Square Enix have updated their official website for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts title for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This update confirms the January 9, 2010 release date, and features information on Never Land and Dwarf Woodlands. It includes screenshots and character profiles for each respective world.
The second piano compilation for music from the Kingdom Hearts series, revealed to be titled Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts Field & Battle, has been announced by Square Enix through the opening of an official website. The website reveals the release date of the album, January 13, 2010, as well as the price, ￥2,500. It is implied that music from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep will be featured on the album, as both releases are within a week of each other, and the website links to Square Enix's Birth by Sleep website.
The December 2009 issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine has included an article on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article includes previously seen screenshots, as well as information about Enchanted Dominion and the Land of Departure. RPG Land have uploaded scans of the article, and Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated it. Both can be seen below.
Dengeki PlayStation (December 2009)
Thanks to RPG Land.
The truth behind these mysteries will soon be revealed!
Lots of new information about the story and system have been revealed by these new screenshots and illustrations. They’ve finally decided on a release date, so we’re closing in on finding out what is behind all these mysteries in this new game.
World Guide 1 -Land of Departure-
Our heroes’ long grim adventure starts from here.
The story starts in a new original world. Here is where the heroes train in hopes of becoming a Keyblade Master. The latest movie that was shown at TGS09 showed them taking the “Master Qualification Exam”. It was revealed that Master Xehanort watched them take the test, though we’ll have to wait and see how the story will unfold from there.
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Master Xehanort [er... the scan cuts off about half of the words, but it’s essentially the same as before. I will guess:]
Master Xehanort is a powerful Keyblade Master, as well as an acquaintance of Master Eraqus. He looks very different from the Xehanort we have seen in previous games. Just who is he?
Master Xehanort is giving advice to someone. Had he been planning something at this time as well?
Vanitas
He is the only apprentice of Master Xehanort, and his name has only just been revealed. In the movie that was shown at TGS09 we were able to see him talking and hear his voice. Just what face is he hiding behind the mask?
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He talks about the princesses of light! Where the princesses of light something that people sought after even in the past?
Our three heroes in training This is the world where they start out on. But perhaps the picture shown here is not from the very beginning of the game?
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Let’s look take a look at some of the things in the story we’re wondering about! It’s quite interesting that in this game that the important characters already seem to know each other. We get to see scenes of them all talking before the problems start, and these will be the key that connects the rest of the story together. The things Master Xehanort says also have quite a few connections to previous games in the series.
Point 1 Terra and Master Xehanort It seems that Terra trusts Master Xehanort. We see that he obeys him, but it seems that in the end he betrays him!? What is Master Xehanort after?
Point 2 Ventus and Vanitas Is it just a coincidence, or is there some connection? We see quite a few scenes with them together. Their names also sound similar. Just what is between the two of them!
Point 3 Aqua’s Good Luck Charm Aqua gives them charms to make sure they’ll see each other again. The charms look just like the one that Kairi made in KH!
Point 4 The search begins The three of them are ordered to go searching for Master Xehanort, but in this scene we don’t see Ventus anywhere. Where could he be?
Point 5 What is Ventus doing? What is Master Eraqus and Aqua looking at? It almost seems as though Ventus is acting violent...
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from Tetsuya Nomura Their adventure begins here.
Though not all scenes are, most of these screenshots show the prologue to the story, in Land of Departure, where they start their journey. What exactly were Terra and Master Xehanort talking about? What is Ven doing? You’ll have to find out more in the game. Master Eraqus is Ven, Terra and Aqua’s master, and he will have a lot to do with the story. He is a new character for the series, so I’d like you to watch him closely.
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Master Eraqus
He is a Keyblade Master with three apprentices. We don’t know much about him yet, but he seems like a calm and collected “samurai” type. The armor around his middle and his boots look similar to the other three. Perhaps he can change into armor as well? His keyblade design is rather interesting.
“Now we will be having the Master Qualification Exam.”
The Three Apprentices
Terra
A young man who is always calm and cool even under pressure. He fights with power, and can pack a lot of destruction into one attack.
Ventus
A boy who is curious and has a cheerful personality. He fights with speed, and uses light, quick actions.
