As it gets closer and closer to the release of the game, Square Enix continues to show promise, even more so with more updates, fantastic features and much more just to grab all fans and draw them into the world of Kingdom Hearts.

Get Into Reality

When we say “Get Into Reality”, we specifically meant about the new feature, Reality Shift, sequences where the game becomes a comic book. In order to activate the Reality Shift, the A and X button must be pressed at the same time. The type of Reality Shift you do depends on what world you are currently residing in. Also, Nomura had stated in his interview about the Free Flow Action system continually being adjusted and debugged several times.

New Worlds

With Sorcery of Symphony being the 6th world for all players to explore, the last world to appear in the game will be announced. There are to be seven worlds that have to be “awaken” in order to complete the game. Mickey will also appear in this world along with the terrorism Chernabog and the Magic Brooms. This world will also follow Mickey’s time when he was going through his trials of becoming a keyblade master.

Dream Eaters

Since the Dream Eaters will replace Donald and Goofy as party members, they will be able to give Sora and Riku new abilities and aid in combat. As an added bonus, their colors can be customized. The Dream Eaters will also be influenced by the emotions of the characters, another system that Nomura had stated in his interview.

Other Information

As stated in Nomura’s interviews, Organization XIII will be back but will also reveal as to what the members has been doing during certain time periods but also to show Xehanort’s perspective of the whole situation, revealing that all of the members have retained their human forms.

Release Date

The dates that Kingdom Hearts: 3D Will be released on March, 29 while North America and the other countries will receive the games later on this year.

Continue to stay in tune for the many dazzlintg experiences of Kingdom Hearts 3D. We will make sure to get the news to you!

I hope that all of you have been waiting very patiently because for this Christmas, you will receive additional, new updates on

Kingdom Hearts: 3D and other splendid and tasteful treats as presents for you all. Here is a video

trailer on the greatest game to be released!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPtX25lSRmE

New & Memorable Characters

Square Enix has brought back some new and old characters: Those from our favorite games;

those who we love from our favorite childhood Disney movies and those who just have to return again because we just

can’t get enough of them.In the Traverse Town world, Rhyme; Shiki; Beat and Joshua who are also from The World Ends with you, will be joining Neku in The game. New characters in the game will also include the priest villain, Lord Frollo; Esmeralda’s lover, Pheobus and our comedic gargoyles, Laverne, Hugo and Victor from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to join Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Tron would also come back but he would be in his dark, alternate form as Rinzler from Tron: Legacy. Also, the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio and the Beagle Boys from Disney’s The Three Musketeers will also make their appearance.
For the returning cast, Maleficent will storm in once again but this time, hinting about Xehanort and the seven pure worlds of

light

and the seven Princesses of Hearts at Disney Castle. Mickey, Donald and Goofy will also be coming back but the surprising

part is

them also appearing in a new world, The Country of the Musketeers.

Queen Minnie and Pete, Maleficent henchmen, will also be there Daisy Duck will also come back at Disney Castle.
Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio will star in the game with Geppeto and Monstro.

Yen Sid will appear, narrating on what had happened to the worlds that did not end up completely saved and instead

went into a sleeping state, making the darkness that enters the worlds that are sleeping become Dream Eaters instead of Heartless.
As an added bonus, Ansem’s apprentices will be coming back: Even, Braig, Aeleus, and Ienzo. For the big part, Lea will also be coming back as he saves Mickey and his gang from Maleficent’s attack at Disney Castle.

The dazzling but shocking part would be the incarnations of Master Xehanort: Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas,

and the young version of Master Xehanort himself. Vanitus will appear alongside the young Master Xehanort.
There will also be more versions of the Dream Eaters such as the Goat Horn, the Frog Chef, the evil Ice Penguin and the

ferocious Gorilla!!

New Worlds to Explore

In addition to La Cite des Noche, Prankster’s Paradise that consists of the Pinocchio casts

and The Country of the Musketeers world that consists of Mickey and other Disney characters

will be added.
Tron’s/Rinzler’s world will also appear along with Traverse Town, Radiant Garden,

Disney Castle, the Keyblade Graveyard and Destiny Island.
In Japan, Kingdom Hearts 3D will be released there in March of 2012. All of North America and Europe will receive the release following after that date.

