. What does this mean? Well, join us to find out!

We're also discussing fun topics such as, why did the Kingdom Hearts HD collections never launch on Xbox or Switch and whether releasing numbered titles episodically would be a good move for the franchise.

Music this episode is from SilverTom93: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGsOR9-0WqI

Hajime Tabata departed Square Enix just over a year ago and we felt like it was an apt time to review what happened and see where it's left us

As part of this, we're reviewing the legacy of Final Fantasy XV, but also looking at Luminous Studios' output since his departure. And of course, we're taking a look what Tabata has been up to since he left Square Enix!

Music this episode is from daigoro789: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKx5zMHbSrI

Square Enix is hiring for staff to develop a new HD Kingdom Hearts experience... is this Kingdom Hearts 4? Among the roles were a UI Designer, Technical Artist and Effect Designer.

With the PlayStation 5 also being unveiled in an official capacity, with plans for a Holiday 2020 release, does this also have any impact on on the future of Kingdom Hearts?

There's plenty to discuss on this episode, and we hope you enjoy!

Music this episode is from Lost Son: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqYYThVDdQU

Final Fantasy XVI may well be in development at Square Enix and who knows, after Final Fantasy VII Remake Part One releases, we may learn more about it... but the key question we're discussing on today's episode is how it should be structured.

Square Enix has had a few multi-part experiences in the past two decades, with the most recent example being the Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy, but with the Final Fantasy VII Remake also being multi-part, it begs the question... should Final Fantasy XVI follow a similar approach? 

Music this episode is from Hashel05: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX3MAHwwFRo

Tetsuya Nomura has just turned 49, so we look back at some of his best moments... which of course has a heavy focus on the Kingdom Hearts franchise!

As always, there's also an absolute boat load of questions, which Branden, Churro and Emily run-through. These explore topics such as... whether we'll ever get to do to the Destiny Islands main island and whether Scala Ad Caelum is evidence of cut content within Kingdom Hearts 3!

Music this episode is from Ferdk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRdwmG8vYzA

With Final Fantasy having such a rich history when it comes to spin-off titles, we figured it was a good time to talk through some of our dream spin-offs!

It creates a lengthy conversation as we talk through SIX potential spin-offs that could exist, although some of this does depend on what your interpretation of a spin-off actually is!

Music this episode is provided by Atilist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk-bpikgTGs

Kingdom Hearts is now almost two decades old, but there have been plenty of other games released since then across a multitude of platforms. Within today's episode, we're discussing which games should be remade, to help bring them to a wider audience.

We've also plenty of discussion points around the Kingdom Hearts 3 Soundtrack and which characters won't be appearing as the franchise moves in a new direction.

Music this episode is by Moises Nieto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV6MPgZNK8A

There was a whole host of new details revealed about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake at TGS 2019 and we've got it all covered!

As everything came in two halves, we've decided to structure this episode the same way and it means we're talking all about the new character reveals, the new story sequences, the new gameplay mechanics and of course, the mini-games!

Music this episode is by Alex Moukala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJiZCD1soMc

As Kingdom Hearts turns 17, we look back at the game that started it all! It leads to numerous discussions about what the game meant as well as how it was able to spawn such a successful franchise.

There's also plenty of time to recap on the 6th Keybearers Alliance Gathering that took place on the 14th of September and had some special guests in attendance!

We hope you enjoy the lengthy reminiscing, as well as some awesome questions from the community!

With Final Fantasy 8 Remastered just having released, we felt like it was the perfect time to run through some of the good it brought, but also highlight some of the downsides that have sprung up.

It means we'll be talking about nostalgia and all that good stuff, while also running our critical eye over what Square Enix has actually done and whether or not it warrants a re-purchase.

Music this episode is by Megalorganiste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LffRoM0H7BU

With Kingdom Hearts 3's secret ending offering up so much, we discuss what it means for future worlds!

While we wait though, the crew reflect on other games that have been taking up their time since Kingdom Hearts 3, while looking forward to games they're excited for in the near future.

Music this episode is by: dreamEater (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnDnLBGnXoc)

With Gamescom 2019 now behind us, we reflect on how the show panned out from a Final Fantasy perspective.

Both the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VIII Remastered featured, but what was the showing like? Well, that's an interesting subject.

In addition, we're also running through a whole host of questions, ranging from characters we'd like to see in Smash through to what kind of soap Tidus would be!

Music this episode is from TroyGarner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb9-xnJLJ9c

It's time to get all nostalgic as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the podcast with plenty of fun discussions and even a special guest!

Given how much time has passed, we reflect on how much things have changed over the past 10 years, from the core root of the series itself, through to the community and how the show has even changed in that time!

We hope you enjoy the reminiscing.

Music this episode is by Kayou: https://soundcloud.com/kayouremix/kingdom-hearts-dearly-beloved-kayou-remix

Final Fantasy X was a fantastic game in so many ways and this episode is all about celebrating the greatness of the game!

We'll have a focus on some of our favourite characters, pieces of music and specific scenes... all while talking about some distinct memories we have from playing the game. Darryl also manages to get confused multiple times, so it's a win win!

Music this episode is from BitSymphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2mFfOH0lzg

Now that enough time has passed, one of the main questions discussed on Episode 176 of Kingdom Hearts Union relates to the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3 and whether any changes needed to be made.

There's also another fantastic question around which other Disney companions would be good for accompanying Sora... outside of Donald and Goofy!

Music this episode is by Karim Kamar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUvrFGPeZ8Q

Throughout the years we have been blessed with some fantastic intros to Final Fantasy games, and this episode we're going to be delving into what made them so special.

To do that, we'll be taking a look at the various aspects that a beginning contains, such as the narrative passage, the structure the developers chose to use and how unique it was in comparison to what had come before!

Music this episode is from Baschfire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb9ck2W6_0k

We've been desperate to learn more about what's in store for Kingdom Hearts VR and now we know as some new updates have gone live that bring a new location and control schemes.

We also got to learn just how well Kingdom Hearts 3 did following a report about the best selling games of 2019 so far and of course, there's always time for some questions from the community!

Music this episode is from J-Music Ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLP2hTC5KrU

You knew it was going to keep on happening, but after a blunder by Xbox, rumours have started up again about whether or not the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will appear on Xbox One.

We've also got plenty of fun topics to discuss elsewhere, including a discussion about Final Fantasy XIV, whether we think Square Enix are taking enough risks as a company and oddly enough, what a materia-flavoured pizza might taste like...!

Music this episode is provided by bGevko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_aEC2UZgwQ

With Kingdom Hearts now releasing on the Xbox, the next logical step would surely be the PC... so will that ever happen? That's one of the main topics we're discussing today on Kingdom Hearts Union, as we take a whole host of questions from the community.

Other topics also include whether Sora should be recast and why video games take so long to create these days.

Music this episode is provided by Ro Panuganti: https://gamelark.bandcamp.com/album/hearts-of-light

We've made it to Episode 200 of the Final Fantasy Union podcast, which is so crazy to think about considering where we came from. That's why we felt it was rather apt this episode to take a look at some of the moments that helped to shape who we are today.

So, strap yourselves in, as you're in a for an extensive trip down memory lane as we look back and react to some of the podcast's earlier moments.

We hope you enjoy and continue to enjoy listening for the next 100+ episodes!

Even though E3 2019 was a few weeks ago now, information from Japanese publications has started to drip-feed out and there's so much to digest!

Famitsu were able to speak to Tetsuya Nomura in quite a lot of depth about the new Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMIND trailer, the content housed within the DLC and when we're going to expect it.

We've also got a fantastic question from the community around Square Enix's next move with the Kingdom Hearts franchise... exciting stuff!

Music this episode is from SilverTom93: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n44Zq9SGpY0 

From a Final Fantasy perspective, E3 2019 was something of a dream show, as Square Enix featured a whole host of Final Fantasy games... including the Final Fantasy 7 Remake!

This episode, we're taking an extensive dive into everything they showed off, including Tifa Lockhart, the gameplay and talk about the future of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project!

There's also a quick recap of everything else we liked from the show too, so we hope you enjoy the rather lengthy episode!

Music this episode is provided by TeraCMusic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKIJLBEftPI

E3 2019 is well underway and we've received plenty of information about Kingdom Hearts 3 thanks to a brand new trailer!

It means we have plenty to discuss, as lots of information was released around Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind such as how the story will evolve and of course, the planned release window!

There's also a question from the community relating to whether Kingdom Hearts 3 will appear on the PS5/Project Scarlett and if so, what features would we want?

With E3 2019 just around the corner, it felt like the perfect time to talk about exactly we think (and hope) Square Enix will show off relating to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake!

It means we'll be covering a wide range of topics, from when we expect them to show elements, through to which characters they will reveal, what we will learn about gameplay and music and of course, whether or not Square Enix will choose to announce a release date for the first part!

In addition, we also have a fantastic question from the community thanks to Connor, who wanted us to discuss the differences between Japanese and English dialogue.

Music this episode is provided by the Celestial Aeon Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L83c_rpINs

Kingdom Hearts fans, E3 2019 is just around the corner so of course it's time for the rumour mill to begin as we've got plenty of speculation to discuss... including, whether Kingdom Hearts will even be at this year's premiere video game showcase!

It means we'll be delving into numerous topics, such as whether Nomura will give any hints around new Kingdom Hearts titles and whether they will show off any of the Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC... or even potentially reveal more!

We of course have some questions to run-through and we'd also like to introduce Emily to the Kingdom Hearts Union crew as a new co-host!

Music this episode is provided by RoboRob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxABCr41Aug

Wow, what a week it's been for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake! Even though it was only a teaser trailer, it revealed a whole host of details and we're going to be running through them all today.

We'll be talking about the reveal of Aerith, the re-reveal of the other characters like Cloud and Barret and the sprucing up for the game's many other aspects compared to what we saw almost three years ago now.

It makes for plenty of passionate discussion, as the hype has very much been reinvigorated!

Music this episode is provided by Rozen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpXtRt6hM4Q

With a few months now having passed, it's time to delve into some of Kingdom Hearts 3's secrets!

That means for this episode we'll be running through the game's epilogue, secret ending and secret reports and running through some of the various theories and interpretations that have been established.

We've also got a time for a question from the community too, to round out what's another bumper episode of the show!

Music this episode is from PianoPrinceOfAnime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbWBQnvC2wY

Final Fantasy has been such an expansive franchise, but with so many games to choose from... how could you ever just pick one?

Well, that's our challenge today, as we discuss with main-line game we'd like to play for the rest of our lives, while also discussing how we'd make the same decision with the franchise's mobile titles.

In addition, we've got some cracking questions round expanded stories with other potential Final Fantasy remakes and also, delving into how Final Fantasy XIII actually manage to spawn two sequels!

Music this episode is by FalKKonE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFBmSTFQ9rg

Not only do we have the EPIC conclusion to our Kingdom Hearts 3 review, but we've also had a huge news blast where ReMIND was announced!

Yep, it's a two-part episode this time around, as the big finale gets some in-depth discussion as each of the conflicts is broken down in some rather granular detail.

And then, there's the news blast. Not only have they announced Critical Mode, but Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMIND was also unveiled. It will come with plenty of paid and free content - plenty to keep us busy!

Music this episode is provided by Luna Lorrain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22v9OLyh1X0

With E3 2019 getting ever-closed, we decided to take a look this episode at how we'd like to see Square Enix utilise the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII within the Final Fantasy 7 Remake!

Yep, we're going to be talking about utilising characters from Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus and how post-launch popularity of certain characters could also sway their decisions!