Aqua
A serious young woman who both kind and strong. Her style is to fight with magic, so her attacks might be a bit erratic!?
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System - Let’s look at two new things that have been revealed!
Command Levels - Important for growth of your commands!
Deck Commands, Action Commands, and Shoot Lock Commands all have levels. You can gain CP (Command Points) from defeated enemies which once you’ve gotten enough will raise the levels of your Commands. Levels will effect just how strong your Commands will become.
Set your Commands before battle CP will be given to all Commands that you have set in your Deck. When your Commands level up it will tell you on the screen. You can also check their growth on the menu screen.
Support Abilities - Master your abilities to make them more powerful
Some Deck Commands will also have Support Abilities attached to them. When you set the Command you will gain the effect of the Support Ability, but if you unequip it you will lose the effect. But if you set the Command and get the ability to the highest level, your character will then have that ability mastered, and even if the Command is unequipped the effect of the Support Ability will remain.
Support Abilities will grow by gaining CP. Then you will be able to level them up.
Barrage - A Deck Command. You will draw close to the enemy and hit them with a rapid fire multi-hit attack. If you manage to press the buttons with good timing you gain extra hits.
Strike Raid - A Deck Command. You use the keyblade like a boomarang to attack your enemies. Sora has used the same attack before in the KH series.
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Vanitas has his face hidden, so he is even more mysterious than other characters. There is a very important reason that his face is covered, but I can’t tell that yet. I will tell you that you won’t see it until the end of the story. I chose his name first through the meaning I wanted, then when I was looking up words this one also sounded similar to Ventus. So the reason I chose this name was because it felt like he was destined for it.
Message from the KINGDOM has updated with a blog post from Tetsuya Nomura, the director of the Kingdom Hearts series. Tetsuya Nomura discusses the development of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and explains that the package age, secret movie, opening movie, promotional movie and commercial are yet to be finalized, but are being worked on. Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated this blog post, and it can be read below.
A blog? How modern. Or, no... I guess it’s a little late for that. Nevermind. I’m the director Nomura.
The staff asked us to write our first entry, but I was just too busy. But it was around TGS that Yasue was going to update, so I put a stop to it. I’m very sorry.
Between then and now we’ve already announced the release date. Now all we have to do is finish it. But we still have tons of things to do, and we’re in the middle of running around trying to get everything finished.
Right now on my desktop I have 5 files containing work for Birth by Sleep, 4 for Coded, and 7 for other titles.
They’re listed in order of predecence, and now as I’m writing this the time for these files has finally come.
Of course there are not only writen documents, but pictures I have been needing to draw have been waiting for me to get around to it. Right now the most important being the package art for Birth by Sleep.
Today I have to go to edit the Staff Roll. Since there are three main characters in Birth by Sleep, we alse have different Staff Rolls for each one. We already have experience making two for Chain of Memores, but this time it’s a little bit different and we have a little bit of a trick with each, so it’s quite difficult.
In the Kingdom Hearts series when we put the music into the Staff Roll, we aren’t just lining up the music second by second, but frame by frame. So we’re working hard to find a good way to time it.
We also still have the Opening Movie, the Secret Movie, the CM and the PV to edit. But that will be on a later day. Next week we will be working on the CM for FFXIII.
So we’re working quite hard now, and I have to get going. I have to get to the editing studio. When I have another opportunity I will write again soon. Thank you.
Director Tetsuya Nomura
Famitsu.com have updated with an article concerning the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article features previously seen screenshots in high quality, and these screenshots can all be viewed below, in our gallery.
Famitsu.com (October 25, 2009)
All images are from Famitsu.com.
The December 2009 issue of Famitsu magazine has included an article on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article includes a large amount of information regarding the game, including the first announcement of a release date and pricing, and information about various worlds and each character. Kingdom Hearts Insider have created translated scans of this article, and these can be viewed below, in our gallery.
Famitsu (December 2009) *translated*
All images are translated by Kingdom Hearts Insider.