Other Exciting Surprises

Kingdom Hearts 3D Merchandise will be sold in the Square Enix stores! Also, if you cannot wait any longer, you can pre order the game for just $40.00!!
You may have to wait though since the release date can be an estimated placeholder.
Just still stay in touch with this site as we will keep on giving you more surprises in the game.

There is finally some news! Musical Notes news that is! Composer Takeharu Ishimoto;  also will be assisting in creating and instilling the sound and piece in Final Fantasy Type Zero; will be working on Kingdom Hearts: 3D with “It’s A Wonderful” from the game “The World Ends With You” alongside composer Yoko Shimomura. Besides working on the music with Kingdom Hearts 3D, he is also working on the soundtrack for Final Fantasy Type Zero called “Zero Expression FF”. There will be coming out with a Limited Edition with a booklet, a DVD, and the CD will come in a Limited Edition 3-disc version.

Hang in there Kingdom hearts and Final Fantasy fans. It seems as though we will receive double our trouble just for waiting.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for the Playstation Portable, takes place 10 years before the events of the first game. The world of Departure is the initial setting, where the three main characters; Ventus, Aqua and Terra train to become a keyblade master. Master Eraqus and Master Xehenort are their mentors but as the plot unfolds, we find out that Xehenort is a being of darkness while Eraqus is the being of light. Terra, as he tries to muster his own skills, tries to decide which path to take; light or darkness. Meanwhile, Ventus tries to find Terra as he searches the worlds to find information on his whereabouts. Aqua, in turn, under Eraqus’ orders, is on a mission to search for Ventus so he can come back home in safety. The downfall of the story, however is the lack of new characters other than a particular Final Fantasy character and he, in fact, is the only one in this entire game; Disney have a monopoly over this one, Final Fantasy fans. It would have been great to see new Disney films or Final Fantasy games get the Kingdom Hearts treatment but alas, they replicate the worlds from series’ past. Overall, the worlds chosen for the game are, let’s face it, have a weak plot line but as a general experience, the game deserves praise for blending the deep saga of Kingdom Hearts games and filling a majority of the holes left in the story.

Fans of the series were worried about the game being too much of the same but fans, be rest assured! This game indeed has fundamental changes from its predecessors despite a few setbacks. Firstly, the command system has been totally revamped with a new layout. From the beginning of the game, you have three slots to enter commands with. These commands, in the form of regular attacks, spells and potions can be bought, blended together and sold. In addition, commands are leveled up as you fight the heartless. In the process of progressing through the game, you can obtain recipes for stronger blending options. Unlock new abilities such as HP Boost and finishing moves which upgrade as you fight the Unbirth. Secondly, a new game play mechanic twists the strategy of the game called the shotlock commands which can cause bars of damage when used correctly. They are essentially super moves and can devastate large groups of enemies when he or she is in a tight situation. This is very useful but can be catastrophic because when the player finishes the move, your character tries to regain their composure before being able to move. At this crucial point,  an enemy may find a chance to strike against you. The difficulty, which was criticized in Kingdom Hearts 2, has been revamped and it now has a deep sense of challenge. From time to time, the player will scratch their heads as they get defeated time and time again by the bosses of each world. I played the game on Proud Mode and the challenge of Birth By Sleep gives me nostalgia of the first Kingdom Hearts. The Unbirth, however, are the flip side . Birth By Sleep’s weak point is the lack of common enemies you can face and they rarely change as the story progresses. They are very bland and they are rehashes of the previous games. No innovation has been implemented in this department but the bosses of this Kingdom Hearts prequel definitely smooth out this rigid task of killing common enemies. Overall, the game feels smooth, fast paced and there are enough new mechanics to make it feel fresh to the veteran Kingdom Hearts junkie.

