ComputerAndVideoGames.com have posted a review of a recent Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] demo that was made available to them. This is a very interesting and positive review of the game, so we definitely recommend that you give it a read. Thanks go to Terranort9406 from KH13 for the find.
Interestingly, the review reveals that the game's introduction will contain a short scene where Xehanort comes back to life, as well as a boss battle with Ursula. It also reveals that there will be a Pete boss battle within the game. You can read the entire review below.
Beginnings are funny things. Considering how few people actually finish games, you'd expect developers to front-load their titles with some of their very best content in order to prevent bored consumers from immediately writing off their masterpiece.
Instead - and RPGs are generally the worst offenders here - they dump you in a small boring village, making you run tedious and menial errands for the first five hours.
The original Kingdom Hearts was a game that got it right. The saga kicked off with a massive, prophetic battle backed up by the sort of classically epic score that Square Enix never seem to come up with any more. The following tutorial area was brief and enjoyable - leaps and bounds above the dreary five-hour slog of its immediate sequel and the confusing starting nonsense of the many, many resulting spin-offs. So no one would blame you if you gave up before any of those games finally opened up.
After playing through the intro of Dream Drop Distance, and also an entire world somewhere beyond it, we can hardly make the same complaints here. Following a short scene in which series big bad Xehanort springs back to life, good guy Sora and reformed renegade Riku do battle with a giant Ursula-from-The-Little-Mermaid, before being sucked into a whirlpool to begin their latest adventure. That's what we like to see from our Kingdom Hearts: no angst, no gibberish, and no bleddy Roxas.
It's then that one of the game's many interesting new features kicks in. Memoirs are optional cutscenes that help make sense of Kingdom Hearts' labyrinthine backstory, and they're joined by a new database that expands as the game progresses. Fans have been known to frequently tie themselves in knots trying to explain what this guy's Nobody is doing to that guy's Data-Heartless, so perhaps this will draw a line under that 'colourful debate' once and for all.
Luckily we have a helpful translator on hand to interpret this one, so we know that Riku and Sora have been advised by Mickey's creepy wizard friend Yen Sid to take the Keyblade Mastery Exam. It's the only way to defeat Xehanort once and for all, you see, as he was a powerful keyblade-wielder himself long ago, before he turned to the dark side of the, er, lock.
Master and keymander
Flashback over, we have a chance to check out yet another new feature: the freefalling minigame that now connects each fractured world. As Sora plummets to the ground, you have to help him avoid obstacles with the slide pad while optionally smashing things for points. It's a simple yet enjoyably brisk travel method, and infinitely preferable to another Gummi-ship shoot-'em-up.
Upon crash-landing in the familiar Traverse Town, Sora bumps into Neku from Square Enix's peerless The World Ends With You, who is, predictably, being a sullen-yet-enviously-hip jerk. Once they've made their introductions, Neku guides our relentlessly upbeat hero through the game's new combat and exploration mechanics, or 'Cirque du Soleil' as it's more commonly known.
Rightly theorising that walking is for chumps, Square have given Sora and Riku the ability to grind the environment, swinging on lampposts or sliding up bannisters like a fantastical Tony Hawk, only without that tiny plank on wheels he likes to get about on. This increased acrobaticism not only makes general getting-about much more enjoyable, it also comes into play during the game's slightly-too-frequent fights.
The two protagonists can now literally run rings around the enemy, thwack them from above, or pick up and chuck the bigger ones in a game of Extreme Shotput. It's all done with the context-sensitive Y button, which does perhaps take a tiny bit of the thrill out of dexterously performing these amazing combos yourself, but only just.
Pets win prizes
Replacing the Heartless as DDD's respawning keyblade fodder are the Dream Eaters - neon-hued animals that look like they've been caught in a fight between the cast of Tron Legacy and a sickly rainbow. In a startling coincidence, the 'good' versions of these guys also act as your new allies, dutifully following Sora and Riku into battle and making it fairly tricky to distinguish friend from foe.
Cute yet deadly, they've clearly taken a few cues from Square Enix's own Dragon Quest Monsters, but there's a distinct whiff of Pokémon and Nintendogs in there too. Up to three Dream Eaters can tag along with Riku or Sora - they each get a different set - but we've been assured there'll be loads more to collect and customise. Outside of battle, you can even stroke their fur and rub their bellies with the touch screen - something that never went down too well with Donald Duck.
Thankfully, the Dream Eaters are a bit less needy - and a bit more bloodthirsty - during battle. Each creature has a link gauge, which unleashes a Summon-type special attack when it becomes full. For example, the weird Cat-Dog-Bear-Thing (fine, you name it next time) turns into a rideable space-hopper, while another forces you to take part in an aggressive rhythm game. That's not all, because links can even be combined into one wildly powerful super-attack - Dream Eaters are pretty awesome, in other words.
