181-740: Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS , revealed at E3 2010 . The game is the seventh installment in the Kingdom Hearts series and was released in Japan on March 29, 2012. It was released in Europe on July 20, 2012, in Australasia on July 26, 2012, and in North America on July 31, 2012. The game takes place after
362-710: A "Final Mix" version arise, he had a "trump card" in mind, with such features as the Mushroom Heartless found in the first Kingdom Hearts game. In September 2006, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix , featuring new scenes and gameplay elements. Like the first re-release, this version would combine English audio with Japanese text and also use the "Sanctuary" theme song instead of "Passion". New cutscenes, however, used Japanese voice acting, as they mostly featured Organization XIII members from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories who did not yet have English voice actors; these scenes were later re-dubbed into English for
543-446: A "role-playing shooter" due to the heavy RPG elements within the game, such as quest-based gameplay and also its character traits and leveling system. Half-Minute Hero (2009) is an RPG shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. Other action role-playing games with shooter elements include the 2010 titles Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment and The 3rd Birthday ,
724-577: A 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World criticized several computer role-playing games for using "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" action combat, including Ys , Sorcerian, Times of Lore, and Prophecy . In 1991, Square released Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , also known as Final Fantasy Adventure or Mystic Quest in the West, for the Game Boy . Like Crystalis , the action in Seiken Densetsu bore
905-462: A Keyblade wielder. The game was created by the same development team that worked on Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , then 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
1086-485: A Mark of Mastery exam to bestow them with the power necessary to rescue their missing allies and counter Xehanort. For the exam, they are sent to worlds that remain trapped in a "sleeping" state after being destroyed by the Heartless. There, they must unlock seven keyholes to fully restore them, and are advised to create benevolent "Spirit" Dream Eaters to guide them and battle the malevolent "Nightmare" Dream Eaters that infest
1267-456: A Master as well. Sora is undaunted by his failure and returns to the sleeping worlds, where he thanks his Dream Eater companions. In the game's secret ending, Yen Sid and Mickey discuss Xehanort's plan. Yen Sid reveals his intent to gather seven Keyblade wielders to prevent Xehanort from using the Princesses of Heart to forge the χ-blade, and to this end, he has Riku summon Kairi to be trained as
1448-483: A clumsy juxtaposition of the "overwrought" Square-style narrative and dialogue and the whimsical merrymaking of the Disney worlds. Larsen deemed several lines and scenes unnecessary, and noted a tendency of the characters' more serious speeches to take on an obscure " Matrix sequel-esque" quality. Fischer, likening the general plot to "a long episode of Quantum Leap with permanent guest stars Donald and Goofy", described
1629-584: A few of them "straight-up lame". Gouskos described the bosses as interesting and well conceived, but observed that the strategies for defeating them hardly differed from that of regular enemies. Reviewers complimented the camera's increased responsiveness, which Haynes attributed to the altered control method from the shoulder buttons to the right thumbstick. Contrariwise, Gerald Villoria of GameSpy and Gann did not see any improvement, with Villoria occasionally struggling with forced and awkward camera positions. James Mielke (writing for EGM ) and Gann dismissed
1810-526: A group of antagonists previously introduced in Chain of Memories . Like previous games, Kingdom Hearts II features a large cast of characters from Disney and Square Enix properties. Concepts for Kingdom Hearts II began during the end of development of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix , with the game entering full development in 2003 and being announced at Tokyo Game Show 2003. Most of the first game's development team returned, including director Tetsuya Nomura , with
1991-479: 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
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#17328513008102172-641: A heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armor Class statistics. Another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes, but with side effects such as heart-rate increase/decrease or death. Origin Systems , the developer of the Ultima series, also released an action RPG in 1988, titled Times of Lore , which was inspired by various NES titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda . Times of Lore inspired several later titles by Origin Systems, such as
2353-478: A limited edition version. The latter version was available in four different covers and included a copy of Jiminy's Journal along with 400 stickers. Because the first game was re-released, there was speculation whether Tetsuya Nomura would do the same with Kingdom Hearts II . In a Weekly Shōnen Jump interview with Nomura, he expressed interest in a possible international version of Kingdom Hearts II , although there were no definite plans. He said that should
2534-453: A lot of popularity on the 2010s with titles such as Warframe (2013), Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017), The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019). Kingdom Hearts II Kingdom Hearts II is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console . The game