We've got a specific focus around characters featured within Midgar, but there's plenty of room for discussions around Professor Gast, Cissnei, Zack Fair and Genesis!

Music this episode is provided by FamilyJules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ZGC3FTtqI

It's time for the next part of our rather extensive review, which sees a two-hour special for the Keyblade Graveyard!

As we've done in our previous review episodes, there's a significant focus around the story... but we'll also be looking at the level design and general gameplay, the visual presentation and the general impression it left on us!

We've also got a question about the possibility of the Kingdom Hearts franchise appearing on Nintendo Switch!

Music this episode is provided by UprisingGrand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emTmH1Mv5dA

With the start of Square Enix's new financial year, there's been plenty of change afoot! 

It's seen a continuation of the changes we saw at the end of last year when Hajime Tabata left to pursue new ventures, as Hideo Baba (Head of Studio Istolia) has also now resigned from the company.

Square Enix have also published more information around the restructure that's seen the business divisions merged, to hopefully make development efforts much more streamlined.

Oh, there's a small piece of news too, relating to a large-scale project that YoshiP is working on, that the Final Fantasy VII Remake!

Music this episode is from Sschafi1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMqVgKAAnvY

Even though Kingdom Hearts 3 has now been out for a little while, our extensive review is continuing in earnest and this episode we're tackling The Caribbean and San Fransokyo!

We've also got a fantastic discussion topic that was suggested from the community around the lyrics of Chikai and Don't Think Twice and what they symbolise, so we hope you enjoy our deep dive into that particular topic!

Music this episode is from Musicality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWngOE5pm4

To celebrate Nobuo Uematsu's birthday, we figured it would be a fantastic opportunity to have a show dedicated to his career so far!

Having joined Square back in 1985, Uematsu-san has gone on to have such an impactful career within the video game music industry,  not least due to his involvement with the Final Fantasy franchise.

It's a testament to his talents that he was able to have so much longevity, with his older works will standing up decades later.

For this episode, we run-through his career, including the highs and lows, as well as a brief interlude into what the legendary composer is doing these days!

Music this episode is from EDM producers BOSSFIGHT and NewGamePlus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8HcjqQOIFw

We have a very special guest this episode, as we're interviewing Tasha Sounart, who works at Pixar and was a consultant on Kingdom Hearts 3!

In a wide-ranging interview, we ask Tasha about numerous things like... how involvement with Kingdom Hearts 3 actually came around and the relationship that evolved with the Kingdom Hearts team!

But that's not all.... as the gang also continue their discussions around Kingdom Hearts 3! This episode it's all about Monstropolis and Arrendale, so hopefully you enjoy that too!

Our music this episode is from the very talented Ru's Piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWngOE5pm4

We've ventured into antagonists, so it's only fair that we venture into the world of protagonists... but that's not all this episode!

Outside of discussing the various protagonists that have graced the Final Fantasy franchise over the years, we're also taking a look at potential cross-over games that would benefit from classic Final Fantasy mechanics.

Oh, and we also have a rather extensive news update for you all, so hopefully you enjoy that!

Music this episode is provided by Belzifer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEWbtoU4mik. Make sure you comment on his video to let him know we sent you!

With the release of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Ultimania, we've gained access to a whole host of glorious information and we're going to be delving into all of it today!

There's numerous topics to discuss, from what the DLC may be (including Critical Model and Kingdom Hearts 3 Final Mix), but also what may happen next with the franchise and some of the more nuanced pieces of information around why certain decisions were made and even cut content!

It's another extensive episode, so we hope you enjoy the discussions!

Episode Ardyn Prologue has been released in preparation for Episode Ardyn and it was pretty intense!

This episode, we're running through Episode Ardyn Prologue (spoiler free) talking about what they've looked to achieve and how the various characters were portrayed.

But... we're also running through the Q&A they released alongside the Prologue, where they talk about what's to come and also their motivations around producing it in the first place!

It's time for Part 2 of our rather extensive review of Kingdom Hearts 3 and this time we're talking about a few more worlds!

Branden is joined by Churro for the 2nd part of our review, which focusses on the Toy Box and Kingdom of Corona worlds. We'll focus on how the story played out in these worlds, as well as the visuals and gameplay elements that Square Enix brought to the table.

There's also time for some questions for the community, with an emphasis on romance and the removal of it from the Disney storylines.

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Final Fantasy VIII, we decided to have a special fangasm episode...!

That's right, we're joined by Chris (aka Hoogathy) for this episode, as we're running through our favourite characters, favourite moments and favourite pieces of music from what a rather special game in the Final Fantasy franchise.

We hope you enjoy our discussions, as we reminisce on why this game meant so much to us all when it released 20 years ago and all the times we've played it since!

Kingdom Hearts 3 has now released and we couldn't be more excited! Join us, as we talk through our impressions of the early sections of the game!

Yep, as we had to wait such a long time, we're also going to taking our time with this review. For this first part, we're going to be running through the initial worlds that feature in Kingdom Hearts 3 with a specific focus on the story, level design and gameplay, presentation and general lasting impressions.

Not only that, but we also have a boat load of questions from the community to run-through. It's a mega episode and we hope you enjoy it!

With so many to choose from, this episode we're talking all about our favourite Final Fantasy antagonists!

Yep, that's right... we're going to be running through the various villains we've seen since the Final Fantasy franchise started and discussing what they brought to the table in their respective games. 

Then, as you'd expect, we talk through which are our favourites, while naturally providing some solid rationales behind why we feel certain antagonists did a better job than others!

As we venture further into 2019, there's plenty to discuss and this episode we're talking remakes, first impressions when playing games and whether the franchise has lost its gameplay mojo!

Yes, that's right, it's time for a full-on questions episode as we delve into some rather interesting topics such as... what our first impressions were when playing Final Fantasy 8, whether or not you should buy Final Fantasy Type-0 and whether Square Enix should go down the route of remaking other titles.

As you can imagine, it leads to some rather interesting discussions, so we hope you enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts 3 is so close now, we can almost touch it and that's why we've got a super long episode as a precursor to the biggest release in the franchise's history!

Even though we're so close though, there's still plenty of room for speculation around what we will see within the final product. But before any of that happens, there's also talk about how Nomura has decided to fight back against those who are trying to play leaked copies of the game... what exactly that means for in the wider context!

It makes for an action-packed episode... and we hope it helps to tide you over until the release of Kingdom Hearts 3!

Happy New Year everyone! To kick things off, we thought it would be rather interesting to dive into the mystery that is... Hiroyuki Ito!

In the earlier days of the franchise, Hiroyuki Ito was one of the stars of the company, having a prominent hand in the majority of Final Fantasy games that released. However, in recent years, Ito has been missing from the limelight. But why?

We run-through everything this legendary game designer has done for the franchise, before speculating around what he's actually up to and why.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is now in the wild following a leak... so with just over a month until the game's official release, there will be plenty of spoilers rolling around!

That's why we felt it would be a good idea to do an episode on how to avoid Kingdom Hearts 3 spoilers, as they can come from numerous sources these days!

We've also got a few questions from the community, including... how long we'll have to wait until we see Kingdom Hearts 4!

It's been a rather interesting year for Final Fantasy with some definite highs and lows, so to round-out the year, we thought it would be rather appropriate to pick-out some key moments!

Yes, that means we'll be talking about Final Fantasy XV's DLC, the launch of Dissidia NT and the interesting announcements that were thrown our way during TGS 2018!

On top of that, there's also a little recap about our lives outside of Final Fantasy! 

Thank you all so much for your support throughout another year and here's to 2019!

It's true, according to Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts 3 is now officially complete... they've finished working on the main game and to celebrate they've released a new trailer!

Not only that, but there are more trailers and videos to come throughout December and the pre-order bonuses have been revealed!

There was also a ton of information released about Pixar's involvement with Kingdom Hearts 3 and it sounds pretty intense to say the least!

We're talking about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake in-depth this episode... sort of!

Tetsuya Nomura has been speaking to the press about his frustrations... with the press, so we delve into what that actually means. Does he have a point and whose fault is it? Also, what's actually even going on with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake... will it now be appearing on the PlayStation 5? There's so much to discuss!

On top of that, there's also some news updates relating to Dissidia NT, Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XIII!

As part of Microsoft's X018 event, we got to see a new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer and there was a ton of new details revealed!

We got to hear Master Xehanort's new voice, some new footage from Big Hero Six and some new spoilerific scenes featuring Sora, Axel and Kairi! It means there's an absolute boat load of things to discuss and with Sabrina and Churro joining Branden, there are loads if opinions too!

In addition, there's also a question from the community about the Radiant Garden being offered up as potential downloadable content.

Shocked doesn't even begin to describe how we're feeling after everything that's happened this week as not only has Hajime Tabata stepped down as the Director/Producer of Final Fantasy XV, he's also quit Square Enix entirely!

The majority of the planned DLC episodes for Final Fantasy XV have also been cancelled, with Episode Ardyn the only survivor. It means there's plenty to discuss on this episode; starting with... how did this even happen?

Outside of that, there's also a small news segment, with some updates around World of Final Fantasy and Dissidia NT!

Last time we talked about whether or not it would work as a movie or tv show and so in light of Kingdom Hearts III's attraction flow mechanics., this episode we're discussing whether or not Kingdom Hearts would work as a Disneyland ride.

As we're getting closer and closer to the release date of Kingdom Hearts III, we're seeing the game pop up at many trade shows. Its most recent appearance at Lucca Comics and Games 2018 saw a new trailer focused around the Tangled world.

There was also an announcement about a new single called "Face my Fears" and we close out the episode answering questions from the community. Which Disney film do we want featured in a future game? Well, listen to find out!

Fan theories have been swirling around for quite some time, but what's their impact on the wider lore of the Final Fantasy franchise? Well, that's what's being discussed on the podcast as touch on some of the more prominent fan theories that have done the rounds, and discuss the impact they've had.

As part of this, we also look at comments that have been made by the creators on this particular topic, with some being more open to the works of fans than others!

With Disney becoming more heavily involved with Kingdom Hearts 3, there's always the potential for expansion... but what about as a movie or TV show?

That's one of the main topics for the show this episode, as one of our community members is keen to see our thoughts about how Kingdom Hearts could continue to grow after the release of Kingdom Hearts 3.

There is, of course, also plenty of news relating to Kingdom Hearts 3 and it looks like Union Cross is also getting an update!

Dissidia NT has been out for quite some time now, but things haven't gone as planned... so what's next?

This episode, we discuss a recent marketing campaign that Square Enix has launched to try and promote Dissidia NT, but we go further back, looking at why the launch didn't yield the expected results and why their strategy since then perhaps hasn't helped.

It all leads onto what's next for the game. Will Season Pass Two help to revitalise the game, or should they look at different approaches to try and bring players in?

With the launch of Kingdom Hearts 3 getting closer and closer, Square Enix are looking to build the hype wherever possible! And that's seen them announce a brand-new compilation game called Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far.

It will act as a full Kingdom Hearts collection on the PS4, including six games and three movie-length cutscenes!

Outside of that, the game's opening song has been announced and it's being co-written by Utada and Skrillex! There's also been hints that Sephiroth will be making an appearance in Kingdom Hearts 3!

With the recent birth of our second child, Darryl is flying solo this episode... but that doesn't mean there will be any less to discuss as the games as a service topic has raised its head again following an interview with Final Fantasy XV's director Hajime Tabata!

Darryl runs through the merits of the approach in relation to Final Fantasy XV, talking about the lessons that can be learnt and applied to future iterations. But it's also about understanding what exactly it means for games to act as a service, as opposed to a standalone packaged offering.

