Square Enix Bridge has recently updated with various exciting announcements for the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ to celebrate its first anniversary.
Some of the announcements include new worlds including what seems to be Castle of Dreams and the announcement that one of the worlds will be from a Disney world that has not been previously included in any Kingdom Hearts game thus far. Another announcement also includes the introduction of new multiplayer modes.
Last but not least, it was also confirmed that it was Ventus in the art that was released for Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]'s 3rd anniversary. Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]'s Final and Special episodes follow:
The official international Twitter account for Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ also made a tweet promising that exciting announcements were coming soon as well!
A message from Tetsuya Nomura was also included with these announcements and can be viewed below thanks to Katie Armstrong.
After the conclusion of Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]'s story on August 25th, 2016, a special short episode was held. This follows the events of Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]'s ending and marks the end of Kingdom Hearts χ[chi].
You can check out screenshots and a summary below, in the spoilers tab. We will have translations up soon.
On August 25th at 12:00 AM (PT), 25 new story quests were added to the international version of Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ. With this new story update, a new world is also introduced starting with story quest 426: The Beast's Castle. Players also obtain the Divine Rose Keyblade after quest 433.
While meeting up with your favorite characters from Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, don't forget you'll receive receive Orichalcum after completing these 25 quests.
Are you excited to explore this new world? Let us know in the comments!
On August 16th, 2016, it was announced that the final main story update of Kingdom Hearts χ[chi] had been postponed for the 25th, and that an additional short episode would follow on the 29th. The finale has now gone live following the completion of August 25th’s maintenance at 16:00 JST, at last traveling straight to the core of the infamous Keyblade War.
[uPDATED] Translated Footage is now available, courtesy of Everglow and Catherine Mueller (nichiei.translations@gmail.com).
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has been confirmed by Square Enix to be playable as a demo at yet another convention lining up this late summer. PAX West 2016, taking place on September 2nd to 5th in Seattle, Washington, will feature a hands on experience of the game at its Square Enix booth.
Other demos that will be playable at the booth include Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, World of Final Fantasy, Hitman, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and more.
Square Enix will be hosting public previews and panels at the convention, as well as running sweepstakes for Square Enix Members Rewards. Some images from PAX West 2016 can be found below thanks to the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter account:
Will you be attending PAX West 2016 and trying out the demo for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue? Let us know in the comments!
There has been official confirmation that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be publicly available to play at the Madman Anime Festival 2016 located in Melbourne, Australia. It is important to note that Kingdom Hearts has never been featured at the Madman Anime Festival prior to this year, and alongside this, it will be the first time that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be playable in Australia. The Madman Anime Festival will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 3rd and 4th of September 2016.
For further information on the event, such as ticketing information and event scheduling, go to the Madman Anime Festival website.
Who will be attending the event? What are you most excited to see within the playable demo? Let us know in the comments below!
Gamescom 2016 in Cologne, Germany, is now open to trade and media visitors, two days prior to opening its doors to all. Press visitors such as Finaland have managed to sneak a peak at the Square Enix products in display at the event, including a prototype for Kingdom Hearts III Sora Play Arts Kai, which was recently announced and is available for pre-order at the North American branch of the Square Enix Store.
Prototypes for Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai and Kingdom Hearts Static Arts figures of Kingdom Hearts II Sora, Chirithy, Shadow, and Meow Wow are also in display; these were previously revealed at the San Diego Comic Con.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will also be playable as a demo at the event.
You can view the pictures of the Play Arts Kai and Static Arts display below, courtesy of @Finaland_, @KHfansite, and @Servant_Serah.
Gamescom will be open to everyone from August 19th to August 21st. Will you be attending? Let us know in the comments!
