That’s right American fans, Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories has been officially released as of December 2, although many stores aren’t putting stock onto their shelves until today.

For those of you that haven’t bought your copy yet, lets have a look at some of the game’s English voice acting, courtesy of UtaEzen!

Enjoy the game guys, and for those of you waiting for it for Christmas, be ready – IGN has given it a rating of 8.2, which is highly formidable!

Sorry for everyone else outside Japan and North America, it seems the game isn’t being released in your country.

Source: (see above)

Various updates have been made available lately regarding the upcoming PS2 title Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories – you’ll find all the info and links you’ll need in this post!

First of all, you’re going to want to check out this site – its the official US homepage!

The site is looking great, and a few wallpapers have been made available to the public, with the promise of a trailer in the near future.

Looking for something more in-depth though? Well, check this preview out here from GameSpot, who go into pretty specific detail on many aspects of the game. There’s also various English images to be found. Personally, I still think the graphical quality is great, and that image of Destiny Islands really proves it!

Anyway, for those of you in North America, look forward to Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories on December 2, 2008, just in time for Christmas. Those of you in PAL territories however will probably not be getting the game at this stage, but keep your eyes peeled in case an announcement is made.

Sources: KH Insider and GameSpot.

North American and European fans have been waiting for what seems like forever. Now, the wait is over, as Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories has been officially acknowledged by Square themselves.

The game will be officially releasing on December 2, 2008 across North America. The game willl retail for $29.95. Not enough info? Want more?

Well, you can click here to check out the official homepage! Also, you’ll find the North American cover below.

At this point, still no word on whether new English voice actors have been employed, or whether a European release will occur at all, but we’ll keep you posted.

Sources: Square-Enix North America (via Forever Fantasy. Also, the Square-Enix Members Blog.

The evidence seems to have at last stacked in the favour of American fans, and it seems Chain of Memories will at last see the light of 3D!

Multiple sources this week have reported the news, which has come to a peak now that The Magic Box have released the following notation:

Square Enix announced they will release the English version of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for PS2 in Q4 2008, for $29.99. The game is a 3D remake of the GBA version, with additional stories and character not found in the original.

Although this isn’t a 100% official announcement, the combination of this, as well as recent articles from 1UP.com and Kotaku, it would be safe to assume that the North American release is definitely afoot, and to expect it around Christmas! Please note, a poster on NeoGAF has also chimed in to confirm that the release is indeed happening. In other words, Yes, it is being released!

Check back in for further developments on this article!

Sources: The Magic Box, Kotaku, 1UP and KH Insider. Additionally, NeoGAF (via Forever Fantasy.

Yep, even though we’ve been saying it throughout the Kingdom Hearts media community for more than a month now, Nomura has officially confirmed two of the three knight’s names!

That’s right, Ven has been confirmed as the Roxas-look-alike, and like-wise Aqua the blue-haired girl! Nomura stated nothing about the other knight, (who I have speculated to be a close relation of Xehanort’s, as many of you will know).

As for what these names mean, Ven refers to sky (but is not the full word for it) and Aqua is obviously water. This has lead fans to title the third knight Terra for the time being, because Sora, Kairi and Riku are Japanese words refering to sky, water and land, and Terra refers to land in Latin (which Ven and Aqua are derived from).

For the record, the heading above the picture of Nomura-san reads out something about ‘shinario o’ and then a kanji I can’t make out. In other words, it’s referring to scenario notes, as revealed newly by Nomura.

Check back in the coming weeks for announcements at Square Party ’07!

Source: KH Insider.

I’m probably looking into things too much here but… I believe we’ve found Xehanort’s brother. Although absolutely everything here is theory, I thought these two images would make good news while we’re waiting for all the big things to happen.

OK, bare with me here.

The picture shown above is Xehanort from Kingdom Hearts II’s flashback scene to Xehanort speaking with Ansem in their lab. Not the hair style, facial features, body, etc. Note also that this seems to be around fifteen or so years before the original KH takes place.

Now look at this knight here (the one fought in Final Mix). Look familiar? Similar face, hair and body size. Also note that his eyes turn gold at the end of the video – similar to Xehanort, Ansem and Xemnas eyes, but not exactly.

