HD 1.5 ReMIX appears in December 27 Famitsu Weekly (with scans)

DChiuch · January 22, 2013

Note: We have corrected the article below. Initially we believed these to be scans of the January 24, 2013 article, however, they are actually (new) scans of the December 27, 2012 article.

Scans of the issue of Famitsu Weekly releasing on December 27, 2012, which contained an article on Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 ReMIX-, have finally appeared online. The article contains many screenshots of and information about the Kingdom Hearts Final Mix part of the game. Thanks to True Gaming for providing scans, you can see this article below.

http://kh13.com/zenphoto/articles/famitsu-weekly/january-24-2013/

Update 1: catmaster0116 from KH13 has begun to translate this article, and so far, has translated the entire first two pages. This partial translation can be read here.

Update 2: goldpanner has done us a huge favor and translated the entire article, not including the missing page 122, between the article's 4th and 5th pages. Thanks to her, this complete translation can be read below.

The scoop on upcoming release: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX

★10th Anniversary Scoop!
This work is composed of three titles from the series remastered in HD. The price, three titles for 6980 yen (tax included), is also quite appealing.

Goofy: Captain of the royal knights, very thoughtful of his friends.
Sora: Our cheerful and honest protagonist.
Donald Duck: Royal Magician, leave magic to him.
Jiminy: Chronicles the journey.

IN BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS...

The story of KH Final Mix:
Destiny Islands, a gentle world bathed in warm sunlight. Sora, Kairi and Riku lived there, and the three of them formed a plan to leave on an adventurous journey to outside worlds. However, the day before they were to depart, Destiny Islands were swallowed by the darkness, and the three were separated. At the same time, Donald and Goofy, who lived at Disney Castle, received an order to "stay with the one who has the 'key'," left by their missing King, and they set out on a journey to find the one who bore the 'key'--the Keyblade. Sora, thrown out into an outside world, met Donald and Goofy there. Sora, who came to have the Keyblade when Destiny Islands were swallowed by the darkness, along with Donald and Goofy set out on an adventure.
*Screencaps are from a work in progress

Maleficent: Queen who controls the darkness.
Riku: Sora's best friend and yet rival.
Kairi: Childhood friend of Sora and Riku.

Console: PS3
Developer: Square Enix
Expected release: 14th March 2013
Price: 6980 yen (tax included)
Genre: Fantasy, Action RPG, Single Player
Credits: Directed by Tetsuya Nomura, Co-directed by Tai Yasue, Produced by Rie Nishi

★Titles included in KH -HD 1.5 ReMIX-
~Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Used the North American version of the first title of the series as a base to add new components.
~Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
A title that depicts the events that occured directly after the first title and connects to KHII.
~Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Included as a volume of videos. The other protagonist, Roxas, plays an active role.

With over 18,000,000 units shipped worldwide, the Kingdom Hearts (here-on KH) series is very popular. The latest installment is a HD remaster of the early stretch of the story. Of the three titles included in this work, we will now introduce KH Final Mix, which details the very first adventure of protagonist Sora. We will also reveal changes from the original.

...THE FIRST ADVENTURE TOLD

★Updating the Original KH Final Mix
+On top of being made HD, some character models and textures have been updated
+The English voicing has been changed to Japanese voicing
+With trophy support there is more to do after clearing the game
+PS3 custom theme made available after clearing the game
+Addition of abilities ‘EXP Zero’, in which you cannot earn EXP, and ‘Combo Master’, in which combos continue even if an attack misses
+Camera controls have been changed to the right stick. R3 button to swing the camera behind to default position
+’Talk’ and some special abilities etc. now executed with only the △ button
+’Summon’, which used to be included in ‘Magic’, has been added separately to the command menu

WORLDS OF ADVENTURE

After his home is swallowed by the darkness, Sora sets off on a journey to the ‘outside worlds’ to search for his missing friends Riku and Kairi and drive back enemies known as ‘Heartless’, and as he does so, he travels through many Disney worlds. Now we will introduce each world and present screenshots showcasing how beautiful they look remastered in HD!

TRAVERSE TOWN (KH original world)
Leon: Mediates everyone.
Aerith: A mysterious girl.
This is the first world Sora ends up on. Living here are Final Fantasy characters such as Leon (Squall from FFVIII).

