The following is a complete translation of the Kingdom Hearts 3D trailer. It was translated by Oishii of KH13.
Master Xehanort, the skilled keyblade master form has changed. He stood in the way of keyblade wielders from before who fought to protect the light, and has yet to be stopped.
The screen is spit in half, left is Sora, and to the right is Riku.
Sora: This is...
Riku: This is...
Sora: Traverse Town?
Riku: Traverse Town?
Riku: My clothes changed...
Sora: My clothes changed!
Sora: Riku! Oi!
Riku: Sora!
Joshua: Well, it seems like we’ve both have been seperated when arriving in this world.
Sora to Neku: Noise?... What’s your name?
Sora: Neku... Sakuraba... That’s an interesting name!
Neku: I don’t think it’s so interesting.
Shiki and Riku
Shiki while holding Mr. Mew: You came to rescue weak little me, didn’t you? Mr. Knight!
Riku: Huh, Knight?! That’s not what I am!
Shiki: ...you seriously shouldn’t be so embarrassed.
Mickey: Maleficient, what are you trying to accomplish?
Maleficient: Do you know Xehanort?
Mickey: Why would I know him?
Maleficient: I found out from him, about the worlds 7 ones of pure light. With the 7 in my grasp, the worlds would be mine.
Go to the imprisoned Pinocchio
Pinocchio: Huh? My nose, what happened?!
Jiminy: It’s surely because you told a lie.
Pinocchio: That’s not true! There was a guy in a black coat. He was messing with Sora.
Notre Dome priest(?) approaches Quasimodo: It can’t be helped that you must leave here. It is for your own safety...
Hanging his head, Quasimodo turns over in his bed.
3 Musketeers World
Sora: This is a keyblade!
Mickey: Shh! I know. It came from another world. To be honest, that’s the reason why I’m in this world to be a Musketeer.
While inclining his head, Sora replies: You don’t remember being a king in your world?
Riku opens a large chest, and inside is Minnie!
Riku: Minnie!
Rhyme with a floating moogle.
Rhyme: My memory!... I have to go back right now.
Beat: Get out! Dream eaters!
A dream eater appears in front of the approaching Beat.
Sora: Neku, that’s a dream eater?
Neku: Ah, you can fight them too, right?
Suddenly, a man in a black coat and dream eaters appear.
Sora: You!
Neku: This isn’t the time to talk!
At his shout, the black coated man faces Sora and springs down at him. Poised to take the attack, Sora suddenly becomes drowsy and collapses
Sora: ...what, why did I suddenly become so... tired...
(In the next shot, Sora appeared in a world playing a shooting game. Then in a carriage, Sora attacks at the dream eaters)
(Yen Sid)
In the beginning, while the worlds engulfed in darkness were reborn, their rebirth was in complete and the worlds fell into slumber. Even though the worlds have gates to them, the heartless could never enter through them. Therefore, in the heartless stead and another threat from the darkness existed. Those were the ones who devour dreams; the dream eaters. Within them, there are the Nightmares that plant bad dreams, and the ones who eat the nightmares; the good spirited Spirits. These are the two creatures that exist in this world instead of the heartless. These creatures that live on the opposite side of the world’s gate, with the dream eaters guidance you can find the Key to Sleep.
(During this shooting game and battles were playing
(Pre-render movie) Fighting with Xemnas, Sora/Riku, Axel, Roxas, Xion, Kairi, Namine, DiZ
Sora and Riku in Destiny Island
Sora: Yen Sid said, the worlds that cannot wake from their dreams... if they can’t wake up, they won’t be able to be reborn.
Joshua: It’s the same, however, it may be different for other worlds, if it’s only one is impossible to say, get it?
Riku: Dream?
Scene of Pinocchio being swallowed by the whale.
In the 3 Musketeer’s world: Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Sora
Mickey, facing Pete onboard a steamboat: Over there is Pete!
Joshua: Didn’t Mickey give up on you? If he gave up one you, isn’t that the same as giving up on the worlds?
