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The newest trailer for Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind is packed with a plethora of content, already leading to tons of fan speculation and theory-crafting. It's certainly a far cry from the announcement trailer we received back in June! Today, I'll be trying my best to analyze the various new scenes and gameplay segments. With that said, let's get started! The trailer begins with a scene from the original Kingdom Hearts III, where the monstrously large Demon Tide proceeds to kill Sora and the rest of the heroes. On screen however, we are treated to new dialogue from Chirithy emboldened in the familiar, bright gold that we have come to know since the original announcement trailer for Re Mind. "The heart you have now already existed during that time. It had already gone back into the past. Nothing can change that fact." This seemingly integral line from Chirithy is most likely referring to when Sora used the power of waking to restore everyone's hearts after the events at the Keyblade Graveyard, thereby going back in time to before it happened. This is reinforced by the trailer showing the very scene in which everyone falls. Chirithy saying this to Sora also has to mean that this exchange must be taking place after Xehanort is defeated, and Sora is searching for a way to restore Kairi. This comes further into play later on in trailer, so let's move on for now. We are then treated to a scene of Lea throwing his chakrams towards Xion, with her deflecting them back at him. It seems like Lea can transform his Keyblade into his familiar chakrams now which is rather interesting. Some new dialogue with Kairi and Lea is shown as well. Lea remarks upon the appearance of Xion's Keyblade, while Kairi realizes that it looks exactly like Sora's. Something rather noteworthy however, is Lea's interrupted question of- This is incredibly odd since at this point in time in the original game, Lea did not remember who Xion was until Xemnas came soon after. Regardless of this being a new scenario, it is rather bizarre that Lea would seemingly realize who Xion was at this point. It can possibly be that he somehow remembered it sooner because this is an alternate scenario, and events became drastically different. Or he might not think that's Xion at all and we're all off base, who knows! This is just baseless speculation however, so let's move on. After that interrupted line, we are suddenly treated to a brand new segment of gameplay. There is no HUD so it is either edited out, or triggered by something like a Situation Command. Lea transforms his Keyblade into his two chakrams and throws them at Saix who is in his Berserker state. The chakrams arc around Saix incredibly quickly, while Roxas and Xion attack him from the ground. It's not over yet though! Roxas and Xion then run towards Saix in opposing directions and do a well executed slash. This gameplay segment ends with Lea performing a final, fiery chakram slam onto the ground where Saix is. This is a rather impressive set of sequences, and it seems to either be the "linkage" that Nomura was referring to, or simply just team attacks with your party members during their respective final fights. Either way, this is a very welcome change to make these fights even more exciting and cinematic. Also of note is that both Sora and Kairi are absent for the duration of this gameplay segment, so it is possible that Sora is going to go save Kairi in this new scenario, leaving Saix to the Sea Salt trio. We do not see any actual gameplay control here so it is hard to guess if Lea and Xion are controllable. I think it's safe to assume no, and that Roxas is the only playable character during this fight since we have received no confirmation saying otherwise. Up next we see Sora talking to Chirithy in The Final World. Sora's form looks completely normal, and not transparent like how it was when he first came here during the main story, so this is most likely after the defeat of Xehanort. His objective would obviously be searching for a way to restore Kairi back to normal after her unfortunate demise, which is what he sets out to do during the original game's ending. Sora remarks how Kairi's heart hasn't been lost yet and that she is still around, somehow. Chirithy says "Maybe, but this time, the situation is a lot worse." There is a lot to unpack here. Kairi has been in The Final World before, back when she was holding Sora's form together while he restored everyone else back to normal. Kairi wasn't in any particularly special kind of danger during the initial visit, since her very reason for being there matched up with everyone else's. She is a Princess of Heart, but that does not seem to have too much bearing on what is happening here. In this instance, Kairi could be in more danger since she was literally just in The Final World not too long ago, and going there too often can possibly jeopardize ones existence. She also came here during the two times when her life was in danger of literally snuffing out for good. Sora, as Chirithy remarked during his initial visit, has come here a number of times throughout his life, but none of them had him in actual peril of death. Kairi coming here twice in a row under such dire circumstances could certainly be a reason as to why this situation is far worse. This scene ties back to the line we heard from Chirithy at the beginning of the trailer, and is assuredly the same context. After that, we get to see a new boss battle! It is a bit hard to see who this is, what with the hectic blocking and Keyblade whirlwinds about, but it is most certainly Vanitas, or rather, his Lingering Spirit. His figure, along with his iconic Keyblade whirlwinds, and the manner of how he attacks all reflect Vanitas's Lingering Spirit from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. I have no definitive proof of this, but I think it is safe to assume that this is an extra, optional boss that is being added in. The amount of health bars he has really reinforces this as well. The arena this fight takes place in also vaguely reminds me of Scala ad Caelum, with how the floor is decorated. Perhaps you can access a variety of superbosses from Scala ad Caelum? We don't know for sure, but it would make sense considering the minimal usage of that world in the original game. Sora has a brand new form here too, with the returning Oblivion Keyblade! It's quite nice to see it return for the third numbered title. Sora's attire doesn't seem radically different from his normal outfit with the exception of the darker tone of colors. Sora's form with the Oblivion Keyblade is "Dark Form", and you can see some of its key (no pun intended) attributes right away. Sora's guard is very reminiscent of Aqua's barrier and Riku's dark barrier from Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He is able to guard from all directions, with chains being in the center of the sphere. It also reminds me a lot of reflect from Kingdom Hearts II, but that is probably just a coincidence with its appearance. I sincerely doubt its mechanics are similar. The gauge building up above the command menu also seems to imply that "Dark Form" has two levels. There are no arrows appearing which further cements that. Additionally, the 'Attack' command gets replaced by 'Dark Burst' after guarding so it is conceivably a reprisal. Sadly, that is about all we get to see of "Dark Form", but have no fear because we have another exciting new boss battle shown right after this one! Next up, we have a very Red Dead Redemption-like standoff. Jokes aside, we barely see anything of substance in this new fight against Xigbar (or Luxu if you prefer to call him that now). At least we get a better look at Sora in his new Oathkeeper Keyblade transformation, as well as a very brief Situation Command input of sorts You have to time the 'Quick Shot' command correctly to both properly dodge Xigbar's shot as well as hitting him successfully in the process. Sora manages to hit Xigbar here, and as a result, he staggers and falls over while dropping both of his arrowguns in the process. There isn't much to say here due to the lack of HUD and actual combat outside of this quick time event. The arena looks identical to the Vanitas Lingering Spirit one so it has to be a superboss too. Sora being alone in these fights is also something unique to take note of. That is a clear difference to the superbosses in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, since most of those fights brought over your party members. The lack of party members here can make the fights less obstructive which is always a plus in my book. The next scene shows Aqua telling off Terra-Xehanort, saying how she's going to cast him out of Terra forever. Once again, we're seeing additional dialogue in these final fights with Sora not present. Something to note here is that the Japanese dialogue is slightly different. Instead of the English captions saying "There's only