So what does all this mean? Basically, I believe this is Xehanort’s brother. In KH2 Final Mix he hates Xehanort more than anything in the world – an epic brotherly rivalry is a strong story point. Note how their hairstyles almost point out their opposites – Xehanort’s pure white compared with his ‘brother’s’ dark brown, almost black hair.

The uncanny resemblance probably means twins, which would mean the flashback we saw in KH2 was from the same time as this secret video. Xehanort’s ‘brother’ might not even look like this when he is fought during Final Mix itself as the optional boss – perhaps he has been contained in this world and can’t escape to find the brother he still seeks revenge upon. He looks almost larger when he is fought as a boss – perhaps if his helmet were removed he would look like Xehanort (‘Ansem’) did in KH1, except with the dark brown hair…?

All of this is just theory at the moment everyone but… these resemblances are too uncanny, even for Nomura. If this falls true then we have a very interesting new core three characters for the next game – Ven, a Roxas look alike; Aqua, powerful and caring of Ven, relations unknown; and Xehanort’s ‘brother’…

Anyways, up next scheduele-wise we have Square-Enix Party in a couple of weeks. Nomura will be making a big announcement there, so be prepared and hope for the best!

Source: KH Insider and KH-Vids.

This one’s a little tough – Nomura decides to go in-depth on some of the more complicated terminology in the Kingdom Hearts series. Rumors and theories ahoy!

Basically, the read is very long, but is a great translation. CLICK READ MORE TO VIEW IT!

A very special thanks to TheWertle of GameFAQs for doing these translations!

Director’s (Nomura’s) Secret Report

About KH Worlds
Presently there are 4 untold stories to consider

I – Until now in the Kingdom Hearts (hereafter KH) Series, there have been 2 types of “Kingdom Hearts” refering to the Heart of Worlds and the Heart of Men, could you explain the mechanics of this?

Think of the basic setting of KH as “All life has a heart”. The heart of a world can be considered the things of nature, for example, the trees in a forest, a sea or river, a flower and so forth, when they all come together to form a world a large heart will come into existence. And concerning the hearts designated to men, all the hearts of humans and animals living in the world are integrated. As for Kingdom Hearts, think of it as if the heart is essentially the culmination of an invisible “Proof of Life”

II – Worlds appear in KH, could you please give an explanation of the means of coming and going between them?

Concerning the structure of worlds, first Sora and the Disney characters, and where ever we dwell, these so called normal worlds are attached to a World of Light. If all of these exist at the same level and you imagine them all sitting on top of a plane, there is also plane of existence on the other side where the World of Darkness exists.

At present, there are 4 worlds in between these planes that have appeared. A) Castle Oblivion, B)Twilight Town, C) Yen Cid’s Tower, and D) The World That Never Was. Constructed in this manner, Light < C < B > A > D > Darkness, you can imagine 2 planes with stairs ranging between the worlds. There are 2 means of transfer between these worlds, first being the Gummi Ship Sora uses in what is called the “Sea of Outer Space”. In this way they can come and go between the worlds dotted through space. There is an invisible shell covering these worlds, so as to preserve the original world from interference from other worlds. By opening the hearts of each of these worlds this shell is broken and will become a group of shooting stars pouring down. Once settled, these shooting stars will become the Gummi Parts of the Gummi Ship. Because they were originally from the shell covering this world, it becomes possible to interfere into each world.

There is one more method, the use of the “Dark Corridor”. There are those who are on a fallen path, essentially not being on the path they should be. Only those who can be said to have a Dark existence or an in between existence can make these doorways. On rare occasion those with particularly strong feelings or hatred, such as the case with Beast and Diz and perhaps others like them can open these paths. However you must be careful when coming into contact with such darkness. As such, if you use these paths too often you will be completely swallowed by darkness. Sora has used these paths several times before, but the degree of frequency hasn’t allowed the darkness to stain his heart, so you can think of the influential power of darkness as being dependent upon the strength of the persons heart.

As for the Nobodies who have no heart and the King and Riku, using these paths many times doesn’t concern them. Why doesn’t the darkness progressively swallow them you ask? There are secret similarities between the two that I talk about within this document.

III – About the World of Darkness and such, you haven’t gone into detail. Could you possible talk about some of these things? Does the beach at the beginning and end of KH have some connection to the World of Darkness?