Riku: What the hell are you saying?
Axel, Ienzo, Eleaus are in sight
Axel (in black coat): I came here to look, because I always get stuck with the dirty work.
3 Musketeer world
Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Sora collectively point their swords: All for one, and one for all!
Riku to Quasimodo: You can’t tell what a person is like just from looking at them. I have a friend too who can see right through me into my heart.
Sora to Joshua: It’s okay, because Riku heart and mine will always be connected. That’s why the feeling you had must be connected.
Riku before the dark hooded man: What are you?
The man lifts off his hood revealing that same face as Riku.
Riku: !! Me?!
Xemnas: Within a being with no heart, a heart dwells...
Sora: Even you guys can have hearts?
Axel, with his head raised: My name is Lea. Got it memorized? (He calls himself Lea, but he’s the black organization Axel)
Riku: You... Who are you?
In front of him is Terranort
Terranort faces Sora: Your heart also wasn’t trapped?
Sora: Your the guy from before! What did you just say?!
Terranort / Vanitas: You heart is the exception!
aibo_ac7 has viewed the new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance at Jump Festa 2012, and shared her views on the trailer. She says the video is amazing, and shares the following details.
- The trailer is 8 minutes long
- Axel appears in the trailer, but calls himself Lea. He is shown near a castle, and the marks underneath his eyes are gone
- Terra-Xehanort appears, wearing a black Organization cloak
- Vanitas, Roxas and Xion appear
- A younger form of Xemnas is shown aggressively approaching Sora
- Various The World Ends With You characters, including Joshua, Shiki and Rhyme, appear
- Pete and Maleficent appear
- There is a world based on Tron Legacy, where Sora will appear in a shooting game where he can glide
- The trailer shows some parts of the game's Opening. In the Opening, we see Kairi, and for a moment she turns into Naminé
Famitsu.com have posted their impressions of the trailer and demo. Translated by sqexgal.
Previously it was revealed that the main character from The World Ends with You, Neku Sakuraba, would be making a guest appearance. In this new trailer fellow friends Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, and Joshua will be joining him. They appear in Traverse Town, where we see Beat teaming up with a Kuma Panda Dream Eater. Joshua says, “This world is split into two parts.” There is profound meaning behind these words, perhaps Joshua knows something?
Other scenes presented included Quasimodo and Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a Tron world with a shooting-like stage where Sora seemed to glide across the screen, and a large number of scenes relating to the series. A screen where you can communicate with your friendly Dream Eaters was shown, displaying different colored Wonder Nyan and others. Maybe you can customize the colors of your partner Dream Eaters?
Also, King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy debut their roles in the new world “Country of the Musketeers”. It seems the motif of the world is based on the famous lines of the Three Musketeers, “All for one, and one for all!” But the reality of this world is different, King Mickey (Sora calls him Mickey) doesn’t seem to know Sora. It seems there must be some reason for him to be in this place? Moreover, the demo takes place in this level. The different stages you can go to include an opera house, tower, etc.
Fans of Organization XIII will be happy to know that I can confirm Axel, Zexion, and Lexaeus appear again. Zexion wears a white lab coat and Lexaeus wears his guard uniform, they seem to appear in their human forms. Axel is always shown in his Organization coat, in another scene he appears by King Mickey’s side when he’s in a pinch and says his famous lines, “My name is Lea, got it memorized?” Lea was his name when he was human. Perhaps his past will be revealed? Incidentally, it’s Maleficent who puts King Mickey in a predicament. Like Xehanort spoke of, Maleficent speaks about gathering 7 pure lights in order to rule the world…
Also, a movie scene is incorporated into the trailer, showing Sora falling through the center space of a spiral staircase, when he lands he becomes Roxas. There he thrusts a Keyblade at Xion who appears. From there various scenes are shown in succession, showing the characters in dramatic circumstances, composing a visual of impressive scenes from the series. There is a scene where Sora and Riku fight against Xehanort, but is it just for show? Also in the last part of the trailer, a young man wearing the Organization coat with the facial features of Ansem and Xemnas appears, he poses the question, “Sora, aren’t you too harboring hearts other than your own?” From the side, the face of Vanitas is exposed!