one thing I want, with all my heart", the Japanese dialogue says "The only thing I've wished for the past 10 years is..." This isn't a drastic difference since the overall message is the same, but it is an slight translation altercation to simply take note of. Afterwards, we see a "linkage" or team attack with Ventus and Aqua. This is one of my favorite parts of the trailer actually, and that seems to be the case with a number of people. Aqua casts blizzard and creates an ice rail that Ventus rides on with his Wayward Wind Keyblade. Ventus then performs a couple of fancy spins and lands on Vanitas, causing a large crystal of ice to spawn at the epicenter of his landing. It is a bit difficult to make out who he lands on, but thanks to slow-motion playback, I was able to confirm that it is indeed Vanitas. Sora is not present in this fight either, so it is once again very plausible that he has gone off to save Kairi in this scenario. The next scene shows the Master of Masters talking to Young Xehanort in what is most likely the same conversation that we saw in the original Re Mind trailer. There is a lot of confusion over what the Master of Masters means when he says "false light". My interpretation of this scene is that he is brainwashing Young Xehanort into wanting to cause another Keyblade War and commit a 'purge' to reset the worlds. It is uncertain what context the "false light" is referring to, but it is probable that since this seems to take place in the far past, Young Xehanort saw or dealt with something that made him question his belief in the balance of light and dark. The Masters of Masters played the foretellers like a fiddle in the events of Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover leading to the causation of a Keyblade War, so it isn't too far-fetched to assume that he would do the same with Young Xehanort. This can also take place in present day, and if that's the case, this conversation only perplexes me further. Another note regarding translation is that instead of the Master of Masters saying "What do you want for the world?" in English captions, the Japanese dialogue states "What do you want for the world [after it has been covered in darkness]?" I am unsure as to what these Japanese exclusive lines are really implying, but it can be that the Master of Masters is desperately trying to make it seem as if the worlds are truly, entirely gone and beyond redemption. The worlds are already fully coated in darkness, and the only way to undo that is to reset everything with the power that lies within Kingdom Hearts. Well, that is my take on this conversation at least. I can be entirely wrong. You also don't see Young Xehanort's eyes in this trailer which makes me a bit wary. His eyes in the original Re Mind trailer were silver, but this might be a different scene, or Young Xehanort could get gifted the golden eyes during this fateful conversation. The angle also might just be this way to make the scene more dramatic. Any of these are plausible explanations. The next scene is one of the most confusing ones in this trailer. Sora is conversing with Namine at the Station of Awakening. His statement regarding "Terra" and "them" can only mean Ventus and Aqua. Coupling Terra with anyone else wouldn't make much sense in a variety of contexts. Additionally, considering that it would be "bad news if either of them [got] hurt", can only imply Ventus and Aqua since once again, those are who Terra cares for the most in the entirety of the cast. But then, Sora says this- "The world of ocean and sky" can only mean The Final World. But, this raises a bunch of questions. Why is Sora telling her to go there, and what exactly is he doing? Well, while I don't know, there are a couple things to remember here. Namine does appear in The Final World in the original game, so is Sora telling her to go there implying that this is how she gets there in the first place? Sora was surprised when initially seeing her there though. Or maybe, she goes back there again for some reason we just don't know of. Kairi does die from Xehanort, but this conversation seems to be taking place prior to any of that happening. It's plausible that this is taking place before Sora turns back time somehow, and he is attempting to bring back Ventus and Aqua specifically to gain Lingering Will's aid. Granted, there are a lot of holes with this theory since Sora would want to save everyone regardless, but maybe him pointing out Terra specifically implies that they really do need him to turn the tides. Sora's serious tone and facial animation here also makes me wonder if he is maybe playing some sort of out of bounds, metaphysical game that goes beyond the metaphorical chess board we're all familiar with. This is just a wild guess but the way that Sora is talking in this scene seems far more competent and responsible than the Sora we're used to. Maybe this is a Sora who knows what's going to happen. Him knowing that everything was taken away from him, and that it could easily happen again could be a driving force for him to act like this. Then again, I can also be reading far too deep into this and this is actually relating to entirely different events. That's the beauty of speculation, we don't know for sure! Either way, I am very curious as to what is going on here. And finally, the trailer ends with a tease. Lingering Will and Terra-Xehanort face off and dash towards each other, but before the clash occurs, the title card shows up. There is unfortunately no definitive release date yet. This last scene is incredibly short so there isn't much info to garner here. You can see the Organization's meeting rock towers in the background which is a nice set-piece. Since there's nobody else around in the vicinity, this could very well be taking place after Lingering Will saves the party from Terra-Xehanort and goes after him. This could also possibly mean a playable Lingering Will. I would very much like that, but that might be me being a bit too hopeful. And that's it! For being a mere 1:42 trailer, there is certainly quite a bit to unpack here! While I don't expect any of my theories to be right, I find it pretty fun to analyze these scenes and form my own conclusions. If I missed anything notable, or made a severe mistake, please let me know! Civilly, of course. I hope you enjoyed this analysis and that Re Mind excites you as much as it does me. Translations for the Aqua and Master of Master lines were done by KH13 Staff Member @Solis You can watch the second Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind trailer here. We have already done coverage of this trailer here. Be sure to follow the KH13 Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages for further coverage on all Kingdom Hearts news. Is there anything in Re Mind you're particularly excited by or hopeful for?

Welcome to KH13’s trailer analysis for the CM 120 Japanese trailer! This trailer is two minutes exactly with a unique introduction and is faster paced than previous normal trailers, due to the quick cuts it has. Old and new footage is shown and giving us new bits of information regarding gameplay and story, especially Rage Form being shown and the epilogue of the trailer that shows us a brand new direct interaction of Sora and Xehanort. Now, let’s dive in! The trailer begins with a 29-second introduction with footage of the HD 2.5 ReMIX launch event. "Inside the Kingdom, with Heart” from 2014. It showed multiple groups of fans explaining their history with Kingdom Hearts and the emotional significance it had in their lives. After that, a new cutscene is immediately shown afterward, showing Hercules riding Pegasus into Mount Olympus to meet up Sora who is next to a mini tower of sorts made up dried lava and ice, most likely created by the Lava and Ice Titans. Hercules then flies to destroy chains that are placed upon the Greek gods, Apollo and Athena. Monstropolis footage is shown as the factory is being exploded. The following sequence is from Toy Box and it shows Buzz Lightyear, with a strange facial expression, suddenly aiming his laser at Woody. Goofy suddenly jumps in front of Woody and blocks Buzz’s multiple laser shots. A quick cut then shows Sora and Donald looking back at the situation along with Young Xehanort. These scenes may imply that the story in Toy Box may evolve saving Buzz, as another trailer showed Buzz being enveloped and whisked away by darkness seen here. San Fransokyo footage is shown with a Dinosaur Heartless attacking the city, with then Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Baymax running to a scene where chaos is happening. At this point, mostly formally shown footage is used beginning with The Caribbean footage with Jack Sparrow commanding the ship while Sora is taking the helm. After that, the duel between Jack and Davy Jones is shown. Arendelle footage of the beginning sequence of “Let it Go,” along with a scene of Elsa doing an icy blast in front of Anna. Mickey is talking to Sora in The Mysterious Tower. They are both in their KH3 attire suggesting that the scene is past the introduction of the game. Sora talking to Pooh in 100 Acre Woods Remy and Sora in Twilight Town. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider/Eugene on the lake with their lanterns. Gameplay begins to be shown starting with Sora wall running in the Rock Titan fight. Sora, Donald, and Goofy sledding in Arendelle collecting munny Sora, Woody, and Buzz using the Rodeo Rocket attack against the Spaceship Heartless, then Ralph being summoned. Sora using the Twin Yo-Yo’s in Monstropolis against while Heartless while Boo’s Laugh Power meter is in the upper left corner. The Stitch limit being used to cause electrical attacks with triangles. It looks like they may be player created. The cutscene portion of Rapunzel's limit attack in the Kingdom of Corona is shown. Gameplay in The Caribbean is shown starting with Ariel’s Limit Summon cutscene, the Storm Flag Keyblade Transformation being used on the deck of the Black Pearl, Sora underwater launching a magic projectile against a big Heartless, and Sora controlling a flying Heartless and using it in combat. A quick snippet of the Gummi Ship shooting asteroids. Two clips of Arendelle gameplay, one showing Sora using Blizzard Blade against a group of Heartless and Sora atop of Marshmallow fighting a giant snow wolf Heartless. The next sequence is brand new footage showing Rage Form in use against the previously seen dinosaur Heartless in San Fransokyo, Rage Form strongly looks and acts similarly to Anti Form in Kingdom Hearts II with the exception that now Sora is still wielding a Keyblade. Rage Form Sora will have to fight against the Heartless with armor as well. A situation command also appears on the tree on the right. It was not used in the trailer. After that, the Evil Baymax battle is shown then the Heartless battle in the Golden Gate Bridge. The end of the trailer is marked by events in the Keyblade Graveyard as shown in the Final Battle Trailer. Click here to see our analysis on that trailer. After the Kingdom Hearts III logo appears, the trailer’s epilogue begins with Sora jumping to attack Xehanort but being blocked, assumingly after the events of the Final Battle Trailer as the sky is darkened and Sora challenging Xehanort on his own. Interesting to note that Xehanort is surrounded by identical copies of his Keyblade, No Name. Sora exchanges a few words with Xehanort but then is thrown off by him. Xehanort gives the fallen Sora a smug look as Sora looks at him with angry tears down his face, that being the final shot of the trailer. Overall, the trailer provided new brief new glimpses from both story and gameplay perspectives, with that being Buzz Lightyear’s heel turn/possible mind control, Rage Form being shown, and the confrontation in the epilogue, while mostly reusing previously shown footage. A nice trailer to reinforce that the number of days Kingdom Hearts III will release can be counted with two hands! Thank you for reading the KH13 analysis of the CM 120 trailer! You can watch the full trailer below. Did you happen to see something we didn’t? Let us know in the comments below!

Welcome to KH13’s trailer analysis for the “Together” trailer. From the start this trailer is the most unique one released, as it forgoes the traditional format of Kingdom Hearts III trailers in favor of one more reminiscent of movie trailers, including: a voice over narrator, dramatic cuts, and sound effects specifically to dramatize the events shown. The sound effects from the official game can also be hear in this new trailer, a change from the previous trailer formats as well. Aside from the format change, this trailer mixes in a limited amount of new scenes along with mostly previously seen cutscenes. Very little gameplay was shown. Now that the uniqueness of the trailer has been stated, let’s dive in. The trailer starts with the Kingdom Hearts III rating provided by the ESRB: It is rated E10+ for alcohol reference and fantasy violence. The full description they released for their rating can be viewed here, but do be warned: it includes minor spoilers for some as far as what type of violence to expect. The trailer then opens with the narrator saying, “Our worlds are under attack” while showing several scenes of Sora in the Kingdom of Corona, a group of flying Heartless flying to multiple ships in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, then flaming Heartless, that seem to be Flame Cores from 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A fragmentary passage, destroying the Thebes in the Olympus Coliseum world. The narrator goes on to say, “Only you can stand against the darkness” while showing a big Heartless previously seen in other worlds, but this time in San Fransokyo Bridge going against Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Baymax. Then Hades appears ordering the the Titans to show their power but only the Rock Titan. It then shows it throwing down the boulder like the beginning of the Rock Titan demo that has been available at multiple conventions. The narrator says, “Now the battle between light and dark..” as Riku and Mickey appear in the Realm of Darkness beach, but then suddenly surrounded by Shadows. To then show Sora (in his KH2 attire), Donald, and Goofy, meeting Maleficent and Pete in Thebes as the narrator says, “to reach its epic conclusion.” Arendelle is shown. Donald and Goofy is shown fighting Soldier Heartless, then previously shown footage of Elsa defeating the new deer Heartless. New footage is then shown of Sora, Donald, and Goofy running somewhere in the Caribbean, where Jack Sparrow catches up to them while saying hi to them. Sora exclaims, “Jack Sparrow!” Jack stops running to correct them and to call him Captain Jack Sparrow. A brief Frozen cutscene is shown again. This time having our trio landing onto Goofy’s shield to do some sledding. New Tangled cutscenes appear. First showing Flynn Rider being chased by a small group of Heartless. Rapunzel runs up to Sora ready to fight with her hair wrapped like rope in her arms, declaring that she is not afraid to fight. Very briefly a limit is shown where Rapunzel and Flynn swinging Sora, Donald, and Goofy in Rapunzel’s hair onto a group of enemies where the three individually cause a decently sized ground pound explosion. Note: there is no command menu present and the trio glow as they are about to land and explode. The red flaming dinosaur Heartless then appears in front of the Toy Box gang, followed by the Aliens from Toy Story exclaiming, “Oh no” in a typical movie trailer style cut. Footage of the Black Pearl then Jack Sparrow appear, followed by Hiro from Big Hero 6 appearing with the his group and our heroes exclaiming that, “Together we’re unstoppable!” This is where most likely the title of the trailer came to be. Sora then is shown fighting against a previously seen Heartless from the bridge in San Fransokyo but this time in the city area. Monsters Inc. footage is shown having the gang running away from the destruction of the building they are in, followed by Randall, the villain from Monsters Inc. appearing. More Frozen footage showing Marshmallow getting angry at Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf. Olaf tells the two to run as he will provide the distraction. Note: Olaf’s body is stuck to a snow covered boulder, making Olaf appear as if he cannot move. Pirate Sora manning the Jack Sparrow’s ship, the Black Pearl in the Caribbean and firing cannons. Sora summoning Ralph in what seems like Kingdom of Corona. The narrator begins again saying, “For life... and light... together we fight.” as a rapid number of shots appear. Baymax and Sora flying in the San Fransokyo night, Flynn and Rapunzel with their lanterns along with a shot of all the lanterns in the Kingdom of Corona to the backdrop of that world’s castle, and Sora summoning Ariel in Arrendel. The Kingdom Hearts III logo appears followed by the scene of the new Organization 13 in the Keyblade Graveyard all together at first but then Master Xehanort is on top of a rising pillar, smiling down onto us, with mysterious music. Minus the mysterious music, this cutscene was first shown in the previous Winnie the Pooh trailer. Overall, this was an exciting trailer mostly due to the format change. The movie trailer format this takes is reminiscent of early 2000s trailers. If you have seen any trailers from those years, the formula is rather predictable, but in this case it is exciting. Hearing in-game sound effects was a welcome addition. The way the dialogue was cut was also interesting compared previous trailers. It was brief and felt more as it would in-game. Link to the trailer here! What are your thoughts on the new format this trailer used? Nomura has stated that more trailers are going to be released in December. Would you like them to use this format or the Don’t Think Twice style? Let us know and also tell us if we missed anything! For future trailer analysis stay tuned!

