At the Monaco Anime Game International Conference (MAGIC), Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura held a presentation on his career. This presentation included a brief mention of Kingdom Hearts III, with a new screenshot being shown. (via @TheSharePlayers)

 

 

In this screenshot, we can see Sora in Olympus Colosseum using Guard Form with a new shield-based transformation for an unrevealed Keyblade. He also appears to be battling a new type of Heartless. Additionally, one of the command menu slots displays the word "Link", possibly as part of this new transformation. Finally, the wording for the yellow gauge near Sora's health has been changed from "EX" (as seen in the

) to "Focus", matching the format seen in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-.

 

A close-up shot of Guard Form can be seen below, thanks to @RedMakuzawa.

 

 

Unfortunately, no new trailer is confirmed at the moment according to @RedMakuzawa. Only the screenshot was shown at the presentation.

 

What do you think of this new screenshot? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

 

UPDATE 1: A higher quality, direct feed image of the screenshot can now be seen thanks to the official Kingdom Hearts twitter account.

 

 

UPDATE 2:

 

According to Gameblog.fr, Nomura stated the screenshot takes place in the city of Thebes. The Keyblade has the ability to change into a lot of things, some of which are the aforementioned shield and a chariot. He also clarified that the new form in the screenshot is the Power Form, which contradicts the information that we received last time about Power Form. We'll bring clarification as soon as we get it.

 

UPDATE 3: The quote from Tetsuya Nomura regarding Power Form has been translated and clarified thanks to Dandelion from KHInsider.

 

This is the first time we're showing this screenshot of Kingdom Hearts III, it's happening in Thebes and they are fighting a new type of Heartless. The Keyblade can transform into a lot of things. When in Power Form it can be changed into a chariot.

 

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Love, love, love this new screenshot! The worlds are going to be enormous in KH3, we've seen so much different areas in the Olympus world so far.

 

Who knew a single screenshot would hype me up! This game is going to be beautiful. 

Awesome!

Sad when a screenshot makes me bounce off the walls with pure hype. Nah, it's not that sad, haha! So hyped though for this game more so than I was, screenshot looks absolutely SICK!!!

So is it me or does this screenshot look like they're gonna make the UI faces move again like in the D23 2013 trailer?

Rocks and more rocks with a weird looking heartless holding a weird, babyish looking lolipop heartless. Not bothered about this screenshot.

So is it me or does this screenshot look like they're gonna make the UI faces move again like in the D23 2013 trailer?

I kind of doubt that. Not to be a pessimist or anything, but the 0.2 faces were improved later in development and not once did they animate. Still, it's good to know that changes are slowly being made over time. Kudos to ya, Square. Just keep doing you. 

Edited February 19, 20178 yr by lollygagger19

Thank you for showing this to us, Neil!

 

Wow, this was unexpected! I'm really happy and hyped that we got to see a new screenshot of the game, along with some info as well! If Nomura keeps it up like this, giving us little updates from time to time without having to wait long, silent periods of time, then the wait for major news can be more bearable!  But wow, that view! That Heartless looks gargantuan, and Sora is looking sick in his Guard Form! I guess it's something that's unlocked early on in the game? Or is it something that we unlock later on? Wow, this looks awesome! And it seems we'll have various areas to explore outside of Mt. Olympus! That's so sweet! I can't wait for more news!

 

This screenshot looks beautiful! QWQ

Okay, I think I get it now. Nomura wasn't referring to THIS form as "Power Form", he was just saying that the Keyblade could turn into a chariot in Power Form. So in Guard Form, this form right here, it turns into a shield. It's only while Sora is in Power Form that he can use it as a chariot. So this form is still called Guard Form.

I wish they would make the UI a bit bigger again. 0.2 had the same issue in my opinion. I mean, it's great to see more of the screen but at the same time, it makes it hard to read. My eyesight isn't terrible either and I had to strain my eyes to read the text in 0.2 and it looks like KH3 will have the same text size.

 

 

I also prefer the illustrated UI faces, though it doesn't bother me. We knew it was gonna be like this ever since the first gameplay was shown, but I still liked how the illustrated versions stuck out a little, especially when hit or low on health.

Nonetheless, I like the screenshot. It's nothing groundbreaking but it's something new, so I'll take it.

Nice In-Game Screenshot.

Let's hope for more next month.