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Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] coverage: Day 2

Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has finally released in all regions. We've been waiting for this moment since the game was announced at E3 2010, and now that it's finally here, our coverage of the game has begun! We'll be filling the next month with plenty of guides, articles and discussions that will add to your Kingdom Hearts 3D experience. If you want to contribute something, whether it be informational or a work of art, please make a topic on the forum or contact us. Now, onto day 2:

Today's coverage

We've decided to create a "guides" section on KH13, where we will create pages for the best guides submitted to the guides subforum in the KH3D forum. Here's what we've created so far, with more to come every day:
- Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Link Portal Guide (thanks to Nermin Colakovic)
- Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Trophy Guide (thanks to Rebel_Dante)
Look forward to more tomorrow! For those of you who were unable to buy the Mark of Mastery Edition, we also wanted to share with you our scans of all artwork and AR cards included in the box.

- As always, you can discuss anything Kingdom Hearts 3D in our dedicated forum. Please remember to follow our spoiler policy! Here are today's featured topics:

Poll of the Day: Do you think KH3D is the best Kingdom Hearts game yet?
Discussion of the Day: What's your KH3D story?
DChiuch

Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] coverage: Day 1

Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has finally released in all regions. We've been waiting for this moment since the game was announced at E3 2010, and now that it's finally here, our coverage of the game has begun! We'll be filling the next month with plenty of guides, articles and discussions that will add to your Kingdom Hearts 3D experience. If you want to contribute something, whether it be informational or a work of art, please make a topic on the forum or contact us. Also, we welcome to you leave your feedback in the comments. Now, onto day 1:

Today's coverage

As this is the first day, we'll link to some existing things:
- Our Kingdom Hearts 3D forum
- Release celebration topic (formerly the release countdown topic)
- KH3D video sharing & discussion topic
- Our exclusive Mark of Mastery Edition unboxing and Kingdom Hearts 3D review
New stuff:
- KH13 guide: List of obtainable trophies in Kingdom Hearts 3D (with names & method), thanks to Nermin Colakovic

- As always, you can discuss anything Kingdom Hearts 3D in our dedicated forum. Please remember to follow our spoiler policy! Here are today's featured topics:

Poll of the Day: Have you purchased Kingdom Hearts 3D yet?
Discussion of the Day: Share pictures of your Dream Eaters here!
DChiuch

Kingdom Hearts 3D now available in North America

As of today, July 31, 2012, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is now available to purchase in North America. Happy KH3D day, everyone! Check out our review, discuss the game on our forums, and look forward to our extensive guides and coverage! Please let us know if you have any requests.
Update: Square Enix have released a new launch trailer to coincide with the North American release of Kingdom Hearts 3D. You can view this trailer below, or download it from our video archive.

DChiuch

KH13's exclusive Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] review

Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is almost here! It's been a long journey since the announcement at E3 2010, but we are now very close to the North American release of the game on July 31. A countdown has been set up below, showing the time remaining until midnight in EST-- but for now, we'd like to treat you to our official review for Kingdom Hearts 3D. Keep reading a detailed, spoiler-free and hopefully unique and interesting view on everything Kingdom Hearts 3D.

KH13's Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] review


Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] was first announced in North America at E3 2010. This is the first Kingdom Hearts title for the Nintendo 3DS, and the first time the main storyline has progressed beyond Kingdom Hearts II. For this reason, Kingdom Hearts 3D is highly anticipated among Kingdom Hearts fans, and as the true lead-up to Kingdom Hearts III, is given very high expectations-- and wow, does it exceed those expectations! Kingdom Hearts 3D is an amazing addition to the series, and in many ways, could be considered the best Kingdom Hearts title yet. Read on to see us review every aspect of the game.
Gameplay - 9.5/10
Flowmotion: Gameplay is where Kingdom Hearts 3D is truely notable. There are many new features in the game that add to the experience, but first, let's talk about the new battle system-- which, as you know, is named "Flowmotion". Flowmotion allows the player to interact with the environment and gain momentum from it, including all walls, rails and poles; leading to an extremely fast-paced and fun to use battle system. It's hard to imagine such a system working and feeling natural, but Kingdom Hearts 3D has definitely pulled it off. The worlds of the game are definitely designed to take advantage of this-- each room is quite large and open, and has countless parts with which you can interact. The end result is that Flowmotion is a great innovation in the series, leading to a free, amazingly fun, fresh and unique style of play.