In addition, there's also plenty of questions to run-through, including favourite summon mechanics, opinions on the Ultimania Archive guide books and what we think about Caius and Noel as characters!

Kingdom Hearts 3 had a strong showing at this year's Tokyo Game Show, with plenty of new stuff shown!

First up, we finally received footage of Big Hero 6! This was announced some time ago, but until now we had only seen a piece of key art; that's all changed thanks to a brand new trailer!

There were also new story sequences revealed, some information about returning characters and there's also plenty of interesting morsels from an interview with Tetsuya Nomura... including talking about the secret ending!

We're now approaching the end of the 31st anniversary for Final Fantasy, and we just had a ton of announcements! Were these the games Hashimoto was talking about throughout last year? Who knows!

Either way, we couldn't be more excited about the announcement of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition and with more content coming to World of Final Fantasy, classic games coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and the announcement of a Chocobo Dungeons remaster, it was quite the explosion!

With the Tokyo Game Show not even underway yet, there's also the chance that we may get even more news too - so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Tokyo Game Show 2018 proposes to be a pretty huge event for the Kingdom Hearts franchise with plenty of stuff already confirmed! And that's what this episode is all about, building the hype and discussing what's going to be at the actual show.

Outside of that, there are plenty of updates relating to Kingdom Hearts Union X and we have the customary questions, which relate to side content in Kingdom Hearts 3 and unrealised potential within the franchise!

There's been another mini Kingdom Hearts 3 news explosion, but we've also had some rather interesting questions asked this episode!

As part of a new wave of press, the Kingdom Hearts 3 team have spoken more about the role of the Gummi Ship in this latest iteration, that there will be secret World Bosses that they won't reveal before launch and they also went into detail about the whole localisation process.

We've also got some great questions from the community around unexpected worlds we think will appear in Kingdom Hearts 3, other characters we'd like to play as and whether we think the next game will act as a reboot for the franchise!

With Square Enix focusing so heavily on remakes and remasters in recent years, has this been hindering their creative efforts elsewhere? That's the main topic of our show today, as we talk through the pros and cons of remakes and remasters!

In addition, we've also got a whole host of questions from the community, relating to topics such as Final Fantasy X-3, likes/dislikes when it comes to the various mobile titles and whether or not we think there will ever be another game released within the Final Fantasy Tactics franchise!

It's an action-packed episode full of plenty of discussions!

Perhaps it's too early to think about it, but that's where we're heading this episode... as we we're taking a look at what's next for Kingdom Hearts as we progress beyond 2019.

Of course though, there's still plenty of time for some news and with Gamescom on the horizon, there's going to be a ton of stuff to look forward to and discuss!

There's also the classic question about how to best prepare for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 - are you guys going to start right at the beginning and have a huge marathon?

With Octopath Traveler doing so well, should it have been positioned as a Final Fantasy game? That's the topic we're discussing today, and we also branch it out into wider games like the Bravely series.

It makes for an interesting debates about the merits of being associated with Final Fantasy, or whether it's sometimes better to go it alone!

In addition, we've also got numerous questions from bosses that we think would be good parents, through to who we think should be the main composer on Final Fantasy XVI!

With so much happening right now related to Kingdom Hearts 3, we often have to pick and choose what we cover, so today, we're running through the news that we often don't cover!

So, we're talking about game length, Nendoroids and interesting prize draws that are being run in Japan at the moment! There's also time for a bit of news about Kingdom Hearts Union Cross!

Outside of that, there's a whole host of questions to run-through, relating to the best numbered titles, how certain characters may have an impact on the story of Kingdom Hearts 3 and the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded!

We're taking plenty of questions this episode, and our main topic delves into the realm of us... becoming the CEO of Square Enix!

It makes for some interesting discussions and some unique angles as to where and why Square Enix should focus on certain things!

Outside of that, we've got a whole host of other questions related to the enemies we feel most guilty about beating up, through to Dissidia NT characters and future remakes!

Nomura has been conducting interviews in Japan, and it means there are a ton of new juicy details being released about Kingdom Hearts 3.

It means we've got some new information about Twilight Town, mini-games and weapons from the Frozen World, and the fact there won't be a demo that's made available to the public. Nomura has also clarified that the aim of Kingdom Hearts 3 is to make sure everyone's story is settled, so therefore the number of characters featured will be enormous!

We've also got a rather interesting discussion about the topic of dubbing in non-English/Japanese languages, so hopefully you enjoy!

Expanded universes have become more common place, but is it a good thing? It's time for a good ol' discussion as we explore the topic back to its roots and relate it to our expectations around Final Fantasy XVI.

It means we'll be discussing the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and the Fabula Nova Crystallis sub-franchise, but we'll also be looking at some of the sequels, like Final Fantasy X-2 and Revenant Wings.

Hopefully you enjoy the discussions, it's a long one!

There's been a huge news explosion around Kingdom Hearts 3, as Tetsuya Nomura has talked about numerous topics, such as what we can expect from the Pirates of the Caribbean world, a secret movie and what we should expect from the game's downloadable content!

We're also pleased to welcome one of our Patreon supporters onto the show to discuss loads of fun topics, including their journey into Kingdom Hearts and what their expectations are for Kingdom Hearts 3.

On top of that there's also a question from the community relating to Don't Think Twice!

For today's episode we talk through everything that happened in and around the announcement of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake! To clarify though, we aren't stuck in a time warp, it's more that Nomura has just given some additional details as to why they announced it so far before they were ready to release it!

It leads to a rather lengthy discussion on the pressures of the video games industry, different practises Square Enix have employed and what we generally feel about the announcement.

On top of that, we've also got a small news update to round out the show, as well as an awesome arrangement of the main theme from Final Fantasy VII!

 E3 2018 has come and gone and we have a ton of stuff to discuss with you about Kingdom Hearts 3 from the event.

We have the pre-E3 announcements like the official Kingdom Hearts 3 release date from the Orchestra World Tour concert. the trailers they showed off at E3, to director Tetsuya Nomura's interview answers post E3.

Let's hope it won't be too long now till we get our next morsels of information.

With E3 2018 well under way, it's time for us to discuss how we think things are going so far from the perspective of Final Fantasy!

That means we'll be talking all about the Square Enix showcase, amongst some brief conversations about the other press conferences that took place. Unfortunately though, Final Fantasy hasn't been a big focus for Square Enix at this year's show, with only a few small pieces of information coming out.

Still, that doesn't mean there isn't a lot to talk about, so join us as we discuss E3 2018 so far!

E3 is just around the corner, so it's time for some prediction madness (and some news!)

Yep, that's right, this episode we're running through all of the pre-E3 2018 news related to Kingdom Hearts 3, including the playable demo and the concert that will be taking place.

Then it's onto the big ticket item itself, Kingdom Heart 3's presence at E3 outside of the demo. The guys discuss thing such as new trailers, the theme song, voice acting, Final Fantasy characters, new worlds and of course, the release date!

To round out the episode, we then have some classic questions relating to the future of Kingdom Hearts after the third major game releases and DLC.

E3 2018 is only a few very short weeks away, so we felt it was the perfect time to run-through some of our juicy predictions for what we think they'll show!

We've decided to therefore split it into two segments. First-up, there's our "dream list" of Final Fantasy content; stuff that we would absolutely love to see, but we appreciate that there's a degree of luck involved. Then there's the "dead cert" stuff, that's almost guaranteed to be there.

To round things out, we've also got a small news update! It's good to be back, hopefully you didn't miss us too much!

We were lucky enough to be invited to play Kingdom Hearts 3 at the Kingdom Hearts 3 Premier Invitation Event in Los Angeles... and we're going to tell you all about it, as Churro is reporting on location this episode!

To give you a quick run-down on the aspects we're going to cover... of course we're going to look at the demo contents, how great it looked, the different mechanics available, the worlds and the mini-games. But, oh, there's so much more!

And even though there's so much to talk about, there's even a small questions segment at the end of the episode!

We've unfortunately had to delay episode 172 of Final Fantasy Union due to illness. Hopefully we'll be on the mend soon so that we can still record a show, but it'll likely come out this weekend.

Apologies that we couldn't make it work this time around guys, we've really tried, but our voices just aren't up to the task :(

We've learnt some new details about the release of Utada's theme tune for Kingdom Hearts 3, and there's speculation that it may coincide with the release of a new trailer in or around E3 2018.

Branden also quizzes Churro about his newfound obsession with Union Cross, and the how he feels about getting the chance to play some of Kingdom Hearts 3!

On top of that, there's also plenty of time for some questions to round out this rather action-packed episode of Kingdom Hearts goodness!

It's time to look to the future, so this episode we're talking about our hopes and dreams for Final Fantasy XVI!

We'll be running through numerous topics relating to Final Fantasy XVI, including when we think it'll actually be announced, what kind of experience we're looking to see and when we think it'll be released.

We're also got a ton of questions this episode where we'll be discussing mini-games, Theatrhythm, music and underrated Final Fantasy games!

Not too long ago, Square Enix hosted an event for KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ[Cross] and there was tons of stuff there! 

This ranged from Kingdom Hearts 3 mini-games that were available to play, through to a new trailer for the game being shown off to those in attendance. It means there's an absolute boat load of things to discuss!

As always, we also have a ton of questions to answer and this time we're talking about the potential for an expanded Hundred Acre Wood story, the Keyblade War and potential future episodes of the podcast!

We've known it's been coming, but the new wave of DLC for Final Fantasy XV has now been fully revealed.

This episode Darryl and Lauren spend some time talking through the different Episodes that were revealed during PAX East 2018, including the content they will contain and when they will actually release.

There's also some other news relating to Final Fantasy XV in the form of Comrades becoming a standalone and some updates to the Windows Edition!

And, we're also talking about Final Fantasy cross-over titles. Which games would we like to see blend together with our beloved franchise? 

It's time to talking some newmors this episode, as a voice actor has said they're working on a new "Kingdom of Hearts" game. Another voices have also said they're working on a game, but which one is it?

Branden, Churro and Sabrina discuss the possibilities here, while also tackling some rather intricate questions.

They'll be talking about whether they'd want a remake of the original Kingdom Hearts, but using Kingdom Hearts 3 as a base, and what they think will happen with saving in Kingdom Hearts 3, as the games often have a more traditional save system.

This episode, inspired by re-watching Disney's Robin Hood, we're discussing entry points into the franchise, and how that may affect opinions about the older games!

It leads to a discussion around the storytelling we've seen in the different eras and whether or not newer fans will have the same positive experience when going back to play older titles.

In addition, there's also a smidgen of news coverage! We've got some updates to the Final Fantasy XV Universe, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and even a little bit extra on the side!

Can you believe that the Kingdom Hearts franchise is now 16 years old? We can't either! And that's what we're talking about today as Branden is joined by Churro to talk about what it's like to have been a fan throughout the years.

The guys also talk about how their perceptions have changed over time, whether or not the wait has been worth it to see a conclusion to the Xehanort saga and where they want the series to go now!

And of course, there are the customary questions about all sorts of things, from Kingdom Hearts 3 appearing on Switch to some classic lore.

We hope you enjoy!

We've got a bit of a chance of pace this episode, as Darryl and Lauren talk through some pieces of Final Fantasy music that really resonate with them.

Each of hosts has to select four pieces of music that personify a game in the franchise, music that gets them pumped or psyched to experience it!

Outside of that, we're also looking at some of the recent news, such as Noctis appear in Tekken 7, Vayne arriving in Dissidia NT and some new board members at Square Enix!

With Final Fantasy XV receiving so much DLC, we turn our attentions to what this might mean for Kingdom Hearts 3. It's one of the main questions that Branden and Churro run-through this episode, which also features a ton of other discussions.

