New Kingdom Hearts III in-depth discoveries are now arising

[Yoshirai 145]

As Kingdom Hearts III came out almost one month ago on January 29, so did the first attempts to look up for all the “hidden truths” veiled into the deepest parts of the game. Although datamining seems impossible at the moment, in this article we will try to sum up all the known discoveries to date made through save editing. Be aware that some of the following medias might be spoiler, so keep reading at your own risk.

The first and the most curious finding goes to @Keytotruth. Apparently, Kingdom Hearts III does have some sort of “Critical” Mode. In a quick image comparison, you can spot a clear difference between the HP and MP bar from a Proud Mode save file, and a “Critical” Mode one, as in the letter, the two are considerably reduced. More infos to come.

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Plus, it looks like beating the game on “Critical” is not going to be displayed into the final Battle Report (credits to @Soraalam1).

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Thanks to @xeeynamo and @Keytotruth, Aqua managed to get working outside the Vanitas boss fight (which is her only playable moment in the whole game). The negative side is that she is playable on Land of The Departure only. It is also interesting to notice that Aqua has an unused idle face, which might lead to the hypothesis of previous development plans to make her playable during other game phases. Here you can both check out some in-game screenshots and a recorded video from @xeeynamo.

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One more interesting finding goes to @xeeynamo and @Keytotruth, who accomplished to equip some of the unused (but existent within the game) Keyblades, like Braveheart (Riku’s new Keyblade), Way to Dawn, Master’s Defender and Mickey’s (still) unnamed new Keyblade. In one of his screenshots, @xeeynamo also displayed the possibility to wield Donald’s Mage’s Staff+. Note that no Keyblade beyond Riku ones seem to deal any kind of damage. Here you can both check out some in-game screenshots and a recorded video from @xeeynamo.

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Thanks to @The13thVessel it is now available a guide to explore San Fransokyo out of its boundaries. You might be willing to check it out, so be sure to follow the exact steps to avoid getting sora despawned.

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Another compelling discovery from @Keytotruth is that Cura’s 4th spell level, Curaza, does actually exist within the game. However, it seems it can only be triggered by eating some specific food. He also managed to cast in-water spells on the ground.

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@Keytotruth also noticed an interesting detail concerning the plushies from the King of Toys UFO boss-fight room. Apparently, they have their own unique sounds, which are almost unnoticeable during the boss fight because of both BGM and SFXs.

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What’s your opinion on these newly found discoveries about the game?
Remember that we’ll make sure to constantly update this article whenever something new comes out.

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[Sonicshadowsilver2 11]

Another new discovery is that you can get out of bounds in Keyblade Graveyard with Ralph: 

 

[VocaloidLover13 165]

I've tried all the out of bonds and I am deeply curious about why we can only play 5% of the whole 

Spoiler

first map, which is sand-only with rocks. The second terrain is with walls

Why was all of it unused?? Anyway, jumping into those rocks was the best thing to do on the world.

But isn't it a waste of storage space?

Big Hero 6's world is like 60% playable at least

 

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

Um...maybe my game is broken but I got Curaza as a situation command at least five times while playing through the game, I did eat meals though so maybe that's why. But I don't know what I ate specifically lol

Edited February 21, 2019 by PrinceNoctis

[Goyan-Tanuki 38]

 

The thing about Aqua is that she is playable before that battle it's called 0.2. It was once apart of the complete KHIII experience, so it's probably leftover code from that?

Edited February 21, 2019 by Goyan-Tanuki

[Dustin Lübbers 933]

Hope theres is going to be a out of bounds video on kh 3 soon i feel that the surrounding areas are more detailed than we could ever imagine

[Ultima Spark 753]

5 hours ago, PrinceNoctis said:

Um...maybe my game is broken but I got Curaza as a situation command at least five times while playing through the game, I did eat meals though so maybe that's why. But I don't know what I ate specifically lol

Yeah, Curaza appears randomly as an ability when you eat a “chef’s choice” full course meal (I encountered it several times while looking for the EXP booster ability).

[Movies798 1,358]

Judging all these new discovery I would say Kingdom Hearts 3 was originally meant to be a longer game, but they had to cut a lot stuff in order to fit the disk. In my opinion, I would love it if they decided to make Kingdom Hearts 3 a two disk game. similar like my favorite game The Legend of Dragoon. The Legend of Dragoon was four disk game because due to the power of the first PlayStation system it didn't have the power to include the full story into one disk. I do believe Nomura or a Square-Enix staff member mentioning something about Disk limits that Kingdom Hearts 3 was running out of space? I don't know if it would cost money to make it a two disk game, but I wouldn't mind if Kingdom Hearts 3 was two disk. So that Nomura could include everything he wanted to in Kingdom Hearts 3. Or maybe they should've limit the Disney element and focus more on Sora's journey to achieve the power of waking and his search to bring back Aqua, Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Namine, and Terra. But of course from reading the previous interviews it sounds like Disney was more focusing on their own product (Disney Worlds) and not the game it self. Still love the game very.