At this point the demonstration 3DS unit was cruelly whisked away from us (booo!), but it was returned at a different juncture in the story (huzzah!). Sora and Riku have just arrived in the world of the Three Musketeers, where it seems that Queen Minnie Mouse has been captured by ne'er-do-wells. Of course, this being Kingdom Hearts, the two heroes aren't there at the same time, or should we say at the same place - they've been diverted to two neighbouring parallel dimensions.
Worlds apart
It turns out that Riku inhabits ever-so-slightly different versions of each Disney world from young Sora - somebody at Square has obviously been watching too much Fringe. At one point during our play session Riku's actions appear to bleed through to Sora's universe, but as a general rule the pair are kept separate, save for the torch-passing that occurs when one suddenly hits the hay.
And that's feature #3,874: the Drop gauge, which determines when Riku takes over from Sora, and vice versa. At the moment we've no idea why the dynamic duo fall asleep whenever this counter reaches zero, but we're betting it has something to do with the evil Organisation XIII.
Of all the new mechanics in this remarkably fully fledged spin-off, the Drop gauge is the most confusing, not to mention the most potentially annoying. In addition to forcing a character change, it essentially makes you play through each area twice. One jaunt through an Eater-infested opera house was quite enough, thank you very much; on the second, we were pretty desperate to move along.
The demo ended with a big ol' boss battle with perennial Disney nuisance Pete, a smartly choreographed affair involving yet another touch-based minigame. It was a silly fight but one that neatly encapsulated our feelings about the entire demo: this is Kingdom Hearts with a renewed vigour and sense of humour, with less self-indulgent, willfully confusing waffle.
We don't know about you, but that's exactly what we've been waiting for since the original game. Despite a few misgivings, we can't wait to return to Dream Drop Distance this summer.
Update 1: Square Enix have updated the website again with two more videos from the Premiere Event. Click the link below and go to "Special" to watch it.
Official Kingdom Hearts 3D website
Or, if you prefer, you can watch them below from our YouTube channel.
They will both be added to our video archive to be watched/downloaded later.
Square Enix have updated their official website for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. This update is an update to the special section, and contains footage of the Kingdom Hearts 3D Premiere Event that occurred on March 3, 2012. Click the link below and go to "Special" to watch it.
Official Kingdom Hearts 3D website
Or, if you prefer, you can watch it below from our YouTube channel.
Update 3: We now have a full translation that you can read below.
Interview translation thanks to SQEX.INFO and goldpanner
PART 1 (Page 165)
— Please tell us where you began with the conception of this title, ‘Dream Drop Distance’.
Nomura: With KH3D, first of all, I was getting colour imagery. I thought, black and pink.
— It’s surprising that colours were what you imagined first.
Nomura: We do decide on a thematic colour every time, but it was quite rare for it to have happened the way it did this time.
— How did things develop from there?
Nomura: We revealed that we were going to depict the Mark of Mastery Exam in ‘Re:Coded’, and we had decided roughly on the contents of the story, but at that point we were worrying over where to set it. We thought about what Sora would have to do now, and about how ‘sleep’ was a key word in the second last title in the series, KH Birth by Sleep. ‘Sleep’ and the ‘dreams’ that follow replaced ‘black and pink’ as our inspiration broadened, and then we thought of the keyword ‘drop’, as in how you ‘fall into dreams’. (Translator note: Or ‘drop off to sleep’.)
— In this title, the way we see flashback scenes (regarding things like the journey and the residents of those worlds) when alternating playing as Sora and Riku is incorporating a directing style we haven’t had up until now, isn’t it.
Nomura: People who want to forge into the game can choose to skip those and watch them later. That’s an influence from the drastic change to non-interactive cutscenes we are including in ‘FF Verses XIII’, which we’ve been developing side by side. It’s a result of us keeping tempo in mind, and trying to make as much as we can interactive. Although, in the end the game finishes with the longest cutscene in the series (dry laugh).
— It would need to be that long, to explain so many mysteries (laughs). With things such as the introduction to the story beginning with a sudden battle, the plot felt like it moved pretty fast.
Nomura: As for that introduction section, I thought it would be best to enter the exam from the start. It would have been tiresome to make Yen Sid give a long explanation summing everything up right at the start, so we wanted to try breaking it up into flashbacks (laughs).
— The ‘memoirs’ feature, where we can check flashback scenes and the series summary, is so thoughtful.
Nomura: It’s a feature we wanted to have for a long time, but couldn’t do for various reasons, and it’s not much, but we finally introduced it. The number of titles in the series has increased too, and there are parts that new players wouldn’t really understand. I’m sure this will help the understanding of anyone who is worried whether they can play the newest game without playing all the others up until now.
PART 2 (Page 167)
— Please tell us the reason for implementing the “drop” mechanism which causes the character you are playing as to switch out suddenly.
