Final-Fantasy Forum

"Square-Enix has just announced via press release that Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], the first KH title for the Nintendo 3DS will be released in the US and Europe some time in 2012. The game will feature two playable characters, Sora and Riku, and you will also be able to recruit up to 50 Spirits (Dream Eaters that inhabit the Sleeping Worlds) to fight at your side. A new stage has also been confirmed: La CitÃƒÂ© des Cloches from Disney's The Hunchbank of Notre Dame (along with a stage of The Three Musketeers as revealed here.) According to the game's director Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts 3D will be a "first look into the future form of the KINGDOM HEARTS series." The story, taken from the press release, goes like this:

"King Mickey and Yen Sid prepare for an impending threat by putting Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam. Sora and Riku are sent into the Sleeping Worlds, where they will face enemies and allies that have never been seen before. If they can successfully complete the task they are given, they will be deemed true Keyblade Masters. "

What is really interesting about this announcement however is that the press release kind of teases Kingdom Hearts 3, the long-awaited next major installment in the series. Check out this line from Mr. Nomura:
Ã¢With the tenth anniversary of the series on the horizon, the current KINDGOM [sic] HEARTS saga is approaching its climactic conclusion. The story of this game will serve as the opening chapter of the final conflict, and, as always, will be full of surprises."

A "climactic conclusion", you say? "Final Conflict"? Sounds as if Kingdom Hearts 3 is more or less around the corner...unless Square-Enix decides to do a few ports and spinoffs of this game first, which would not be too much of a surprise I guess. But if Kingdom Hearts 3D marks such a step forward for the series as the press release claims, that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

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