OK, there’s a bit to talk about here, and a bit to show, so take a deep breath, and lets all try and work together on this one! The crux of this article will be about a new interview with Nomura, but we’ll also show you some HD pics, and some footage from 358/2 Days!

On the topic of Coded, secrets have been revealed – the game began its life with Nomura in a drunken stupor talking with Tabata at around midnight in the offices: he eventually had the idea of making a game like a ‘playground’ for gamers, similar to Disneyland itself, and then they started planning the title on a nearby whiteboard. From the playground idea, Nomura eventually decided to make the idea into a Kingdom Hearts title, and so now we have Coded.

As for the game itself, well we can confirm that the game will have a multiplayer mode of sorts – Nomura states that “If Player B’s world is in trouble nearby, then Player A can go and help them”, reminding us that theme parks aren’t ’single player’ experiences! With the story, he’s decided that the events of the game will effect the real world in some way, and that the plot will be quite important overall, but players need not find themselves playing it unless they want to. The battle system is also not completely finished, as the team is still working on the finer details, but they have confirmed it will be centering around the defeat of ‘data bugs’, and the ‘true enemy’ of Coded, which apparently isn’t the Heartless…

358/2 Days got a lot of coverage, and many story details were hinted at – apparently, one of the Organization members will ‘fade’ during the storyline, and since we know the fates of all the other members, it’s safe to say that XIV will disappear, confirming a part of my earlier theory. As for who she is, this will be explained, along with why the Organization never changed their name although they had her onboard. Apart from that, most things we knew – the story will be quite sad, the Riku vs Roxas fight will be in the game, and the true meaning of the title will be revealed only to those who finish the game…

Oh, and there’ll be a mission that focuses on playing as Xemnas.

Birth by Sleep had the least new content – Nomura reminds us that this title will have to be paused for a while so that they can focus on the other titles that need to be released first, and feels sad that sales are a factor in which order he gets to develop the titles. With the story, he reassures us that it is comprised of three scenarios that are all available from the game’s outset, focusing on Terra, Ven(tus) and Aqua, and playing through them all “feels like three different games”.

Lastly, he reminds us that the gameplay and the levelling up system are new and revamped, and that they are considering some kind of multiplayer. He also reassures us that the Disney worlds will all be subject to a timeshift and that the characters will all be younger.

And now, three whole seconds of 358/2 Days – nothing much, but its the best around currently:

And finally, a few of the HD images:

And so, after all that, I can safely say that we’ve got one heck of a nice little update here. To finish all of this, I would like to say a big “Hi” to a certain Ash Barnes, whom we have recently found again after six months of missing correspondance. He’s currently unable to gain access to the internet, but will hopefully return to us someday to help the KHG project go ahead. Anyways, great to know you’re safe and sound!

Sources: KH Vids and Famitsu.

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Just a small interview this time, conducted by a Nintendo-themed magazine called ‘Wii and DS’. The interview doesn’t reveal anything really new, so I’ll just summarise anything interesting below. Also, no scans come with this – sorry guys.

On the topic of the 14th member, Nomura was 100% tight-lipped and won’t reveal anything new on her – looks like he wants to keep her secret just like with Roxas.

Talking about 358/2 Days, Nomura mentions that the battle system is totally different than previous entries into the series because there is no command menu at the moment, input is done based on buttons on the DS, although a menu may be added at some point. The touch-screen is currently not used at all, but they may implement a small extra feature later in development and ’surprise (them)selves’.

When it comes to multiplayer, he tells us again that depending on how players do using each of the Organization members during the multiplayer missions, the members’ chairs in the big white room will move up or down. He then confirms Xemnas as a playable charcter, and makes a joke that “it would be funny if the player lost using Xemnas, and then seeing his chair the lowest in the room!” :D

He then quickly mentions that Zexion has been a tough character for them to implement, and that to play as him he will probably be based around an ability to steal other enemies attacks. He’ll also have some smaller techniques of his own, but his play-style will be mostly based around this attack-stealing technique.