More than before the mysteries developing in this trailer make it irresistibly interesting. It will be uploaded to the official site soon, so by all means check it out when you can!
Demo Report
The demo I tried was the episode in the world called “Country of the Musketeers”. This world has a Three Musketeers motif where Sora along with King Mickey disguised as a musketeer, Donald, and Goofy. Here they protect Minnie who rides in a horse drawn carriage and are disciplined by Pete, who is captain of the musketeers. Reversely in Riku’s scenario, Riku fights hard to stop the plot aimed at harming Sora and company.
The most interesting part is the Drop Gauge displayed on the bottom right of the screen when you play. When the Drop Gauge hits zero, the characters are switched. There is a time limit on the gauge and it seems that it cannot be replenished. So in that way you play as Sora to Riku, then from Riku to Sora, being forced to switch every few minutes. Also, if you press the start button the game pauses and you can press “DROP” button on the bottom screen. Doing that drains the drop gauge instantly and you can switch characters.
Furthermore, when you switch (from here on out I will refer to switching as “drop”), a screen pops up that shows the prizes, points, etc. that you accumulated during play. From there you can prepare the characters to your advantage for the next stage. For example, you can consume a potion that Sora collected and upgrade RIku’s magic power. Furthermore it seems that you’ll be able to utilize HP prizes here.
Well, in reality, being forced to switch characters like this is sort of tense and exciting. For example, you are in a boss fight with Sora, but then you drop to RIku and advance his storyline, but then you switch back to the boss fight with Sora, and you have to deal with an entirely different battle situation. Moreover, Riku and Sora are each off on their own separate adventures, but like the aforementioned links, you really get the feeling of “being together even when you are apart.” Because of the method gameplay being used to tell the story, more than any of the other titles before this you can really feel the connection between Riku and Sora.
In battle, the new partners, the friendly Dream Eaters are confirmed. Sora has the Wonder Nyan, as well as Neko Cat, and Zou Elephant. Meanwhile Riku borrows the powers of the Dream Eaters that resemble a pegasus, frog, and goat. During battle icons of the three Dream Eaters are shown on the bottom screen, and on top two of them appear in battle. If you slide their icons around on the bottom you can switch out which partner Dream Eaters you want at any time. Also, Sora can do a cooperative action with Neko Cat where you press buttons in time like a rhythm game. Doing so makes them do a technique where they appear to dance together. Seeing Sora really get into the dance is worth seeing! Sometimes the message, “The Dream Eaters have noticed something!” will appear, and your partner Dream Eaters will stare at a specific spot. When they do that, they are indicating where you can find a hidden enemy. Along with helping in and out of battle, their accompaniment feels very much like having a friend around.
Also, enemies among other objects will display certain icons that when you press X + A buttons, you can invoke the Reality Shift ability. Playing on the bottom screen, you can use this system to make a special attack happen on the top screen. The Reality Shift feature also changes depending on the world. In the “Country of the Musketeers” world, the Reality Shift for Sora and Riku along with the three musketeers appear like a comic illustration. On a screen organized like a comic strip, you slide or touch according to the commands, and on the top screen the special technique occurs. Producing the comic strip, the animation looks like the original work, so the fans will be happy to see that.
When you press the Y button you invoke the Free Flow Action ability, during which you can slide, climb up walls or swing from poles, among various other techniques. It’s a bit difficult to become accustomed to the freedom of it. However, from the Free Flow Action ability, a wide variety of flashy special techniques are available. It’s especially fun to do when you have a large number of enemies on the screen and to just let it take over. Furthermore, using the Free Flow Action against a large enemy like the Zou Elephant you have an advantage, since you can do a spinning attack called “Blow Off” that lets you defeat it without using your hands. It’s a great feeling to let out these sorts of huge, flashy actions! In the demo when you played as Riku, you could spin off the equipment in the bottom stage of the opera house using the Free Flow Action. There is also a device that closes off the path, when you need to move in a hurry, dashing alone may not be fast enough so jumping and then going into the Free Flow Action might be better. Just for reference for those trying the demo tomorrow.