Welcome to KH13's trailer analysis for the new Kingdom Hearts III tangled trailer from Lucca Comics and Games 2018! The trailer is all about Tangled and showing off more of Kingdom of Corona; so Kingdom Hearts III and Tangled fans, let’s take a look! The trailer video starts with Kingdom Hearts III's ESRB rating; it is rated E10+, meaning it will have content that is generally suitable for ages 10 and up, in this case including fantasy violence and alcohol reference (which could possibly appear in the Pirates of the Caribbean world like it did in Kingdom Hearts II). The first moment of the actual trailer took me by surprise as the cutscene of Sora and company being surprised when walking towards Rapunzel's tower in the E3 2015 and Jump Festa 2016 trailer has changed. In this trailer, Sora looks more surprised by the appearance of the tower through facial expressions and voice acting. The characters, which were now running into the open, come to a halt at the sight of the tower. They and environment look more vibrant and realistic now than in previous trailers. The camera also zooms in at speed on the tower, giving the audience/player a more rushed sense of adventure. Sora, Donald, and Goofy slow down at the sight of Rapunzel's tower (Lucca C&G 2018 trailer) Rapunzel's tower (Jump Festa 2016 trailer) Rapunzel's tower, (Lucca C&G 2018 trailer) We can now hear the field music for Kingdom of Corona playing in the background, with a touch of the distinctive Kingdom Hearts playful sounds that you can find in Yoko Shimomura's other works in the series. The next scene shows us Rapunzel jumping from the tower and standing on the beautiful green grass. It’s so great to see little parts of the environment in high quality as it makes it look very close to the original movie in terms of graphics. Rapunzel's hair, the most complex aspect of her character design, is beautifully depicted in the escape scene, emulating its original softness and elegant physics. The scene of Rapunzel stepping on grass for the first time captures this emotional moment of her freedom seamlessly. Rapunzel stepping on grass Tangled's story is made clearer in Kingdom Hearts III throughout the trailer as we know Sora and company have to escort Rapunzel to the Kingdom to see the lights. This is a great choice of narrative as it will let the players revisit the nostalgic moments from the original movie. After finally being free from the tower, Rapunzel goes to touch the giant dandelion Heartless and all of the small dandelion Heartless pop up in a group. This is same scene as shown in the previous Big Hero 6 TGS 2018 trailer, where Rapunzel goes to curiously touch the cute puffy being. Once again these Heartless also look better and more realistic than in the previous trailers. We also get another very detailed look at the white puff close up in this scene. Dandelion Heartless The English voice acting in this scene is also something that stands out as it is hard to tell if this is Mandy Moore's voice (original voice of Rapunzel) or someone else, because it does sound like her. Mandy Moore also voiced Final Fantasy character Aerith in Kingdom Hearts, so it would be interesting to see her return for Kingdom Hearts III. Currently, it is unconfirmed if Mandy Moore will be reprising her role as Rapunzel. Once again the Nobody creatures that looks like Marluxia are shown off but this time it is clearer what they look like and how they attack. This particular creature makes a little dance characteristic of its species, showing itself off and how far production has come to bring enemies to life. The animation of this Nobody is also appealing as it’s very similar to Marluxia in terms of how it grabs its scythe. The flower theme that Marluxia and his Nobodies (and Hearltess) bring to the world matches with the original story's theme and environment perfectly, as if they were meant to be! One of Marluxia's Nobodies Finally we are able to hear more of confirmed voice actor Zachary Levi reprising his role as Flynn Rider in this cutscene. This scene is also interesting as Goofy doesn’t lift his ear in the English version, but lifts his ear to listen in the Japanese version. Flynn says Sora and company are more cut out for combat, meaning they can tag along with Rapunzel and him through the Kingdom of Corona. It is unclear whether Flynn is hiding his true intentions from them, but it can be assumed he is. Sora, Donald, and Goofy listen to Flynn (English trailer) Goofy lifts his ear to hear Flynn better (Japanese trailer) The scene quickly transitions to the Nobody attacking Sora as he dodge rolls away. Sora instinctively summons his Keyblade with beautiful petals and light - it simply looks so pretty! Sora is wielding the Ever After; this could just be for show in the trailer, or maybe we could be able to obtain this Keyblade earlier rather then having to finish the world first like in previous Kingdom Hearts titles. Sora summoning Ever After We have always wanted to see all the animation for world logos in Kingdom Hearts III, and now we can finally see the Kingdom of Corona's beautiful logo animation. Rapunzel’s golden glowing hair is flowing out of the tower window to reveal the artwork and world name. Kingdom of Corona world logo animation From here on, gameplay footage beings, featuring the battle track from the Toy Box demo. The music is upbeat, making combat more enjoyable. Situation Commands are present; the most commonly seen throughout previous trailers is Mirage Staff and Blaster Blaze. Mirage Staff seems to be shown in larger areas throughout Kingdom of Corona and has a huge attack radius in the trailer; Blaster Blaze is also shown off, looking more improved since the last time we saw it. Two new Situation Commands, both green, have also appeared on the screen. Goofy Bombardier sounds like a link attack or limit with Goofy like in Kingdom Hearts II. The Tangled Twist command could be a link attack with Rapunzel. The Situation cCommands also change into a unique style along with the command deck in the world you’re in. Situation commands We can get a glimpse of the HUDs for Sora, Donald, Goofy, Rapunzel and Flynn in combat and non-combat. Flynn can be seen with low health, while Donald and Goofy are knocked out. Character HUDs Amongst all the combat an item drop can also be spotted that looks very similar to items dropped in Kingdom Hearts II, like lucid shards and other materials. Item drop Another interesting feature is a pointing sign as Sora and company are running through the forest. It is unclear and tricky to figure out what the sign says and is there for, but it could be a direction guide orpart of the scenery. The trailer then shows Rapunzel help Sora across the gap; the player may be able to use this mechanic creatively (rather than with clear directive) to overcome obstacles. A guiding sign on the roar This next important thing spotted is sure to grab your attention; there are two new Heartless in this trailer. Firstly, there is a Heartless with a red hat and bow in its hand, standing on a rock. It shoots blue arrows and has a circle around it with a green arrow on top. In the Japan version, Sora hits it and a crown symbol appears. This Heartless is also unclear to see in the English version, but we do get a clearer view in the Japan version. A new archer Heartless The second new Heartless is even more interesting as we have never seen one like this before. While it is not shown in the English trailer, in the Japan trailer it is wearing a type of blue-white ball gown with a hat and two pink feathers. Its appearance could be related to dresses worn by characters in Tangled. It is one elegant and classy ladylike Heartless because of the way it holds its bag up after Rapunzel hits it! Another new Heartless Gameplay showing new Heartless A short glimpse of the Magic Carousel attraction can be seen, similar to the rest of the theme park rides including the tea cups ride, roller coaster and pirate ship Attractions seen first in the E3 2015 Trailer. It also shows the excellent score when a chain of ten is achieved; it looks to be more powerful the higher the score, as the notes come out from the Carousel and the Heartless are flung back. Magic Carousel An Item pick up of a Lucid Stone has also been seen while the Carousel is active. The layout is very similar to Kingdom Hearts 0.2 item obtained alert. Item picked up Memorable scenes are also present from Tangled as Rapunzel is unsure (and then sure) of continuing her journey to the Kingdom. Rapunzel is brought to life as she shows her disbelief at her own bravery. Sora and Flynnlook up as Rapunzel feels guilty while leaning on the tree. Goofy watches as Rapunzel affirms she is never going back home while rolling down on the grass. Flynn and Sora lean casually against a tree as Rapunzel swings around it with her hair, perfectly overlapping her swing attack in the trailer. It's wonderful how Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been included into this iconic scenes from the movie. They are very nostalgic as Rapunzel's inner conflict is one of the most classic and comical parts of the movie and amongst Disney animated movie scenes. "I'm going back. I am never going back! Best. Day. Ever!" Just before the ending of the trailer, Sora starts using the previously shown Situation Command called Splash Run, which was shown in the E3 2018 showcase trailer . Spash Run Finally, there are two other interesting things in the Japanese version of the trailer. First of all, the combat is based in a different area in one of the scenes, allowing us to actually see the rock quarry for the first time, which is where one of the escape scenes take place in the movie. It is unknown if this is a playable area or just a part of the background; it is also still a mystery if The Snuggly Duckling place will be a playable area or have a scene in Kingdom Hearts III. The rock quarry The second interesting thing is by far the most puzzling gameplay feature in the Japanese trailer. When Sora does the final attack for Mirage Rod/Staff (different names in each trailer), just in the bottom right corner is Flynn, Rapunzel and something we haven't seen before.It is unclear if this is a horse, another new creature, or something else. What do you think it might be? Mirage Rod We have come to the conclusion of KH13's analysis of the Kingdom Hearts III Lucca Comics & Games 2018 trailer! We hope you enjoyed every detail of it. Thank you for tagging along, and if we’ve missed anything (or if you figure out what that mysterious creature is), please let us know in the comments below!

