The official Disney Pins Blog has announced that a new Kingdom Hearts pin is now available at Disney Theme Parks via Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and the Disney Store.
Fans can purchase this item and several other recently launched premium pins for $21.99. However, only 3,000 of these pins were produced.
You can view the new Kingdom Hearts pin below. It features Mickey with the Kingdom Key D, which has one of his end quotes from the original game stating, "There will always be a door to the light."
You can view the other newly made available pins via the official Disney Pins Blog.
The Japanese Kingdom Hearts Twitter account tweeted a new piece of artwork commemorating the launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This artwork depicts Sora in Quadratum watching Sephiroth, who is wearing his Kingdom Hearts attire, on multiple screens, similar to the advertising Square Enix did in Shibuya over the past couple of days. You can view the artwork in the gallery below.
Congratuations on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on their release launch!
The Square Enix North America Store has revealed nine new Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stands now available for pre-order, releasing in August 2024. Three of the stands featuring the key art for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts will cost $34.99 each, while the other six stands featuring Sora, Kairi, and Roxas will cost $14.99 each.
You can take a closer look at each of the Acrylic Stands in our gallery below, alongside their product links:
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Acrylic Stand - Boundary - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Heart - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Premonition - $34.99
Kingdom Hearts III Acrylic Stand - Kairi - Promise - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts III Acrylic Stand - Sora - Promise - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Late Summer - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts II Acrylic Stand - Ocean - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Wind - $14.99
Kingdom Hearts Acrylic Stand - Beach - $14.99
Will you be picking up any of these acrylic stands? Let us know in the comments below!
The Square Enix Japan e-Store has revealed three new Kingdom Hearts themed plushes of Sora, Riku, and Kairi based on their appearances in the original Kingdom Hearts game. The plushes are set to release June 8th, 2024 for ¥4,180 (approx. $28.00 USD).
UPDATE (Feb 9, 2024): Pre-orders are available on Aitai Kuji. Each plush will cost ¥3,340 (approx. $23.00) and will be available in June.
You can view each of the plushes alongside their store links in our gallery below.
Kingdom Hearts Series Plush KH Sora
Kingdom Hearts Series Plush KH Riku
Kingdom Hearts Series Plush KH Kairi
Will you be picking up any of these plushes to add to your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
UPDATE 2/13/2024: Square Enix North American store links are listed below. Each plush is $39.99 and expected to ship in October 2024:
Kairi
Sora
Riku
Additionally, the plushes are available for pre-order via AmiAmi, with each costing ¥3,550 ahead of planned June 2024 releases:
Kairi
Sora
Riku
Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura will be this year's recipient for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards. Shimomura will be the first composer to receive the prestigious award.
This award recognizes individuals that impact not only the games they work on, but the gaming industry in general. Previous winners include Shigeru Miyamoto, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Todd Howard, and John Carmack among others.
The 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards will be during the Game Developers Conference week, which will be happening March 18-24, 2024 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. The awards will be on Wednesday March 20th at 6:30 PM PDT (9:30 PM EDT) and will be broadcast on Twitch.
Congratulations to Yoko on her latest achievement and we wait for more music for Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link and Kingdom Hearts IV!
The Square Enix Japan e-Store has revealed a new line of fluffy loungewear sets and slippers based on Sora, Kairi, Riku, and King Mickey. The Sora, Riku, and Kairi loungewear sets are two piece sets based on their outfits from Kingdom Hearts III and can be pre-ordered for ¥13,200 (approx. $88.99 USD). The King Mickey set is a one piece set and can be pre-ordered for ¥11,000 (approx. $74.16 USD).
Additionally the matching loungewear slippers are available for pre-order for ¥3,850 (approx. $25.95 USD) releasing on February 29th, 2024 as well.
UPDATE [Feb 8, 2024]: Pre-orders are available on Aitai Kiju! The prices are the same as listed on Square Enix Japan e-Store and the release date will be February 29th, 2024.
You can view each of the loungewear pieces in our gallery below, as well as their pre-order links.
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Set - Sora
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Slippers - Sora
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Set - Kairi
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Slippers - Kairi
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Set - Riku
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts III Fluffy Loungewear Slippers - Riku
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts Fluffy Loungewear Set - King Mickey
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Kingdom Hearts Fluffy Loungewear Slippers - King Mickey
Square Enix e-Store || Aitai Kuji
Will you be purchasing any of these loungewear sets? Let us know in the comments below!
Sega Plaza have announce a new Kingdom Hearts plush coming to Sega Plaza crane game. This plush is King Mickey wearing his iconic Kingdom Hearts II outfit. Kingdom Hearts II King Mickey will be available at the plaza starting March 15th.
Square Enix has announced that the Android closed beta test for its upcoming free-to-play mobile game, Kingdom Hearts Missing–Link, has been delayed to Spring 2024. It was originally planned for January 2024.
The development team apologized for the delay, explaining that they have more adjustments to make in order to ensure it can be played more comfortably.
The iOS closed beta test of Kingdom Hearts Missing–Link was held in November 2023. At the same time, Tetsuya Nomura participated in a Special Focus Group Event in which several story, character, and gameplay details were discussed.
Our team's Kimpchuu shared his impressions of the Kingdom Hearts Missing–Link iOS closed beta test, which you can check out here.
A translation of the latest tweet from the official Kingdom Hearts Missing–Link account announcing the Android closed beta test delay can be viewed below via our team's Ryuji:
A new Kingdom Hearts themed Ichiban Kuji lottery has been announced titled Kingdom Hearts -Linking Hearts- set to release in May 2024 which will feature various Kingdom Hearts themed prizes including but not limited to character statues, towels, tumblers and various other Kingdom Hearts themed merchandise. You can view the prize list below thanks to KH13 Staff Member Ryuji.
Prize Tiers
♦ Tier A - Sora Statue
♦ Tier B - Visual bath towel
♦ Tier C - Cushion
♦ Tier D - Glass plate
♦ Tier E - Selection of towels
♦ Tier F - Design Tumbler
♦ Tier G - Keyblade Charm Collection
♦ Last One Prize Tier - Roxas Statue
♦ Double Chance Campaign Tier - Sora Statue
Kingdom Hearts themed prizes have featured in three other Ichiban Kuji lotteries over the years including the first Kingdom Hearts Ichiban Kuji, Kingdom Hearts Ichiban Kuji ~Second Memory~ and the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary Ichiban Kuji.
Utada Hikaru's official website has recently announced the tracklist for their upcoming Greatest Hits album, Science Fiction. The album is set to release April 10th, 2024 and will contain a total of 26 songs including newly mixed and re-recorded songs from across the singer's discography. Of the re-recorded tracks it is confirmed that Hikari, a theme featured prominently throughout many of the games in the Kingdom Hearts series will be receiving a re-recorded version featured on the album as well.
You can view the full tracklist for Utada's upcoming Science Fiction album below:
Flowers with no Color
New song (title undecided)
Addicted To You (Re-recording)
Traveling (Re-recording)
Hikari (Re-recording)
Automatic (2024 Mix)
Beautiful World (2024 Mix)
Can You Keep a Secret? (2024 Mix)
COLORS (2024 Mix)
First Love (2022 Mix)
Flavor of Life -Ballad Version- (2024 Mix)
Goodbye Happiness (2024 Mix)
Letters (2024 Mix)
Prisoner of Love (2024 Mix)
Sakura Drops (2024 Mix)
You
I'm Crazy About You
Gold ~Until we meet again~
Time
2 Hours Vacation featuring Ringo Sheena
First Love
BAD Mode
Give you a Bouquet of Flowers
Road
One Last Kiss
[Bonus Track] Somewhere Near Marseilles - Marseilles Festival- (Sci-Fi Edit)
Will you be giving the re-recorded version of Hikari a listen when it releases? Let us know in the comments below!
The fan-led Kingdom Hearts online convention, March Caprice, has announced new information ahead of its arrival in March 2024.
For those unaware of what March Caprice is about, the following passage summarizes its premise:
The theme of March Caprice 2024 will be "data," as communicated by the announcement trailer and associated promotional artwork.
Sans the livestreams and Melody of Memory Tourney, sign-ups for the event will close on January 13, 2024. On the other hand, livestream sign-ups will close on February 17, 2024 and Melody of Memory Tourney sign-ups will close on March 10, 2024.
March Caprice 2024 proper will occur between March 24 and March 30, 2024.
You can view more information about March Caprice via the Caprice Release or its official website, where one can also submit via various categories.
Aside from the above, participans can make art, cosplay, merchandise, music, pre-recorded video, writing, and Smash Bros. tournament submissions.