Nomura: It’s difficult to balance, but it’d have been uninteresting for the players if the game was too generalized. For example, in the job system of FFV, you could only choose one ability set. You were restricted to make choices where you would toss out something in order to gain something, how you made these decisions was an important factor. Above all else, what sort of game will I make? That’s always on my mind. In Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep the playable characters were switched up as well, however people said that having the character’s scenarios split made the games feel like short stories and they wanted to play one whole story in one game. So I made the system where you can switch between Sora and Riku’s story in one work, where the only thing restricting your play is the “drop” device.
— Now the concept for KH3D was “bold action”, can you tell us about the process for this?
Nomura: If from here on out, I were to leave the operation systems of the series titles as is, then I wanted to make a distinction from FF Versus XIII which I am currently developing. I think we spoke about it previously, but from the very beginning Final Fantasy Reishiki Type-0, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts are each action based RPGs, and working on them simultaneously, I wanted each of their differences to be clear. To indicate in what way KH was different, I came up with the “bold action” concept.
— The coop play with the Dream Eaters is very showy and “bold” indeed. I was surprised at how Riku’s fighting style turned out.
Nomura: You could play as Riku in Chain of Memories, but since this is the first time you can do your actions freely, the link styles are each fairly distinct. I thought of showing his personality different from Sora’s and I think it turned out interesting.
— Sora cooperates with the Dream Eaters directly, but Riku combines with them and fights as an individual. Why is that?
Nomura: The difference between them was something I decided on from the very beginning, but how the styles would be; I knew it’d have to be clearly defined. From the start, I wanted the system and the story to link, so their difference too has meaning and a reason for it regarding the story. The last scene will have a lot of impact. Various connections are developed upon and it ends just in prelude to the final battle.
— I can’t wait! Lastly, a message for the fans?
Nomura: Finally, the plot that has been in the works throughout the whole series is being developed, so for people who are experiencing the series since the beginning or for those who haven’t touched it before, I think that you’ll be happy to get your hands on it. It may be a title for a portable gaming device, but it isn’t at all inferior to the titles before it. So please by all means enjoy it.
Magazine article translation thanks to goldpanner via KHInsider
2.
Journey to the Dreaming Worlds left Asleep
First, let's check out the Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (from here referred to as KH3D) story and key terms and figures. This time, the journey begins when Yen Sid summons Sora and Riku, and announces that they are to undertake the "Mark of Mastery Exam". The two set off in order to face the trial and become masters.
~Story~
Dreams are all connected... and if one drops into a dream, through that dream one connects to the "Sleep-bound Realm".
In their first journey, they restored the worlds that had been swallowed by darkness. However, among those there were worlds that were not completely restored, and even now remain asleep. No gates lead to them, and none are able to trespass there, not even the Heartless who make up the vast majority of darkness of the Realms.
Therefore, a different darkness exists in this sleep-bound Realm.
They are the creatures that devour dreams, Dream Eaters.
It is said that there are two kinds of Dream Eaters: the Nightmares, who devour dreams and sow nightmares, and the good-natured Spirits, who only eat bad dreams.
[YMX: You're still afraid of the dark, aren't you.]
----The First Journey: In the journey of 'Kingdom Hearts', Sora faced a being that went by the name 'Ansem', and saved countless worlds that had been swallowed by darkness. However, that did not mean every world was returned to the light; some worlds still lie in sleep. Those sleep-bound worlds serve as the setting for this title. It's a special place, very different from the worlds of Sora and his friends.
----Heartless: Heartless are creatures formed from the darkness of hearts. Although they are beings born from hearts they don't have them, which is why they are called Heartless. These existences of darkness lurk in every world, however, it seems they are unable to penetrate the 'Sleep-bound Realm' that serves as the setting for this title.
----Dream Eaters: Dream Eaters are mysterious creatures residing in the 'Sleep-bound Realm' which are divided into two types: Nightmares, and the good-natured 'Spirits'. Nightmares and Spirits will have different body and eye colours even within the same species.
3.
THE THREAT
-----Master Xehanort: He was a brilliant Keyblade Master, but his thoughts leaned towards the value of the darkness, and he tried to begin a war that would engulf the Realm.
There’s a reason Yen Sid is setting a trial for Sora and Riku: he has judged that the two must become stronger in order to face the coming threat he has foreseen. That threat is Master Xehanort, who no-one has heard anything about recently, but once brought about a calamity in the Realm. He has said he has several schemes circulating…
[Yen Sid: I am afraid that soon, a new threat will come about.]
SORA AND RIKU
----Riku: A Keyblade Wielder who harbours darkness in his heart, and Sora’s best friend. He has a cool personality, but there are passionate feelings locked inside him.
----Sora: The protagonist of the series. A Keyblade Wielder like Riku. He has a bright and optimistic personality, and cares deeply for his friends.