There are various modes for you and your friends to play with but the problem is the lack of true online gameplay. It could be easily fitted into the structure of BBS’ Mirage Arena…So, what can you play with your friends and how many people can play? The structure of Mirage Arena is set into 4 modes with the offering of 3 player capability ; Battle (where you can fight your friends), Arena (a co-op “survival” mode), Command Board (players play a Monopoly-esque game) and Rumble Racing (A hoverboard racing mode). These 4 modes work very well into the Kingdom Hearts formula for “online” play and while Battle and Arena are pretty obvious to have and work very well, the Command Board surprisingly establishes a great game mechanic. The Command Board is a fun addicting twist of using your abilities for placing spots on a board. However, the game plunges into the darkness with the one mini game called Rumble Racing.  The controls are sloppy and the hover board or the keyboard gets stuck on the edges of the track. Each of the tracks’ layouts felt like they were slapped on by an amateur game designer in Modnation Racers or LittleBigPlanet. Like each of these games’ catchphrases, this game definitely felt like it was “created in minutes” rather than hundreds of hours. It is very obvious that Square did not take this mini game as seriously as the other stellar modes available in the Mirage Arena. The aspect of leveling up is clear in the Mirage Arena as well in the form of ranks and medals. Medals allow you to obtain group commands such as Trinity, new recipes for your command mixing and also crystals which are added when you mesh commands together to create power ups (or abilities); for example, the Thunder Boost. The multiplayer game play is an engaging aspect of Birth By Sleep but alas, the racing implement of the multiplayer is a shameful waste of time for you and your friends.
You may, on the other hand waste many minutes listening to the game’s soundtrack. As soon as you boot the UMD for the first time, you know that you are in for a treat to the ears, as the melancholy sound of Dearly Beloved lifts you up and greets you to start your next quest in the epic saga of Kingdom Hearts! The worlds, beautifully composed by Yuko Shinomura, lighten up with personality and it helps the player feel immersed into this engaging tale. The voice acting, particularly by Jesse McCartney, is top notch and the emotions invoked by the characters feel believable. Jesse McCartney, without spoiling the story, provides a great twist to Ventus’ voice, meshing two characters’ voices together and that, my friends, is a great showing of creative voice acting. The voice actors for Disney characters sound exactly like their original counterparts aswell, giving the Disney worlds, an extra sense of believability. The sounds of keyblades swinging, magic spells whirling and the grunts and cries of the characters when they flinch match the exact movements of the character. The sound, as always in the history of Kingdom Hearts, is magnificent through its alluring soundtrack, the natural sounding voice acting and the sound effects which help immerse the gamer through this excellently told story.

The Playstation Portable, year by year, confounds the Nintendo DS with its superior graphics and in comparison to 358/2 Days, Birth By Sleep finally gives the Kingdom Hearts fans something to smile about, graphics wise. The cut scenes of Birth by Sleep arguably look sharper than its older brother, Kingdom Hearts 2 and have been revised over the past 4 years. One aspect of the graphics which is startling are the clouds. The way they move amongst the landscapes of the worlds look great and whirl around in different fashions. In The Land of Departure, the clouds whirl around a mountain and in one world, I cannot say because of spoilers, the clouds race along the dirty auburn sky. This yet falls short because the worlds feel awkwardly empty. An example of this would be the town of Thebes, where, according to the film “Hercules”, it is bustling and distressing to walk around with salesmen homing down your back but in “Birth By Sleep”, there is nothing but an empty square. The worlds do not feel as vibrant as the movies they are inspired by. The bland atmosphere of the worlds despite the game’s beauty lets down the game presentation wise but it is an improvement over 358/2 Days.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep does not fail to deliver as the hours steadily go up as you finish every feature of this Playstation Portable exclusive. The main story on each character lasts up to 10 hours and collectively bump to 30 hours. This is a heavy PSP title and plenty of replay ability is found here. He or she can take part in the Mirage Arena on offline or the so called “online” modes, play the mini games of Disney Town or  level up while collecting everything in the game. This can total up to more than 4 times the original playtime and possibly much higher, which is an astounding value for the consumer.
Despite the minor hiccups of the game, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is easily one of the most unparalleled experiences on the Playstation Portable and if this gaming device, like many others, is collecting dust, liven it back up with this deep, story driven title.
53.5/60

89%

NOTE: The rating is usually out of 50 with 10 being the score for each category; Presentation, Story, Gameplay, Replayability and Sound. This is what has totaled the score of 89%. If you have any comments or complaints, please email me at thecanukgamer@gmail.com or go to my YouTube accounts, chrispen9 and thecanukgamer.