There's even more detailed analysis from the D23 Expo video, including some snippets from Nomura about the fact everything they've shown is still very much a WIP. We've also got more information on the Gummi Ship and some new details around the Tangled World!

And to round out the episode, we've got a question about Sora's changing hair colour!

Enjoy :D

There's going to be even more DLC created for Final Fantasy XV, but how do we feel about this - has it ruined the overall experience? That's one of the questions tackled by Lauren and Darryl in this episode, amongst many, many others!

We're also talking about classic Square/Square Enix franchises that could potentially be revived, what kind of remake we'd like to see for future Final Fantasy titles and flat out, whether or not we think they should just stop producing more content for Final Fantasy XV!

It makes for a rather interesting episode, with plenty of different points of view on display and it's all rounded out with a sweet guitar arrangement!

We hope you guys enjoy!

We had so much Kingdom Hearts 3 news at D23 that we decided to dive into even more analysis this episode, as well as answering some pertinent questions!

It sees Branden, Churro and Sabrina discuss the D23 trailers in much more depth, as well as the worlds we now know will appear in Kingdom Hearts 3.

In addition, we've got three rather tasty questions related to Young Xehanort, potential Kingdom Hearts 3 censorship and Organisation XIII!

We hope you guys enjoy!

It's been a while since we've focussed on Final Fantasy news, but we've got a whole episode dedicated to it this time around!

Yep, we're going to be looking in-detail about how Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT performed after launch, from the perspective of sales and also from its critical reception. We've also got a small update regarding the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and then some rather extensive opinions about the Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition and its additional story content!

We hope you guys enjoy the episode!

D23 Expo just happened in Japan and there was a HUGE array of news relating to Kingdom Hearts 3!

Not only did we get an awesome new trailer, it revealed a whole host of new information, including a brand new world... Monsters Inc! This has been rumoured for a while, but it's great to see it fully realised.

We also got to see the Tangled world in action, learn more about the Toy Story world and Utada Hikaru's new theme tune was revealed to the world for the first time!

There's also a ton more discussed, so make sure you're fully tuned in for this bumper episode!

Dissidia NT has now been out for a week and we've got an extensive discussion about how we feel!

We'll be covering lots of different topics, from the story and the gameplay, through to the voice acting! And we'll be talking about it a lot, providing some constructive feedback where we feel it's necessary!

On top of that, we've also got questions from the community relating to 3rd party characters in Dissidia, favourite locations and favourite optional bosses!

It looks like OPM UK may have just revealed some huge story details for Kingdom Hearts 3... but is it too good to be true?

In an article within the magazine, they spoke about Kingdom Hearts 3 having a split-perspective story between Sora and Riku and there also being a Fantasia World... but did they just confuse it with Kingdom Hearts 3D?

We've also got questions about DLC, and potential ports of Chain of Memories to the Nintendo Switch.

Over the years, there have been so many different battle systems incorporated into Final Fantasy main series games, but what are the differences between them and which is our favourite? Well, that's exactly what we're discussing today on the podcast!

One of our premium Patreon supporters, Bleu Machine, also dropped in to talk about Dissidia NT and Final Fantasy XIII amongst other things.

And the show wouldn't be complete without a rundown of recent developments in the world of Final Fantasy, which includes our thoughts on the recent Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition debacle.

As we kick off 2018, we thought it would be the perfect time to dive into the Kingdom Hearts 3 rumour-mill to see what's happening!

And there's actually quite a lot to discuss, from leaks that have come from external development partners, through to musicians who are claiming to have worked on the project.

There's also some time for Branden to run-through questions relating to Kingdom Hearts Union X and dream battles that could take place in Kingdom Hearts 3!

Welcome to 2018 everyone, it's time to look at what we've got in store! So, for this episode we're running through all of the big Final Fantasy XV updates we've seen and what that means for us throughout 2018.

Yep, we're talking Episode Ardyn, we're talking expansive patches and we're talking expansions to the Final Fantasy XV Universe!

It makes for a rather fun-packed episode, with plenty of updates and we even have some other news thrown in too for good effect!

Next year is going to be a huge year for Kingdom Hearts 3 and if two new leaked screenshots are to be believed, things could get even crazier as they show a Monsters Inc. world in the game!

We discuss the rumour and implications all throughout the show, but that's not all!

To round out the year, we've also included the "Lost Episode" where we talk all about Kingdom Hearts merchandise and there's some pretty extensive detail here!

We hope you all have a happy holiday and we'll see you in 2018!

It's time for a change of pace, as this episode we're talking about 2017, but more from the perspective of what we got up to throughout the year!

We'll be talking house moves, different initiatives we've tried with the community, different games we've been playing, like NieR Automata and Nioh and in a more general sense, what it's actually been like to podcast this year.

We hope you enjoy this "retrospective" episode, and the fact we're publishing it a day earlier than normal! Happy holidays everyone :D

Amongst discussing recent Kingdom Hearts news, including platforms for potential Kingdom Heart 3 news, this episode Branden talks all about his recent trip to Tokyo!

Yep, Branden is talking all about visiting the Square Enix Cafe, as well as the Square Enix HQ and Artnia cafe!

In addition, there are also plenty of questions to run-through, such as why we haven't received much Kingdom Hearts 3 information recently, and whether we'll see some Kingdom Hearts characters appear in other games, like Super Smash Bros.

Square Enix has announced that they're planning to expand the World of Final Fantasy and that's what we're discussing in detail throughout the episode.

For starters, they've revealed a new game called World of Final Fantasy Meli-Melo, which will be releasing on smartphones in Japan, but they also stated that due to impressive sales, they will be looking to expand the franchise further in the future.

In addition, we also talk about news relating to Final Fantasy XV and some other smaller updates to the franchise!

With Kingdom Hearts 3 turning into a rather gorgeous looking game, which platform will be best to play it on? That's one of the questions the guys answer today, while talking through a ton of other topics.

There's an update on the total number of sales the series has managed to garner, as well as speculation on what Square Enix may choose to do with the Nintendo Switch!

We've also got questions about side quests and some theories that Branden will run through, as the whole gang get involved!

We had the amazing opportunity to interview Naoki Yoshida, producer and director on Final Fantasy XIV, not too long ago and this episode, we're talking all about the experience!

On top of that, we've also got some news relating to Dissidia NT and also Final Fantasy XV...

Then, to round things out, we have a couple of different question topics. It means we'll be talking briefly about FFTCG, which elements of Final Fantasy XV we'd like to see them carry forward and whether we think there will ever be another turn-based game!

We've got another bumper questions episode for you guys this time around where we tackle questions like... could Kingdom Hearts 3 work on Nintendo Switch?

Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to talk about all things Kingdom Hearts, with questions around coverage at upcoming trade shows, Gummi Ship sections and how the story might pan out in future Kingdom Hearts games.

It makes for a rather varied episode, and we hope you enjoy it!

With Final Fantasy XV almost a year old and only the Final Fantasy 7 Remake on the horizon... when should Final Fantasy XVI Release?

It's a question that was asked by a member of our community as they wanted to understand whether we'd prefer they release Final Fantasy 16 sooner, or focus on spin-offs and other titles within the franchise first?

In other questions, we also speak about the localised Ultimania guidebooks and which game we would want to have a sequel or prequel

It makes for a fun-filled episode, and we hope you enjoy it!

To help you recover from our deep dive into Kingdom Hearts X, we've got some news relating to Kingdom Hearts 3 this episode.

We learnt about the heights of some famous characters, some new world information and got a small update on the progress into some of the game's character models.

For the questions, we delve into the future of single player games and some theories about the story of Kingdom Hearts X!

It's been a bit quiet on the Final Fantasy news front over the past few weeks, but in an interview that took part during the Tokyo Game Show that was just published, Tabata spoke about the Final Fantasy VII Remake.

He was asked a rather direct question, but the topic somehow got onto him directing a potential sequel to the Final Fantasy VII Remake - craziness! We therefore discuss what this might mean from a narrative perspective.

Outside of that, we do actually have a few morsels of news that Square Enix drip fed to us, so there are some fun discussions around Mobius!

For today's masterful analysis, we're taking a massive look at Kingdom Hearts X!

We'll be answering questions like, what's the deal with the Unchained State? What's the deal with Luxu and what's the deal with the Master of Masters?

We'll also be talking about what our expectations are for Kingdom Hearts after the release of Kingdom Hearts 3... which is a scary thought!

It's time for a mini-wrap up episode from the 2017 Tokyo Game Show, where the big news related to Final Fantasy XV!

Our main topic is directly related to this, as we discuss the announcement that Final Fantasy XV will be receiving new story content throughout 2018, something which is rather unprecedented!

Outside of that, we also run-through the various news stories that cropped up, such as the announcement of a new Dissidia NT character and another VR game for Final Fantasy XV!

Following on from last episode, the crew are now taking a deep dive into Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover!

This sees a look into the characters you should know about, as well as how the story plays out! It's a pretty detailed segment, so if you're interested in finding out more, you will definitely enjoy it!

On top of that, we also have a ton of questions... such as Whose Nobody Xion and whether they've heard of newcomers to the franchise struggling with getting into the franchise!

Today we're discussing the future of the Final Fantasy franchise, but in a way that you might not expect!

It comes after legendary creator Yoshinori Kitase spoke to Kotaku about his vision for future games within the franchise and how he wants to incorporate things he's learnt on Mobius into home console titles.

It's an interesting thought and it leads onto interesting discussions around the potential for an early access Final Fantasy title, as well as the direction things could potentially go from a gameplay perspective.

Outside of that, we have the customary news update including the announcement of a new game and an update on the future of the Type franchise!

Kingdom Hearts X is often somewhat forgotten about, so for this episode we thought it'd be grand to do a COMPLETE summary of Season 1!

It means we're therefore going to be talking about the premise, the characters and of course, the scenario. Yep, we're going to be hitting the scenario hard here, as there are a ton of little details within the story that could be rather important!

We hope you enjoy the recap, even if you perhaps aren't playing Kingdom Hearts X!

We're very privileged to have legendary Final Fantasy music arranger TPR join us this episode, as he talks about his new album launch and answers plenty of our questions!

He also joins us as we recap what was a rather crazy Gamescom 2017, where there were an absolute ton of announcements relating to the Final Fantasy XV Universe.

We'll be talking about surprise announcements such as Final Fantasy XV PC and Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition, as well as the new downloadable festival!

With Kingdom Hearts 3 pretty much skipping Gamescom 2017, we thought it would be the perfect time to have a questions episode! 

It means we'll be discussing plenty of fun topics, such as the likelihood of Kingdom Hearts 3 appearing on PC and whether we think there's a chance other Disney films will appear within the game.

On a different tact, there are also questions relating to... how you can try to get your friends into Kingdom Hearts and whether we think a "Super Smash Bros" style game could work for the franchise.

Just prior to Gamescom, Square Enix decided to do a huge news blast for Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT, the console version of Dissidia Arcade!

They revealed the release date for the game, but also detailed the Ultimate Collector's Edition and also announced that there would be a Season Pass that will contain six additional characters.

This episode, we're reacting to all of this news, while giving some other general thoughts about Gamescom and some of the other small pieces that have happened in the last few weeks!

For this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, we're joined by renowned voice actress Erika Harlacher. She has appeared in quite a few Japanese games over the years, and most recently appeared in Persona 5! Did we mention she's also a huge Kingdom Hearts fan?

Aside from a rather neat interview, this episode runs through a recent interview with Shinji Hashimoto, who was appearing at MAGIC 2017. He spoke about Marvel appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3 and also why they haven't spoken too much about the game.

