Update: We now have some translations of the scans! These are thanks to SQEX☆GAL, and Oishii from KH13.
The Hunchback of Notredame world: “Le Cité des Cloches”
Appearing Characters
Quasimodo – The young man confined within Notredame Cathedral. He favors Esmeralda who helped him despite his appearance.
Esmeralda – A beautiful gypsy girl who loves her freedom. She has a strong sense of justice and has caught the eye of Frollo.
Phoebus – The skilled captain of the guard who was summoned by Frollo. Frollo orders him to eradicate the gypsies from the city, but he gradually begins to disobey.
Claude Frollo – He is a judge with substantial control of the city. Because of his hatred of gypsies, his methods of removing them become violent.
There are great number of scenes including Sora telling Quasimodo to run, Riku meeting Esmeralda, and others involving Sora and Riku.
Pinocchio world: “Prankster’s Paradise”
Appearing Characters
Blue Fairy – The fairy who breathes life into Pinocchio even though he is a doll.
Pinocchio – Having forgotten the promise he made to Geppetto and Jiminy, he accidently becomes dazed by fun things.
Geppetto – He is a craftsman that makes wooden toys. He creates Pinocchio and comes to love him like his own son.
Jiminy Cricket – A cricket residing in Geppetto’s home. He was ordered by the Blue Fairy to educate Pinocchio. This Jiminy Cricket does not have the memories of the Jiminy Cricket that traveled alongside Sora and company in the previous adventures.
There are scenes around the circus entrance and within the circus tent, as well as Sora and Riku talking with the Blue Fairy, Pinocchio, and Jiminy Cricket.
System Reality Shift
In battle, attack the same enemy consecutively. When you lock on to specific objects, a special lock on marker appears. When that happens, you can use the special command “Reality Shift” by pressing the X and A buttons. During that, Sora/Riku disappear from the battle and special actions take place on the lower screen. The Reality Shift command introduced is called “Holy Rope”. Using it, you tie up targets in a line on the bottom screen, then on the top screen a chain appears to attack the enemies one after another in the way you drew it.
Dream Eaters
There are ally and enemy Dream Eaters introduced in battle. Nightmares are enemies, Spirits are allies.
Nightmares
Zou Elephant – An elephant with jutting, purple tusks. It attacks with its large body and long nose. Its long range attacks like firing rocks are its strong points. If you meet the requirements by partnering with a large Dream Eater, you can invoke the “Blow Off” technique to combat it. After twirling your Dream Eater ally around, you can fling it at the enemy.
Dokudoku Lizard (Poisonous Lizard) – A Dream Eater that resembles a fancy purple salamander. From above, it sprinkles poison in a wide range, and can also attack by stretching its long, poisonous tongue.
Ice Penguin – It is dark gray, yellow, and green around its back and belly, with a purple riveted ring around its neck. Sliding across the ground, it attacks within the area it surrounds. It will also abruptly make blocks of ice surround its body.
Dragon Horse – A nightmare resembling a seahorse. It attacks by shooting water like balls from its mouth.
Neko Cat – The nightmare version is violet. It moves around sneakily; if you come in contact with the lightning balls it drops you receive damage.
Spirits
Goat Horn – A dream eater’s whose horns resemble a wind instrument. It’s cooperating technique envelopes the Keyblade in flames which make it more powerful.
Thorn Lion – A lion Dream Eater with a prickly mane and flat feet. A technique where the lion’s thorn tail can be brandished by Sora is introduced.
Techniques: By filling up the pink gauge you can execute co-op techniques with your ally Dream Eaters. For instance, Sora can ride atop a Dream Eater, and Riku can absorb the Dream Eaters to power himself up.
Quotes from screenshots
Pinocchio to Riku: "From Jiminy I’ve learned many important things."
Sora to Fairy Godmother: "Ah, yeah.... Are you a goddess?"
Jiminy to Sora: "Hm? Who are you? There aren’t supposed to be children here."
Gargoyle to Sora: "Am I not supposed to talk?!"
Captain Phoebus to Riku: "How shameful to rely on a kid."
???: "Judge Frollo, this is serious!"
Previously, we announced that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance would be shown in Famitsu Weekly magazine, with the announcement of a new world. This announcement came earlier in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, however, scans of the Famitsu Weekly have finally surfaced!
The article again announces the Pinocchio world for Kingdom Hearts 3D, called Prankster's Paradise. It also goes into detail on various Dream Eaters, and has many screenshots. Rather than explaining, we'll let the scans speak for themselves.
We also have a list of Dream Eaters featured in the issue, thanks to 速報＠保管庫(Alt).
- Zou Elephant (Nightmare)
- Dokudoku Trombone (Nightmare)
- Ice Penguin (Nightmare)
- Tatsu Horse (Nightmare)
- Neko Cat (Nightmare)
- Yagi Horn (Spirit)
- Hari Lion (Spirit)
Famitsu Weekly → December 8, 2011
We have even more scans of the Weekly Shōnen Jump article that revealed the Pinocchio world, called Prankster's Paradise, in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. The article also revealed the names of three new Dream Eaters, and included information about the other known Disney world, The City of Bells. Now, however, we have another two screenshots for you!