Sora and Riku are heroes who have been chosen by the key-shaped weapons called ‘Keyblades’. However, unlike Sora who walks the path of light, Riku carries darkness in his heart. Taking the Mark of Mastery exam is part of proving to himself that he has the right to wield the Keyblade. Seeing this in his best friend, Sora’s resolve to take the exam strengthens, too.
It is necessary to prepare to face the coming threat. For that purpose, Sora and Riku are to undertake the Keyblade Master Mark of Mastery Exam together.
By opening the Keyhole of Sleep, it is supposed that new power will be gained, and the worlds bound by sleep will be freed. By freeing ‘Seven’ Keyholes of Sleep, equal to the number of pure lights, and returning them to this plane once more, they will be marked as Masters.
----Aqua: (Scan too blurry! Sorry!)
PURE LIGHTS
Appearing in this series are seven princesses who have hearts of pure light. In the first title, dark influences were pulling strings behind the scenes to gather those princesses and use them to open the ‘keyhole’ connecting to the centre of the realm, and conquer all the worlds. There are also seven of the ‘Keyholes of Sleep’ that appear in KH3D. Could there perhaps be a connection?
KEYBLADE MASTERS
Well-versed in the art of the Keyblade, and protectors of the Realm of Light. Those are the Keyblade Masters. Once there were many of them, like Master Eraqus and Aqua from KHBBS. However at the present time, the only one in all the worlds who holds that right is King Mickey.
4.
The Worlds Waiting for Sora and Riku to Release Them
Let’s check out the characters that appear on the stage of Sora and Riku’s adventures! There are many worlds appearing for the first time in the series, and, even in worlds that already appeared in past titles, you can visit new areas!
In past titles, characters from the Final Fantasy series such as Leon, Aeris and Cid lived in Traverse Town. Sora and Riku visit this town shortly after beginning their Mark of Mastery Exam. In KH3D, Neku and the others from ‘The World Ends With You’ for the Nintendo DS appear, and you can visit never-before-seen areas such as ‘4th District’, ‘5th District’, and ‘the botanical gardens’.
The journey starts at Traverse Town, the mystery-filled town where those with no place to go gather.
----Shiki: A bright girl who lives in the now. ‘Mr Mew’, a plush toy, is her special friend.
----Neku: A boy who doesn’t really have much to do with other people. Will he be bewildered by the boisterous Sora!?
----Joshua: It seems he has some sort of information on the worlds bound by sleep.
----Rhyme: Beat’s partner. Despite losing her memories she is bright and positive.
----Beat: Good at skateboarding and bad at losing. He’s looking for Rhyme, who has become separated from him.
This world also appears: Radiant Garden
[Lea: I see. So I’m human again.]
[???: Dilan, Eleus, Even, Ienzo…]
In cutscenes, you can get a glimpse of happenings in Radiant Garden, a place that appeared in earlier titles. The humanoid members of the group ‘Organisation XIII’ have been reborn as humans, and are seen doing something new. However, there are some members who haven’t been seen…
---Lea: A young man who was known as Axel in Organisation XIII. He sets off on a journey, searching for something.
La Cité des Cloches
The motif for the world of La Cité des Cloches is ‘the bells of Notre Dame’. You can adventure through the great church and the streets of the city appearing in this title. Sora and Riku end up searching for the reason why the Nightmares that appeared all of a sudden in this town, as they fight their way through them. Here, the two of them meet a young man who was banned from leaving the great church, Quasimodo. How will his love for the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda turn out?
Waiting in La Cité des Cloches is the faint premonition of love and the preacher with the warped sense of justice.
[Quasimodo: Is this okay? Let’s go.]
Update 2: Kotaku have translated some details from the article, which you can read below. Thanks to atheist123 from KH13 for the find.
With the latest installment to the Kingdom Hearts series, the conception of the game came from two parts: The thematic colors, and the terminology. In terms of the color, Nomura said, "For Kingdom Hearts 3D, I started off with an image of colors. I thought to myself, ‘Black and pink.'" Nomura added, "We always chose a thematic image color, but this time, interestingly enough, that was where we started."
For the terminology, the creators looked back to one of the previous games, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and took one of the keywords to that game to formulate the stage for their newest story. "In Birth by Sleep, ‘sleep' was one of the keywords we focused on, and we talked about what the main character Sora must do. We took the word ‘sleep' and moved beyond it to the realm of ‘dreams.'" Nomura explained.
One new feature of the game Nomura focused on was the ability to skip cutscenes and to view them later (a feature not seen in very many Square Enix games). "This was due both to a change we made with the non-interactive cutscenes in Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and because we wanted to maintain a tempo of the game where the player could limit the amount of time where they weren't in direct control."
The game also features a memoir function where players can see the overall plot of the entire Kingdom Hearts series, a feature Nomura expressed he had wanted for a long time. "With so many games in the series, a lot of unfamiliar players can get confused. This way, newer players who might be nervous about starting from the latest game can jump right in."