WONDERLAND (from Alice in Wonderland)
A world loaded with strange interactive tricks!
Queen of Hearts: An arrogant ruler.
Alice: A girl with a strong sense of curiosity.
Alice is put on trial for the crime of trying to steal the heart of the Queen of Hearts. In order to save her, evidence must be collected in this strange world.

OLYMPUS COLISEUM (from Hercules)
Hades is making Cloud his attack dog... what is he calculating...?
Sephiroth: Swoops on one wing.
Cloud: A soldier pursuing his sworn enemy.
Hercules: A hero among heroes.
Hades: God of the land of the dead.
Sora enters a tournament, sights set on becoming a hero. However, in the background is Hades and his schemes… Visit again after for the chance to battle secret boss Sephiroth!

★Invigorating battles and Sora's companions
Simple controls and exhilarating flashy battle are staples of the KH series. A Disney character from each world will join you in battle alongside Donald or Goofy. You can also call friends through any Summon Magic that you gain. Your companions have various abilities, such as wide-range attacks and healing. There are RPG-esque elements such as a level-up growth system and ability customisation, so people who don't feel confident about their action skills can rest at ease!

MONSTRO (from Pinocchio)
Pinocchio: A puppet with a heart.
Geppetto: Pinnochio's guardian.
Adventure through the insides of a giant whale, Monstro, who swallows you. While searching for the missing Pinocchio, you come across Riku, but…

ATLANTICA (from The Little Mermaid)
Defeat the giant Ursula!
Ariel: A mermaid who longs for the outside world.
Ursula: A sea witch who is scheming for revenge.
In this world, Sora and his friends take the shape of sea creatures like dolphins, and swim around freely under the sea. Perfect the art of swimming and challenge Ursula.

★Development Staff comments have arrived!
~Character art director Gen Kobayashi (Menu, additional graphics supervisor):
In order to match the HD remastering, a great deal of the base material had to be made high resolution as well as remade entirely. The KH menu screens were originally created in high graphics but we made them even nicer. We widened the screen to 16:9, and we even gave the controls a pleasant do-over, so I am sure that even those who played the PS2 game will be able to enjoy the fresh feeling of this title. We’ve also prepared custom themes and many trophies, so please try and collect them all.
~Character division team leader Tohru Yamazaki (texture work, in charge of adjusting some of the models):
When we first inspected screens from KH, everyone said admiring things like ‘but it’s so pretty right now’. It was the result of the developers back then layering trial and error onto their ways of creating textures. With this title, I started work with the aim to bring things up to basically post-KH2 quality, which meant things with drastically increased resolution and for other parts changing the creation style to fit textures created after KH2. I took great care to make sure people who had been playing the most recent titles in the series would feel the least sense of incongruence possible.
~Producer Sumio Nasu (general programming, handling PS2 to PS3 data conversion):
Because it was a ten year old program, nobody remembered how to use it… We finally worked out how to get moving after a lot of trial and error. I want to make use of the knowledge I gained from this project to bring the next remastered title to life. I want you to feel satisfied by the story on large screen, the image capacity, and the volume that is unbelievable for a ten year old title. In this title the controls feel closer to KHII, and you can also skip cutscenes. Even if this is your first experience with the series, I’m sure you will be able to enjoy the controls without anything feeling off.

HALLOWEEN TOWN (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Pay attention to the colourful attacks of Boogie, who moves according to dice rolls!
Jack: The Pumpkin King.
Boogie: Wants to control the town.
Sora and the others have special forms here too. Confront Boogie, who stole something important from Jack, but with all the trickery, it seems a tough battle is unavoidable!?

★Also packed with minigames!
A shooting game when moving between worlds, customising the 'Gummi Ship' you drive during that, searching for treasure with the 'trinity' abilities that Sora and his two friends can pull off: this game is rich in a variety of minigames. You'll find yourself unintentionally absorbed in the game as you aim for the reward, no mistake.

NEVERLAND (from Peter Pan)
Peter Pan: Eternally a boy.
Captain Hook: Boss of the pirates.
Work alongside Peter Pan to search Captain Hook’s pirate ship. In this world, you can fly the skies just like Peter. Enjoy the exhilaration of swimming through the air.

100 ACRE WOODS (from Winnie the Pooh)
The kerfuffles of Pooh and his friends.
Pooh: A bear who loves honey.
100 Acre Woods is picture book world. Collect the torn pages scattered through other worlds and clear mini-games to repair the damaged parts.

