Square Enix are perhaps most famous for the multitude of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games they've produced over the years, with their huge worlds to explore and massive stories centring around battling evil, love, rivalry and saving the world. Add to these a selection of much-loved Disney characters, sprinkle with real time battles and heat 'til it boils, and you've got the Kingdom Hearts series - with the latest instalment, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for the 3DS, coming to Europe this summer.
Despite the fact I've always been kind of interested in the Kingdom Hearts series, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I've never actually played one. Partially because I've never really had time for another marathon role-playing game in my life, and partially because I've not really owned any of the consoles to play it on, seeing as most of the previous instalments have been on the PS2, and PSP... But when the trailer was shown on the recent Nintendo Direct show, I immediately sat up and paid attention. Why? Not because of the Disney characters (although that is cool), not because of the story (which sounds interesting, if confusing) and not because I like Japanese role playing games (which I do). It's because I can bounce around on a giant blue dog, that's why.
In Japan there are cuddly versions of the little blue cat/dog thing on the right.
As far as we're aware, these cute little animal things are new to the Kingdom Hearts series, with Dream Drop Distance letting you recruit around fifty 'spirits' to help you out in battle - like the giant blue dog, neon panda, or frog chef, who each have their own special attack and level up as your characters do. They're apparently a sub-species of Dream Eaters, the new enemies in Kingdom Hearts 3D - whereas the Nightmares type eat up good dreams and replace them with bad ones, the Spirits eat up the scary dreams those Nightmares plant. Cute AND useful.
You'll get to play as both Sora and Riku, two of the series' best known characters, as they set out on a journey to become true keyblade masters, wielding the key-shaped sword-like weapon capable of harnessing the power of both light, and dark and great for smacking the shadowy enemies up. As part of their journey, they'll need to travel to worlds and root out all of the Dream Eaters that inhabit them whilst searching for each worlds keyhole, which, once unlocked, reawakens the sleeping worlds, returning them to normal. Confusing at best, we're hoping that a concise knowledge of past Kingdom Hearts games isn't going to be a requirement, and that things will make a lot more sense when we play the game.
Even Mickey has to swot up on the Kingdom Hearts story from time to time...
…Which, coincidentally, will be on the 20th July, when Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance bounces it's way into stores here in Europe on the back of a giant blue dog. If only. In the meantime, why not check out the trailer, where you can see a few of the spirits, a dancing mini-game and a land based on the TRON films - even if it is in Japanese and has a weird border round the video:
