I incessantly ramble on about one of my favourite video game series ever in the history of ever in the fervent hope that someone actually might give a damn. Zetta fun times. Updated fortnightly(-ish)!
I'll try to keep this short. I got a lotta work to do. BUT there's a lot of KH goodness as well, and I don't want to have to recap it all before Jump Festa begins... Anyway.
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Ok, Josh-Josh and Beat. GO. (Pic from Jump, thanks to KH13 and KHInsider for the tip!)
Perfectly honest? When I first heard that we got a pic, I was all 'ZOMFG BEAT AND JOSH IN THE VIRTUAL 3D FLESH YAY'. But then I saw it and I was like '...Hm.' I...I just...it just looks awkward, imo. Beat looks ok, but sadly Joshua didn't fare so well. His hair is just so utterly...poofy, y'know? Like I know that it should, but this seems a bit like overkill. But it's not really his hair that bugs me the most, but rather his face. However, I shall assume that this awkwardness is just due to the fish face he is currently exuding. Although I seriously wonder why they would pick a screen with fish face as the first freakin' look at Joshua...
Whatever. Imma just go with the facts that we haven't seen Beat nor Josh in motion yet (I didn't fall in love with Neku's extra dimension until the first Sora gameplay vid from TGS, after all) and the fact that they chose a fairly godawful screen. Should be better at Jump Festa, where I assume that they'll be showing off Josh and Beat in a trailer or whatever.
Now, what Beat is saying in this screen is fairly interesting. (Translated by Oishii of KH13!)
This time I will protect Rhyme.
Veeeery interesting, wouldn't you say? The whole 'This time' bit? The way I see it, he's referencing a time when Rhyme protected him *cough*WeekOneDayFour*cough* and now he's returning the favour or he's referring to a time when he didn't save her and now he wants to fix it. This could either be from when Beat and Rhyme joined the game, when that REALLY SHOCKING thing happened on Week One Day Four, or whatever magical event has transported the TWEWY cast to Traverse Town in the first that had some sort of negative effect on Rhyme.
Oh, Rhyme is Beat's sister, by the by. This kid.
And now ya know. So I'm thinking that Rhyme won't be chillin' with the main cast in Traverse Town, but rather is stuck in whatever situation she's gotten herself into until Beat comes to help her. We'll prolly see her during the end of TT's plot, and almost definitely in the credits of DDD. I think.Maybe. I love how connected they're making the TWEWY plot to the KH plot, unlike with some of the FF characters when it's just like 'Oh, by the way I live in Radiant Garden now.' Yeah...
NO TIME TO DWELL. NEXT BIT OF NEWS. And dear Lord, is it hefty...
The official site for DDD has been launched and BY JOVE IT IS AMAZING. BASK IN ITS GLORY, DAMMIT. Takes a while to load, but OH SO WORTH IT.
First thing you might notice, the new version of Dearly Beloved playing. SO PRETTY. Aw, it starts all slow, but then it gets brighter and almost gypsy folk-like... Take a listen.
Aw, so good...
Now, something else that is likely to have piqued your interest is the little Drop Gauge in the bottom right corner.
(In case you can't get onto the site right now, I'll be posting pics like this. YOUR WELCOME.) It has Sora's face at the end, the cursor is a Keyblade, the site is very pink... However, you will notice the gauge draining. When it gets to the end, the site changes and...
...we get Riku now. Riku's face, a predominantly blue and black colour scheme, Way to the Dawn as the cursor... Just awesome. What's even more awesome is when you click the Drop Gauge. It drains the gauge completely and shows a super special awesome ultra special sexy transformation sequence in which...
...we see Riku suspended in midair as the camera closes in on his back, everything goes white and the site goes back to Sora. Click the gauge again...
...and the same thing happens with Sora. Neato. Considering the quality of these sequences, these look like they were taken directly from the game. I guess we now know what the Drop Gauge does, then. Totally called it. It's a countdown timer that switches you between Sora and Riku. Totally nailed it. (Though I still don't see how it can read -008% like in one of the screenshots from however long ago... Maybe that's when the gauge measures something else? Nomura did say that there were a lot of mysteries to the Drop Gauge... Hurray for theorising incoherently!)
Click on the 'Story' tab and you get a page like this.
And the option to scroll down, of course. First line is the tagline of DDD 'When darkness and light are next to each other, light fades to darkness.' Can't wait to see everything that applies to in the game~ Sora and Riku? Sora himself? Xehanort (somehow)?? Possibilites are fun.
Anyway. Translation courtesy of Dark Hearts King on KHInsider Forums!
Every dream exists together --
When you drop into a dream,
Through the dream there exists “a world plunged in sleep”.
And the Inception similarities deepen... This game is gonna be one big mindscrew but it's gonna be an epic mindscrew.
In the beginning of the journey, an engulfed world is reborn.
However, if the rebirth is incomplete, the world will fall into slumber.
When this happens even the heartless can’t penetrate the gateway to the world.
Therefore, instead of heartless there is an abundance of something else.
When a world is plunged into sleep, a different creature exists.
That is a monster who feeds on dreams; Dream Eaters.
Within the Dream Eaters, those who eat dreams, there are Nightmares who plant bad dreams,
and there are Spirits whose goodness devours the bad dreams. That is what we call these two creatures.
Ooh, I like that explanation as to why Heartless won't be around. Maybe 'cause they can't dream. 'Cause they don't have hearts. ERGO DREAMS AND HEARTS ARE CONNECTED. Maybe. I just really wanna be right about that one... I hope there's more elaboration on the existence of Dream Eaters, though. There will be. I can feel it...
For us, the need has come to prepare to fight this threat.
As such, Sora and Riku together will be given a test to become Keyblade Masters.
With every keyhole they open, together they will discover a new power,
and the world will be released from its slumber.
To restore the balance of light, “7” keyholes must be released,
and if the worlds can once more exist anew, they will be recognized as Masters.
This one is interesting. This one is very interesting. New power per world? Awesome. Hopefully its not just metaphorical and you can actually use your newfound Master wisdom while kicking Nightmare ass. But the last line is tres confusing indeedy. 7 Keyholes? Does that mean only seven worlds? So far, we know that Traverse Town, La Cité des Cloches, Pranksters' Paradise and Country of the Musketeers (translated name of Three Musketeers Land) are in the Realm of Sleep. I doubt that Traverse Town would count as having to be uunlocked, seeing as it was unlocked before, it's only a mish-mash of different worlds that has grown its own heart and I want as many worlds as possible.
That means we have three worlds to unlock for definite, with four empty spaces (I doubt any other original world would count either. Maybe Land of Departure...) Anyway. I'm hoping that this doesn't mean that there's only gonna be seven Disney world, tops. It probably does though... As long as its only Disney worlds and not worlds in general, then I s'pose it's ok.
