New Game info

Hey everybody,

Since there's been alot of recent interest in the new KH games I've collected info from game sites who got to see the next game trailer.

Coded and 358/2 Days -

Three new Kingdom Hearts titles were shown in Square Enix's private theater at this year's Tokyo Game Show. In addition to incredibly silly titles, the games all shared one thing in common: they will set new technical benchmarks on the platforms that they arrive on.

First up is Kingdom Hearts Coded, a unique reinterpretation of the original Kingdom Hearts game. The trailer begins with an ominous message that leads Jiminy Cricket in a frantic race to Mickey Mouse, to send Sora through a digitally recreated version of the original Kingdom Hearts. In Coded, players will be able to enter a "Debug Mode" which allows players to alter the world around them. In one sequence, we saw Sora gain the ability to run through objects, such as blocks. What he ran through would then explode, reinforcing the notion that Sora can have dominion of his world: it's like playing a Kingdom Hearts fanfic written by a hardcore aficionado of The Matrix. Of course, as cool as this may sound, chances are you'll never play it. It's frustratingly yet another one of the countless cell phone games that Square Enix has in development.

The other games showcased will certainly be more relevant to the Joystiq reader. "The time of the other side ... " the trailer begins. This will be Roxas' adventure, following the trials of Organization XIII. The battle system resembles the one featured in the past two console games, but there's a few new twists. Members of Organization XIII are aerially gifted, being able to float away at a whim. They also work together: we saw a four player co-operative mode on display which looks quite fun. Amazingly, the game manages to maintain visuals that are strikingly similar to the PS2 originals, albeit a bit more pixelated. Oh, and did we mention that this is on the Nintendo DS? Oh, and did we mention the title: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Certainly not the catchiest of titles. But, that wasn't the end of Kingdom Hearts games revealed today


Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, revealed at Tokyo Game Show today, is a brand new PSP game that expands the story of the franchise not by looking forward, but by looking back. This prequel stars a character that strongly resembles (but is not) Zack from Final Fantasy VII (and most recently, Crisis Core). In addition, we see a character that appears to be a clone of Roxas -- but that's impossible, considering the massive time difference between Birth by Sleep and the original console games. Certainly, there's a lot of mysteries surrounding this upcoming title.

As this preview video shows, the game features a much darker and sinister feel than the console predecessors. The character designs feature a rougher look, especially the main villains, featured above. The new hero, being of a much older age than the previous heroes, also adds a much more mature feel to the overall presentation. The new keyblade also feels much more menacing, being able to shoot projectiles rather quickly. From the little we got to see at Tokyo Game Show, it seems as though the gameplay of Birth by Sleep will most closely follow the PS2 originals of the new Kingdom Hearts games announced today.

This is easily the most technologically impressive Kingdom Hearts game announced today, and although it's not a next-gen sequel, this PSP iteration looks to satiate the needs of the Kingdom Hearts gamers everywhere.


Source: TGS07


~New