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First off, Twitter updates regarding DDD's gameplay from Tetsuya Nomura himself (game director/builder of much hype). Translation courtesy of andriasang. Thanks!
Sounding very nice indeed. Can't wait to get my hands on it!
When you're attacking enemies, objects and enemies will sometimes be highlighted with a cursor. Press X and A simultaneously, and you can perform special attacks through the lower screen.
Ohhh... Right, right... Much clearer now. Thank you. That whole 'operation mode' thing yesterday confused the hell out of me. This is a lot better. A and X still sounds rather cumbersome, but I can't wait to see what kind of badassery you can unleash using Reality Shift. Also, interesting name... Will it have more significance? Also also, this appears to be the first time KH won't completely ignore the second screen, giving it a higher honour than simply being reserved to maps and menus. Awesome! :D
In DDD, you fight along side demons known as "Dream Eaters." In the TGS demo, you start off with two of these in your party. As you build up a gauge, the Dream Eater's icon will begin to flash. Tap the icon on the lower screen, and you'll be able to do a team attack. You can also team up with both Dream Eaters simultaneously.
Sounds simple enough. How do you 'build a gauge', though? From Riku's gameplay yesterday, it seemed like they get 'Drop' simply by being bashed around a bit, similar to the ability MP Rage. There has to be an easier, less violent way. ...Right?
That was a nice dose of info. Official, too. Next we got some Sora gameplay! Exciting stuff indeed, lads. This is bits and pieces of Sora's demo as watched and commented on by editors of Famitsu. Here's the original, and here's a nice cropped version. Higher quality, too. Thank you, Kidchurro!
You hear the editors commenting in the background? Yeah. You're gonna hate them in a minute. I mean, thank you so ever insanely much for uploading the video, but did you really have to drown out the really important bit? *sigh* Whatever. Footage is footage. I shouldn't complain.
Ok, so we kick off with the logo closely followed by Sora on that balcony bit of the First District in Traverse Town. I'm glad we'll be able to go back and visit old skool Traverse Town as well as get acquainted with shiny new areas. Sora's looking at his brand new geddup all '........Um?', which I find freakin' adorable. Especially as he's testing out his new swanktastic shoes by hitting them against the ground... Anyway. Up pops the new Traverse Town logo.
Even from the logo, you can tell Traverse Town is a lot bigger this time round. For comparison...
Yeah. Oh, hey. I never noticed the Lady and the Tramp fountain was in the logo as well... Cute.
Continuing. Sora jumps up onto the railing and starts calling for Riku. A voice comes from behind him and he sees someone just hangin' from the roof. Sora is understandably startled and falls like the graceful chap he is. (I have to say, I found this scene hysterically funny. I love Kingdom Hearts <3) Sora is in pain while the mysterious lad in white shorts jumps down in a flurry of badassery and reveals that he is no other than NEKU. SAKURABA. Man, I still cannot get over how truly epic this is...
Of course, the editors are also shocked by this new revelation. Not shocked into silence, though. Shocked into uncontrollable laughter, meaning it's damn near impossible to hear Neku's voice. Anyway, Neku yanks Sora's hand to see if he has a timer. Even though Sora is wearing gloves, Neku concludes he does not and shows his own, which is ticking down from 43 minutes 10 seconds. Can I just say at this point that Neku is really working those three dimensions. I thought it'd be weird and ick-tastic, but it actually looks great. Loving his facial expressions as well, like the ULTIMATE POUTING MANOEUVRE he executes as he grabs Sora's hand at 00:42. Also, if you listen reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally closely, you can kinda make out Twister playing in the background, especially at 00:52. EPIC. Aw, more TWEWY soundtrack to come, please!
A bunch of japanese comes up, explaining Free Flow Action and...some badass technique from pressing A. I dunno. Before the gameplay wonderment starts, we get a nice glimpse of Sora's back.
We can see that Sora's Wandanyan (which I have since discovered means 'Wonder Meow' - riiight...) has the curvy emblem floating above it like Riku's companions. Sora's panda pal prolly has the same thing over it, too, but you'll notice that Sora's back has a severe lack of symbols of any nature, which is weird considering Riku does. Huh. may change in the final product, of course, but... meh.
Sora runs forward and automatically draws his Keyblade when the 'bad' Dream Eaters show up, like in KHII. Of note: Dream Eaters appear to erupt from a flurry of purple hearts.