Next tab says 'Characters' and shows off characters. Go fig. So far, only Sora, Riku, Wonder Meow, Needle Lion, Goat Horn, Torpedo Fish, Kuma Panda, Zou Elephant, Dragon Horse, Dokudoku Lizard and Ice Penguin are listed in the Nightmare, Spirit and...Main Character(?) sections according to their species.
As you can see, they're laid out in rows of four. At empty spaces, they just have the KH heart. Some people are fretting over what two characters they've reserved places for beside Sora and Riku. Personally? I think they were just trying to fill up the rest of the row in a prettiful manner. Nothing wrong with that. As more information comes out and as the site is updated, I'd say that other characters will be plonked up here. Same for Spirits/Nightmares.
Next is 'World', where you can select Pranksters' Paradise or La Cité des Cloches.
And might I say that they look lovely. *drools* I love Monstro's pissed off face like 'Why am I in the world logo??' And they're emphasising rollercoasters, which means Free Flow Awesome-itude. Duh. The Festival of Fools in La Cité des Cloches thing looks amazing as well. Click on PP...
...and there's a description as well as some screenshots. We've seen them before, but damn. They look even better now, if possible. O_O Hover over the characters and it gives a short character bio. But it's in Japanese, so. If a translation submerges...yay, I guess. Also HOLY COW THAT LOGO. *drools more than humanly possible* Aw, so much awesome...
And here we got LCdC (lol at incredibly awkwad acronym. Might be as bad as the OWCA in terms of uncool acronyms...) Same kinda junk here, looks awesome. And DAT LOGO.
Then onto the 'Spec' tab and...
...yeah. ...Moving swiftly on to the 'Extra' bit.
Wallpapers. Yay.
There are two other tabs that just say 'Coming Soon'. KH13 did some digging where they shouldn't and found that these will be called 'System' and 'Extra'. I'm guessing the first is for gameplay and junk, while 'Extra' might have trailers or other such things?
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Well that was short. Not much to say, I just wanted to get these things out of the way before Jump Festa.
tl;dr: Joshua and Beat pic, mentions Rhyme. Site is up, looks amazing.
JUMP FESTA IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW AND MY GOD MY BRAIN IS FRIED GAAAAAAAAAH. I'll talk about it later, though. TOO TIRED. Stupid conflicting timezones...
Aw, this is gonna be long one, isn't it? Deary me... I mean, ZOMG TALKING ABOUT KH YAY. (I do actually enjoy talking about KH, so whatevs...)
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Hoo boy. Well, it was revealed about two weeks ago that the next issue of Famitsu (awesome-sauce Japanese gaming magazine) would be including some nyoo information in regards to a previously-unknown world in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. That happened.
But before that happened, an issue of Shonen Jump came out on 18th November, giving a very brief but wondrous first look at this new world. Here is a scan of said magazine (for which we may thank aibo_ac7 on Twitter and KHInsider for the tip. Thanks you guuuuys~~!)...
So, we can see that this New World is none other than Pinocchio! Hurrah! The world is called Pranksters' Paradise and...yeah. (By the by, just warning you now, this post will contain lots and lots of repetition, so if I don't talk about a screen or something in detail, it's most probably because there's a higher quality scan coming up later, which will warrant my full blathering prowess.) Ooh, also worth mentioning is the fact that Pinocchio is still wooden, even though at the end of KHI we see him turn into a Real Boy. Curious indeed...
OH. FROLLO AND PHOEBUS. SCORE. Aw, brilliant... We better be getting a Frollo boss battle set to a KH-ified version of Hellfire. I swear to God, if it's not there... *glares at nothing in particular* More on this later, though.
More elaboration later, but for now MOAR PICTURES. This next batch is also from Jump, and credit goes to FF-Reunion, KHInsider and KH13. YOU. GUYS. ROCK.
First up is Riku and Esmerelda looking positively ravishing.
This one's interesting, as it shows off some Dream Eaters AND their names. Exciting times indeed. The lion thing is Needle Lion, the bird is Ice Penguin, and the goat is Goat Horn. (Oh, I'm getting these translation from KHInsider, btw. BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME THAT'S WHY.) (Man, I'm really lovin' my Caps Lock today, huh?) (And my parentheses.) (Can't forget about the parentheses!)
Anyway. Ice Penguin has a Nightmare symbol on it, meaning that this particular shade of bird is an enemy. Needle Lion has the Spirit emblem, meaning it's a party member. More on that later. (Ooh, suspense!) We've seen Goat Horn before, acting as one of Riku's allies (as seen in this slice of gameplay from TGS). But now we have a name! Yay! I'd say the names will get changed for Elsewhere releases, but whatevs.
Next is Sora looking at ol' Pinoke all sternly. Aw. :c Oh, I forgot to comment on Pinocchio being all donkey-ified. Hopefully this means that the plot will revolve more around the rest of the movie rather than just purely Monstro like in KHI. Just to shake it up a bit. Also, Pinocchio's nose extending out of the cage in the bottom screen. Anyone else thinking that they're gonna ramp this scene up IN 3D?!? *sigh* Also, Gepetto looks lovely.
And here's Emereda looking awesome in a couple of shots with various folks. Oh, and Riku too. Pretty pretty pretty...
And here we see Sora fighting with his Spirit companion, Needle Lion. Looking fairly awesome, it has to be said. Sora seems to be swining it around his head by the tail like a colourful mace. Me gusta. But the Spirits' meters seem to be full. Hmm. I thought that Dual Links (as I assume this attack to be) used up whatever that meter measures? Maybe he just started the attack? I dunno.
Also, the Drop Gauge reappears! Remember the first trailer for DDD back in January?
(Skip to 1.22-ish.) In the gameplay bits, you can see a pinky-purpley gauge at the bottom of the screen labled Drop. However, fast-forward to the TGS trailer...
(Round 0.54) ...and we see that it is now gone. I figured that they had just changed it so that the Drop Gauge would now appear under your Dream Eater companions as the Link Gauge. BUT now it seems like it's back. Incredibly curious, I'm sure you'll agree. ...I don't really feel like theorising just yet. If I'm not dead by the time I've finished posting all the pretty pictures, then I'll say things then.
But until that point, MOAR PICTURES.
And here we have Gepetto. *cough* There's translations coming later, so. Yeah.
So here, we can see a circus location in Pranksters' Paradise. Nice one... I haven't seen Pinocchio in forever, so for the life of me I can't remember if there is a circus on Pleaseure Island. Imma assume that there is and it looks remerkably like this. Looking insanely gorgeous, too, btw. And the inside looks awesome. Looks like it'd make a great place for a boss fight, or at least a mini-game or two. Also, THE BLUE FAIRY. YEOW! :D She so awesome~
Here we see Sora beating up a Nightmare elephant. Sweet. There's a better screen of this later, so just hod your goddamn horses 'til we get there. Thanks. c:
Quasi and Esmy (?) looking snazztastic, as always. Also, Notre Dame. Looking as byootiful as ever, I see, both inside and out. Everything looks so spiffy and glorious! Everything. ._.