\Welcome to KH13's analysis of the Tokyo Game Show 2018 Kingdom Hearts III live-stream footage! We will be analysing a total of 4 new pieces of footage shown live during the TGS 2018 live-streams; the extended look at Keyblade transformations, the extended Aqua scene and gameplay, the Toy Box boss fight and the full Arendelle Trinity Sled sequence. It goes without saying that there will be spoilers up ahead for those who haven't watched these extra footages. First up is the footage showcasing Keyblade transformations, link attacks, attraction flow and summons. The footage begins in an area within the Toy Box world which is filled with balls of different colours (something akin to a ball pit) which really showcases how improved the physics are compared to past titles. The first Keyblade transformation we see is that of the Infinity Badge Keyblade called Boost Hammer which interestingly changes Sora's coat red from black and is great for crowd control then it quickly switches to Monstropolis to show off the Smile Gear Keyblade transformation - Twin Yo-Yos. Like the Boost Hammer, Twin Yo-Yos changes Sora's design, this time changing from blue fur to yellow. The Twin Yo-Yos is a quick, versatile transformation, great for closing distances and crowd control in a dazzling fashion. The next transformation is the Assault Claws - a transformation of the Smile Gear Keyblade. This transformation acts like boxing gloves for Sora to hit multiple enemies at once. We then see the yet to be named Arendelle Keyblade and it's transformation; Blizzard Blade. This transformation allows Sora to skate around the area and launch foes with spinning attacks. This then transitions to a ship in the Port Royal world and showcases the transformation of the currently unnamed Port Royal Keyblade. The 2 transformations are High Wind and Storm Flag. High Wind is essentially a spear type weapon that attacks long range and can also rain down pillars of light on enemies. Storm Flag is a flag (as the name might suggest) type weapon that is as flashy as it is effective, it can clear a group of enemies with ease. During this section of gameplay, the San Fransokyo Keyblade, which is yet to be named, is also shown, along with it's transformation; Nano Arms. Nano Arms has the ability to shapeshift through multiple forms, from a standard Keyblade, to a large hammer and even a rocket projectile that can be fired at enemies. The most interesting information given here is the ability to stack finishers. Once a finisher is ready, you can switch to a different Keyblade and get another finisher before unleashing them all consecutively, causing massive damage. A thing to take note of is what appears to be a new heartless that resembles an amphibious creature with a spear. Next up is Attractions! The first to be shown is Merry-Go-Round which seems to pulse each time you time a button press correctly. This attraction flow is being shown off against the Ice Titan and the Lava Titan - the first time they have been revealed to the general public. They were first shown exclusively at the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra. We are then reintroduced to Tea Party Cup which has been shown on several occasions but this time we see that the finisher can actually be used on the balls in the Toy Box world. The final attraction flow shown is Splash Ride, this time shown in Monstropolis. The best point of attraction flow is it seems to render Sora invulnerable while it is active. Now we take a look at link attacks, starting with Baymax, whose link attack is called Intercept Jet. Intercept Jet allows you to fly aboard Baymax's back while swooping down at enemies while keeping them at a distance. Next up is the Toy Box link attack; Rodeo Rocket. This is activated by teaming up with Woody and Buzz, which then puts Sora, Woody and Buzz atop a large rocket that swoop and spin into enemies before activating the finisher which shoots the rocket off into the surrounding enemies. The final link attack shown is performed with Marshmallow in the Arendelle world. This link attack is called Avalanche Breath and much like Intercept Jet, it has you climbing aboard Marshmallow only this time you will be boxing your way to victory by swinging his claws. The next attack is hard to determine if it is a link attack or a finisher. Sora will grab mike in Monstropolis and bowl him straight into the enemies but the lack of a HUD and the fact it seems more like a movie that will play the same every time you do the attack, it feels more like it would be a finisher. Next, we'll dive into some of Kingdom Hearts III's summons. The first summon shown is Meow Wow; a Dream Eater from Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. The summon is called Wonder Balloon. Once summoned, Sora will climb up on his back and bounce around causing damage to all nearby enemies. Once enough damage is caused, you can activate the finisher which will make Meow Wow drop onto his back and all the Dream Eaters from KH: 3D will come pouring out. The second and final summon to be shown is Simba; a veteran of the Kingdom Hearts series. Simba's summon has the fitting name of King's Flare. This time, Simba is back with a twist - he more resembles a fiery phantom. His attacks all seem to be fire based and cover a wide area; with spinning attacks that cause rings of fire on the battlefield. Once your bar is full, you can pull off Simba's explosive finisher that hits a wide area with a large fire attack. We finally get a closer look at Gummi Ships next. It begins by showing something similar to a Kingdom Hearts II Gummi Ship route; flying along a fixed path while shooting all the enemy ships you can see on the screen. What's interesting is what come next - the ability to completely explore the routes between worlds! When free roaming, you will have a radar on the bottom left of your screen showing your surroundings in 360 degrees. Another thing that seems apparent with Gummi Ships this time around is the ability to attach a super weapon of sorts. On the right hand side of the screen is a bar labelled "weapon" which when full can be used to unleash a blast more powerful than any other cannon or laser. Finally, we take another look at the cooking mini-game with Remy from Ratatouille. We can see that Sora is being controlled by Remy pulling on his hair to control his arms. It seems as though you need to use the analogue stick to move Sora's arm, judging by the awkward motions used in the game. It would also seem like you need to press a button with the correct timing to make a good meal. The next bit of footage shows Aqua after she has succumbed to the darkness (whether she is Norted or just lost the battle for her heart is yet to be confirmed). When the camera pans out we see Sora stood opposite her in the Realm of Darkness wielding the Keyblade received in San Fransokyo. Due to Sora having obtained this Keyblade, we can assume this takes place after the Big Hero 6 portion of the game. Once the battle begins, Aqua begins using many attacks that are reminiscent of the attacks Phantom Aqua used in Kingdom Hearts 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage and because of this, it could further support the theory of her becoming a dweller in darkness rather than a Xehanort vessel. Aqua is also wielding a new variation of the Kingdom Key that seems like it has mixed with the Starseeker - both Keyblades that have been wielded by King Mickey. When Aqua teleports around the arena, a dark portal appears behind her - not too different from the corridors of darkness used by Riku and the Organisation members. It should also be noted that both Sora and Aqua are fighting while walking on water; something not seen in Kingdom Hearts thus far. The third segment of footage shown takes place in the Toy Box world. It shows off a new boss for that world and judging from the surroundings, it looks as though it takes place inside the Galaxy Toys area. The boss is a new heartless type that resembles a maid doll with rabbit ears. On the right ear is a heartless symbol to show that it is indeed a heartless. The boss itself uses a variety of attacks, but mainly flies through the air, plummeting to the ground to hit the party with an area of effect attack before flying off again. Occasionally, it will land and perform spin attacks if you get too close. As well as the main boss, there are also miniature stuffed animal heartless continuously attacking the party along with various heartless and other toys. The final piece of footage