Update 1: High quality, complete scans have been uploaded to 2ch. Thanks to aibo_ac7 for the find, you can see all of these below, in our gallery. (Remember to click for larger images!)
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has appeared with an article in the March 22, 2012 issue of Famitsu Weekly. While we do not yet have any scans or the Tetsuya Nomura interview, we do have this small piece of information from sqexgal: "Famitsu rates KH3D 10/9/10/9". This, of course, gives Kingdom Hearts 3D a rating of 38/40 from the magazine.
Square Enix have updated their [Dream or Drop] campaign website for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. This update includes a new commercial section, which will eventually contain 4 commercials. So far, only the first commercial, "TVCM 01", has been added. This commercial contains footage from the Kingdom Hearts 3D Premiere Event. You can see it below. We have also added the commercial to our video archive for you to view/download.
Update 1: V Jump have updated their website with a preview of the Dream World Navigation guidebook. This includes a look at various pages from the book, which you can see below. Thanks to Gabranth from KH13 for the find.
The cover for Dream World Navigation, the unofficial guidebook for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], has been revealed. Thanks to BOOKNAVI's online system, we now have the cover of the book, as well as various details about it. You can see all of this below. Thanks to bKvEBVAvUq for the find.
The book will be A5 in size (half the size as a normal sheet of paper), be 176 pages long, and release on March 29, 2012 (the same day that Kingdom Hearts 3D releases in Japan).
Thanks to Miminezz from KH13, we have footage from a panel at Anime Conji in San Diego, CA that confirms David Gallagher as the voice actor for Riku and the Mysterious Figure for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. He also confirms that Haley Joel Osment will be reprising his roles as both Sora and Vanitas. The video that contains David Gallagher's confirmation can be seen below. (He confirms his role at 08:45 and 11:20, and confirms Haley at 41:40.)
Square Enix have launched a new promotional website for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. The website, known as "Kingdom Hearts [Dream or Drop]" can be seen here. The website features a quiz game (unfortunately, in Japanese), that will allow you to answer questions, and gain points if you answer correctly.
Kingdom Hearts [Dream or Drop]
The campaign will run from March 21, 2012 to April 27, 2012. By gaining enough points, it is possible to unlock new Kingdom Hearts 3D wallpapers. If you get even more than that (and have a Japanese address), you will be able to enter the draw to win various prizes. 350+pts will allow you to enter for a Wonder Meow plushie, 500+pts will allow you to enter for a Nintendo 3DS console, and 650+pts will allow you to enter for the Kingdom Hearts 10th Anniversary 3D+Days+Re:coded Box.
Both sqexgal and Oishii from KH13 have unlocked all three of the wallpapers, which you can see below. SD versions are thanks to sqexgal, and widescreen versions thanks to Oishii.
It is worth noting that the first image reveals the Kingdom Hearts 3D world bubble for The World That Never Was. This strongly suggests that The World That Never Was is the 7th world of the game.
The website also contains two unreleased tracks for Kingdom Hearts 3D, in addition to the Dearly Beloved track that we already have. The first of these two tracks was previously heard on the Jump Festa 2012 trailer. You can listen to the two new tracks below.
Update 4: The video has now been added to our video archive.
Update 3: We have updated the video below to contain English subtitles, thanks to both sqexgal and Oishii from KH13.
Update 2: The 30 second commercial has been recorded and uploaded to YouTube, thanks to FF-Reunion.
A second commercial for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has begun airing in Japan. Unlike the first commercial, which was 15 seconds in length, this new commercial is 30 seconds in length. While we do not have a video of it yet, we do have some screenshots thanks to FF-Reunion. You can see these below.
Update 1: Oishii from KH13 has translated FF-Reunion's impressions of the commercial. You can read this below.
Stained glass keyhole→ KH3D style Sora→ Mistaken Pinocchio→ Minnie in the treasure chest→ Pete→ Quasimodo leaping with the rope→ From Sam to Officer Rinzler→ Gepetto hugging Pinocchio→ Three Musketeers “One for all~”→ “Tron Legacy” striked down Sora→ Sora and the King→ Some meteor→ Sora link with a hedgehog (dream eater presumably)→ Riku→ Tron Legacy Riku→ Three Musketeers→ Spirit Training→ Sora Aasura(?) beam→ Sora→ Riku→ Notre Dame Boss→ Notre Dame Riku→ Tron Legacy Sora→ Donald, Goofy, and Sora→ Riku and Jiminy→ Lea close-up→ King in white room→ “Your heart~”→ Green light (Avada Kedavra /shot)→ Tron Legacy Riku→ “A world that didn’t exist” 12 lights→ “KH3DS” Riku and Sora close with key*→ Title
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has appeared in the latest issue of Nintendo Dream magazine. This article contains an interview with the director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura. While we do not yet have a complete translation, thanks to ArikaMiz, we are starting to get some interesting details.