Presently there are 4 main untold stories to consider. “The period of the King’s absence”, “The period of Riku’s absence”, “Roxas’ time in Organization XIII” and “Xehanort’s past”. In this case, The story of “The period of the King’s absence” is set in the realm of darkness. I am examining a way to tell these 4 stories so I might be able to find a way to tell them soon.

What can be called the dark coastline seen at the beginning and end of Kingdom Hearts II is the tip of a world. It is not strictly part of the realm of darkness but rather what serves as the boundary line in between the dark and the in between. In the ending, Sora and Riku were on the coast on the in between side and were looking at the sea of the realm of darkness. The door visible in the dark sea is a scene that symbolizes “Deep within the darkness, there is light”, as Sora said in the previous KH.

IV – There are still many mysteries surrounding the Castle of Oblivion. Was the castle itself constructed by the Organization and was Naminé originally a subject of the experiments going on there? Please tell us about the details of the Organization’s experiments. Also, was the pod Sora entered somehow related to the experiments done by the Organization? Was the pod in Twilight Town the same sort of thing?

In the end, the Organization’s goal is to obtain the Kingdom Heart’s of people’s hearts and to fully exist. These Nobodies are called “those who don’t exist”. In order to assume a new existence, information about their own personal circumstances must first be gathered. A Nobody’s main characteristic is that without a heart they use memories to form the parts of a personality and emotions. For them, memories have become an essential element. The birth of Castle Oblivion itself is still a mystery but before the Organization was born into this world it was there. The Organization discovered this castle. You should be able to make some guesses from the additional scenes this time, and fairly quick be able to think of the next stage.

At the same time Roxas awoke in Twilight Town, Naminé awoke in Castle Oblivion. Afterwards, the Organization discovered Naminé. The organization thought of Naminé’s gift to manipulate memories as a way to resolve the actual circumstances surrounding each of their abilities and attributes. The memories of those who enter were used in the experiments on memories going on there. Above all else, the Organization’s leader Xemnas was investigating the importance of memories. During these experiments, in order for these memories to be broken and then regenerated, those pods were made by the Organization. The pod Sora awoke from in Twilight Town and the pod Sora awoke from in Twilight Town and the pod Diz moved from Castle Oblivion to keep away from the Organization’s pursuit are the same thing. Also, there is an additional scene where Xigbar talks about the “true goal of Castle Oblivion” and when this particular scene appears, I think all mystery surrounding castle Oblivion should become clear.

V – There is still a lot of mystery about the keyblades I think. The “Light side, heart of worlds keyblade” that Sora wields, the “keyblade of people’s hearts” made from the Seven Princesses’ hearts for Riku, and the “Dark side, heart of worlds keyblade” that the king obtained in the realm of darkness, presently these 3 types can be confirmed. Could you please explain things a little further?

Keyblades have 2 different constitutions, either from the Light side or the Dark side. This is merely the exterior key, the inner key can act from either side and its abilities won’t change. There is no clear division between good and evil. Usually the door to each world is closed and the keyhole itself is not visible. By bringing a keyblade nearby, the keyhole appears. But the lock is not actually closed itself. Indeed, the Heartless were able to find the door and easily open it and in this way steal hearts. In the previous game, Sora turned the locks and closed these doors. Furthermore, about the opened door of the integrated heart of worlds “Kingdom Hearts” itself, to prevent the outflow of the darkness within hearts the intent and reasons were different so the keyblade was used for a different purpose. In order to work, the door needs to be closed from both the Dark side and the Light side and both a dark and light realm keyblade are needed. The King needed a keyblade opposite from the realm of light keyblade that Sora had, so he went to the realm of darkness to obtain one.

The keyblade constructed from the Seven Princesses’ hearts that Riku obtained in the previous game allowed for the keyhole in Hollow Bastion to appear. For the plan to cause darkness to overflow from hearts, the special hearts held be the Princesses were used to artificially make this keyblade. So it is different from a proper keyblade. There are further suggestions that this keyblade is artificial as well.

VI – Could you please give an explanation for the new keyblade “Way to the Dawn” that Riku obtained and the keyblade Kairi has as well as what the conditions for using a keyblade are?