is an extended look at the Trinity Sledge mini-game. This takes place in the Frozen world Arendelle. During this mini-game, Sora, Donald and Goofy are sledding down the side of a mountain on Goofy's shield, moving towards the camera, all while being chased by heartless. The heartless type seen during this mini-game is new and so far has not been named. It resembles an ice dragon which can dive at you as well as fire lasers across your path, leaving it up to you to dodge them. Once you evade the heartless for long enough, you are thrown into free fall mode with the opportunity to collect prizes on the way down. Upon landing, the camera has switched to being behind Sora, Donald and Goofy, and there are now ramps for you to jump over to get across gaps or just to collect more prizes. When you reach the end of the Trinity Sled mini-game you will need to fight 3 of the dragon type heartless. It seems as though this could be a mini boss considering each enemy has 2 and a half HP bars plus small health bars for each wing etc. During the fight, Sora is equipped with the Shooting Star Keyblade and uses the transformations for this Keyblade; Two Gun Arrows and Magic Launcher. The enemy itself generally stays above ground and will swoop at Sora and the party but it can also burrow underground and use its tail to swipe at the party from under the snow. What part of this footage did you find most exciting? Did you notice anything that we might have missed in our analysis? Let us know in the comments below!

Welcome to KH13’s trailer analysis for the two brand new trailers debuted for Kingdom Hearts III at Tokyo Game Show 2018. With so much new content to look at, let’s waste no time and get right into it. The first trailer we received was a short glimpse into the world of Big Hero 6, finally showing us what was previously confirmed way back in 2015. Although a lot of what we see in this short trailer is expanded upon in the full version, there are still some interesting things to pick out. In the first scene we see Sora, Donald and Goofy fighting Heartless on the San Fransokyo Bridge, before seeing GoGo being launched into the air. Baymax and Hiro arrive and introduce themselves as Big Hero 6, so this clearly marks the start of the world and the first time that everyone properly meets. This is also the first time we get to see the Big Hero 6 Keyblade and it’s full of callbacks to the film. The blade is made up of nanobots which played a big role in the film, whilst the handle is that of Hiro’s bot fighter shown at the start of the movie. Rather than a metal chain, this Keyblade is connected with Honey Lemon’s signature chem-balls, with the keychain itself being Baymax’s personality chip made by Tadashi. Several quick shots of the Big Hero 6 team are then shown to us, with Wasabi and Honey Lemon being attacked by what looks like Bug Blox, the main threat from Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, but more on this later. GoGo is also talking about what it means to be a team and how they need to delegate, presumably talking to Hiro who acts as the team leader. The scene quickly changes to one from the Monsters Inc world, with Randall telling Sora and the gang to not leave without saying goodbye. The shock from Sora seems to imply that they’ve already met at this point and that Randall is a threat, so this clearly isn’t friendly. Sora is then seen with Rapunzel and Flynn in the Tangled world, fighting against Marluxia’s Nobodies who seem like they’ve just been introduced. The animation on Flynn is particularly cartoony, which is great to see. A quick shot of Young Xehanort saying he has more to observe in the Toy Story world is then shown before moving on to the first lot of gameplay. Before any real gameplay details are shown, we also get to see that the partner for this world is none other than Baymax himself. We get our first look at the Keyblade transformation for the Big Hero 6 Keyblade in this first bit of gameplay. This transformation turns Sora’s clothes into a greenish colour, similar to the Frozen world’s transformation, which seems to indicate agility. This transformation is called Nano Arms and it switches between different forms including a sword and a hammer. Sora also uses a projectile attack with it, where it turns into a large hand and shoots a large ball of energy. The enemy that the gang is fighting here is brand new and has never been seen before, although we do get to see it play a bigger role in the extended trailer. As a side-note, the health and magic bars shown in this trailer clearly show that Big Hero 6 is an end-game world. New gameplay is then shown of Sora and Baymax on top of the San Fransokyo rooftops, which implies that the whole of the city will be explorable from top to bottom. We then see Sora running through a night-time area, which is very reminiscent of the docks from the movie. We also get shown the shotlock for the Big Hero 6 Keyblade, which has Sora shooting out a stream of nano-bots at the enemy. This trailer also gives us a proper look at how Gummi Ships are going to function in the game, with customisation being confirmed. The level of customisation on offer here is pretty impressive, with all of the ships looking very distinct. Some of the notable references here include a ship shaped like a Moogle’s head and a ship based on the racing karts from Wreck It Ralph’s Sugar Rush world. Gummi Ship gameplay seems to be very similar to Kingdom Hearts II’s version of it, with some sections showing the same score counter as was seen there. However, we also get to see sections of Gummi Ship gameplay that feature a mini-map and full freedom of movement, which seems to tease a focus on space exploration that we’ve never really seen before in Kingdom Hearts. There also seems to be a level counter that changes throughout the trailer, which might indicate that the Gummi Ship has an individual level counter that be increased through exploration. The rest of the trailer is quick flashes of story scenes that are all expanded upon greatly for the extended trailer, which is where we’ll dive into them more. The one scene that isn’t featured in the extended trailer is the opening scene where Vanitas is shown with Xemnas on the Keyblade graveyard saying “Only when your hopes have been broken by battle upon battle can the key to Kingdom Hearts be claimed”. This clearly shows that Kingdom Hearts III is going to make us all miserable, with Sora being put through his paces like never before. That’s everything for the short TGS 2018 trailer, so let’s move onto the real meat of this analysis with the recently released extended version! Before we look at the trailer though, we have to mention that as well as this massive load of gameplay and story information to dissect, we were also finally shown the Kingdom Hearts III box art and it is absolutely gorgeous. This piece, drawn by Nomura himself, has the Destiny Trio, Seasalt Trio, Wayfinder Trio as well as Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Namine all together on one building, facing a clock tower that counts up to thirteen. This art is full of little details that really make it shine, such as the Darkling statue holding what looks like Lux, and a little cat statue that heavily resembles Nomura’s own cat Deshi. Nomura has previously stated that all of the cover arts from the Remixes all the way to Kingdom Hearts III would have something that ties them all together and we finally know what that is. Across each cover art, the sky has been a different colour, such as having a sunset in 1.5 and nighttime in 2.8. In the Kingdom Hearts III box art, the sky is a mixture of all of these colours, forming one sky. This is a clear reference to the famous quote, “One sky, one destiny”, but it also really makes the cover art stand out. The new extended trailer for Kingdom Hearts III starts by showing us a scene all too familiar- the chess match between Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus. Both characters have had updated looks, which results in them both looking a little older. The true focus here is the chess board, which once again features Sora surrounded by enemies. We can’t see who it is, but several of the light side of the board have been taken out, which makes it look like it’s just Sora left in play. This is presumably all symbolism for the final battle, but it’s a scary possibility for Sora to be left on his own. Eraqus doesn’t take Sora being on his own as the end though, as he continues his turn before the scene changes. We