The concept of Chain of Memories is that it encompasses all of the events after Kingdom Hearts and before Kingdom Hearts II. As an avid fan of this franchise I purchased Chain of Memories straight after replaying the first game in the hope of discovering some great missing bits of the untold storyline.

Handheld Vs Console

I was wary that this game was on a handheld device and not the Playstation but despite this I was so excited about the possibilities of unravelling the mysteries of Organization XIII and figuring out what happened to Riku. In short I ignored my own internal warning bells and dove straight in. (A very easy thing to do for any Kingdom Hearts fan).

Repetitive Gaming

I’ve been playing video games since before kindergarten, so after many years of gaming on at least a dozen different consoles, I like to think I can tell a good game from a bad one. In regards to Chain of Memories, I believe I was in the midst of reliving the experience on Monstro when I came to realize that this game was aggravating, tedious, time-consuming and the most repetitive thing I had played in years.

New Characters & Stories

New characters and stories were being introduced and it was all within my grasp but the absurdity of fighting with cards had gotten me so frustrated that by the time I was locked out of the last room (because I did not have a blue number 1) I was in danger of losing all my hair from the stress and fustration this game was bringing out.

More Story Telling Please

The sole desire that burned so strong within me to complete Chain of Memories was still with me, but the short moments in between the floors of the castle where Sora would finish fighting yet another Organization member always left me praying for some real juicy story bits.

I’m a Kingdom Hearts fan through and through so I’m not going to give up on my favourite franchise that easily but like most fans I’m used to the glorious story telling of the series which quite frankly just wasn’t there for me. I mean how about slipping in some bits on Riku or King Mickey!

In fact I craved so badly for something to happen after opening up each and every door to a world I had already been to, that the floors with the save spheres actually became a little entertaining.

Playing As Riku

The excitement I had after playing the first Kingdom Hearts game set me up expecting more of the same quality story telling from its sequel. Unfortunately things remained slow and didn’t really pick up until I had beaten Sora’s story and moved onto playing as Riku.

Now thankfully Riku’s story wasn’t a recycled version of the first game, but actually came with some good story telling and juicy bits. As well as a better story line his card system was also much easier to wield and I had a great if not short time before I hit the end of the game.

Why The High Scores

I look to the scores Chain of Memories received from official game review magazines and I can see how the game’s unique fighting system deserved to be put into the spotlight, but in terms of story and playability, I couldn’t and still cannot understand why it has been given marks higher than a 7/10.

Now I’m not saying the game was completely rubbish but I do believe it needs to be given separate scores for each of the two story lines in the game. Sora’s story most unfortunately I feel is nothing but a 5/10, whilst Rikus story (and this is not because he’s my favorite character of anything) deserves a 7 or 8/10.

Playstation Version

Square Enix produced a re-mastered version of the game for the Playstation which I also bought as soon as it was released (again letting my love of Kingdom Hearts cloud my better judgment). While they did add many new features and the fighting was much more enjoyable on a 3-D plane verses the flat screen of a Game Boy, Re: Chain of Memories still suffered from the same dismal plot which is something the beautiful graphics couldn’t save me from and I ran out of steam halfway through the game, feeling, “I beat the game once, why am I bothering a second time?”

Just Play Kingdom Hearts 2

For those who haven’t beaten the game or have no desire to play it, fear not, the entire story of Chain of Memories is basically told in the opening to Kingdom Hearts 2.

Screenshots