The December 2009 issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine has included an article on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. This article includes previously seen screenshots, as well as information about Enchanted Dominion and the Land of Departure. RPG Land have uploaded scans of the article, and Kingdom Hearts Insider have translated it. Both can be seen below.

The truth behind these mysteries will soon be revealed!

Lots of new information about the story and system have been revealed by these new screenshots and illustrations. They’ve finally decided on a release date, so we’re closing in on finding out what is behind all these mysteries in this new game.

World Guide 1
-Land of Departure-

Our heroes’ long grim adventure starts from here.

The story starts in a new original world. Here is where the heroes train in hopes of becoming a Keyblade Master. The latest movie that was shown at TGS09 showed them taking the “Master Qualification Exam”. It was revealed that Master Xehanort watched them take the test, though we’ll have to wait and see how the story will unfold from there.

—–

Master Xehanort [er... the scan cuts off about half of the words, but it’s essentially the same as before. I will guess:]

Master Xehanort is a powerful Keyblade Master, as well as an acquaintance of Master Eraqus. He looks very different from the Xehanort we have seen in previous games. Just who is he?

Master Xehanort is giving advice to someone. Had he been planning something at this time as well?

Vanitas

He is the only apprentice of Master Xehanort, and his name has only just been revealed. In the movie that was shown at TGS09 we were able to see him talking and hear his voice. Just what face is he hiding behind the mask?

—–

He talks about the princesses of light! Where the princesses of light something that people sought after even in the past?

Our three heroes in training This is the world where they start out on. But perhaps the picture shown here is not from the very beginning of the game?

—–

Let’s look take a look at some of the things in the story we’re wondering about!

It’s quite interesting that in this game that the important characters already seem to know each other. We get to see scenes of them all talking before the problems start, and these will be the key that connects the rest of the story together. The things Master Xehanort says also have quite a few connections to previous games in the series.

Point 1 Terra and Master Xehanort
It seems that Terra trusts Master Xehanort. We see that he obeys him, but it seems that in the end he betrays him!? What is Master Xehanort after?

Point 2 Ventus and Vanitas
Is it just a coincidence, or is there some connection? We see quite a few scenes with them together. Their names also sound similar. Just what is between the two of them!

Point 3 Aqua’s Good Luck Charm
Aqua gives them charms to make sure they’ll see each other again. The charms look just like the one that Kairi made in KH!

Point 4 The search begins
The three of them are ordered to go searching for Master Xehanort, but in this scene we don’t see Ventus anywhere. Where could he be?

Point 5 What is Ventus doing?
What is Master Eraqus and Aqua looking at? It almost seems as though Ventus is acting violent…

—–

From Tetsuya Nomura
Their adventure begins here.

Though not all scenes are, most of these screenshots show the prologue to the story, in Land of Departure, where they start their journey. What exactly were Terra and Master Xehanort talking about? What is Ven doing? You’ll have to find out more in the game. Master Eraqus is Ven, Terra and Aqua’s master, and he will have a lot to do with the story. He is a new character for the series, so I’d like you to watch him closely. —–

Master Eraqus

He is a Keyblade Master with three apprentices. We don’t know much about him yet, but he seems like a calm and collected “samurai” type. The armor around his middle and his boots look similar to the other three. Perhaps he can change into armor as well? His keyblade design is rather interesting.

“Now we will be having the Master Qualification Exam.”

The Three Apprentices

Terra

A young man who is always calm and cool even under pressure. He fights with power, and can pack a lot of destruction into one attack.

Ventus

A boy who is curious and has a cheerful personality. He fights with speed, and uses light, quick actions.

Aqua

A serious young woman who both kind and strong. Her style is to fight with magic, so her attacks might be a bit erratic!?

—

System - Let’s look at two new things that have been revealed!

Command Levels - Important for growth of your commands!

Deck Commands, Action Commands, and Shoot Lock Commands all have levels. You can gain CP (Command Points) from defeated enemies which once you’ve gotten enough will raise the levels of your Commands. Levels will effect just how strong your Commands will become.

Set your Commands before battle
CP will be given to all Commands that you have set in your Deck. When your Commands level up it will tell you on the screen. You can also check their growth on the menu screen.

Support Abilities - Master your abilities to make them more powerful

Some Deck Commands will also have Support Abilities attached to them. When you set the Command you will gain the effect of the Support Ability, but if you unequip it you will lose the effect. But if you set the Command and get the ability to the highest level, your character will then have that ability mastered, and even if the Command is unequipped the effect of the Support Ability will remain.

Support Abilities will grow by gaining CP. Then you will be able to level them up.

Barrage - A Deck Command. You will draw close to the enemy and hit them with a rapid fire multi-hit attack. If you manage to press the buttons with good timing you gain extra hits.

Strike Raid - A Deck Command. You use the keyblade like a boomarang to attack your enemies. Sora has used the same attack before in the KH series.

—–

Vanitas has his face hidden, so he is even more mysterious than other characters. There is a very important reason that his face is covered, but I can’t tell that yet. I will tell you that you won’t see it until the end of the story. I chose his name first through the meaning I wanted, then when I was looking up words this one also sounded similar to Ventus. So the reason I chose this name was because it felt like he was destined for it.

Source: KH13
Translation: KHInsider

Tetsuya Nomura has posted a message on the Kingdom Hearts Official Blog.

KHInsider has graciously provided a translation.

Creator Message - Tetsuya Nomura

A blog? How modern. Or, no… I guess it’s a little late for that. Nevermind. I’m the director Nomura.

The staff asked us to write our first entry, but I was just too busy. But it was around TGS that Yasue was going to update, so I put a stop to it. I’m very sorry.