Update: Complete translation by Oishii of KH13.
+ This time the story’s development doesn’t change the story so much to be numbered. Nomura’s final task this time was remembrance. The story in KHII was spread to unfold little by little, but as for all the foreshadowing retrieved, the sequel is looking to be a fun installment.
+ There is a lot of meaning put into “Distance” and the distance taken in the next KH work. I think the player can feel they are somehow or other getting closer to the meaning as they play. In the end, whether they are successful or have failed will become clear. “Just as with ‘Drop’, there is a pattern of both of them dropping.” (trolololo) (laugh)
+ I think what is a dream and what is reality will be clear in the end, but not everything that unfolds is a dream. (About the guests from TWEWY) Similarly to how I have assembled several of my FF projects, I wanted a surprise in a different form. With the extended Slide Pad Pro, you can control the camera movement with the right stick, but even without it it is comfortable to play.
+ (About using the touch panel for Reality Shift,) It may be better to think of using your finger for the touch panel. The exhilarating feeling the Osaka team made is to the same degree as BBS’s. I think it wouldn’t feel as exhilarating if you couldn’t kick off the walls.
+ Until now the actions in KH couldn’t be performed seamlessly. With the Free Flow Action, I think you can make clever use of the substantial gameplay. I want player to have fun testing out the various actions in the game.
+ Thus far, I think the action RPG hasn’t been as dynamic. The story is also dark, and I hope even a person who has become interested in the series for the first time will want to play. To the TWEWY fans as well, because it’s the same staff, I think they can receive an intimate and touching feeling from the game.
Remember, the next issue of Famitsu Weekly, which releases about 24 hours from now, is also set to contain an interview with Nomura! This will likely be much longer.
So far, 24 chapters (spread across 3 volumes) of the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga are on sale in Japan. However, these chapters take a while to get scanned and translated, and appear online. Chapter 17 and Chapter 18 have finally appeared online, thanks to taime and the people she works with on these. You can see these below, in our gallery.
Manga → 358/2 Days → Chapter 17
Update 2: While V Jump initially announced that Seal Juggler would be given away with the issue of V Jump releasing on April 21, 2012, they have now released a statement to amend that. Thanks to sqexgal for the translation, we now know that "The revision says the AR card contains Vacation Seal (bakansu seal) Dream Eater instead. Seal Juggler will still be available in KH3D."
V Jump have started advertising the special editions of their magazine, which will focus on Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Dream World Navigation, their guidebook for the game, will release on March 29, 2012 (the same day that Kingdom Hearts 3D releases), and contain an AR card which unlocks the Dream Eater called "Artillery Beetle". The June issue of V Jump, which releases on April 21, 2012, will contain an AR card which unlocks "Seal Juggler". Thanks to bKvEBVAvUq for the photo below, and to sqexgal for the Dream Eater translations.
Update 1: A larger version of this image was uploaded by an anonymous user on 2ch. This image appears to be a part of a Kingdom Hearts 3D article appearing in V Jump. A couple of screenshots can be seen. We may see full scans of this article appear later on.
Update 1: andriasang have translated the article, and you can read this below.
The latest update on Kingdom Hearts 3D from Famitsu.com shows the game's Visual Works opening, and a couple of areas of gameplay: Special Portals, where you face off in battle against rare Dream Eaters, and a Flick Rush mini game.
The Flick Rush game, which is compatible with local wireless play, has you create a team of three Dream Eaters to face off against an opposing team. Battles are fought by sliding numbered cards, shown on the bottom screen, at the top screen. Win, and you'll earn medals which can be exchanged for new commands and recipes.
Famitsu.com have posted an article containing many screenshots from Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. These screenshots are high quality versions of what we received in the recent Famitsu Weekly article, including scenes from the game's opening and Dream Eater training. In total, the article contains 8 screenshots and 1 avatar. All can be seen below, in our gallery.
Nintendo of Japan have created a page for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. This page contains 5 images of the game, shown on the Nintendo 3DS, including our first look at the game's title screen! It also confirms that Kingdom Hearts 3D will support two-player activities. You can see all images below, in our gallery. Thanks to bKvEBVAvUq for the find, and to RobertOrri from KH13 for coming across one of the images yesterday.
Update: Thanks to Beta from KH13 for pointing it out, we now realise that Nintendo of Japan have also revealed the game's official icon on this page! As you might know, all Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS games have an icon which is shown before you enter the game. Kingdom Hearts 3D's icon is below.
Update 4: KH13.com have scanned and uploaded perfect quality versions of the Kingdom Hearts 3D article in the March 15, 2012 Famitsu Weekly. You can view these below. (And remember to click for a much larger image!) If you reupload these, please link back to KH13.
