KINGDOM HEARTS 3D Countdown - Day I!

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Published on July 28, 2012 @ 11:30 pm

Written by Sign

And so begins the first day of our KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] countdown! We're so lucky to have so many great members in the community and that you all for contributing and celebrating the release of the 3DS installment with us! Without further ado, here are the first of many entries, created by fans for fans!

If you would like to see the contributions from the entire countdown, please follow these links: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

• destiny seeker
• ShadowXemnas
• Person789465123
• doortolight
• Key Wielder
• Alec Ray

Originally Posted by destiny seeker

This is the firstKingdom Hearts game in which I saw the entire process on the game fromannouncement to release and it has been a blast. I so excited to be finallyplaying it!

Story - The story is amazing not to mention epic.Like Tai Yasue said it’s really “Kingdom Hearts on steroids”. I so excited toplay this mind blowing story. It really brings so much twists and turns intothe series I can’t wait to play.

Worlds – All theworlds for this game have been completely new or remade. Even the new Traverse Town looks so cool with it’s newlocations. It gives it an amazing new feeling of a beloved world. Out of themany great sleeping worlds I’m most excited for the Grid. Tron Legacy is one ofmy favorite Disney movies so I could not believe they put it DDD. I loveeverything about it from the new costumes to seeing Quorra and Flynn. Theyreally put a lot of work in this world to make it look just like the movie so Ican’t wait to check it out. 

Gameplay – When Iplayed the Demo it was such a refresh to see new and interesting gameplay. Everything was so fun when I could jump offwalls and slide on ramps. Next I love the Dreams Eaters. They were so cute Iwanted one as a real pet. They jumped and interacted with you which really soldthis game to me. My favorite has to be Wonder Meow. I remembered when I firstsaw him I couldn’t decided on what animal it even was. Still he is so cute toplay with him in the game, in fact a big highlight of the game for me. I evengot the plushie because I just loved him so much. 

Music – Out ofall the Kingdom Hearts soundtracks this one is by far the coolest. It’sdifferent but still feels like a Kingdom Hearts soundtrack. The new twister isamazing, possibly one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack. Also the Tronlegacy music is really epic. It feels just like the song should be in themovie. In addition the remakes and remixes of old songs ties the entiresoundtrack to the Kingdom Hearts series. 

Overall I’m soexcited for this game and I am so happy to be sharing it with KHInsider!

 

Originally Posted by ShadowXemnas

What makes me most exited about the story?

As we move forward into the future of Kingdom Hearts, I'm most excited about Riku's growth as a character, and the fact that it look like Sora will be confronting his own Darkness. If the trailers and tagline have told me anything, it's that we're in for a reversal of roles. 

Which World am I most exited about?

Truthfully, i'm looking forward to The Grid the most. It's a first for the series to use a movie so recently released as a world, and with the Connection Sora has to Tron the Story will be something to see. Plus, Dem Outfits.

What about the Gameplay has me most excited?

Flowmotion is at the top of the list, followed by the Dream Eaters. I've played the Demo quite a few times now (Though I am trying to save the number of uses) and i must say, when they set out to give the player the freedom to use the environment to aid them, they really hit the nail. I love Air Sliding into a wall and then laying the smackdown on a Dream Eater with a Flowmotion attack.

Which Dream Eaters am I looking forward to playing around with?

Koumori Bat, hands down. I will color it black and red, name it Alucard, and go all Castlevania on those Nightmares. Then I will relax and have fun playing with Aucard and watching him fly around my room :D.

What musical pieces and composers am I looking forward to heaing the most?

Honestly,Ii love all of the music in the Kingdom Hearts series, so I'm looking forward to all of it. My current DDD favorites are Majestic Wings and Access the Grid, but I know I'll find more once I play throught the game :D.

Any Final Thoughts?

I have the game Preordered with the guidebook :D. As we move into the future of the series and the Norts' devious looking new plan, all that remains to be seen is what will need saving the most...Those in Sadness, or Sora himself?

Originally Posted by Person789456123

I just like the dream eaters ;)

 

Originally Posted by doortolight

Click to enlarge!

 

Originally Posted by Key Wielder

Nothing excites me more than the upcoming continuation of the story that has made this series a staple of my life. Having grown up with all of these characters, I can’t wait to see Sora’s journey to rescue them from their torment truly begin and everyone come together for the very first time. The idea of just seeing Sora and Riku finally working in concert, not to mention the prospect of all of our favorite characters being together in the epic battles to come, is enough to send shivers up your spine!

After ten years of ups and downs, twists and turns, seeing the story draw ever nearer to the final chapter in the Xehanort saga is both exciting and a reason for nostalgic celebration. It has been a long time coming and while none of us can even begin to guess what is in store for Sora next as this saga draws toward the end, “Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance” promises us only more of the amazing story and characters that we have all come to fall in love with.

 

Originally Posted by Alec Ray

You know what...there're only 25 days left until the release of the next Kingdom Hearts game. Some of you might be saying "Who the hell cares? Kingdom Hearts died after the second game." Some of you might be saying "I shouldn't have to buy ten different consoles just to play a game in this series." Some of you might say "What's a Kingdom of Hearts?" I just wanted to take a moment to say a few things.

