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Kingdom Hearts III had the biggest public presence yet a little more than a week ago at Lucca Comics & Games 2018 in Italy. The Toy Box and Olympus demos were made playable, and the whole of Villa Bottini was turned into a gigantic Kingdom Hearts hub, with each room fashioned after different Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts III with world musical themes to accompany the visuals. Andy’s room featured a gigantic table and other furniture, Arendelle had a sled and snow, The Caribbean transported visitors to the Black Pearl via treasure chests and the ship’s wheel on a model wooden stern, and fans could take pictures while hugging big cutouts of Baymax. Visiting the Villa with a special Kingdom Hearts passport and trying the demo were also awarded with lanyards, badges, and refreshing seasalt icecream. The icing on the cake for Italian fans and those around the world, however, was the Share the Magic panel hosted on Saturday, November 3, at the Chiesa di San Francesco, with Kingdom Hearts III’s executive producer and brand manager Shinji Hashimoto as special guest. Hashimoto-san not only delivered information on what to expect from Kingdom Hearts III, which is coming out in less than three months; his visit also brought a new Kingdom Hearts III trailer (which we were more than happy to analyze)! I was delighted to take part in this fantastic panel as a press member for KH13, and am happy to report the full panel to you, as follows. You can also take a look at our album for the event at the end of this article. Many thanks to other attendees, such as @omniacrystallis, @MyriamSephiroth, @ventusdream, @MABE_GlaRpF and @fioririccardo4, whose pictures and tweets have been occasionally used and shared in this report where indicated. (photo by @omniacrystallis) Presenter (abbreviated hereon to P): Hi everyone! Welcome to the Share the Magic Kingdom Hearts III panel. We're here to talk about one of the most awaited games of the next year, and, before we start, I want to thank you all for your participation and the enjoyment you showed during these Lucca C&G days. I know that many of you had the chance to try the demo, and during today's panel we're going to focus on the mechanics of the gameplay of KH3. The panel will be fully in English, and some image material will also be shown. Pictures are allowed; filming, however, is not. Without further delay, I'd like to join me on stage Sunil Godhania, Community Manager for Square Enix. (photo by @omniacrystallis) Sunil: Thank you everyone for the stage introduction! Just like you guys I'm a Kingdom Hearts fan too, I grew up playing the games, and I'm very excited, I'm very humbled to be allowed the chance by the development team to let me be here today. So please, I'd like to ask you another round of applause for the amazing development team working on Kingdom Hearts III, who give me the chance to talk you about the game! P: You can start talking about the series. P: Okay, but first, we're here for what everyone has been waiting for, Kingdom Hearts III. Its gameplay is even better than before and even more fun. My question would be to speak about those new introduced features. I'd like to remember that the game releases on 29 January on both Xbox One and PS4. Sunil: Maybe we should start with the story? Tetsuya Nomura said that one of the key themes of Kingdom Hearts III is "resolution", but also the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Saga, which runs around Master Xehanort, and I think it's a point that many of you are seeking to [finish] since the start of the franchise. (photo by @omniacrystallis) P: For the first time ever, in Kingdom Hearts III, players will be able to visit some favorite Disney and Pixar worlds. Sunil: Yeah that's correct, that is the very first time in the saga that the people will be able to join Disney Pixar worlds, and actually I'm not sure if anyone has had the chance to try the KH3 demo. Did you enjoy the demo? Crowd: "Woooo!” Sunil: Did you also try seasalt icecream? Crowd: "Woooo!” P: So, maybe we move forward to the gameplay. Starting from the Keyblade in KH3 are more fun to use and even more powerful. Sunil: Keyblades are the main weapons in KH. It’s the main [one] Sora uses. Each has its own design. Keyblade from Disney and Pixar worlds are very creative. Dev team paid close attention to details, points of interest from each film, and used references to build Keyblades from the ground up. P: The amount of detail is just impressive. Sunil: Yeah that's amazing. For example, the Toy Story Keyblade can transform into Hyperhammer and it’s the first time Keyblades can transform into alternative weapons. My favorite Keyblade transformation is Stormfall. [Brief new gameplay with Baymax was also shown on screen. Sora was riding Baymax while "racing" through the bright circles on the highway in San Fransokyo.] P: Let's move to something new in Kingdom Hearts III, the Attractions, never seen before. Sunil: [Explains briefly what Attractions are, and gives examples like the teacups and pirate ship.] (photo by @ventusdream) [According to this source, new visuals of a fight with the Fire Titan was