Huh. ...Wait, what?? O_o ...Aaaaanyway, Sora performs a Dodge Roll over to the lamp post but, instead of crashing spectacularly, he starts twirling around on the pole by the teeth of his Keyblade, hits everything in sight as he climbs said pole, leaps off performs a Doughnut of Doom on the ground. All while covered in a shower of light. ...I am crying tears of joy, right now.
THIS.
GAME.
LOOKS.
AWESOME.
Anyway, Sora continues killing a lot of things while I watch in awe/lust. He jumps and crashes to earth all while light dances around him and is just generally amazing in every conceivable way. The scene skips ahead to that part of Traverse Town that was at the end of the last gameplay video of Sora from the Nintendo conference, where Sora continues to kick ass. There appear to be tiki torches in this area or something. Huh. More on this place later.
Another change in scenery and Sora is standing in front of a little bridge that leads to a wrought iron gate. Wonder Meow is skipping along in front of it while Sora attempts to jump into the area to the right of him. Doth my eyes deceive me, or is that a river? Are we getting to swim again?! Sadly, the video cuts again before we can see if that bit is water or concrete.
Next up is a boss which appears to be a kangaroo boxing box thing(?) Sora does many a badass thing that I cannot describe accurately enough without fangasming all over this footage, so I won't. I have to say, though, Sora's flashy abilities are dealing a LOT of damage. Me like.
A Dual Link is activated and it shows Wonder Meow truly FREAKIN' OUT in front of some stars, or something. We can also see Sora's panda pal rather clearly here as well.
It seems to be similar to that blue panda enemy, just, y'know, orange. We can also see that it has the curvy emblem on its stomach and, most probably, the same floating emblem over its head. After this little scene, SORA IS RIDING AROUND ON A GIANT WONDER CAT WREAKING DESTRUCTION IN HIS PATH. YES. MERE WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW EPIC THIS IS. NOR CAN MERE CAPS LOCK. It's even doing a solid amount of damage. Calling it now. BEST. PARTY MEMBER. EVER.
Boss dies. Gameplay over. Well, that was fun.
Now, some more fun. The transcript of the trailer from Aibo from FF-Reunion and a translation from SQEX GAL. Thank you sooooooo friggin' much, guys~!
It starts in Yen Sid’s room, Yen Sid sits in his chair behind his desk, Sora and Riku stand across from him. They appear in their KH2 outfits, but Riku’s hair is short.
Riku cut his hair after KHII?! O_o Weird... Apparently in Japanese culture, cutting your hair signifies a new beginning, so that's probably what he was doing. Like Zuko and Iroh after leaving the Fire Nation. (Oh, how I love Avatar...)
Yen Sid: From here, you two will take the Mark of Mastery Exam.
Sora, surprised: Even without taking it, no one can beat me!
Riku, facing downward: Having walked the path of darkness, I wonder if it’d really be right for me to wield the Keyblade. You’d have to make sure.
Sora: Riku…
Sigh... I love how Sora's so cocky from the get go. To be fair, he has just defeated Organization XIII and saved the universe. Twice. But, of course, Riku has to dampen the mood with his emo darkness whinging... Don't get me wrong; I love Riku. But he's just CONSTANTLY moping about falling to darkness or betraying his friends or whatever. Get over it! Everyone else has. Sorry, I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining again.
Yen Sid: Let’s open the keyhole of sleep. If you return back to this place, then I will consider you Masters.
O_o ...Uh, Yen Sid, being a little harsh there, dontcha think?! 'Be a legendary master or die'. All Eraqus made Terra and Aqua do was fight some bubbles and then each other. It wasn't even a duel to the death or anything... Anyway, keyhole of sleep? Veeeery interesting...
Sora on a balcony, opens his eyes.
Sora: Huh, where is this place? My clothes changed! More importantly, where’d Riku go?
Sora leans over the balcony and calls out in a loud voice: Heeeey! Riiiikuuu!
A mysterious boy descends from a rooftop in ambush: You’re so loud, stupid Noise.
Sora is surprised and jumps off the balcony.
Neku: You’re Sora…
So this bit is the beginning of Sora's demo. And Neku knows Sora's name? Who could have told him? I suppose he could've 'opened up his senses' and read Sora's mind, but Sora wouldn't have been thinking his own name at that precise moment. And the '...' at the end makes it seem more like he's only pretty sure it's Sora, as if someone gave him a brief description. Maybe it was an omnipresent awesome sauce condescending know-it-all...? I'm just looking for an excuse for Joshua to be in this game, to be honest. But Neku knowing Sora's name is definitely weird.
