Update: The Square Enix e-STORE has created a page for Volume 4 of the 358/2 Days manga. This store confirms the April 21, 2012 release and ￥440 (now US$5.24) price tag, and also reveals that the manga will be 210 pages in length!
Amazon.co.jp has announced the release for the fourth volume of the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga series. It will be released on April 21, 2012 for the price ￥440 (approximately US$5.38). You can read all of the 358/2 Days manga available in English at our gallery.
As you may have read earlier, the March 15, 2012 issue of Famitsu Weekly contained an interview with Tetsuya Nomura, where he stated that Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] will appear in the March 22, 2012 issue of the magazine with a new interview. Now, FamiWeb have updated their website to confirm that Kingdom Hearts 3D will appear in the issue releasing on March 22, 2012. The image on the right was also shown, and the following description of the article was given.
In the next issue, the background, story, characters and combat system of the game will be explained. In addition, Tetsuya Nomura will offer his comments.
Update: Square Enix have again Tweeted about the Keyblade keychains announced in January. While these Keychains were announced on January 20, 2012, and originally set for a March 31, 2012 release date, Square Enix have changed their mind and started selling the keychains today.
Thanks to KHInsider, we're aware of a few websites that are now selling the keychains internationally. You are able to purchase the keychains from Amazon.co.jp (gold and silver), HobbyLink Japan (gold and silver), or CDJapan (gold and silver). While the last two are not yet aware of the changed release date (and are still using the information from January 20), Amazon.co.jp has updated with a new release date of March 16, 2012.
Square Enix have updated the Square Enix Shop with two new official pieces of Kingdom Hearts merchandise. Both of these these are Keyblade-shaped keychains, available at a price of ¥1,900 (approximately US$24.64). There is a gold one available, as well as a silver one available. Both release on March 31, 2012. You can see both of these items below, in our gallery.
Photos → Square Enix Online Shop
Update 5: bKvEBVAvUq has uploaded even more photos of new Kingdom Hearts 3D advertisements appearing in Japan. You can see these below.
Update 4: bKvEBVAvUq has uploaded a photo of a new Kingdom Hearts 3D advertisement appearing in Japan, leading towards the release of the game on March 29, 2012.
Update 3: bKvEBVAvUq has uploaded a photo of one of the below images appearing in a Japanese game store. It is nice to see that Kingdom Hearts 3D is getting so much exposure.
Update 2: Square Enix's e-STORE have updated their Facebook page with an album containing more promotional images for Kingdom Hearts 3D. Among this material is the back of the game box! Enjoy.
Update 1: bKvEBVAvUq has provided more photos of the Kingdom Hearts 3D promotional material, and these photos reveal that Kingdom Hearts 3D will contain two save slots. It also confirms that the game will support both StreetPass and the Circle Pad Pro.
Promotional material for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance has appeared in various Japanese game stores. ArikaMiz has managed to snap some photos of these, so thanks to her, you can see these below. They give a general overview of the game, show off the announced worlds, briefly show the styles of gameplay, and explain Dream Eaters.
As you may have read earlier, the March 8, 2012 issue of Famitsu Weekly stated that Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] will appear in the March 15, 2012 issue of the magazine with "an interview with producer Tetsuya Nomura and plenty of new information". Now, FamiWeb have updated their website to confirm that Kingdom Hearts 3D will appear in the issue releasing on March 15, 2012.
Nintendo of Europe have created a page explaining Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. It doesn't include any new content yet, but it contains most of the same information that the press release of the official English announcement had. With both this and the screenshots released yesterday, it seems that Kingdom Hearts 3D is finally starting to get some coverage internationally. Let's look forward to what else might be coming! Thanks to darkchaser from KH13 and KHSoraKeyBlade from KH13 for the tip.
Originally, this article was about the page on Nintendo of France's website, however, we have since updated it to be about Nintendo of Europe.
Update 2: Interestingly, Square Enix have removed the ESRB rating from the Facebook album. This probably just means that it was revealed by accident. They have also edited the album on Square Enix's page to now say "RP Rating Pending".
Update 1: Square Enix NA have also posted these screenshots on their official Facebook page. Interestingly, they reveal that the ESRB rating of the game will be E10+, much like other Kingdom Hearts titles. The description along with that is "with Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes". We will probably get a more detailed description soon.
Square Enix France have uploaded a set of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] screenshots, focusing on the Tron: Legacy world, The Grid. While the two renders have been seen before, the screenshots are somewhat new! Feel free to check them out below. Thanks to aibo_ac7 for the tip. Square Enix Germany have also uploaded the same set of images, so it seems that international localisation is well under way!
The fourth volume of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga has been announced. Amazon.co.jp has announced the release date as April 21, 2012. It will cost 440 Yen.
Update 4: KH13.com have scanned and uploaded perfect quality versions of the Kingdom Hearts 3D article in the March 8, 2012 Famitsu Weekly. You can view these below. (And remember to click for a much larger image!)