shown.] P: About the team-up and the chances of using other characters, for example the Link system… Sunil: Yes, that's right, you may recognize this guy from KH 3D Dream Drop Distance! [Talked about basics of Link systems and how excited they are about Meow Wow’s return.] P: Let's move to something very important to the old fans of the series, the Gummiship. (In this photo by @omniacrystallis, you can see a Gummiship constellation!) (photo by @omniacrystallis) Sunil: Gummiship allows player to move from different worlds in KH games...Now there's a special battle mode, and all the surrounding are massive. P: Let's go on the minigames. I understand that in KH3 we'll have a lot of minigames. Sunil: [Talked briefly about the mini-games in Kingdom Hearts III such as snowboarding with Goofy in Arendelle and Classic Kingdom mini-games.] P: Right now, we have a very special guest joining us all the way from Tokyo to answer some of your questions about Kingdom Hearts III. So please join me to welcome him on stage, the Executive Producer Shinji Hashimoto. Hi Hashimoto-san! Hashimoto: Buonasera, buonasera! Crowd: *Cheers loudly* P: Have you enjoyed your time in Italy so far? Hashimoto: Yeah, I absolutely love Italy, thank you guys so much for having me here. P: Thank you very much for joining us here. First of all, what can you tell us about your role in the series? Hashimoto: It has been about 20 years now I've been working on the series, and for the first and second game I was just a producer, but this time around, I'm the executive producer and brand manager. P: Can you talk to us about the origins of your involvement in the Kingdom Hearts series. Hashimoto: So, I think you guys are probably referring to the elevator story. Some people think I met the CEO of Disney or something like that, but this was all before Square and Enix companies combined. The episodes goes back to when we were set in Meguro, Tokyo, and in the same building, also Disney Interactive's section dedicated to video game production was there. I ended up in the same elevator with the woman who was in charge of the games division. This woman was named Miss Yamamoto, she was a producer of Disney videogames. And she was also the one who approached me asking, "Oh, are you from Square?" Then she said "Oh I'd really love to talk to you about videogames, but, uh, of course we can't have a meeting like that in an elevator, so we should meet up in the meeting room and discuss about this." And back then, Disney was very interested into our company, and she said they really wanted to do something with us, and that's how the Kingdom Hearts series was born. I wonder why you guys are always up to [asking about] this elevator thing. *smiles* Crowd: *laughs* P: Okay now it's time for the Q&A session. We asked the community for some questions to ask to Hashimoto-san on KH3, and we selected some of them. The first one is about the story. Question: “The story of this saga has lasted more than 10 years and has been spread over several consoles. Remake and remasters aside, will there be an official summary, to get as clear as possible all the events told so far?” Hashimoto: So, we've actually already released these in Japan, but we made a series of 5 videos episodes to kind of summarize the story of Kingdom Hearts, and we're planning to release those around the world, so I hope you guys will keep following the story as it will get even more exciting in Kingdom Hearts III. Question: Will post launch support happen in the short term, or do you have in mind to support the game over several years as you previously did for Final Fantasy XV? Hashimoto: To be completely honest, I can't say too much to you guys about supporting the game post-release. However, we are considering DLCs, so wait a while, and we might reveal our plans in the future. Question: Among the revealed worlds, what is your favourite? Which of the revealed worlds was the most difficult to achieve and why? Hashimoto: Well I can say about a world that wasn’t included in previous games - for me personally, it’s Big Hero 6. It has such a huge map and there are airships with which you can fly to the skies, battle on the ground, there are so many ways you can play and enjoy your experience. In terms of what was difficult about the development, of course with new worlds that means there have to be a lot of new assets, backgrounds, new character designs; put all of that together and you get that it was very difficult. Question: Thanks to a casual meeting in the elevator the project that gave birth to Kingdom Hearts was born: did you expect this great success? Hashimoto: It has been fifteen years since now the first game came out, and honestly, in the very beginning, I didn't know what [kind of] game it was supposed to be. And of course a lot of incredible people wanted to be involved, like Mr. Tetsuya Nomura back then, and Disney has so many characters, and when I took all of them into consideration I couldn’t help but feeling something new was going to be born out of this. However, if you’re asking me if I thought it would have become such a success around the world, at the time I don’t think I would have really thought of it. Question: Will this last chapter include dramatic moments that will bring some tears to the biggest fans of the series? Hashimoto: So, this is something is really difficult to answer, as each person will feel very different… but I promise you there is lots of drama and lot of things you guys will surely be looking forward to. Question: What is Hashimoto-san’s favourite memory from his many years working on the Kingdom Hearts series? Hashimoto: So, like I keep saying, it has been 20 years since the beginning, and as the producer my job is to go around and make contracts, and to make the director and the rest of the group work on the game. Making a game is not simple, it’s actually a lot of work, and so moving on the game was done, it was produced and sold in Japan and then sold around the world. You know, when it’s your first game, the first game of a series, you’re not really sure if it’s gonna sell, but back then it didn’t even sell, it sold out, so it was mostly about re-producing and reproducing [more and more copies], and there was no digital selling option at the time. It’s kind of strange but I was very happy the game sold out, and so as a producer it was really great. P: We’re almost over with the questions. Crowd: [laughs] Question: What’s your favourite Italian dish? Hashimoto: [He said he really appreciated having dinner with ravioli alla bolognese or alla marinara (accompanied by red wine or fizzy water) and he found them so delicious he thought those were some kind of speciality or something. He might have been talking about tordelli lucchesi?] P: Any last messages? Hashimoto: I just want to say thank you to all of you for being here tonight, it’s not very long now until the game comes out, so for all of you who haven’t reserved it yet make sure you do! Hashimoto: [Asks crowd to pose for a selfie] [After this, it was said that Nomura wanted to come to Lucca as well, but he couldn’t. However, they had a trailer to show to the fans.] (photo by @omniacrystallis) You can take a look at my adventure and Kingdom Hearts III promotion through Lucca and Villa Bottini in the album below, and follow our live coverage of Lucca Comics & Games 2018 here! View full article

The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony that honors video game and content creators across console, mobile and PC gaming and esports. The program is both an awards show and a first look at the future of the video game industry. This year’s awards will take place on Thursday, December 6 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PST from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The award ceremony will be live-streamed across 40 global video networks and will include awards presentations, exclusive game world premieres and announcements, and musical performances. Nominees for The Game Awards 2018 will be announced on Tuesday, November 13, at noon EST/9 AM PST with a video announcement at TheGameAwards.com, after which fans can start voting for their favorites. News on world premieres, presenters, honorees, and musical performances will be announced in the coming weeks leading into the live show on December 6. Geoff Keighley, creator and main host of the show, has stated that this year's Awards will have the "biggest lineup yet in terms of new game announcements"; according to Keighley, "it's going to be a very exciting night filled with surprises and celebration." In an interview with VentureBeat, Keighley has also stated, "Most of the major publishers will be sharing news on what they’re doing in the future.” We're very excited to see what games will be nominated this year and what thrilling video game announcements await us; we are also hoping that Kingdom Hearts III will make the nominations for Most Anticipated Game! Recently, Kingdom Hearts III won a Future Division award from Japanese Game Awards 2018 as one of the 11 games with the best future prospect. Kingdom Hearts III was also nominated for and won several awards for being the best game/RPG/show in E3 by critics including Game Critics Awards, Unreal Engine, IGN, GameSpot, Momocon, and more. UPDATE [Nov 13, 2018]: The nominees for The Game Awards 2018 have been revealed! Unfortunately, there is no "Most Anticipated Game" category this year, it seems, but we are still excited to watch TGA on December 6! You can vote for your favorites here. View full article

EDIT TITLE/TAGS/BODY/GALLERY/ARTICLE IMAGE AS APPROPRIATE MAKE SURE TITLE INCLUDES RELEASE DATE AT THE END Alternate title: Kingdom Hearts -The Story So Far- is coming to Xbox One on [whatever date] It has been announced during the Amazon Games Black Friday Twitch stream that Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and HD 28 Final Chapter Prologue will be coming to Xbox One! These will be part of the Kingdom Hearts -The Story So Far- collection for the console. This news follows years of anticipation from those wanting the Kingdom Hearts story to be accessible to Xbox players before the release of Kingdom Hearts III on the console in January 2019. You can purchase this new collection, amongst other goodies, at Amazon.com by following the link here. Will you be picking up the collection for Xbox One? Let us know in the comments!