Dream Eaters: This time around, your party members aren't characters-- they are creatures called "Dream Eaters", or specifically, the friendly "Spirit" versions of them. This is another great innovation to the series. Many reviewers have likened the idea of Dream Eaters to "Nintendogs meet Pokémon", and they would be absolutely right. You are able to create new Dream Eaters (from recipes, or from mixing items and commands), and switch around your party of them. You can name them, try and collect them all (if you wish), and train the ones you do have. You can play a great minigame with them, and even verse others locally (in Flick Rush), pet them (which is extremely cute and fun), and unlock new paths in their Ability Link board. Dream Eaters definitely add a lot of new aspects of the game for you to play around with, and it's almost certain that you'll find a lot of enjoyment in a few of these. This is a great take on the concept of party members.
Drop System: The Drop System is Kingdom Hearts 3D's answer to telling two extremely connected, yet individual stories, at the same time. This way of showing both Sora and Riku's stories at once is in direct contrast with Birth by Sleep's method, which of course, completely separated the stories. While both have their strengths and downfalls, the Drop System is definitely an improvement. Instead of splitting up the story, and making everything out of order, it instead strongly encourages you to get both stories at the same time-- while still giving you the freedom of dropping at will, and focusing on a certain character's story if you wish. It leads to, perhaps, the biggest complaint of the gameplay-- that the Drop System can cause some inconveniences and annoyances when you are forced to drop, but it is still an interesting innovation that enhances the game's ability to tell the story (more on this in the next section).

Kingdom Hearts 3D offers great innovations in the gameplay department, and really improves upon the new direction taken by the series in Birth by Sleep. The Command Deck is still present, and along with new features such as Flowmotion, Reality Shift, the Dive System, Dream Eaters and the Drop System, Kingdom Hearts 3D is very notable and could be considered to have the best gameplay yet in a Kingdom Hearts title.
Story - 9.5/10

Kingdom Hearts 3D is the first major continuation of Sora and Riku's story after Kingdom Hearts II, dealing with the return of Master Xehanort, and the taking of the Mark of Mastery exam by Sora and Riku. Starting in Traverse Town, Sora and Riku must explore the Realm of Sleep, and open the seven sleeping worlds' Keyholes. Kingdom Hearts 3D is a step in the right direction for storytelling. Like the first game of the series, Kingdom Hearts 3D really intertwines the plots of each individual Disney world, and the plot of the overall story. Each world mixes Sora and Riku into the story smoothly, and reveals more about where the game is leading. We don't want to give too much away, but we'd like to say that Kingdom Hearts 3D ends with some of the most epic revelations of the series. It's a great lead-up to Kingdom Hearts III.
The most common complaint with the story of the Kingdom Hearts series is that the plot has become too convoluted, and that there are too many dependencies on other games for the casual player to just jump in. While this is still somewhat apparent here, Kingdom Hearts 3D has taken some great steps to make sure that the game is accessible to both Kingdom Hearts regulars and newbies alike. Firstly, the fact that the story starts with a clear goal-- Sora and Riku need to become Keyblade masters in order to defeat Xehanort-- makes it easy for a casual player to get involved. They are given a clear motivation for the story, with a clear view of who the villain is, and this allows them to understand what is going on without knowing the backstory. Secondly, the backstory is then explained in an optional way, allowing new players to learn, while not disrupting the regulars-- the Memento system, containing both flashbacks and summaries of past games, gives the player a way to learn more about the series if they choose. The fact that the Kingdom Hearts universe is so vast is definitely a strength of the series, and Kingdom Hearts 3D does a great job of making this accessible to people in the best way.
Presentation - 9.5/10

The presentation and soundtrack of Kingdom Hearts titles have always been a strong point of the series. The Kingdom Hearts series is known for pushing the technical boundaries of the consoles it appears on, and Kingdom Hearts 3D is no exception-- it really is a beautiful Nintendo 3DS title. The worlds are large and filled with interactive elements, unlike the stale rooms and hallways that some previous games have contained. Flowmotion allows for a large degree of freedom when exploring worlds, and this leads to some great fun platforming. While it would be nice to see some more "life" in the worlds, such as having NPCs appear like in Traverse Town of the first game, the environments are still stunning and graphically impressive. The 3D effect is a nice touch, enhancing what are already very attractive visuals.
Like always, the music of Kingdom Hearts 3D is amazing. This time, composer Yoko Shimomura is joined by both Takeharu Ishimoto (who also worked on Birth by Sleep) and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Tracks from previous games in the series have been given a nice change to fit the theme of the game, and the new tracks appearing contain some of the best in the entire series. As expected, the music of Kingdom Hearts 3D contains the same dramatic, emotional and nostalgic feelings that we are used to with Kingdom Hearts titles.

