Kingdom Hearts update
The latest on the new PSP Kingdom Hearts game.
By IGN staff
September 26, 2007 - The latest issue of Famitsu has new details on Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, one of three new portable entries in the series that were announced in the Square Enix Closed Megatheater at the Tokyo Game Show.
Birth by Sleep gets its name from the unlockable Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix closing movie, which you probably haven't seen since this director's cut version of Kingdom Hearts II hasn't been released outside of Japan. That movie featured a bunch of new characters, including Terra and Ven, the latter resembling Roxas. Birth By Sleep focuses on three main characters, Terra, Ven and a third character.
In development by the team down in Osaka that developed the Re: Chain of Memories component of Final Mix, Birth By Sleep is being headed up by some familiar names. Tetsuya Nomura is director of the project, with Tai Yasue serving as co-director. Patrick Chen is serving as producer with Youichi Yoshimoto as co-producer.
In a developer interview with this week's Famitsu, Nomura revealed that development on the project actually started long ago, but was halted due to the amount of volume that ended up going into Re: Chain of Memories. The plot was certainly finished in time for the release of Final Mix, as the closing movie for that game was created around it.
Daisuke Watanabe is working on the scenario. You might recognize him from FFXII, KHII, FFX-2 and Chain of Memories. He's also supervising the DS and cell phone KH games. With Birth by Sleep, his talents are put to particular use, as Nomura says he specializes in multi scenario systems.
The game has three scenarios, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters. Yasue joked with the magazine that players may think the game was made by three different teams, as the play style is different for each character due to their varying personalities and abilities.
Re: Chain of Memories had separate Sora and Riku scenarios. Different here, according to Yasue, is that rather than playing one scenario after the other, you'll have to use certain characters to clear certain sections. This also isn't like a 'zapping' system, he noted. He's promising something that players have never seen before.
Regarding gameplay systems, early screenshots of the game show a command menu not unlike previously Kingdom Hearts PS2 titles. Nomura says that of the three newly announced titles, the PSP game is the closest to previous titles in the series and will offer the feeling of action for which the series is known. However, in a separate interview, he also noted that the game will actually be close to the Re: Chain of Memories battle system, with your commands appearing in the form of a deck.
Some new gameplay systems are in the works as well. The character growth system, in particular, uses some ideas that Yasue believes will shock players. While not giving too many specifics, Yoshimoto revealed that they're thinking up a few systems where players hook up their PSP with other players; this presumably has something to do with the growth system Yasue was speaking about. Nomura noted that this type of multiplayer system wil be completely different from the multiplayer mode of the DS title. He also referred to the DS game as being the only new Kingdom Hearts title with actual multiplayer play, so it's a bit unclear if the PSP title will actually let players play together.
The game will once again be constructed of multiple worlds, similar to past titles. However, Yoshimoto is promising some new Disney worlds. Look forward to areas like Sleeping Beauty's Forest.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is still somewhat of a mystery. And it might stay a mystery for a while. In a separate interview, Nomura noted that of the three new portable Kingdom Hearts games, it's the first one to have started development, and will likely be the last one to see release.
