Whether alone or with friends,Kingdom Hearts Union Crosshas provided players with numerous memories and important plot reveals over the years. All things must end, though, withKingdom Hearts Union Cross' online services ending yesterday worldwide.
Union Crossbegan asKingdom Hearts Unchained Xin 2015, before becomingUnion Crossin 2017. Set before the events of the original 2001 game,Union Crosstells the story of a player-created Keyblade wielder in the events preceding the Keyblade War. Players could tackle the game’s mission-oriented gameplay either in single-player or with friends.Union Cross' final chaptercame out earlier this month, setting the stage for the story’s continuation inKingdom Hearts Dark Road.
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The officialUnion CrossTwitter account announced the end of the game’s online services last night. This marks the conclusion of the game’s online services which began in 2017 when it launched.Union Cross' online features were originally supposed to end on May 20, but was extended to June 29 because of a necessary split in the game’s final episode. Considering thefinal episode’s effect on theKingdom Heartsstory, it was thoughtful of Square Enix to give extra time for players to experience the conclusion as it was intended.
Importantly though, this is not the end ofUnion Crossas a game. With yesterday’s closure of the online services came an update for the game itself. Once downloaded, players can journey throughUnion Crossonce more in offline mode as well as access a theater mode to watch the game’s many cutscenes. As the20th anniversary ofKingdom Heartslooms, it is only right that the game remains accessible for as many people as possible.
The tweet ends with a look towards the future, that being September’sDark Road. Last year,Union Crosswas rebranded to includeDark Road, a secondary story that explains Xehanort’s origins. According to the tweet, the upcoming chapter of Dark Road will be the climax of the greater Union Cross story. Hopefully after that,the wait forKingdom Hearts' next major entryis not as long as the wait was forKingdom Hearts 3.
Fan reception ofUnion Crosshas been positive since it started, in part, because of its important contributions to the lore ofKingdom Hearts. This has been a problem withKingdom Heartsin the past, not every fan is willing to dive into every spin-off to follow the story. Nonetheless, fans curious aboutUnion Crosswill still be able to see all it has to offer—they will just have to do it on their own.
