Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Nintendo 3DS) Preview

Continuing on from where Nintendo DS game Kingdom Hearts Re:coded left off, Dream Drop Distance has players taking control of central character Sora and his friend Riku across a multitude of famous Disney worlds, some of which have not appeared in the series before, including Fantasia, Tron: Legacy, The Three Musketeers and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The pair must prove their worth and undertake Yen Sid’s Mark of Mastery exam in order to become Keyblade Masters by reawakening lands that were obliterated by the Heartless in the past from their ‘dream.’ The worlds are now swarming with new foes born from darkness, called Dream Eaters, and a new gameplay mechanic involves recruiting Spirit versions of them to aid Sora and Riku in their fights.

Familiar antagonists return, and players will learn the true meaning behind certain plot points from previous games, including the mysterious Organisation XIII. Many of the Disney characters fans have met throughout the series also reappear in the 3DS game, including the ever-present Mickey, Donald and Goofy, plus their adversaries Maleficent and Pete. Kingdom Hearts drew a lot of initial popularity due to its inclusion of characters from Square Enix’s other flagship franchise: Final Fantasy. This time around, though, the only familiar face making the cross-over is a Moogle. Instead, the company’s very well-received Nintendo DS action RPG The World Ends with You features cameos of Neku and his friends in Dream Drop Distance.

As mentioned earlier, one of the new elements introduced in this game is the ability to ally with Dream Eaters by hunting them down. These can be trained into more powerful sidekicks and be fed food with the touch screen. Each type of Dream Eater provides both protagonists more unique attacks and abilities. Those that played Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep or Re:coded will be familiar with the Command Deck used for the game’s battle system, which allows players to assign specific abilities to their list of attacks during encounters, levelling them up with experience points. Making up part of the title name is a new feature called the ‘Drop’ system, which uses a continually draining gauge to automatically switch control from Sora to Riku if it reaches zero. ‘Flowmotion’ is also introduced in Dream Drop Distance, with players using the surrounding area to move and attack in style, as well as a whole range of touch screen inputs, making for chained strikes and throws on the enemy.

A brand new take on how players enter new worlds comes into play with the ‘Dive Mode.’ Doing away with the Gummi Ship to travel, Sora and Riku now fall through space to the next land’s gate, which opens by collecting a certain number of stars, fending off enemies as they go. Some players might be pleased to know that the game is compatible with the Circle Pad Pro for control of the camera, and augmented reality brings their captured Dream Eaters to life. Certainly from what we’ve seen so far in terms of graphics is very impressive, delivering a famous bright and colourful look that the series is known for, and seems to be almost on par with the visuals seen in the PlayStation 2 games.