Ok, lotta junk going on here... Well, there's that shot of Quasi holding Esmerelda again. Nice, nice. Bells of Notre Dame, good. Oh, Sora defending Quasimodo. That's always fun. Next page, and we have Frollo...threatening Esmerelda. Hmm, I wonder if they'll have to tone down Frollo's 'lust' for Esmerelda in this game... I hope they won't cut it out altogether, though.
Eh, what else... Oh! Sora talking to the three gargoyles! That's significant. Geez, first the Blue Fairy, now the gargoyles... I'm loving the inclusion of so many lesser characters. Maybe this means more NPCs scattered about the place? I HOPE SO. Em, then we have Riku talking to Esmerelda with his arms crossed all pissed-like. Aw. Phoebus and Frollo with Sora, cool.
Oh, Phoebus all sad-looking outside the farm that Frollo wanted him to burn down. They're going to include that scene? Man, I'm really loving all the little things from the films. I just hope that they don't focus too much on retelling the individual stories and forget to incorporate each storyline into the overall KH plot. Meh. Then there's Riku beating up...enemies using fire. Nice. And then the feet of various characters. Fun.
Ugh, even MORE things here... Ok, I'm pretty sure there's better quality scans of these coming up later, so I'll talk about it then. I can hardly tell what's happening in any of these screens, so.
Many a screen. Yay. First up, Pinoke talking to Riku who looks all ashamed. They appear to be in Monstro, too. Curious. OH. I haven't mentioned this yet, I don't think... Anyway. It'll be very interesting indeed to see Riku and Pinocchio's interaction in this game, seeing as the last time Riku saw him he was kidnapping him. It'll prolly remind Riku of his darkness and how he needs to redeem himself and light and twilight and friends and blah blah blah. Can't wait~
Sora talking to Pinocchio, as we saw before. There seems to be a blue Nightmare Kuma Panda beside them. Huh. Maybe this is what Nomura-san (game director/utter BAMF) meant by playable cutscenes in the Famitsu interview of July...
Does that mean you’ll be decreasing the number of cutscenes? Nomura: Not meaning that we’ve decreased the number of cutscenes, but having each one explained one by one reduces the tempo of the game, so we’re introducing a new system to make up for it. It’s a directionally different system like what’s being introduced in Final Fantasy Versus XIII which won’t have cutscenes; it’ll be a sort of integration where you can play during the event scene...
Still very curious, I hope we get more info about that at Jump Festa. Anywho, maybe you'll be able to kick Dream Eater ass even during cutscenes or something? Hmmm.... I dunno. Unless Nightmares are just swarming around them and Sora is trying to save Pinoke, ergo it's just a normal cutscene? But then where does the whole 'playable cutscene' thing come into play? Grr... Ah well.
Next is Sora talking to the Blue Fairy. Aw, if they include an AI reference here in the English release... 'Cause, y'know, Haley Joel Osment voices Sora, but also played the robot kid in AI, where there was also a Blue Fairy? Yeah... Unlikely, but it would be awesome all the same.
Then Jiminy talking to Riku. OH. I really hope that Jiminy acts as Riku's 'conscience' for the Pranksters' Paradise bit. That'd be great. Y'know, seeing as Riku will prolly be emo-ing around for the majority of the plot and Sora won't be there to pull silly faces, maybe Jiminy can slap some happy into him.
Then Gepetto (again. Seriously, what's with all the Gepetto?!) and Jiminy talking to Sora. I s'psoe Jiminy could be giving Sora some moral guidance as well, maybe scoulding him for being too cocky from time to time. I hope Jiminy gets a big-enough role this time round. He was only really featured as an actual character rather than an excuse for a game diary in KHI, Chain of Memories and Re:coded. Jiminy's awesome. No. He's actually pretty annoying. But still.
MOAR PICS. These are pretty much higher quality ones of previous ones. Hurrah! Thanks to the same folks! (Pretty much the same links as the last one... Whatever. Same sites. They know I love them. Or rather, they should...)
Notre Dame, looking beautiful~ I love all the flags from the Festival of Fools. I reeeaaallly hope that that gets a look-in. Better have some NPCs, though. No point if there's just gonna be three people there and still call it a 'festival'.
And the inside. SO GORGEOUS. Aw, my eyes are unworthy. I love the amount of windows and junk... Can't wait to see some Free Flow up in this location.
Sora standing all 'WHAAAAAAAA????' in front of the gargoyles. I assume that this is his first time time meeting the animated statues, then. Also, they look far more colourful than I remember from the movie... Prolly just to fit in with this new rainbow-schemed game. Also, SHADOWS. SO DETAILED. *drools*
And here's Riku looking on as Phoebus is breaking down emotionally in front of him. Bless. Even the unimportant house and windmill in the background are detailed! Aw, the excitement is high.
The circus again, which looks insanely pretty. Also, the picket sign thing to the left. I can't make out the top and bottom bits, but the middle yellow bit seems to say 'CARDS'. Hmm. Curious. Why do you need cards in a circus? I wish I could make out the posters as well... Grrr.
And here's the inside, looking magnificent. So many colours and wires and junk... This should be a great place for some Free Flowing, methinks.
Here's Riku looking very upset indeed as Pinocchio talks to him. And yes, that's definitely Monstro. Also, Riku is freakin' muscular. He's only 15! Well, technically 16, but this is his 15-year-old body, so. Like, compared to Sora... Geez.
Jiminy talking to Sora, who appears to be suffering from a slight case of fish face. Oh dear. Meh. I'd take fish face over speech bubbles anyday. Hopefully DDD will have (nearly) all-voiced cutscenes like BbS. Have I talked about this before? I think I have... Sorry. Also, Jiminy's umbrella. Bless. :3
Sora talking to the Blue Fairy. Aw. She's so pretty. :c This seems to be just outside the circus, considering the sign beside Sora. Also, lamp posts. Free Flowing possibilites are always appreciated.
Icy Penguin and one of the Nightmares on that scan that had lots of things that I was to lazy to talk about before. Looks like a lizard, salamander thing. Hurrah. You can see Icy Penguin using ice-based attacks in the scans to the left, but where are they? Wait, I think it's in an area that's shown off better in a later scan. YOU CAN WAIT TIL THEN. Then the lizard thing fighting in the bottom right scans, but I can't make them out for my life. I think it's fighting using...purple bubbles? Fun. (I think the top scans relate to the elephant Nightmare, so... Yeah.)
Neko Cat! :D Except THIS time it's a Nightmare. Ooh! You may remember Neko cat from the Famitsu issue after TGS as Neku's Spirit companion.
