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Square-Enix dropped a major bombshell on unsuspecting Kingdom Hearts fans at E3 in the form of the
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very first trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3. And that means it's time to kickstart the mobile
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Analysis Machine to see what kind of details we can find in this far too brief trailer.
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So the trailer kicks off with scenes from all of the Kingdom Hearts games in order to
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drive home that Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the culmination and conclusion of the Xehanort
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saga. It also provides just the slightest of hints as to what Sora's quest will be in
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this game. The quote that overlaps this footage is actually from the secret ending of Birth
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By Sleep and shows Sora's dedication to finally rescuing the protagonists from the PSP game.
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But there are still many mysteries as to how this story will unfold though there are several
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clues to spot in the trailer. The biggest of which is when Sora finds a Keyblade on
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the shore of the Destiny Islands. That Keyblade is actually the Master Keeper which originally
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belonged to Master Eraqus in Birth By Sleep. It was eventually passed on to Aqua who used
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it to transform the destroyed Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion in order to protect a
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comatose Ventus. The question is; how did it end up with Sora?
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The last the Master Keeper was seen it was with Aqua in the world of darkness. So how
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did it arrive in the Destiny Islands? And why did it choose Sora? It's worth noting
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that the Master Keeper has only been used by Keyblade Masters. Since Sora failed his
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Mark of Mastery exam in Dream Drop Distance, shouldn't this Keyblade appear before Riku?
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It's just another mystery that we're not sure of the answer to. Just like we're not why
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Sora has returned to Destiny Islands when Riku and Kairi were all last seen at Yen Sid's
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Tower in the ending of Dream Drop Distance. Perhaps he returned there after his visit
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with the Spirit Dream Eaters that helped him throughout his last journey. And the only
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other location shown in the trailer is Twilight Town. Both of these Worlds have proven to
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be quite important to the lore of Kingdom Hearts but we're just not sure what more they
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could offer. In terms of the timeline, Kingdom Hearts 3
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looks like it takes place soon after the end of Dream Drop Distance since Sora's still
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wearing his outfit from Kingdom Hearts 2. Sora's classic outfit also appears in the
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trailer though we think that's only to show how closely the new graphics match the cutscenes
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of past games. However, there's a slight cel-shading effect
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added to the graphics engine which is likely designed to keep Sora from looking too realistic.
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The series has always tried to emulate the animation style of the Disney movies and the
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cel-shading would allow Sora and the rest of the main characters to fit in.
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The trailer also provided a small glimpse of the possible gameplay in Kingdom Hearts.
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The Command Menu HUD shows three options: Attack, Magic, and Items, with a question
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mark filling in the remaining slot. This immediately tells us that the battle options will be much
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more reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts 2 rather than the Command Decks featured in Birth by
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Sleep and Dream Drop Distance. This is further supported by the left-pointing
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arrow next to the Attack command as well as the tab featured above. If the battle system
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is indeed based off Kingdom Hearts 2 then that means those other options could be Summon,
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Party, and Limit. And that could mean that the magic system of Kingdom Hearts 2 returns
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as well. In that game, each spell expends the entire meter and recharges based on the
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spell used. But what about that mystery option below the
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Item command? It could very well be the return of the Drive Forms, and this is supported
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by the similar appearance of the EX Meter. However, the mere fact that it's labeled an
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EX Meter means that the Drive Forms could work quite differently.
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And that's not the only element that may be tweaked for Kingdom Hearts 3. We can see that
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both Donald and Goofy return as party members, but they're nowhere to be found in the trailer.
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However, we can see that their icon locations have shifted positions and their HP and MP
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bars have been shrunk. But there's still an awful lot of space next to their portraits.
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Is it possible that some form of the D-Link system from Birth by Sleep is being used for
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Kingdom Hearts 3? The battle system could indeed be seeing more
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additions than just the D-Link. We see Sora jump off the side of a wall to avoid the incoming
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Heartless Swarm. It could very well be the return of the Flowmotion system from Dream
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Drop Distance though in a more limited form. And speaking of that swarm of Heartless, is
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that a brand new enemy where the pack is treated as one? Or is it an indication that the packs
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of Heartless that Sora faces are more numerous than ever before?
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Okay, we're almost done here, but there are just a few more details that we'd like to
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point out. It's hard not to notice that the HUD is much more basic than in past games.
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Kingdom Hearts 2 and several of the spin-offs actually used a more intricate, world-dedicated
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HUD that gave a sense of personality to each world. Kingdom Hearts 3 appears to be opting
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for a more uniform design. Next we noticed that Sora appears to be even
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more agile with his jumps as he flips and spins with his animations. He's even able
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to ride on top of the Shadow Swarm for a brief moment. Is this just a limited instance or
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is it possible that Sora can leapfrog over enemies to better position himself?
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And with that, we've finished picking apart the debut trailer of Kingdom Hearts 3. Of
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course, let us know if there's anything we missed by posting in the comments. Thanks
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for watching and be sure to subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more on Kingdom
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Hearts and other things gaming too.
