Submitted by RxS[àR*] from the Kh3 Forums!
Hey folks,
just filling everyone in on a contest for a PSP, courtesy of myself. Doesn’t matter where you are from, if you win. You’ll get the PSP if you win. This event will be hosted by the Kh3 Forums and Kingdomhearts3.net

What do I have to do?
Simple. Register to the forums and stay active. You’ll get a chance at winning a PSP, and also meeting really nice people. It’s a win-win. In the middle of April I’ll be making an announcement letting everyone know what to do. Hint. It’s a contest with fan-art. Register here!

Why am I doing this?
Basically, the active members/registered members ratio is completely off. 580 members active compared to the 6,000 we have. That’s not good, not to mention there are some really good designers,friendly people, and awesome teams/clans which you can join! I would also like to get people pumped about the new games! So, Register here!

Be sure to say Kaito referred you!

Moving onto the actual news, Yoko Shimomura, the primary composer for the Kingdom Hearts series is set to release an album called Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura on March 26^th in Japan and April 1^st in North America, which will contain a fully orchestrated score of her compositions from Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Live A Live, Kingdom Hearts, Front Mission, Legend of Mana, and Heroes of Mana. At the official Drammatica website, you can stream a preview of the new arrangement of Destati for the album.

The Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura Official Website

Pre-Order Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura at Barnes & Noble

Drammatica info submitted by Doomy on TKH.

New scans from the French Magazine, Role Playing Game No.7 have been made available. Scroll down below the images for the Translation of the Scans.

Thanks to KHIsland.info , KH-Network and to Riku for translating the Scans!

Riku Edit: Very well, here we go with the translation. There is some new stuff in here so do read it. Only took 7 hours:

Page 10

“Kingdom Hearts quickly became a top franchise of Square Enix; it was therefore logical that this series would arrive on the two main portable consoles of the market. The DS will follow the short life of Roxas in 358/2 Days, while the PSP will be entitled to the prequel Birth by Sleep. Which, of the small nomad of the double screen of Nintendo or of the technological animal of Sony, will hold the most responsive reception with this mixture, which was still unlikely a few years ago, of Disney films and Final Fantasy?”

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BIRTH BY SLEEP

Realisation
“Birth by Sleep, co-realised by Tai Yasue, is developed by the same team that was in charge of Re: Chain of Memories; although its production had begun first, it will be the last of the three new projects to be released. Technically, the name Birth by Sleep is therefore a bluff, and the graphics should appear as beautiful and animated as well as Kingdom Hearts II! Aspects dedicated to the PSP will include new Disney worlds, such as those of Sleeping Beauty, Snow-White and Cinderella (the remaining Princesses of Heart it seems), as well as surprising training courses… Birth by Sleep being held a few years before the first adventures of Sora, certain worlds will take this into account; for example, one can expect to see an adolescent Hercules in Olympus Coliseum.”

Gameplay
“Following the example scenario, the gameplay will differ according to the character: Terra will impress us with his power; Ven will be the most agile, while Aqua undoubtedly proves the specialist of forces/magic. The combat menu conceals a new gauge, Command, which fills up by attacking and is executed by pressing Circle or Triangle (the actions associated with this button are modifiable) and gives access to additional techniques; for example, Terra will be able to enter into Fatal Mode to carry out combos and then finish with devastating move. Another change, the MP disappears; certain magic will require a time of loading and can be launched only when their gauge is full. The progression system (which is still quite mysterious) and some of the enemies will also be new…”

Music
“Once more, Yoko Shimomura will compose her memorable, melancholic music to accompany the journeys of Terra, Ven (which has been said to be an abbreviation of the name of this character, who is undoubtedly called Ventus) and Aqua. As new software for creating the music is a priority, including only a few elements of the previous software, the majority of the pieces should be new. It would be logical that the theme of the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, precisely entitled Birth by Sleep(Riku: Or Fate of the Unknown I think they’ll find), would be the primary theme of the new soundtrack… Moreover, one will discover doubtless arrangements of the melodies representative of each new Disney world – unless, as for The Lion King in Kingdom Hearts II, the artists (Riku: Disney composers) offer compositions of their own.”

