And onto Day 2, where things continues to happen...
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Right off the bat we got two gameplay vids with Riku in Le Cité de Cloches courtesy of Gamespot, HD-ified by KH13.com. Thanks! The first focuses on Riku taking out a coupla Dream Eaters while the second shows the boss battle over Notre Dame. LET'S DO THIS.
(YouTube link) Ain't it purdy? We start off outside the cathedral with Riku kicking some general ass. You can see a load of assorted tents scattered about the place in the courtyard bit, which looks particularly lovely, especially considering how this is just a demo. One of his enemies is that blue panda thing Sora was fighting in the gameplay vid from the Nintendo conference on Monday. There are other enemies, but because of the sparkly lights it's hard to make them out. Ah well. Also worth noting is how the enemies become transparent if Riku is behind them, meaning they don't clutter up the camera and leave you completely blind. 'Tis nice.
Oh, before I forget... Turns out Riku doesn't gave a unicorn, which saddens me greatly. :C looks more like a ram stag thing. Here...
I think it has a horn on its head, though, which is something at least. I was looking forward to a proper unicorn, though... Unicorns are cool.
Continuing. Riku enters the cathedral, looks around for a bit and continues beating up random Dream Eaters. One off the first enemies seems to suck Riku up into his stomach using a vortex...or something. I s'pose this'll look snazztastic in 3D-o-vision. Also, something I'd like to point out, as Riku swings Way to the Dawn, the streaks of light it leaves behind goes from black to white, signifying Riku's preference of twilight over light or darkness. :3 Love it~
At 1.47-ish you can see Riku using Blizzard or Blizzara or whatever. Hurray for Riku, finally getting himself some elemental magic besides just plain ol' darkness! Good for him. I bet Riku will be really good at magic to complement Sora's whack-it-with-a-Keyblade philosophy.
Riku continues beating up Dream Eaters aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnddddddddd... End of vid. Before I move on to the next onto the next vid, I'd just like to point out that those pillars you see in the cathedral are apparently ideal for Freeflowing. According to the demo summaries I posted yesterday, anyway. Would have loved to see that in this gameplay video, but I'll happily take what we have.
NEXT VID!
And a boss fight commences. Gotta say, I LOVE this boss. Like how in the start it's there's a load of colourful confetti around it like in the movie during the Festival of Fools. And, and how its weapons are shards of stained glass, like the stained glass windows of Notre Dame? Yeah...
Almost immediately, the player activates Dual Link and Riku's Keyblade becomes all magical and elongated. Looks like the Bladecharge Command style from BBS and Riku's Final Limit in Days.
(Thank you, KH13!) Fairly magnificent looking, in any case. As expected, Riku's companions disappear as you activate Dual Link. Also worth noting is how the pink gauge underneath their icons begins to deplete, meaning the 'Drop' gauge (if it's still called that) fuels Dual Link. What's curious, though, is that it takes Riku a good while to revert back to mere-mortal mode, long after the two Drop gauges have been completely depleted at any rate. Not sure if this is just 'cause it's a demo, or... Also also worth noting when Riku's companions come back is that their gauges seem to refill when they get hurt, so kinda like MP Rage in that aspect I guess.
The player forgets they have Cura in their deck and dies, leading to a Continue screen. Standard KH, nothing new here. At about 1:28, we see Riku air sliding. He does it rather gracefully, fully twisting his entire body midair. Looks nice. At about 1:53, the player starts spamming the 'dodge' button. It looks like Riku doesn't use the standard Dodge Roll, but rather does a handstand thing instead. Like Aqua's cartwheel, but not sideways. Sora will most probably retain Dodge Roll, though, for which I am grateful. Love me ma Dodge Roll... I'm looking forward to seeing all the ways Sora and Riku are different in terms of gameplay.
More fighting. More dying. The player realises they can fly during this boss battle and does so. Riku uses some shiny attacks. Boss just throws Riku back to earth like it's nothin'. Vid ends. *applause* Oh, and Notre Dame looks particularly lovely from a birds-eye view. :3
Oh, something very important I haven't mentioned yet...
Y'know that curvy emblem from the DDD website? Yeah. Looks like it does denote 'good' Dream Eaters/Sora and Riku. It's seen floating above Riku's companions, on the back of the bat's back and on the back of Riku's jacket. (Side note: I left the map in the shot to show how not-awful it is. Also, we can now see that the bar under the party members' icons say 'Link'. Hurrah.) In contrast to the curvy emblem for 'good' Dream Eaters...
...We have they spiky emblem for 'bad' Dream eaters. I think my previuos theory of 'Dream' and 'Nightmare' enemies wasn't that far off. Maybe there are naturally good and bad Dream Eaters denoted by whatever emblem they have. Though I'm not too sure why Sora and Riku would adopt the curvy emblems too... Hmm. (Oh, seeing as Riku does indeed have the emblem on his back, I retract my comment yesterday that it no longer looked like Sora had one. He most probably does now if Riku's sporting it.) Someone on a forum suggested that Dream Eaters could naturally be good, but someone *COUGH*XEHANORT*COUGH* had created a new breed that were evil to do evil things regarding sleep. Evilly. *opens dictionary.com* Huh. That's actually a word. Go fig. Anyway, that theory is entirely plausible. Imma stick with the Dream/Nightmare theory for the moment, though.
