Square Enix France have revealed that the latest issue of Role Playing Game, a French magazine, has included an article on Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. The article has not yet appeared online, however, Square Enix France have uploaded the cover of the issue, and this can be seen below.
Thanks to KHDestiny, we know that the article does not contain any screenshots of the international version of the game-- instead, the screenshots in the article are in Japanese.
Square Enix have updated their online store with the cover art of the first Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] novel, called Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Side Sora. You can see this cover below.
Square Enix have updated the official Japanese website for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] to announce that a patch is now downloadable from the Nintendo 3DS eShop. This patch fixes many of the issues and bugs that were present in the Japanese version of the game.
GameTrailers have conducted an interview with Raio Mitsuno, the Product Manager from Square Enix, concerning the upcoming English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Thanks to Nikolasvanitas from KH13 for the tip, you can watch this video interview below.
Square Enix France have released a new set of screenshots and renders of the English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. These images focus on the world based on The Hunchback of Notre-dame, La Cité des Cloches, and the world based on Mickey · Donald · Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Country of the Musketeers. You can see them below.
Hey everyone. KH13 will be running a competition to give away a free pre-order for the English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]! Entering the competition is simple. As long as you do one of the two following things (or both, which will double your chances of winning), then you'll be in the running to win!
1. Like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kh13com) and share this post
2. Follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/KH13com) and retweet this post
On Friday the 1st of June, 2012 (at 12PM EST time), we'll pick a random winner and contact them. Good luck!
EB Games Australia have started advertising the English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] in stores around Australia. Various stores have been reported to be showing the Jump Festa 2012 trailer in Japanese on a television in the stores, with an accompanying poster advertising the July 26, 2012 release date for Australia. They also have promotional boxes of the game, including early versions of both the front and back cover! This is significant, as it's the first time we've seen the back cover in English (although, it is likely to change as they still need to add the technical information). We managed to snap some photos of this for you, and you can see these photos below!
Thanks to FF-Reunion, we have found that representative Hidemi of Square Enix's merchandise division made a Tweet revealing plans for making three plush toys from the Kingdom Hearts series. The plush toys will include a Shadow from Kingdom Hearts, a Dusk from Kingdom Hearts II, and a Flood from Birth By Sleep. The sketch below was drawn by Nomura, with some alterations to their design giving them a cuter look. There is no news yet of when we can expect these plush toys to be sold, but we will be looking forward to their release.
Benjamin Diskin has hinted at voicing a role in the English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Seen at the screenshot below, a fan asked him if he would be voicing Young Xehanort in the upcoming game, and he basically said that "I can't talk about it, but I did do some work on the game". Awesome! For a list of Ben's roles, check out his Wikipedia page. Thanks to roku from KH13 for the find.
Update: Benjamin has given a solid confirmation of his role in Kingdom Hearts 3D, confirming that he will be voicing Young Xehanort in the game. You can see a screenshot of this confirmation below.
Square Enix have announced a collector's edition for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] in North America, called the Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] MARK OF MASTERY EDITION. This set will release on North America on July 31, 2012 for a price of US$54.99! It contains the following:
- Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Game, the seventh entry into the series
- 12 Kingdom Hearts 3D Art Cards with chronicled art from the full series
- 5 Augmented Reality (AR) Cards that unlock rare Dream Eaters
- 360° display viewer for in-game Dream Eaters
- Nintendo 3DS Protector Case specially designed for Kingdom Hearts 3D
Some of the Dream Eaters that this bundle unlocks are Meowjesty, Frootz Cat and Kab Kannon, the last two of which have of course just had their English names revealed from this. A photo of the Mark of Mastery bundle can be seen below. It looks amazing, definitely worth it!
Update 1: The Kingdom Hearts Facebook page have uploaded a large version of the boxart for the Mark of Mastery Edition of Kingdom Hearts 3D. You can see this below. (Click for a much larger image!)
Update 2: An Amazon page has now been created for pre-order for US fans. The price is listed as $54.99, a mere $15 more than the game by itself. Thanks to Loki from KH13 for the find.
Update 3: Thanks to Nobody from KH13, we now know that GameStop have created a pre-order page for the Mark of Mastery Collection's edition of Kingdom Hearts 3D. Great news for those who wish to purchase it!
Square Enix have updated the Square Enix Official Goods Online Shop with a set of three file folders using artwork from Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. These items will be sold in "early July 2012", and are available for a price of ¥1,140 (approximately US$14.20).
They have also added a new Kingdom Hearts 3D wall scroll, which will be available for a price of ¥2,300 (approximately US$28.65), and a Kingdom Hearts / Kingdom Hearts II sticker set, which will be available for a price of ¥900 (approximately US$11.21). The former will be sold in early July, while the later will be sold in late June. For pictures of all of these items, check below.
Update: The Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II wall scrolls have received a June 8, 2012 release date, while the Kingdom Hearts 3D items have received a July 6, 2012 release date.
Square Enix North America have released an English trailer of Kingdom Heart 3D [Dream Drop Distance] on their official webpage. You can watch the trailer below, thanks to Josh Barlett for the tip.
Update 1: You can now view and download this video from our video archive.