Following recent discoveries of hidden areas in the code of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, KH13 forum member Ligero_miguel joined the search and found some more interesting information within the game's code. His findings include beta mini-maps, concept art from the Prankster's Paradise world, unused items, unused HUD, a prototype menu, and beta screenshots. He has found messages by the developers within the code in the game, including references to the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica and name of songs by Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and Joe Williams. He also shows a picture of the roman numeral "III", which he believes was due to appear after the end credits of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, following the secret message of "THIS LEADS TO KINGDOM HEARTS" which can be spelled out from the sequence of letters appearing during the credits.
Ligero_miguel mentions that his most interesting find is a file called "jb_621.bcd", a collision from a deleted map. He explains that maps with the numbers 60, 61, and 62 are "Dive Mode" maps, and speculates that the game initially included the Dive Map of a world inspired by The Jungle Book, which could have had an area code denoted by "jb". This is especially intriguing as there was
. Also, an episode from the cancelled Kingdom Hearts TV series took place in the world of The Jungle Book, and Jungle Book medals were added to the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ to celebrate the release of the recent live action movie.
The video below shows Ligero_miguel's discoveries in the code of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
What do you make of these findings? Would you like to see The Jungle Book in future Kingdom Hearts games? Let us know in the comments!
Square Enix NA Store is now accepting pre-orders for Keychains on four classic Keyblades - Kingdom Key, Kingdom Key Dark Side, Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Additionally, Lea's Keyblade, which was recently announced for release in Japan is also up for pre-order. The Keychains will be releasing on December 2016, each at a retail price of $19.99 USD.
Description and picture of the Keychains are as follows:
Will you be purchasing any of these Keyblade keychains along with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue this December? Let us know in the comments!
Update 1: Translations of the interview from the Japanese website Gamer have also been added below.
Update 2: Translations of the interview held by 4Gamer.net has also been added.
Following the conclusion of the Kingdom Hearts Concert -First Breath-, Dengeki Online and Famitsu had the chance to interview Yoko Shimomura, the composer for the Kingdom Hearts series, and Kaoru Wada, who arranges the orchestral pieces for the Kingdom Hearts series. Yoko Shimomura and Kaoru Wada discuss the difficulties and process of creating songs for the series as well as all of the work leading up to the concert, including input from series director Tetsuya Nomura.
A translation of the Dengeki Online interview can be found below thanks to goldpanner:
A translation of the interview held by Famitsu can be found below thanks to Catherine Mueller (nichiei.translations@gmail.com):
A translation of the interview with Gamer can be found below thanks to Catherine Mueller (nichiei.translations@gmail.com):
Translations of the 4Gamer.net interview can be found below thanks to Katie Armstrong:
What songs are you hoping will be on the song list for the world tour? Let us know in the comments!
On August 11, 2016, the first official Kingdom Hearts concert was held in Japan, called Kingdom Hearts Concert -First Breath-. Fans who attended the event were treated to orchestrated music from the Kingdom Hearts series. Voice actors for Terra and Namine (Ryōtarō Okiayu & Iku Nakahara, repsectively) were in attendance. Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, said "something was in the works" about a week before the concert concerning the voice actors. Something indeed was in the works!
Exclusive back story, which will not be included in-game for Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, was reenacted by Terra and Namine's voice actors, exclusively for attendees at Kingdom Hearts Concert -First Breath-. This contains heavy spoilers, so read below at your own risk.
Thanks goes to @aibo_ac7 for providing information concerning the exclusive back story, @r_kane1 for providing a summary of the information, and Kayla Copeland (nichiei.translations@gmail.com) for translating the full dialogue.
UPDATE: This conversation is transcribed inside of the official Kingdom Hearts Orchestra - World Tour - guide. It has both the Japanese conversation, and the conversation translated to English. It turns out this conversation was not between Lingering Will and Naminé, but it was actually between Terra and Naminé. View the conversation below with the official English translations thanks to @jsjunshen:
Update: The official Japanese Square Enix e-store has updated with the Kingdom Hearts mugs, as well as Lea's Keychain from Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance. The release date for the mugs is September 10, 2016, and the Keychain will be available on November 28, 2016.
The original article follows.