Update 3: SQEX.INFO have created a translated summary of the Famitsu Weekly article. This is very interesting, so please have a read!
- The next issue of Famitsu Weekly releasing March 15th will have an interview with producer Tetsuya Nomura and plenty of new information!
- Sora and Riku’s friends King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy worry for his well being during the Mark of Mastery Exam. Alongside them, Lea appears before Yen Sid. The dialogue on the screenshot says, “Maybe from a fairly early stage, Xehanort was probably suspected.”
- Sora and Riku are shown beginning their journey riding upon their raft, the one built in the very first Kingdom Hearts title.
- Riku, the King, Ansem, and Xehanort all appear in The World That Never Was. The caption beside them explains how Ansem as the researcher of darkness and Xemnas came from the same person. Since they are both defeated, are they the real thing appearing…? In one screenshot Mickey is shown saying, “That time, the destinies of those three young people were changed!”
- The commands for Dive Mode are explained. “Diving” is the means of travelling to new worlds, much like driving the Gummi ship in the past games. While diving, you can collect prize drops and do the following commands:
A Button: Dive Attack (Attacking with a dash forward)
B Button: Eradication (Decreases speed)
X Button: Magic (Gathering prizes let’s you use magic attacks)
Y Button: Reflect Dodge (Defend against enemy attacks)
- Information regarding the Link Portal command is explained. This involves the playing with the data gathered from the people you encounter in Street Pass. The Battle Portal is sort of like an fight arena and Friend Portal is like borrowing Dream Eaters.
- Details on the customization and mini-games involved in raising the Dream Eaters is revealed. Two new Dream Eaters are also introduced, Blazing Lobster and Flower Wondernyan. Special attacks involving single links with Dream Eaters are also explained including Ragnarok and Chaos Snake.
- The special Dream Eaters collectible via AR card are also revealed. They are King Wondernyan, Circus Panda, and Nekuish. It seems the Nekuish Dream Eater is a lizard with Neku’s features. The card that comes with the game has one of these rare Dream Eaters, but it is random which one you get.
Update 2: More partial scans have been added below, again thanks to ArikaMiz.
[removed due to perfect quality scans above]
Update 1: Thanks to Toma_Kisaragi, we now have full scans of the article. We'll leave the partial scans below, as they show some parts in better quality, but feel free to also check out the complete scans. Enjoy (and look forward to our own HQ scans later on)!
[removed due to perfect quality scans above]
The latest issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine, which is set to release on March 8, 2012, has included an article on Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. Partial scans of this article have begun to appear online thanks to ArikaMiz, and you can see these partial scans below.
[removed due to perfect quality scans above]
Update 1: We have added English subtitles to the video below, thanks to goldpanner. You can also view/download the video with English subtitles from our video archive.
As you might have seen, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] previously appeared at the February 22, 2012 Nintendo Direct event. After this event, a trailer was added exclusively to the Japanese version of the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Thanks to Terranort9406 from KH13, who uploaded and posted the video to our forum, and to YouTube user GSD3Ds who originally recorded the video, you can now see it below in perfect quality.
You can also view and/or download this video from our video archive.
Update 2: Pavlovic Sarah from KH13 has translated the remaining parts of the Famitsu.com article. You can read this translation below.
The friends of Sora & Riku and the people who block their way
The setting for the main characters Sora & Riku is to try as much as they can to overcome the troubles while aiming to become a Keyblade Master. In the mysterious tower where Sora & Riku decided to begin the journey, their concerned friends are waiting for them.
Their former rival Lea is appearing in the Mysterious Tower...
Also, it seems that in The World That Never Was, the enemies/people from the past which were defeted once are coming back...
The story wrapped in mystery is one of the charming points of Kingdom Hearts. This title will as well take an unpredictable development!
Also, the Kingdom Hearts series will have its 10th Year Anniversary!!
Are the waiting friends in the Mysterious Tower a little bit more worried about Sora, than Lea? And for what reason has Lea come to this place...
Originally Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, is the very same person as Ansem. Is he real or...?
Update 1: andriasang.com have posted a translation of the Famitsu.com article, explaining many features of the game. You can read this translation below.
Dive Mode
Dive Mode is the name for the mode of play you enter when moving to a new world. As you fall into the world, you must defeat enemies and collect prizes. Clear a certain score, and you'll enter the next world.
Link Portal
You'll find Link Portals here and there in the areas of play. There are two types: Battle Portals and Friend Portals.
Battle Portals put you up against a particular Dream Eater. Defeat the Dream Eater, and you'll get the materials required for creating it as a partner Dream Eater character.
Friend Portals adds a Dream Eater to your battle party for a temporary time.
In addition to a default set of Dream Eaters, the Link Portals will have Dream Eaters that you receive from other players through Street Pass.
