Editing Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

{{Game|DDD|Real|FA}}

|title=Kingdom Hearts 3D<br>[Dream Drop Distance]

|developer={{w|Square Enix}}

|publisher={{w|Square Enix}}

|release=[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] March 29, 2012<ref>[http://www.4gamer.net/games/113/G011346/20120119033/ '''''4Gamer''':「KINGDOM HEARTS 3D<nowiki>[Dream Drop Distance]</nowiki>」の発売日が3月29日に決定。ゲームソフトと3DS本体のセットや，“10周年記念BOX”も同時発売]''</ref><br>[[File:Flag of the United States.png|20px]]/[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] July 31, 2012<ref>[https://twitter.com/#!/SQEX_Members_NA/status/187893631368183809 Square Enix Members - Twitter]</ref><br>[[File:Flag of European Union.png|20px|Europe]] July 20, 2012 <ref>http://www.facebook.com/KingdomHearts</ref><br>[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] July 26, 2012

|ratings={{w|CERO}}:[[File:CERO A.png|12px|A]]A<br>{{w|ESRB}}:[[File:Ratingsymbol e10.gif|12px|Everyone 10+]]Everyone 10+ <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150581099275841.372547.76090440840&type=1 '''''Facebook''': Updated on the official Kingdom Hearts Facebook page]''</ref><br> {{w|PEGI}}:[[File:PEGI 12.png|12px|12+]]12+<br>{{w|OFLC}}:[[File:OFLC small PG.png|12px|PG]] <ref>[http://www.classification.gov.au/Usingclassification/Findaclassification/Pages/Classification-search-result.aspx?sid=tJd5EmsTjf%252fBXVzQA8A7zw%253d%253d&ncdctx=eiYycqt7A0WAvD26LENVLOrO0VId0CAMCs%252fjnmgJMcGp63p2m962NnxQVA7EnBCO Australian Government Classification Website]</ref><br>

|platforms={{w|Nintendo 3DS}}

{{Q|Darkness becomes light, light falls into darkness.|Tagline}}

'''''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''''' is the seventh game in the ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|series}}'' series. It was originally developed for the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system. It is a direct sequel to ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts coded]]'', and the epilogue of ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]''.

The game is focused on [[Sora]] and [[Riku]], who are both playable characters, performing their [[Mark of Mastery exam]]. They visit new worlds in their sleep in order to improve their abilities as Keyblade Wielders. Many important story revelations also occur which help explain certain aspects of ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]''.

 

 

The game was first announced at E3 2010, simply known as '''''Kingdom Hearts 3D'''''. A demo version of the game was made available on the Nintendo eShop on June 22, 2012. ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' is the first game in the series to see a release in Europe and Australia before North America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a relatively short development time of roughly two years, the game finally released on March 29, 2012 in Japan. An updated version patch from v1.0 to v1.1 was released on May 25, 2012,<ref>[http://support.jp.square-enix.com/news.php?id=1385&la=0&n=2&drt=1337927100&tag=4d3ebab28ccb1b76ad9d62c2b78a57ddfb5effa9 '''''Square Enix JP Support''''']</ref> which fixes several minor bugs in the initial release. This was the version used for the international release later that year in July.

The game picks up after the events of ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:coded]]'s'' secret ending, ''[[Signs of What's Next]]'', and also has connections to ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', and ''[[Kingdom Hearts coded]]''. Like in the case of ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', Tetsuya Nomura has stated that the story is on par with that of a numbered title.<ref>Nintendo Power, Holiday 2010 Edition (Vol. 262): '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts 3D are not the same. The story is on par with that of a numbered title, and I'm sure the ending will shock fans.</ref> The setting of ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' is again spread across several worlds; several original worlds return, such as [[Traverse Town]] and [[The World That Never Was]], but all of the Disney-based worlds are brand new to the series.<ref name="andriasang.com">[http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/11/17/kingdom_hearts_3d_update/ "Kingdom Hearts 3D Connects to Kingdom Hearts III"]</ref> Several other worlds appear only in cutscenes, such as [[Disney Castle]], [[Mysterious Tower|The Mysterious Tower]], [[Radiant Garden]], [[Twilight Town]], and [[Castle Oblivion]].

In [[Radiant Garden]], [[Braig]] wanders into the computer room of [[Hollow Bastion]] and finds [[Even]] and [[Ienzo]] lying unconscious on the floor with specks of darkness emanating from them. The only other one present in the room is [[Terra-Xehanort]], whom Braig questions. Terra-Xehanort responds by summoning [[Master Xehanort's Keyblade]] and stabbing Braig through the chest with it, extracting his heart. As Braig loses consciousness, Terra-Xehanort declares that he is now "[[Terra-Xehanort|Ansem]]".