[Blackdrazon 19]

8 hours ago, PrinceNoctis said:

Um...maybe my game is broken but I got Curaza as a situation command at least five times while playing through the game, I did eat meals though so maybe that's why. But I don't know what I ate specifically lol

Remy outright recommended me a full meal bonus with Curaza, twice! I'm surprised to learn it was widely overlooked. I saved one Chef's Choice recipe, I'll go look it up.

Here it is:

• Mushroom Terrine+
• Pumpkin Veloute+
• Eel Matelote+
• Filet Mignon Poele+
• Chocolate Mousse+

 

Edited February 22, 2019 by Blackdrazon

[cyntix 53]

10 hours ago, Movies798 said:

Judging all these new discovery I would say Kingdom Hearts 3 was originally meant to be a longer game, but they had to cut a lot stuff in order to fit the disk. In my opinion, I would love it if they decided to make Kingdom Hearts 3 a two disk game. similar like my favorite game The Legend of Dragoon. The Legend of Dragoon was four disk game because due to the power of the first PlayStation system it didn't have the power to include the full story into one disk. I do believe Nomura or a Square-Enix staff member mentioning something about Disk limits that Kingdom Hearts 3 was running out of space? I don't know if it would cost money to make it a two disk game, but I wouldn't mind if Kingdom Hearts 3 was two disk. So that Nomura could include everything he wanted to in Kingdom Hearts 3. Or maybe they should've limit the Disney element and focus more on Sora's journey to achieve the power of waking and his search to bring back Aqua, Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Namine, and Terra. But of course from reading the previous interviews it sounds like Disney was more focusing on their own product (Disney Worlds) and not the game it self. Still love the game very.

it is not new. It happened with kh2 too. Then the final mix came out. What happened here is probably that Disney was asking a lot from them for the disney properties and they had to cut some stuff. The rest will come as dlc.

[Movies798 1,358]

2 hours ago, cyntix said:

it is not new. It happened with kh2 too. Then the final mix came out. What happened here is probably that Disney was asking a lot from them for the disney properties and they had to cut some stuff. The rest will come as dlc.

Not to me. Didn't feel like that in the original KH2 on the PS2. The original KH2 on the PS2 felt it had a beginning, middle, and end. It didn't have any pacing problems. Kingdom Hearts 3 in the other had a lot more story than Kingdom Hearts 2 and the game's third suffer pacing problems.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Movies798

[cyntix 53]

33 minutes ago, Movies798 said:

Not to me. Didn't feel like that in the original KH2 on the PS4. The original KH2 on the PS2 felt it had a beginning, middle, and end. It didn't have any pacing problems. Kingdom Hearts 3 in the other had a lot more story than Kingdom Hearts 2 and the game's third suffer pacing problems.

What is weird is that KH3 has more story than Kh2. That's for sure. But it doesn't feel like it. And I think the reason is because there is no explorable section related with the main story that is just cutscenes.
For example, there could be a hub at mysterious tower when characters should be able to talk about the main story, even if it is just some vague sentences.

[Jonbob 4]

1 hour ago, cyntix said:

What is weird is that KH3 has more story than Kh2. That's for sure. But it doesn't feel like it. And I think the reason is because there is no explorable section related with the main story that is just cutscenes.
For example, there could be a hub at mysterious tower when characters should be able to talk about the main story, even if it is just some vague sentences.

100% this. I loved the story in KH3 but you’re right - it all happened in cutscenes, mostly in places we couldn’t go. The game is an 8.5/10 for me and the only real thing missing was Radiant Garden (I’m not fussed about the FF characters I just wanted to walk around listening to the field theme!)

[Movies798 1,358]

8 hours ago, cyntix said:

What is weird is that KH3 has more story than Kh2. That's for sure. But it doesn't feel like it. And I think the reason is because there is no explorable section related with the main story that is just cutscenes.
For example, there could be a hub at mysterious tower when characters should be able to talk about the main story, even if it is just some vague sentences.

And that is why I said the game's third act had pacing problems. After saving one certain character the game rushed to save another character and rushed to the Keyblade Graveyard. 