As always, there's also quite a few in-depth questions, so we hope you enjoy listening to them!

The music of Final Fantasy has been something of a marvel over the years so we've decided to dedicate this episode to just that, Final Fantasy music.

Throughout the episode, we discuss numerous topics such as... when did you actually start paying attention to the music of Final Fantasy, outside of it being just generic background music?

We also discuss our favourite composers in addition to the famed Nobuo Uematsu and discuss the world after his departure - specifically with reference to Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XV.

We hope you enjoy!

Branden tackles the ever-exciting world of Kingdom Hearts by himself today as he runs-through numerous pieces of news relating to job hirings on Kingdom Hearts 3. 

There are also a few different questions, one of which relates to whether or not Branden feels Kingdom Hearts 3 will feel like an incomplete game, in similar fashion to Final Fantasy XV.

Things then move onto theoretics, as there's a question relating the Keyblade of Hearts from the original Kingdom Hearts.

We hope you guys enjoy!

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age has now released and we're talking all about it in this special episode!

Yep, we're going to be running through our initial experiences with Final Fantasy XII back when it initially released, but then we'll be running onto how we feel about The Zodiac Age so far - have our opinions changed over time? It means there's a significant focus on the story, the soundtrack and more!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Wow, D23 was awesome! There was a ton of new information about Kingdom Hearts 3 and we can't wait to delve into it!

This show is therefore quite extensive, as we run through the new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer, which of course revealed a brand new world in Toy Story. 

Things then move onto discussions about the release year for Kingdom Hearts 3, as Square Enix revealed that the game will be releasing in 2018 and there's also a run-through around some comments Nomura has made regarding the depth of the worlds featured.

All in all, it makes for one hell of a show!

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, was recently asked about whether he'd like to return to work on the Final Fantasy franchise. His response was very open ended, but he didn't shoot down the suggestion.

But it begs the question, should Sakaguchi return? Would it be a good thing for the franchise or should they give some other people the opportunity so shine?

We take a big old look at the current state of play when it comes to directors on the main Final Fantasy series, while also taking a look at where they've all ended up. We also shine a small spotlight on some of the upcoming talent within Square Enix when it comes to directing bigger games.

Hopefully you enjoy the deep dive into Final Fantasy directors!

We've been promised something of a big show for Kingdom Hearts 3 at D23 Expo, but there's still tons to speculate about!

For example, we know there's going to be a new world announced for Kingdom Hearts 3, but which world will it be? Last time they announced Big Hero 6! We've also been told that we will receive a much longer trailer and that it will contain new content.

Nomura has said that the new trailer will make people much happier than the one they showed prior to E3 2017. Who knows, they may even through a release window our way.

The guys also talk about their experiences at the Kingdom Hearts World Tour, including their favourite songs and parts of the concerts.

E3 2017 has been and gone everyone, but it's time to take a look back at the show and digest everything that came out of it!

This episode Darryl is joined by Chris aka Hoogathy, who has been a regular contributor to the Final Fantasy Union website for many years. Together, they look at everything that happened prior to E3, the show itself and a couple of things that have come after.

It means we'll be talking about a few different topics, such as Dissidia NT, the focus on mobile phone games and Episode Prompto!

E3 2017 is now done and dusted and from a Kingdom Hearts perspective, it was surprisingly good! We actually had quite a bit of information, from a new trailer, through to what we have to look forward to in the near future.

Branden and Churro (who was at E3) breakdown everything we saw from Kingdom Hearts at this year's show and run-through what we're expecting to see at D23 in July, where they've said a new world will be shown!

We hope you enjoy the show guys, it's a bumper edition!

Square Enix has hit E3 2017 pretty hard, with a ton of announcements, trailers and reveals before the show even started!

This episode is therefore to run-through everything that's happened so far and also to run-through the Square Enix Presents schedule, so you guys know everything that's coming up!

It should be a good E3 everyone, here's hoping we make it out the other side all in one piece!

Kingdom Hearts 3 has had quite the journey throughout E3 already following its announcement back in 2013. We take look through history to help inform our predictions!

Yep, that's right, we're looking at every major event since the E3 2013 announcement, running through all of the key moments throughout the game's development so far.

And this all culminates in our predictions for the Kingdom Hearts franchise at E3 2017 - so please be excited!

Even though it doesn't feel like it should be, E3 2017 is right around the corner, so it's prediction time! And that's the first major segment of the show, as we talk about the games we think will be there and in what capacity they will appear!

Following on from that, we have a ton of questions from the community, relating to a whole host of topics.

We've got questions about Dissidia: Final Fantasy Arcade, Final Fantasy XVI and even our views on what distinguishes Western RPGs from Japanese RPGs!

It makes for a pretty action-packed episode!

There's a rather alarming rumour doing the rounds at the moment, which suggests Kingdom Hearts 3 is having content removed to hit a 2018 release date! And it's a rumour that features as the main topic of the show.

What is the rumour, where did it come from and does it matter? All these questions are answered!

We also have some questions from the community about the possibility of Kingdom Hearts 3 being shown at E3, how long we're willing to wait for Kingdom Hearts 3 to release and the likelihood of a Kingdom Hearts VR game!

We have a rather interesting episode for you guys this week, as our main topic revolves around the release of Final Fantasy XV and how it's affected our opinions of the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

There's also a few news stories relating to Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Brave Exvius and Final Fantasy XIV, as well as some questions about the 30th Anniversary, NieR Automata and representation for more types of characters within the main series games!

We hope you enjoy!

According to a new fiscal report, Kingdom Hearts 3 isn't coming out this year and it might not even release next year, as it was placed (alongside the Final Fantasy 7 Remake) in the "2018 and Beyond" category! Not the news we were hoping for!

To lighten things up though, this episode we have a Patreon support on as a guest and there's also some questions from the community for the gang to answer.

Oh, and you also get to listen to Branden complaining about having time off, what more could you ask for? xD

This episode of Final Fantasy Union has a strong focus on looking at the individual stories that we've been presented over the years and whether they had a profound effect on us.

It sees us look at many of the different stories and what they brought to the table, including the more recent Final Fantasy XV.

We hope you enjoy the featured discussion, as it's the main and only focus on the episode!

This episode of Kingdom Hearts Union focusses on what the Kingdom Hearts franchise can learn from other modern games. This relates to story structure, gameplay, quests, physics and more!

There's also a ton of questions for Branden and Churro to run through, relating to Keyblade transformations in Kingdom Hearts 3, through to what kind of DLC they'd like to see in Kingdom Hearts 3.

Oh, and there's also a question about what world Branden and Churro would like to appear in, if they were given the ability to be NPCs in the game!

Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV was just over a year ago and since that event, the Final Fantasy machine went into overdrive. Final Fantasy XV kicked off in a monstrous way, but there was also World of Final Fantasy, tons of updates around Dissidia: Final Fantasy Arcade, the mobile titles and even things on the peripheral, like The Zodiac Age and the Final Fantasy VII Remake.

But now that Episode Gladiolus is out, it's gone rather mellow! Our main segment is to therefore talk about the past year and talk about the future.

We've also got some questions, about favourite job classes, whether we'll see a Dirge of Cerberus HD and whether we think the next main-line game will be turn-based or not.

Enjoy!

Famitsu, the most reputable video games magazine in Japan has conducted a huge survey to find out all about Kingdom Hearts.

There were numerous questions involved, such as first game, favourite characters and what people love most about the series. There are definitely some interesting results thrown in there!

The second major part of the podcast focusses around let's play videos and live streams - are they valid? Branden and the team discuss this rather interesting topic.

Despite the fact Final Fantasy XV released towards the end of last year, the news just doesn't seem to be slowing down. And there's been so much news, we had to dedicate an entire episode about it!

We have obviously had the release of Episode Gladiolus, but that wasn't all. Chapter 13 Verse 2 released alongside this, as well as some updates. The Final Fantasy XV MMO has also been officially unveiled and we've had an extended teaser trailer for Episode Prompto!

It's all go at the moment and we couldn't be more excited!

With this year celebrating the 15th anniversary of the original game, this episode we're taking a trip down memory lane as we have a special segment focussed on the development of Kingdom Hearts.

It's a very detailed look at almost every aspect of development, from clashes with Disney, through to finding the correct musical score, so we hope you enjoy it!

As always, there's also plenty of news to run through and we have a question from the community about world-specific transformations in Kingdom Hearts 3!

It's a mega question episode this time around, as Darryl and Lauren run-through over 10 questions from members of the community!

Before that though, there's a bit of news, which relates to Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and also World of Final Fantasy.

The questions themselves are very broad, ranging from which Final Fantasy games we've achieved 100 percent completion on, through to merging Final Fantasy games and even what content we'd want to see for the future of Final Fantasy XV!

It's a bumper episode of Kingdom Hearts Union this time around as there's plenty of news to run through, as well as an interview that was published that featured Tetsuya Nomura and Yoko Shimomura.

Also be sure to check out the questions segment, as there's quite a few interesting little nuggets in there, as Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to talk about everything that's happened in the world of Kingdom Hearts over the past two weeks!

With the release of Final Fantasy XV dividing the fan base once again, this episode's featured topic (as suggested by a long-time listener!) is about that very topic... worst game syndrome. As let's face it, what we're seeing with Final Fantasy XV isn't a new thing.

We take a look back over the years to see how the franchise has changed, with the hope of understanding how we've got the situation we find ourselves in.

Outside of that, there's also news for Final Fantasy XV, the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy Explorers Force!

We hope you enjoy!

With this year serving as the 15th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, it's time to take another look at what this year could mean for the franchise in terms of releases.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 has already released and there's also Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 on the horizon, but what's happening beyond that and what's the current development status for Kingdom Hearts 3. All will be discussed with episode!

We also have a question that deals with the best order to play the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 compilation, so there's plenty to discuss and enjoy!

Hajime Tabata, who is of course the director of Final Fantasy XV, has been talking about the game's story. Specifically, he's talking about what they were looking to accomplish in terms of its focus and its depth.

In a separate interview, Tabata also spoke about what he wants to do now that Final Fantasy XV has been launched. He recalled a conversation he had with series creator, Sakaguchi!

We've also got some news about various games, like Mobius and the Final Fantasy VII Remake, as well as some questions from the community!

It's Valentine's Day everyone, so it's therefore the perfect time to read some awesome fan fiction! And that's what Branden does throughout this one hour special episode.

There are three glorious fan fictions featured in this episode, each with love as a central theme. We hope you guys enjoy this special episode, before we return back to normal broadcasting next episode!

Final Fantasy has turned 30 everyone, and Square Enix hosted an official event to kick off the year-long celebration.

We're joined by YouTuber Sue Lightning this episode to run-through everything that happened during the event and the aftermath!

There's news relating to Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XV, Dissidia: Final Fantasy, the Final Fantasy VII Remake and more! We hope you enjoy it!

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is now here everyone, and it's time for us to take a deep dive into everything that this game offers.

The first part of the podcast is our standard review, looking at the graphics, gameplay, story and music for each part of the collection.

The second part of the podcast is a full-on spoilercast where we're running through everything offered within 0.2 and Back Cover! 

It's a pretty substantial episode, so we hope you guys enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed pulling it together!

As Final Fantasy turns 30 years old this year, this episode is focussed around our expectations for the year, with tons of predictions around potential announcements!

We already know that Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood are releasing this year, but what about other titles such as Dissidia Arcade or Final Fantasy XV on PC?

Given the vast quantity of questions we had on our Final Fantasy XV review episode, we also have some spill-over this episode so there's an extended questions segment to run through them all!

Happy New Year Final Fantasy Union listeners!