But now there's a bad one. HURRAY! I was kind of hoping that Neko Cat would be a Neku-exclusive, y'know 'cause he's hipster like that, but as long as it's just a Nightmare and not something Sora can pick up, for example, then I guess that's cool. It appears to leave little lightning bubbles that explose on impact. Sweet. I love it's music note tail thing and how the lightning has music notes scattered throughout~ Perfect Spirit for Neku. Also, it has six legs! Never even noticed that before... Oh, and there's a screen showing that seahorse-like Nightmare as well. ...*cough*
Yay, more Neko Cat! I have to say, it's probably my favourite Dream Eater so far. I like cats. ._. In this screen, Neko Cat appears to be walking upside-down in midair and using a gold whirlwind music stave to attack. LOVE. IT. Oh, it seems to have detached its tail, which is now beside Sora... Right. Is that how it makes the musical tornado? Taking off its tail to zip around in circles? There's some other Dream Eaters, but I can't really make them out, so. Well, Sora's Wonder Meow is in the back, but... Yeah. Judging by the cobblestone street, I'd say that this is the courtyard outside Notre Dame.
And here's Needle Lion's transition from Spirit to mace. Awesome. Seems to be in the streets of La Cité de Cloches?
And here's some screens detailing Holy Rope. Also, dat map. Wow. ALL THE DETAIL. Even the shadow from Notre Dame... Simply epic.
And back we go to Pranksters' Paradise. Looking incredibly spiffy. Again, I've no idea how faithful it is to the original movie (must dig out that old VHS tape soon...) but it looks awesome all the same. Oh, the Free Flow possibilites of an amusement park! Maybe sliding around on the rollercoaster, or spinning around the merry-go-round? Hope hope hope~
A closeup of the elephant Nightmare. Looks nice. In the screen below, it appears to attck by blowing out air through its trunk. Awesome.
Ugh, a lot of stuff going on here... Well, there's that seahorse Nightmare from earlier, looking rather lovely. It appears to be blowing a giant water bubble in the screen below, which seems to take place in Monstro again. Something with Needle Lion to the right, and some battle sequence in the bottom right. Above seems to be Goat Horn doin' stuff and two shots of Riku with pyromania.
Then we gots a translation of the article as a whole thanks to the wonder that is SQEX GAL! Thx ily bbz xxx
The Hunchback of Notredame world: “Le Cité des Cloches”
Appearing Characters
Quasimodo – The young man confined within Notredame Cathedral. He favors Esmeralda who helped him despite his appearance.
Esmeralda – A beautiful gypsy girl who loves her freedom. She has a strong sense of justice and has caught the eye of Frollo.
Phoebus – The skilled captain of the guard who was summoned by Frollo. Frollo orders him to eradicate the gypsies from the city, but he gradually begins to disobey.
Claude Frollo – He is a judge with substantial control of the city. Because of his hatred of gypsies, his methods of removing them become violent.
There are great number of scenes including Sora telling Quasimodo to run, Riku meeting Esmeralda, and others involving Sora and Riku.
Aw, can't wait! It doesn't seem like they'll be downtuning Frollo's prejudice, which is good. I thought they wouldn't mention Frollo's lust for Esmerelda at all, but in her description it says that she has caught his eye. Huh. Maybe it won't be censor-tastic as I feared? Man, I can't wait to see how they'll handle everything... 'Twill be epic, sure. And 'violent methods of removing gypsies'? Perhaps using Nightmares to his advantage? Or would he deem them as witchcraft and evil and etc? Hmm...
Oh, and Sora telling Quasi to run. I hope Quasi is all like 'Pfftt, screw that,' and becomes an epic ally of fighting and stuff. Just 'cause he was all determined to fight and junk in the TGS trailer, saying 'I'll fight too!' and whatnot... Maybe he's only a Riku ally whereas Sora gets Phoebus or something? That'd be nice.
Pinocchio world: “Prankster’s Paradise”
Appearing Characters
Blue Fairy – The fairy who breathes life into Pinocchio even though he is a doll.
Pinocchio – Having forgotten the promise he made to Geppetto and Jiminy, he accidently becomes dazed by fun things.
Geppetto – He is a craftsman that makes wooden toys. He creates Pinocchio and comes to love him like his own son.
Jiminy Cricket – A cricket residing in Geppetto’s home. He was ordered by the Blue Fairy to educate Pinocchio. This Jiminy Cricket does not have the memories of the Jiminy Cricket that traveled alongside Sora and company in the previous adventures.
There are scenes around the circus entrance and within the circus tent, as well as Sora and Riku talking with the Blue Fairy, Pinocchio, and Jiminy Cricket.
Ah, this Jiminy Cricket doesn't have the same memories as the Jiminy we all know and accept. My guess is that this particular Jiminy is just a dream conjured up by the world itself in its sleep state. We know that it can't be the real, real Jiminy, seeing as he's been chronicling Sora's adventures in the RoL for the past year-and-a-bit. So Dream!Jiminy it is, then, methinks.
Which is bothersome. Oh so bothersome. This makes it more likely that no one will remember what happened in DDD at the end, meaning everything will have been pretty damn pointless (see: Re:coded). I really hope this isn't the case. Maybe they'll be emphasising that dreams can be reality too and just have all the dream world inhabitants remember everything as if it were a dream when they're shipped back to the RoL. I dunno.
Something else I feel the need to mention; the fact that Pinoke and Gepetto are back in their own world even though the last time we saw them was in Traverse Town at the end of KHI. My guess is that when all the worlds were restored, Traverse Town broke up again (seeing as it was only the remains of fallen worlds to begin with), meaning Pinocchio and Gepetto had to be sent off elsewhere. Also, remember at the end of KHI when they said that everyone would be returning back to their original worlds? Yeah. I think that happened.
However, during the credits of KHI, we see Pinocchio turn into a Real Boy. How ya gonna explain that one, Nomura?? Well, fairly easily, I should think. They can say that when Pinocchio and Gepetto were shipped off to their sleeping world (as I think they were), they were put unconciuos as well and are now sleeping and conjuring dream avatar things. Or maybe when you're sent to the RoS, you actually become your dream self, meaning anything could happen, folks! Could be why Sora and Riku are in their KHI forms again. Or they could say that the scene where Pinoke becomes a fleshy meatbag was actually a scene in the future and we could be seeing it in DDD. Or they could just ignore it seeing as it was a tiny little thing from a game nearly ten years old. Whatevs. I'd say it'll be the first or second option, though. Or something I haven't thought of. Entirely likely.
Now, what I don't know how to explain is Jiminy's role in all of this. He doesn't remember Sora or Riku, so it can't be the same Jiminy we've been trekking with for the past while. Has to be new and dream-related. I would say he's been conjured up by the world itself, but that would make it doubtful for him to remember anything from his dream self's stint in the RoS, y'know?