Update 3: SQEX.INFO have translated a complete copy of the interview, which was provided to them by Gematsu. You can read this below.
The meaning behind the main illustration!
— The package illustration has been publically revealed.
Nomura: To be honest, at first I had drawn a different picture. Sora, Riku, and King Mickey were the same as the current illustration, but I drew Mickey bigger and Sora and Riku were much smaller. However, design-wise it was difficult to use for the packaging, and when we tried it on the title screen you couldn’t really recognize Sora or Riku (wry laughter), so I redrew it.
— There is another version of the illustration with different colors and the directions switched, can you tell us about that?
Nomura: When you look at this illustration inside the game package. I wanted it’s composition and look to remind you of the title’s catch copy, “Darkness becomes light, light falls into darkness.” The two images make a pair; I think it’s nice to consider the contrasts between them and how they reflect the storyline.
— Will we see this image within the game itself?
Nomura: Yes, if you play the game on the advance degree of difficulty you’ll be able to see it.
— In the illustration, Sora has his eyes closed while Riku’s are open.
Nomura: That’s right. There’s meaning behind that, but I think you’ll understand it through playing the game. By the way, the 2 types of illustrations are not just merely reversed, but the change in color degree and overall balance has been reworked.
— We look forward to understanding that. Anyways, for the first time fans will obtain an enclosed AR card with the game. Can you tell us about the friendly Dream Eaters on those cards?
Nomura: The game package will contain one card that unlocks one of the following partner Dream Eaters at random: King Wondernyan, Circus Panda, and Nekuish. These 3 Dream Eaters are rare; however unlocking them through an AR card is not the only way to obtain them, you can partner with them in the game too. Still, if you do a Link Portal exchange through StreetPass, you can obtain the recipes for them. If you try to StreetPass regularly, you can probably obtain all three pretty early on.
Key people of the story!
— In the opener, we see a flurry of memorable scenes from the series while an orchestra version of “Hikari” plays, it’s very moving!
Nomura: It was Nomatsu (Takeshi Nomatsu, the title’s cinematic movie director) who managed it, he said himself “there isn’t a next one”, so he crammed it full of content.
— Parts of the opener were used in the Special Trailer that was released publically, where the keywords “those who are asleep within sadness” appeared. Does helping those people become the goal of this game?
Nomura: How will that go… (Laughs.) Well, first off Sora and company will have to make preparations for that.
— In the last part of the trailer, one of the points that stands out is when Aqua and Terra appear with the black coated character with the “nightmare” eyes.
Nomura: That black coated person is important to the storyline, but isn’t necessarily a new character. The details of it are something to look forward to when you play.
— As for new worlds, the image of the world from Tron Legacy is very closely adapted. The people in it are drawn quite realistically.
Nomura: Since we adapted realistic portrayals in the past with The Pirates of the Caribbean in Kingdom Hearts II, we had a bit of know-how this time around. I was a bit apprehensive at attempting to do it on a portable device, but I think the end result has a high quality to it. I supervised over the production side of the movie parts and the scenarios of the storyline reflected well into it.
— Did you plan from the beginning to use Tron Legacy as a world?
Nomura: It was decided around the time the project was beginning. We had planned for Sora to visit the original Tron world and for Riku to go to the Tron Legacy world.
— Ansem and Xemnas, as well as Master Xehanort’s forms appear, but are they the real thing?
Nomura: Well, about that… Ansem and Xemnas appear often, harassing Sora and Riku.
— Are Ansem and Xemnas key persons?
Nomura: If I had to say who the key persons were, I’d say they are the silver haired boy and Axel. This time at the end of the story, there will be the longest cutscene of the whole series where the true form of Ansem and Xemnas, as well as their goals and many other truths will be revealed all at once.
Raising Dream Eaters!
— How come this time instead of being joined by Donald and Goofy, our heroes team up with Dream Eaters?
Nomura: This time the story is about Sora and Riku taking the Mark of Mastery Exam. If Donald and Goofy participated in the exam without being Keyblade wielders, then it would be sort of weird. (Laughs.) Besides, those two are active characters in the numbering titles of the series, so I thought that it would be an interesting challenge to have an adventure outside of that.
— I see. So the Dream Eaters, you can create them by gathering materials to “breed” them. What lead you to develop this kind of system?
Nomura: The Dream Eater’s growth is directly connected to the abilities of Sora and Riku, which serves as an axis of this title. To that extent, I wanted players to feel affection for their Dream Eaters, thus you start with them from their initial creation and watch as they grow alongside you.
— Unlocking the abilities of the Dream Eaters and doing the Ability Link to make Sora and Riku stronger is sort of like parts of the system in Re:Coded.
Nomura: That’s right. At first, I initially wanted to develop another form of the command board from Birth by Sleep. Then I mixed the growth systems of Re:Coded and 358/2 Days and came up with a new idea that became the Ability Link feature.
