Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD localization leaked by voice actor

by Erren Van Duine on 24 January, 2013

A localization for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX always seemed inevitable - but now we have near concrete confirmation that it's actually happening.

Jesse McCartney, the voice actor of sometimes-lead character Roxas, let slip that he was "recording the next chapter" of the Kingdom Hearts series on his Instagram page, posting a photo from his perspective in the voice recording booth.

Pictured is the game and his script, while the image is captioned "For all you "Kingdom Hearts" Fans. Recording the next chapter!" Judging by what's on screen in the photo he posted, it's pretty easy to assume that this is a shot of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX, which includes HD, remastered versions of the story sequences from the DS-based Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.

The image shown in Jesse's photo is most likely from the remastered scenes from the DS title - and he's probably in the booth recording lines that were text-only in the DS game. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 doesn't include 358/2 Days as a game, but does include the story sequences to help catch fans up.

The game itself features Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories, and as previously mentioned the cutscenes for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days redone in high definition graphics.

While the Japanese version will carry dual audio options on Final Mix and Chain of Memories, it had been expected that the Days segment would go without an English dub in that region. It's reasonable to expect the voice cast will have been briefed on the game's upcoming release - and unlikely he would tweet with an English-speaking fan base in mind if a Western release wasn't part of that briefing. In addition, previous 'Final Mix' releases have only included existing English tracks - any new content was in Japanese - no new additional English dialogue has ever been recorded for a Japanese-only release.

Any western release will likely be English only, as has been the case for previous titles in the series. It will also mark the first time a 'Final Mix' version of a Kingdom Hearts game has made it overseas. Square Enix has yet to make an official announcement, so stay tuned.

EDIT: Jesse has also posted a video of himself recording - not dialogue, but battle sounds. You can find this through this link - thanks to KH Insider for spotting it.