By the way, if you press the L + R buttons twice quickly, the camera switches to show behind the character, and you can check the area by moving the camera direction. This camera doesn’t move around on its own, and as soon as you press the button it returns to the regular view. Prior to this the processing seemed a little poor, but since the battle scenes are so intense in this title, it’s better not to waste space on fine tuning the camera actions. By pressing L + R and moving the control stick around you can get a good look with the camera. There is also a zoom feature which really stands out, for instance when you are doing the co-op technique with Neko Cat, the commands stand out in front of the player, or when you do the Action commands on the top screen with Sora and Riku which feel very intense. I’d like to use it to the extent that my eyes no longer become tired from looking at it.
With a simple game play and flashy techniques, the battles this time are nerve-wracking and, and refreshing. The action parts seem unlike that of a hand held gaming device and feel very dynamic. Along with a storyline that connects to Kingdom Hearts III, a trailer that features characters like Axel and Xion, I’m intrigued at what will happen to these characters “that should not appear”. I want to hurry and play it!
This time you can play as either Sora or Riku! I should I play as Riku... Well, this time in the demo you couldn’t use Riku’s reality shift “Holy Rope” ／(^o^)＼ It has changed into “Wonder Comic” for the 3 Musketeers world? This action, while the dream eater is spinning around, you face the arrow in the right direction and quickly slide forward. With the right rhythm the action is possible and it’s quite fun. You unite with the original 3 musketeers which was fun, but the points are expensive! Thus, to compare to the TGS version, the reality shift appearance has been significantly reduced. Before, when the mark appeared, you could easily gain victory just using the reality shift, so to say this was only natural...
In this part, you may be thinking “What role does the free flow play?” To report, the attack / jump free flow is very easy movement to use. If you don’t use the free flow, working with your dream eaters magic abilities, you can do some serious damage which makes the battle that much more interesting. Also, when you “drop” into Sora, Riku’s character is replaced (when the drop gauge has accumulated) which is very amusing! With the two divided in the world, and having to switch between the two, I felt that there was some bigger meaning that was hidden from us. Are we waking from a dream? Are we not awake? This connection creates a large mystery.
ArikaMiz is currently Tweeting about KH3D at Jump Festa. She is playing the demo, here is what she's saying (summarized by Oishii):
- "Waiting in line for the demo, I can finally see the trailer being played"
- "I chose to play as Sora in the demo"
- "Ah, Tuesday?" (What's she talking about here? Maybe the release of the trailer on the website?)
- "I'm puzzled over the Drop Gauge because it would increase in the beginning but during battle it never increased again"
- "The world logo animation needs to be cleaned up"
elwijf2012 have given their own impressions of the trailer and the demo. Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated it, which you can read below.
From the blog, we've learned that in one of the trailers we see Riku in the Tron: Legacy world in what apparently is a lightcycle race on the Grid, while Sora is battling against Rinzler. Sora and Riku's costumes have also changed to match the style of Tron: Legacy, so look forward to all of the iconic "Tron lines" in this world!
The pre-rendered scenes are described to be similar to a "picture book", perhaps in the way that the scenes cut to each other and pop out to fit the 3D theme? It starts with Sora falling into Destiny Islands with Donald and Goofy there, then Kairi and Riku appear. Riku seems to be consumed by Darkness, then the scene changes to Sora and Kairi in the cave on Destiny Island, then to Xehanort extending his hand out. The scene switches to Sora in his dive into heart, then he is falling down the middle of a staircase. Kairi is staring out then she ripples into Naminé.