Scenario
“This dark and complex adventure will be divided into three scenarios which you will be able to make in the order of your choice. You will therefore follow the destinies of the three main friends, each able to wield a Keyblade: the warrior Terra, Ven, the double of Roxas (this mystery will be explained in the game), and Aqua, the young girl with the blue hair. The epic story will proceed well before the events of Kingdom Hearts I, when Sora, Riku and Kairi, were still children. Terra is seen overseeing them with Ven, and in the company of Yen Sid, Donald and Pluto. This chapter will raise the subject of the War of Keyblades, the capacities of their owners and, undoubtedly, the origins of the amnesic disciple of Ansem the Wise…”

Page 11

358/2 DAYS

Realisation
“Conceived by the studio h.a.n.d. Inc. (Chocobo Tales) and co-directed by Tomohiro Hasegawa (Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts), Nomura obviously heading all the projects related to its series, 358/2 Days profits from a fine and detailed realisation all in 3D, with fluid animation. As for the cut-scenes, they do not diminish in comparison with those of the second episode. Definitely, the DS will not finish astonishing us… The keys L and R will make it possible to direct the camera in order to better locate enemies and to explore the locations; the latter accurately take on the environments of the preceding worlds, such as the World That Never Was, Twilight Town, Agrabah, Olympus Coliseum or Wonderland – As a priority, the title will not accomodate a new universe.”

Gameplay
“As a great innovation, the DS will comprise a multiplayer mode where one can direct the members of Organisation XIII! These missions with the varied objectives will be independent of the scenario, and each character will possess their own forces and weaknesses. The lower screen will post the chart, but a chat system may also be included; on the other hand, the tactile functionalities of the console do not appear to be exploited. In solo mode, Roxas will have as a daily task to fight the Heartless in various worlds and then to return to the World That Never Was. The combat menu and the actions are the same as the previous games, like jumping and gliding, blocking, etc… Lastly, Nomura promises that the systems of level-up and personalisation will allow great freedom.”

Music
“Like the other epic chapters of the Kingdom Hearts saga, the music of 358/2 Days will most likely be written by talented Yoko Shimomura which, definitely, often works with Tetsuya Nomura – moreover, the great woman also occupies the position of composer for much-awaited Final Fantasy Versus XIII. On the other hand, even because of the scenario, there will be few new pieces, while it will often be more likely to hear the themes of the Organization and Roxas… which won’t displease us! New worlds are also quite unlikely with the program as it is, so there are strong chances that the music of the Disney worlds visited in Kingdom Hearts I and II will be brought back, as that had been the case in Chain of Memories.”

Scenario
“Imagined by Daisuke Watanabe, like that of PSP games, the history of 358/2 Days reveals a year in the life of Roxas, his establishment in Organization XIII, his escape and his fateful duel against Riku. These events remained covered with mysteries or were only seen briefly; the fans waited impatiently for more on Roxas and his relations with his former colleagues. The plots of the charismatic members of Organization will therefore be presented in more detail. We will also discover what makes the Organization change the name of the group… (Riku: Referring to the mysterious 14th member) The story will therefore show many revelations on some of the most important characters of the series.”

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“You have to like these two episodes of a series which doesn’t cease growing : an enthralling scenario, promising gameplay, a technical realisation of impressive actions and attractive characters. However, the DS game of Kingdom Hearts will not really quench the thirst for innovations of some players, as its worlds, its music and undoubtedly the majority of its characters are already known. On the contrary, the PSP game brings on the innovation and will finally clarify some of the enigmas which have puzzled us since the first chapter; for this reason, it is even more awaited than the adventure of Roxas.”

