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PlayStation Experience, Sony's annual PlayStation-oriented event, has been given a date and a venue. Occurring on December 3rd and 4th, PlayStation Experience 2016 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Attendees of this event will have the chance to get hands-on experience with the PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation VR, and much more. At PSX 2015, Square Enix made a surprise appearance with . Earlier this year, it was revealed that fans will be receiving announcements regarding Kingdom Hearts III "this winter", so it is likely that Square Enix will return for this year's PSX, along with plenty of Kingdom Hearts III news. Will you be attending PlayStation Experience 2016? What do you think Square Enix might have in store? Let us know in the comments!

A new Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue trailer premiered at Tokyo Game Show 2016. Both story and gameplay received significant attention, with a particular focus on new areas and plot points. Since the footage shown within this trailer tends to jump from game to game, our analysis will cover each game as a whole instead of covering the trailer chronologically. Playing in the background is a brand new remix of Hikari/Simple and Clean, created especially for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, titled "Hikari/Simple and Clean -Ray of Hope MIX-". Unfortunately, this version of the song has yet to be released to the public. Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD While there is very little completely new footage shown in the Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD segments, this is the first time the game's HUD has appeared in a full trailer, confirming that what we see is likely to be the final design. Additionally, one very significant HUD element appears to be missing; the Drop Gauge. In the 3DS version of the game, as well as in the playable demos that we have seen thusfar, this infamous timer forced players to swap between characters when it was depleted. If a player happened to be fighting a boss as the Drop Gauge was completely expended, they would return to that particular character's story only to find that the game had sent their character back to the point before they entered the boss fight. One small detail to consider is that Drop Gauge orbs (the teardrop shaped objects in the screenshot below) still appear to be present within the game, as Riku defeats an enemy which drops them. However, this could be a temporary situation, as the removal of the Drop System is most likely a recent development which has not fully been completed. What are your thoughts on this mechanic's supposed removal? Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover The footage focusing on Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is split into two parts. In the first, we see Ira and the Master of Masters discussing Ira's goal of saving the world, a goal which the Master of Masters seems skeptical of. Meanwhile, Aced approaches Ava with the offer of an alliance between the two of them and a third participant. Ava then plainly states that alliances are forbidden. Afterwards, Gula is shown in an alleyway, musing on the advice to "trust no one but himself". Invi, meanwhile, ponders about circumstances which will lead to the Keyblade War. What do you think each Foreteller's goals and motivations are? In the second part of the Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover footage, we see Aced grabbing Gula and asserting that they don't know who the traitor is. The next scene shows Ava asking Invi if she considered that her actions could be making things worse for those involved. The final scene of this segment shows the Master of Masters closing a Book of Prophecy, remarking that Luxu should "get started" and will have to "go alone from here on out". Luxu responds by asking about the Foretellers' involvement in what his master has planned. What do you think the Master of Masters could be planning, and how are his apprentices involved? Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- This portion of the compilation received a significant amount of screen time. The CG footage we see is most likely taken from the opening of the game, especially when considering the abstract, surreal nature of many of the scenes. When examining the in-engine footage, the graphics appear to be slightly improved from the previous trailer as well as the playable demo for the game. This slight graphical touch-up could be the very first evidence we have of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue's compatibility with PlayStation 4 Pro. The gameplay segments in the trailer take place within Dwarf Woodlands, one of the worlds which was sent to the Realm of Darkness sometime after the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. We see Aqua heavily relying on magic and triggering the Blizzagun command style, though it does not get activated. We also see her battling a living reflection of herself, which was seen earlier in the trailer. Within another area, we see Aqua strike a pillar in order to seemingly reverse the gravity as well as phase through the floor. This allows her to reach a previously inaccessible treasure chest. If this sort of variety in the gameplay is common, what other types of unique gameplay mechanics would you like to see? The story elements take place in two segments. First, Aqua is seen in Dwarf Woodlands approaching Snow White's glass casket, which is revealed to contain Ventus. The next scene shows Aqua facing the Magic Mirror, with the mirror's spirit nowhere to be found. As her reflection begins to come to life, it taunts her by asking what point there is in continuing to fight, ending with "Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's". Aqua refutes this claim, preparing to battle this living reflection. The second segment of story-related footage takes place at the end of the trailer. We see Aqua falling through an abyss, accepting her fate to become one with darkness. As her Wayfinder slips out of her hand, Mickey appears and returns it to her, asking if she is okay. In the trailer's final scene, Aqua is shown confronting a group of Darksides in Enchanted Dominion. These Darksides release orbs of dark energy into another very massive orb of dark energy floating above them. The trailer ends with the game's logo and release date, January 12th, 2017 for Japan and January 24th, 2017 for the rest of the world. If you would like to delve into further analysis of this trailer, be sure to check out Soraalam1's analysis video! Additionally, you may be interested in the following discussion video, featuring KH13 staff member Toominator! What are your thoughts on this new trailer? Did you notice anything that we may have missed in our analysis? Please let us know in the comments!

