Interview

– Tell us about the features of this game.

Kato: Like previous games in the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ series, it’s an action RPG – a tale where you control the protagonist Sora, a tale that progresses as he defeats the enemy Heartless. You travel into the data world, where there are powers called debugging abilities unique to the digital world. The worlds have been afflicted by a disaster of bugs, and we’ve put in many devices suited to the data world. In the ending you can see a connection to ‘Birth by Sleep’ on the PSP and ‘Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days’ on the Nintendo DS.

– The events of the game happen after ‘KHII’, but the story is based on ‘KHI’, right?

Kato: That’s right. Fans of the series can enjoy it as the latest story, but we made it so people who don’t know the series can enjoy it too. It also looks back over the journey so far, so people playing for the first time can naturally get into it.

– It seems like in each world there are stages with particular features.

Kato: As the initial concept of this game, Nomura said, “I want to make something where people can enjoy the attractions of the digital world,” so in each world there are things like side scrolling or inward scrolling areas, and you can enjoy nostalgic games you feel like you’ve played long ago – that’s the core of the gameplay.

– Many Disney characters appear in the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ series. Is the development process different from that of other games?

Kato: Unlike normal games, in order to check all the connections between each distributed chapter, release dates were determined ahead of time – and there were points that needed to be amended to satisfy supervisors, that was different. People from Disney would check each world, making sure there was nothing improper about the events that happened or characters’ lines, and sometimes offered their opinions about the gameplay in each world.

– I see. With the release of the 8th chapter, the game is now complete – what would you say are the highlights?

Kato: This game is kind of an overview of the story so far, but within that framework, the choices the user makes can lead to differences in the ending. So even after playing through once, you can enjoy it many more times. Moreover, in the final battle you fight with an unexpected character, so I really want people to look forward to that.

– And there are connections to things like ‘Birth by Sleep’ too?

Kato: Yes. But that comes right at the end, so it’s a secret (laughs). Although I think people who have played ‘Birth by Sleep’ will definitely be surprised.

– How about further developments of ‘coded’?

Kato: There aren’t many devices on which it can be played, so I think it would be good if we could work on something to increase the number of users who can play it…

– So finally, tell us about the appeal of this game.

Kato: It’s a fun, lighthearted game, so please try it at least once. Also, ‘coded’ is finished, but there are mutual connections with other titles in the series, which I think can give various impressions, so look forward to that.

Vague Hint Too Vague?

So there we have it. Kato says they are interested in increasing the number of people who have the opportunity to experience and enjoy Kingdom Hearts: Coded, but no further comments on whether or not he meant different phone companies throughout Japan or actually expanding outside of the country.

Is It Being Translated?

According to Kingdom Hearts Insider, we just may get to play an English release of Coded! Posted Saturday, February 20, 2010, a fan had e-mailed Eddie Carroll, voice of Jiminy Cricket, asking if he would once again provide his voice for the new Kingdom Hearts game. Eddie’s response was yes, he would be taking up the role of Jiminy once more, however, Birth By Sleep, next in line for release in the West, does not star Jiminy Cricket.

The Countdown

Another piece of speculation for the community is as follows, Kingdom Hearts Insider has reported the newest, presumed date of release for Birth By Sleep which will either be in June or August of this year!

As expected the event focused heavily on both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts but other titles such as Sigma Harmonics and The 3rd Birthday (Parasite Eve III) were also there.

So lets take a look at the release dates for the Kingdom Hearts games which despite being tentative are still a good indication of when these games might be available for release.

The dates mentioned are of course for Japan only so when and whether these games will be released outside of Japan still remains a mystery. In fact whether Coded will even be released in the West seems quite doubtful as unlike Japan where mobile gaming is quite popular, the west is still very far behind. 

For more information and articles surrounding the event be sure to check out some of the other sites such as IGN, GameSpot and KHInsider which have more details on the actual games, stories and trailers that were presented at the event. We’ll keep you posted on any major updates.

As you can see from the scans, the focus gauge looks a lot like the Kingdom Hearts 2 drive gauge and seems to represent a speciality for each of the main characters Terra, Ven, and Aqua. 

Once filled it allows the launch of massive attacks and finishing moves for the character in question. Now despite the scans carrying Sora, we have to remember that this is a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts. So yes it will probably carry the usual mix of Disney characters but the visibility of Sora is probably for cut scenes only.

At this point there’s not much else we can gather but we’ll keep you posted as new information comes in. On a closing note don’t forget to check out the rest of the scans for the other two Kingdom Hearts games, KH 358/2 days and KH Coded (see below).