You can view the March Caprice 2024 announcement trailer below:
The Square Enix Japan e-Store has revealed a new Kingdom Hearts music box featuring the theme Dearly Beloved. The music box is set to release April 27th, 2024 for ¥2,750 (approximately $20.00 USD).
You can take a look at the music box in our gallery below
Previously music boxes based on Kairi and Traverse Town have been revealed.
Will you be picking up this new music box? Let us know in the comments below!
Update 12/21/2023: The Kingdom Hearts Dearly Beloved music box is now available for pre-order at Aitai Kuji and AmiAmi English for ¥2,200 (approximately $16.00 USD).
The Square Enix North America and Square Enix Europe stores have revealed a new Kingdom Hearts Shadow Face Mug. The mug is slated for an October 2024 release date in North America for $34.99 USD, and a December 2024 release in Europe for €46.99.
You can take a closer look at the Kingdom Hearts Shadow Face Mug in our gallery below alongside pre-order links for each store front
Square Enix North America Store - Kingdom Hearts Shadow Face Mug
Square Enix Europe Store - Kingdom Hearts Shadow Face Mug
Will you be adding this item to your collection of Kingdom Hearts merchandise? Let us know in the comments below!
Nintendo has revealed the release date for the Sora Amiibo to be February 16th, 2024, alongside a short video clip which you can view below.
The Sora Amiibo was originally announced during a Nintendo Direct back in September.
The Amiibo is currently listed for preorder on the Nintendo Store Japan website for ¥2,200 ($14.92 USD) and Amazon Japan though it is worth noting it is currently listed as unavailable on the Amazon page.
You can take a closer look at the Sora Amiibo in our gallery below
Will you be picking up the Sora Amiibo when it releases? Let us know in the comments below!
Update 12/7/2023: The Sora Amiibo is now available for pre-order at Best Buy for $15.99 and Australian retailers JB Hi-Fi and EB Games Australia for $21.00 and $21.95 respectively. It should be noted that while some have been able to get pre-orders in at Best Buy, at the time of this update the item is currently shown as "Coming Soon."
Update 12/8/2023: The Sora Amiibo is now available for pre-order at Target and GameStop, for $15.99.
The closed beta testing for Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link is currently underway for select players with iOS devices in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan, having begun on November 29th and running through to December 8th.
KH13 staff member Kimpchuu had the opportunity to participate in the closed beta testing and has compiled an in depth summary and screenshots of his first impressions of the game spanning across Story, Presentation, Gameplay, and the Gacha/Monetization system. You can read his full break down below!
Story
The beta offers a limited glimpse into the storyline. Players are introduced to the initial 20 minutes of the prologue, unveiling intriguing concepts. The protagonist is a 'drifter,' mysteriously arriving at Scala ad Caelum. The dive station and the Astral Plane are swiftly introduced, explaining the GPS game mode. The primary objective is to safeguard Scala by thwarting Heartless incursions. As of now, this constitutes the extent of the storyline, to be further explored upon the game's official release.
Presentation
Leveraging the Unreal 4 engine, the game benefits from rendering its environments beautifully. Despite the relatively smaller scale, locations exude the ambiance of mini-arenas akin to those encountered in Kingdom Hearts III. The Scala hub area boasts considerable exploration opportunities, featuring NPCs and scattered Moogles. Despite mobile constraints, the lighting and models hold up well. Character animations during combos and enemy attacks are impressive, although certain textures on characters seem lacking compared to the detailed environments. Particle effects are reminiscent of KH3 and add to the visual flair.
However, the Astral Plane mode exhibits a noticeable drop in quality, as anticipated. The auto-generated environments and models fail to match the detailed aesthetics of Scala, somewhat compromising the experience.
The enchanting, beautifully composed music significantly enhances the atmosphere, immersing players in this fresh Kingdom Hearts world while retaining a sense of familiarity. Although not all the music is new, the returning tracks seamlessly blend into the experience.
Combat mechanics involving 'pieces' vary in quality. Some employ the new KH3 models, while others are ported from older games, displaying boxy polygonal edges that somewhat make the quality a bit inconsistent.
Fortunately, the voiced cutscenes in Japanese represent a significant improvement over Union X. However, there's uncertainty regarding whether this quality will extend to the entire story, especially concerning localization in English. A peculiar observation relates to sound: the absence of audible swings when encountering enemies or allies wielding a keyblade feels oddly disconnected.