UPDATE: Information about Lea’s Keyblade Keychain bundle from the Japanese Square Enix E-store has been translated by Goldpanner! The original article follows: A bundle has been posted on Square Enix Japan's online store, featuring both Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue as well as a new, limited version of the Lea's Keyblade keychain, in red as opposed to the normal version's silver. This bundle will retail for 9,304 yen, and Square Enix Japan is currently accepting pre-orders. You can view the listing here. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue releases on January 12, 2017 in Japan, and on January 24, 2017 everywhere else. An extended Tokyo Game Show 2016 trailer was released today.

At the PlayStation Meeting on September 7th, Sony announced an enhanced version of their PlayStation 4 console, the PlayStation 4 Pro. This new console is incredibly powerful compared to its predecessor, demonstrating the capability to render upcoming games in 4K resolution. Other improvements were also shown. For those without a 4K television or monitor, some developers are implementing an alternate mode for their games, allowing them to be rendered at 1080p with a significantly improved framerate. Additionally, some previously released games may also be patched to offer improved performance on the PlayStation 4 Pro. While it is not confirmed that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue or Kingdom Hearts III would benefit from the new hardware in terms of either resolution or framerate, Sony had this to say about the new features: "Following PS4 Pro's launch on November 10 in North America, virtually all new PS4 game releases moving forward will be able to take advantage of PS4 Pro capabilities on day one, or in some cases shortly after launch via a downloadable update." Sony notes that while most games will certainly utilize this new hardware after the launch date, there is the slight possibility that some games, possibly including the upcoming Kingdom Hearts releases, might not take advantage of it. However, since Final Fantasy XV was also shown briefly at this event, chances are high that Square Enix will fully utilize the improvements that the PlayStation 4 Pro offers. The PlayStation 4 Pro launches in North America on November 10th, 2016. Do you think we will see enhanced performance in games such as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments!

The Kingdom Hearts series has a chance to appear at two upcoming Sony-related events. The first is known as the “PlayStation Meeting”, and is occurring on September 7th at 3:00 pm ET at the PlayStation Theater in New York City. It is worth noting that Sony may also use this conference to unveil the next PlayStation 4 console, codenamed “Neo”, where Kingdom Hearts III could very well appear on the list of games for this new powerful console. The second event is part of the annual Tokyo Game Show expo. Sony will be hosting their pre-TGS press conference on September 13th at 4:00 pm JST (3:00 am ET). Several games have made appearances at Sony's TGS-related conferences in the past, and the Kingdom Hearts series is no exception. Additionally, a trailer presence for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue was recently announced for Square Enix's lineup at TGS, so this trailer could very well be present at this press conference. KH13 will be livestreaming this event on our YouTube channel, so be sure to tune in! What do you hope to see at these events? Let us know in the comments below!