At the bottom of the staircase lands Roxas in his casual clothes with Xion there, then they both clash Keyblades. The scene changes into Roxas and Axel fighting like in Kingdom Hearts II, then the image of Roxas is overlaid with Sora. The next scene features Sora and Riku fighting against Xemnas, then King Mickey (?) against Xehanort in the Keyblade Graveyard. After the battle scenes, it shows Sora, Riku, and Mickey, then a series of pictures come on screen one of them showing Roxas (I would guess this is Ventus and not Roxas) landing in the Keyblade Graveyard waiting, then flutter away like paper falling which ends the pre-rendered scenes.
From the blogger's second look at the trailers, they say that somebody with Isa's hair in the Organization XIII coat is seen. Also, in the demo the blogger got to play as Riku and fight the boss of the Tron: Legacy world/sub-world. They comment that some of the music is familiar throughout the demo.
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The following is a complete translation of the Kingdom Hearts 3D trailer. It was translated by Oishii of KH13.
The screen is spit in half, left is Sora, and to the right is Riku.
Sora: This is...
Riku: This is...
Sora: Traverse Town?
Riku: Traverse Town?
Riku: My clothes changed...
Sora: My clothes changed!
Sora: Riku! Oi!
Riku: Sora!
Joshua: Well, it seems like we’ve both have been seperated when arriving in this world.
Sora to Neku: Noise?... What’s your name?
Sora: Neku... Sakuraba... That’s an interesting name!
Neku: I don’t think it’s so interesting.
Shiki and Riku
Shiki while holding Mr. Mew: You came to rescue weak little me, didn’t you? Mr. Knight!
Riku: Huh, Knight?! That’s not what I am!
Shiki: ...you seriously shouldn’t be so embarrassed.
Mickey: Maleficient, what are you trying to accomplish?
Maleficient: Do you know Xehanort?
Mickey: Why would I know him?
Maleficient: I found out from him, about the worlds 7 ones of pure light. With the 7 in my grasp, the worlds would be mine.
Go to the imprisoned Pinocchio
Pinocchio: Huh? My nose, what happened?!
Jiminy: It’s surely because you told a lie.
Pinocchio: That’s not true! There was a guy in a black coat. He was messing with Sora.
Notre Dome priest(?) approaches Quasimodo: It can’t be helped that you must leave here. It is for your own safety...
Hanging his head, Quasimodo turns over in his bed.
3 Musketeers World
Sora: This is a keyblade!
Mickey: Shh! I know. It came from another world. To be honest, that’s the reason why I’m in this world to be a Musketeer.
While inclining his head, Sora replies: You don’t remember being a king in your world?
Riku opens a large chest, and inside is Minnie!
Riku: Minnie!
Rhyme with a floating moogle.
Rhyme: My memory!... I have to go back right now.
Beat: Get out! Dream eaters!
A dream eater appears in front of the approaching Beat.
Sora: Neku, that’s a dream eater?
Neku: Ah, you can fight them too, right?
Suddenly, a man in a black coat and dream eaters appear.
Sora: You!
Neku: This isn’t the time to talk!
At his shout, the black coated man faces Sora and springs down at him. Poised to take the attack, Sora suddenly becomes drowsy and collapses
Sora: ...what, why did I suddenly become so... tired...
(In the next shot, Sora appeared in a world playing a shooting game. Then in a carriage, Sora attacks at the dream eaters)
(Yen Sid)
In the beginning, while the worlds engulfed in darkness were reborn, their rebirth was in complete and the worlds fell into slumber. Even though the worlds have gates to them, the heartless could never enter through them. Therefore, in the heartless stead and another threat from the darkness existed. Those were the ones who devour dreams; the dream eaters. Within them, there are the Nightmares that plant bad dreams, and the ones who eat the nightmares; the good spirited Spirits. These are the two creatures that exist in this world instead of the heartless. These creatures that live on the opposite side of the world’s gate, with the dream eaters guidance you can find the Key to Sleep.
(During this shooting game and battles were playing
(Pre-render movie) Fighting with Xemnas, Sora/Riku, Axel, Roxas, Xion, Kairi, Namine, DiZ
Sora and Riku in Destiny Island
Sora: Yen Sid said, the worlds that cannot wake from their dreams... if they can’t wake up, they won’t be able to be reborn.