As a designer, I must remark on the UI. While the team has admirably crafted a new thematic for the game, certain aspects, particularly the menus, feel somewhat outdated and unrefined. Streamlining these while preserving the intended style would significantly enhance the overall experience.
Gameplay
Combat
Drawing from experience playing 90% of Kingdom Hearts games, this game amalgamates elements from Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross], Dark Road, and Kingdom Hearts III. Movement and combat mechanics evoke a KH3-like feeling, but the primary damage mechanism—rotating abilities—strongly resembles UX and Dark Road. Playing a mobile game in a 3D KH universe is a remarkable leap, yet the heavy reliance on spells hampers the experience. Similar to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, commands and spells constitute the primary means of dealing damage, rendering physical combos largely inefficient. There is also a charge attack feature that allows players access to a much stronger physical attack at the cost of player movement.
The absence of a guard mechanic and the dodge button's lack of invincibility frames pose drawbacks. Maneuverability across the battlefield is swift but susceptible to ranged enemy attacks. Aerial recovery allows tapping the jump button upon being hit.Players can still access their abilities while airborne.
An elemental system akin to games like Pokemon dictates the effectiveness of certain moves based on an enemy's elemental type. Enemies not glowing in a particular color are deemed neutral. Conversely, glowing enemies possess resistance to their element and an adjacent element, as well as a weakness. Players can optimize their characters for maximum damage with the right elemental build, requiring acquisition of characters from gacha banners.
However, a significant issue emerges: abilities not only rely on cooldowns but also deplete MP, reminiscent of UX's SP gauge. Regaining MP in combat is impossible outside of raid boss encounters. Consequently, depleting MP mid-fight forces reliance on physical combos, elongating encounters considerably. Moreover, many challenging encounters are time-gated, penalizing players for their inability to overcome enemies.
This combat aspect renders gameplay lackluster, transforming potentially exciting encounters into disengaging battles. Additionally, the game penalizes players for their lack of strength, further entrenching the gacha model's need for acquiring the newest and most powerful units.
Regarding controls, button placements feel functional, and the HUD works as intended without disrupting gameplay. Notably, Missing-Link introduces a fantastic feature: complete HUD customization. Players can edit the position, scale, and opacity of every element, offering tremendous flexibility, albeit marred by the absence of the ability to input exact numeric values for scale and opacity.
Camera controls feel average, somewhat limiting the immersive experience. However, I anticipate using controller support may mitigate these issues, although I've yet to test these improvements.
The game incorporates an autoplay feature, allowing passive engagement during encounters. While functional for early stages, players might opt to disable this feature for more challenging encounters, prioritizing manual input for effective dodging or combo execution to avoid death. Inputs can still be made during autoplay.
Overworld
Two distinct overworlds, Scala Hub World and the GPS Astral Plane mode. However, the majority of gameplay occurs in the GPS mode, featuring two play styles: touch and hands-free. The hands-free mode necessitates real-world movement, while the touch mode grants full character control. The overworld features various encounter types, including regular Heartless, elemental Heartless (indicative of their respective elemental colors), area enemies, and raid bosses.
During the CBT, the primary objective revolves around defeating enemies to acquire materials and rewards, enhancing gear and potentially contributing to future story content. All overworld activities, including teleporting, chest acquisition, HP/MP restoration, and enemy encounters, utilize a stamina system akin to KHUX's AP. Fortunately, most activities spawn near players, ensuring easy accessibility. In the beta, stamina is abundant, but its representation in the main game remains uncertain. Teleportation costs increase based on distance, typically restricting players to their own country.
Defeated enemies do not drop HP or MP orbs, necessitating dependence on potions or top-up points.
Players can form parties and travel together, although my experience with this feature remains limited.
An interesting discovery involves zooming in with fingers, allowing exploration on a smaller scale, akin to a 1-1 exploration. Zooming out can often lead to accidental interactions due to clustered interactables on-screen but can traverse areas faster.
Camera limitations pose challenges, particularly in identifying area enemies spawning in the distance. Horizontal play restricts the camera from observing the horizon, whereas vertical play allows such flexibility, potentially requiring players to switch orientation mid-gameplay for convenience.
Customization
Combat customization options presently feature several choices. Players select between a melee and ranged keyblade, each with unique stats. Additionally, they can choose from 3-4 pieces to serve as abilities and an accessory, providing minor stat boosts.
