Here is a list of all Vs XIII references to be found in Kingdom Hearts 3. Some are just speculation and I marked these with a '?' but the others are clearly references
Commercial Break & Toy Box
Game trailer is "Verum Rex" which means "true king" or maybe also "king of truth" just as Noctis is the True King
Main character has dark silver hair and red and blue eyes, whereas Noctis had dark silver hair in the earliest Vs XIII trailer, alongside red eyes that were later changed to blue
Main characters name is Yozora which translates from Japanese to "Night Sky". Noctis Caelum has the exact same meaning but in Latin
Main characters mage friend looks like a red haired Versus XIII Prompto
Main characters guarding friend is a black haired Ignis with Gladio's body
The magical damsel looks like a Brown haired Stella, and she's wearing a star necklace
The limited edition box art shows a flurry of falling swords, like the swords Noctis summons and uses
Rex the Dinosaur says he is stuck on the Bahamut boss, which was a scrapped boss fight in FFXV
The back cover of the Verum Rex cd case says "That's the story of the King of Truth - Reclaim your Heart", similar to the phrase "Reclaim your Throne" on FFXVs back cover
Spoiler
The Lich(?)
the Lich/Grim Reaper pureblood heartless that is dragging the hearts of Soras friends into the void beneath the RoD sounds similar to the rumours of Versus XIIIs original plotline, which was going to involve an "underworld" and lost souls who would eventually be possessed by demons, a bit of a stretch though
Spoiler
Secret Ending
The city Riku is in is Shinjuku, what Insomnia was based on in Nomuras Versus XIII
Yozora is atop the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, the inspiration for Insomnia's castle
A slightly modified version of the opening to "Somnus" plays at the end of the secret movie.
Compare 1:29 to
Somnus was the main theme song and melody of Versus XIII, but was relegated to the main menu music and replaced by Florence and the Machine's song "Stand by Me" after Tabata took over
Spoiler
New Chess game(?):
Maybe this is overreading but, When YX and YE are finished playing chess in the epilogue, Eraqus suggests a "new game" but this time with 7 black pieces (and 13 light pieces pieces), opposites to the original of 7 lights and 13 darknesses. Taking the word as meaning "opposite to",
this new game is literally ""Versus 13""
Ultima Weapon:
Soras ultimate weapon's final form summons blades all around him that fly about, just like Noctis' blades from the first Versus XIII trailer
When Sora guards with Ultima weapon whilst in Final Form, ethereal blades encircle him, just like Noctis in the first Versus XIII trailer when he is getting shot at by military forces
Here is a list of all Vs XIII references to be found in Kingdom Hearts 3. Some are just speculation and I marked these with a '?' but the others are clearly references
Commercial Break & Toy Box
Game trailer is "Verum Rex" which means "true king" or maybe also "king of truth" just as Noctis is the True King
Main character has dark silver hair and red and blue eyes, whereas Noctis had dark silver hair in the earliest Vs XIII trailer, alongside red eyes that were later changed to blue
Main characters name is Yozora which translates from Japanese to "Night Sky". Noctis Caelum has the exact same meaning but in Latin
Main characters mage friend looks like a red haired Versus XIII Prompto
Main characters guarding friend is a black haired Ignis with Gladio's body
The magical damsel looks like a Brown haired Stella, and she's wearing a star necklace
The limited edition box art shows a flurry of falling swords, like the swords Noctis summons and uses
Rex the Dinosaur says he is stuck on the Bahamut boss, which was a scrapped boss fight in FFXV
The back cover of the Verum Rex cd case says "That's the story of the King of Truth - Reclaim your Heart", similar to the phrase "Reclaim your Throne" on FFXVs back cover
The Lich(?)
the Lich/Grim Reaper pureblood heartless that is dragging the hearts of Soras friends into the void beneath the RoD sounds similar to the rumours of Versus XIIIs original plotline, which was going to involve an "underworld" and lost souls who would eventually be possessed by demons, a bit of a stretch though
Secret Ending
The city Riku is in is Shinjuku, what Insomnia was based on in Nomuras Versus XIII
Yozora is atop the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, the inspiration for Insomnia's castle
A slightly modified version of the opening to "Somnus" plays at the end of the secret movie.
Compare 1:29 to
Somnus was the main theme song and melody of Versus XIII, but was relegated to the main menu music and replaced by Florence and the Machine's song "Stand by Me" after Tabata took over
New Chess game(?):
Maybe this is overreading but, When YX and YE are finished playing chess in the epilogue, Eraqus suggests a "new game" but this time with 7 black pieces (and 13 light pieces pieces), opposites to the original of 7 lights and 13 darknesses. Taking the word as meaning "opposite to",
this new game is literally ""Versus 13""
Ultima Weapon:
Soras ultimate weapon's final form summons blades all around him that fly about, just like Noctis' blades from the first Versus XIII trailer
When Sora guards with Ultima weapon whilst in Final Form, ethereal blades encircle him, just like Noctis in the first Versus XIII trailer when he is getting shot at by military forces
Compare this to
Edited by AnotherXehanort13