Replay value - 8.5/10
Even though Kingdom Hearts 3D only sports seven different playable worlds, each of them is vast and contains a lot of things to do-- the main story of Kingdom Hearts 3D is about 20-30 hours long, and there is significant replay value contained within the game. The Dream Eater and Dive Systems provide many optional goals and records for you to achieve. There is a trophy system within the game, which gives you a lot to work for, as well as other optional features such as Flick Rush, Link Portals, a "Critical Mode" after completing the game, and so on. Kingdom Hearts 3D will definitely hook you in, leave you playing for ages, and cause you to bring your 3DS with you everywhere-- as it's done for me.
Conclusion - 9.25/10
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is a great addition to the Kingdom Hearts series, and an amazing gift for the 10th anniversary. As the true sequel to Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D has exceeded all expectations and will give regulars and new fans alike a great experience for the Nintendo 3DS. We hope you enjoyed our review.
DChiuch

KH13 coverage: Kingdom Hearts 3D NA Launch Event

The Launch Event for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] in North America has ended, at the Nintendo World Store in New York. You can view all of our coverage below. Did you attend, or would like to discuss the event? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Live updates

1:00PM EST: There are now 510 photos of photo booth shots on the official Kingdom Hearts Facebook. Check it out! Also, the event is now over. We hope you enjoyed our coverage, and we will keep you updated as more photos and videos appear.
11:45AM EST: Kingdom Hearts 3D has sold out at the Launch Event! A photo of the last copy being sold has been added to the photos below.
11:05AM EST: The standard copies of Kingdom Hearts 3D have almost sold out!
11:00AM EST: The official Kingdom Hearts Facebook have uploaded a set of 64 photos showing people taking their photo in the photobooth with the official Keyblade replica. Update: There are now 86 photos! Looks like this will keep being updated.
10:40AM EST: More photos, including a fan writing a message to the Japanese development team, and the t-shirts given out as raffle prizes
10:30AM EST: Many more photos are being uploaded! In particular, this photo shows the special gift that fans attending were able to receive-- an argyle pouch for the Nintendo 3DS.
10:00AM EST: Over the last hour, many new photos have been uploaded by the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter. These have all been added below (and will keep being added as more appear). The line to get into the event is about two city blocks long!
9:10AM EST: The Mark of Mastery Edition is apparently already sold out!
9:05AM EST: The first copy of Kingdom Hearts 3D in North America is sold!
9:00AM EST: The event has started!
6:00AM EST: Photos of the event setup have already started to appear online! The official Kingdom Hearts Facebook have uploaded 3 photos, and both AsianKHGuy from KH13 and Ryan from KH13 have uploaded more photos. You can see all of these below. The Nintendo 3DS pouch that you see is the "special gift" to be given out to fans at the event.

Photos


Videos

- soraFF213 has uploaded a video showing fans lining up for the event.
- Another video of the line from Square Enix.
- MegamanNG has uploaded videos of the event, including 16 minutes of footage actually inside. You can watch this below.

- soraFF213 has uploaded many videos from the event, including a video showing the merchandise he received in-depth. You can watch this below.

DChiuch

Kingdom Hearts 3D demand higher than expected in Italy

Nintendo of Italy have reported availability problems with Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] in Italy. While the game released on July 20, 2012, it was only available in English in the country-- however, the demand for the game was higher than expected, leading to a shortage of copies. Nintendo of Italy provided the following statement, which has been translated and summarized by Mpl90.
Unlike Nintendo fo Spain, they decided to distribute the game even if not localized in Italian, but the demand has been far bigger than anticipated, thus the availability problems. However, new copies are coming soon ( but not as soon as in other periods of the year, since it's summer now).
DChiuch

GameStop to hold Kingdom Hearts 3D demo event

GameStop have announced that they will be holding a demo event for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]. All details regarding the event can be read below:
Visit select GameStop stores Saturday, 8/4 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm to get hands on experience with Kingdom Hearts 3D for the Nintendo 3DS! Customers can also take advantage of the great trade-in offer that will be running during this event. Customers can receive an extra 30% in-store credit when trading in any games towards the purchase of Kingdom Hearts 3D. Offer valid through 8/06. While Supplies last.
DChiuch