Page 14

KINGDOM HEARTS: CODED

“Fans of the lovable trio made up of the brown-dishevelled-haired Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy should be delighted, as episodes of Kingdom Hearts go portable and the series attacks mobile phones (Riku: I’m still fairly sure this will only be available in Japan). A digitised version of Sora will be thrown into a virtual world to eliminate all the bugs which cover its memory like dust; the game will include a mixture of 2D and 3D and may support vibrating when performing certain actions, following examples of other mobile phone games. Kingdom Hearts: Coded should logically be released this year, and there’s a rumour of there being a new world; we’ll see…”

Special thanks to Kota and Aerith

Xaldin from KHV created this along with his own composition “One Last Stand” as the music:

Sourced from KHV

To clear up some confusion, Coded is currently only planned for release in Japan on Mobile Phone (Cellphone)

And now, the Official Square-Enix website has a subsite for Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep to finish off the sites for the trilogy. Click below to access it:

I’m guessing there’ll be no more news until Jump Fiesta itself which does take place on 22nd and 23rd December. A full list of Square-Enix titles is at:

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/jf08/titles/index.html

Edit: All of the official sites are accessible from the updated Official Kingdom Hearts Homepage.

I just wanted to quick post these up, for they really do help out alot of what we can expect from each of the portable handheld games!! Enjoy!! Ohh..and by the way..Nomura talks about the “relationship/connection” of why Roxas and Ven are so similar in the KH: Birth By Sleep interview(but he doesn’t give out too much info.)

Nomura Interview – Birth By Sleep (PSP):

Interviewer: Can you tell us a bit about the development of Birth By Sleep?
Nomura: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is being worked on by the same team that created re: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep’s development had originally started before the development of re: CoM, but production was stopped to complete re: CoM. At first it felt a bit weird starting the project again. I believe this project started before the other two of the Kingdom Hearts games, and I also believe it will be the last to hit the market.

Interviewer: The game still relates to Birth By Sleep? [KH2: FM+'s secret ending]
Nomura: The secret ending [from KH2: FM+] is actually a scene from Birth By Sleep, therefore the title of the game is also the same. However, because it is difficult to express such a violent battle as playable content, the secret ending [from KH2: FM+] is an image of the end.

Interviewer: How much talk was put into it, as it seems to be a game taking place in the past.
Nomura: This game goes the farthest back in the Kingdom Hearts timeline, about ten years before the original Kingdom Hearts. There is a screenshot of two children playing on the beach, and I believe the fans can understand what that means. [Sora and Riku as children?]

Interviewer: In the story it’s said that there are “Three Scenarios by Three Heroes”. Is there a relation between each scenario?
Nomura: There are three Heroes: Terra, Ven, and another character in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. We have already prepared a story for each of them. Therefore, in a way you can say three games were made at the same time. (Laughs) It’s difficult to zap through the explanation right now, as we are still creating all of the scenarios. However, the beginning will be a bit hard to understand, but by completing all three scenarios, the player will understand the entire story.

Interviewer: Do the names of the three heroes represent something? Nomura: In Kingdom Hearts, Sora meant Sky, Riku meant Land, and Kairi meant Sea. In this game, the three meanings make a large impact on the game.

Interviewer: Do all of the scenarios take place at the same time?Nomura: All of the scenarios do take place around the same time, however there are also some gaps between the timelines. Also there are times when all three heroes will meet.

Interviewer: Is the playing order [for the scenarios] decided yet?
Nomura: I believe it would be better if we gave the players a freedom of choice. However this is still being talked about, but I believe it would be better to choose whoever you want out of the three.

Interviewer: What is the importance of story?
Nomura: For example, the name Xehanort is bought up in Kingdom Hearts 2. The game will answer several things like, “Why is the elderly person who appears in Birth by Sleep bringing up the same name?” and ,”Why is he wearing the same clothes as Ansem in the original Kingdom Hearts?” Another thing I want to bring up, is, “Ven has the same hairstyle, face, clothes, and voice of Roxas, but just who is he?”

Interviewer: Is the voice actor of Ven the same as Roxas?
Nomura: Yes, it is the same actor. Therefore the player will only look at Ven as Roxas from Kingdom Hearts 2.

However, are Roxas and Ven really the same character?