[drew0594 19]

10 hours ago, Movies798 said:

Not to me. Didn't feel like that in the original KH2 on the PS2. The original KH2 on the PS2 felt it had a beginning, middle, and end. It didn't have any pacing problems. Kingdom Hearts 3 in the other had a lot more story than Kingdom Hearts 2 and the game's third suffer pacing problems. 

KH2 definitely had pacing problems. You have a beginning, a middle and an end... And nothing in between. Disney worlds are fillers and a lot happens at the end. Riku's story is rushed, Saix and Luxord just feel like boss fodder: "Hey, we forgot to make you fight these guys, enter these rooms and take them out so that the story can progress", just to name some problems.
Every KH game has pacing problems and KH2 is one of the games that struggles the most with it.

[Movies798 1,358]

10 minutes ago, drew0594 said:

KH2 definitely had pacing problems. You have a beginning, a middle and an end... And nothing in between. Disney worlds are fillers and a lot happens at the end. Riku's story is rushed, Saix and Luxord just feel like boss fodder: "Hey, we forgot to make you fight these guys, enter these rooms and take them out so that the story can progress", just to name some problems.
Every KH game has pacing problems and KH2 is one of the games that struggles the most with it.

I definitely respect that but I disagree. Kingdom Hearts 2 had good pacing. The first visits to the Disney Worlds were fillers yes, but the second visits were more loosely tie to the main plot, because Sora, Donald, and Goofy were looking for a way to get into The World That Never Was. Plus, the second visits allow us to encounter some of the Organization 13 members. The second visits were great and more interesting than the first visits. I didn't mind Riku's story back then because Chain of Memories on the GBA fill in the gap about Riku's story so I was able understand his story. And I didn't find any pacing problems with Kingdom Hearts 1, Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 2, Re:Coded, and Dream Drop Distance.

[drew0594 19]

15 minutes ago, Movies798 said:

I definitely respect that but I disagree. Kingdom Hearts 2 had good pacing. The first visits to the Disney Worlds were fillers yes, but the second visits were more loosely tie to the main plot, because Sora, Donald, and Goofy were looking for a way to get into The World That Never Was. Plus, the second visits allow us to encounter some of the Organization 13 members. The second visits were great and more interesting than the first visits. I didn't mind Riku's story back then because Chain of Memories on the GBA fill in the gap about Riku's story so I was able understand his story. And I didn't find any pacing problems with Kingdom Hearts 1, Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 2, Re:Coded, and Dream Drop Distance. 

If you think that games like CoM or DDD don't have pacing problems, then we just have (very) different opinions on what a good pacing is. This is kinda off-topic, so maybe I'll open another thread to discuss the general pacing in the games.

Anyway, that video with all the different keyblades is cool. It wouldn't be bad to have an alternative skins option, like for post-game, just for fun.

[Movies798 1,358]

59 minutes ago, drew0594 said:

If you think that games like CoM or DDD don't have pacing problems, then we just have (very) different opinions on what a good pacing is. This is kinda off-topic, so maybe I'll open another thread to discuss the general pacing in the games.

Anyway, that video with all the different keyblades is cool. It wouldn't be bad to have an alternative skins option, like for post-game, just for fun.

Lol well yeah because we both have different experiences when we play Kingdom Hearts games. Anyway, I respect your opinion about the pacing in the Kingdom Hearts series. I would've love to have more keyblades in Kingdom Hearts 3. Some old ones like Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

[drew0594 19]

56 minutes ago, Movies798 said:

Lol well yeah because we both have different experiences when we play Kingdom Hearts games. Anyway, I respect your opinion about the pacing in the Kingdom Hearts series. I would've love to have more keyblades in Kingdom Hearts 3. Some old ones like Oathkeeper and Oblivion. 

I respect your opinion too, of course. Problems and alleged problems also impact all of us differently.

As for keyblades, they'll add more via DLCs for sure, like they did in the past. I don't know if they'll add old ones though, since they'd have to bother with transformations, which is a bit tricky when it comes to iconic keyblades. I wouldn't mind something like a "First Form" for Oblivion and Oathkeeper.

[Darkfire1408 43]

On 2/22/2019 at 6:46 PM, drew0594 said:

I respect your opinion too, of course. Problems and alleged problems also impact all of us differently.

As for keyblades, they'll add more via DLCs for sure, like they did in the past. I don't know if they'll add old ones though, since they'd have to bother with transformations, which is a bit tricky when it comes to iconic keyblades. I wouldn't mind something like a "First Form" for Oblivion and Oathkeeper.

Maybe they could add in Two Become One and have Oblivion and Oathkeeper as a transformation for it.