Joshua: It’s the same, however, it may be different for other worlds, if it’s only one is impossible to say, get it?
Riku: Dream?
Scene of Pinocchio being swallowed by the whale.
In the 3 Musketeer’s world: Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Sora
Mickey, facing Pete onboard a steamboat: Over there is Pete!
Joshua: Didn’t Mickey give up on you? If he gave up one you, isn’t that the same as giving up on the worlds?
Riku: What the hell are you saying?
Axel, Ienzo, Eleaus are in sight
Axel (in black coat): I came here to look, because I always get stuck with the dirty work.
3 Musketeer world
Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Sora collectively point their swords: All for one, and one for all!
Riku to Quasimodo: You can’t tell what a person is like just from looking at them. I have a friend too who can see right through me into my heart.
Sora to Joshua: It’s okay, because Riku heart and mine will always be connected. That’s why the feeling you had must be connected.
Riku before the dark hooded man: What are you?
The man lifts off his hood revealing that same face as Riku.
Riku: !! Me?!
Xemnas: Within a being with no heart, a heart dwells...
Sora: Even you guys can have hearts?
Axel, with his head raised: My name is Lea. Got it memorized? (He calls himself Lea, but he’s the black organization Axel)
Riku: You... Who are you?
In front of him is Terranort
Terranort faces Sora: Your heart also wasn’t trapped?
Sora: Your the guy from before! What did you just say?!
Terranort / Vanitas: You heart is the exception!
aibo_ac7 has viewed the new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance at Jump Festa 2012, and shared her views on the trailer. She says the video is amazing, and shares the following details.
- The trailer is 8 minutes long
- Axel appears in the trailer, but calls himself Lea. He is shown near a castle, and the marks underneath his eyes are gone
- Terra-Xehanort appears, wearing a black Organization cloak
- Vanitas, Roxas and Xion appear
- A younger form of Xemnas is shown aggressively approaching Sora
- Various The World Ends With You characters, including Joshua, Shiki and Rhyme, appear
- Pete and Maleficent appear
- There is a world based on Tron Legacy, where Sora will appear in a shooting game where he can glide
- The trailer shows some parts of the game's Opening. In the Opening, we see Kairi, and for a moment she turns into Naminé
Famitsu.com have posted their impressions of the trailer and demo. Translated by sqexgal.
Other scenes presented included Quasimodo and Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a Tron world with a shooting-like stage where Sora seemed to glide across the screen, and a large number of scenes relating to the series. A screen where you can communicate with your friendly Dream Eaters was shown, displaying different colored Wonder Nyan and others. Maybe you can customize the colors of your partner Dream Eaters?
Also, King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy debut their roles in the new world “Country of the Musketeers”. It seems the motif of the world is based on the famous lines of the Three Musketeers, “All for one, and one for all!” But the reality of this world is different, King Mickey (Sora calls him Mickey) doesn’t seem to know Sora. It seems there must be some reason for him to be in this place? Moreover, the demo takes place in this level. The different stages you can go to include an opera house, tower, etc.
Fans of Organization XIII will be happy to know that I can confirm Axel, Zexion, and Lexaeus appear again. Zexion wears a white lab coat and Lexaeus wears his guard uniform, they seem to appear in their human forms. Axel is always shown in his Organization coat, in another scene he appears by King Mickey’s side when he’s in a pinch and says his famous lines, “My name is Lea, got it memorized?” Lea was his name when he was human. Perhaps his past will be revealed? Incidentally, it’s Maleficent who puts King Mickey in a predicament. Like Xehanort spoke of, Maleficent speaks about gathering 7 pure lights in order to rule the world…
Also, a movie scene is incorporated into the trailer, showing Sora falling through the center space of a spiral staircase, when he lands he becomes Roxas. There he thrusts a Keyblade at Xion who appears. From there various scenes are shown in succession, showing the characters in dramatic circumstances, composing a visual of impressive scenes from the series. There is a scene where Sora and Riku fight against Xehanort, but is it just for show? Also in the last part of the trailer, a young man wearing the Organization coat with the facial features of Ansem and Xemnas appears, he poses the question, “Sora, aren’t you too harboring hearts other than your own?” From the side, the face of Vanitas is exposed!