Square Enix's official Japanese website for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep has been updated. This update, which started yesterday with the Tokyo Game Show 2009 trailer, has now been finished, including additions to the "world" and "system" sections. This includes many new screenshots, which can be seen in our gallery, below, as well as multiple gameplay videos which can be downloaded from our trailers page for Birth by Sleep, or viewed below.
Birth by Sleep, Japanese website
All images are from the official website.
The upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, is now available on the Square Enix e-STORE. This page confirms the January 9, 2009 release date and ¥6,090 price, and contains new screenshots from the game. These can be seen below, in our gallery.
Square Enix e-STORE
All images are from Square Enix's official website.
Famitsu.com have updated with an article concerning the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article includes previously seen screenshots in high quality, featuring new pictures from the Tokyo Game Show 2009 trailer, and these screenshots can all be viewed below, in our gallery.
Famitsu.com (October 21, 2009)
All images are from Famitsu.com.
Square Enix's official Japanese website for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep has been updated. This update includes additions to the world and system sections, as well as a new trailer for the game, the Tokyo Game Show 2009 trailer. This can be seen below, or downloaded from our video archive.
Kingdom Hearts Insider have written up a translated script for this trailer, and this translation can be viewed as a subtitled video, below.
The December 2009 issue of Famitsu magazine has included an article on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article includes a large amount of information regarding the game, including the first announcement of a release date and pricing. Birth by Sleep will be released in Japan on January 9, 2010, and will cost ¥6,090. Also revealed is the official English spelling for two characters in the game, Master Eraqus and Vanitas. FF-Reunion have uploaded scans of this article, and these scans can be viewed below, in our gallery.
Famitsu (December 2009)
Thanks to FF-Reunion.
The latest issue of V Jump magazine has included an article on Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article reveals the name of Master Xehanort's apprentice, Apprentice Vanitas. Scans of this article have been uploaded to 2ちゃんねる, and these can be seen below, in our gallery.
V Jump (December 2009)
Thanks to 2ちゃんねる.
Message from the KINGDOM is a Japanese blog that is updated by people on the development team of upcoming Kingdom Hearts titles. Recently, they have updated with news regarding Kingdom Hearts coded and Kingdom Hearts Mobile. This includes screenshots of Episode 4 of Coded's release, and information regarding items on Kingdom Hearts Mobile. You can view the update's included screenshots below, in our gallery.
Message from the KINGDOM
All images are from Message from the KINGDOM.
Square Enix have updated their official Japanese website for Kingdom Hearts coded. This update includes additions to the information section, as well as screenshots and renders from Episode 4 and 5 of the game. Also included is information about how these relate to Kingdom Hearts Mobile. All included images are available to view below.
Coded, Japanese website
All images are from Square Enix's official website.
Episode 5 of Kingdom Hearts coded, Agrabah, was released on October 15, 2009. Thanks to ReBirth Wings, the first details of this episode are surfacing online. ReBirth Wings wrote up an extensive summary of this episode, and Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated this summary. It can be read below.
As we saw last time, Pete has suddenly appeared at the Coliseum. He is not data, but has come from the real world in the same way that the King has, to interfere with whatever is going on. Pete tries to run, and Sora ends up following him into the next world.
Sora arrives in Agrabah, but has lost sight of Pete. So he goes around trying to collect information. In the first area (Palace Gates) there is a save point with a moogle beside it. He gives you the Avatar item “Desert Town Wallpaper”. In the same area is a shopkeeper who will exchange High Potions for the battle item “Magna Ball” (which will pull all enemies in the area towards Sora. It has the same effect as the Support Ability “Enemy Draw”.)
Sora searches around Agrabah, and then goes to the palace where he meets Aladdin out front. At first they just have a normal conversation, but when Sora leaves Aladdin stops him and asks him to look for Jasmin.
If you go in front of the palace and climb on the Ash Bug that went to the left, you can reach the top of the wall. You can then cross the Ash Bug and get a “Kupo Nut” from the Prize Bug.
Jasmin is in the Alley (when you get near the Alley from the Main Street you will hear conversation.) When you go into the Alley you will have to fight Jafar. Afterward Jafar will run to the palace, and Sora and Jasmin meet up with Aladdin.
