Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is releasing tomorrow in Japan. Our coverage of the game begins now. This news post will remain pinned at the top of the homepage, be regularly updated, and contain links to all images, videos and information surrounding the game. Spoiler warnings will be given when appropriate. Feel free to discuss Kingdom Hearts 3D on our forum.
7:57AM EST: The first image of somebody playing Kingdom Hearts 3D has appeared online, from an unknown source. Thanks to Sora- from KH13 for posting the image on our forum, you can see this below.
7:06AM EST: Thanks to okikuta for the scans, and aibo_ac7 for the find, we now have the first scans of Dream World Navigation, the Kingdom Hearts 3D guidebook from V Jump. You can see these scans below.
6:15AM EST: The March 29 issue of Famitsu Weekly magazine has included an article about Kingdom Hearts 3D. ArikaMiz has uploaded the first scan of this article (well actually, the front page of the magazine), and you can see this below.
6:10AM EST: The first photo of the Kingdom Hearts 3D-themed Nintendo 3DS console has appeared online, thanks to a user from 2ch. You can see this below.
5:29AM EST: Tomoco Kanemaki (game novel writer who wrote the story for 358/2 Days) has Tweeted in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series. Amano Shiro (game manga artist and illustrator for other media), has also Tweeted about the occasion. Thanks to goldpanner, we have translations of both of these Tweets, and you can read them below.
10:57PM EST: Oteu.net have written up more impressions of their playthrough. goldpanner has translated these updates (with one paragraph translated by Sky from KH13), and you can read this below. Slight spoilers.
I had a bath and did some stuff and then continued. Sora’s cleared Notre Dame too now.
In that time, Riku also progressed quite nicely and is up to the boss of the next stage.
Since the two of them are progressing at different speeds, the Hunchback of Notre Dame world and Tron world felt weirdly jumbled together.
7:47
So, let’s start day 2.
Riku’s The Grid turned to Lv18 after clearing it.
9:27
Not sure if the bosses are tough or I just suck...
Sora finally cleared The Grid.
Compared to Riku, just the part where there are no walls so you can’t do free flow action was harder.
10:49
Got delayed looking for Pinocchio.
I got impatient trying to go back to a world I’d already cleared with Riku. I didn’t know how to leave.
You can return to the world map from save points. Come on, put that in the tutorial... haha
13:16
I have a bit of time.
Cleared Traverse Town for the second time. It’s getting to be a habit!
Country of the Muskateers (Lv26) and Symphony of Sorcery (L34) opened up.
15:37
The first area’s story got longer and longer.
Cleared Country of the Musketeers with Riku. The area’s battle level went up to 30.
I’m glad it was long, because it had Mickey and Minnie in it.
But Reality Shift is difficult here, and I had a lot of trouble.
16:26
Finally Sora’s off to Fantasia.
Wow, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in 3D~
18:38
Finally cleared Fantasia with Riku. Lv38, was it? 36, I think.
The boss gave me hell.
19:01
Sora’s cleared Fantasia too~ That unlocked the next worlds. The next worlds... ooh...
I can’t imagine it’d be the last ones so soon. Maybe we’re at the middle climax?
19:57
Wow, I just realized it! One character can equip two Cures.
I get it. It was this tough to get here because I was using only one Cure (Although I had Cura and Curaga).
Honestly I wish I could equip 8 Curagas.
20:23
It’s taking me a weirdly long time to kill even small fry. I should level up.
21:10
意外と難しいもんだなー。
This is much harder than I expected...
21:40
IT FROZE
YOU ARE KIDDING ME
I wiped out all the stones in reality shift, but it won’t go to the next screen
OR SO I THOUGHT I mashed the bottom screen and it fixed somehow. That was close...
22:00
It’s taking ages to clear just the one map haha
Are the enemies too strong or am I too weak... ? Sora is lv34 right now, and I think Riku was about lv36.
Are the Dream Eaters all at Lv50 or something ahh haha
7:36PM EST: A reminder that Kingdom Hearts 3D has appeared in the April 2012 issue of Nintendo Power. The article reveals that the game will include various flashback scenes from Xehanort's perspective. Click the link to see a scan.
2:41PM EST: Tetsuya Nomura has Tweeted on the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter about the 10th anniversary of the series, and the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D. He had this to say, translated by Pavlovic Sarah from KH13.
Tomorrow is the relase of Kingdom Hearts 3D. There are rumours in my surrounding that it is the masterpiece of the series. I also heard people say "KH is not KH when it does not kick in walls" as a (bold) impression. Be sure to try it out. This time there also will be a way to see the Secret Ending even if you play in Beginner Mode, but you have to give your best.
11:00AM EST: As of this moment, it is March 28, 2012 in Japan. This, of course, means that the Kingdom Hearts series has turned 10 years old! Exactly 10 years ago, Kingdom Hearts was released on the PlayStation 2 for the first time. The Kingdom Hearts series has come a long way since then, and we're very happy to play such a large role in the community. Congratulations to Square Enix, Disney and everyone who has contributed to Kingdom Hearts for the milestone, and thankyou everyone for visiting KH13.com!