Moreover, what about the mystery surrounding the existence of Ven and Roxas?

These are keys that will be revealed from playing Birth By Sleep. You will be able to separate Ven from Roxas with ease; I will hint though by connecting the story between Roxas and Sora, you will understand who Ven is.

Interviewer: May I believe that the one you fight in KH2FM+, and Terra are the same person? Because they both use a very similar kind of Keyblade.
Nomura: If they really are the same person or not is uncertain, though it doesn’t matter if you think they are the same person.

Interviewer: In Birth by Sleep, after all three are divided, the king appears? Nomura: It may be deeply related to the story,however I cannot tell whether or not that he is a”King” at that current age. This is because the development of Birth by Sleep will contain a very serious story. [Meaning...Mickey hasn't been officially crowned a king yet??]

Interviewer: In Birth by Sleep, is the gameplay done by choosing action commands lined up in command list?
Nomura: I believe it is necessary to say first, The Command Menu that was shown to the public [A.K.A scans, and video] has now changed. A system close to that of re:COM has been created, feeling like a command deck. However, the present screen shots show it was a bit too close to the idea of re:COM. The battle screens you see in the images now, have already been changed. However the operating sense is similar to that of the Kingdom Hearts series. The gameplay has slight influence from the DS game “It’s a Wonderful World”.

Interviewer: Are there any features for the Growth System? (Leveling System)
Nomura: A new Growth System has been added into the game, in which you have to match four obligations with the scenario (?). We tried this variously because it was a bit hard with the PSP. However we made the best use of its Analog.

Interviewer: Are there new enemies you can confirm that are not shown in the screens?
Nomura: The new enemy is not a Heartless, or a Nobody, because the story takes place before even they appear. I can only give out more information, little by little, as time passes: an example being like the Shadow enemies that are heartless, and the Dusk enemies that are nobodies.

Interviewer: With the PSP, will it be possible for two people to communicate through a connection method?
Nomura: It’s too early to answer that, however, there will be some features that will be taking advantage of the PSP. [Monkey Note: I believe they are discussing the possibilities of things like wifi, however, only 358/2 Days has been confirmed to have multiplayer].

Nomura Interview – 358/2 Days (DS):

Interviewer: Is the beginning of 358/2 Days going to focus on Roxas’ birth?
Nomura: Roxas’ birth will be covered in the game’s prolouge, however the game really begins at the time in which Roxas enters the Organization XIII.

Interviewer: Will this game have an ending that has already occurred, like Crisis Core had?Nomura: Where do you think the end is? The point is, how did it get to the point where Roxas to left the Organization? The details of that will be discussed game.

Interviewer: Will we be going through Disney worlds in this story, like previous Kingdom Hearts games?
Nomura: The story does not entirely progress going from world to world, but there is a progression in story.

Interviewer: Is the 14th Organization Member [Newly Revealed] a new character in the Kingdom Hearts Series? It appears as though the character is…a woman?
Nomura: I should bring it up now, that the XIV member is not Namine, since some people believed it to be Namine by seeing the trailer. However it will be explained as to why there’s no pillar for this character, as well as why she never appeared in Kingdom Hearts 2.

Interviewer: In the trailer, four characters are shown playing simultaneously. Is this possible in game?
Nomura: Multiplayer can be played with up to four people. Not only that, multiplayer gives a sense of freedom, as this mode has no effect on the story. But it is possible to choose less then four, for the multiplayer content.

Interviewer: How does the multiplayer mode progress?
Nomura: The point is to basically complete given missions. For instance, defeating an enemy or whatever the goal of the mission is. There are various goals, both big and small. There is a constant feeling of competition in multiplayer, so sometimes the player may forget just what the goal is!

Interviewer: Is multiplayer mode possible for one player only?
Nomura: Multiplayer mode is rather complicated ; we had to design a growth (leveling) system. For example, when Axel is used in Multiplayer mode, Roxas will gain some extra experience from this as well. Also, you are able to customize your character freely.

Written by: Kh3fan02 from the forums