Yen Sid: A large number of Heartless reside in the world of darkness. Instead, in the world submerged in sleep there exists a particular key. That is, creatures who consume dreams known as the Dream Eaters. Searching for the Dream Eaters will guide you to the key of sleep.
Ok, lotta information to cope with. Hmm. So, DDD takes place in some sort of Realm of Sleep, then, where Sora and Riku must use the Dream Eaters to find the key of sleep. Right. AWESOME. So, a key of sleep, eh? Is this the 'key' to ending everyone's sorrow? That is, giving everyone their 'birth by sleep'? Ooh, I'm getting excited, lads! :D
(Battle action sequences of Sora are shown.)
Neku, showing Sora the scarlet mark on his hand: This is from the Game. All the participants have it engraved upon them. I can’t afford to lose this Game!
Sora: I don’t really get ‘the Game’, but maybe I can lend a hand?
Hmm. Neku saying 'I can't afford to lose this Game' sounds awfully familiar... Didn't he say that to Joshua on Week 2? Does this mean... Nah, I won't put it here; pretty spoilerific. But does this mean this is Week 2 Neku? Would explain how he knows so much about the Game already... Also, 'Aww' to Sora offering to help. I love Sora. Just how after 3 seconds of meeting someone he's already all 'OMG LET'S BE FRENDZ K??'
The scene changes to the world of Notre Dame.
Riku is speaking with Quasimodo who is holding Esmeralda: Quasimodo, where did the creatures go?
Quasimodo: To the rooftop of cathedral.
A Dream Eater with wings like a butterfly descends upon them.
Quasimodo: Me too, me too, I’ll fight too!
Oooh, Quasimodo wants to fight, eh? Does this mean that at some point we may get him as an assisst character or something? I HOPE SO. *psyched*
The scene returns to Neku and Sora in a plaza inTraverse Town.
Sora, facing Neku: Come to think of it, I didn’t ask your name.
All of a sudden several Dream Eaters appear around them!
Neku with surprise: Dream Eaters!
Sora: That’s a weird name.
Neku, pointing at the Dream Eaters: Not me, those!
Aw, I don't know how many times I've heard some variation of that joke, but this was friggin' hilarious to me. Neku's gonna HATE Sora and his obliviousness. With a passion. A loathing deep enough to rival his hatred of even Joshua. And a swarm of Dream Eaters showing up when Neku's still around. Does this mean... *GASP* WE'RE GETTING NEKU AS AN ASSISST CHARACTER IN THE FINAL PRODUCT?!?! That. Would. Rock. I mean, Neku would be all badass with his pins and Psychs and whatnot and be awesome and amazing and wonderful~ THE HYPE IS SO HIGH RIGHT NOW. Oh, hey. How did Neku know what the enemies were called? First Sora's name, now this... Sora didn't know what they were, so Neku couldn't have read his mind. I'm gonna be so disappointed if it's not Joshua telling him these things.
Yen Sid: Opening the keyhole of sleep, along with finding a new power, the power locked in sleep will become revealed as well.
Ok, confusing Yen Sid talk is confusing. Geez. *rereads an embarrassing number of times* ...Ok, b going on this journey through the Realm of Sleep by hopping through the keyhole of sleep, Sora and Riku will find some awesome new power. The power to defeating Xehanort? Or just the key of sleep mentioned earlier? Hmm... This will require some time to think about.
The trailer continues, showing the AR capabilities of playing with the Dream Eater pets, it’s a lot like Nintendogs. Maybe you’ll be able to raise them up too?
Perhaps. I love how the trailer just skips so suddenly from real serious shizz to friggin' Nintendogs... Should be a bit of harmless fun, though.
In a laboratory somewhere, a researcher has collapsed.
From this person’s POV, Xigbar becomes visible.
Xigbar: Xehanort! Have your memories returned?
From the view of the person referred to as Xehanort, a Keybalde appears before his eyes.
O_O HOLY. CHEESE. I...what...words fail me...huh? More info on this later, so I shall speculate there. VERY EXCITING, THOUGH.
The screen then blacks out theatrically, displaying KINGDOM HEARTS 3D Dream Drop Distance, Spring 2012.
And that's the trailer in a nutshell. Very exciting stuff indeed, lads, very exciting stuff indeed...
We also got some bigger pics and translations of said pics. Thank you, krexia of KHInsider!
(Bigger-ified here) Ain't it purdy? Now, that screen of Sora in Traverse Town in that new area...