Between then and now we’ve already announced the release date. Now all we have to do is finish it. But we still have tons of things to do, and we’re in the middle of running around trying to get everything finished. Right now on my desktop I have 5 files containing work for Birth by Sleep, 4 for Coded, and 7 for other titles.

They’re listed in order of precedence, and now as I’m writing this the time for these files has finally come.

Of course there are not only written documents, but pictures I have been needing to draw have been waiting for me to get around to it. Right now the most important being the package art for Birth by Sleep.

Today I have to go to edit the Staff Roll. Since there are three main characters in Birth by Sleep, we also have different Staff Rolls for each one. We already have experience making two for Chain of Memories, but this time it’s a little bit different and we have a little bit of a trick with each, so it’s quite difficult.

In the Kingdom Hearts series when we put the music into the Staff Roll, we aren’t just lining up the music second by second, but frame by frame. So we’re working hard to find a good way to time it.

We also still have the Opening Movie, the Secret Movie, the CM and the PV to edit. But that will be on a later day. Next week we will be working on the CM for FFXIII.

So we’re working quite hard now, and I have to get going. I have to get to the editing studio. When I have another opportunity I will write again soon. Thank you.

Director
Tetsuya Nomura

*****

The Official Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Japanese Site has updated the World and System sections, and the TGS 2009 Trailer has been added. KHInsider has translated the video [below]

There is no coincidence in fate

[Land of Departure]

Aqua: There is a world somewhere out there that has a tree with star-shaped fruit, they say that those fruits are a promise to keep people connected. And they also say that if you have a good luck charm made from the skin of those fruits, no matter how far apart you are you’ll always come back together someday. So here’s one for all of us! It will keep us connected.

Eraqus: Now we will begin the Master Qualifications Exam. This is a test of the heart for those who have been chosen by the keyblade. Fortunately, Master Xehanort has come to see this.

[Neverland]

Tinkerbell (wait, she doesn’t talk does she!?): I’m gonna kick you as hard as I can!

Ven: Is that Mickey’s star fragment?

Hook: Looks like something that you wouldn’t think is a shooting star has come our way [Sorry, I hate this line. This is a terrible translation of it, but I’m just not in the mood to deal with Japanese weirdness!]

[Castle of Dreams]

Terra: You must make your heart strong. No matter what happens, if your heart is strong you will be able to overcome it.

Aqua: Is it alright if I try on the glass slipper?

[Dwarf Woodlands]

Ven: Hey, you dropped this.

Queen: If you listen to my request, then you may ask the mirror the whereabouts of this Xehanort.

Ven: Surely not Terra!?

Doc: That man used a monster to attack Snow White.

Aqua: What happened here?

Doc: Snow White, she…

[Deep Space]

Aqua: Watch out!

Ven: Do you know Terra and Aqua!?

Stitch: Friend… bonds…

Stitch: [???? can anyone tell what he’s saying?]

Ven: What happened?

[Gathering Place ?]

Ven: What do you mean Terra will no longer be Terra!?

Vanitas: I mean it exactly as I said it. The “existence” known as Terra will soon disappear.

Ven: Keyblade…!

Vanitas: Show me your strength…

[Land of Departure]

Terra: Master Xehanort, what should I protect?

Xehanort: What you have been. You don’t have to rid the darkness in your heart, you should control it.

Aqua: Terra won’t fall into darkness.

[Radiant Garden]

Even: I think I might have some sort of connection to you in the future….

Dilan: What business do you have here!?

Aeleus: You cannot enter the castle!

[Gathering Place]

Xehanort: Look. The ruins of many keys who took on the powers of their masters are here in the place, where there was a fight between light and darkness. The remains of the Keyblade Wars.

Source: KHInsider

I apologize for all the recent [un]activity and I promise to start updating soon! And, to show you just how sorry I am, here are some Birth By Sleep scans that, although old news, are new:

Here

And Here

Go There Now!

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Here’s the instructions

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————————————————-

In an interview with Famitsu, Square Enix character designer and Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura revealed some secrets about the early history of the franchise.

The ensemble-cast design of the games, for example, stemmed from a disagreement between Square and Disney over the protagonist: “Square wanted to make a game starring Mickey Mouse,” Nomura said, as translated by 1UP, “and Disney wanted a Donald Duck title. Meanwhile, I wanted neither.” The resulting compromise was “a game featuring lots of characters without focusing on any particular one.”

The Keyblade weapon, despite being an early component of the game, was not Nomura’s first idea for a signature weapon. “Actually,” he said, “the first weapon I showed Disney was a chainsaw. It was this chainsaw-like weapon that I had a rough sketch of when I first showed my concepts to Disney.”

Disney reacted pretty much like you would expect Disney executives to react to the heavy use of a chainsaw in a game about Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck: “Everyone got this scrunched-up look on their face and nobody said a word in the entire room. Dead silence. And I thought ‘No, I guess this wouldn’t work, huh?’”

It occurred to us that the chainsaw was the perfect Nomura weapon, because the teeth on the chain are reminiscent of those on a zipper.

Thanks to Joystiq for the news.

WARNING! SPOILERS AND GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE! So for those of you who don’t want anything ruined, you have been warned.

You can view them here.

Moving on, most of you know that there are multiple sites that allow you to pre-order Days, but if you pre-order with Amazon you’ll recieve a bonus.

Pre-order Bonus
Pre-order today and receive a limited edition art design cover sleeve. The cover sleeve will be shipped with the game. Offer valid when sold and shipped by Amazon.com.

At this time we have do not have any information as to what it will look like, but we’ll let you know once we catch wind of anything