New Kingdom Hearts series merchandise has made it's way on to Amazon Japan's website for pre-order, including 2 new mugs and a keychain of Lea's Keyblade featured in Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance. The mugs feature artwork of a Shadow Heartless and Sora's crown surrounded by a pattern based on Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ. Last but not least, there is also a new wallet style smart phone case decorated with a KHUX design now available for pre-order through the Japanese Square Enix E-Store.
The two mugs will be available in September of 2016 for 2,200 yen each, while the keychain of Lea's Keyblade will be available in November of 2016 for 1,900 yen. The smart phone case will be available first, with a release date of August 30th, 2016 at the price of 4,940 yen.
You can find images of all the new merchandise below. Thanks to Twitter user @aibo_ac7!
Which item do you want to get your hands on the most? Let us know in the comment!
The official Kingdom Hearts Concert -First Breath- website has updated ahead of the official concert in Japan, which will start on August 11th. The website includes various merchandise that can be purchased. You can check out what can be purchased and how much it will cost below thanks to goldpanner.
You can check out images of each item below, in our gallery.
Would you like to purchase the Kingdom Hearts χ[chi] 3rd anniversary Key Art design in High Quality? How about any of the other official merchandise? Let us know in the comments below!
Many fans have been anticipating the release of the new album by Utada Hikaru, singer of the opening songs in the Kingdom Hearts series. This album, releasing on September 28th, now has an official title: "Fantôme", which means "ghost" in French. The title, along with the track listing, was revealed on Utada Hikaru's official website.
You can check out the official album cover, along with the revealed track listing, below.
The album will be 3,000 yen (roughly $29.27 USD) + tax.
Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, has announced via the official Kingdom Hearts Japanese Twitter account that it is the plan for Ryōtarō Okiayu, the voice actor of Terra, and Iku Nakahara, the voice actress of Namine, to both be present and participate at each showing of Kingdom Hearts Concert -First Breath- in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.
A translation of the tweet can be found below thanks to goldpanner.
Updates
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(August 10th, 2016- 11:40 PM, USA EST): Ryōtarō Okiayu tweets that he is at the theater where Kingdom Hearts -First Breath- is being performed
(August 10th, 2016- 11:45 PM, USA EST): New artwork by Tetsuya Nomura featuring Sora as a conductor and various other characters as members of an orchestra!
(August 10th, 2016- 11:55PM, USA EST): The song list of -First Breath- is revealed!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:13 AM, USA EST): Pictures of the merchandise available at the event!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:20 AM, USA EST): Another pic of the merchandise!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:24 AM, USA EST): View from inside the concert hall!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:26 AM, USA EST): An image of the new Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ themed smart phone case!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:28 AM, USA EST): A look at the Yoko Shimomura interview exclusive to Kingdom Hearts -First Breath- attendees!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:33 AM, USA EST): Attendees are now entering the concert hall!
(August 11th, 2016- 12:38 AM, USA EST): More screenshots for the exclusive Yoko Shimomura interview!
(August 11th, 2016- 1:05 AM, USA EST): The concert should be starting now!
(August 11th, 2016- 2:03 AM, USA EST): The very first KH concert has concluded!
(August 11th, 2016- 2:12 AM, USA EST): A picture of lucky attendees with Yoko Shimomura!
(August 11th, 2016- 2:23 AM, USA EST): The concert included an amazing duet!
(August 11th, 2016- 3:24 AM, USA EST): Tetsuya Nomura is on stage!
(August 11th, 2016- 3:33 AM, USA EST): The concert has finally concluded! The music touched many people.
(August 11th, 2016- 11:44 PM, USA EST): Tetsuya Nomura restates that there's definitely plans to celebrate the Kingdom Hearts series' 15th anniversary in 2017!
(August 12th, 2016- 12:26 AM, USA EST): Tetsuya Nomura tells Dengeki Online that he regretfully cannot make an appearance at every performance but hopes to keep fans surprised!