More than before the mysteries developing in this trailer make it irresistibly interesting. It will be uploaded to the official site soon, so by all means check it out when you can!
Demo Report
The demo I tried was the episode in the world called “Country of the Musketeers”. This world has a Three Musketeers motif where Sora along with King Mickey disguised as a musketeer, Donald, and Goofy. Here they protect Minnie who rides in a horse drawn carriage and are disciplined by Pete, who is captain of the musketeers. Reversely in Riku’s scenario, Riku fights hard to stop the plot aimed at harming Sora and company.
The most interesting part is the Drop Gauge displayed on the bottom right of the screen when you play. When the Drop Gauge hits zero, the characters are switched. There is a time limit on the gauge and it seems that it cannot be replenished. So in that way you play as Sora to Riku, then from Riku to Sora, being forced to switch every few minutes. Also, if you press the start button the game pauses and you can press “DROP” button on the bottom screen. Doing that drains the drop gauge instantly and you can switch characters.
Furthermore, when you switch (from here on out I will refer to switching as “drop”), a screen pops up that shows the prizes, points, etc. that you accumulated during play. From there you can prepare the characters to your advantage for the next stage. For example, you can consume a potion that Sora collected and upgrade RIku’s magic power. Furthermore it seems that you’ll be able to utilize HP prizes here.
Well, in reality, being forced to switch characters like this is sort of tense and exciting. For example, you are in a boss fight with Sora, but then you drop to RIku and advance his storyline, but then you switch back to the boss fight with Sora, and you have to deal with an entirely different battle situation. Moreover, Riku and Sora are each off on their own separate adventures, but like the aforementioned links, you really get the feeling of “being together even when you are apart.” Because of the method gameplay being used to tell the story, more than any of the other titles before this you can really feel the connection between Riku and Sora.
In battle, the new partners, the friendly Dream Eaters are confirmed. Sora has the Wonder Nyan, as well as Neko Cat, and Zou Elephant. Meanwhile Riku borrows the powers of the Dream Eaters that resemble a pegasus, frog, and goat. During battle icons of the three Dream Eaters are shown on the bottom screen, and on top two of them appear in battle. If you slide their icons around on the bottom you can switch out which partner Dream Eaters you want at any time. Also, Sora can do a cooperative action with Neko Cat where you press buttons in time like a rhythm game. Doing so makes them do a technique where they appear to dance together. Seeing Sora really get into the dance is worth seeing! Sometimes the message, “The Dream Eaters have noticed something!” will appear, and your partner Dream Eaters will stare at a specific spot. When they do that, they are indicating where you can find a hidden enemy. Along with helping in and out of battle, their accompaniment feels very much like having a friend around.
Also, enemies among other objects will display certain icons that when you press X + A buttons, you can invoke the Reality Shift ability. Playing on the bottom screen, you can use this system to make a special attack happen on the top screen. The Reality Shift feature also changes depending on the world. In the “Country of the Musketeers” world, the Reality Shift for Sora and Riku along with the three musketeers appear like a comic illustration. On a screen organized like a comic strip, you slide or touch according to the commands, and on the top screen the special technique occurs. Producing the comic strip, the animation looks like the original work, so the fans will be happy to see that.
When you press the Y button you invoke the Free Flow Action ability, during which you can slide, climb up walls or swing from poles, among various other techniques. It’s a bit difficult to become accustomed to the freedom of it. However, from the Free Flow Action ability, a wide variety of flashy special techniques are available. It’s especially fun to do when you have a large number of enemies on the screen and to just let it take over. Furthermore, using the Free Flow Action against a large enemy like the Zou Elephant you have an advantage, since you can do a spinning attack called “Blow Off” that lets you defeat it without using your hands. It’s a great feeling to let out these sorts of huge, flashy actions! In the demo when you played as Riku, you could spin off the equipment in the bottom stage of the opera house using the Free Flow Action. There is also a device that closes off the path, when you need to move in a hurry, dashing alone may not be fast enough so jumping and then going into the Free Flow Action might be better. Just for reference for those trying the demo tomorrow.
