Analysis: Kingdom Hearts III Together Trailer

[Overshot_ 85]

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!

 

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[Merilly 438]

I always like these analysis posts. They sometimes make me aware of small things I might have missed, especially with images coming in rapid succession, but it's also nice to have small theories woven in without them being too imposing or taking up too much space based on assumptions or going a little too far.

I'm still weirded out by Sora's KH2 model in the current engine. Maybe it's because I've gotten so used to seeing him in his KH3 style or perhaps they didn't put that much effort into it since his hair doesn't seem to fit in that ahot with Maleficent and Pete. It seems to stick up too high and not at all like in previous games somehow, not even like in 0.2, and his skin is rather dark. Oh well, I'm not going to be bothered if some shots look a little strange. I think all games have that at one point with how detailed they are nowadays and it won't stay for that long anyway.

I personally also appreciated the trailer/commercial. Yes, it was predictable and similar to lots of movie teasers, but if I were to see it as a child or pre-teen, I wouldn't care for the narration too much either way and be fascinated by the Disney aspects. I think it does a good job at appealing to potential newcomers with bringing the plot down to the most simple of explanations.

I can understand that it might not be what some die-hard fans would have wanted but you can't make it right for everyone and considering that this is played at theaters, it fits in with other ads. It's fine to dislike it but it won't really change the game for me so there's no reason to be on the fence about it either.

I think this analysis showcases perfectly that this is not the usual trailer format but also offering reasons why it doesn't aim to be without glorifying nor diminishinf its worth. I appreciate this mostly neutral approach more than overexcited gushing or dejected complaints since it's fitting for an analysis. This is not a reaction after all.

[Novayon 192]

That Pirates bit looked like the scene where Jack is chasing the Black Pearl in the movie, which would mean SDG might be in Davy Jones' Locker - So I'm hoping we get a playable 'Up is Down' segment. The Caribbean world is so hype.

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On 11/21/2018 at 10:17 PM, Merilly said:

I always like these analysis posts. They sometimes make me aware of small things I might have missed, especially with images coming in rapid succession, but it's also nice to have small theories woven in without them being too imposing or taking up too much space based on assumptions or going a little too far.

I'm still weirded out by Sora's KH2 model in the current engine. Maybe it's because I've gotten so used to seeing him in his KH3 style or perhaps they didn't put that much effort into it since his hair doesn't seem to fit in that ahot with Maleficent and Pete. It seems to stick up too high and not at all like in previous games somehow, not even like in 0.2, and his skin is rather dark. Oh well, I'm not going to be bothered if some shots look a little strange. I think all games have that at one point with how detailed they are nowadays and it won't stay for that long anyway.

I personally also appreciated the trailer/commercial. Yes, it was predictable and similar to lots of movie teasers, but if I were to see it as a child or pre-teen, I wouldn't care for the narration too much either way and be fascinated by the Disney aspects. I think it does a good job at appealing to potential newcomers with bringing the plot down to the most simple of explanations.

I can understand that it might not be what some die-hard fans would have wanted but you can't make it right for everyone and considering that this is played at theaters, it fits in with other ads. It's fine to dislike it but it won't really change the game for me so there's no reason to be on the fence about it either.

I think this analysis showcases perfectly that this is not the usual trailer format but also offering reasons why it doesn't aim to be without glorifying nor diminishinf its worth. I appreciate this mostly neutral approach more than overexcited gushing or dejected complaints since it's fitting for an analysis. This is not a reaction after all.

Sorry for responding so late. Thank you for your analysis of my analysis. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was fun going over such a unique trailer. I am a big fan of movies so I had a lot of joy going over this. I will say though, you're not wrong in Sora looking odd in his KH2 outfit and hair. Regardless, it was a fun trailer.