The sign on the building on the left definitely reads 'Colosseum'. Some people have speculated that this is an entryway to Olympus Coliseum, but I beg to differ. For one thing, this Colosseum spells it right. For another, just above the archway you can see two crossed battle axes and a crest of sorts; outside Olympus Coliseum there are two statues with swords and shields. Axes seem, to me, more medieval than ancient Greek, especially with a crest there. I think this is just an entrance to the tournament area of DDD, or something similar to the Mirage Arena in BBS. I've no idea what that building on the left is, though. Looks Christmas present-y, though, but not at all Christmas Town-y. If that makes sense. Which it doesn't. Ah well. Also, loving the Dream Eater float thing!
Now, translation.
Dream Eater:OOH, INTERESTING. I wasn't that far off with my Dream/Nightmare versions of enemies, then. Hurrah for me! *toots own horn* So I guess this is what the two emblems mean, then. Curvy denotes nightmare-eating Dream Eaters and pointy dream-eating Dream Eaters. Nice, nice. Not sure why Riku is sporting the symbol while Sora isn't, though... Also, if Dream Eaters are the Heartless of the Realm of Sleep, does that mean we're defo not getting any Heartless in this game? That would make it the very first game in the series not to, I think. Huh. They'll prolly show up somehow, though, like in a cutscene or something. Pesky Heartless...
The Heartless are made up of darkness.But in "The world enclosed by sleep" a different darkness exists.Monsters who eat dreams, "Dream Eaters"These are divided into two types:"ones that eat dreams and plant nightmares" and "ones that eat nightmares"
MOAR PICTURES!
(Bigger-ified) PLUS TRANSLATION!
Darkness becomes light,So, we've known those first two lines for some time now, but the rest is Very Interesting Indeed. So, by opening the Keyhole of Sleep in these dream worlds, they're released and plonked into existence. YESSSS. One of my biggest concerns with this game was that it would just end like 'It was allll a dreeeaaaam...' in a similar fashion to Re:coded being confined to a journal. As in, that it wouldn't really matter in the grand scheme of things seeing as how it didn't really happen. But if these dream worlds are gonna come into proper existence, grand.
Light falls into darkness.Dreams are connected to each other--When you fall into a dream,You are connected through dreams to "The world enclosed in sleep".And if you open the "Keyhole of sleep" in that world,The world will be released--
Hmm. Connected through dreams to the realm of Sleep, eh? Does that mean if you wake up, you lose this connection and have to start over? Maybe this is why you swap between Sora and Riku. If Sora wakes up, Riku can still continue on his end. Or something. No, nevermind, scratch that. Sounded better in my head...
And, finally, the trailer itself. Thank you sooooooooo friggin' much, Sora Syndrome of Tumblr! Now, here's a HD yet very skinny version by Kidchurro and a zoomed in yet lower quality version, also by Kidchurro. Which one to go for... Because I only have a small space here, Imma go with the zoomed in one. Thank you, Kidchurro!
We start off in Yen Sid's office with KHII Sora and Riku but SHORT RIKU HAIR IS SHORT. MY GAWD, SO VERY, VERY SHORT. LOTTA SHORT UP IN THIS HURR.
Anyway. It cuts to Destiny Islands, back to that same scene from the January trailer masquerading as an actual scene from KHI. Yes, the dialogue was in the first game (something like S: 'But how far could a raft take us?' R: 'I dunno. But if we have to, we'll think of something else') but that was at sunset, on the paupou fruit tree and with Kairi. I suspected somethingfunny was going on then, but now something DEFO is, what with SHORT RIKU HAIR and all.
As opposed to the January trailer...
I know that things have obviously changed since the January trailer. I just used a sceen from that trailer to show how Riku's hair is much shorter from KHI to the new trailer. Short Riku hair must mean that it is post-KHII Riku in KHI Riku clothing on Destiny Islands. Someone on KHInsider Forums suggested that it could be the tutorial of the game, or something to do with the data inside Sora showing a memory of KHI days of yore but with DDD Sora and Riku acting it out almost. Very curious, whatever it is.
Things get very weird indeed as Sora falls through a load of clouds beside a swirly vortex kinda thing. I assume it looks awesome in 3D. OH. Just remembered that quote from Nomura-san ages ago describing a Riku that flies and a Sora that falls. Could be related to this. Maybe this is the entrance to the Realm of Sleep? *shrugs* I think Sora's wearing his DDD geddup, though.
