December 30th, 2009

Good morning.
Are you all having fun with FFXIII?
I'm Nomura, and this is my second time appearing here.

They suddenly told me that I had to write a blog entry after they've put up the new trailer. But I was late with it again.

So what did you think of the new trailer?
There is quite a lot of stuff we packed into it. We even included some scenes from a secret event.

This time...

ReBirth Wings have again posted their summary and walkthrough of the latest coded episode, which was released November 26th in Japan. Now that I've translated the summaries, you can read them here in our forums!.

The album cover for Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts Field & Battlehas just been revealed, though there's still no sign of any track listing yet.

Thanks to forum member Liege for the find. You can discuss this on our forums.

---So, you've finally decided on a release date?
Nomura: Yes, at the end of the year we have FFXIII, so we're hoping you'll get to play BBS in January.

---In this issue we've shown our three main character's master, Master Eraqus. What do you have to say on that?
Nomura: We decided to try making his name an anagram of Square. The relationship between him and Master Xehanort is something like old classmates. His voice is done by a famous actor who is ...

---What kinds of games can you play in the Mirage Arena?
Yasue: It's a mode where you can play with other players. The rules can change, so you can play battles where you need to cooperate, or where you just fight other opponents. There's also a way to increase your character's levels - we've made sets of rules so that even people who are bad at action games can enjoy battles.

---It looks like there are all sorts of gimmicks in VS mode, too...?
Yasue...

--- So Terra's clothes are red, Ven's are yellow, and Aqua's are blue. These are similar colors to what we saw in KHII with Sora's Form changes. Do these indicate similar fighting styles?
Nomura: No, nothing like that. We just matched colors to each element that is in their names, Earth, Wind, and Water, so their "image color" ended up being red, yellow, and blue respectively. Regardless of their name element attacks, much like the earth named Terra has power base...

High quality screenshots from the recent issue of Famitsu have been posted on Famitsu's official website, containing images of Disney Town, Radiant Garden, and the Mirage Arena.

You can view the rest in our screenshot gallery. Enjoy!

Taking the place of Gummi Ships as the primary mode of transportation from world to world are brand new Keyblade "vehicles". Terra, Aqua, and Ventus each get their own customized "Keybike". Clad in armor, the heroes fly through space, spinning around and kicking to destroy the Unversed. Ven's resembles a skate-board, and Terra's a motorcycle. Aqua's Keyblade splits into a bow and hovering platform, capable of hitting enemies from far away.

It isn't a Kingdom Hearts game without a plethor...

Joint Struggles takes place in the Mirage Arena, a new area "outside of reality" where characters can participate in multiplayer battles using a wireless LAN. It is available from the start of the game. Characters of the same type can gather and fight new enemies under special rules. Items and bonuses are shared between single player and multiplayer modes. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus wear their armor from the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ secret ending. The different colored symbols next to the HP...