A new world for Kingdom Hearts III has been revealed at X018! Hundred Acre Wood will be returning as a minigame world once more! The new X018 trailer showcases cutscenes and gameplay from this new world. You can watch it below! UPDATE [November 10, 2018]: Following the release of the Kingdom Hearts III: Winnie The Pooh trailer at X018, Jeff Rubenstein had a brief interview with Shinji Hashimoto on stage at X018. You can read its transcription below, as well as watch the video from the live show here. Follow our social media for Kingdom Hearts III news and coverage! Twitter Discord Facebook Tumblr Youtube View full article

Welcome to KH13's trailer analysis for the new Kingdom Hearts III tangled trailer from Lucca Comics and Games 2018! The trailer is all about Tangled and showing off more of Kingdom of Corona; so Kingdom Hearts III and Tangled fans, let’s take a look! The trailer video starts with Kingdom Hearts III's ESRB rating; it is rated E10+, meaning it will have content that is generally suitable for ages 10 and up, in this case including fantasy violence and alcohol reference (which could possibly appear in the Pirates of the Caribbean world like it did in Kingdom Hearts II). The first moment of the actual trailer took me by surprise as the cutscene of Sora and company being surprised when walking towards Rapunzel's tower in the E3 2015 and Jump Festa 2016 trailer has changed. In this trailer, Sora looks more surprised by the appearance of the tower through facial expressions and voice acting. The characters, which were now running into the open, come to a halt at the sight of the tower. They and environment look more vibrant and realistic now than in previous trailers. The camera also zooms in at speed on the tower, giving the audience/player a more rushed sense of adventure. Sora, Donald, and Goofy slow down at the sight of Rapunzel's tower (Lucca C&G 2018 trailer) Rapunzel's tower (Jump Festa 2016 trailer) Rapunzel's tower, (Lucca C&G 2018 trailer) We can now hear the field music for Kingdom of Corona playing in the background, with a touch of the distinctive Kingdom Hearts playful sounds that you can find in Yoko Shimomura's other works in the series. The next scene shows us Rapunzel jumping from the tower and standing on the beautiful green grass. It’s so great to see little parts of the environment in high quality as it makes it look very close to the original movie in terms of graphics. Rapunzel's hair, the most complex aspect of her character design, is beautifully depicted in the escape scene, emulating its original softness and elegant physics. The scene of Rapunzel stepping on grass for the first time captures this emotional moment of her freedom seamlessly. Rapunzel stepping on grass Tangled's story is made clearer in Kingdom Hearts III throughout the trailer as we know Sora and company have to escort Rapunzel to the Kingdom to see the lights. This is a great choice of narrative as it will let the players revisit the nostalgic moments from the original movie. After finally being free from the tower, Rapunzel goes to touch the giant dandelion Heartless and all of the small dandelion Heartless pop up in a group. This is same scene as shown in the previous Big Hero 6 TGS 2018 trailer, where Rapunzel goes to curiously touch the cute puffy being. Once again these Heartless also look better and more realistic than in the previous trailers. We also get another very detailed look at the white puff close up in this scene. Dandelion Heartless The English voice acting in this scene is also something that stands out as it is hard to tell if this is Mandy Moore's voice (original voice of Rapunzel) or someone else, because it does sound like her. Mandy Moore also voiced Final Fantasy character Aerith in Kingdom Hearts, so it would be interesting to see her return for Kingdom Hearts III. Currently, it is unconfirmed if Mandy Moore will be reprising her role as Rapunzel. Once again the Nobody creatures that looks like Marluxia are shown off but this time it is clearer what they look like and how they attack. This particular creature makes a little dance characteristic of its species, showing itself off and how far production has come to bring enemies to life. The animation of this Nobody is also appealing as it’s very similar to Marluxia in terms of how it grabs its scythe. The flower theme that Marluxia and his Nobodies (and Hearltess) bring to the world matches with the original story's theme and environment perfectly, as if they were meant to be! One of Marluxia's Nobodies Finally we are able to hear more of confirmed voice actor Zachary Levi reprising his role as Flynn Rider in this cutscene. This scene is also interesting as Goofy doesn’t lift his ear in the English version, but lifts his ear to listen in the Japanese version. Flynn says Sora and company are more cut out for combat, meaning they can tag along with Rapunzel and him through the Kingdom