Ugh, I have a lot of thoughts in my skull organ but I can't express them adequately. Well, it seems like Jiminy has just been conjured up by the world itself. But that would suggest that all the other characters are just dreams of the world as well. Then where are Pinocchio and Gepetto if not in the currently sleeping Pranksters' Paradise?? Can there be world dream people as well as actual people that are just dreaming too? Gah. My brain. It has fried.
I just hope that everyone remembers everything and saving all the worlds wouldn't have been a waste. Although, you can't really count saving a world from eternal slumber as a waste... But I swear, if we have to do all the same things all over again in KH3 just 'cause the characters don't remember it, some serious flippin' out shall I execute.
Also, lol at summarising smoking and alcohol as 'fun things'. There prolly be at least a little bit of censorship 'round these parts, but that's pretty understandable. I wonder how they'll tip-toe around the 'jackasses' issue...
System Reality Shift
In battle, attack the same enemy consecutively. When you lock on to specific objects, a special lock on marker appears. When that happens, you can use the special command “Reality Shift” by pressing the X and A buttons. During that, Sora/Riku disappear from the battle and special actions take place on the lower screen. The Reality Shift command introduced is called “Holy Rope”. Using it, you tie up targets in a line on the bottom screen, then on the top screen a chain appears to attack the enemies one after another in the way you drew it.
Nothing new here... Moving on!
Dream Eaters
There are ally and enemy Dream Eaters introduced in battle. Nightmares are enemies, Spirits are allies.
Case you forgot. So lotta Dream Eater info coming up. You can tell by the names which ones are which from the screens, so do that. Do it now. Go.
Nightmares
Zou Elephant – An elephant with jutting, purple tusks. It attacks with its large body and long nose. Its long range attacks like firing rocks are its strong points. If you meet the requirements by partnering with a large Dream Eater, you can invoke the “Blow Off” technique to combat it. After twirling your Dream Eater ally around, you can fling it at the enemy.
Ah. Here's the elephant from before. And long-range attacks?? D: I hate long-range attacks... Wait, teaming up with a 'large Dream Eater'? Does this mean Dream Eaters are split into groups, with different ones having different abilities? Hmm. I shall require further explanation before liking it. Hopefully it's awesome, though. And does this mean that each/most/some Nightmares have individual and specific attacks to use against them? Kinda like Reaction Commands in KH2, then? Again, some elaboration would be most grateful. Until that day (which will most prolly be Jump Festa from 17-18 December), I remain on the fence.
Dokudoku Lizard (Poisonous Lizard) – A Dream Eater that resembles a fancy purple salamander. From above, it sprinkles poison in a wide range, and can also attack by stretching its long, poisonous tongue.
...Fancy. Purple. Salamander? I'm not sure if this is the greatest descriptio of anything ever or just 'lolwhut?' worthy. Meh. And poison? Will there be a Poisoned status condition, then? Oh dear gawd. Is Flip-Foot making a return? I don't know how many times I plummeted to the bottom of a System Sector in Re:coded because of that damed Flip-Foot condition... Pressing on.
Ice Penguin – It is dark gray, yellow, and green around its back and belly, with a purple riveted ring around its neck. Sliding across the ground, it attacks within the area it surrounds. It will also abruptly make blocks of ice surround its body.
And now we have ice. Frozen status, then? Hmmm...
Dragon Horse – A nightmare resembling a seahorse. It attacks by shooting water like balls from its mouth.
I'm liking the vast array of attacks. Pretty much everything here has had a different element, which should make for some awesome combat. As if we needed more proof of that, amirite? Yeah, I'm right...
Neko Cat – The nightmare version is violet. It moves around sneakily; if you come in contact with the lightning balls it drops you receive damage.
As you can see in one of the screenshots up there somewhere. Hurrah! ...I have nothing else to say at this point.
Spirits
Goat Horn – A dream eater’s whose horns resemble a wind instrument. It’s cooperating technique envelopes the Keyblade in flames which make it more powerful.
...How d'you get from 'wind instrument' to fire-based attacks? A slight lack of logic aside (wait, maybe oxygen from air fuels the fire? Hmm...), Goat Horn seems awesome so far. I wonder if Sora will be able to use one, or if Riku's Spirits are Riku's, dammit. I wonder how you get Spirits as well. At the end of some big cutscene plot point dealy-o thing, or can you just catch 'em all as you fight them? I wouldn't say the latter, simply because that seems too easy... Anyway. I can't wait to hear more about these 'cooperating attacks'. Or are these just Dual Links? But don't Dual Links use both partners? Do these techniques only use one? Question question question...
Thorn Lion – A lion Dream Eater with a prickly mane and flat feet. A technique where the lion’s thorn tail can be brandished by Sora is introduced.
As we've seen in the screenshots thus far. Looks awesome, at any rate. I'm getting really excited for all the Dream Eaters now! The only thing I'm kind of worried about is that because they're all so unique already, it doesn't seem like there will be individual enemies for different worlds, as in ones created specifically for wherever it is. Aw. Maybe I'm wrong though, as is often the case.
Techniques: By filling up the pink gauge you can execute co-op techniques with your ally Dream Eaters. For instance, Sora can ride atop a Dream Eater, and Riku can absorb the Dream Eaters to power himself up.
Wait, which pink gauge? 'Cause now there's two. I assume they're talking about the Link Gauges, the ones the Dream Eaters have. Ho hum.
MOAR PICTURES. Now, these ones are very nice and incredibly lovely indeed. Bask in their pretty, pretty glory. Thanks to Famitsu and KHInsider (again)! Oh, also, Oishii of KH13 has translated some of the screens, so where there are translations, Oishii is to thank. Hurrah.
Oh my geez. SO PRETTY. Can't wait to explore...
Aw, should be plenty of Free Flow opportunities in store in Notre Dame, especially in the roof attic bit. I hope you can do things with the Bells...
Eh, not mad on the slight dose of fish face, but still freakin' beautiful.
FROLLO FROLLO FROLLO~ Oh, and Phoebus. Oh, and SORA. Sora's awesome. Not a particular fan of Phoebus' fish-facey-face and Frollo's unfocused eyes in this shot, I must say, but even so everything looks wonderful. TWANSLATION.
Captain guy to the Judge"Judge Frollo, this is serious!"
Imma guess that it's something related to the Nigtmares or something. Yeah.
Ah, HERE we go. Some actual emotion! Aw, it looks great... Also, I notice that a lot of these screens take place during both day and night. I don't think we've ever had proper day-night cycles in KH before... Some worlds for a few scenes, maybe, but these day/night changes seem plentiful, if the current screenshots are anything to go by. And we see both Riku and Sora in both day and night, so it's not simply that one lad is nocturnal and his plot takes place after hours. Curious... But not really. (Frollo's nose looks awesome.)
Judge Frollo to Esmeralda "At last we’ve caught this witch!"
