A leak from last week uncovered evidence that suggests a possible Monsters, Inc. world may find its way to Kingdom Hearts 3. Now, seven days later, a curious Imgur gallery (mirrored by KH13) has made the rounds. In about a dozen new screenshots, we get a look at new areas and characters in the rumored map. Most notably, we can see Boo standing next to Sora in the infamous Door Vault featured in the film.
Going through each individual image, let’s recap the new details we can find.
- Image 2: It’s not a huge deal, but check out that swirling save point. It would suggest this particular room leads into a pivotal story moment. Considering all the perfectly cut trailers we’ve seen, it’s a cool reminder that all of this will be playable for us in the not too distant future.
- Image 4: You can see Boo in the distance hanging out with Sully, and the wide-angle shot confirms we’re standing in the Door Vault. Look at those conveyors! We also get a better view of Donald’s costume than we had before, and his monster butt looks really weird.
- Image 5: Nothing too crazy here, but it’s a new part of the map.
- Image 6: This is the best angle of Sora’s Monsters, Inc. costume we’ve seen. It looks like he’s got Tigger’s body, purple hair and cone-shaped ears. If you needed any additional confirmation of Boo or the Door Vault, look to Sora’s right.
- Images 7-10: It looks like the deeper you go into the world, the more factory-like it becomes. That Unversed-like creature in image 10 might hint towards Roxas’ plot and the return of a certain character linked to him.
- Image 12: It appears fire sprouts from the ground at one point. We can’t translate the subtitle text below Sora, but it certainly helps in making us believe this is actually a moment from the developing game.
For those who missed the original report, the first leaks surfaced on a niche Discord server run by Wrestleman of ResetEra. The original source claimed to have found the intel on an FTP server shortly before they were removed. The fact that more images have shown up today would suggest the same source has returned to further the discussion.
Especially in this particular batch, there are several signs that indicate the images are genuine. That being said, there’s still some room for doubt too. While the environment definitely looks appropriate for Kingdom Hearts 3, it’s also very empty. In that sense, the setup itself is slightly easier for someone to fake using Unreal Engine 4.
Although, that emptiness could also be explained by the world’s early development state as well. The UI design traces these images back to February at the earliest, so it’s possible a lot more work has been done to flesh out the world since then. We’ve got Sora and pals, but where the heck are the enemies?
With minor discrepancies in mind, we know Square Enix has already earned the rights to create worlds based on Pixar films like Toy Story. Assuming those rights extend to other studio properties, there’s little reason why Monsters, Inc. couldn’t be part of Kingdom Hearts 3’s world roster.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is slated for a 2018 release on PS4 and Xbox One.
Do you believe this Monsters, Inc. leak is real? Is this a world you’d like to see in Kingdom Hearts 3? Tell us in the comments section!