of Corona. It is unclear whether Flynn is hiding his true intentions from them, but it can be assumed he is. Sora, Donald, and Goofy listen to Flynn (English trailer) Goofy lifts his ear to hear Flynn better (Japanese trailer) The scene quickly transitions to the Nobody attacking Sora as he dodge rolls away. Sora instinctively summons his Keyblade with beautiful petals and light - it simply looks so pretty! Sora is wielding the Ever After; this could just be for show in the trailer, or maybe we could be able to obtain this Keyblade earlier rather then having to finish the world first like in previous Kingdom Hearts titles. Sora summoning Ever After We have always wanted to see all the animation for world logos in Kingdom Hearts III, and now we can finally see the Kingdom of Corona's beautiful logo animation. Rapunzel’s golden glowing hair is flowing out of the tower window to reveal the artwork and world name. Kingdom of Corona world logo animation From here on, gameplay footage beings, featuring the battle track from the Toy Box demo. The music is upbeat, making combat more enjoyable. Situation Commands are present; the most commonly seen throughout previous trailers is Mirage Staff and Blaster Blaze. Mirage Staff seems to be shown in larger areas throughout Kingdom of Corona and has a huge attack radius in the trailer; Blaster Blaze is also shown off, looking more improved since the last time we saw it. Two new Situation Commands, both green, have also appeared on the screen. Goofy Bombardier sounds like a link attack or limit with Goofy like in Kingdom Hearts II. The Tangled Twist command could be a link attack with Rapunzel. The Situation cCommands also change into a unique style along with the command deck in the world you’re in. Situation commands We can get a glimpse of the HUDs for Sora, Donald, Goofy, Rapunzel and Flynn in combat and non-combat. Flynn can be seen with low health, while Donald and Goofy are knocked out. Character HUDs Amongst all the combat an item drop can also be spotted that looks very similar to items dropped in Kingdom Hearts II, like lucid shards and other materials. Item drop Another interesting feature is a pointing sign as Sora and company are running through the forest. It is unclear and tricky to figure out what the sign says and is there for, but it could be a direction guide orpart of the scenery. The trailer then shows Rapunzel help Sora across the gap; the player may be able to use this mechanic creatively (rather than with clear directive) to overcome obstacles. A guiding sign on the roar This next important thing spotted is sure to grab your attention; there are two new Heartless in this trailer. Firstly, there is a Heartless with a red hat and bow in its hand, standing on a rock. It shoots blue arrows and has a circle around it with a green arrow on top. In the Japan version, Sora hits it and a crown symbol appears. This Heartless is also unclear to see in the English version, but we do get a clearer view in the Japan version. A new archer Heartless The second new Heartless is even more interesting as we have never seen one like this before. While it is not shown in the English trailer, in the Japan trailer it is wearing a type of blue-white ball gown with a hat and two pink feathers. Its appearance could be related to dresses worn by characters in Tangled. It is one elegant and classy ladylike Heartless because of the way it holds its bag up after Rapunzel hits it! Another new Heartless Gameplay showing new Heartless A short glimpse of the Magic Carousel attraction can be seen, similar to the rest of the theme park rides including the tea cups ride, roller coaster and pirate ship Attractions seen first in the E3 2015 Trailer. It also shows the excellent score when a chain of ten is achieved; it looks to be more powerful the higher the score, as the notes come out from the Carousel and the Heartless are flung back. Magic Carousel An Item pick up of a Lucid Stone has also been seen while the Carousel is active. The layout is very similar to Kingdom Hearts 0.2 item obtained alert. Item picked up Memorable scenes are also present from Tangled as Rapunzel is unsure (and then sure) of continuing her journey to the Kingdom. Rapunzel is brought to life as she shows her disbelief at her own bravery. Sora and Flynnlook up as Rapunzel feels guilty while leaning on the tree. Goofy watches as Rapunzel affirms she is never going back home while rolling down on the grass. Flynn and Sora lean casually against a tree as Rapunzel swings around it with her hair, perfectly overlapping her swing attack in the trailer. It's wonderful how Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been included into this iconic scenes from the movie. They are very nostalgic as Rapunzel's inner conflict is one of the most classic and comical parts of the movie and amongst Disney animated movie scenes. "I'm going back. I am never going back! Best. Day. Ever!" Just