These are thanks to ReBirth Wings. Click below for the individual images, or below that, you can see all scans so far in our gallery. Also make sure you read through the previous updates below.
- Geppetto talking about Pinocchio
- Sora fighting an unknown enemy -- note the Drop Gauge!!
Weekly Shōnen Jump → November 18, 2011
Update 2: Another two scans have surfaced! These have been added to our gallery, below. Click here to go directly to the album, or click on the individual images below. The new images show screenshots including Sora talking to Pinocchio, and Quasimotor with Esméralda. It seems that the "Drop" gauge is back!
- Screenshots from Prankster's Paradise (Pinocchio's world)
- Screenshots from The City of Bells (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame's world)
Update: Hari Lion and Yagi Horn are "Spirits", while Ice Penguin is a "Nightmare". Previously, it was announced that the Spirits are your allies, and the Nightmares are your enemies.
Previously, a Pinocchio world was announced to be included in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, called Prankster's Paradise. Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine included an article about the revelation. Now, thanks to FF-Reunion, we have even more scans of this article.
These extra scans reveal more about the other Disney world we know of in the game, "The City of Bells", based on The Hunchback of Notre-dame. Esméralda is shown next to Riku. Also, two new Dream Eaters are shown-- Ice Penguin and Hari Lion. The name of the ram-like Dream Eater is revealed to be Yagi Horn. You can see these scans below, in our gallery. Or, simply click the links below for the new images.
- New Dream Eaters
- Riku and Esméralda
- Pinocchio's world
Weekly Shōnen Jump → November 18, 2011
As you would have seen before, it was announced that a Pinocchio world will be included in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. This was announced via Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, and is also set to appear in the next Famitsu Weekly. We now have another high quality scan of the article, again thanks to FF-Reunion. You can see both scans below, in our gallery (or go straight to the HQ one here).
Weekly Shōnen Jump → November 18, 2011
Update: Thanks to Tgirl, we now have some translations of the text. It seems that the new area is called "Pranksters Paradise", and the text in the screenshot says "We're in a circus cabin inside the stomach of a huge whale."
Previously, it was announced that a new world appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance would be announced in the upcoming issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine. However, the latest issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump has announced this world instead.
We now know that the new world will be... a world based on Pinocchio! Thanks to FF-Reunion, we now have a scan of the article in question. Here, you can see a render of Pinocchio, as well as screenshots of Jiminy Cricket on Riku's shoulders, and Jiminy Cricket with Pinocchio, who's trapped in a cell. You can see this scan below, in our gallery!
Weekly Shōnen Jump → November 18, 2011
What do you think about this? Pinocchio's world is one of the worlds that KH13 predicted would be announced, but, are you happy with the announcement? Let us know at our forum.
As you would already know, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is set to appear at Jump Festa 2012. Jump Festa 2012 is an event running from December 17, 2011 to December 18. At this event, Kingdom Hearts 3D will be featured with a playable demo, and a new trailer. Definitely something to look forward to!
Anyway, onto the news. Thanks to FF-Reunion for the tip, we now know that on Square Enix's website, they have announced that 220 tickets will be given out at random to people who apply, in order for them to "experience the game". This could either mean that they get to play the demo or experience the trailer in a closed mega-theatre, but, either way, that's a lot of people and we'll almost certainly get videos of the event when it happens!
The current issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine has included a notice about the contents of the next issue, and thanks to 速報＠保管庫(Alt), we know that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is mentioned. The next issue, which releases on November 24, 2011 is said to include information about a new world appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3D.
So, stay tuned! KH13 will be ordering a copy of the magazine, so, we hope to have high quality scans up as soon as possible (sometime next week, of course). Either way, pictures are bound to appear online sometime next week. Stay tuned!
Kingdom Hearts 3D is known to include all-new Disney worlds, so, what do you think? Could it be a Toy Story world, a Pinocchio world or a Jungle Book world, all of which were going to be included in past games but removed? Or do you think it will be something completely different? Let us know at our forum.
Jupiter, the company responsible for developing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, has discussed the development of the game in an interview with Inside-Games. Thanks to Tgirl, who found the interview, we now have a translation of it. You can read this below.
Visiting the history of the three important titles made by Jupiter, such as the handheld "Kingdom Hearts" on the GBA, and the direction of the company.
Remembering the "Picross" series, there were a great number of pinball games that were developed. Jupiter has done games such as Pocket Pikachu and Poke'mon Mini, but in recent years, they worked on large titles such as TWEWY. So recently, they've been marketing "Picross" for the 3DS.
(T/N: However, "Picross 3D" is made by HAL.)
This time, Inside is inquiring Jupiter, in Kyoto, for a story from President Nakayama and the development staff.
We want to hear the stories about the three titles that were made for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.