More than ten years later, [[Yen Sid]] puts [[Sora]] and [[Riku]] through a [[Mark of Mastery exam]] in order for them to become full-fledged [[Keyblade Master]]s and counter the coming return of [[Master Xehanort]]. As part of this trial, the two are sent to several worlds that have been restored from the Heartless' attack following the defeat of [[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]], but have gone into [[Sleeping Worlds|a state of "deep sleep"]] that disconnects them from the other worlds. These worlds are plagued by [[Dream Eater]]s—creatures born from darkness that seek out the sleeping worlds' Keyholes. Sora and Riku's given task is to reawaken the sleeping worlds by unlocking the seven Keyholes they find there and then return to the [[Realm of Light]], after which they will be deemed Keyblade Masters and acquire the [[power of waking]], the ability to free hearts from sleep. The two travel through the sleeping worlds independently from each other after being separated at the beginning of the exam, and recruit benevolent "Spirit" Dream Eaters to aid them in finding the Keyholes and battling the malevolent "Nightmare" Dream Eaters that try to destroy the worlds.

Meanwhile, back in Radiant Garden, [[Lea]] awakens and realizes that he has been restored to his original form following the destruction of his [[Nobody]], [[Axel]]. He finds that his fellow members, [[Dilan]], Even, [[Aeleus]], and Ienzo have also been revived, but absence of Braig and Isa concerns him. Ienzo explains that when a [[Heartless]] and Nobody of a specific person are destroyed, they return to the world where they lost their heart in the first place, unless their world was destroyed and thus awaken in [[Traverse Town]]. Lea, however, remembers that Braig and [[Isa]] were in Radiant Garden with them when they became [[Xigbar]] and [[Saïx]], so they should be here, in Radiant Garden. After that Lea goes on a search for missing apprentices.

Back in the Sleeping Worlds, Sora and Riku cross paths with the resurrected Ansem and [[Xemnas]], as well as a mysterious young man in a Black Coat with ties to Master Xehanort, all of whom gloat them at every chance. Eventually, once all the seven keyholes are sealed, Sora finds himself in [[The World That Never Was]] instead of the [[Realm of Light]]. He encounters Xigbar and the young man once again. Trapped in an illusion of Dark City, Sora discovers that the young man is actually [[Xehanort|Master Xehanort]] in his youth, who was visited by the disembodied Ansem, Seeker of Darkness via time travel. [[Young Xehanort]] thus gained the ability to travel through time freely, as Xehanort's Heartless stayed on Destiny Islands for 75 years.<!-- source? --> Young Xehanort has been going to different periods of time to gather various incarnations of Xehanort and people, who he had high influence on. Sora desperately tries to reach the Castle, but is plagued with illusions of [[Naminé]], [[Roxas]], [[Xion]], [[Terra]], [[Aqua]], and [[Ventus]], leaving his heart more vulnerable.

Eventually, he encounters both Xemnas and Xigbar, who go on to explain that Young Xehanort has been gathering several different incarnations of Xehanort in order to create [[Real Organization XIII|a new Organization XIII]], the members so far being Master Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas and Xigbar. This was the original plan for the first [[Organization XIII]], when Master Xehanort had planned to place a fragment of his own heart inside each of the Nobodies, who were deceived into thinking they lacked hearts in order to ensure their loyalty to Xemnas, but their unforeseen independence, which was demonstrated mostly by Axel, Xion, and Roxas, made his plan impossible to realize. Refusing to become one of Master Xehanort's vessels, Sora battles Xemnas. Though he manages to win, his heart is damaged and he falls into a comatose state, whereupon he is taken to the Castle by Young Xehanort. Sora falls into the darkness, but his broken heart is enveloped by Ventus's [[Keyblade Armor]].

Riku eventually arrives in the Castle, where he finds Sora's comatose body floating within a force field. After fighting a [[Anti Black Coat|mysterious enemy]] born from Sora's nightmare, Ansem drags Riku into darkness. He then explains that Riku had been fighting in Sora's dreams all along, acting as a Spirit Dream Eater by destroying the Nightmares within. Ansem, seeing that Riku has accepted his darkness, asks that they join forces. Riku explains that he had initially been doubtful of whether he could rightfully wield the Keyblade after seeing Xehanort lose his own upon becoming a Heartless. Remembering the conversation he had with Terra as a child that spurred his desire to see other worlds, Riku accepts that he can hold darkness in his heart and still be worthy of becoming a Keyblade Master; however, he still refuses to join forces with Ansem. After the two fight, Riku is transported out of Sora's dreams into the true Sleeping Worlds, where he continues to look for Sora.