With only 25 days left before the release, you can probably infer that I'm pretty excited. I love this franchise. So goddamn much. If you've ever met me or have ever been a part of my life whatsoever, you probably already know this. 

The first time I had EVER even HEARD of anything Kingdom Hearts-related was when this commercial aired:
I saw this on TV in 2002, which means I was only 10 years old. Can you believe that? It's weird how vividly I remember it. I was in my parents' bedroom sitting on their bed while we were all getting ready to go out to eat somewhere. All I said to my mom was: "I really like that song." Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru. A song I still listen to to this day. And, after I saw that, I got excited every single time I saw it on TV. I would hum along to it each time. I remember, not soon after that, one of my friends bought it for me for my birthday. At that time I must've been 12-13 years old which means Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories had been released for awhile. But, that night of my birthday, I began playing it.

The story, the characters, and one of my most favorite aspects of the game, the music. God, all of it was so beautiful. Fighting against young versions of Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka on Destiny Islands. Even though he was a fictional character, I remember feeling a very distinct rivalry with Riku. I always wanted to beat him. Just to prove something. But, he always ended up being stronger than me in the end. That gave me an ambitious mindset to get stronger and stronger throughout the game and, in the end... who defeated Ansem and sealed the door to Kingdom Hearts? Sora. Who couldn't control the darkness within himself and was manipulated by Ansem and Maleficent? Riku. All of this culminated into a series of incredibly intense battles that literally made my heart race.

At this point, I knew I had to play every game Tetsuya Nomura took part in creating. Nomura has all of this incredibly complex story inside his head and has made it a goal to convey it to his audience in the form of this amazing universe.

I bought Chain of Memories for the Gameboy Advance. Was it hard? Probably one of the hardest games in the series. Larxene was especially difficult for me to kill as was Lexaus and Vexen. But, I played through all of it. And, then... I played it again on Proud Mode, the hardest difficulty setting. I loved every second of the story. Sora's memories being twisted by the witch Namine and your final battle with Marluxia. Once you beat the game, you were able to play as Riku. The whole game went by faster when you played as Riku. That gave the game a real sense of how strong he really was. To put things into perspective, ten minutes of gameplay in Sora's story equals about 1 hour in Riku's. That's just how far you get. And, at the end, Riku finally conquers Ansem along with the darkness that's eating away at him.

It's 2006. I'm 14 years old. And this commercial is being aired: 
Already pretty obsessed with the series, this did it for me. After playing this, I was hooked. No turning back now. This just now became my all-time favorite series of games and will remain so ... forever. Whatever ideas they had for Kingdom Hearts II, they were good. Really good. This was probably the turning point for a lot of other people as well. Sora's grown up. He's more mature but still a child on the inside. You learn about the Nobodies, yet another enemy to fight besides the Heartless and the story is revived once again. The worlds are no longer safe, and it's up to Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Mickey to save them once again. I really don't know what to say about this game, there's just so many beautiful moments that would take hours to explain. If you haven't already played this for some horrible reason - just play it. You won't be disappointed.

Let's skip ahead a bit, it's now... what, September 2009? I'm well into high school now. I follow any and all Kingdom Hearts news down to a religion and had known about the next game for quite some time and yeah, you guessed it, I was pretty pumped. My wonderful parents had gotten me a Nintendo DS the Christmas of 2008. The day of the release, I went and purchased Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Said like: 3-5-8 Days Over 2. A lot of people still don't understand the meaning of this title and it's a really important part of what the game /is/. The title literally means three hundred and fifty-eight days seen through the eyes of two people. Those two people? Roxas and Axel, who else? It covers the story of Sora's 'Nobody', Roxas and his time being a member in Organization XIII, a group of high-ranking human-like Nobodies. Born without hearts, void of any emotion whatsoever, these empty shells roam the many worlds searching for something to make them whole. But, something was different about Axel and Roxas. They were friends. Something completely unheard of among Nobodies. Then, Xion, a physical manifestation of all of Sora's memories... member number XIV appeared. As you play, you watch each day go by as the story unfolds between these three, Roxas, Axel and Xion. Roxas, being Sora's 'Nobody', feels a strong connection with Xion and they create a beautiful relationship. They went on missions and ate ice cream on top of the clock tower together. 



In an unfortunate twist of events, Roxas found himself face-to-face with Xion. Roxas defeats her and holds her body, slowly fading away in her arms as they share their final words. Probably the saddest moment in the history of the series.

Roxas leaves the Organization shortly after.

So much has happened in the series but, there are still questions that need to be answered. I had already purchased a PSP in anticipation of this release as well. 

It's September of 2010 and a couple of friends and myself head down to GameStop to purchase our copies of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. That was a really fun day. 

I played this game sooo much. At home and during class when I had all my work finished. It was wonderful. A LOT of the music was new and they completely revamped the battle system. Instead of having assigned skills that required button combinations, there's now a menu in the bottom-left corner filled with the skills you have equipped. You cycle through them until you find the one you want to use, and press a button to execute it. It made the battles quick and a lot more nerve-wracking. You actually felt rushed. It was a really nice change of pace. 