As promised, we're kicking things off with our Final Fantasy XV review episode! It's scary to think that Final Fantasy XV has almost been out for two months now, but here we are and we're ready to give our thoughts, relatively spoiler free!

We'll take a look through the story, the gameplay, the various different things such as quests, the music, the graphics... it's a massive long conversation!

There are also some questions from the community thrown in at the end, so be sure to listen and let us know what you think!

Kingdom Hearts Union starts off the year with a bang, with Branden, Churro and Sabrina discussing all the news surrounding the impending release of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and beyond!

Some reviews for Kingdom Hearts 2.8 have already started to surface and the Game Informer review detailed a lot of information about the game. On the Kingdom Hearts 3 news front there's a ton of debates about whether Utada will be involved with the game, as her father is making conflicting statements!

The bulk of the episode relates to Kingdom Hearts 3 and whether it will indeed come out in 2017. There are quite a few hints, but at this point, it's difficult to tell.

Wow, what a year it's been for Final Fantasy! We've had a ton of game releases, but it's also been a stellar year for announcements and events!

For this episode, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to round-out the year and run-through all of the big announcements! Yep, that means we'll be talking about Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV, the delay, the release, games like Final Fantasy Explorers and World of Final Fantasy and even Dissidia: Final Fantasy!

Thank you all for your support this year! Be sure to check back in the new year for our Final Fantasy XV special episode!

This episode of Kingdom Hearts Union is jam packed full of so many different cool topics, ranging from the announcement of a limited edition Kingdom Hearts PS4 to celebrate the 15th anniversary, through to when Sora will be added to World of Final Fantasy!

We also got the final Kingdom Hearts 2.8 trailer so that's discussed IN-DEPTH by Branden, Churro and Sabrina.

There's also some interesting questions, leading to discussions about the worlds appearing Kingdom Hearts 0.2 and Kingdom Hearts 3, as well as the graphical capabilities present within the Kingdom Hearts 1.5/2.5 HD Remaster, that will be releasing on PS4!

Yayyy, Final Fantasy XV is finally here everyone! After the longest wait imaginable, it's in our hands and our hearts!

Join us as we discuss the game's release and our impressions so far, as unfortunately we weren't able to play the game Day One like many of you lucky souls!

Either way, we still have plenty to discuss, relating to WHY we haven't been able to play it so far, and what happened in the lead-up to launch! We hope you enjoy! :D

We've got a ton of news on this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, with new concert dates added to the World Tour and some new screenshots!

Yep, some new character renders have been released and there are questions.

Speaking of questions, we have another load of awesome questions from the community. They relate to the ending of the original game, through to whether Final Fantasy characters could similar to the Disney Princesses and if so, who would they be?

We had the awesome opportunity to speak with Liam Mulvey, who plays Libertus Ostium in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

This interview provides an awesome insight into the production of the film and just the sheer scale of the production. There are also some questions about Libertus' hair, and whether or not we think we'll see him again in the Final Fantasy XV universe.

We hope you enjoy it, and we hope there are going to be many more interviews as part of this series! Fingers crossed! :D

With Final Fantasy XV on the horizon, we decided that it would be best to have this episode focus on reflection.

It's been a long development cycle, especially if you take it all the way back to the announcement of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and our lives have changed a lot in that time. So we decided it'd be interesting to think back and discuss how we felt during the different times.

We hope you enjoy the episode! We'll see you soon for some thoughts about the game, if we get to play it before we next record!

We've got plenty to discuss on this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, as Branden is joined by Sabrina and Churro as they tackle all the latest news, while delving into a ton of questions from the community!

For one, the gang talk about Shinji Hashimoto's appearance at Lucca Comic and Games, where he spoke about Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 on PS4.

In addition, we have questions from the community relating to the potential influence the Final Fantasy VII Remake will have on Kingdom Hearts three and some thoughts about the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Tokyo Game Show trailer!

World of Final Fantasy has now been out for a little while on both the PS4 and PS Vita, so we delve in to let you know what we thought about different aspects of the game!

For this episode, I'm joined by podcast veteran Spencer, who returns to share his experiences with the game and to add a different perspective to the review, as we're both at different points and are playing on different systems!

We've got a few fan-questions thrown in too! We hope you enjoy the review!

Everything went Kingdom Hearts crazy in the past fortnight, with new game announcements, information about support for other upcoming games.

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 will now be coming to the PS4, which means that come March, you will be able to experience every single Kingdom Hearts game on one single platform... it's the dream we've all been waiting for!

The guys also discuss the Kingdom Hearts possibilities when it comes to the recently announced Nintendo Switch!

It's a fun-packed episode, and we hope you really enjoy it!

Welcome to the 133rd episode of Final Fantasy Union! We've got plenty to talk about this episode, with the release of World of Final Fantasy (and the demo) and also a rather interesting Final Fantasy XV topic!

This specific topic, who we believe will die in Final Fantasy XV (if anyone) was suggested by one of our Patreon supporters. Join us, as we talk about various theories we've heard, and also what logically makes sense!

We hope you enjoy the discussions, there's plenty of theories abound! :D

It's a news-heavy episode this time around, as amongst other things, as Nomura has spoken to Dengeki magazine and revealed a ton of information!

There are discussions around the different box arts for the HD collections, Kingdom Hearts 2.8's support of the PS4 Pro, specifically 4K and that 0.2 is continuing to see improvements all the time! Nomura also said that next year will be a year of "nonstop" Kingdom Hearts news.

For questions, discussions relate to whether Kingdom Hearts 3 will run at 60fps and whether the Osaka studio will ever make anything other than Kingdom Hearts games!

We hope you enjoy! :D

Square Enix are all about the mobile games right now, so we discuss what this potentially means for the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Will they release lots of supporting games, will they produce even more mobile spin-offs like G-Bike or will they do something completely different?

It's an interesting topic, and it's one that Jake Brown (Final Fantasy Peasant) joins us to discuss!

As Final Fantasy XV gets ever-closer, there's also quite a bit of news to plough through and we have other news relating to Theatrhythm: All-Star Carnival and World of Final Fantasy

Questions also make a triumphant return, with The Last Story, Final Fantasy XVI and the rivalry between WoFF and FFXV discussed.

Enjoy!

Branden and Churro are back to give you all your Kingdom Hearts goodness, with a boatload of news and questions from the community!

News this episode relates to Kingdom Hearts 3. Nomura did an interview where he talked about voice recordings and dissidia and Utada Hikaru has just released a new album!

On the subject of questions, the pair discuss a potential tie-in with Once Upon A Time, talk about what Kairi was doing at the End of the World in the original Kingdom Hearts and the Kingdom Hearts manga!

Tokyo Game Show 2016 has come and gone and we have plenty to talk about thanks to plenty of coverage around Final Fantasy XV.

To kick things off, our main discussion is about Final Fantasy XV on the PS4 Pro, what you can expect and whether you should even worry about this news. Oh, and we discuss the rumour that Final Fantasy XV was actually delayed to accommodate for this.

There also got a new trailer at TGS and a new summon was announced! Final Fantasy XV also topped a Famitsu poll and Square Enix launched a 30th Anniversary website! 

We hope you enjoy the episode, we managed to cram quite a lot in!

This year's Tokyo Game Show had a ton of news relating to Kingdom Hearts, but the big news related to the release date of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD Final Chapter Prologue.

There was also a new trailer, featuring a brand spanking new rendition of Simply of Clean by Hikari and Nomura spoke more about what we can expect with Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and Kingdom Hearts 3.

With everything going crazy around the PS4 Pro, the main discussion this episode talks about how Kingdom Hearts will benefit from this new technology and whether it's worth getting a PS4 Pro or just sticking with the standard version.

It's a bumper episode this time around, so we hope you enjoy!

Wow, what an absolutely crazy two weeks it's been. In a bit of an usual style, this episode is all about what we've been up to over the past two weeks. Yes, that's right, there's no news - just our experiences!

For one, we had our third fan gathering this past weekend! It was great to meet some of our FFU listeners, but just to hang out with so many Final Fantasy fans. There were close to 150 in total and it made for an awesome day!

Darryl was able to attend the Abbey Road concert for Final Fantasy XV, which was a rather special night. That segment talks all about what it was like to hear the tracks live and also some impressions on the pieces themselves.

We hope you enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts Union is back in action and we've got a ton of content for you to digest! We've got loads of news around upcoming things for TGS and Kingdom Hearts X, as well as a small update on Kingdom Hearts First Breath.

The big topic is then... what is the door to darkness? This topic was suggested by one of our awesome listeners and it takes quite a bit of discussion to get to the bottom of it! We also have some other questions in there too, so we hope you enjoy listening to our answers.

If you've got something you want us to discuss, be sure to ask!

It's a jam-packed episode this time around we delve into Mobius: Final Fantasy, talk about a new Dissidia game and of course... speak about the Final Fantasy XV delay!

We've been thoroughly enjoying Mobius: Final Fantasy since it came out, so wanted to talk through why we feel it's better than Record Keeper and also Brave Exvius! It's a lengthy section, comprising about half the show.

We also take the time to tackle the Final Fantasy XV delay after its official confirmation and run through other news relating to a new character in Dissidia: Final Fantasy Arcade and the announcement of Dissidia: Final Fantasy Opera Omnia!

We're breaking the rules this week and publishing the podcast a day early! But it's for a good reason, some of us are attending a Kingsglaive premiere tomorrow, so we wouldn't be around :(

It's good news though, as you get to hear all about what it was like to attend the First Breath Kingdom Hearts concert! Not only was Nomura in attendance, but the music sounded absolutely amazing and yes, there were lots of tears!

We're also joined a Patreon supporter this episode and there's some questions from the community about some interesting details. One of which relates to the mysterious voice that speaks to Sora and Roxas during tutorials in the first two games.

What a weekend we just had! We actually recorded this episode just as the rumours were breaking, so it's a lil bit out of date, but it was still a huge rollercoaster!

We are joined by Jake Brown (aka the Final Fantasy Peasant) this episode. The first part of which discusses the rumour, as it was then, and the potential repercussions or reasons why the decision might have been made. We obviously know the reasons now, but hopefully the discussion is still interesting!

For the second part we take a look at sequels produced following the merger of Square Enix and also go through a bit of a history lesson at the same time. Are they good, or are they bad? 

Finally, we answer some questions from the community about entry points into the franchise and also whether you should play Final Fantasy III!

Kingdom Hearts 3 keeps getting closer and closer, so what better time for another Kingdom Hearts University to help you figure out the best way to get up to speed with the franchise!

Branden tackles this rather expansive topic, which lets you understand which games are the most important as you look to catch-up with everything Kingdom Hearts in preparation for the third main series installment into the franchise.

We also have some community questions! This time the questions are about Back Cover and Organisation XIII's castle. We hope you enjoy! :D

We've got a fun discussion for everyone this episode, as we tackle the topic of whether Final Fantasy X-2 should be considered the worst numbered game in the franchise. Well, it's a little bit more positive than that, but you get the jist!

We also have a Patreon supporter come on the show to talk all about their Final Fantasy journey, which is pretty awesome! This particular guest has also been featured on a previous show in the music segment!

On top of all of this, we also have some news for you guys in what makes a pretty bumper episode! We hope you enjoy it, as it's almost double the normal length!

We've got quite a few topics to discuss in this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, especially with Kingdom Hearts making a splash at SDCC 2016.

There was a demo featured and we also learnt about a new Sora Play Arts Kai that's due for release towards the beginning of 2017. Some artwork from the 3rd anniversary of Kingdom Hearts X also teased some new costumes for Riku and Kairi!