With the help of Spirits, Riku locates Sora in the Castle throne room, while Master Xehanort is still being formed on the highest throne. Mickey arrives just in time to halt Xehanort's resurrection by casting [[Stop|Stopza]]. However, Master Xehanort possesses his younger version and thus nullify Mickey's spell. Riku is forced to battle Young Xehanort and manages to defeat him, but Master Xehanort is already formed in his original old body. He then explains his past endeavors to Mickey and Riku, such as his failed attempt to create the [[χ-blade]] 11 years ago, and [[Kingdom Hearts I|both]] [[Kingdom Hearts II|attempts]] later to create Kingdom Hearts was rushed. But now his intention to create the new Organization XIII with fragments of his own hearts of pure darkness to clash against seven lights to start a new [[Keyblade War]] which will lead to recreation of the χ-blade. Riku and Mickey try to stop him here but are restrained by Ansem and Xemnas. Unable to do something, they both watch as Master Xehanort prepares to place a fragment of his heart inside Sora, but Lea arrives on the scene and protects the boy. Master Xehanort retaliates by setting one of the Organization's members on Lea, who turns out to be Saïx. Ansem summons his Guardian, but Donald and Goofy arrive via Mickey's old [[Star Shard]] and defeat it. With his plans temporarily derailed, Master Xehanort retreats with his Organization but swears to Mickey that day of clash between his 13 darknesses and King's 7 lights is near.

Sora's comatose body is brought back to Yen Sid's tower, where Riku enters his body with the power of waking and restores his heart by gathering its broken pieces and fighting Sora inside [[Ventus]]'s Keyblade Armor, in form of a [[Armored Ventus Nightmare|Nightmare]]. Though Riku manages to defeat Sora and free him from the armor, he stumbles into a digital representation of [[Destiny Islands]], where he meets up with facsimiles of Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, and eventually [[Ansem the Wise]], who explains to Riku that he has actually accessed the research data the true Ansem hid inside Sora during his slumber [[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories|a year ago]]. Ansem then asks boy, what is his name, to which Riku tells his name.

After Sora reawakens, only Riku is declared a Keyblade Master by Yen Sid. Undaunted by his failure, Sora embarks on a new journey by himself to train, after Lea shocks everybody present by summoning his Keyblade, [[Bond of the Blaze]], revealing that his request to Yen Sid was to become a Keyblade wielder, and he has only just mastered summoning it.

Sora later returns to Traverse Town in the Realm of Sleep, where he finds himself alone, but is immediately reunited with all of his Dream Eater Spirit friends. In the [[Chamber of Waking]] inside [[Castle Oblivion]], Ventus, while still asleep, moves slightly and smiles.

 

During the game's ending credits, the characters of the game are shown sequentially alongside a series of letters, after which Sora and Riku walk into light. When spelled in order, the letters read "''This leads to KINGDOM HEARTS III''".

Not long after, Yen Sid plans to gather seven Keyblade wielders to combat the new Organization and thwart Master Xehanort's plans. To this end, Yen Sid has Riku bring [[Kairi]] to him so she can be trained to wield her own Keyblade.

[[File:Kick Dive KH3D.gif|thumb|left|Sora using Flowmotion to attack Dream Eaters.]]

The game uses a Command Deck similar to the one in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]''. As such, Sora and Riku's [[Deck Command (KH3D)|Deck Commands]] are used by scrolling through the menu which only shows two (or three in the remaster) and pressing {{button|dsx}}, and like ''Birth by Sleep'', they need time to recharge. Unlike ''Birth by Sleep'', commands do not need to level up and are fully leveled when they are obtained.

 

Sora and Riku collect and raise Spirit [[Dream Eaters]], which act as party members. Each of these have unique abilities and attacks, which differ from Spirit to Spirit. Up to three can be in your party at one time, with two being in play at a time. Dream Eaters can be interacted with through various touchscreen mini-games to make them stronger and to unlock abilities and commands for Sora and Riku. Additionally, Sora and Riku can [[Link System|link]] with their Dream Eaters to execute powerful attacks when their Link Gauges are full. The player can also enter their Dream Eaters into the card-based [[Flick Rush]] mini-game. There are fifty-one species of creatable Dream Eaters, using [[Dream Piece]]s that are dropped by enemy Nightmares.