Birth by Sleep explains everything that took place before Kingdom Hearts I. It also posed a lot of NEW questions that would need to be answered in future installments. If you consider yourself a fan of the game, you pretty much have to play this one mostly because it's pertinent to the story. 

Or you could be a loser and look up all the cutscenes on YouTube. Your choice.

Wow, 2011 already? That was just last year. Time has flown by and yet so much is going on in the realm of this little game that started way back in 2002. 

I'm 18 years old at this point, senior year of high school. Wow. The game that was once exclusive to Japanese cell-phones has proven itself successful enough to be shipped across the world for the Nintendo DS system. I honestly didn't think I'd ever get to play this one but, I was pleasantly surprised. There's really something to be said about this franchise when the original plan was to have it be cell-phone exclusive but, it was loved by the public so much that the producers found it profitable to completely re-make it for the DS.

One of the biggest complaints about Kingdom Hearts I hear would definitely have to be: "All of the games are just stupid spin-offs that don't even matter to the story."

Well, if anyone who says that took the time to play ANY of the games besides 1 and 2, they'd think differently.

As for Coded, though... it is a spin-off. Without a doubt. It's just a little extra journey for true fans of the series to take. Not really relevant to the main plot besides the ending. The ending does take time to explain the message in a bottle Sora receives at the end of KHII. Everything before that, though... you can go without playing if you just care about plot.

But you know what? It was really fun. The game was great. Being able to fight as Sora again in a brand new story was a wonderful experience. Being inside the digitized worlds of Destiny Islands, Traverse Town and Castle Oblivion was exciting and fresh. And even if it WASN'T pertinent to the main plot, it was a cool story and completely original. It really does deserve a lot more attention just because it was so fun.

Finally we've made it to 2012. I applaud you if you're still reading, really. I've never posted ANYTHING this lengthy on the internet before. So, I guess if you've read this far, you really do care about what I have to say, which goes a long way... A lot of people lately don't seem to care much about anything really and it kind of saddens me how apathetic people have become. But, I digress.

I have played literally...every English Kingdom Hearts game. As for Japanese, I am the proud owner of the Japanese Kingdom Hearts II +Final Mix+ and the Japanese Re:Chain of Memories which is the PS2 remake of the Gameboy Advance one that released in 2004. P.S. I beat both of those on Proud mode as well. ANYWAY.

25 days left. 25 days left until the release of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. If you've been friends with me on Facebook for...let's see... the past year. You'd know how excited I am for this game. To showcase how much time has passed, I've long since graduated high school and have completed a semester and a summer of college.

Just recently, I had saved up my money to purchase what I will be playing KH:3D on, a Nintendo 3DS.

One of the excuses to not play this game I get a lot (and had mentioned in the first few lines of this... ESSAY) would be that people feel they shouldn't have to purchase a new console just for this one game.

Okay, great for you. You'll be missing out on an important step forward in the story.

Unless you look up the cutscenes on YouTube. Like a loser.

This game is as far from a spin-off as a game can get. It's weird how people think if a game isn't on a popular console like the PS3, then it must be a spin-off that doesn't matter.

This game covers the preparation for the final battle with Xehanort, the baddest of the bad guys. Sora and Riku enter the Sleeping Worlds to complete their Mark of Mastery exam, a much needed test that will unlock their full potentials. After this, Sora and Riku can be branded as true Keyblade Masters.

The game features all new worlds as well. The worlds featured, believe it or not, were chosen by fans of the series. Traverse Town is back. La Cité des Cloches from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the universe of the Three Musketeers and the The Grid from TRON:Legacy.

I've already got my hands on the demo for this game and all I have to say is that it's incredibly different from any Kingdom Hearts game you or I have ever played. The Freeflow combat is spectacular! It's amazing how fast and easy it is to move around and how powerful Sora and Riku have become over the years. I had tons of fun just running and jumping and gliding and grinding all over the map. It really brought back that feeling of why I loved Kingdom Hearts so much. Same characters, new tricks. You also really get the feeling of how much our duo has grown up in their strength and in their maturity.

All I can say is that I'm looking forward to experiencing another exciting adventure with Sora, Riku and the gang.

Once again, thank you for reading if you've read this far. You probably have no idea how that makes me feel... 

I just want to say a few things to close.

I hold so many special memories within these games. Not just IN them but, the friends I've shared these memories with. These games have moved me and shaped who I am today. You may be thinking, "They're just video games..." But they're really not to me. I will never /ever/ see them as 'just video games'. They're epic stories of characters who have experienced so much in their lives. Joy, Tragedy, Pain, Love and Friendship. You probably don't think of your favorite book as 'just a book' do you? Same goes for your favorite movie.

A little side-note: I know I can't force anyone to but, I posted links to videos for a reason. They really give all that I'm writing a more vivid feeling of what I'm trying to get across. Thank you.

These games mean a lot to me and made my childhood a wonderfully memorable experience and they will always hold a special place in my heart, right next to my best friends: Jessie,Ryan, Benjamin, Shaun, and Justin.

And Jessie, I know you've read down to here, I love you. xD

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