We also have plenty of questions to discuss, with topics ranging from a DVD/Blu-ray release of Back Cover through to a theory around the ending of the original Kingdom Hearts title! Enjoy! xD

Final Fantasy XV is just a few short (or long!) months away, but there's another Final Fantasy game coming out pretty soon after, World of Final Fantasy. It had a strong showing at E3 and there have been murmurs that people might actually be more excited for this spin-off!

Our main topic this episode discusses what World of Final Fantasy brings to the table and why you should perhaps be giving it more of your focus, if you weren't already!

We also have a shred of news as Mobius Final Fantasy has gained a release date, Final Fantasy VII has released on Android and we some new characters have been revealed in Final Fantasy XV!

It's time to celebrate everyone, as Kingdom Hearts Union has now reached episode 100! Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to party like "nobody's" business!

It's also the perfect time to bring back Kingdom Hearts University. This time, the group talk about The Final Battle With Xehanort and it's split into multiple parts. Oh, and did we mention that this episode was recorded LIVE!?

As a result, the show also featured plenty of live questions and of course, the classic music segment! We really hope you've enjoyed the journey with us so far, long may it continue!

The dust has now settled from E3 2016 and as often happens, that means there's a huge news lull! What better time to discuss some of the older Final Fantasy titles, specifically experiences we've had when venturing back to play them again (or for the first time).

Darryl is joined by Lauren and Jared to talk about different entry routes into the series and how that might affect how older titles are perceived. There's also the interesting topic of going back to replay titles, and how potential things change due to developments elsewhere. It's a topic we could probably have spent an age discussing!

There is also some new (shock!) relating to Final Fantasy XIV, the release of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and the delay of Justice Monsters Five. 

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Let us just say... E3 2016 was so amazing! The guys were able to share so many cool experiences with other Kingdom Hearts enthusiasts and meet some of the creators for the game!

For this episode, of Kingdom Hearts Union, it's all about the aftermath. There's a specific focus therefore, on news relating to Kingdom Hearts 2.8.

To try and make it digestible, we've broken it down into the individual games that are featured within Kingdom Hearts 2.8. There's some awesome insights that have been revealed and we even discuss tie-ins with Kingdom Hearts 3!

(also, apologies for the slightly late arrival of the show!)

We're back following our Final Fantasy Type-0 HD episode to give you all the news on E3 2016 and what a show it was!

To start with, Square Enix kicked things off way before with the surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and then others relating to World of Final Fantasy. However, when the actual show started, Final Fantasy XV didn't necessarily have the best showing.

For our main topic this episode, we discuss how Final Fantasy XV's reputation in the wider industry was potentially damaged by its showing on the biggest stage and the subsequent miss-steps that took place throughout the show. Don't worry though, we're still pumped for the game!

In case you didn't know, we were at E3 2016 in force, with Branden and Churro heading out! They are also joined this episode by Logan, another E3 attendee and Kingdom Hearts enthusiast to talk about their experiences.

The first half is focussed on Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD Remix. Each of the guys shares their experiences with the demo that was on the show floor. This is then followed by an overall piece about E3 2016.

There are definitely some stories here, including getting to meet Tae Yasue and getting featured on the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter feed!

Continuing on with our Final Fantasy Type-0 HD celebrations, part two of our special podcast episode has arrived and we are talking all about gameplay, structure and presentation!

Darryl is joined by Jared for this second part, as we spend an extensive amount of time running through the different gameplay mechanics on show, from battles through to different how the story is delivered.

After that, the focus shifts onto the graphics, voice acting and even the musical quality, so we hope you enjoy all of our various conversations around the game!

Normal service will be resumed next episode, but we hope you've enjoyed these two special episodes!

To mark the (slightly belated) one year anniversary of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD's release, we've recorded a special podcast to talk all about it!

It used to be something of a tradition on the show, but we haven't done one of these for a while. However, if you aren't familiar, these are in-depth, spoiler-heavy shows... so if you haven't played Type-0 HD yet, do so before you listen!

For this first part, Darryl and Lauren take on everything to do with the story. That means we try our best to explore the different levels of the story and delve into the characters we loved!

We hope you enjoy it, it's a pretty long episode by normal standards!

Kingdom Hearts Union Episode 97 has arrived and there are so many topics to talk about. This kicks off with a whole host of big announcements, including the fact that Branden and Churro are heading to E3 again this year! That's not all either, but you'll have to check out the episode for the other announcements.

This episode's main focus is E3 predictions! Branden, Churro and Sabrina talk through their safe bets, decent bets and of course, their crazy bets!

There's also time for a question from community member bloom4815, who asked about what type of legendary weapon could be incorporated into a future Kingdom Hearts game... that isn't a keyblade!

We hope you enjoy!

Episode 122 of Final Fantasy Union has arrived and there's a bit of a news explosion for everyone this time around! Our main discussion topic relates to an interview conducted by Famitsu with Sakaguchi and Tabata, where Sakaguchi dishes some dirt! It's pretty enlightening and it's somewhat refreshing to see Sakaguchi talk about things in this way.

Outside of that, we've got news relating to Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Final Fantasy XV Collectors Editions and Final Fantasy XIV!

We also have Josh on as a Patreon guest. He talks about his favourite Final Fantasy games and what he's looking forward to. 

To round things out, we then had quite a few questions from the community. Topics range from limited edition PS4s, through to Final Fantasy XV mini-games and Toriyama's secret projects! Enjoy!

It's taken what seems like an age, but the time has come for Branden, Churro and Sabrina to rank the Kingdom Hearts games in their order of preference! It's always a contentious thing to do, but the guys are pretty confident with their selection.

The other featured discussion for the episode is from a community member called Frankie. They asked what we like most about the series and whether it affects our view of other titles around.

Questions on the show this episode relate to the recent live action Disney remakes and also how well we believe Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD Remake will sell. We hope you enjoy listening!

It's a bit of a ranty episode this time around on Final Fantasy Union, as we caught wind that some people had booed the music of Final Fantasy XIII at a recent Distant Worlds concert. Much of the episode is spent talking about this specific action, looking at why they might have done it, whether they should or not, etc.

Don't worry though, we do also have some news, albeit a little late as there were some additional announcements that came out today relating to Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster on Steam and the announcement that Brave Exvius will be getting localised.

We hope you enjoy the episode, and the music at the end and we'll see you next time!

Fantastic news for fans of the music in Kingdom Hearts, there will now be a worldwide Kingdom Hearts concert series allowing you to soak it all up in its gloriousness. 

Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to run through what this announcement means for fans and to talk about some of the background behind the world tour, including messages from Nomura and Shimomura.

In addition to this awesome news, there's a featured discussion that talks about things from Kingdom Hearts Unchained X that we'd like to see transitioned over into Kingdom Hearts 3 when it releases. This includes things like Keyblade upgrades, costumes and even side missions.

As always, we also have some questions from the fans. This time, they relate to Kingdom Hearts 3 Final Mix and how we'll handle spoilers when Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out.

Final Fantasy Union is back for Episode 120, but it's not the usual hosts running the show this time around! Branden has invaded and he's joined by Jared to discuss Final Fantasy XV, as Lauren and Darryl are on holiday.

The featured topic revolves around Final Fantasy XV being make or break for the franchise and it focusses on three main areas: use of technology, overall experience and how it challenges the status quo. 

We also have some news for you guys, relating to the release of Final Fantasy IX on Steam and some info about Kingsglaive's release and the production of more Ultimate Collector's Editions for Final Fantasy XV! Enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts Unchained Chi has finally released in North America, so we've got an episode full of impressions!

Branden is joined by Churro as they talk through loads of different parts of the game, including the battle system, mission structure and of course, the story that's featured throughout!

We also have a few (unrelated) questions about music for Kingdom Hearts 3 and whether or not we believe the Kingdom Hearts series deals with humour in a positive way.

Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV was an explosion of everything Final Fantasy and everything that's happened since has been absolutely mind blowing! It's therefore the perfect time to catch you guys up on everything that happened during the show and has happened since!

The first part of the show is therefore us talking through a bit of the pre-Uncovered coverage, the show itself (with little pieces of info attached) and then everything that's happened after thanks to interviews with Tabata and various other publications.

The second part of the show see us dive into the Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo. I'm sure most of you have had the chance to check it out for yourselves, but if you want to hear what we think, we've got you covered! There's even time for a couple of questions on the end too.

It makes for a pretty awesome episode and we are certainly psyched for Final Fantasy XV.

Everyone's talking about Final Fantasy XV right now following a rather successful Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event. It poses the question, should Kingdom Hearts adopt a similar model?

Branden is joined by Churro as they discuss whether or not Kingdom Hearts, as a franchise, should look to start releasing multiple properties (not necessarily games) within a year, but release them less frequently outside of these sprints, or just stick to a single release every year.

There are also some questions relating to who will voice Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3 and another relating to the theory behind Emblem Heartless - not something that should be missed!

The dust has now settled from Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV and we thought it'd be the perfect time to do a special episode so you guys didn't have to wait two weeks to hear our thoughts!

Darryl is joined by Branden for this episode due to their special connections with Uncovered. We were also hoping to get Churro on the show too (as he sat pretty much next to Sakaguchi), but he was unfortunately not available

For Final Fantasy Union, it was immense. We were featured heavily during the pre-show thanks to our event a few weeks ago. Lauren was also the first interview they played during this segment, so it was pretty surreal! Branden was also featured in the pre-event thanks to his art. He was the first fan artist show during the calendar segment, with his drawing representing the month of November.

For the show itself, we talk about everything from the release date of Final Fantasy XV, to Kingsglaive, to Brotherhood, to theme songs, to collector's editions!

We hope you enjoy it!

Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV, quite possibly the greatest release date spectacle of our time, is almost upon us! It's therefore rather fitting that we have a podcast dedicated to its potential awesomeness.

Darryl is joined by Lauren and Jared to discuss everything Uncovered, from potential release dates through to other surprise announcements we feel they might ping out way.

We also delve into all the recent Final Fantasy XV news that's cropped up in the last week or so and there have been some interesting nuggets involving Cactaurs, Airships and languages. 

It makes for another action-packed show and hopefully it's enough to tide you over before the craziness of Uncovered starts!

For this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina as they talk about how the Kingdom Hearts franchise talks about death. It was a subject suggested by community member Tigercrane, who also joined them on the show to talk about it!

In addition to this, other discussions relate to Axel's keyblade and there's further debate about when exactly the crew think Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 will release this year.

It might therefore sound like a bit of a short episode, but it very much isn't! There's plenty to discuss and there's also a fun music segment at the end which we hope you all enjoy.

Nobuo Uematsu decided to depart from Square Enix some time ago, but for this episode, Darryl and Lauren discuss whether or not it has affected the franchise in a big way. It makes for actually a rather long topic of conversation, so hopefully you enjoy it!

We also have another Patreon supporter on the show in Barry Norton. He's another one of us British folk and it's great to here his thoughts on the franchise at the moment and how his opinions have changed about certain games over time.

Last, but not least, we have some questions from the community. These relate to another potential Chocobo Racing title and whether or not the direction of a sequel can hinder the overall experience created.

With this saga set to end with Kingdom Hearts 3, the main focus for the 91st episode of Kingdom Hearts Union relates to who the new villain will be in future titles!

This was a topic suggested by two community members and Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to discuss who will be replacing Ansem, Xemnas and Xehanort.

Additional topics this episode relate to an ideal length of game for Kingdom Hearts 3 to be and whether or not mechanics related to buying items from shops should be altered for the next major iteration in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

With renewed interest in Final Fantasy VII thanks to the remake, our featured topic this episode relates to whether or not there's the potential for the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII to continue. 