2715-973: A more dialogue-heavy experience akin to the Baldurs Gate games and even older series like Falcom's Dragon Slayer/Xanadu series had its outing Xanadu Next with similar Diablo influences. The influences also come full circle when the first Diablo game was inspired by rogue-likes Umoria and Angband and in more recent years many games in the rogue-like genre are inspired by more classic dungeon crawler ARPGs that Diablo helped spawn. In this sub genre there are such recent titles as Path of Exile (2013), Grim Dawn (2016), Zenonia S: Rifts In Time (2015), Book of Demons (2018), Shadows: Awakening (2018), Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold (2017), Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (2016) and its expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarök (2017) and Titan Quest: Atlantis (2019), Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020) and Minecraft Dungeons (2020). The prominence of Diablo 2 in
2896-483: A more traditional RPG-esque system, including experience points and levels with action game elements. Unlike its predecessor, Zelda II more closely fits the definition of an action RPG. Another Metroidvania -style action RPG released that year was System Sacom 's Sharp X1 computer game Euphory , which was possibly the only Metroidvania -style multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. The fifth Dragon Slayer title, Sorcerian ,
3077-418: A plot-related event. The player may also gain new Gummi Ships from completing routes, which is also a new feature. One of the new features is a meter known as the "Drive Gauge". which has two functions: to transform Sora into a "Drive Form" or to summon a special character. While in a Drive Form, Sora bonds with party members to become more powerful and acquire different attributes; all but two Forms also allow
3258-421: A possible additional collection. In September 2015, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue . The collection features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance as well as Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover , a cinematic retelling of Kingdom Hearts χ that reveals new parts of the series' history, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage , a new game taking place after
3439-430: A saving grace, he and Gann acknowledged that the lack of skill required for their execution may be a drawback for hardcore gamers. Bryan Intihar and Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly ( EGM ) spoke positively of the boss fights, with Bettenhausen saying that the quick time events enhanced their dynamic feeling. Eric Bratcher of GamesRadar+ was also excited by most of the boss battles, though considered
3620-432: A sequel. One such obstacle was the development team's desire to showcase Mickey Mouse more, which required Disney's approval. The game was developed by Square Enix's Product Development Division 1, with most of the original staff from the first game. The game was originally supposed to have been released after Kingdom Hearts . Nomura had planned for the sequel to take place a year after the first and originally intended for
3801-446: A series of rhythm minigames was derided. Bratcher and Gann were relieved by the absence of the scavenger hunt-type quests from the first game. The Gummi Ship segments were widely agreed to be an improvement over those of the first game. Comparisons were drawn to Star Fox , Panzer Dragoon , Gradius , R-Type , Einhänder , and the recent works of Cave . Although Gouskos and PALGN ' s Phil Larsen acknowledged
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#17328513008103982-517: A sniper rifle, which is used to shoot the player's party during the telescoping sight sequence. In the English version, Xigbar does not combine his guns, but twirls them around and shoots at Sora with a single gun. The death of Organization XIII member Axel was slightly edited; in the original, he bursts into flames during his suicide attack, while in the English version he simply fades away after using up all of his power. Port Royal, based on Pirates of
4163-580: A strong resemblance to that of Legend of Zelda , but added more RPG elements. It was one of the first action RPGs to allow players to kill townspeople, though later Mana games removed this feature. Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team (now Namco Tales Studio ) was an action RPG that featured an isometric perspective and co-operative multiplayer gameplay. In 1993, the second Seiken Densetsu game, Secret of Mana , received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time action battle system , and its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where
4344-410: A team of three Spirits and pit them against each other. Players fight against their opponent by flicking up cards from the touchscreen. Each card has a number value determining its attack strength, with multiple cards combining to increase the overall value. The player whose attack value is greater than their opponent's gets to attack with their Spirit. A slowly replenishing meter determines how many cards
4525-478: A test to improve their skills with their weapon, the Keyblade. For most of the game, the two are depicted as they appear in the original game , while also being given new clothes. Their older selves from Kingdom Hearts II appear during cutscenes, while Sora is briefly playable in this incarnation during the end credits. A younger incarnation of Xehanort , first introduced as the optional "Mysterious Figure" boss from
4706-440: A time limit, or defeating a boss character. In this mode, Sora and Riku can attack opponents, slow down their descent, or dodge attacks. They can also pick up magic spells which give them a limited supply of magical attacks to use against enemies. Outside of the main game, players can play an additional mode called Flick Rush, which can be played alone or with another player via wireless multiplayer. In this mode, players battle with
