TGS: Square Enix Announces Trio of Kingdom Hearts Games
09.20.07 - 12:31 AM

At its Tokyo Game Show 2007 booth, Square Enix showed off not one, but three new Kingdom Hearts projects: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep for PlayStation Portable, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for DS, and Kingdom Hearts Coded for mobile phones.

The trailer for the cellphone-based title begins with Jiminy Cricket reporting to King Mickey about a strange sentence he discovered in the Jiminy Memo. The text reads: "For their wounds to heal they have to return." Upon hearing Jiminy's story, Mickey proclaims "only he can solve this problem" and the trailer moves on to Sora on Disney Island. However, this Sora seems to be an existence created by computer data. Next are gameplay elements with Sora fighting off Heartless and solving puzzles. The game features a so-called "Debugging Mode", which allows Sora to move at high speed. The last scene then shows Sora appearing in Traverse Town, like he did in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts. However, in the new game King Mickey is also in Traverse Town at that time. He tells Sora: "I was here at that day, too. Let's talk about the truth."

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will allow players to control various members of Organization XIII, such as Roxas, Xigbar, Saix and Axel. A multiplayer component apparently will be included as well. During the trailer shown at Square Enix booth, Axel and Roxas sit together on the clock tower of Twilight Town. The next scene shows Roxas being introduced as the newest member of Organization XIII. After some battle footage, Xemnas is shown introducing the 14th member to Organization XIII, a young girl whose face is hidden by the black cloak she is wearing. At the end of the trailer, Roxas is talking about how he will vanish from this world in 151 days.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep was apparently the title depicted in the secret trailer of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. As the Tokyo Game Show trailer of the PlayStation Portable title begins, the words "a distant past" and "Sleep produces a hidden fate" are shown on screen. Next is a scene taking place in Hollow Bastion-like level, where a supposedly new character with black hair and a boy with a face reminiscent of Roxas', but with a different outfit, are having a conversation. The former is referring to the latter as Wen. The next scene shows the black-haired young man confront an old man. This old man who appeared in the aforementioned secret trailer is called Master Xehanort. He calls his young opponent Tera, who summons a Keyblade. Since the effect is similar to the scenes in the hidden Final Mix trailer, Famitsuu's editor wonders whether Tera might have been one of the armor-wearing characters shown in said trailer. Master Xehanort and Tera meet again in the next scene, this time in the Olympic Colloseum. Other scenes show a stage based on Sleeping Beauty, and Tera fighting another character that had previously appeared in the secret trailer. He is wearing biker clothes and a helmet. The mysterious man proves to be too strong for Tera and he eventually breaks down. The scene then shifts to Tera on the coast of an island and shows two characters reminiscent of Sora and Riku. Afterwards, Wen is talking to somebody, saying "I'm asking this favor of you, because we are friends. Please make me disappear."

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts Coded have yet to receive official release dates.


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Chris Winkler