If you enter Main Street through the upper area of the Alley, you will see an Ash Bug which you can cross to a Prize Bug which has the Support Ability “Second Chance”. Then if you go back to where you entered and drop down overhang, there will a Prize Bug close by which has another “Kupo Nut”.
Though they meet at the Palace Gates, Jafar appears immediately and captures Jasmin, while Iago swipes Aladdin’s lamp. Jafar then uses the power of a fake lamp to control time, which means you have to search out Iago to grab the real one under a time limit. At first you only have 30 seconds, but if you get Debug Balls from enemies and Bugs (which are stopped and won’t attack) you can extend the time limit. It can also be extended by breaking open Prize Bugs or using Reaction Combos.
At first Iago will be on top of the wall in front of the palace, but if you talk to him he’ll run. Jafar can also appear and create a time stealing mirage. If you are captured by the mirage you will lose time. But it is very slow moving and can’t climb up high places. So if you stay as high as you can you will be safe. It will not appear on the Main Street, so you can safely build up as much time as you need.
Iago will then go from the Bazaar to the Palace Gates. He will periodically move between these two areas. If you talk to him at the Palace Gates you will be able to steal the lamp back, and Genie will stop the time limit. Unfortunately time doesn’t return to normal, which means they’ll have to defeat Jafar first. With Genie’s power they teleport to the Cave of Wonders.
When they arrive, they see Jafar in front of the Cave of Wonders. He wishes something on the lamp and the Tiger Head goes crazy, and Sora has to fight it. This battle is in Area Debug Mode (4min.) You have to get rid of the eyes, but since the Ash Bugs that you can climb on are only in the air, you will have to use the Bug Spider instead. If you hit them once they will turn into an Ash Bug, and you can walk on them. So climbing the Ash Bugs, you can smash the Tiger Head’s eyes and defeat it. If you get close to the eyes, the head will send out beams of light, but you can block them with Reflect Guard. After you’ve defeated it, you will receive the Debug Ability “Confuse”. It will make the enemies confused and hit each other. Once the battle is finished, Sora follows Jafar into the cave.
There are a lot of traps inside the Cave of Wonders that you’ll have to get past. In the first area (Entrance) there are large boulders that roll down the path. They can’t be broken. The last boulder will roll opposite the others, so be careful. If you get hit by them you will get pushed to the edge, you will receive damage but you can start again from there. In the second area (Chasm of Challenges) there are seven water spouts that you must get by, which should be easy with good timing. If you get pushed off you will receive damage and fall below, and will have to start again at the beginning of the Chasm of Challenges. After that, there will be Ash Bugs to use as platforms, but if you stand on them for too long they won’t be able to hold you up and you’ll fall (when you fall you’ll receive damage, and have to start again in front of the water spouts.) There are few stable platforms, but Air Soldiers will appear there. When you reach the square Ash Bug near the end, you will be taken to a lower level. However, you will have to fight a battle with Air Soldiers three times. If you fall you will receive damage and reappear. Once you’ve gotten past all that, you will be taken to the Lamp Chamber. Jafar is there, and you will have to fight him. He will create two mirages of himself, and you must attack the real one. (The mirages are slightly transparent.) When the battle is finished, Jafar will run to the other side of the keyhole. Sora must find the keyhole within three minutes. Once the keyhole is found, you will enter the boss stage.
In the boss stage, you will be able to gain lots of bonuses depending on how many Bugs you’ve destroyed and how much time is left. In this area you will not be able to touch Jafar, so you’ll have to attack Iago who is holding the lamp. Jafar will aim beams of light at you, and if you get hit Sora’s movements will become slower. You can use Reflect Guard to bounce the attacks off of you, and if you hit Jafar both him and Iago will be stopped for a short time. The beginning will be a normal battle, but after awhile Ash Bugs will appear and Iago will start moving upwards. So then you’ll have to climb up to attack him. Unfortunately, regular attacks do not work all that well, so you’ll have to perform a Reaction Combo about 20 times. Once you’ve defeated and sealed Jafar, you will receive the Debug Ability “D Blizzard”.
Sora then sees Pete and chases after him, but Maleficent appears and destroys Sora’s keyblade. “This is our world, you know” she says, and summons Shadows.