THERE ARE MORE WORLDS!
Minnie Mouse: A wise queen.
Chip and Dale: If it's mechanical, leave it to them.
There are many other worlds that we haven’t showcased today. The works of Disney and the original story weave together as a grand tale expands. As this is Sora's original journey, we recommend that those who have never played the series begin playing from this title.

Update 3: A user on 2ch.net has reported that the article contains a small section on the 358/2 Days Theatre Mode part of the title. This section apparently confirms that the total length of the video volume is 2 hours and 50 minutes, and that Yoko Shimomura has remastered the songs with live instruments. For the moment, this tidbit is uncomfirmed, so take it with a grain of salt.

riku13 · January 22, 2013

cool can't wait for translations unless its stuff we already know.

AaySquare · January 23, 2013

I wish I could understand Japanese. Any translator?

Rob · January 23, 2013

I saw the trophy.

Tails · January 23, 2013

Oishii translation powers ACTIVATE!!

Indecypher · January 23, 2013

Haha, Sephiroth featured. They know what we want.

Ultima Spark · January 23, 2013

~USD $79

inb4 Americans complaining about not-actually-exorbitant prices

6980 yen = ~ AUD $75

but of course it'll be $100+ like all big name home console games are here

EDIT: English voices (Japanese subtitles) have been added

Whoa nelly! So this game does have dual audio...

Edited January 23, 2013 by Ultima Spark

Oishii · January 23, 2013

Oishii translation powers ACTIVATE!!

Oishii has a vocab quiz and has to memorize word for word two paragraphs to recite in Japanese class tomorrow, so Oishii will not be translating

Xalaru · January 23, 2013

I can't wait to get KH trophies omg.

TerraRedeemed · January 23, 2013

"English voices (Japanese subtitles) have been added"

soooo does this mean it'll have english and japanese voices?

DChiuch · January 23, 2013

Update 1: catmaster0116 from KH13 has begun to translate this article, and so far, has translated the entire first page. This can be read below. Check back soon for more.

10th Anniversary Scoop!
3 of the series titles have been remastered together as a masterpiece. It will cost about an attractive 6980 yen (Tax included) (~ USD $79).

Goofy
A royal knight with friends at heart and in mind

Donald Duck
A royal mage capable of wielding magic

Sora
The bright and outspoken protagonist

WITH BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS!
The story behind “Kingdom Hearts Final Mix”
The world bathed in the gentle light of the sun, Destiny Islands. The three characters Sora, Riku and Kairi who are from there, came up with a plan to leave on a journey for the outside worlds. But on the day of departure, the Islands became swallowed by the darkness, and the three became separated from each other.
Around the same time, Donald Duck and Goofy of Disney Castle. The king goes missing, leaving behind the instructions “Find the person possessing the Key”. In order to search the person with the “Key” or Keyblade, they set out on their journey.
Sora, who was thrown out into the outside worlds, would meet up with Donald and Goofy.
At the time Destiny Islands was swallowed up by the darkness, the Keyblade appeared in Sora’s hand – now together with Donald and Goofy they set out on a perilous Journey.

Maleficent
A witch with dominion over darkness

Kairi
Sora and Riku’s Childhood friend

Riku
Sora’s best buddy and rival

Kingdom Hearts, or more lovingly known as ‘KH’ is a series which as shipped a breakthrough total of 18 million titles to the entire world. The HD remaster is one that focuses on the stories of the earlier titles. This time, 3 titles will be compiled together. The Protagonist, Sora’s first journey is introduced as “KH Final Mix”. This release was different to the original version

The Compilation of KH HD 1.5 Remix
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
A modified version of the first game in the series, has some added content
Kingdom Hearts Re Chains of Memories
Draws out the events taking place after the first game, leads into KH2
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
???(blurry text) Told from another protagonist, Roxas’s point of view

Changes made to the original “KH Final Mix”
 Apart from better animations, the character models and textures have been added
 English voices (Japanese subtitles) have been added
 Trophy system is now supported
 On game clear, Playstation 3 custom Themes can be unlocked
 The following abilities have been added:
 Halting experience gain “Exp ZERO”
 To continue your combo attacks after your attack has missed “Combo Master”
 Camera is controlled by the right analog stick. The R3 Button returns the camera to the character’s back. (i.e. resets the camera angle)
 Interactions and special abilities are now controlled by the Triangle button
 The command menu has been changed to allow ease of using magic and summoning.