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Kingdom Hearts 3 |OT| One χ-blade to rule them all

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
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Kairi said:
"Thinking of you, wherever you are. We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: Starting a new journey may not be so hard or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky - -one sky, one destiny."




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Kingdom Hearts Chronological Timeline
NOTE! Spoilers for every game prior to Kingdom Hearts 3 are in each link. If you do not wish to be spoiled, prefer video retrospectives, or are interested in getting into the story and games click HERE. Thank you!

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Yen Sid reveals that he had forbidden Mickey from speaking of his meeting with Aqua because no one held the power to rescue her from the realm of darkness. However, things have changed, and the King and Riku are determined to save her. Meanwhile, the new Keyblade wielder Kairi begins her training with Lea under the wizard Merlin.

Sora returns from his journey to the Sleeping Worlds and reunites with Donald and Goofy. Yen Sid states that in order to defeat Xehanort, Sora must reclaim the powers he lost from nearly becoming a dark vessel, and acquire the ability to awaken sleeping allies.

With that, Sora, Donald, and Goofy embark on a brand-new adventure.


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Sora

A boy who has connected his heart to many others.

Sora has saved the worlds twice during his journeys, however his recent venture to complete his Mark of Mastery exam left him weak and powerless. In order to be of help in order to stop Master Xehanort from bringing about a second Keyblade War, Sora is instructed by Yen Sid to visit Hercules on Olympus.



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Riku

Recently named Keyblade Master by Yen Sid, Riku has overcome his own past and has grown a resistance to the Darkness.

He and King Mickey recieve new clothes from the Three Good Fairies before embarking on a perilous quest to rescue Aqua, who has spent the last twelve years in the Realm of Darkness.



Kairi01.png


Kairi

One of the Seven Princesses of Heart and a Keyblade wielder.

After learning about Master Xehanort's true plan, Yen Sid sends Riku on his first official missions as a Keyblade Master - to retrieve Kairi from Destiny Islands and bring her to the Mysterious Tower. It is here that Kairi learns about the fate of Master Aqua. Kairi tells Yen Sid that she would like to help, and the retired Master instructs her to go to Merlin and train in the ways of the Keyblade alongside Lea, the revived form of Axel.



Mickey01.png


Mickey Mouse

The King of Disney Castle and a Keyblade Master who trained under Master Yen Sid.

He has aided Sora and Riku throughout their journey, and is now trying to thwart Master Xehanort and his Seekers of Darkness.

After revealing the fate of Master Aqua, he is tasked with her retrieval from The Dark World. He and Riku recieve new clothes from the Three Good Fairies as protection from the Darkness, and the two set out to find her.



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Donald Duck

The Royal Magician of Disney Castle. He, alongside Goofy, were tasked by King Mickey to find a "key" and save the worlds.

After not being able to join Sora on his journey into the Sleeping Worlds, Donald Duck is now back by Sora's side as they attempt to stop the True Organization XIII from succeeding with their plan to create a realm where Light and Darkness exist in equilibrium.



Goofy02.png


Goofy

The Captain of the Guard of Disney Castle. He, along with Donald Duck, was tasked by King Mickey to find a "key" and save the worlds.

After not being able to join Sora on his journey into the Sleeping World, he is now back by Sora's side as they attempt to stop the True Organization XIII from succeeding with their plan to create a realm where Light and Darkness exist in equilibrium.

Many more you will meet on your journey to stop Master Xehanort and his new Organization XIII. Gather your seven lights and set forth on your adventure.