By the way, if you press the L + R buttons twice quickly, the camera switches to show behind the character, and you can check the area by moving the camera direction. This camera doesn’t move around on its own, and as soon as you press the button it returns to the regular view. Prior to this the processing seemed a little poor, but since the battle scenes are so intense in this title, it’s better not to waste space on fine tuning the camera actions. By pressing L + R and moving the control stick around you can get a good look with the camera. There is also a zoom feature which really stands out, for instance when you are doing the co-op technique with Neko Cat, the commands stand out in front of the player, or when you do the Action commands on the top screen with Sora and Riku which feel very intense. I’d like to use it to the extent that my eyes no longer become tired from looking at it.
With a simple game play and flashy techniques, the battles this time are nerve-wracking and, and refreshing. The action parts seem unlike that of a hand held gaming device and feel very dynamic. Along with a storyline that connects to Kingdom Hearts III, a trailer that features characters like Axel and Xion, I’m intrigued at what will happen to these characters “that should not appear”. I want to hurry and play it!
The following is FF-Reunion's impression of the KH3D demo. It was translated by Oishii of KH13.
In this part, you may be thinking “What role does the free flow play?” To report, the attack / jump free flow is very easy movement to use. If you don’t use the free flow, working with your dream eaters magic abilities, you can do some serious damage which makes the battle that much more interesting. Also, when you “drop” into Sora, Riku’s character is replaced (when the drop gauge has accumulated) which is very amusing! With the two divided in the world, and having to switch between the two, I felt that there was some bigger meaning that was hidden from us. Are we waking from a dream? Are we not awake? This connection creates a large mystery.
ArikaMiz is currently Tweeting about KH3D at Jump Festa. She is playing the demo, here is what she's saying (summarized by Oishii):
- "Waiting in line for the demo, I can finally see the trailer being played"
- "I chose to play as Sora in the demo"
- "Ah, Tuesday?" (What's she talking about here? Maybe the release of the trailer on the website?)
- "I'm puzzled over the Drop Gauge because it would increase in the beginning but during battle it never increased again"
- "The world logo animation needs to be cleaned up"
elwijf2012 have given their own impressions of the trailer and the demo. Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated it, which you can read below.
The pre-rendered scenes are described to be similar to a "picture book", perhaps in the way that the scenes cut to each other and pop out to fit the 3D theme? It starts with Sora falling into Destiny Islands with Donald and Goofy there, then Kairi and Riku appear. Riku seems to be consumed by Darkness, then the scene changes to Sora and Kairi in the cave on Destiny Island, then to Xehanort extending his hand out. The scene switches to Sora in his dive into heart, then he is falling down the middle of a staircase. Kairi is staring out then she ripples into Naminé.
At the bottom of the staircase lands Roxas in his casual clothes with Xion there, then they both clash Keyblades. The scene changes into Roxas and Axel fighting like in Kingdom Hearts II, then the image of Roxas is overlaid with Sora. The next scene features Sora and Riku fighting against Xemnas, then King Mickey (?) against Xehanort in the Keyblade Graveyard. After the battle scenes, it shows Sora, Riku, and Mickey, then a series of pictures come on screen one of them showing Roxas (I would guess this is Ventus and not Roxas) landing in the Keyblade Graveyard waiting, then flutter away like paper falling which ends the pre-rendered scenes.
From the blogger's second look at the trailers, they say that somebody with Isa's hair in the Organization XIII coat is seen. Also, in the demo the blogger got to play as Riku and fight the boss of the Tron: Legacy world/sub-world. They comment that some of the music is familiar throughout the demo.