--------- When did the development for "Kingdom Hearts", for the GBA, begin?
Nakayama: It was right around this time, the exposed RPG genre period was said to be big in the business.
Somehow, I believe there existed an accumulation of know-hows within the company, as we were able to meet with Square-Enix's Hashimoto-sama and work on "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories".
(Shinji Hashimoto: Square-Enix Holdings' senior executive managing director/officer, Also, Square-Enix's 1st work division Corporate Executive)
---------- What kind of beginning was it?
Nakayama: Before "Kingdom Hearts", there was the game, "Disney Sports: Motor Cross" (released by: Konami). In those days, Square and Disney were in the same building. We received the story from Disney, who was in charge of the direction: "Since 'Kingdom Hearts' is being put onto the GBA, why don't we see the outcome in the planning competition?"
I think because "new things were being challenged", the proposal that came through here is "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories".
---------- The insertion of Hikaru Utada's theme song into the CG movie, within the GBA, became a surprising type of game.
Nakayama: The ROM became awesome in capacity, right? (laughs)
Square and Disney were friendly with each other in this kind of flow. Jupiter is use to working like this with Nintendo as they're known for the TV game genre. It became clear that it was a placed position in opportunities working with portable games.
For those of you with Twitter accounts, we have now integrated Twitter with KH13.com. If you're a guest, then by clicking the Twitter icon at the top of the page, you can login to KH13 without even having to sign up.
If you're a member, then login and you will see a Twitter icon button at the top of the page. This will allow you to connect your Twitter and KH13 accounts, which gives you a shared login, and the option (note: this is optional) to sync your Twitter and KH13 tweets, status updates and profile pictures.
And now for some weird Kingdom Hearts "news": A man inspired by Kingdom Hearts has created a raft and sailed around for 1.5 months. You can read more about this, and see a photo of the raft at our forum.
Takeharu Ishimoto, a composer who works for Square Enix, has confirmed that he will be composing songs for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts title for the Nintendo 3DS, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. This was nnounced via an interview on Famitsu.com. Ishimoto's past composing work includes Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and the The World Ends with You-- which, of course, will see some of its music appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D.
This doesn't mean he will be the only composer though! It is most likely that Yoko Shimomura will return to compose for Kingdom Hearts 3D as well, and possibly Tsuyoshi Sekito, who also worked on Birth by Sleep. Thanks to Kingdom Hearts Insider for the tip.
The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp (NAViGaTR) have released a "Best of Decade 2001-2009" list for video games, outlining what they believe to be the best games in various categories. Kingdom Hearts has won various awards on the list, and these are listed below.
- Costume Design of the Decade
- Original Musical Score of the Decade
- Original Role Playing Game of the Decade
Thanks to FuzzyJello from GameFAQs and The Silent Chief for the tip.
Also, in other news, Tetsuya Nomura has been named by the Official PlayStation Magazine as #5 of the most influential PlayStation developers. (Should we cover Tetsuya Nomura news, or just stick to KH news?) Thanks to Kingdom Hearts Insider for the tip.
For those of you with Facebook accounts, we have now integrated Facebook with KH13.com. If you're a guest, then by clicking the "Facebook Login" at the top of the page, you can login to KH13 without even having to sign up.
If you're a member, then login and you will see a "FB Connect" button at the top of the page. This will allow you to connect your Facebook and KH13 accounts, which gives you a shared login, and the option (note: this is optional) to sync your Facebook and KH13 status updates and profile pictures.
Enjoy!
We have completed our archive of English cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts. Each of the 231 scenes from the game can be viewed and downloaded from our video archive, so please click here to check it out.
Just to recap, this is what you can expect from our cutscene archive:
- Every single scene viewable and downloadable.
- Cutscenes are available at a resolution of HD 720p.
- Downloads are in WMV, MP4 and FLV formats, ready to use in any video editor.
- Cutscenes have the upper and lower black bars removed.
- This is the best quality anywhere on the web. Enjoy!
And a sample of our quality:
Jump Festa 2012 is an event running from 17-18 December 2011. At this event, various video games are featured. Square Enix has confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will make an appearance at the event, and, also that the game will be playable. The following graphic was posted on the Jump Festa website. Thanks to FF-Reunion for the tip.
Every so often, we make a news post telling you what we've added to the KH13.com Gallery, since the last news post. But first, a bit about our gallery. It now has over ten thousand (10,000!!) official Kingdom Hearts-related images, so, it's a must see for any Kingdom Hearts fan. The images range from articles, books, manga, photos, screenshots and wallpapers, and all are official media. Anyway, here are the images we've added behind the scenes (that is, they haven't appeared in any news posts):
Added more photos from Tokyo Game Show 2011:
Photos → Tokyo Game Show 2011
Added more KH3D screenshots from GoNintendo:
GoNintendo → Kingdom Hearts 3D
Added photos from Japan Expo:
Photos → Japan Expo
Added the February 2011 issue of Game Informer:
Game Informer → February 2011