Destructoid interviews the Kingdom Hearts 3D sound team

Destructoid have interviewed the team responsible for creating the music of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]-- Yoko Shimomura, Takeharu Ishimoto and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Thanks to them, you can read this interview below.
Yoko Shimomura (studio midiplex)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: Street Fighter II, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Radiant Historia, Kingdom Hearts --On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and the vital role her music has played
I am delighted to hear my music has been vital to the success of the series. These ten years flew by very quickly. Kingdom Hearts has allowed me to experience lots of moments both sweet and bittersweet. Despite the different circumstances, I was always involved with Kingdom Hearts one way or another during these ten years. Kingdom Hearts means a lot to me and it is a huge part of my life.
--On reuniting with composers Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
Perhaps the director chooses which songs work best for each of us. But sometimes I can be selfish and request if I can work on specific songs (laughs)
--On the challenge faced when creating new songs versus referring back to fan favorites
I put a lot of care into keeping the overall image consistent, even if the song’s arrangement changed drastically. So when working on the song, if I felt something was not right I started all over without hesitation (laughs). I always try to put myself in the players’ shoes and try to be mindful of how people would want to hear past songs.
--On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on her approach and compositions
The 3DS hardware is truly brilliant. In the past for Nintendo handheld games I’ve always used the internal sound source to compose. This time, I was able to use a streaming source which enabled me to compose music in a higher quality, which I am very happy about. I didn’t particularly change the way I used sound in the game at this time, but I think it will be a good idea to pursue trying out new types of BGM in the future.
--On her favorite pieces from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack
I hope you’ll forgive me for saying this, but I have a difficult time answering this type of question. For me, all songs are like my children, and it’s hard for me to pick just one song and talk about it. Sorry.
Tsuyoshi Sekito (Square Enix)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: Chrono Trigger (PlayStation), The Last Remnant, performer in The Black Mages and many Square Enix releases
--On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and his experiences with the series
I worked on some of the songs for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. I am happy to hear that this year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series and at the same time I recognize how widely the series has been supported by fans around the world. I would be honored if given the chance to work on the series again, and I would like to engage in the project with this great responsibility in mind.
--On being reunited with composers Yoko Shimomura and Takeharu Ishimoto
With regards to delegating work, I didn’t have any meetings with Shimomura-san. Primarily, decisions were made during my meetings with the team. In these meetings, depending on the situation, I also discussed things like “Do I write new songs?,” “Should I do any music arrangements?,” and “Will it be better to have additional songs?,” etc.
--On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on his approach and compositions
Including 3D visual effects, there was so much expressive power that it was difficult for me to believe it was for a handheld game device. As such, I also tried to create songs with a fair amount of scale sensitivity. In this particular project, this is especially true of colorful and speedy songs for Dream Eater battles and Dive Mode. I feel that I was able to better emphasize a larger scale of the world without worrying about the the small game screen on the portable device. So far, there have been no unforeseen challenges (laughs).
--On his favorite pieces from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack
Since I am emotionally attached to all the songs, it’s difficult to choose one song … but if I had to choose one, I’d say I enjoyed ”Ice-hot Lobster” the most in the beginning. Now with the game released, after listening to all the songs, “Majestic Wings” is one of my favorites. When listening to it individually it sounds simple, but after listening to a series of several other songs it sounds more free and bold and it gives me energy (laughs).
Takeharu Ishimoto (Square Enix)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: The World Ends With You, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Dissidia series, Kingdom hearts: Birth by Sleep
--On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and his experiences with the series
When you say it’s ten years, I realize time flies. The Kingdom Hearts series has played a big role in my personal growth since I’ve been involved with it, even before I started working on the music composition for the series.
--On being reunited with composers Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito
The project team sent both Sekito-san and me a list of songs ahead of time. When I saw TRON on the list, I told them I would work on it. As for THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU, it’s not like we could’ve had Sekito-san work on it, so I’ve gone ahead and handled it myself.
--On his arrangements of the three tracks from The World Ends With You
It wasn’t that I tried to fit them into the Kingdom Hearts sound. They’re pop songs to begin with, so I figured I would arrange in a way that’s right for everyone.
--On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on her approach and compositions
I actually didn’t really think about it (laughs).
--On his favorite piece from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack
I would say “TWISTER.”
DChiuch

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