UPDATE!Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep SPECIAL!
“A new event in Neverland”
The Neverland world has been with the series since the beginning. This time it seems you will be going around activating blue crystals called “star fragments.”
“So we just go around an activate these strange things!?”
- Peter Pan: A boy who never ages. He always trys to get his way. He flies with Tink’s fairy dust, and fights with a short sword. It seems that he is trying to find something with his friends?
- Tinkerbell: She is from the valley of the fairies in Neverland. She can’t speak, but uses gestures to communicate. She often gets jealous. If you believe the dust she sprinkles on you will help you fly in the air.
- Captain Hook: A pirate captain. His left hand was cut off by Peter, and now he has only a hook. He has been after Peter for a long time, and never tries to leave Neverland. He hates the crocodile who ate his left hand.
- Lost Boys: Boys who lost their mothers and never age. They are friends with Peter and have lots of fun. There are six members in the group.
Aqua’s Story
Aqua is chasing after Terra and Ven, but ends up meeting Peter and the Lost Boys and being taken on a treasure hunt with them.
“Tink is jealous of Aqua?”
Peter: “You don’t want us to let a girl into the group huh?”
Peter: “He’s just a cheap pirate named Hook. You don’t have to bother with him.”
Aqua: “There seems to be a treasure near this mark.”
Ven’s Story
Ven, having met up with Peter and Tink, try to put a stop to Captain Hook’s evil plans. And because of that they find a mysterious crystal...?
“Does it have something to do with Terra and Aqua as well?”
“Boys who innocently enjoy Peter Pan’s orders.”
Ven: “Let’s go to Hook!”
Ven: “I think that’s something a friend of mine left behind. Would you mind giving it to me?”
Captain Hook: “If you want Tinkerbel back you’ll have to come to Mermaid Cove!”
Peter: “Don’t you want pirate treasure?”
Terra’s Story
Terra is chasing after Xehanort, but the only clue he has is that he is interested in “Pure Hearts.” Because of this, does Terra come into conflict with Peter?
There is a screenshot that shows Hook and Smee surrounded by Unversed.
There is also a screenshot of Terra holding a keyblade with a keychain.
“Is he trying to use Terra in an evil plot?”
Hook: “You’ll never get these guys!”
Peter: “Light? What do you mean?”
Terra: “That will become a treasure.”
“The Queen’s magic that sneaks into Snow White.”
A world that is a first for the series, Dwarf Woodland. Terra follows after Xehanort, after being ordered by his Master to do so. And following him, Ven and Aqua both end up on this world.
Ven and Aqua try to help the 7 dwarves in having Snow White’s life, but Terra is being used by tthe Queen to kill her. With the three of them entwined in this old story, will it end up differently than you’d think...?
- Snow White: A princess with skin as white as snow and beautiful black hair. One day when going out to pick flowers, the assassin her foster mother the Queen sent with her attempts to take her life. But he felt so bad for her, that he let her go away, into the forest.
- 7 Dwarves: They mine precious stones from a mine deep in the forest where they live. Because of Snow White’s beauty and ability at house work, they let her stay at their home. They are all named for their various personalities and habits, but they all share a dislike for washing their face and cleaning their room.
- The Queen (Witch): A Queen who is unhappy if she is not the most beautiful in the world. A magic mirror she has tells her that now Snow White is more beautiful than she, and so she plots to kill her. With magic she changes herself to a witch, and gives Snow White a poisoned apple.
- The Magic Mirror: A mirror who only speaks the truth, and always answers correctly to the Queen’s questions. He tells her the truth about Snow White when the Queen thinks she has been killed by the assassin.
Ven’s Story:
Ven finds the scared princess in the woods and tries to cheer her up. Not knowing that the apple is poisonness, he picks it up and hands it to the princess. He also visits the dwarves mine, but is mistaken for a jewel thief and you have to try and chase and catch the dwarves.