4887-526: A total of seven playable worlds, most of which are based on various Disney properties, albeit in a "world submerged in sleep" due to being destroyed by the Heartless . Most of the Disney worlds introduced are entirely new, including: La Cité des Cloches ( The Hunchback of Notre Dame ); the Grid ( Tron: Legacy ); Prankster's Paradise ( Pinocchio ), which also includes the inside of Monstro's belly from previous games;
5068-480: Is "the earliest game I'd feel comfortable calling an action-RPG" but notes that "it doesn't fit neatly into our modern genre classifications", though came closer than Bokosuka Wars released the same year. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com argues that Japanese developers created a new brand of action role-playing game; these new Japanese games combined the role-playing genre with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade also traces
5249-683: Is "the very first action-RPG ever made" according to GameSetWatch. Originally released for the PC-8801 computer in September 1984, it abandoned the command-based battles of earlier role-playing games in favor of real-time hack-and-slash combat that required direct input from the player, alongside puzzle-solving elements. In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes , Dragon Slayer was a dungeon-crawl role-playing game using real-time, action-oriented combat, combined with traditional role-playing mechanics. Dragon Slayer's overhead action role-playing formula
5430-483: Is a sequel to Kingdom Hearts , and like the original game, combines characters and settings from Disney films with those of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. An expanded re-release of the game featuring new and additional content, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix , was released exclusively in Japan in March 2007. The Final Mix version of the game was later remastered in high definition and released globally as part of
5611-501: Is a system the player can use on certain objects or weakened opponents. It involves a touch-screen activated minigame unique to each world, which includes dragging the screen to fling a target like a catapult, touching hidden words to take control of enemies, and playing a rhythm-based minigame to cause fireworks to appear. One of the key elements of Dream Drop Distance is the inclusion of the Dream Eaters. Whilst they generally serve as
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - Misplaced Pages Continue
5792-563: Is also a scene in Disney Castle where, after chasing Donald around for missing a date, Daisy Duck pounds him on the backside in the Japanese version, whereas she merely tells him off inaudibly in the English version. Xigbar 's telescopic sight was changed from a crosshair and black shading around the sides to three glowing circles. An attack animation was also altered; in the Japanese version, Xigbar combines his two hand-held guns to create
5973-486: 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. The game was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 as "Kingdom Hearts 3D Demo" for
6154-448: Is briefly playable at the game's climax, and Kairi , who are Sora's friends from his home world of Destiny Islands ; Roxas , a boy who can also wield the Keyblade and is playable in the game's beginning sequence; Naminé , a girl with the power to manipulate memories; and DiZ , a man who wears red robes and has a vendetta against Organization XIII , and is later revealed to be Ansem the Wise,
6335-575: Is confronted by the youth, who reveals himself to be Xehanort's past self, tasked by his present self with assembling thirteen incarnations of Xehanort from across time – including vessels of his fragmented heart – to form a new Organization XIII . Young Xehanort battles Riku to stall out time until his future self's revival. Despite Young Xehanort's defeat, a revived Master Xehanort appears and attempts to turn Sora into his final vessel, intending to pit his thirteen "seekers of darkness" against seven "guardians of light" to achieve his ultimate goal of recreating
6516-544: Is considered the first example of an immersive sim , a genre that combines elements from other genres to create a game with strong player agency and emergent gameplay, and has influenced many games since its release. The engine was re-used and enhanced for Ultima Underworld ' s 1993 sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds . Looking Glass Studios planned to create a third Ultima Underworld , but Origin rejected their pitches. After Electronic Arts (EA) rejected Arkane Studios ' pitch for Ultima Underworld III ,
6697-563: Is seen in the game in three different incarnations: his original characterization in the Kingdom Hearts series as the king of Disney Castle; a musketeer as featured in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers ; and the young apprentice of Yen Sid shown in Fantasia . Donald Duck and Goofy make similar appearances as well. Characters hailing from their respective worlds play a small role in
6878-444: Is the "Reaction Command", special enemy-specific attacks that are triggered when the player presses the triangle button at the correct time during battle. Reaction Commands can be used to defeat regular enemies or avoid damage, and are sometimes necessary to complete a boss battle. In addition to the main character, two party members are usually present who also participate in combat. Although these characters are computer-controlled,
7059-507: The Hercules -themed world Olympus Coliseum had its green blood from the original Japanese version (which was taken from the film) changed into black and purple smoke in the English version. In one cutscene, Hercules fights the Hydra and uses his sword on its head, which eventually releases green blood from its mouth in the Japanese version; this was later changed into drool in the English version. There