then see Sora, Donald, Goofy and Big Hero 6 about to take on the Heartless that they were previously fighting on the San Fransokyo bridge. Whether this is a repeated boss fight or just a new type of Heartless isn’t clear as they treat this Heartless like a pretty big threat. Sora then affectionately refers to himself, Donald and Goofy as “Keyblade Hero 3”, which is pretty cute. More Big Hero 6 gameplay is then shown to us, starting off with Sora running up the side of a building. It seems like movement has been tweaked since the E3 demo as Sora now seems like he can angle himself slightly without completely changing directions. The wall shine that was very present in previous gameplay also seems to have calmed down a lot, only appearing at the bottom of the building. Sora is also attacking some sentry Heartless that seem to stick to walls. They were previously shown off in the Toy Story world. Sora and Baymax are then seen using a link attack, Intercept Jet, which has Sora riding Baymax and attacking alongside him. Sora is also seen using the finisher from the Nano Arms Keyblade Transformation, which has him jumping into a big ball of nanobots and firing them out in several spikes, causing area of effect damage. We also get to see a first glimpse of the world boss battle against Dark Baymax, who is seen with a lot of bars of health whilst being chased by Sora and Baymax. Dark Baymax is being assisted by Bug Blox, which make several appearances throughout this trailer most notably in the next scene. Sora is seen facing a massive fist made out of red Bug Blox, whilst also being trapped in a square made out of them. The massive fist attacks him and disperses in a similar way to the Devil’s Wave from 0.2 Birth By Sleep. A new minigame is also shown in this gameplay section, which features Sora running, grinding and diving through glowing rings across the city. We’ve never seen something like this in previous Kingdom Hearts games, so it’s nice to see some focus on movement for once. After this slice of gameplay we get back into some story cutscenes. The first shows Sora, Baymax, GoGo and Hiro sitting on top of the San Fransokyo Bridge eating chocolate ice cream. Hiro is talking about Tadashi and his impact on the world and how he lives on in Baymax, which is very reminiscent of how Roxas lives on in Sora even if he’s not present. This whole section purposefully mirrors scenes with Roxas and the Twilight gang which is made clear when Sora starts to picture them over the Big Hero 6 gang. This is our first true look at Roxas in the new engine and he looks incredible. Sora then looks on in confusion, which presumably means he still hasn’t found a way to return Roxas for good. Perhaps this scene is part of what causes him to try and find a way. The next scene shows Riku and Mickey in an area that is almost definitely the Realm of Darkness before they meet Aqua. Although their conversation about being stronger doesn’t really reveal much, the fact that Riku’s hair is different from how we’ve previously seen it makes it seem as if this is before he returns from the realm of darkness and presumably gets a haircut. Although nothing is set in stone, it’s getting a bit easier to piece together certain aspects of Kingdom Hearts III’s story. Poor Ienzo. In the next story cutscene we see Sora, Donald and Goofy in the Gummi Ship getting some sort of video call from Ienzo, although none of them seem very happy about it, instead wanting to talk to Riku. This is a very cute exchange, but it also gives us our first ever Unreal Engine look at Jiminy Cricket, who can be seen besides Sora. Considering he hasn’t been seen or mentioned yet, it’s good to see confirmation that he’s actually in the game. Now we just wait for Pluto! The next three scenes of this trailer don’t do much more than just showing off the Disney worlds. We get to see the new pollen Heartless in the Tangled world, a conversation between Sora and Anna about saving Elsa and most interestingly of all, the appearance of Davy Jones in the Pirates world. Nothing much to analyse here, but it’s nice that the focus isn’t just on massive story beats. We also finally get an extended look at Sora finding the Master’s Defender on the shores of Destiny Island. Just like in the original reveal trailer, Sora picks it up with some confusion, but we now also get to see that Goofy sees him with the Keyblade and tells him “May your heart be your guiding key”. Sora takes this rather literally, but it could be just the thing that he needs to find Ventus and maybe even Aqua, as it was with this Keyblade that Aqua stored him away, especially when we’ve seen him use his Keyblade to guide him over several games now. Thanks to the E3 2018 trailers, we already knew that Luxord was looking for the Black Box in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, but here he confirms his intentions once more and says that “No one knows what’s in the chest we’re looking for”. We still don’t know why they’re looking in the Pirates world, but some secrets have to be saved for the full game. A very interesting scene comes from a conversation between Sora and Larxene in the Frozen world, who reveals that Organisation XIII have already found all of their vessels. Whether or not this is a lie is up to the player’s interpretation, but Sora, Donald and Goofy’s reactions seem to imply that it is true. It’s also interesting to note that the world behind them is frozen (heh) in time, although why this is happening isn’t clear. Hayner, Pence and Olette make another appearance in the trailer, in which they say they’re going to help Sora find Roxas. They stand outside the abandoned mansion, which means that this scene probably takes place just before they find the computer in the basement, which was shown in an E3 trailer. It seems like Sora has two options for restoring Roxas, one following his data self and the other giving into the darkness. Following all of that story excitement, we get some more Pirates of the Caribbean gameplay, featuring a ship boss fight against the Kraken. This could be the end boss fight of the world, which would make sense considering how this scene is taking place in the middle of a rainstorm at night. Something strange about this gameplay is that a meter appears in the top left for another ship, which probably holds Will, Elizabeth and the other Pirates characters. Some on-foot gameplay is also shown from the Pirates world, which shows us the finisher for the Storm Flag Keyblade transformation. This stylish finisher summons some Kraken arms from the ground and deals damage to all enemies surrounding Sora, and it’s definitely one of the cooler finishers so far. This clip also shows the return of the Gambler Nobodies, which is a nice reference to Luxord being the Organisation member for this world. The ‘Goofy Curling’ gameplay we previously saw during the Frozen reveal trailer also makes a return in this extended trailer, but this time in an area from Olympus. The background makes it look like Thebes, but we’ve never seen this specific area in past trailers. Sora, Donald and Goofy seem to be chasing after a specific, pudding-shaped Heartless, who also makes an appearance during the photo mode mini-game. Much like Mushrooms before him, this Heartless is probably used to signify some world mini-games. We also finally get to see that Kingdom Hearts III will indeed include a photo mode, the staple of this console generation! This looks like a fantastic inclusion, and it’s going to make sure the game has plenty of content for years to come. The same pudding Heartless makes an appearance here, and it seems like he’s even posing for the photo! Looking at the UI for this photo mode shows that Sora can take change between front and back cameras, and even change his expression for the photo. The final gameplay section for this trailer shows a boss battle against a massive ice wolf Heartless, with Marshmallow giving Sora a hand. We get to see the link attack between them, called Avalanche Breath, and we also see them freeze and shatter a massive ball of darkness. This might even be the final boss battle of the world, especially when considering the amount of health the boss has and the fact that Marshmallow probably joins your party quite late into the world. Xemnas and Xigbar are then seen having a conversation in Twilight Town about one of the vessels following their path and how they’ll destroy them if they don’t follow it. It’s not very clear who they’re actually talking about here, but the camera