Hi everyone!
My name is Kxos, and it is my pleasure to share the following with all of you.
For the past months I've been working on a non-commercial fan restoration of Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross]. When the servers shut down in May 2021, almost all of Union χ was removed from the app, which was reduced to a theater mode. Our goal is to make the original game playable again.
You can check the work that has been done and the progress made directly from the following repository: https://github.com/Kxos/KH-UX-Dark-Road-Restoration
And the notices in game from here:
https://kxos.github.io/KH-UX-Dark-Road-Restoration/notices/
What already works:
– The original game, unmodified. We use the official 4.3.1 Android client exactly as Square Enix released it: no patched or cracked APK. A replacement server we wrote talks to it as if the official servers were back.
– From a brand-new player to the home screen. Account creation, the Prologue, avatar creation, the home screen with your Keyblade wielder and pet.
– The full story, quests 1-979. All quests are playable with the original maps (recovered from the Japanese game data), cutscenes, the original music for each quest, enemies with the original stats and levels, quest objectives, chests, Trophies and rewards.
– Combat, including Special Attacks with their variable damage and enemy attacks.
– Medals: Medal List, selling, Level Up (Special Attack dots and Bonus, Skills, Traits, Trait Medals) and Evolve.
– Shop: the original medal banners (807 deals) with their guarantees, pity counters, weekly rotation, seasonal banners and a filterable catalog. Also the Moogle Shop.
– Progression: daily and weekly missions, Limited campaigns, Avatar Boards, Lux levels up to 999, the Profile screen and in-game Notices.
– Screens rebuilt where needed. The 4.3.1 client can no longer find some screens in its resources. We rebuild those from nearby original screens, from what the game's code expects, and from screenshots of the time. Every deviation from the original is explained in the in-game Notices.
What's still missing:
– Union Cross, raids and PvP. These use a separate real-time server, which is the next big step.
– Events (story events, Coliseum, raid events…): we know very little about how they actually worked.
– Graphics of about 90 enemies from the late story (quests 526+), for example Gearbits, Flappy Bugs, Cy-Bugs, King Candy, Dual Blade, Ratty Rat, Jafar (Cobra/Genie), Dragon Maleficent, Darkness, Ephemer & Skuld. For now they appear with the look of a similar enemy.
How you can help:
- Downloaded game data (most valuable). The game downloaded most of its content from Square Enix's servers after install, so it isn't in the APK, OBB or IPA files archived online. If you have an old phone, SD card or backup with KHUX on it:
– Android: the folder Android/data/com.square_enix.android_googleplay.khuxww/ (Global) or the Japanese one (jp.co.square_enix…), especially files/r/ and files like misc.mp4.
– iOS: an old iTunes/Finder or iCloud device backup with KHUX installed.
– Any datamine, extraction or tool output you made back then.
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Screenshots and videos. Events, banners, raid bosses, Coliseum, Union Cross, PvP, the Moogle Shop, missions, login bonuses, notices, and late-story quests. Real gameplay recordings help us match the original look and behaviour.
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Event and game information. Event schedules, rewards, rules, point tables, raid boss stats, drop rates, notice texts, patch notes, and old guides or spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Discord pins, forum posts).
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Network captures. If you ever recorded the game's traffic (mitmproxy, Charles…) or saved server responses, those are gold.
Even something small or partial can fill a gap. Everything will be credited, and nothing will be shared outside the project without your permission. Reply here or DM me!
Thanks a lot, and may your heart be your guiding key! 💙
P.S.
Below are some screenshots of the work done so far on certain sections of the app that have been restored (and enhanced with quality-of-life features):
Source: r/KingdomHearts · by /u/Wrong_Meet2527