— The Dream Eater’s growth is one of the charms of this title, but it seems with the interacting on the touch screen, the Dream Eater’s characteristics change rapidly.
Nomura: Their attitudes are different depending on their characteristics, for instance some prefer to attack aggressively while other prefer to support your character. One type of Dream Eater has 4 characteristics; even if they are same types of Dream Eaters, they each have their own personalities. So choose among the characteristics you like and have fun.
— How many types of Dream Eaters are there in total?
Nomura: There are a little over 50 types of Dream Eaters you can partner with. You can’t partner with the boss ones, but outside of that you can breed all the Dream Eaters.
— With the similar Dream Eaters like Wondernyan and King Wondernyan, are they evolutions of the same form or are they from separate recipes?
Nomura: They aren’t evolutions of one another, that is not how this system works. If you have the materials, you can produce two or more of the same Dream Eaters.
— As far as activities with the Dream Eaters go, there is the Flick Crash feature. What was the concept behind this feature?
Nomura: As the main mini-game of this title, I wanted to produce something that has the speed aspect of a card game fused with an action game. I said it had to be something frenzied with a “restless feel” to it, but it was hard to actually materialize. After repeated trials, I think it finally became something fun.
— By the way, it seems the Dream Eater’s appearance and abilities can be customized and you can name them. It’s a fairly different taste for the series compared to the past titles.
Nomura: Every time I try to make the taste of the game relate to its title, but in this game since the player can name their Dream Eater to their liking its quite straightforward. I put a lot of consideration into naming the titles interestingly, it’s fun.
Big developments packed into a short time period!
— About how long does it take to clear the game?
Nomura: Probably about 35 hours? Upgrading and playing Flick Crash take time, so I think you could keep on playing it.
— The story and the system of this game are both packed with developments. Did you think the development period was going to be this long?
Nomura: It’s really like one year since Birth by Sleep Final Mix. All the staff has worked very hard to make it here. The Osaka team took over development and even though they had only once worked with the Nintendo DS when they did Re:Coded, this is the first time they created a fully interactive 2-screened title. Even though this time the unreasonable demands were raised even more, I think their high level of creative consciousness really shines in this title.
— A lot of effort went into this title huh. By the way, we previously asked you about an announcement regarding Final Fantasy Versus XIII, is there any information you can share about when that would be?
Nomura: We hear from everyone that there is a high demand to release more information. We are almost finished preparing so we can respond to that. Even though we are in agreement, it’s really not related to current developments so we aren’t in a situation to release information about it. But since I’m not allowed to speak about it, I have no choice but to continue discussion in this way about it.
[Update 1 and Update 2 removed due to high quality scans above.]
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has appeared in the March 15, 2012 issue of Famitsu Weekly. The article contains a lot of new information, as well as an interview with the series director, Tetsuya Nomura. The first details of this article have started to appear online, thanks to hokanko-alt, and translated by SQEX.INFO. You can read this below.
- KH3D's play time is about 35 hours, and longer if you include the mini games and Dream Eater training.
- The first package design for KH3D featured King Mickey mainly, with Riku and Sora as side parts. Because the title didn't fit well and Nomura worried that it would be hard to recognize, he redesigned it with the current image and layout.
- On the AR Code Dream Eaters: Buying KH3D comes with one card for one rare Dream Eater, but you'll be able to get the recipes for the other rare AR dream eaters through street pass.
- The mysterious figure in the black coat isn't necessarily new, but they are important to the story.
- About the key phrase, "Those who are asleep in sadness": Sora and Riku are preparing to rescue them.
- At first they planned to have Sora go to original Tron world, and Riku go to Tron Legacy world.
- Other than Ansem and Xemnas who appear often, Axel (Lea) and the silver haired boy are key characters.
- In the end we'll finally see Xemnas/Ansem's true form.
- Donald and Goofy couldn't be team mates this time because they are not Keyblade wielders. Thus, the Dream Eaters were developed.
- The growth system of the Dream Eaters is connected to Sora and Riku's growth. Dream Eater's growth is like a breeding system, treating them well makes them grow better.
- The command system is different than BBS, it's more of a mix between Days and Re:coded.
- There are 4 types of Dream Eater personalities, they also change depending on how you do in battle, etc.
- King Wondernyan isn't an evolution of a Wondernyan, they are separate Dream Eaters.
- The main mini game you play with then is called Flick Crash, which combines speed and action aspects.
- You can name your own Dream Eaters.
- There are 50 sorts of Dream Eaters you can partner with, however, boss Dream Eaters are not included.
- The next issue of Famitsu Weekly will have a Nomura interview as well.
According to a Tweet by Jason Alexander, both Jason Alexander (the voice of Hugo in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) and Charles Kimbrough (the voice of Victor) will be returning to voice the characters on the English version of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Thanks to axel91 from KH13 for the find.
