Summary
Daisuke Honda, known for his work at Square Enix on games likeKingdom Hearts 3andFinal Fantasy 16, has left the company to joinMonolith Softas a freelance cutscene director. Given Honda’s past portfolio of work in the realm of RPGs, many fans are now wondering whatMonolith Softis working on, with the studio’s upcoming lineup largely a mystery.
Best known fortheXenoblade Chroniclesseries, Monolith Soft is currently gearing up for the release ofXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionon March 20. The remaster will finally see the 2015 Wii U title made available for the Nintendo Switch and will feature updated graphics, additional story quests, a new area, and two new companion characters. As excited as longtime fans of the franchise are about this impending release, many are beginning to wonder what the Japanese studio is working on behind the scenes. A curious piece of information recently surfaced, implying that Monolith Soft is focusing on a previously mentioned mystery project.
As seen on hisLinkedInpage and pointed out by Stealth40K on Twitter, Daisuke Honda left Square Enix five months ago to pursue a career with Monolith Soft as a freelance cutscene director. In the past, Honda worked on some major titles, such asFinal Fantasy 16,Visions of Mana,Kingdom Hearts 3, andFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. The artist has also contributed to a number of films as a CG artist and designer, including 2012’sRurouni Kenshin. Whileanother entry in theXenoblade Chroniclesseriesmay be in the works, Monolith Soft began hiring new staff for a ‘new RPG’ in August 2024, prompting some to wonder if a brand-new IP may be coming soon.
Daisuke Honda Joins Monolith Soft as a Freelance Cutscene Director
As fans ponder what Monolith Soft has up its sleeve, several Square Enix titles are also up in the air. Followingthe successful release ofDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakein November 2024,Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remakeis scheduled to be released sometime in 2025, though no concrete date has been confirmed. Dedicated fans are also eager for any news regardingKingdom Hearts 4, with very few details revealed since the game was officially announced in April 2022.
As theXenoblade Chroniclesseries has been a major boon for the Switch, it’s likely that Monolith Soft is currently working hard on newreleases for the Nintendo Switch 2. More information about the successor console will be revealed during a Nintendo Direct on April 2, and eager fans may get to see more about the system’s debut titles during the show.