It's a topic that was suggested by a community remember, in specific reference to the secret movie that appears at the end of Dirge of Cerberus. It was heavily hinted that there would be another game featuring Genesis Rhapsodos and Weiss the Immaculate, but nothing ever appeared. Could success with the Final Fantasy VII remake change this?

As additional topics, we discuss Record Keeper and also discuss the ifs, buts and maybes relating to if Square Enix decided to venture back into the realm of movies. Oh, and we have a super special guest this episode in the form of Patreon supporter Christian Burge, who talks about his Final Fantasy story!

There's something of a cross-over on this episode of Kingdom Hearts Union, as Branden and Churro tackle a question relating to how Final Fantasy characters are dealt with in the Kingdom Hearts universe.

It comes based on two questions, one related to how well they are integrated, and another relating to the Cloud/Sephiroth/Tifa story-arch that appears throughout the main games.

That's not all though, we have further topics relating to the kind of voice talent they might now be able to attract considering Disney has taken more of an interest again in the franchise and whether Sora will receive any keyblade armour.

It makes for another fun-packed episode, with plenty of meaty topics for Branden and Churro to discuss.

With the hype starting to build around Final Fantasy XV, based on a fan suggestion Lauren and I discuss why it could end up being great and why it might not be. It actually ends up being a rather lengthy discussion and topics range from the director, the characters to the depth of announcements and gameplay.

We also have another community fan gathering come up on the 19th of March, 2016. So if you're in the UK, be sure to check out the site to find out more information. There will be triple triad tournaments, a massive quiz and even Bryce Hitchcock is attending!

In addition to running our main Final Fantasy XV topic, we also have a couple of news stories. In a related angle, we get to talk about the previous Active Time Report, but also talk about the release of Final Fantasy IX on iPhone/Android and Final Fantasy II being free on the portal app.

We also have some questions related to character design and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, rounding out a rather packed episode!

Welcome to Kingdom Hearts Union Episode 89! We've got plenty of awesome discussion topics this time around, with the main one focussing on the ports of Kingdom Hearts games we've received so far.

This was suggested by a community member, and it's perfect for Branden, Churro and Sabrina to dive into. The topic was brought up in relation to speed runners and their complaints about the quality of the games. Potential PS4 versions of 1.5 and 2.5 are also brought into the discussion.

It doesn't take too long for things to move onto Kingdom Hearts 3 though and we have some questions about summons and release dates!

Final Fantasy Explorers released this past week, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have an episode dedicated to the first of many Square Enix Japan releases this year!

Lauren and Darryl are joined by Jared, with the three offering rather different opinions based on their previous experience within the monster hunting sub-genre. We've got Monster Hunter veterans covered, fans of games like Toukiden and Soul Sacrifice, and we also have the opinion of someone who hasn't ventured too much into this type of game before.

We also take the opportunity to run-through some fan questions. These relate to the game's difficulty, the voice acting and also the job classes that are offer. Hopefully you guys find it interesting and if you've already purchased Explorers, we hope you're enjoying it!

It's time for Kingdom Hearts Union: Episode 88 everyone! For this episode Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina as they talk about numerous topics, including whether or not they feel Kingdom Hearts 3 is close to completion!

This main topic relates to rumours circulating due to the comments of some voice actors. They were taking part in a panel at Albuquerque Comic Con and let slip!

Next up, we have he featured discussion which relates to what Kingdom Hearts can learn from other successful video games and what genres the Kingdom Hearts franchise should potentially venture into. There's even some additional questions thrown in for good measure at the end, making this one bumper, action packed episode for all your Kingdom Hearts needs!

Why is Final Fantasy VII Remake going to be a multi-part series? It's a damned good question! Darryl and Lauren discuss the ins and outs of this semi-controversial move on this week's edition of Final Fantasy Union.

Aside from this pretty detailed discussion, we also answer some questions from the community related to the longevity of Lightning as a protagonist in the Final Fantasy universe and talk about classical music and how those from outside of the video games industry potentially perceive it.

Closing out we have a lovely Final Fantasy IV cover for you all. All that and more this episode of Final Fantasy Union!

We're back with the first Kingdom Hearts Union episode of the year, and Branden is joined by Churro and Sabrina to run through quite a few different topics!

The main topic of this episode relates to the writing we've seen in the franchise to date - specifically, which game has had the best writing so far? The gang goes through each of their favorite games in the series and which ones they felt needed a bit more love.

There was also a new Kingdom Hearts 2.8/Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer that surfaced at Jump Festa which released over our holiday break. The crew discusses along with a few questions from our fans. One of which is about whether or not they think Kingdom Hearts 3 has the potential to be game of the year.

Welcome to 2016! Boy do we have a year in store for you guys!

To start off, Lauren and I run through a lot of the plans we have for Final Fantasy Union this year, including some awesome changes to the podcast schedule (and Patreon), the launch of a new site in the near future and how we're hitting YouTube pretty damn hard. It's exciting times for us and your support through all our endeavours is much appreciated!

Next up, we talk through some of the recent news relating to Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy VI, as well as a rather interesting piece surrounding Lightning and Louis Vuitton!

Then we head into our main segment, Final Fantasy in 2016, where we run through all of the games planned for release this year, plus all the other titles confirmed for release this year out of Square Enix Japan. It's going to be a superb year for gamers, but I don't think our wallets are going to be too happy by the end of it!

Last, but not least, we have questions from the community. The first one relates to what Toriyama's up to, then we talk about a potential Final Fantasy VI Remake. All in all, it's a massive episode and a fantastic way to start off the year. Onwards, and upwards!

We have a full-on episode of Kingdom Hearts Union for you this time, as Branden, Churro and Sabrina issue a state of Kingdom Hearts address.

It sounds pretty serious, and it is! We take a look at how much the Kingdom Hearts franchise has sold and how this compares to other games out there on the market today. This then moves onto the present state of Kingdom Hearts and finally, the future of the franchise and what we think it will hold.

This itself comes with plenty of questions, such as what we think will happen in 2016 (aside from the obvious), how we deal with such long development cycles and what we're hoping from for Kingdom Hearts 3.

Thank you all for a wonderful 2015, and we'll see you all next year!

Final Fantasy X-3 is the topic of discussion this episode, as it's been something we've wanted to delve into for a while. It's been mentioned here and there, but we figured it was about time to actually go through some theories for some interesting story lines that could exist should Final Fantasy X-3 ever be created by the guys at Square Enix.

To start off, Lauren takes the mic and takes us through a scenario where Final Fantasy X-3 acts as a prequel focussed on Braska, Auron and Jecht. This is then followed by Darryl's scenario, where Final Fantasy X-3 acts as a sequel focussed on Rikku, Paine and the Al Bhed.

Of course, we also have some news! It's a little shorter than normal, but we still have a chance to tackle Mooglegate, the ramp up for Dissidia Arcade in Japan and the revealing of Cloud Strife in Super Smash Bros.! We've also got some fan questions on these topics too, so we hope you enjoy our responses!

D23 Japan happened a short while ago and it was pretty awesome from a Kingdom Hearts perspective. We had news relating to Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD and Kingdom Hearts 3, as well as information for the Kingdom Hearts X [Chi] games.

During the show, there was a ton of footage shown to audiences, and we're hoping it will be made public. We got to see some new attraction flows and a new world for Kingdom Hearts X [Chi]. If you're curious what they showed, we've got you covered.

In addition, we had some fan questions relating to Kingdom Hearts 1.5/2.5 coming to PS4 and what a Kingdom Hearts version of Persona 4 Dancing All Night would be like... rather interesting!

We hope you guys enjoy the show and always, please share it around/review if you like it :)

Following the release of Square Enix's recent financials, we take a look at how the company has changed its approach within recent years and how the company's new mantras have manifested themselves into the games we are now seeing.

Things have changed considerably following the departure of Yoichi Wada and from a Final Fantasy perspective, things are looking pretty good. We've seen the production of mobile games that have actual substance, and we have a handful of very promising console games on the horizon.

The later part of the episode relates to some recent news from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy XIV!

We hope you enjoy it, and also agree that the future is looking pretty good for the franchise that we love!

Kingdom Hearts Union: Episode 84 has arrived and it's another brocast with Branden and Churro! For the first part of this episode, the pair discuss an interview conducted by Dengeki Magazine in Japan with the series' creator Tetsuya Nomura. It means there is plenty to talk about including the pertinent topic of what is "Kingdom Hearts?"

In addition, the two field questions from the community! There are two rather specific topics, with the first relating to Kingdom Hearts 2.8 receiving a digital release. The second asks whether or not we feel Kingdom Hearts 3 will be able to attract some bigger name voice actors again, like we saw in previous main-line installments within the franchise.

It all makes for  rather exciting episode and we hope you enjoy it!

Although we covered a fair amount of news from Tokyo Game Show 2015 during our special episode, Hajime Tabata continued to reveal new information following the event. Darryl, Lauren and Jared do a not-so-quick round-up of this, discussing why people were so attached to Stella and what other potential content cuts mean for the game.

Outside of this, we wanted to do a feature to talk about who some of our favourite Final Fantasy characters are. Each of the hosts were tasked with choosing one character who they felt represented something strong and good about the franchise, with the idea being that they would make a case for why that character deserves to be treasured as one of their favourites. We hope you enjoy it, as we get a little emotional at points.

Music this episode is provided by a YouTuber called RebeccaETripp, who did a wonderful arrangement of the music that plays while in the Salikawood.

Square Enix pretty much rendered half of Kingdom Hearts Union 83 redundant, but we're here with a special episode to give you all the info on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 and Final Fantasy XV!

Yes, pretty much straight off, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 was announced during the Sony Press Conference, but things didn't stop there. We had a new trailer for Final Fantasy XV, a new game announcement in the form of Final Fantasy Type-0 Online and of course, there was the Final Fantasy XV Active Time Report with Hajime Tabata.

Darryl is joined by Branden as they run through all of the pressing concerns and information that was detailed (albeit in a slightly condensed form for some topics), perfect for catching up on Square Enix's interests at this year's Tokyo Game Show.

As a preface to this episode, Square Enix rendered about half of the show kind of redundant with the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue today, so apologies for that! We will be recording a separate episode later this week with our full TGS reactions to the news.

Anyway, a large bulk of the show sees Branden, Churro and Sabrina discussing the rumours of Kingdom Hearts 2.9 and what it could potentially be. It's interesting how close some of their deductions were! In addition, there are some questions from the community, so be sure to listen to the episode and take some of it with a pinch of salt!

We had something of a news explosion this episode, with both Gamescom and PAX Prime throwing up plenty of topics for discussion. The main point is that Hajime Tabata has declared that Final Fantasy XV will release in 2016! We also delve into the Dawn trailer and give our thoughts, while also discussing how Tabata is steering the ship!

That's not all though, as we have a few questions from the community this episode. It gives us the chance to talk about the newly launched Triple Triad, the infamous Final Fantasy X~Will and X-2.5, as well as the importance of vocal themes. We hope you enjoy the episode, which is rounded out by a cover of Terra's theme by YouTuber Josiah McDaniel.

D23 just wrapped up, and with it came a lot of news! Big Hero 6 will officially be a world in Kingdom Hearts 3 and will feature a new storyline that takes place after the film.

Branden, Churro, and Sabrina discuss this as well as questions from the community! What do we think about other Disney Worlds like Tangled being in Kingdom Hearts 3? What kind of secret movie should Kingdom Hearts 3 have? You'll have to listen to the show to find out what we think! Also, to commemorate the announcement of a new world, we have a rocking cover of the Gummi Ship theme from jam2995!