'Witch'? Did he call the gypsies witches in the film? I don't really recall... Maybe he thinks the gypsies are to blame for the sudden onslaught of Dream Eaters? Oh, and are they in a gypsy caravan park enclosure thing... Sorry, I've no idea what to call it. Anyway, I'm continually astounded by the amount of areas this game seems to include. Looking mighty awesome...
And it is only now that I realise 'Esmerelda' is spelt 'Esmeralda'. Google Search had to correct me. That's embarrassing. I can't be bothered to go back and fix it now, but I shall strive to spell things good in the future. Sorry.
Gateway to Pranksters' Paradise, I think. Enjoy the nightmares brought on by this guy's face, kids!
I swear, if they don't let us Free Flow all up in this theme park, some major fun shall be lost out on. I SWEAR IT.
And here's Pinoke and Jiminy looking lovely. I can't wait to see Pinocchio's nose growing bigger. IN 3D. Wait, I said that before. OH WELP.
Pinocchio to Fairy
"I’m sorry. You helped with my wish yet I still said a lie."
Oh, so he's talking to the Blue Fairy here. 'K.
And Gepetto. Again. Looking lovely, but that's hardly new.
Geppetto to (Sora?)
"Pinocchio did come back but he’s gone and run off somewhere again!"
This one could be to Sora or Riku, really. ...Hurray.
Too...much...beautiful...detail...for...eyes...to...witness...without...imlpoding... My God. I think they're in Gepetto's house here, seeing all the shelves and junk in the back. But, as I said before, I haven't seen the movie in forever, so. And I love that Jiminy is on Riku's shoulder. Aw, I really hope he acts like Riku's conscience in this.
This is prolly in the same scene as the screenshot above with Pinocchio and Jiminy. Have to say, the Blue Fairy is looking mighty pretty.
Fairy to Pinocchio "Oh Pinocchio, what happened to your nose?"
I'd say it's...fairly obvious what had happened to his nose. I mean, she's the one that put the spell and crap on him in the first place. Sheesh... I wonder where Sora/Riku are for this bit.
And now we get some gameplay shots. Awesome! La Cité seems to be all decked out for the Festival of Fools, and by Jove it looks lovely. Also, Zou Elephant certainly isn't short on HP, huh? It'll prolly act as the Large Body of Dream Eaters. But it can also attack at long range? That's just unfair...
Also, DROP GAUGE. It seems to be draining from left to right, which is weird seeing as the other gauges that usually go there (MP, Drive, Focus, etc) drain from right to left. And why is it three colours?? And the arrow pointing to 1.6... What?? Everything else ever has only been measured in whole numbers. Why the change to decimals? Why does it need such an accurate measure? CONFUSION. Also, everything looks lovely. :3
Aw, it looks so pretty... O_O Oh, and the Attack button has changed to...something else. I thought that it wnet pink for Free Flow junk? Maybe it goes Pink for Free Flow junk and...whatever it is Sora is doing now? Could this be Kuma Panda's Dual Link, making some kinda epic black hole thing? Neither of the Spirits are on screen, and both of their Link Gauges have been depleted... Maybe. There's slightly more green in the Drop Gauge in this screen than in the last, so maybe it's something to do with that? I dunno.
But here, the Attack command has gone back to regular ol' red when Sora is obviously completing a Dual Link, so I don't think it going pink in the last two is anything to do with that. Maybe it's just another Free Flow Action? Prolly. Meh.
Sora's fighting that Baby Dinosaur Nightmare we've seen a few times before (but have yet to get a name for) with Needle Lion's Dual Link of becoming a lethal weapon of spikes and danger. Hurrah. But look at the Drop Gauge again! Now it's going from empty to purple to blue with three arrows pointing to '1.5'! WHAT IS HAPPENING. I just...I...aw, what does it do?? I really hope Jump Festa will clarify.
Also; in the last two shots, it doesn't say 'Drop' and the '1.6' bit is actually on the gauge. This time, not so much. Could just be the fact that they haven't finished the game yet and haven't decided on the final look of this mysterious Drop Gauge just yet. Meh.
And here we have Riku activating Goat Horn's Dual Link Power-Up Fire Attack Thing. Nice. But Riku's 1.4 Drop Gauge seems to be only the tiniest fraction fuller than Sora's when it was 1.5. Why must junk be confusing? :c
Also, Monstro. Riku is most definitely in Monstro in this shot. I was hoping that the majority of Pranksters' Paradise would be on Pleasure Island. I mean, where are the Free Flow opportunites in a whale's stomach? From the scans so far, it seems like Riku is fighting junk in Monstro whereas Sora tends to stick to Pleasure Island. That could be interesting. And maybe Riku's stint in the space whale will dredge up all the painful memories of being overcome by darkness or whatever? I just hope that you'll be able to visit both parts of the world with both characters at some point.
Now he has less Drop than ever before but also the highest number, 1.8... CONFUSION. It might have something to do with Sora and Riku randomly switching throughout the game. Back in January, Famitsu had an interview with Nomura (translated by andriasang!) which said that...
...a mysterious new gauge called the "Drop Gauge." Famitsu asked if the character changes will have something to do with this. There are actually a number of secrets to the gauge, said Nomura. Regarding character changes, he said that it will be easiest to understand if you think that there's something like a countdown event always taking place.
...so, yeah. Maybe the Drop Gauge has to do with the countdown thing as well as whatever other 'secrets' it's related to? I dunno.
Also, Goat Horn's fire attack Dual Link thing looks EPIC. But its Link Gauge isn't draining, whereas Koumori Bat's is completely gone. Maybe Dual Links drain the other Spirit's gauge? That seems pretty stupid. Again, I dunno.
And now for the last batch of pics. Finally. Wait, no, second last. But the actual last batch is very small, so. Anyway, these are crystal clear scans of the entire Famitsu article kindly uploaded by KH13. Thank you!
Aw, don't it look purdy? Isn't really anything new, though, so I shall continue. Still can't believe that I've been spelling Esmeralda's name wrong this entire time...
Not much new here either, apart from the scan with Riku fighting in Monstro. I can't really make out what's happening though... Looks like Riku is hunched over while fire-engulfed batons are twirling through some Nightmares. Neat. I'd say either a Command or Goat Horn's Dual Link again.
Something I'm starting to get a li'l worried about is that these gameplay scans are pretty hard to make heads or tails of. Maybe it'll be like that playing the game, where you can't tell what's happening because of the pretty lights? It's probably easier to watch everything in motion.
I'm still not mad on Phoebus' face, though. It's not fish-facey, but it just looks...weird. Meh. Everything else looks simply gorgeous, so.
Again, not much new, but the fourth scan down is different. It seems to show a long corridor a...puppet show stage, iF I'm not mistaken. I think I can make out that Russian nutcracker-like puppet and the blonde Dutch girl puppet from the film. Inresting. That puppet show wasn't on Pleasure Island, though, so maybe Pranksters' Paradise will be including junk that happened beforehand? Hopefully this means an Honest John and Gideon appearance... Y'know, the fox and the cat that first led Pinoke astray with their promises of fame and glory as an actor.