 

Unlocking abilities is done via a Dream Eater's [[Ability Link]] board; this means Dream Eaters must be in the party and leveled alongside the player. Unfortunately, some abilities are locked to the Dream Eaters instead of being permanent like in ''Birth by Sleep'', meaning the player must have the Dream Eater in the active party, or else the ability can not be used. Each Dream Eater has its own unique ability board.

The game prominently features the [[Flowmotion]] system, a mechanic that allows for fluid movement around the field by interacting with the environment. By sliding into certain environmental features, or simply landing on others, Sora and Riku can kick off walls, spin around poles, grind rails and more. While using Flowmotion, the player can seamlessly transition into an attack, damaging nearby enemies.

[[File:Dive Mode (Riku) 01 KH3D.png|thumb|Riku in Dive Mode.]]

The [[Gummi Ship]] sequences from ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' are replaced with [[Dive Mode]] as the means of reaching new worlds. It is a free-falling stage during which the player must fulfill a given objective in order to enter the world, such as destroying a certain number of enemies, earning a certain number of points, or defeating a boss. Dive Mode showcases the 3D capabilities of the Nintendo 3DS.

When visiting a new world, Sora and Riku must perform a Dive Sequence, which is a free-falling stage where the player must achieve a certain accomplishment to open the gate and proceed. Missions vary between Dives as well as characters. Such missions include star collection, defeating Nightmares, or fighting a boss. At the end of a Dive, the results are shown, and the player is given a rank based on the time allotted and the present score before the grand total. When a certain rank is achieved, the player may be presented with some sort of new item, or in a certain case, a new Keyblade.-->

Another new feature is the [[Drop System]], which causes the action to switch between Sora and Riku during gameplay. The Drop Gauge at the lower-right of the screen decreases over time, and control switches to the other character after it empties. Drop Points earned before the switch can be used to obtain bonuses for the next character, such as temporary boosts in attack strength, new abilities, items, or a decrease in the speed at which the Drop Gauge empties. The gauge will deplete more quickly if the character is inflicted with a [[status effect]].

A major factor of the game is the Drop Gauge, a brightly colored meter that is displayed under the player's HP bar and gradually depletes. Under normal circumstances, the gauge takes about 23-25 minutes to empty fully. The purpose of the Drop Gauge is to automatically switch the player between playing as Sora and playing as Riku. As soon as the Gauge empties, 30 seconds of Bonus Time are tacked on to give the player extra Drop Points. After the player Drops, all Drop Points are calculated and used to purchase Drop Bonuses. These bonuses vary from Drop to Drop, and cost varying amounts of points. All bonuses bought are carried over to the next character, and unused points are converted into [[Munny]]. Though nothing changes when you drop back to a character, one notable exception is a boss battle. If Dropped during a boss fight, when the player Drops back, the boss will have respawned with full health. In the Japanese version of the game, the boss would respawn, but the player's HP would remain like it was. In the subsequent NA version, characters fighting bosses would be restored as well. Drops can be manually initiated by pressing DROP in the Pause Menu while out of battle, or they will sometimes occur after certain events, such as Riku's Light Cycle minigame.-->

==Worlds and characters==

;[[Destiny Islands]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

;[[Disney Castle]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

;[[Mysterious Tower]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

*[[Dark Riku]]

;[[Radiant Garden]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

*[[Terra-Xehanort]]

*[[Enchanted Brooms]]

*[[Daisukenojo Bito|Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito]]

*[[Xehanort]]

*[[Roxas]]-->

;[[Castle Oblivion]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

*[[Ventus]]

;[[End of Sea]] {{note|World only seen in cutscenes}}

*[[Aqua]]

The Tokyo Game Show had a playable demo, which earned the game top honors as "Best 3DS RPG"<ref>[http://rpgland.com/news/best-rpgs-of-the-tokyo-game-show/ Best RPGs of the Tokyo Game Show]</ref> in RPG Land's Tokyo Game Show Awards, following a hands-on report that praised the boss fights.<ref>[http://rpgland.com/kingdom-hearts-dream-drop-distance/kingdom-hearts-dream-drop-distance-hands-on-tgs/ Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance hands-on]</ref>  RPG Site also had good things to say in its impression, calling the demo bits "refreshing".<ref>[http://ds.rpgsite.net/articles/313-kingdom-hearts-3d-tokyo-game-show-handson Kingdom Hearts Tokyo Game Show hands-on report]</ref> Reception to the game's released trailers, demos, and general information has been generally positive, and the game is ranked among ''Famitsu's'' 25 most wanted list in October 2011.<ref>[http://rpgland.com/famitsu-updates/famitsus-most-wanted-oct-16/ Dream Drop Distance 22nd most wanted]</ref>

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