“Catch the seven dwarves who are running about!”
“Find the hidden dwarves!”
“Seven strong knights who protect the princess?”
Ven: “Please believe me, I’m not a thief!”
Ven: “A scared heart will show you illusions.”
Witch: “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Grumpy: “You thief! We’ll never let you have our jewels.”
Snow White: “If their your friends, I’m sure that’s not true.”
Grumpy?: “We aren’t afraid of that old witch’s castle!”
Terra’s Story
Terra is still searching for Xehanort. The Queen promises him that she will let him use the mirror to find Xehanort’s whereabouts of he only does her a favor.
“The thing Terra is searching for...”
“What is Terra’s answer to the Queen’s proposal?”
Terra: “Do you know anything about someone named Master Xehanort?”
The Queen: “I am not interested in easily changeable things like people’s hearts.”
The Queen: “Are you saying that I’m lying?”
The Queen: “If you just do me a favor, I’ll allow you to ask the whereabouts of Xehanort.”
Aqua’s Story
Snow White has eaten the apple, and is gone into an eternal sleep. Aqua decides to go to the Queen’s castle in place of the mourning dwarves. But Aqua winds up trapped in the magic mirror, and has to fight a man who is in the mirror. The man in the mirror can both disappear and seperate his body, along with many other attacks!
“Aqua’s fight in the mirror.”
“Not only can he split his body, but he has innumerable fireballs!”
Dwarf (Grumpy?): “Snow White’s purity changed us.”
More info on attacks, single player, and multiplayer mode impressions.
“Releasing three strong light powers”
A very strong multi-target attack called “Shoot Lock” for everyone that hits enemies that have been locked on. If the lock on number reaches MAX, you will be able to add onto your Command, which once completed will do a Finish attack. There will also be more in mutiplayer!
Terra - Star Burst
Multiple blasts of light fire from his keyblade to hit the enemies.
The imput command is to continuously press O.
“Fly shining blasts of light!”
“Rapidly press the button to release the Finish command.”
Ven - Photon Charge
Rush to locked on enemies for multiple hits. If the lock on number reaches MAX, a pillar of light raises for a Finish attack.
(The information for how to imput it isn’t written, but according to last year’s movie you have to hit the O button once at the correct time.)
“Lock on to all enemies in the area.”
“A straight attack with the speed of light!”
Aqua - Rainbow Shower
Light in seven colors bursts from the keyblade and chases after enemies.
Press O at the right time in the circle to imput the command.
“An attack with light in seven colors.”
“A spiralling light whirlwind, a rainbow attack, again!”
“Multiplayer using wireless LAN!”
You will be able to us wireless LAN to be able to play in multiplayer. A world made specifically for playing in multiplayer, “Mirage Arena” will have characters becoming armored warriors, and you’ll have lots of different things to explore.
It is not yet sure whether or not you will be able to use PS3 adhoc party to play.
You will be able to transfer things between multiplayer and single player. Items and any sort of character growth you’ve done to your character will be able to be brought over.
There will be a lot of faving friends who have been locked away, reviving fallen [things? people?] by continously pressing O, and other cooperation type of things.
“You can access it by special kiosks!”
“Cooperate to grow your characters.”
Abilities we were able to confirm:
Ice Barrage (Aqua)
Provoke (multiplayer?)
Friend Cure (multiplayer)
Heal Light (multiplayer)
Vanish (multiplayer)
Trailer Report “The latest trailer has a screen like a board game!”
- Terra and Aqua are taking the “Master Acknowledgement Test” (Ven is watching?) A new samurai-like character appears. Xehanort is also in sight.
- A board game screen appears. Cinderella throws dice. Might this have something to do with the new growth system?
- Aqua speaks with someone in white clothing. Two large men (who look just like two members of Organization XIII) are protecting the castle. (Evan Dylan Eleaus?) [Sorry for spelling errors. I think she’s just wondering about who it might be.)