There isn’t necessarily one keyblade for the dark side and one for the light side, just as many as there exist people with qualified hearts. Concerning the conditions to wield one, at this stage, “Those with strong hearts” is the only obvious one. However, less obvious conditions still exist and there are still plans for an opportunity to reveal those. Riku’s “Way to the Dawn” and Kairi’s keyblade are naturally the same type of keyblade as Sora’s. However there is no particular explanation for the Soul Eater’s transfer and occurrence, as well as Riku’s handing it to Kairi. When there isn’t a normal process of acquisition, I think its ok to think there is some deeper meaning there.

VII – In KH, at the same time Sora became a heartless Roxas was born and entered the Organization. So if that’s the case, at that point in time at Castle Oblivion Sora used a keyblade while at the same time Roxas would have been using a keyblade. Was this Sora’s keyblade? Within the organization I think we particularly saw Roxas using a keyblade. And similar to Roxas, Sora served as another Keyblade Master conviently gathering hearts. So why was the Organization defeated?

The keyblade that Roxas used and the thing that Sora once lost in Castle Oblivion are the same thing. Furthermore, these two both used the keyblade at the same time. This can be explained by the relationship between Roxas and Sora. Thus, that both can wield two keyblades in fact has an important meaning. This is also related to Xehanort’s memories, but this point can’t be touched on just yet.

Furthermore, from the time that the two were both using the keyblade at the same time, the Organization itself was using Sora for their ultimate goal. Soon enough, each of the Organization’s expectations differed. By changing Sora and Roxas’s movements, eventually they became unable to use Sora for their true meaning. As a result, Sora became an obstacle to the movements of the organization itself and he had to be defeated. But even if Sora were to be defeated, you could say there are other things to think about in making that sacrifice.

UPDATE 1

VIII – When the heartless are defeated, what becomes of the stolen hearts? Also, when members of Organization XIII and other Nobodies are defeated, do they return to their original form?

When heartless are defeated, essentially the owner’s hearts are rejoined with their once extinguished body, whichever world it may be on. As for the whereabouts of hearts in KHII that turn up, this time they remarkably went to the organization (there is a foot note here that says “In Kingdom Hearts II after heartless were defeated, the many hearts were absorbed by the Kingdom Hearts of “people’s hearts”). However, in the rare case that the body changed into a Nobody, when there is no container for the heart it resorts to a state of suspension.

In the case of a Nobody being defeated, it’s a little more complicated. If the above mentioned hearts are liberated, they return to their original form. However, if the heart is still stolen by the heartless, the Nobody’s body is swallowed by darkness. If somewhere in the world their hearts are taken back, perhaps they might be able to return to their original human form.

UPDATE 2

IX – Could you please gather some information about the main characters? The reason Sora becomes Anti Form, the reason Riku is able to be selected by a keyblade, Kairi’s memories of Radiant Garden, Roxas and Namine’s differences from other Nobodies, the absence of Sora and them, their parent’s and friends, and what about school?

Concerning Sora’s Anti Form, you could think that the reason is related to his changing into a heartless once before. In fact, beyond Sora’s Nobody, it is natural to assume that Sora is influenced by the heartless. Riku’s Dark Mode is similar. By using such a strong power too much, he may have ended up approaching too close to darkness. There should be a hint about Riku being a chosen wielder hidden discreetly somewhere in the additions to the game, so certainly try and find it. As for Kairi’s memories, there’s nothing particularly special about them. If I personally recalled memories from before I was 5, I think I wouldn’t remember many details about them. That is to say on a general level, there are things I would remember and things I would forget.

Because there is already a detailed explanation of Roxas and Namine being special Nobodies in this volume, please read the specific details there. I’ll summarize it so its easy to understand. Essentially when a strong hearted person has their heart stolen, they change into a heartless, and on rare occasions their body changes into a Nobody. But in the case for these two, for Kairi’s heart to be hidden within Sora, it took a special shape. Moreover, when Sora himself was changed into a heartless he was purified by Kairi. In order for Sora to be revived without following the essential course, the special way Roxas and Namine were born from these types, special Nobodies ended up being left behind. Still, I get the feeling from the story so far that Xemnas might also be a special Nobody.