Familiar to Dark Road players, this setup feels reminiscent, minus the deck-building. An assortment of abilities caters to both physical and magical stats, with the option to align abilities with elements, diversifying combat strategies. Defensive abilities like heal and defense up also prove beneficial. While current character builds lack apparent synergy, strategies might evolve as the game progresses.
To enhance damage output, players must individually level up each ability or keyblade using materials earned from playing the GPS mode. However, leveling up becomes increasingly grindy due to exponentially increasing requirements.
Character appearance customization offers extensive variety, enticing players with options to edit face shapes, makeup, and outfit colors. Additional outfits, unlockable using Jewels, provide aesthetic appeal without incurring perks.
Menus
The game follows the tradition of gacha games and JRPGs, housing a multitude of menus and minor mechanics. Navigating through various "growth logs" and different coin exchanges proved overwhelming initially, compounded by challenges locating specific features. Although these menus and mechanics marginally impact gameplay, they offer nuances for dedicated min-maxing enthusiasts. However, the sheer volume of content might deter casual players.
Additionally, a battle pass-like activity monitor system exists, featuring a basic pass for free players, offering coins for battles or steps, redeemable for draws or items.
Performance
Playing on an iPhone 13 mini, I encountered minimal performance issues, with the game running smoothly around 95% of the time. Occasional hiccups occurred in the GPS sections with numerous on-screen elements. Even during raids with copious particles and players on-screen, the game still ran relatively well.
Switching between vertical and horizontal gameplay proved impressively seamless, ensuring uninterrupted gameplay.The developers' commendable effort in designing assets to function flawlessly in both orientations deserves appreciation.
However, the game exhibits phone heating issues, causing the device to heat up and rapidly drain the battery. Though I haven't monitored the battery drain rate extensively, reports suggest noticeable drainage from prolonged gameplay.
Multiplayer
I have yet to experience party formation in the overworld. However, I've engaged in raid boss encounters during the CBT. Due to its nature, many raid bosses spawn across the map, providing access to level 15 or level 40 Behemoth encounters. Given limited progress, level 15 fights remained the viable option. Collaborating with three or more team members significantly improves the chances of defeating the boss.
The experience of witnessing diverse keyblade-wielding characters battling collectively adds a unique dimension to combat. Raid bosses include multiple parts like horns or arms—that need elimination before targeting the main health bar. Defeating these parts yields MP orbs, facilitating continuous spell rotation throughout the battle.
These multiplayer raid battles constitute the most engaging combat scenarios, amplified by their collaborative nature. However, rewards feel underwhelming unless players employ raid tickets, a set number of which are gifted to beta players daily. Notably, players can earn a 3-star Dark Riku, a feature likely to transition behind a paywall in the main game.
Gacha/Monetization
Familiarity with KHUX's Gacha system facilitates understanding here. Each banner features a few highlighted characters, requiring a minimum of 10 multis to reach the guaranteed pity rate. Upon obtaining a featured character, the pity counter resets to zero.
Single pulls cost 300 jewels, whereas a 10-pull costs 3000 jewels. Jewels facilitate outfit purchases and accelerate farming by acquiring stamina or drop enhancements.
For those curious, without the pity rate, the featured 3-star characters boast a 3% drop chance, distributed among three featured characters.
Unfortunately, the game locks considerable power behind paywalls. Assembling a build of weaker characters proves challenging, with little incentive for the game to provide opportunities for success with less powerful units. Regrettably, Square Enix is unlikely to revise this model.
The CBT generously rewards players with two draw tickets, granting a 3-star in one attempt, and 3000 jewels daily. However, this is unlikely to be mirrored in the main game.
While players can earn jewels by completing certain battles and quests, their availability diminishes as the game progresses.
Final Thoughts
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link embarks on the right path for conveying a Kingdom Hearts narrative. It brings to life a vibrant world through stunning 3D environments, captivating music, and exceptional voice acting. However, concerns persist regarding the gacha model, potentially marrying the experience with unfair power disparities and paywalls. My initial experience remains a blend of positives and negatives, as expected in a Beta phase meant for testing, feedback, and potential game improvements. I eagerly anticipate delving deeper into the story and unraveling the secrets of Scala Ad Caelum and the Astral Plane.
You can view the full collection of screenshots gathered by Kimpchuu from the Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link closed beta test in our gallery below:
What are your impressions of Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link so far with closed beta testing underway? Let us know in the comments below!