I'm also fond of Riku's new icon. WHICH SHOWS HIS SHORT HAIR. In case you didn't notice. BECAUSE IT'S SHORT. SO SHORT. *still not over it*
Next up, we gots another impression. But this time, it describes Reality Shifts as well. Impression by GameWatch, translation by SQEX GAL. Thanks! (A lot of this we already know, so if you want to skip to the bit in bold that's fine. I won't judge. No, that's a lie. I'll judge a lot. *judging*)
As the first title of the Kingdom Hearts series for the 3DS, there are high expectations and for the first time in the world, a playable version is on display for the public. Since the crowds are expected to be very congested on the general admission days, if you’d like to try it out you are best off arriving early. When you try out the demo, you’ll have a choice of playing either Sora’s or Riku’s scenario.
Good advice.
Sora’s scenario, takes place in the series familiar “Traverse Town”. Sora seems to be separated from Riku when an orange haired boy appears. The boy is participating in some sort of game and is looking for a partner. There is a timer counting down engraved on the palm of his hand indicating the game is in effect. Riku’s stage is “Le Cité des Cloches” where Quasimodo from the Bells of Notre Dame appears.
Aw. Neku. <3 OH. Something I didn't say in the last post. I really insanely hope we get a TWEWY-themed Keyblade off Neku that would be PERFECT. Especially if it was designed by CAT or something~ OH. Also not said in last post. When Riku gets to Traverse Town, d'you think he'll run into anyone from TWEWY? My money (and my dreams) are on Joshua. He would annoy the hell out of Riku. Aw. 'Twould be brilliant. Or if they have Shiki instead, she better have Mr Mew with her or SO HELP ME GOD. OOH. OR MINAMIMOTO AS A SECRET BOSS. NECCESSARY. ...Ugh, I'm getting too pumped for TWEWY in KH. My hopes are gonna be shattered. But I really hope someone else puts in an appearance. Preferably Joshua, just for the lulz. Utter condescending patronising prick, but I love him all the same~
One of the biggest characteristics of the series is how easy it is to play and create a bright, flashy display of action in battle; and that’s apparent within 10 minutes of playing this title. What was particularly fun was utilizing the “Free Flow Action” option which allows the player to do abilities like gliding, kicking off walls, and swirling around poles in an instant, creating high speed action. Since it offers the most refreshing action elements of the series with the capability to move limitlessly through the sky while unleashing a flurry of attacks, you could say that the action aspects have evolved remarkably.
Good to know that Freeflow isn't too difficult to ull off. I may have hope yet... I really wanna just play this game already, just to get a feel of it at least. Humph.
The method of utilizing the lock on markers has changed. By pressing the A and X button at the same time, you can invoke a “Reality Shift” which makes use of the touch panel screen and changes the operation mode of Sora and Riku. Since the battle can be interrupted while invoking a “Reality Shift”, you can mess with the touch panel screen without becoming impatient. The other uses of the touch panel include directing your 2 companion creatures called the Dream Eaters. Since all you have to do to put them in action is touch their icons, it seems that they will become powerful weapons in battle.
Here we go. New junk. Too bad I don't get it at all. O_O 'Operation mode'? What's that supposed to mean? Is this DDD's version of Command styles/Drive Forms? I just...what? No idea what it means... But pressing A and X, that's gotta be awkward and cumbersome. Perhaps the Slide Pad and its newfangled shoulder buttons will be of assisstance. And activating the companions by tapping their icons, eh? As in, activating their super special awesome abilities, or...? Hmm.
Furthermore, from the trailer shown in the open mega theater, we can confirm that there is an AR function that allows you to playfully interact with the Dream Eaters. Not only is the action enjoyable, but it seems there are various systems to look forward to in this title.
Good to hear. Wait, 'various systems'? As in, brand new features achieved with the 3DS such as AR or something completely different? Curiouser and curiouser.
Eh, I think that's it for Day 2... Well, Spheal and Woobat's names have been released; Wandanyan and Koumori Bat, respectively. No idea what the first one means, but 'Koumori' I'm pretty sure means 'Bat'. So Riku's companion has been dubbed Bat Bat. Nice.
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So, yeah. Two days gone. Gawd, to think the amount of junk we know now that we didn't only 48 hours ago... Had someone told me Neku would be in DDD, I would have punched them in their lying face for teasing me. BUT IT'S TRUE. IT'S SO VERY TRUE. :D
tl;dr: New gameplay vids of Riku kicking ass in Le Cité de Cloches (City of Bells, Hunchback of Notre Dame). His unicorn is actually a stag ram thing (sadly). Epic boss is epic. Dual Link in this boss battle makes Riku all Bladecharge-ified; also epic. Dual Links use both party members and drains their 'Drop' gauge. Riku and companions share the curvy emblem while 'bad' Dream Eaters seem to sport the spiky one. Something called Reality Shift does...something; still pretty confused by that one. Spheal is now Wandanyan and Woobat Koumori Bat. JOSHUA IN KH WOULD BE EPIC TO THE POWER OF INFINITY. You know it would.
Ugh, I'm tired... Just one episode of Doctor Who will do tonight. Pffffftttt, nah, I'm watching at least two. I already know I'll be too weak to resist. My knees still wreck, by the way. Stupid bruises being sore...
Laters.
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