Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Unreleased

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (previously known as Kingdom Hearts 3D) is an upcoming game in the Kingdom Hearts series slated to be released on the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system. At the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced to have a tentative release date of spring 2012 for Japan.

Story
Following the destruction of Ansem and Xemnas at the hands of Sora and Riku, Xehanort is revived. In response, Yen Sid decides to put Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery Exam in order to become full-fledged Keyblade Masters and counter Xehanort's threat.

The plot will also have connections to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Tetsuya Nomura stated that like Birth by Sleep, "the story is on par with that of a numbered title". The setting of Dream Drop Distance will again be spread across several worlds; several Kingdom Hearts-original worlds will return, such as Traverse Town, but all of the Disney-based worlds will be entirely new. According to an interview, Tetsuya Nomura said the game will take part on the Mark of Mastery, but not completely, and has stated that there will be new clothing for Sora and Riku.

Development
It is known that the game is the next major release in the Kingdom Hearts series, and it will feature both Sora and Riku as playable characters, both featured new designs which look similar to their Kingdom Hearts appearance. Utilizing the 3DS's high-spec graphics processing, the game will have graphics that are near on-par with those of the PS2 titles, as well as making use of the system's 3D technology such as "falling from high places" and "flying far distances". The development team is currently selecting worlds, planning to use all-new Disney worlds, along with Traverse Town and other original worlds, one of which has been revealed to be based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame (although the world itself has already been featured in the non-canonical The Sceptre and the Kingdom). Nomura has stated that, with the parallel development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, he will make sure to retain any game elements that can't be put in Final Fantasy Versus XIII for use in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Nomura has also stated that the transition between playing as Sora and playing as Riku will be forced upon and sudden, and can occur while simply walking around. The game also has the keyword of "drop", as in something falling. The 3D effect of the Nintendo 3DS will be used more for "going into the screen" rather than things popping out, as well.

In the July's issue of Weekly Famitsu, Nomura stated that the game will focus on the "hidden data" inside of Sora and development of the game is 40-50% finished, with voice recording to begin soon. A secret movie was confirmed, along with new characters that will appear in Traverse Town. Nomura also stated that the Xehanort Saga will end with Kingdom Hearts III and there will be "answers" about Kingdom Hearts III in Dream Drop Distance.

A playable demo was available at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, which revealed that Neku Sakuraba, the protagonist from The World Ends With You, would appear in the game, along with two new allies, the Bat Bat and the Wonder Meow. Sora is seen with the Wonder Meow and a panda-like Dream Eater as his allies while Riku is seen with the Koumori Bat and a ram/stag-like Dream Eater as his allies. A new type of enemy known as Dream Eaters were also shown.

Square-Enix 1st Department Premiere Trailer
The trailer begins with the final scene of Blank Points, where Riku asks Sora if he has made his mind up and Sora answers "Yes". The trailer then cuts to a scene from Signs of What's Next, where Yen Sid is then shown ordering Mickey to summon Sora and Riku to him to undertake a Mark of Mastery Exam. The scene then switches to Sora and Riku, in their Kingdom Hearts attire, on the beach of Destiny Islands, wondering if Riku's raft will get them far. Riku is shown in Traverse Town, surrounded by Shadows. He looks up to see multiple Soras raining down from the sky. One lands and prepares to fight the Shadows. Several gameplay videos are then shown.

Sora is seen running through an area with many large bells and jumps off the edge, falling through a plethora of balloons. Riku is shown in the second district of Traverse Town, where he sees Ansem looming above with what appears to be a transparent Xemnas beside him. The same is shown with Sora, only he encounters Xemnas with a transparent Ansem. Sora and Riku prepare to engage Xemnas and Ansem as the game logo ends the trailer.

The gameplay scenes displayed in the trailer focus on Sora and Riku performing advanced acrobatics: gliding, wall-jumping, and swinging around poles. The HUD also features a "Command" list which includes "Thunder", "Fire", "Blizzard", and "Attack", and a "Drop" gauge that goes up to 1.5, placed where the MP, Focus, Drive, and Clock gauges were in previous games.