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Combat features
  • The Command Menu from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II will return.[25]
  • The gauges for Donald and Goofy now appear next to Sora's in the bottom right corner instead of above. The MP gauge from KHII returns. The "Focus" gauge which originated from Birth by Sleep returns and is also meant for Shotlocks.[citation needed]
  • Drive Forms return. These include;
    • "Guardian Form,"[26] a form that transforms Sora's Keyblade into a shield,
    • "Power Form,"[27]
    • "Second Form," a form that grants Sora's clothing similar to that of his outfit from Kingdom Hearts II.[28]
  • Reaction Commands will be replaced by Situation Commands.[29][30]
  • Attraction Flow is a new feature, which lets the party execute skills based on theme park attractions.[31] This includes "Big Magic Mountain", "Pirate Ship", "Blaster Blaze", "Splash Run", "Magic Carousel", and "Mad Tea Cups".
  • Sora's Keyblade can transform into various items, such as a double bow gun or a chariot to attack enemies.[31] It is currently planned for each Keyblade to have two transformations, with the second activating if Sora connects enough combos, similar to Command Styles or Situation Commands.[32][33] Trailers indicate that these transformations will sometimes change Sora's outfit, as well.[3]
  • Sora can now switch between three Keychains on the fly by pressing the Right Directional Button while the the cursor in on the Attack Command. Also after activating a Keyblade transformation, said transformation will be saved when switching out.
    • Furthermore, Keychains can now level up to become stronger.[34]
  • Blizzard and Aero magic will return. Similar to 0.2, magic will affect the surrounding environment—for example, Blizzard will create a sheet of ice to slide on and Aero will move and shape the grass.[35] Sora will be also able to cast fourth tier spells (previously localized as -za, -ja, or -agun).[36]
  • Disney characters will join Sora's team as temporary party members or summons.[37] Trailers indicate that some worlds will have more than one local party member, and that they will be able to fight alongside Sora without replacing Donald or Goofy.[3]
  • The Summon system will operate very differently from in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.[38] Summons are now called Links with Ariel's "Lagoon Showtime", Ralph's "8 Bit Blast", Simba's "Kingsflare", Meow Wow's "Wonder Balloon", and Stitch's "Plasma Encounter". A summon sequence can easily be skipped by pressing .
  • The AI has been improved, so allies can invite Sora into special techniques, and enemies can work together.[39]
  • Much like with the Limit attacks from Kingdom Hearts II, Sora can team up with Donald and Goofy or other party members to perform powerful team-up attacks.[40]
Exploration
  • Nearly all worlds are new to the series. However, there is some familiarity seen in Twilight Town, Hercules's world and the Pirates of the Carribean world.[41]
  • Autorunning (Athletic Flow in Japanese), a mechanic based on Flowmotion, will allow the player to interact with the environment, like running up walls that faintly glow.[42]
  • Textboxes when talking to NPCs are removed. The dialog is now voiced.
Other features
  • The game will contain mini-games.[43] There is a cooking mini-game with Remy in Twilight Town.
  • The Gummi Ship will return with a revised system.[44] Traveling is described as being more "open world".[45]
  • Sora has a Gummiphone which can take selfies, as well as Lucky Emblems which are hidden Mickeys. The amount of Lucky Emblems photographed is tied to unlocking the Secret Ending. For example, on Beginner, the player must photograph all of them, but on Proud, the player only needs to photograph a few of them.[46]

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Verdanth

Member
Awesome OT. Been waiting for this one. Great job Dr. Claus Dr. Claus

Yes! It arrived today!
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Been playing the game for two hours now and all I can say, as a KH fan, is that this game feels and plays like a declaration of love. Worth the wait.

Truly loving every second. Combat feels super smooth and the game is gorgeous.

I'm currently in the first world and the way they introduce it is pretty great.

Can't wait to see more.
 
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Shifty

Member
Nice OT, I dig the fact that you put in gameplay info. Didn't know about a lot of the stuff in there, so that's a nice bit of extra knowledge. Drive forms, yay!
And, sigh, the χ-blade is still a thing? I thought it was so dumb for the ultimate keyblade to end up being a goofy play on words. Keyblade... Keeeeee Blade!

I need to catch up on Dream Drop Distance.

One minor thing though- no love for HeartlessGAF DarkGAF?

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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Do you think this game could be enjoyable for someone who has never played a KH game, has no interest in doing any reading or watching of retrospectives, but also does not really care if the story makes any sense? Basically, is the gameplay and setting enough fun where the story can be disregarded and what's left is still an enjoyable game?
 

bigedole

Member
So excite...

Get to start tonight at 11 PM, won't have long before bed time but been waiting a long time for this!
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Do you think this game could be enjoyable for someone who has never played a KH game, has no interest in doing any reading or watching of retrospectives, but also does not really care if the story makes any sense? Basically, is the gameplay and setting enough fun where the story can be disregarded and what's left is still an enjoyable game?
To me the gameplay is super fun and world is highly enjoyable but with that being said this game is story driven game and just like any game with story, its going to to have cutscenes and if you don't care about the story then you going to do lots of skipping.
 

bigedole

Member
I just wanna know if this game will provide any closure to the series or if it's another obvious TBC. I really don't want to play Kingdom Hearts 3.14159, Heart of Darkness Pi
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Anyone playing it yet? Is it 1080p on base PS4? I'm hearing reports its 1080p in both graphic modes, there isn't a resolution drop. Then I read somewhere it does indeed drop to 900p in unlocked mode. I really wish DF got this game early.
 

Tiamat2san

Member
I still don’t understand half of the story...
And the few I understand is soooo cheesy...
But damn I love the gameplay and the graphics are cool.
I guess it will be like the others KH.
Gameplay first.
 

zwiggelbig

Member
Do you think this game could be enjoyable for someone who has never played a KH game, has no interest in doing any reading or watching of retrospectives, but also does not really care if the story makes any sense? Basically, is the gameplay and setting enough fun where the story can be disregarded and what's left is still an enjoyable game?
Im doing that right now. I keep playing with a smile on my face just because of donald duck lol
I love it. Great relief from all the hardcore games i played recently. Just give it a try and let us know if u enjoy it!
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Nice OT, I dig the fact that you put in gameplay info. Didn't know about a lot of the stuff in there, so that's a nice bit of extra knowledge. Drive forms, yay!
And, sigh, the χ-blade is still a thing? I thought it was so dumb for the ultimate keyblade to end up being a goofy play on words. Keyblade... Keeeeee Blade!

I need to catch up on Dream Drop Distance.

One minor thing though- no love for HeartlessGAF DarkGAF?

3cba659a9cb3eb7afd55c577d09eb159.png

I will switch them over to a gray scheme in the morning. I tested it on my Dark Gaf and it appeared just fine, but I may have some brightness differences on my monitor. Sorry for the trouble!
 