- Ven wears armor, and flies into space. He’s riding something like a keyblade...?
- At the keyblade graveyard Xehanort faces off with Terra, Aqua, and Ven. The word “Keyblade wars” comes up.
Single Player Report: “Play one battle with a character and be able to use a lot of different abilities!”
- In Aqua’s demo you get to see Snow White’s world.
- Though Aqua is a magical girl, she has quite a lot of keyblade attacks. “But she seems a little bit short ranged?”
- The command gauge fills up as you attack. You can style change several times in a single battle.
- The boss fight was the magic mirror. You get surrounded by several different versions of the man, but if youlook you can see one smiling.
Multiplayer Report: “I think it’s great you can help each other.”
- There are rounds in the arena battles. And a mode where enemies keep coming until you finish them all off.
- You can get passed difficult areas by helping each other, but since there is a lot of places like that it can get quite exciting.
- You can heal yourself or a friend who is close by with “Friend Cure.” You can share who will be the attacker and healer.
- You can use the “Vanish” ability to make yourself disappear.
- After finishing you will receive medals on the result screen.
FINAL UPDATE!
Interview with co-director Tai Yasue
We asked a lot of questions about multiplayer!
-- In what way areyou aiming for people to play multiplayer?
Yasue: To cooperate with friends to defeat enemies, compete against, grow together, get new items and commands together... really, all sorts of things. Beginners will be able to join in easily, but it has a lot of depth if you get into it.
-- How many can play at once?
Yasue: Aside from the Arena, there are many different types of games you can play, and each of those games will have a different number of people who can play. You’ll just have to wait and see.
-- Can several people choose the same character to use?
Yasue: There is no limit on the character you can choose, so you play with the same character type. The “Mirage Arena” world is the only place where characters of the same type can be in the same place. It’s hinted in the name of the world.
-- Please tell us more about the Mirage Arena world.
Yasue: It’s a different world than any world that’s been in the KH series so far. It’s a strange, mysterious place, where there are special enemies and special maps besides the lobby map. Characters of the same type can gather, and fight together with special rules. It’s a world “outside” of reality.
-- So why are they wearing armor?
Yasue Well, since it has something to do with the story, I’m keeping it a secret (laugh.) The armor isn’t there just to protect them from enemies, I’ll say that much.
-- Before, you mentioned that single player story mode would be 15 hours per character. About how much time can you put into multiplayer?
Yasue: I can’t answer that, because there are so many different ways you can play it, it’s not easy to say how much time you can put into the game.
-- King KH358/2 Days you can adjust your level, so people who have gotten far in the game can play with people who haven’t. What about in this game?
Yasue: There are many different ways to play in multoplayer, so there are things you can play if you are the same strength, and others where that isn’t necessary. You can start multiplayer right from the games prologue, or you can play the game and make your character grow first. There is something for everyone.
-- Are there any rule changes like there were in 358/2 Days?
Yasue: In all multiplayer games you start by picking which rules you want to play by. Even if it’s the same game it will be an entirely different experience based on which rules you pick. We’ve put in lots of different rules so you won’t get bored.
-- Will there be be downloadable missions or other DLC?
Yasue: We aren’t planning on it. We want to make the game so that it has enough that it doesn’t need DLC.
-- So what kind of demo will be showing at TGS 2009?
Yasue: The demo will have Aqua, Terra, and Ventus story mode versions, as well as some multiplayer in the arena. I would like you to pay most attention to Aqua’s version! Aqua has a very different, more feminine fighting style than either Terra or Ven. You’ll also be able to experience a world that hasn’t been seen in KH thus far. You’ll also be able to have cooperative battles in the Arena, so I hope that everyone who can come will try it out! There are strong enemies that you can’t defeat without helping each other, and it has a very different feel from single player mode.
Thanks to ReBirth Wings for posting up the information from Famitsu, and krexia for scanning the pages!