Oh, also, I can now make out what the blue-yellow-purple sign outside the Circus says. It seems to read 'Dream Theatre. Cards. Daring Journey.' Hm. Well what does that mean? Sounds kinda mini-game-esque to me... Was there anything like that in the movie? Grrr. Must rewatch soon...
Nothing new here, just prettier. Also; Dat Map. DETAIL DETAIL DETAIL~ Also, now that I'm thinking about it, Riku may not be in Gepetto's house as I had originally thought, but maybe in Gepetto's little hollow in Monstro's mouth from KHI. Would explain the wooden-ness, and fits in nicely with my 'Riku gets Monstro, Sora gets Pleasure Island' theory.
Hmm, let's start with the Zou Elephant screenshots. The first two we've seen before, just Sora kickin' ass with bright lights and shizz following him about. The two underneath Zou Elephant itself are kinda new, seeing as we haven't seen them in this much wonderful quality-ness before. Or something. First one shows it blowing air thorugh its truck and the second has it lifting a big rock. Awesome.
Let's move to the Dokudoku Lizard shots, then. Now, this seems to be a completely new area altogether. Interesting... In the bottom left, Sora appears to be knee-deep in murky water and seems to be in a tunnel. A sewer, perhaps? Imma guess that this is the entranxce to the Court of Miracles from Hunchback. Ha, that's great! These worlds all seem so huge so far... I love it. Hopefully this means that Clopin might get an appearance? He was awesome. Y'know, the jester-gypsy guy with the puppet show? Yeah...
The other two Dokudoku Lizard pics seem to be in the tunnel as well. The poison attacks look nice. Also, I like how the Lizards can walk in midair. First Neko Cat, now these guys. Is that gonna be a recurring thing? I hope they give all the Dream Eaters badass yet fantastical abilities. Seems fitting for monsters who dwell in the Realm of Sleep and are all dream-related.
One last thing; THE DROP GAUGE. Thought I'd forgotten about that, huh? NOPE. I mean, in one, it's a perfectly normal 1.8. But then it goes from 4.0 to -008%. MINUS. EIGHT. PERCENT. For the love of... WHAT IS IT MEASURING? I swear, if Jump Festa doesn't provide the answer... I'd say it will, seeing as the whole Drop Gauge thing was completely absent from TGS and it seems like it'll be kinda important in terms of gameplay. Also, I like how there's a Gastly in the corner shot. Yes, I'm calling it a Gastly.
And finally, the Ice Penguin screens. So, ice. Nice. Also, the 1.4 of the Drop Gauge in the last screen seems to be glowing, as if it's being affected by the Gauge climbing or dropping. If that makes sense. ...It looks like Sora's either gaining or losing 'Drop' in this screen. But from what... Bleh. Also, new area! Looks to me like a beach or even underwater, given the seaweed and rocks and other sea-related things. Maybe the beach/sea where Monstro is in Pranksters' Paradise? Curious...
Goat Horn screens first. Just three shots showing off its Dual Link-enabled fire frenzy. Looking mighty fine indeed. Riku appears to be in Monstro's maze-like intestines in the first two pics, and then in the mouth in the last. I wonder how much of Monstro they're gonna include... Prolly just the mouth and two or three stomach sections, maybe. I dunno. Also, the Kuma Panda Riku's fighting in the third scan has question marks above its head. That means Flip-Foot, doesn't it? DAMN.
Ugh, I lost everything I wrote yesterday! I didn't write a lot, to be fair, but I did! And now it's GONE. GAWD.
...Back to the scans. Let's continue with Needle Lion, shall we? Just Sora activating it's Dual Link and using it as a mace. As you do. I think he's in City of Bells, but it looks darker than the rest of the world... Maybe 'cause it's not in the courtyard bit with the Festival of Fools and flags and junk? Meh.
Dragon Horse now. Just it blowin' some bubbles in Monstro's intestines then attacking Riku in Monstro's mouth. I wonder how big Monstro will be...It probably won't be as big as it is in KHI, seeing as they have to leave room for Pleasure Island and such. I hope they take advantage of all the wooden debris just chillin' in Monstro's mouth; would certainly make for some awesome Free Flowing opportunities.
And finally Neko Cat being awesome. The first two shots look like they're in a graveyard or something. Is there a graveyard scene in Hunchback? Can't...remmber... But more areas are always fun.
Ok, so Squeenix have set up a Jump Festa site for DDD and, while rather barren at the moment, is still worth mentioning. (THANK YOU ANDRIASANG AND KH13.) It has four screens (which we've seen before but are even prettier now)...
...and a cryptic message which has been translated by Oishii of KH13 (thaaaaaaank you!)...
At the Jump Festa convention, a thrilling demo will be featuring a new world, so please be sure to stop by.
Now, this is typically the point at which I would start fangasming and incorrectly guessing what world this might be, but because I took so dang long on this post (sorry) it's already been revealed in V-Jump magazine. Well, a world has been announced, so it's most likely the one they're gonna show off at Jump Festa. ...Along with Pranksters' Paradise, I guess. Let us all thank FF-Reunion and KHInsider for gracing us with this news.
...NOW TIME FOR THE PICS.
IT'S THE THREE MUSKETEERS! Aw, awesome... I haven't actually seen it before, but now I have incentive to do so. Hurrah!
Ok, honestly, did anyone see that coming? Like, anyone?? I mean, it was never even released in thetres, but rather confined to the hell of Straight-to-Home VHS Land. I never even considered it, but if I had I would have thought that it's unsuitable for KH due to Mickey, Donald and Goofy already being pre-established characters in the KH-verse. They can't suddenly be sword-swinging, pantaloon-wearing badasses, right? Well, Nomura has siad that DDD would be very surprising a good few times now, and in an interview with Famitsu in June '10 (translated by andriasang), when talking about the story...
Nomura said it would be something unexpected, something that to a certain extent breaks the developments that have taken place according to fan expectation.
I'd say that this certainly qualifies. There's no way that this could be the real Mickey, Donald and Goofy, what with them (most probably) staying in the Realm of Waking while Sora and Riku are off to become Masters. Nah, I'd say that this MDG are dream versions conjured by the world itself, so they prolly won't remember Sora or Riku.
But what is this world/ As far as I'm aware, we don't have a name yet. I would have thougt that this would be Disney Castle, but that's definitely back in the RoL. So what's this world, then? And if this world is saved and dragged back to the RoL, will there suddenly be two Mickeys, Donalds and Goofys running about the place? Most curious...
It hasn't even been released yet and already this game is giving me a headache. But no matter. You don't become a KH fan without learning to endure a little head trauma now and again. I just hope that everything will make relative KH-standard sense by the end of the game and not be some crazy ass-pull... Staying optimistic for the moment, though.