Lastly, he mentions Coded and its influence upon the storyline – the game won’t explain what Sora and company will be doing in the real world while the Coded plot is occuring in the data world (so perhaps we’ll see this in KH3 as a sort of intro?). He reinforces the fact that the game’s plot will be quite revealing though, letting us in on many secrets and giving us a hint on what’s to come in the future.

Anyway, check back here soon for more information centred around the new Kingdom Hearts project!

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As usual, Nomura is doing the rounds with the Japanese press – well-known monthly mag Gemaga was next up on his ‘to-do’ list, and he reveals a few new pieces of info here, as summarised by IGN.

Rather than copy a transcript here, I’ll just summarise any important info that we don’t know yet – also note that currently, no scans go with this because apparently, none of the pictures are new.

358/2 Days

The main thing Nomura adressed with the two main upcoming titles is where the Disney characters will fit in – on the topic of 358/2 Days, Nomura points out that the Disney characters will have to be introduced to the plot in a different way. In the previous games, Sora would go on an epic journey, meeting new Final Fantasy and Disney-based friends and foes along the way. With this title though, Roxas is centered in Twilight Town, and isn’t actually going on a physical journey – he is simply completing missions for the Organization, but going on a spirutual journey of his heart along the way. This, coupled with the fact that Roxas is quite a loner by heart (his only friend being Axel during this game), means that the Disney characters will probably have to meet him accidentally, instead of him meeting them.

Talking of multiplayer, he didn’t reveal much new info, except the fact that players can’t be the same member during any given round – so in other words, if your friend choses Axel before you, you can’t choose him for that round: better luck next time! He also points out a new feature in which the bottom screen on the DS will be used as a universal chat-board as such during the missions. During multi-player gameplay, all users will share the same bottom-screen, so if one writes a message there, or scribbles a picture, all other players will see it and can alter it at will.

Speaking of what missions will include, he points out that the multiplayer missions will vary from defeating certain monsters, battling each other, or going to recover some kind of item. The single-player and multi-player will only have minimal connections – players level-up their characters in single-player, and they can then use these upgraded personas in multi-player.

Birth by Sleep

Birth by Sleep was very interesting – Nomura points out that the main theme of the story will be answering the question, “Who are you, Ven!?” So although the mysteries of Master Xehanort, and the connections these characters have with our old trio of heroes are still a major factor to the story, the question of Ven’s true identity is the story’s main driving force.

With the Disney characters, Nomura mentions that they are making sure all the Disney worlds are set ten years before as well – he mentions a young Hercules at the Coliseum, for example. They want to make sure that every aspect of the game, and the universe it occupies is all affected by the same timeline, so that a real sense of character and a moving world are present.

With gameplay, it seems the card shuffling system is back – it’s apparently an ‘evolved’ version of Chain of Memories system, and the cards (or a similar system) are being used. Also note that in this recent scan we showed you, the lowest picture in the blue section actually features Terra fighting the new enemies in the game! Not Heartless, nor Nobodies!

Coded

Not much to speak of here. He mentions that, like Agito XIII, the team is actually making the game with mobile technology in mind that doesn’t currently exist yet, but that with Coded they are holding back a little on the tech side so they can release it outside Japan. He also points out that the game will use a new feature on mobiles, that asks the player to swivel the phone around so it can be played in wide-screen.

He also states that, (in Japan at least), they’ll be using a new marketing program in how they release the game. Because so many free mobile games are being released now in Japan, Square have a new, un-used way of releasing the title in mind. No idea what this means yet (free after redeeming Square Points or something?), but we’ll update you when we know.

Lastly, in the realm of the next major title, Nomura once again re-instates that this title “connects to a story that is to come. Players will be able to foresee things through these three games.” So yes, these will eventually link to Kingdom Hearts III (or whatever they decide to call it).

More as we have it.

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