Training Toys
Among the various ways to build up your Dream Eaters, you can use the stylus to pet and poke at them. This will build up Link Points, which you use to acquire new abilities, and experience.
To gain more Link Points, use training toys to play with the Dream Eaters. Shown below are Treasure Goggle and Water Barrel training toys.
Famitsu.com have updated with an article containing many new screenshots from Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. These screenshots (and one avatar) are the ones that appeared in the Famitsu Weekly yesterday, however, they are now in very high quality, so we recommend that you check them out.
Update: Square Enix France have since removed the soundtrack page from their website.
Square Enix France have created a pre-order page on their official online store for the soundtrack of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. The soundtrack is said to be available during May 2012 for €24.99 (approximately US$32.75). Since the soundtrack is being sold by Square Enix France, we can probably assume that it is an international version of the album (and not the Japanese version, which releases on April 18, 2012), and will possibly be sold everywhere in Europe and North America. Thanks to KH Island for the find, and Nikolasvanitas from KH13 for the tip.
The following album art was also uploaded to the online store.
Update 6: A game store from the Netherlands, known as Game Mania, have put up a pre-order page for the game-- and this page confirms the expected release date for Europe, July 27, 2012. Since we have now seen this same date published on both a French and Dutch website, we can be quite sure that the given date is official. Thanks to mistressLuck from KH13 for the find. Keep in mind that this suggests a mid-July release for North America.
Update 5: Square Enix France have AGAIN changed the published release date of the game. While before, we were given "July 27, 2012", and saw it be changed to "Summer 2012", we have now received another change-- this time to just "2012". Square Enix are being incredibly vague about this, let's hope that they make a more official announcement soon!
Update 4: Looking at the page on the Square Enix France store, we can see that the game states that there will be "English voices and French subtitles". Also, Sora's French voice actor from previous games has Tweeted that he was not contacted about the role. This suggests that the game probably won't be dubbed in any non-English European languages, and instead will just receive subtitles. So a big sorry to our French, German and Italian fans (who will all get a subtitled game, but not a dubbed one)!
Update 3: Square Enix France have also revealed the boxart for the European version of the game. This is exactly the same as the Japanese boxart for Kingdom Hearts 3D, except, the game logo is moved from the bottom-left to the top-right. Enjoy.
Update 2: KHDestiny have Tweeted that they contacted Square Enix France, and Square Enix France stated that Kingdom Hearts 3D is "now set for a Summer 2012" release. This means that Kingdom Hearts 3D will release sometime during Summer 2012 in Europe, and Square Enix are probably aiming for sometime around July 27 (but it is not yet set in stone).
Remember, the only reason we know July 27, 2012 is accurate is because it comes from Square Enix. Square Enix have made no mention of the North American release date yet, and any given dates by game stores (especially those on the 1st or last day of a month) are just placeholders/predictions. EB Games Canada, for example, have had a "July 1" date up since January, where stores like Amazon.com claim "December 31". These are just placeholders.
Update 1: Square Enix France have since edited the website to say "Summer 2012" (between June 2012 and August 2012). This is probably because they were not supposed to reveal the release date yet (as there has been no official announcement), but keep in mind that it could mean it was in error. We'll have to wait to find out more information.
Square Enix France have revealed the release date for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in Europe. According to their official online store, the European version of the game will release on July 27, 2012 (well, the France version to be specific, but France release date = Europe release date 90% of the time). This means we can probably expect a July release for North America, and a release the same week as France/Europe for Australia. Thanks to sqexgal, KH Destiny and Chao_Loulou for the find.
The previously announced Wonder Meow plush toy from Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has gone on sale today, one day ahead of the expected release. For Japanese customers, the plush toy is now available from the Square Enix Official Online Shop. For international customers, you will have to wait for CD Japan to start selling it on March 31, 2012.
Update 4: According to a Tweet by Yoko Shimomura, the music creation process for Kingdom Hearts 3D is almost complete. She also says that the tracks towards the end are becoming 'more intense', and uploaded the following photo.
Update 3: A third photo has been added below. This was also uploaded to Ishimoto's Twitter.
Update 2: Ishimoto has made another post on his music blog. He talks about seeing Shimomura after a long time, and says that the soundtrack of Kingdom Hearts 3D is "unique". Lastly, he says that some tracks from the game will be announced tomorrow.
Update 1: A photo has been uploaded to Keiji Kawamori's Twitter (Keiji Kawamori is another composer who works for Square Enix), showing the Kingdom Hearts 3D music mastering process being worked on in the studio. A second photo has been uploaded to Yoko Shimomura's Twitter.
Takeharu Ishimoto, one of the composers for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], has Tweeted about an update on his Square Enix Music Blog. Here, he states that tomorrow they are "mastering" the music from Kingdom Hearts 3D. This probably means that they are preparing the music for the soundtrack release on April 18, 2012! Let's look forward to it.