before the ending of the trailer, Sora starts using the previously shown Situation Command called Splash Run, which was shown in the E3 2018 showcase trailer . Spash Run Finally, there are two other interesting things in the Japanese version of the trailer. First of all, the combat is based in a different area in one of the scenes, allowing us to actually see the rock quarry for the first time, which is where one of the escape scenes take place in the movie. It is unknown if this is a playable area or just a part of the background; it is also still a mystery if The Snuggly Duckling place will be a playable area or have a scene in Kingdom Hearts III. The rock quarry The second interesting thing is by far the most puzzling gameplay feature in the Japanese trailer. When Sora does the final attack for Mirage Rod/Staff (different names in each trailer), just in the bottom right corner is Flynn, Rapunzel and something we haven't seen before.It is unclear if this is a horse, another new creature, or something else. What do you think it might be? Mirage Rod We have come to the conclusion of KH13's analysis of the Kingdom Hearts III Lucca Comics & Games 2018 trailer! We hope you enjoyed every detail of it. Thank you for tagging along, and if we’ve missed anything (or if you figure out what that mysterious creature is), please let us know in the comments below! View full article

The voice actors for some of the Big Hero 6 characters in Kingdom Hearts III have been revealed, including the original voice actors Ryan Potter (as Hiro Hamada), Scott Adsit (as Baymax), Jamie Chung (as Go Go Tomago), and Genesis Rodriguez (as Honey Lemon)! Khary Payton, who voiced Wasabi No-Ginger in Big Hero 6: The Series, will also voice him in Kingdom Hearts III. The announcement alludes to further information coming soon of more Big Hero 6 voice cast in Kingdom Hearts III to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the movie today. UPDATE [Nov 7, 2018]: As a response to our staff's tweet, T. J. Miller, Fred's original voice actor in Big Hero 6, suggested that he is reprising his role in Kingdom Hearts III! He said, "I am in the video game. Never underestimate my voice... it is everywhere...(ghost noises)" View full article

The Australian Classification Board, a government body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, video games and publications in Australia, has given Kingdom Hearts III a PG rating for mild themes and fantasy violence. You can find the full report here. Last month, Kingdom Hearts III was given an ESRB rating of E10+, which stands for everyone of (and above) the age of 10, with alcohol reference and fantasy violence. ESRB have not published further rating information on this title yet. Kingdom Hearts III will release in Australia and the West on January 29, 2019. View full article

In a private The World Ends With You -Final Remix- campaign event at the Square Enix Café ARTNIA on October 30, Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura, who is also the producer of the original TWEWY title, made a surprise appearance. Here he had the opportunity to answer a few questions. One of these were concerning the possibility of a reappearance of the TWEWY characters in Kingdom Hearts III, to which he replied with a no. You can read the translated excerpt from Famitsu below (thanks to KH13 Staff NihonScribe). View full article

The official website for the Kingdom Hearts & Tokyo Skytree Tower of Light and Darkness event has been launched! This event, also dubbed in the website as - Tower of Radiance and Shadow - was announced back in September, and will celebrate the upcoming release of Kingdom Hearts III. It will take place from Tuesday January 8, 2019 through Sunday March 3, 2019 at the Tembo Galleria in the Tokyo Skytree tower, 450 meters above ground. The website shows off renders of Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in their "attack" poses. (These renders are also featured in the PlayStation 4 pre-order bonus theme for Kingdom Hearts III). You can see the graphics from the website in the album below, including the promotional poster for the event. The tower will be decorated with Disney worlds and characters from the Kingdom Hearts series, and there will be original content displayed in the Skytree Round Theater inside the tower, using 255° out of 360° of the huge screen composed of window glasses of about 110 meters wide and 2 meters high. The event plans to sell exclusive cafe menu and original goods collaborating with this event. UPDATE [Dec 18, 2018]: It seems that the Kingdom Hearts & Tokyo Skytree Tower of Radiance and Shadow event has been extended for two more days until March 5! Also, the website does not mention the exclusive cafe menu anymore; it is unknown whether they have cancelled this particular collaboration or not. View full article