Finally, about the people on Destiny Island, at the time of Sora and groups disappearance, on the night of the storm from the previous game, Destiny Island itself ended up disappearing and for the people of that world time is stopped. Afterwards, Sora slept for 1 year, and then everyone’s memories of Sora himself were no longer there. As such the memory actually became “On the night of the storm, Riku’s body disappeared”. Once Sora awoke, the memories of him returned. Eventually the memories of Sora, just as Riku was no longer there after the storm that night, were that both of them had disappeared. (footnote: However, Kairi alone was once assimilated into Sora’s heart. In this edition “Kingdom Hearts II” I strongly feel that he was influenced by this.

X – KH’s Ansem (Xehanort) seems to have thoroughly gotten rid of his own heart, but Xemnas (Xehanort) commanding Organization XIII is seeking a fresh heart. If I understand that in becoming a heartless and a nobody, they became 2 different people, would their minds then as well become separate? Also, the original Xehanort should have some memory loss but in the additional scenes this time there seem to be some questionable parts. Have his memories returned, or perhaps the memory loss itself was a lie?

In essence, the two are the same. However, they function under separate minds. Xehanort most certainly got rid of his heart, and at that time it’s assumed a Nobody was born. The means of obtaining their goal is different due to the nature of Heartless and Nobodies. However. I think for both of them the desire “to become a complete existence” is the same. This time the new mysterious keyword “Xehanort’s memories” is left behind. In the “Secret Ansem Report” that Ansem the Wise wrote and mysteriously left behind, there is a hidden secret that will have a big influence on KH. As for the contents of his memories and the present condition of them, I cannot reveal that just yet.

UPDATE 3 – FINAL

XI – Concerning the keyword Keyblade War, could you be a little more specific about that? Could it be related to the “Fairytale of Children and Light” that Kairi’s Grandmother told?(footnote: In Kingdom Heats, Sora experienced Kairi’s memories. It was the scene when Kairi’s Grandmother told her an old story when she was still young. It was about when worlds were swallowed by darkness, children used the power of fragments of light to rebuild worlds.)

To tell the story about the Keyblade War we need the capacity of hi-spec hardware and we need to accumulate all of our knowledge on this hardware. And in telling this story, we will need to tell it in separate episodes, and how specifically to tell it has yet to be figured out.

As for the fairytale that Kairi heard, for everyone to feel like such and old fairytale is real, I think we need a little more time. That is to say, to talk specifically about either this soon might perhaps be irrelevant.

XII – Of the people that appear in the new secret movie “Birth By Sleep” that was added to KHII:FM, several names and figures are recognizable and must be extremely meaningful. Giving specifics is likely impossible, but could you give us a hint? Furthermore, do the 3 armored figures that appear there and the similar looking armored figure in the Last Battle have some relation to Xemnas?

For the recognizable figures and the recognizable faces, reaching the secret this time is extremely difficult, but I think the video is fairly spectacular and will stir you imaginations. The armored figures have a connection to Xemnas but after all I can’t give any specifics at the present stage. But, the video this time has a foreboding opening and please think of the figures ahead as having reason and a hinting connection.

XIII – Lastly, has Sora’s journey come to an end this time? Before you told us “I have the end of Kingdom Hearts in my head”, but does this mean that Sora won’t be there? There seem to be new developments with the Kingdom Hearts Series, so can you please tell us within the present limits any hints?

Without recalling too much about the mysteries and problems of the outline remaining for KH series thus far, I don’t think that Sora’s journey is over. If you get to see the ending of KHII I think you will be able to sense some new premonitions. About what I said about the “end” of KH, of course I won’t be able to say anything about that yet, but if the numbering of KH were to go to “III”, I doubt that Sora would have no relation to it. And even if I wrap up Kingdom Hearts, I don’t think that Sora will be irrelevant.

Also, there are many new developments. I think that the news will be able to satisfy the widely supportive KH fans everywhere. Because there is still more to say about this “new” thing, please dare to think with a different flow, rather than just going with what’s mainstream. I will give you a hint about the contents of one of the numerous developments. In the freshly added secret movie a phrase comes out, “Fate doesn’t happen by accident, there is necessity”.

In the near future, when you experience the new Kingdom Hearts, please see about opening this book. I think surely some of these points will tie together. And also at that time, it would be very fortunate if all the fans everywhere have a good time with it. Until an announcement comes, please have your fill of fun with this game and look forward to the next.