pans to Sora which heavily implies that they mean him. This trailer also finally shows us the return of everyone’s favourite dancing enthusiast- Demyx. He is seen here talking to Vexen about someone’s plan, and the background looks extremely similar to how Radiant Gardens was laid out, which hopefully means that it’ll be making an appearance in the game. The appearance of Vexen here and Ansem later has caused many people to speculate that certain members of the Organisation here are actually undercover and working against Xehanort, with the evidence being that Ansem is shown to be alive and that both Vexen and Ienzo were seen to have good relationships with him. The mention of a ‘plan’ gives this theory some credence, although we’ll have to wait to see if it pans out. The short trailer that we got earlier this week teased a new character being ‘norted’ and the extended cut finally shows us who- Data Riku. Since there have been so many different versions of Riku, it’s hard to pin down which is which but considering this Riku wears an organisation coat and appears in a world that is rife with Bug Blox (the enemy from Re:coded), it’s undoubtedly him and not Riku Replica. The fact that he says “We’ve always been trying to one-up each other” makes it seem like he’s sees it as a bit of a joke, so this Riku may not be truly malicious- only time will tell. Easily one of the most interesting scenes in the trailer comes with Vanitas sitting above Ventus’ still comatose body in the Land of Departure. Vanitas asks “What am I going to do with you brother?”, but it’s not really clear when this actually takes place and how Vanitas changed the Land of Departure back from Castle Oblivion. It’s pretty clear that Ventus is in pretty big trouble by this point and isn’t especially safe, but that’s also further explored in another scene in the trailer. One of Kingdom Hearts III’s biggest mysteries at the moment surrounds Aqua and her seeming transformation into one of Xehanort’s vessels, and this is something we get to see a little of in this trailer. Aqua is pictured in the Realm of Darkness holding Mickey’s new Keyblade and lamenting that she has nothing but despair. This seems to be during her fight with Mickey and Riku, which is one they presumably lose. This also gives us our first good look at her outfit, which has her with tattered clothes and red parts of her body, which is actually similar to Vanitas. A tease from what looks like the final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard is also shown, with Sora, Donald and Mickey watching on as we get to see our first ever look at Master Xehanort, who looks awesome in this engine. Birth By Sleep had several scenes in the Keyblade Graveyard, which means this might not be the final battle, but the mention of “today we join the other Keyblade wielders and make our mark on fate” by Master Xehanort makes it seem like this is the final scene. Continuing on with the trailer, we also see what looks like a flashback to Aqua being turned into a vessel, as we see her fighting Ansem and his guardian. She doesn’t seem to be doing so well, so it’s likely this is what defeats her. The rest of the trailer is mostly made up of quick cuts of the most dramatic scenes, but a lot of them are worth looking at deeper. The first is a cute scene between Lea and Kairi in the training area, with Kairi doing Lea’s signature little catchphrase and using it against him. He doesn’t look too amused. We then see Demyx carrying a body into the Radiant Garden lab computer room to Ienzo. The figure looks like they’re either wrapped in a blanket, or like they’re wearing a white lab coat, but without more of the scene we can’t really tell. I’m placing my bets on it being one of the previous Organisation members. The next quick scene also shows Ansem the Wise, alive and well, comforting Ienzo. Considering their close relationship, this is sure to be a touching scene. Speaking of touching scenes, this trailer also shows Lea and Saix meeting one another on the Twilight Town clock tower. This is definitely Lea and not Axel, as you can see he doesn’t have his teardrops, although the continued wearing of that black coat doesn’t help matters. Lea’s shocked expression possibly means that this is their first meeting, and considering they’re on opposite sides now it’s sure to end badly. Terra makes his first Kingdom Hearts III appearance in this trailer too, although it’s far too zoomed in to make out any kind of detail. All this tells us is that he’ll be making some kind of appearance in the story, presumably in the final battle. Presumably continuing on from a scene earlier in the extended trailer, we also see Vanitas seemingly about to take out Aqua for good. The scene takes place in Land of Departure, in the same room where Ventus is laid to rest, which means the possibilities here are pretty open. Vanitas could be about to split Aqua into light and dark, turn her into a vessel, or even use her to try and awaken Ventus. Vanitas is in the exact same pose he was in when he tried to kill Aqua in Birth by Sleep, which could be purposeful as he tries to draw Ventus out of his sleep. As was previously teased in the opening cinematic for 0.2, the next quick cut shows Sora reaching into the water and grabbing Aqua’s hand. With Sora in his new outfit, does this mean that he’s really going to rescue Aqua? This could possibly support the idea that ‘Aqua-nort’ is actually the darkness from her heart separated from her, or simply that Sora has rescued her from the darkness in her heart. The scenes of Sora rescuing the Wayfinder trio don’t stop there though, as we then get to see Sora standing above Ventus’ Dive to the Heart. Besides being an amazing shot, it almost looks like Sora is about to unlock the heart, hinting that he’s finally learnt the power of waking that Riku did during Dream Drop Distance. In Sora’s final scene in the trailer we get a beautiful shot of him and Kairi sat on their tree on Destiny Islands, hopefully sharing a moment before or after the final battle. With a previous trailer showing Riku sat on the beach during sunset, it’s possible that the gang comes back here for a moment of respite before the final battle. Either way, this could finally be when we see the pair share the long awaited paopu fruit. Lea gets just as emotional as us in the penultimate shot of the trailer, as he is seen crying in the same training area as before. It’s not clear what he could be crying about, but it could be related to his memories of Roxas or even Xion. Speaking of Roxas, he appears in the final shot of the trailer, wielding Oblivion and Oathkeeper and getting ready for battle. The fact that he’s in his Organisation coat makes it more likely that this is a flashback of some sort, but it’s also possible that he’s collected from data. This leaves his fate pretty open for the full game, but it’s still pretty good to see him. Whew! That’s everything I spotted in the new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III but let me know if I’ve missed anything. This is easily the best look at the game we’ve had so far, and it’s hard to imagine that Square can top it. Did you see anything I missed? Let us know in the comments below!

To continue on with our trailer analysis series, let's take a look at the chess pieces Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus are using in the Each piece seems to have a symbol on the top, which we noticed could correspond to characters in the Kingdom Hearts series, more specifically, the seven lights and the thirteen darknesses. Thanks to Tumblr user freeshooterxig, some of these symbols have been depicted with their corresponding characters: We also noticed that there are duplicates of the "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" pieces - one to represent Ansem, and the other to possibly represent his Guardian. Also, we found two "Vanitas" pieces, possibly signifying Vanitas and the Vanitas Remnant. KH13 user, PrinceNoctis, gives his analysis: Another interesting thing to note is which pieces eliminate each other. It's hard for us to tell, but one move that is certain is the "Sora" piece eliminating one of the "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness"/"Guardian" pieces. If you can make out any other eliminations, let us know! We would just like to clarify that this is based purely on speculation. However, it seems too perfect in our eyes. So, what do you think of all of this? Can you depict any symbols we missed? Sound off in the comments below!