Out of interest after playing BBS, I decided to look back on the older trailers and screenshots that were made available way back in 2007/2008, not long after the game was announced. Naturally, there were some clear differences that could be spotted, in both cutscenes and gameplay. I'm going to attempt to archive them in this thread here. If anyone spots any mistakes in what I'm putting here, don't hesitate to tell me, or indeed if you've spotted any changes of your own, please post them here too.
TGS 2007 Trailer
Terra and Ven converse about a time where Ven "saved" Terra, in what appears to be the plains area in KH2 Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion. This conversation actually does take place in the final game, however it is quite different in set-up and takes place in the Outer Gardens of Radiant Garden, when Ven says goodbye to Terra.
Early gameplay is shown. The HUD is vastly different and quite incomplete: the D-Link, Focus and Command Style Gauges are all missing. The deck commands appear to be of a long, hexagonal shape in this trailer, and the type icons for each appear on the left hand side. There are also around 5 deck commands shown on screen at once; in the final there are only ever 3 at any one time, along with the Attack command. For comparison, here is an image of the final build against the TGS07 one:
Also worth noting is the thorny area in which Terra is battling Unversed in the first gameplay clip. This area is never in the final game, although it appears to be a quite different looking version of the bridge leading to the Castle. Maleficent appears in this area in later trailers and screenshots too, which may back this up.
Ven meets Xehanort in Olympus Coliseum. The conversation that takes place does happen, but in the Keyblade Graveyard, and again it is quite different in terms of how it happens. Ven also does not appear to know who Xehanort is at this point, whereas all 3 playable characters are aware of who Xehanort is by the start of the finished game.
The scene where Terra protects Ventus from Eraqus appears to take place in, again, an area very similar to the plains near Radiant Garden. It's possible the area was used as a placeholder for Land of Departure. The dialogue appears to be different, and Terra is not enveloped in the power of Darkness like he is in the final.
Ven stands on the beach of Destiny Islands and asks an unknown person to erase him. We only ever see this person's shadow, but it could possibly be Aqua. As a point of interest, Aqua never truly appears, nor is ever mentioned, in this trailer. It's possible that her section of the game, or indeed her design, had not been finalised.
Jump Festa 2008 Trailer
Most of the cutscenes shown in this trailer are unchanged from the TGS07 trailer, but a few new ones were added.
A scene showing Cinderella arriving at the Ball, as Ventus observes the castle. Ventus never leaves Cinderella's house in the final game.
A scene with Maleficent and Terra in the thorny area. These two characters only meet briefly in Aurora's room and outside the Castle in the final game, and as stated before, this area is not present either.
A newer build of the battle system is shown; it is noticeably different than the presumably very early TGS07 build. The Command Style Gauge is present and functional (although neither characters shown change Style; they simply execute regular Finish commands), and what appears to be an early version of the Focus Gauge is also present. Neither Terra nor Ven use it in the trailer, although it appears to recharge via collecting what look like D-Link prizes. Ven's portrait is also different, appearing more similar to Roxas' from KH2. The command type icons are now located to the right hand side of each deck command, as they are in the final:
Ventus is shown battling in several different areas, one of which is the Castle of Dreams. Again, Ven never goes here in the final game, and you cannot access this area with him conventionally. Terra is shown again in the thorny area.
Aqua, again, is not mentioned, nor does she appear.
TGS 2008 Trailer
Most of the cutscenes shown are very similar to the final build, with the notable exception of the scene of Ven asking to be "erased" on Destiny Islands.
A gameplay build is shown here, which is much closer to the final than those previously seen at TGS07 and JF08. Command Styles and Shotlock have been implemented, however the HUD is yet again different; both the D-Link and the Focus gauges are to the left of the character portait, and the Focus gauge in the final game is actually the D-Link gauge in this build. This build's Focus gauge is a thin blue bar located below D-Link.
TGS 2007 Trailer
Terra and Ven converse about a time where Ven "saved" Terra, in what appears to be the plains area in KH2 Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion. This conversation actually does take place in the final game, however it is quite different in set-up and takes place in the Outer Gardens of Radiant Garden, when Ven says goodbye to Terra.
Early gameplay is shown. The HUD is vastly different and quite incomplete: the D-Link, Focus and Command Style Gauges are all missing. The deck commands appear to be of a long, hexagonal shape in this trailer, and the type icons for each appear on the left hand side. There are also around 5 deck commands shown on screen at once; in the final there are only ever 3 at any one time, along with the Attack command. For comparison, here is an image of the final build against the TGS07 one:
Also worth noting is the thorny area in which Terra is battling Unversed in the first gameplay clip. This area is never in the final game, although it appears to be a quite different looking version of the bridge leading to the Castle. Maleficent appears in this area in later trailers and screenshots too, which may back this up.
Ven meets Xehanort in Olympus Coliseum. The conversation that takes place does happen, but in the Keyblade Graveyard, and again it is quite different in terms of how it happens. Ven also does not appear to know who Xehanort is at this point, whereas all 3 playable characters are aware of who Xehanort is by the start of the finished game.
The scene where Terra protects Ventus from Eraqus appears to take place in, again, an area very similar to the plains near Radiant Garden. It's possible the area was used as a placeholder for Land of Departure. The dialogue appears to be different, and Terra is not enveloped in the power of Darkness like he is in the final.
Ven stands on the beach of Destiny Islands and asks an unknown person to erase him. We only ever see this person's shadow, but it could possibly be Aqua. As a point of interest, Aqua never truly appears, nor is ever mentioned, in this trailer. It's possible that her section of the game, or indeed her design, had not been finalised.
Jump Festa 2008 Trailer
Most of the cutscenes shown in this trailer are unchanged from the TGS07 trailer, but a few new ones were added.
A scene showing Cinderella arriving at the Ball, as Ventus observes the castle. Ventus never leaves Cinderella's house in the final game.
A scene with Maleficent and Terra in the thorny area. These two characters only meet briefly in Aurora's room and outside the Castle in the final game, and as stated before, this area is not present either.
A newer build of the battle system is shown; it is noticeably different than the presumably very early TGS07 build. The Command Style Gauge is present and functional (although neither characters shown change Style; they simply execute regular Finish commands), and what appears to be an early version of the Focus Gauge is also present. Neither Terra nor Ven use it in the trailer, although it appears to recharge via collecting what look like D-Link prizes. Ven's portrait is also different, appearing more similar to Roxas' from KH2. The command type icons are now located to the right hand side of each deck command, as they are in the final:
Ventus is shown battling in several different areas, one of which is the Castle of Dreams. Again, Ven never goes here in the final game, and you cannot access this area with him conventionally. Terra is shown again in the thorny area.
Aqua, again, is not mentioned, nor does she appear.
TGS 2008 Trailer
Most of the cutscenes shown are very similar to the final build, with the notable exception of the scene of Ven asking to be "erased" on Destiny Islands.
A gameplay build is shown here, which is much closer to the final than those previously seen at TGS07 and JF08. Command Styles and Shotlock have been implemented, however the HUD is yet again different; both the D-Link and the Focus gauges are to the left of the character portait, and the Focus gauge in the final game is actually the D-Link gauge in this build. This build's Focus gauge is a thin blue bar located below D-Link.
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