Hmm, what else... Oh, Pete and Minnie are in the screens as well. Wouldn't want them missig out on all the brain-screwing fun. Was Pete the antagonist of The Three Musketeers? Gah. If I manage to track it down, I might say some things about what might happen. Maybe.
Well, I guess it's time to talk about the individual screens. The first one of the first page shows some...monkey-looking henchmen? I think? Man, I really gotta watch this movie... Anyway, they're beside a large treasure chest. Then there's a picture of a boat. Is it on a puppet-stage-thing? Hrm. Then Minnie calling someone out and Riku looking all Riku-ish.
Eh, Goofy and Donald are holding their swords up. Oh, hey. Swords. Not a shield or a magical staff. Interesting... Maybe you can have one/two/ALL of MDG as party members? Would certainly be interesting having them actually fight instead of flailing a shield about the place. I hope you at least get to have them as assist characters for a boss battle or something.
The bottom of the first page is rather interesting indeed. Three new Dream Eaters, you see. According to Lancelot of KHInsider, their names are Frog Chef, Ear Bunny and Nal Bird. Seeing as Frog Chef has a Spirit emblem and is next to the scan with Riku fighting, I'm gonna guess that it can be his party member. (I wonder if Sora can mix 'n' match their Spirits? Hmm...) Next is Ear Bunny, who is totally not bearing any resemblance to a certain completely-not-similarily-named Pokémon *cough*Buneary*cough*. It also looks like that Unversed I can't quite remember at this moment, what with the red eyes and all. Nal Bird looks downright badass, with talons ready to gouge out the eyes of all who oppose it. Yeah, I'm liking these Dream Eaters.
Continuing with the scan of Riku fighting. It's very hard to make out, but I think the enemy to his right is an Ear Bunny upside-down on his ears. Also I can't make out anything else. By the way.
NEXT PAGE.
First is a ADUHWABLE shot of Mickey, DOnald, Goofy and Sora doing the 'One for all, and all for one!' pose. Bless. Though Sora does kinda stick out like a sore thumb. Just a smidge.
Mickey holding a sword. Always good. A shot with MDG speaking to Pete who's beside Minnie. Nice. And then...something else invloving Wonder Meow and Kuma Panda. I think this is an example of AR junk... I really want that incredibly artsy picture of Sora they're standing on though. ._. And, balloons. i think that pretty much sums it up.
OH. SOMETHING HUGE. Ok, so apparently somewhere in the depths of all this kanji is the confirmation of JOSHUA AND BEAT JOINING NEKU FOR TWEWY MAYHEM. YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Oh, em, Yoshiya Kiryu is an incredibly annoying yet freakin' hilarious and brilliant prick from The World Ends With You. Y'know, the totally awesome Squeenix game that Neku came from? Yeah. Here's Josh-Josh...
...while Daisukenojo Bito is a 'street' skateboarder known for a slight lack of smarticles occupying his cranium. He's still epic, mind.
So, yeah.
...
...
...
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEYES~~~~ Aw, brilliant... I've said a fewtimesbeforenow how Joshua is freakin' neccessary, but Beat too?! SCORE. SCORE OF THE HIGHEST PROPORTION. I still can't help but feel that neither of these will be Riku's partner in the Game, though. Nomura only confirmed that Shiki was playing the Game as well in an interview with Famitsu last September after TGS (translation from SQEX GAL).
He [Neku]has been separated from his original partner Shiki.
So I'm still thinking that Shiki is most likely for Riku's partner. I mean, if she's been seperated from Neku, that means she'll be looking for a new partner now, right? I s'pose Joshua and Beat could also be playing the Game, but I think they're less likely for Riku's partner. I'm just assuming that Riku gets paired with a TWEWY cast member, seeing as how Neku got stuck with Sora. Speculation FTW!
So...what have I been trying to say for the last few pargraphs? Hmm... OH. If we could get Joshua and Beat even as assist characters, that would be beyond epic. Just sayin'. ...'Cause it would. Like, it really would. Truly. Also, I hope Rhyme, Beat's sister, gets a cameo now. Or at least for Beat to mention her. Rhyme's awesome.
I hope we get to see Joshua and Beat in the three-dimensional flesh at Jump Festa... Which just so happens to be this weekend (December 17th-18th). Huh. That was quick. Welp, if i have time, I'll try to write junk each day. However, I have exams the following Monday, then next weekend is Christmas... I'll have it done at some point in the future. Honest.
One last point before I finish: y'know how I was getting totes excited because it sounded like Sir Richard Epcar (Ansem SoD and Terranort's current voice actor) was confirming that there'd be a new version of Xehanort?
...Yeah, it doesn't look like that anymore.
SIGH. Of course, there still could be, but it looks like Epcar doesn't know. Bothersome. I was relly hoping that he meant that he knew something we didn't know, meaning that localisation would already be well underway and that there would be some kinda badass dream!Xehanort lurking about the place. This doesn't disprove either theory, but it doesn't help them either. Darn. I still think that there will be some version of Xehanort in th RoS, though. I talked about it before...
Ok, now I'm ACTUALLY done. Thank gawd.
~~~
I'm sorry this took so long... *is a bad person* But school, and life, and school, and internet, and school... And as I said earlier, I might not be able to get a day-by-day analysis of Jump Festa as I had previously hoped. Bothersome. I'll try. But if I fail my exams, I blame you. Yes, you. *points menacingly*
tl;dr: Two new worlds confirmed for DDD; Pranksters' Paradise (Pinocchio) and Three Musketeers Land (note: may not be actual name). Phoebus, Frollo and the gargoyles confirmed for City of Bells. Gepetto, Pinocchio, Jiminy and the Blue Fairy confirmed for Pranksters' Paradise, though no one remembers Sora or Riku. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pete and Minnie confirmed for Three Musketeers Land. Riku meeting Pinoke will (most prolly) be awkward due to the whole 'kidnapping' ordeal, though Pinoke won't remember it obviously. Lotta new Nightmares; Zou Elephant, Dokudoku Lizard, Ice Penguin, Dragon Horse, Neko Cat, Ear Bunny and Nal Bird. Spirits include Needle Lion and Frog Chef. JOSHUA AND BEAT SHALL BE MAKING APPEARANCES!!! Oh, and the Drop Gauge is confusing.
Hopefully there'll be some translations up soon. If not... Meh.
I'M SO EXCITED FOR JUMP FESTA YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT. They'll prolly be focusing on PP and TML for the demo, maybe Riku in the former and Sora in the latter? I hope they give some more clarity on the Drop Gauge and on how you swap between Sora and Riku... I hope they don't give away too much plot info, though. I'd like to not feel spoiled by the trailer, please. c:
So, yeah. I should post this now. Oh, Adventure Time is on now! MATHEMATICAL!