7240-487: The Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix collection for the PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Windows , and Nintendo Switch . Kingdom Hearts II is the third game in the Kingdom Hearts series, and takes place one year after the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories . Sora , the protagonist of the first two games, returns to search for his lost friends while battling the sinister Organization XIII ,
7421-728: The Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue collection, which was released in January 2017. During the X019 event in London, Square Enix announced all Kingdom Hearts HD collections would release on the Xbox One in 2020. Like in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , the music for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was a collaboration by Yoko Shimomura , Takeharu Ishimoto , and Tsuyoshi Sekito , containing musical compositions from all three. Among
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - Misplaced Pages Continue
7602-837: The Princess Crown series, including Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade . Princess Crown had a more cartoon-like visual appeal. It still had quality visuals due to the George Kamitani style. LandStalker's 1997 spiritual successor Alundra is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. Ultima Underworld ' s influence has been found in BioShock (2007), and that game's designer, Ken Levine , has stated that "all
7783-601: The Dragon's Crown Artworks foreword: "The motif within Dragon's Crown is all the fantasy works that has affected me until now: the PC RPG Wizardry that I first came into contact with as a student; Ian Livingstone 's gamebooks; games like Tower of Druaga , Golden Axe and The King of Dragons ." He also cites his early 20s work on Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as "truly something that I had aspired for". Dragon's Crown
7964-500: The HD 2.5 Remix release. Kingdom Hearts II was re-released in Japan on March 29, 2007 as a 2-disc set titled Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ . The first disc contains Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix with a new secret movie and additional battles and items. The second disc contains Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories , a 3D PlayStation 2 remake of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories with extra scenes and voice acting. The battle system maintains
8145-592: The HP and MP gauges, the Drive Gauge is not refilled at save points. Like in the first game, Sora can summon a Disney character to aid him in battle. Summons will replace the two computer-controlled characters and fight alongside Sora for as long as the Drive Gauge allows, or until Sora's HP runs out. Instead of being limited to only one action, Summons now have a menu of their own and are capable of performing solo or cooperative actions with Sora, which are performed by pressing
8326-776: The MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft . Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat ) and melee weapons, including Cavia 's flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5 's Rogue Galaxy (2005). Other RPS games include the Mass Effect series (2007 onwards), Fallout 3 and subsequent Fallout titles (2008 onwards), White Gold: War in Paradise (2008), and Borderlands (2009). Borderlands developer Gearbox Software has dubbed it as
8507-612: The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra . The main vocal theme for the original Japanese release was " Passion ", written and performed by Utada. The English version of "Passion", "Sanctuary", was used in the Western releases. Utada's involvement was announced on July 29, 2005. According to Nomura, the vocal theme ties in even more closely with the game's story than " Hikari " ("Simple and Clean") did with Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories . The CD single for "Passion"
8688-547: The action RPG and hack and slash gameplay of previous games in the series, sees players alternate between the roles of Sora and Riku, which is done via the 'Drop' system. During gameplay, a Drop Gauge gradually depletes over time, though it can be replenished with items. When the gauge completely empties, control will switch to the other character, though players may also opt to drop manually at any time. Drop Points, which are earned by defeating enemies and completing optional objectives, can be spent on bonuses that can be used until
8869-447: The first installment of its Ys series in 1987. While not very popular in the West, the long-running Ys series has performed strongly in the Japanese market, with many sequels, remakes and ports in the decades that followed its release. Besides Falcom's own Dragon Slayer series, Ys was also influenced by Hydlide , from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration. The Faery Tale Adventure offered one of
9050-407: The χ-blade . He is foiled when Sora is rescued by Donald, Goofy and Lea, the revived human form of Axel. Xehanort and his incarnations return to their original time periods, but assure that both factions will inevitably clash. Upon returning to Yen Sid's tower, Riku re-enters Sora's dreams and releases his heart from Ventus's Nightmare-possessed armor, saving him. Riku then arrives in a simulation of
9231-414: The 1990 games Bad Blood (another action RPG based on the same engine) and Ultima VI: The False Prophet , based on the same interface. Also in 1989, the enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM , which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its English localization was also one of