As mentioned earlier, all the big things have been shown, but there are still a bunch of smaller deleted scenes that we now have the ability to show you!

Basically the following videos are kinda ‘behind the scenes’ things that happened during Kingdom Hearts II, but we never actually witnessed. In Final Mix however, the scenes are shown during the course of the game and explain many of the original version’s curiosities.

The above video is basically how Roxas became ‘Roxas’. We saw this video in the original Final Mix+ commercial (using the original English voice actors), but for some reason those voice clips weren’t included in the final version of the game.

Next up is Axel and Roxas’ last scene together. This is played after Sora defeats Roxas in The World That Never Was, and is quite a heart-felt scene. Note that is Axel’s tear we see at the end.

Now, on to Re:Chain of Memories. With this game there are a bunch of new voiced scenes and they’re all bursting with energy (compared to the almost lifeless original), but most of you will have seen many of these in the GBA iteration anyways. So I’ll just handpick some of the most important ones.

This here is Vexen’s death scene. Sora’s been travelling through Twilight Town (which is ‘in his memories’ because of Roxas), and has turned up at the Old Mansion. Here he bumps into Vexen, who wants to reveal certain things to Sora… but not if Axel has his way!

This is where Sora has the truth revealed to him by Namine. Nothing that we didn’t already know, but still good to see the event in the same way as the rest of the series.

This is a compilation of all the scenes surrounding the last battle(s) with Marluxia. For Re:CoM the developers included a new ‘final form’ for Marluxia, but that’s really the only new thing during this 20-minute collection.

This is the end of Sora’s arc in Re:CoM. “She’s your light. Your light within the darkness.”

Soon the Reverse Rebirth scenes will be done, and we can show you the addition scenes on Riku’s side! Until then, sayonara!

Source: A big thanks to KH-Vids for the videos!

Today’s poll on GameFAQs? “Would you buy Kingdom Hearts II – Final Mix+ if it were released in English?” GameFAQs usually deals with all games in general, so getting this specific must mean something.

Click here and then choose one of the first three choices (preferably second) on the poll to the right side, and make some noise!

What this basically means is someone, somewhere is getting GameFAQs to test the waters. The polls are sometimes used as market research from developers/publishers, so if we all tell them how much we want the game, hopefully Square USA will respond!

Remember, this is a very rare chance and lasts for less than 24 more hours! I still find it quite shocking the site is singling out Final Mix+, but it’s happening and we have to tell them how much we want it!

We’ll get back to you if we hear anything further!

UPDATE: Just to let you guys know, the second option, ‘Yes, I loved the original that much’ won at the end of the day! After pointing out this poll, KH Insider discovered it as well as a couple of other sites, and the combined votes of you guys here, as well as their communities took us to victory! Hopefully Square may start considering a Stateside release now! *fingers crossed*

Yes, that’s right, Sora’s crown. A crown befitting of one who will always have his place in Kingdom Hearts history, regardless of who Nomura cooks up as the new main character for the upcoming series.

The crown shown above is linked to the Mushroom XIII sidequest, and there are three different variations – bronze, silver and gold. It is believed that these new crowns grant the user new status affects (such as increased XP, etc.), but this is yet to be confirmed.

As for the above renders, we’ll go through them one by one. First from the left is the new Keyblade that is obtained after defeating all of the thirteen Mushroom Organization – the name is still unknown. Second from the left is the Keyblade that is won after defeating Roxas in the first battle with him when you reach The World That Never Was – it is called Acrossing Two.

As for the two characters, they’re quite self-explanatory – third from the left is Sora in Limit Form (this is obtained during the story, and isn’t a bonus like Final Form), and first from the right is the ‘Enigmatic Soldier’, which is the knight in the secret movie with black hair who’s eyes turn golden – we don’t have a name for this character and we won’t get one until just before the game’s release, like with Roxas and KH2.

It also seems we are drawing to the end of the Final Mix updates, but keep checking back in regarding anything we may have missed, or possible announcements of English releases.

Don’t forget to keep checking here for updates on our upcoming Kingdom Hearts community, KH Globe! Big changes are going to be made here soon people, forums included! Watch this space!

Source: KH Insider.