Kingdom Hearts III is making an appearance at Lucca Comics & Games, the biggest comics festival in Europe! To promote the upcoming game, Shinji Hashimoto will be present at the event at the Share the Magic panel on Saturday November 3, at 5.30 PM CET (12.30 PM EST) at the auditorium in Chiesa di San Francesco. The doors will open at 5.00 PM CET. The panel will last 1 hour 30 minutes, with a signing session will follow. Entry will only be allowed to those holding special tickets, which, in limited quantity, will be distributed at the ticket office at the Teatro del Giglio from Saturday morning. It will only be available to those who have already purchased tickets and collected their wristbands for the event. KH13 News Team Associate Editor Yoshirai will be reporting for us at this Kingdom Hearts III panel! Contrary to earlier reports, this panel will NOT be streamed live. Keep an eye on this article to follow our coverage of the panel, and follow our Twitter for live updates! For those interested in cosplay, there will also be a Kingdom Comes: Final Fantasy e Kingdom Hearts Cosplay Contest on Saturday November 3 at the Chiesa di San Franceso at 12.30 PM CET! Follow all our channels for Kingdom Hearts III news and discussions: Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Discord | Youtube Kingdom Hearts III Lucca Comics and Games 2018 Tangled Trailer [ENG] Kingdom Hearts III Lucca Comics and Games 2018 Tangled Trailer [JPN] Updates Pre-event August 20, 2018 [12:27 PM CET]: Kingdom Hearts III demo announced to be playable at Lucca Comics & Games 2018! Oct 12, 2018 [10:01 AM CET]: Shinji Hashimoto to be present at a special Kingdom Hearts III panel at Lucca Comics & Games 2018 on November 3! Oct 30, 2018 [9:43 AM CET]: Giant Kingdom Key statue has been erected at Piazza San Michele! Oct 30, 2018 [1:24 PM CET]: See gallery below for even more pictures of the giant Kingdom Key! Day 1: Wednesday October 31, 2018 [11:36 AM CET] Free seasalt ice cream, since 2005! Perfect for your summer vacations. Collect yours from the #KingdomHeartsIII cart! [While stocks last] [12:00 PM CET] Attendees can enter the Kingdom with a special Kingdom Hearts III passport and visit gorgeous worlds [backdrops] such as The Caribbean and San Fransokyo! There's even a Baymax cutout! The KH3 decor looks lovely at Villa Bottini. [1:26 PM CET] Visitors enter the Kingdom Hearts III "building"! Seasalt icecream has also been spotted! There are different areas for the worlds of The Caribbean, Toy Box & San Fransokyo. Demo playtime seems to be restricted to 10-15 minutes per person. [2:13 PM CET] While waiting in line to play the demo, fans are given sea salt ice cream! (Tastes of vanilla...) [8:26 PM CET] Lucca CG 2018 has by far the best photo ops for Kingdom Hearts III! What do you guys think? [9:28 PM CET] The Kingdom Hearts III worlds' decorations inside Villa Bottini are absolutely stunning! There is a sled with 'snow' and 'ice' in Arendelle, and chests, wooden floorboards and 'shrouds' at The Caribbean! Day 2: Thursday, November 1, 2018 [12:13 PM CET] Tubbo Nubbo have published a video showing and discussing the Kingdom Hearts III getup at Lucca CG 2018! They showed off what's inside their passport (which includes world pages that were stamped as they visited each world-themed room in Villa Bottini). Visitors also received a pin. You can watch their field footage below! (At around 12:41, you can even see Sora hurling Goofy down the cliff...) [12:22 PM CET] "You're about to start an exciting journey through some of the fantastic worlds of Kingdom Hearts III. Enter to discover all the available activities, including the opportunities to take pictures, try the demo, and collect stamps to fill your passport!" [12:46 PM] A close-up picture of The Caribbean room decorations! Day 3: Friday, November 2, 2018 [1:34 PM CET] Pictures of all the pages of the Kingdom Hearts III passport can now be seen in our gallery (and in this thread)! [1:43 PM CET] Some lovely angles of the Villa Bottini entrance and The Caribbean room! [1:45 PM CET] Each room of the Villa Bottini features the battle theme of a specific Kingdom Hearts III world! [3:38 PM CET] Our Associate Editor Yoshirai has now appeared at Lucca CG 2018! Spotted some sweet Kingdom Hearts III promo at the station! Day 4: Saturday November 3, 2018 [5:30 PM CET] Kingdom Hearts III Share the Magic panel with series producer Shinji Hashimoto will begin! [5:50PM CET] Kingdom Hearts III Share the Magic panel has begun! [5:51PM CET] Photos are allowed, but no video recording. [5:52PM CET] Sunil Godhania has taken the stage! He thanks all the fans who are gathered for the occasion. [5:53PM CET] The panel will be in English, and will discuss new gameplay aspects! [5:55PM CET] Square Enix is currently summarising the series' lore whilst showing slides! One of the key themes for Kingdom Hearts III is 'resolution'. [5:57PM CET] They are currently showing a video about Keyblade transformations! [6:02PM CET] The panel