Neolombax

Member
Played 3 hours last night, I'm happy with the game so far. I like how flashy the combat, but I will say that the Attractions I am not a fan off. They're interesting the first few times but I find them to be quite OP and the animation takes quite a bit of time. I usually just cancel them.

Also, playing on Proud is quite easy. But I've only finished the first world. Maybe the difficulty will ramp up further.
 

Verdanth

Member
Early game side quest question:

So on Agora (Olympus), there's this kid who asks you to find 5 Gold Hercules statues. I managed to find four, I'm stuck on the last one. Been going around in circles, through the map, but cant managed to find the last one.

As anybody find all five?
 

peronmls

Member
I still don’t understand half of the story...
And the few I understand is soooo cheesy...
But damn I love the gameplay and the graphics are cool.
I guess it will be like the others KH.
Gameplay first.
"So cheesy" is the point of the KH. Thats like complaining Spiderman/peter parker is cheesy.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Anyone jumping straight in on Critical? I gotta know if it holds up to KH2.
From I hear KH3 doesn’t have Critical difficulty. They may add later on just like how KH1&2 didn’t have critical until Final Mix version got released.
 
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Akuza89

Member
From I hear KH3 doesn’t have Critical difficulty. They may add later on just like how KH1&2 didn’t have critical until Final Mix version got released.

It doesn't no.

It has beginner, normal or proud.

To be honest there are a few different mechanics in here that could throw you off, but proud mode isn't that bad at the moment even with them.
 

Kagey K

Banned
3 hours until it unlocks, and then another 3? To watch the in game story so far and then I can finally play this.


 

RPGCrazied

Member
Got all the Pixar movies watched. Just finished Frozen. Only movie I didn't watch was pirates.

And finally shipped! After all these years tomorrow is the day. Feels pretty surreal.
 

Akuza89

Member
Got all the Pixar movies watched. Just finished Frozen. Only movie I didn't watch was pirates.

And finally shipped! After all these years tomorrow is the day. Feels pretty surreal.

Trust me it's worth the wait.

It feels like I'm 12 again! Haha

That's so weird to think I was 12 when the original came out.... and now I'm depressed!

Time to carry on playing kingdom hearts 3 to drown my sorrows haha
 

Shifty

Member
From I hear KH3 doesn’t have Critical difficulty. They may add later on just like how KH1&2 didn’t have critical until Final Mix version got released.
It doesn't no.

It has beginner, normal or proud.

To be honest there are a few different mechanics in here that could throw you off, but proud mode isn't that bad at the moment even with them.
If I remember correctly, Proud was the highest difficulty available at the start.
That's understandable, given how it's been handled in the past.

The big thing I liked about it in KH2 was that it fundamentally changed the balance by granting you a bunch of abilities from the start, upping the AP growth and making your attacks stronger in addition to buffing up the enemies.
It turned the game into a more technical ARPG versus the later games that just exaggerated the existing difficulty curve with a weaker player and stronger enemies, so I'd probably end up playing through those on normal.

I guess if anything I'm relieved that it's not in yet because that means that (in theory, assuming that KH3FM will be a thing) they'll put time into doing it justice rather than falling back on the 'harder hard mode' thing.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I almost wish there was a midnight launch to attend, but it's so cold outside right now. And the fact that Im expected to get it tomorrow in the mail. I should have gone digital. The one title I chose to get physically.

I'm glad to see everyone enjoying it so far.
 

CuNi

Member
When are we allowed to post questions that might contain spoilers? I need to vent about some of the features of this game really badly by now...
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Played for a bit. Some minor spoilers for the first 90 minutes:
I love the opening scenes that recap a lot of the previous areas and the quintessential dream sequence. I would kill to get a real life stained glass of Sora and Co. Why are these not a thing yet? Got to the part where you fight The Rock Titan. Super fun fight. Didn't go past that.

The gameplay feels so much tighter than in 0.2 Fragmentary Passage and I love how they toned down the flowmotion and removed the abused quirks of the system. No more wall dashing to climb any wall. Plus you don't go nearly as far with the flow motion wall dashes, which is kinda nice. Just felt tedious getting around the world in continued dashes with DDD.

I will play some more once I wake up in the morning.
 

SoulUnison

Banned
There are single "rooms" in Olympus that are larger than entire Kingdom Hearts 2 worlds.

Not really feeling Attraction Flow. They're not set up at all. You just...have them now. They're bizarre non-sequitur.
 

Grieves

Member
Game was waiting for me when I got home at dinner.

Downloaded the update. Now at work. I'll have to walk the dog before I can start playing :(
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Going to try and use the starlight keyblade and the dusk till dawn keyblade the whole game.

I just got my code for the Dusk till Dawn keyblade today.

Game was waiting for me when I got home at dinner.

Downloaded the update. Now at work. I'll have to walk the dog before I can start playing :(

You could charge the controller or get new batteries while you walk the dog. Its freezing here, so my copy is probably going to be cold from being outside and the disc will probably be flapping around inside the case due to being shipped in an envelope.
 
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