Kingdom Hearts

E10+

8.5

2031-12-07

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Japanese: キングダム ハーツ 3D [ドリーム ドロップ ディスタンス] Hepburn: Kingudamu Hātsu Surī Dī [Dorīmu Doroppu Disutansu], stylized KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance]) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS, revealed at E3 2010. The game is the seventh installment in the bestselling Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released in Japan on March 29, 2012. It was released in Australia on July 26, 2012, in Europe on July 20, 2012, and in North America on July 31, 2012.
Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, the game focuses on Sora and Riku’s Mark of Mastery exam in which they have to protect parallel worlds in preparation of the return of Master Xehanort. Besides controlling the two playable characters across a single scenario, the player is able to recruit creatures known as Dream Eaters able to assist them in fights.
The Square Enix staff decided to develop Dream Drop Distance after being impressed by the quality from Nintendo 3DS. Taking advantage of the console’s functions, they increased the action elements from the series based on the system previously seen in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Additionally, both the gameplay and the plot are meant to give a glimpse about how the following title in the series, Kingdom Hearts III, will be like. The game has been well received in Japan, selling over 300,000 units as of May 2012.

Development

The game was created by the same development team that worked on Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, currently part of Square Enix’s 1st Production Department. Since it contained members who worked for The World Ends with You, the group decided to use characters from said game in replacement of Final Fantasy characters. The decision to make a Kingdom Hearts game for the Nintendo 3DS was due to the positive impression the Square Enix staff had when viewing the console’s quality. The console inspired Nomura to make the Dive Mode function where the character moves to different worlds without the use of a vehicle, while the Flowmotion was thought prior to deciding which console use. The game’s title was used to reference its various themes, with ”Dream” referencing the storyline and ”Drop” the gameplay style. Although Tetsuya Nomura admitted the English used was not grammatically correct, the team still decided to use it based on the way sounded. Development was notably shorter than the ones from previous Kingdom Hearts games. However, co-director Tai Yasue emphasized how the finished product resembled Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep but improved.
One of the team’s desires with the game was for it to have more action than the previous games. Nomura noted the ties the gameplay changes had with the gameplay from Final Fantasy Versus XIII as a result of their similar styles. The new maneuvers employed in Dream Drop Distance are also meant to give a glimpse about how the next game in the series, Kingdom Hearts III, will look like. New worlds were included in the game as a result of multiple requests by fans. The switches between player character Sora and Riku across the game are meant to contrast the style from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, which allowed the player to use three characters in their own campaigns as well as explain the title’s part ”Distance” since the two characters never interact across their stories. The Free Flow system was made using data from Birth by Sleep with making taking nearly two weeks to obtain a form similar to the one from the game. The game originally intended to use returning Heartless and Nobodies as generic enemies. However, the setting gave the staff the idea of introducing new creatures who would also join the player in fights. The Dream Eaters are used in mini-game Flick Rush which originally intended to allow players to use a picture. Nomura disapproved this idea which resulted in the final product.
With Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, the staff revealed that Dream Drop Distance would revolve around Sora’s and Riku’s ”Mark of Mastery” exam, but were worried about how to set it. The idea of Sora going through a dream was inspired by the subtitle of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and served as a basis for the game. Sora and Riku were chosen as the playable characters in anticipation for the franchise’s ending of the ”Xehanort arc” as well as to represent the theme of ”the light and the dark sides of hearts” which the two characters represent. The former’s inclusion was also done due to the character’s popularity in Japan. Nomura has stated that the themes of the game are trust and friendship, and that like Birth by Sleep, the story is on par with that of a numbered title. As a result of the game’s plot, both Sora and Riku appear in their younger forms from the first Kingdom Hearts game. However, to avoid misconceptions that Dream Drop Distance was a remake of the original game, Nomura decided to change Sora’s and Riku’s outfits for most of the game. Despite using two protagonists, the game primarily focuses on Riku’s growth across the series. When starting production, the staff had decided to make the story as complex as possible, leading to the inclusion of several cutscenes which can be viewed by the player anytime they want. In order to make it more accessible, scenario writer Masaru Oka was in charge of the Chronicles feature which explains events from previous games. Nomura also anticipated the longest cutscene from the entire series as he wanted to reveal the intentions from the antagonists Xemnas and Ansem, also emphasizing the importance of Axel and the young Xehanort, unidentified by that of the announcement, in the story. The game’s story is also meant to connect directly with Kingdom Hearts III, although its original ending was not approved by the staff and was scrapped. Like previous titles, Dream Drop Distance has a secret ending that connects to Kingdom Hearts III although the staff found it unconventional in comparison to previous ones.
Promotion
The game was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 as ”Kingdom Hearts 3D Demo” for the Nintendo 3DS. It was formally unveiled though at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier event at the Toho Cinemas in Tokyo, Japan on January 18, 2011 with its first trailer along with its official name. During the game’s development, Nomura emphasized the mystery element of the story and confirmed that the theme of the game is trust. In July 2011, a Famitsu article included an interview with Nomura in which he revealed that the game would have an unlockable secret movie. A playable demo released the same month also first featured the Dream Eaters as the player characters’ partners and the game’s generic enemy. A Dengeki issue featured another interview with Nomura, where he confirmed that he would be considering what he called a ”HD Technical Test” in order to commemorate the series’ tenth anniversary and to entice players new to the series. This occurred on March 3, 2012 in the form of an premiere event where footage from the game, including its full CGI introduction sequence, was showcased to celebrate the game’s release.

Reception

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance received positive reviews from critics. It received an aggregated score of 78.05% on GameRankings and 75/100 on Metacritic. The Tokyo Game Show featured a playable demo which earned the game top honors as ”Best 3DS RPG” in RPG Land’s Tokyo Game Show Awards, following a hands-on report that praised the boss fights. RPG Site also praised the game upon its first impression, calling the demo ”refreshing.” Reception to the game’s released trailers, demos and general information was generally positive, and the game ranked among Famitsu’s 25 ”most wanted” list in October 2011. The Official Nintendo Magazine listed it eighth in their ”Games of 2012” feature. In an IGN poll, it ranked as the most expected Nintendo 3DS game for 2012’s summer. It also won the ”Most Valuable Game Award” from the Nintendo Power magazine.
In its first review, Famitsu gave Dream Drop Distance a rating of 10/9/10/9, or a total of 38/40, in their March 22, 2012 issue. This review makes Dream Drop Distance the second highest rated game in the series, after Kingdom Hearts II. The game debuted at the top of Media Create’s sales charts, selling 213,579 copies during its first week, which is the equivalent to the 64% of Stock. The release was also noted to have helped boost the sales from the Nintendo 3DS console. Although the amounts of pre-orders surpassed the ones from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS, the first week’s sales were lower. Nevertheless, Media Create noted that this was due to the comparison between the amount of units sold between the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS during the time the games were released, with the former having sold more copies than the latter. The game continued appearing in Media Create’s polls for the next weeks selling a total of 311,688 units as of May 2012. In North America the game sold 200,000 units during August 2012 with 180,000 units being from the regular edition and 20,000 from the Mark of Mastery edition.

Nintendo 3DS

Square Enix

Yes

045496522407

1

France

128-bit

Cartridge

Yes

1

Snap Case

~€64.91

2024-08-20

2018-07-03 14:27:19