Information
Kingdom Hearts coded (キングダムハーツ コーデッド) was originally released for docomo PRIME series P-01A phones in Japan in an episodic format. This means that instead of the entire game becoming available, only one episode was released at a time. Later, it was announced that coded would be remade, and released as Kingdom Hearts Re:coded worldwide for the Nintendo DS. Re:coded has a tentative "Fall 2010" release date for Japan.
The first two episodes, "Olympus Coliseum -SIDE EPISODE-" and "Traverse Town -SPECIAL EDIT VERSION- (Upgrade)" were released on November 18, 2008 in Japan. Starting June 3, 2009, and ending January 28, 2010, episodes 1 through to eight were released. These are as follows:
Chronologically, coded is the direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. It follows the story of King Mickey using a data version of Sora to try and solve a mystery in Jiminy's Journal. This leads to a series of events which set up the plot for Kingdom Hearts III.
The theme song of coded is Destati, which is composed by Yoko Shimomura. Other music in the game is also composed by Yoko Shimomura.
Story
The game takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II and follows the story of Jiminy Cricket, King Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy in Disney Castle. While organizing the records in Jiminy's journal from his travels with Sora and his friends, Jiminy Cricket's curiosity about the line "Thank Naminé" results in him finding a message that he did not write: "We must return to free them from their torment." To investigate this message, King Mickey digitizes the contents of the journal and goes into the simulated world to investigate; awakening a virtual Data Sora on the virtual Destiny Islands to carry out the contents of the journal to uncover the identity of "them".
As Data Sora awakens on Destiny Islands, he encounters numerous "bugs", which take the form of red and black blocks, covering the whole world. Upon eliminating the Heartless and destroying the bugs, Sora traverses to other worlds infected with bugs to return them to normal, following the cloaked figure upon orders from King Mickey.
Meanwhile, Heartless begin appearing within Disney Castle, and everyone finds themselves trapped in the room. To their surprise, they are saved by Data Sora. Suddenly, the cloaked figure reveals himself to be Jiminy's Journal taking the form of Riku, and explains that they are no longer in the real world, but the data world. Sora is sent off by the Journal to discover his true identity, only to encounter Maleficent and Pete from the real world. Maleficent destroys Data Sora's Keyblade and summons Heartless to attack him. Mickey and the Journal arrive to save Sora, but the Journal is abducted by Maleficent, with Mickey giving chase. Sora makes his way through Hollow Bastion, aided by Donald and Goofy. They encounter Pete, who summons the Journal and takes control of him with the bugs to fight them, but Sora still manages to defeat the Journal, who falls unconscious.
Mickey arrives and informs Sora that unless the bugs are destroyed, the Journal will never awaken. Sora decides to find a way to awaken the Journal, and enters Riku's data world, losing his abilities in the process. The two visit various worlds from the Data Riku's memory and find their way back to Hollow Bastion, where they fight and defeat Maleficent. Meanwhile, King Mickey discovers that he will be returning soon to the real world, but the Journal, once completed, will have to be erased, which will mean the end of Data Sora's memories. When the time comes, Sora requests more time in order to save Pete and Maleficent, who are still in the data world. Sora finds them fighting Sora's Heartless, but Pete and Maleficent are erased before he can intervene. Sora defeats Sora's Heartless and Mickey returns to the real world, erasing the Journal. A new message appears claiming that a new door to a new world has been opened, which is the data of the data world added into the Journal. Mickey, realizing that this quest may be too dangerous for Data Sora as he has no memory of it, requests to be taken into the Data World once again.
Finding Data Sora in Traverse Town, Mickey takes him to Castle Oblivion where Data Sora is confronted by a young man wearing a black coat. He tells Sora that if he wants to know the truth, he must move forward on his own through the previous worlds he visited destroying bugs. During this time, he realizes that even if he doesn't remember someone he's met, there's still the sadness of having forgotten them which the figure attempts to warn not to let it consume him. Sora disregards this message and fights the figure, revealed to be Roxas. After losing to Sora, Roxas gives him a card as Mickey appears. Sora opens the next door to find Naminé, who reveals the bugs to have been an unintentional side effect of her attempt to restore Sora's memories. She then reveals Sora's nature as the "Key that connects everything" through his ties with herself, Roxas, Xion, and Axel. Furthermore, Naminé tells Data Sora about three figures also tied to Sora's heart who are the ones referred to in the message and need his help. Mickey bids farewell to the Data Sora and promises Naminé that he will inform the real Sora of this.
In the final scene, Mickey sends Sora a bottled letter (the same one sent by Mickey at the end of Kingdom Hearts II), which Sora reads with Riku and Kairi.
Playthrough
Gameplay
Coded, like all games in the Kingdom Hearts series, is predominantly an RPG. However, some puzzle elements are included. The original game features a mix of 3D backgrounds with 2D characters, where Re:coded will feature complete 3D elements.
Red and black "bug blocks" appear as a critical element of gameplay in coded. These blocks represent "bugs" in the data world of Jiminy's Journal, and must be destroyed in order for the data worlds to be fixed. These blocks serve as obstacles to reach higher ground, and often lead to puzzles or minigames which must be solved. Battles feature a "debugging" mode where these blocks may be removed.
The original version of coded strongly ties in with Kingdom Hearts Mobile. Upon completing episodes of coded, the player unlocks and is able to buy new items in Kingdom Hearts Mobile.
Development
Coded was initially announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2007, along with 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep. Announced to be for docomo phones, it was later revealed on the coded website that it would specifically be for the docomo PRIME series P-01A, and later other docomo phones. The game was also featured at DKΣ3713 with a trailer and playable demo.
Re:coded
Original news of a Kingdom Hearts coded remake came from Jiminy Cricket's English voice actor, Phil Snyder. Later, at E3 2010, Kingdom Hearts Re:coded was officially announced for the Nintendo DS. With a tentative "Fall 2010" release date for Japan, Re:coded will be released worldwide for the Nintendo DS. The gameplay is a mixture of styles from 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep. The game features 3D graphics using a similar engine to 358/2 Days, yet retains some aspects of the original coded, such as the side-scrolling levels. Also, Re:coded will feature adjustable difficulty settings, multiplayer elements, and a new secret movie hinting at Kingdom Hearts 3D.
Characters
Worlds
External Links
Official
Japanese Kingdom Hearts coded website
Official
Japanese Kingdom Hearts Re:coded website