Update 2: The European website for Kingdom Hearts 3D has also updated with this same trailer.
GamerLive.TV have held an interview with Ryan Masuno, the Product Manager at Square Enix North America, concerning the upcoming release of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Although he does not reveal anything new, it is still nice to see them promoting the game! Thanks to TheDCD and KHInsider for the tip, you can see the video interview and read a transcript of it, below.
Masuno: My name is Ryan Masuno. I'm the Product Manager for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance].
GamerLiveTV: A lot of people have been looking forward to this because it's the debut of the series for Nintendo 3DS. How psyched are you to bring it to another platform?
Masuno: It's really exciting. It takes advantage of all the 3DS' capabilities. The 3D integration is amazing, and more importantly, this title is the follow-up to Kingdom Hearts II that fans have been waiting for. You know, the continuation of the story; this is it right here.
GamerLiveTV: Can you give us a little detail of the story; where it's going this time?
Masuno: So at the beginning of the game, Yen Sid is basically telling the gang ― King Mickey, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku ― that there's an impending threat coming their way, and that Sora and Riku need to be stronger in order to have a chance against them. Basically, Sora and Riku have a natural ability to use the Keyblade, but they were never properly trained to become Keyblade Masters. So what Yen Sid basically tells them is that he's going to send them to the sleeping worlds to unlock seven keyholes, and if they come back from that, then they'll be granted new powers, new abilities, and be considered true Keyblade Masters.
GamerLiveTV: Is the combat about the same as the first two games or is there anything new or exclusive to the 3DS version?
Masuno: The basic combat system is going to feel familiar to anyone who's played Kingdom Hearts I and II, and some of the other ones like Birth by Sleep, but the new features in this make it even different. There's a feature called "Flow Motion" ― characters are able to interact with anything in their environment. If there's a wall, they can kick off of it and perform a really fast stunt-like movement. That can all be chained to attacks, they can be chained to other movements; they can spin off of a wall and hit a pole and spin off of it, and then jump to a rail and ride on it, so once you get the hang of it, you'll basically be able to free roam around the entire stages. That's great for movement and for battle. There's also a feature called "Reality Shift" ― when players are in battle, they can actually enter the bottom screen where they'll be prompted to input some touch-based contextual inputs, and that's different for each world. If you perform them correctly, you'll be able to perform a really powerful attacks on each of the enemies.
GamerLiveTV: Are there going to be some familiar Disney worlds that people have seen in the previous games or are there going to be new ones? How does that work?
Masuno: Every Disney world that you encounter in this game are going to be new to the series.
GamerLiveTV: Can you give us an example of what kind of world you'd expect in the game?
Masuno: We have The Grid from Tron Legacy, the recent movie. We have Fantasia and Hunchback of Notre Dame to name a few.
GamerLiveTV: And the game is coming out actually this summer! It's just about finished!
Masuno: It's almost there: July 31st, 2012.
Amazon.com have updated with three new pieces of official Kingdom Hearts merchandise to be sold. These are a wall scroll based on the Kingdom Hearts cover artwork, and a wall scroll based on the Kingdom Hearts II cover artwork, and a file folder using Kingdom Hearts 3D artwork. While all of these items have been announced before, this is the first time we've heard the release date-- June 8, 2012. Thanks to ArikaMiz for the tip.
The May 10, 2012 issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine has included an on article on Kingdom Hearts, containing an interview with the director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura. Here, Nomura discusses both Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] and a future, currently unannounced title in the Kingdom Hearts series. He also confirms a North American demo for Kingdom Hearts 3D!
sqexgal has completely translated this interview, and you can read this translation below. The full version of the interview contains strong spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 3D, and can be read here. For a spoiler-free version, keep reading.
— Speaking of the previous titles, about when do you start thinking of the ‘next title’?
Nomura: It’s a gradual process. When Kingdom Hearts was in production, I was considering ideas for Kingdom Hearts II and Chain of Memories. And when those two were in production, I was thinking of ideas for the next three, 358/2 Days, Coded, and Birth by Sleep.
— Were you thinking of KH3D when those 3 titles were in production?
Nomura: KH3D was put together relatively quickly, I was still concepting the story when I brought it to the table.
— What about in the secret movie of Birth by Sleep Final Mix…?
Nomura: Well… (Laughs.) Now that you mention it, that secret movie was referred to as “A fragmentary passage”, meaning bits and pieces of something whole. A story connected to Kingdom Hearts exists out of that, but I don’t know whether or not it’ll be told hereafter.
— The secret message and secret movie of KH3D were loaded with things to wonder about. Is it finally time for KH3?
Nomura: I’ll leave that up to everyone’s imagination. Though, it might be a curve ball. (Laughs.)
— Lastly, a message for our readers.
Nomura: We’ve decided to distribute a KH3D demo in North America as well as Japan. You can play part of Sora’s scenario in Traverse Town. So if your friends haven’t played it yet, you can recommend it to them. And of course, give the co-op mini game Flick Rush a try. Also, an unannounced title is being prepared as well, though it’s something lighter. There are still songs continuing to be distributed for Theartrhythm Final Fantasy so you can look forward to that as well.
