Over the weekend, over a thousand Kingdom Hearts fans gathered in Los Angeles for the first Dandelion Meeting, an official community gathering for Kingdom Hearts Union x[Cross]. While they may not have been there to celebrate the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix didn’t disappoint, as Franchise Director Tetsuya Nomura was on hand at a panel and revealed some of the new mini-games that will be making their way to Kingdom Hearts III when it launches this year.
In the brief video (above), Sora and company can be seen on what looks like a handheld gaming device, and we’re quickly treated to what looks like a series of mini-games heavily inspired by the Game & Watch devices of the past. It’s not exactly surprising that the mini-games will be featured in the series, but it’s a nice nod to the classic Disney animation style and gaming ways of the past to include LCD-style games for players to experience.
There’s no word yet on how you unlock or access the mini-games, or what they’ll reward you for completing them, but we’ll make sure to update you should they information come to light. In other Kingdom Hearts III news, it seems as if a series of leaks might have confirmed some of the newer kingdoms coming to the game:
The first leak comes from a Reddit post back in December. The post was made by the same user that originally leaked the early Monsters Inc. images, now confirmed to be a Kingdom Hearts III world, so the accuracy of this previous post is resurfacing. You can read the full post at the link above, but the relevant info is that some of the files on an FTP server have references to Frozen and the 100 Acre Wood. Kingdom Hearts III seems to be embracing a lot of newer Pixar and Disney Animation 3D films (Big Hero 6, Monsters Inc., Tangled, Toy Story), so the addition of Frozen would make a lot of sense. The 100 Acre Wood has been in four Kingdom Hearts games, and is a staple of the main numbered console titles, so it also makes sense that it would return in some way.
Kingdom Hearts III still has no release date, but is expected to launch sometime in 2018.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Worlds
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San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6)
And make Baymax a guest character, like a suped-up version of Goofy with insane HP and defense. And he casts cure a lot. I suppose the more offensive version of Baymax with the Karate thing and the rocket punch are options, but that's not how I remember the character. Options are nice, but if there's only one, I would prefer the cute balloon bot I fell in love with.
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The Incan Empire (The Emperor's New Groove)
When we were kids, our grandpas used to tell us that some day, our video games would be in 3D and look like movies and include the voices of David Spade, John Goodman, and Patrick Warburton. Let's make their dream a reality. Yzma is such a fun villain, the locations could be super fun to run around in with its architecture and designs.
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Star Wars
I've never seen a Star Wars movie from start to finish, but you can't live in a first-world country without having a basic familiarity with the general gist. I resisted at first, but after some consideration, yeah, I'd be excited to see R2D2, Harrison Ford (or whatever his character's name is), Luke Walkingsky, and Growly Fur Monster done up in Kingdom Hearts style. Plus, the Dark Side is a perfect match for the Heartless. It'd be easy to write the plot into this one.
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London (The Great Mouse Detective)
There could be a great puzzle in which we help Basil follow clues leading to a boss fight with Ratigan. Plus, who doesn't want to jump all over Big Ben and London Bridge -- perhaps as it is falling down, falling down?
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Scotland (Brave)
Oh come on, this practically writes itself. Take me to the fricking beautiful Scottish Highlands in video game form. In fact, more video games should take place there. In fact, BRB...
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Scotland Continued
But yeah. The environmental possibilities, boss fight versus that evil bear, and possible Merida in the party with A.I. programming to hang back and pick deadly shots from a distance? That's too good to pass up.
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Rapunzel's Kingdom (Tangled)
I've heard this one is already confirmed as being in the game, so that's awesome. What it definitely needs is someone using a frying pan as a weapon -- be it Flynn, Rapunzel, or whoever. Oh man, could we get a frying pan Keyblade with a shitload of attack but no magic power? That'd be fun.
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Arendelle (Frozen)
Oh I'm sure it's the hip thing on the internet to hate Frozen now, but I urge you to consider this important fact: fuck you. That shit was a good movie with a neat setting and great characters. I'd love to head on out to Arendelle and possibly have Elsa as a guest character. Holy shit do I wanna see her blast stuff with ice magic. "Do you wanna build a snow...mass grave for your enemies?" You're damn right I do.
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Australia (The Rescuers Down Under)
Dude, you could have a part where you're riding the giant bird, you could fight off a pit full of crocodiles, all kinds of stuff. It's also a nice way to tip a hat towards one of Disney's most underrated movies. Speaking of riding on stuff...
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Millions of Years Ago (The Good Dinosaur)
I want to ride the shit out of that.
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Wreck-It Ralph
The licensing for Bowser and some other game characters might be ruled out, but if they're not, what a megaton that'd be. Either way, you could make a pretty cool world out of the original creations. We went inside a computer with Tron (which everyone mocked at first), and I think we can go inside an arcade game with Wreck It Ralph.
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Toy Story
I don't know if Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are within the budget, but if they are, this needs to happen. Fighting off Sid's dog is something I'd be into. And think of the platforming potential within places like a kid's bedroom, Al's Toy Barn, or Pizza Planet.
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A Human Body (Inside Out)
Yes.
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Not Under the Sea Again (The Little Mermaid)
You know what place is never fun?
Down in the ocean, that's the one.
With possibilities brimming,
leave out the swimming,
under the sea. -
Not (Other) Marvel
I know I'll draw some ire here, but I can't really care. I can deal with Star Wars, but Marvel is too different. True, Kingdom Hearts began as a mash-up of things so different, we were all morbidly curious. We've got enough interesting stuff that feels way, way more at home with Kingdom Hearts than the Marvel super heroes. As much as X-Men was the coolest fricking thing on TV as a kid, and naturally some of the dopest Heroclix, it just doesn't feel right. As a man who lives by the gut, I can't stamp my approval on the Marvel thing.
Update: This slide has been edited from its original form to separate it from Big Hero 6, whose recent movie is so Disney it's basically its own entity. In fact, in Japan, the movie is simply called "Baymax," because the point is the robot and his relationship with Hiro. That's entirely different from Wolverine, Captain America, and Spider Man. One fits, the other doesn't. Sorry, Marvel fans. I just can't.