Onwards to Traverse Town. It's basically an abridged version of the demo when Sora meets Neku. Then gameplay happens. Sora wall jumps, swings on a lamp post, kicks Dream Eater ass, zips down a wire in another new bit of Traverse Town, kicks some more Dream Eater ass, rides around on Wonder Meow, breaks a glass floor of sorts and messes up a boss. All while looking good. Damn good. CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS GAME. Riku kicks some ass too, of course. We see him in Le Cité de Cloches doing exactly that.
Back to Neku grabbing Sora's hand. Then off to Quasimodo carrying Esmerelda. They look good in 3D. Hurrah. Back to Neku and Sora swarmed by Dream Eaters. Dream Eaters that look like this...
You may have noticed that it's basically a re-coloured version of Sora's Wonder Meow. It also has the pointy emblem on it, meaning it must be a dream-eating Dream Eater. So I guess this means there are good and bad variations of the same Dream Eaters. This also goes with the fact that Sora's panda-like companion looks like an orange version of the blue panda enemy. Interesting.
It then shows Wonder Meow and Bat Bat chillin' in real life thanks to the AR camera of the 3DS. Hurray.
Next bit shows a Reality Shift and Holy Rope, I think. We can't really see more than a large white blur at the moment, but I'm sure in the HQ version Squeenix will be releasing later it'll be a lot clearer.
Aha, now we get to the fun stuff! We see the same computer room in Radiant Garden where you enter Space Paranoids in KHII. It's from a first person perspective and the person seems kinda disorientated. It's actually Braig, not Xigbar, who asks 'Xehanort! Have your memories returned?', as you can tell by the red scarf thing he wears. Then Xehanort BUSTS OUT MASTER XEHANORT'S KEYBLADE. You can't really tell, but it kinda looks like Xehanort starts charging at Braig at the end. Logo, release date, the end.
Geez, ok, where to start... Lotta people are disagreeing about when this scene takes place. Some are saying that this is during DDD when Xigbar is his Somebody Braig again and Xehanort has returned. Others argue that this is after BBS when Xehanort and Braig are still apprentices under Ansem the Wise. I'd be inclined to go with the latter. It seems like they had just finished an experiment of sorts to get AX's memory back and it worked somewhat well. Well enough for him to summon a Keyblade, at any rate. Not just any Keyblade. MASTER XEHANORT'S KEYBLADE. Hopefully this means we'll be getting more insight into AX's past, maybe seeing how the memories were split between Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas or why Xemnas chose not to use a Keyblade.
Because the quality isn't great and we can't really tell what's happening, I won't speculate as to why AX seems to be attacking Braig at the end. Other folks claim to see two bodies on the floor as well, but for the life of me I can't make that out. When the HQ version comes out, I'll give it another go, but until then I'll restrain myself.
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...And that, folks, was the day known as three. Zetta fun times. BUT I'M SO TIRED. IT'S 3:00AM ALL UP IN THIS LOCATION.
tl;dr: More info on Free Flow Action, Reality Shift and Dual Link; sounding awesome. Sora gameplay looking amazing, as is 3D-ified Neku. Traverse Town looking MASSIVE. Translation and blurry video of trailer; both awesome. Neku knows Sora's name and about Dream Eaters; is he more important than other cameos? GAWD I HOPE SO. Dream Eaters are split into two; those that consume nightmares and those that consume dreams and plant nightmares. These are the enemies of the Realm of Sleep. Sora and Riku must enter this realm through dreams and release worlds into existence by unlocking the Keyhole of sleep. They also have to look for a key to sleep by searching for Dream Eaters. At the end of the trailer, Xehanort busts out Master Xehanort's Keyblade, though it's currently unknown when this took takes place.
So...tired... This one took forever... Too much KH goodness!! D: Though I'll be coplaining in a few weeks 'bout the utter lack of KH goodness available... C'est la vie~
Last day of TGS tomorrow. Hopefully Squeenix will release the trailer in HQ, and maybe have some more KH surprises up their wily sleeves. Did I just describe sleeves as wily? You bet I did. ._.
Laters.
EDIT: Blogger's being weird. Making my entire post in bold font, adding superfluous lines where I did not require superfluous lines... Try to ignore it. I certainly didn't try to do any of this, and none of it comes up in the 'Edit post' bit, so I can't get rid of it... Bothersome.
EDIT: Blogger's being weird. Making my entire post in bold font, adding superfluous lines where I did not require superfluous lines... Try to ignore it. I certainly didn't try to do any of this, and none of it comes up in the 'Edit post' bit, so I can't get rid of it... Bothersome.
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