The playthrough impressions below have been updated, and are (at the time of writing) completely translated. This is thanks to both goldpanner and Pavlovic Sarah from KH13. Enjoy the read!
9:42AM EST: Oteu.net have obtained a copy of the game, and are currently writing up complete impressions of their playthrough. This is, of course, in Japanese, but we are lucky enough to have received a translation from goldpanner and KH13's Pavlovic Sarah. You can read this below. Slight spoilers.
First of all, someone asked: "This game can be used with the Slide Pad, will you use it?"
Sorry, I don’t know what that is. I don’t think many people would know that word... Do you mean the thing you can use when you play Monster Hunter?
The game modes you can choose from are: Beginner Mode / Standard Mode / Proud Mode.
I don’t think you can change once you’ve started. I’m on Standard.
19:06
Woah... right from the start you are thrown into the tutorial.
I do not know what's going on!! lol
Y for the Free Fall, X and A for the Reality Shift... I think it said.
I don’t properly remember, so I’ll mash the buttons and see what works… haha
19:10
The first pet is Wonder Meow. If you invest 4/6 of the items you are carrying, it will become Lv. 3 early. HP 56, Attack 11, Magic 14, Defense 8, I think.
If you poke him and play with him, Ability Points will increase lol
19:25
The scene changes from Sora to Riku.
Here I obtained the Dream Eater "Koumori Bat"
19:30
Impressions so far. The control system feels good, and it’s definitely Kingdom Hearts.
But, a lot of things pop up in the command tutorials, and I got pretty confused.
This is very unusual for a Square Enix game. I think it would have been better if they'd had things come up bit by bit as the game advances.
20:10
It is pretty hard to figure out where to go next. Haha
20:38
While wandering around without a clue i finally got it.
I already knew that you could play both Sora and Riku, but it turns out you don’t play them both at the same time with them working together, they each have their own separate stories happening.
For example, Sora and Riku start in 1st District. If Sora goes 1st District → 2nd District → 3rd District and then ‘Dops’, that doesn’t mean Riku then is in 3rd District. He has to start from 1st District and go on from there.
Even if they are in the same place, the cutscenes that occur and the items that are dropped are different.
There are also parts of the map that only one or the other are able to access.
I Dropped during a boss battle and I wasn't able to calm down during playing the other character because of this… lol
20:44
Sora cleared Traverse Town.
It seems that you can choose between La Cité des Cloches (Lv.8), The Grid (Lv.14) and Prankster's Paradise (Lv.18).
Those are the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tron: Lecacy, and Pinocchio worlds, in that order.
I’m starting with Notre Dame.
20:50
Sorry, I haven’t had the 3D on up until now haha I just switched it on
Aaaah the Notre Dame cutscene is so pretty!!!!
But my eyes are going to get tired so I turned it off right away lol
If you’re only playing for a little but, be sure to turn it on!! But tonight I’m in for the long haul so... haha
20:57
I knew you stroked your pets in this game, but wasn’t there an erotic game like this...
I’m not that into erotic games, but it could be pretty similar to Doki Doki Majo Shinpan.
21:16
Riku cleared Traverse Town too.
Here for Riku we have La Cité des Cloches (Lv.8), The Grid (Lv.14) and Prankster's Paradise (Lv.20).
I wonder why just the level of Prankster's Paradise is different..
21:25
Impressions after clearing the first area (Traverse Town).
It was pretty hard to figure out where on the map to go in the beginning, but once i got used to the game system it wasn't that difficult.
It should be easy to get used to the button connections, because they consistently make it so you get your chance when they go pink.
A to begin an attack, but sometimes instead you will need Y. Roll with Y and touch a wall or pole and ‘ping’!
Combat is geting closer and closer to the Dynasty/Samurai/Whatever Warriors games. Haha
The powerful attacks released with Y send the enemies flying, which is exhilarating.
You do not have to target enemies all that often, the damage range is pretty wide.
That said, you really do have to use your head in boss battles. I’ve only done two so far, though.
The picture quality is good. It made me really want a The World Ends With You sequel on the 3DS.
22:14
Ugh... shoulders gone stiff. With the 3DS, Mario and Mario Cart make my shoulders stiff too… Leyton doesn’t though!
23:19
Notre Dame boss was really tough... He deals massive one-shots.
This is a pretty hard boss for an opening level. I wonder if I’ll be able to clear them all.
23:32
Huh, Riku’s Cloches level turned into Lv12.
I guess the enemies get tougher once you’ve cleared a stage.
9:00AM EST: Thanks again to a user from 2ch, we have gotten our first look at the instruction manual and game cartridge for Kingdom Hearts 3D. You can see this below. We will also have the first impressions of the game up in a few hours, so please look forward to it.
8:32AM EST: Our first images of the box containing the Kingdom Hearts 3D Nintendo 3DS bundle have appeared online, thanks to an auction listing on Yahoo. You can see these below.
6:47AM EST: While Kingdom Hearts 3D has not yet been officially released in Japan, there have been some reports of people purchasing the game early. One 2ch user has uploaded a photo of the game on their desk, showing that there have been early sales, and implying that we'll probably start seeing some videos very soon. Be excited!
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