showed about 10 seconds of new Baymax gameplay, and are now discussing the Link system! [6:04PM CET] New Gummi Ship gameplay has been shown, with both freeroam and on-rails sections! [6:05PM CET] Various mini-games are being showcased, including Ratatouille cooking and Goofy snowboarding! [6:05PM CET] Hashimoto is on stage! [6:07PM CET] Hashimoto says he is very grateful for his years with the KH series! He is also giving details about the elevator meeting that started it all! [6:10PM CET] Apparently, Miss Yamamoto from Disney pitched the idea of a collaboration to Hashimoto first, asking if he was from Square Enix! Disney was very interested in Square Enix as a company back then! [6:12PM CET] Q&A is starting! The staff on the panel have apparently selected several community questions! [6:14PM CET] "To be honest, I can't say too much about this before the release, but we are considering DLCs, and those will eventually be revealed." [6:15PM CET] Hashimoto says that Big Hero 6 is his favorite world! Developing new worlds was difficult, considering new assets and elements. [6:17PM CET] "16 years ago, the game was released. I wasn't expecting such a success!" [6:18PM CET] "This is hard to answer. Everyone is different, but there is a lot of drama. You guys will be very fulfilled!" [6:22PM CET] "Making a new game is a lot of work. When it's the first game of the series, you're not really sure if it is going to be a success. I was really happy it sold out!" [6:25PM CET] Hashimoto has one last message, thanking fans for coming to the panel. It's not long until the game's release, so be sure not to miss out! [6:27PM CET] A special video is being shown for the first time! [6:29PM CET] The trailer is showing more Kingdom of Corona footage, with English voice acting! [6:30PM CET] The panel has officially ended. A full report from us will be coming soon! On the field footage of Lucca CG 2018 Gallery View full article

Xbox Mexico has announced that attendees of the Xbox FanFest: Mexico City, taking place between November 9 and 11, 2018, will be able to play Kingdom Hearts III at the event! More information about the event can be found in its official announcement. Here, the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer will also host X018, "a global celebration of all things Xbox filled with news, first looks, and surprises." This will take place on Saturday, November 10, and will be live-streamed as an Inside Xbox episode from 3PM to 5PM CST, making it the longest episode to date. You can watch the X018 livestream on: Mixer Twitch Youtube Facebook Twitter Shinji Hashimoto, Kingdom Hearts III's executive producer and brand manager, has made suggestions that he will be in attendance at the event. Thanks to fan @JoniiMdG for the tip! View full article

Kingdom Hearts III will be playable at the Square Enix Games booth (#S1710, in Hall S5) at the October event of MCM London Comic Con 2018! Fans will be able to try Kingdom Hearts III on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a total of 24 pods set up in the booth; and it is expected that they will have a go at the Olympus and Toy Box demos. A sneak peak of the Kingdom Hearts III demo setup for Xbox One can also be seen in the preview video of the event, which you can view at the end of this article. A video posted by the MCM Comic Con Twitter also reveals the possibility for fans to take photos in Andy's Room with the original Kingdom Key, as well as receive a free seasalt ice cream after playing Kingdom Hearts III! MCM London Comic Con will take place in London, UK, at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre from Friday, October 25 to Sunday, October 27. KH13 News Team's Aquaberry will be representing KH13 at the event and hosting a #KH13MeetUp! This will be part of the Kingdom Hearts Cosplay Meet taking place on Saturday, October 27 at 2pm in the grass area in front of Novotel. You can find out more about this biannual meet on its Facebook group, where updates will be posted during the day. If you'll be attending MCM London Comic Con on Saturday, don't forget to say hi! View full article

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura has just announced that on Thursday October 25, at 3pm JST, patches for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX and HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue collections will be released that will allow the sharing of blocked scenes on PlayStation 4. The announcement, made on the official Japanese Kingdom Hearts Twitter, has been translated below by Goldpanner. UPDATE [Oct 25, 2018]: The patches are live in the Playstation Store. Version 1.05 for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX and Version 1.03 for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue can be downloaded. Both patches removes the share restrictions for certain cutscenes and the cinematic movies on both collections. View full news article