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#17328513008109412-508: The 25th best RPG title of all time. Kingdom Hearts II also received a near-perfect score, 39/40, from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu . G4 awarded Kingdom Hearts II "Best Voice Over" and "Best Soundtrack" in their 2006 G-Phoria awards show. The game was ranked the 16th greatest console video game of all time in a 2021 Japanese poll conducted by TV Asahi which surveyed over 50,000 respondents. Kingdom Hearts II has been released in four different versions. The first three are
9593-662: The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl , contains the most content edits. Cutscenes were edited to remove some of the violence, such as William Turner threatening to commit suicide while aiming a gun at his neck, as in the film. Unlike the Japanese version, the undead pirates do not catch fire when affected by Fire magic, and their muskets were modified to resemble crossbows, though the crossbows still fire with an audible musket shot sound effect. An unlockable trailer in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix hinted at
9774-711: The Country of the Musketeers ( Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers ); and the Symphony of Sorcery ( Fantasia ). The other two worlds, Traverse Town and the World That Never Was, are original to the series and have been featured in previous games. In addition, the game's opening tutorial is set on the Destiny Islands, another original world. The game features Sora and Riku as the two main characters, taking part in
9955-473: The Destiny Islands and meets a virtual copy of Ansem the Wise, who gives him research data he had left in Sora's heart to help Sora save those connected to it. After Riku returns to the realm of light and reunites with Sora, Yen Sid commends him for braving the realm of sleep a second time to reawaken Sora and declares him a Keyblade Master; Lea also reveals himself to have become a Keyblade wielder, and intends to become
10136-464: The Disney film on which it is based. The graphics of the world and characters are meant to resemble the artwork and style of the environments and characters from their respective Disney films. Each world is disconnected from the others and exists separately; with few exceptions, players travel from one world to another via a Gummi Ship. Some worlds featured in the previous games reappear, but with new and expanded areas. New worlds are also introduced, with
10317-399: The Dream Eaters based on this concept. They are used in the mini-game Flick Rush which originally intended to allow players to use a picture. Nomura did not approve of this idea. 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
10498-483: The Heartless "Ansem" they defeated is an imposter named Xehanort, whose Nobody, Xemnas, is the Organization's leader. The Organization also reveal that they seek the power of Kingdom Hearts, seeking to create one from the hearts Sora has released from the Heartless with his Keyblade to regain their lost hearts; in addition, Sora discovers that the Organization is holding Kairi hostage to force him to comply. Sora revisits
10679-554: The Land of Dragons being based on Mulan , Beast's Castle on Beauty and the Beast , Timeless River on not only Steamboat Willie , but the Mickey Mouse film series , Port Royal on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl , Pride Lands on The Lion King and Space Paranoids on Tron . Twilight Town, an original world first seen in Chain of Memories , has a greater role as
10860-629: The Master Control Program. Organization XIII, a group of powerful Nobodies—the "empty shells" left over when a strong-hearted person becomes a Heartless—introduced in Chain of Memories , is established as the primary group of antagonists early on. Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, serves as the main antagonist and final boss of the game. Villains unique to the worlds are prevalent, and are often presented as challenges that Sora's group must overcome. Sora, Donald, and Goofy have been asleep for
11041-582: 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 explained that the games theme is trust, specifically how to trust others. In July 2011, a Famitsu article included an interview with Nomura in which he revealed that
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#173285130081011222-656: 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 to appear in Media Create's polls for the next several 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 regular editions and 20,000 Mark of Mastery editions. English publications have given Kingdom Hearts 3D moderately positive reviews, with lower scores than Japanese review outlets, generally praising
11403-528: The North American and European releases of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , serves as the game's primary antagonist with his two revived alter egos : his Heartless , Ansem, and his Nobody , Xemnas . Several former members of Xemnas' Organization XIII , including Lea and Ansem the Wise's apprentices, return after being restored to their human forms. Like previous games, Dream Drop Distance features various Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse , who
11584-640: The Space Paranoids, Timeless River and Port Royal worlds. The character models and animations were complimented; Villoria and Gann singled out the Pirates of the Caribbean characters for their realistic quality, and Gann declared the facial designs to be the best he had seen on the PlayStation 2. Haynes admired the main characters' changing appearance depending on the world they are visiting, and Villoria noted that
11765-493: The US, selling over 250,000 and 180,000 units on its debuts respectively. Critics generally praised the gameplay and graphics, while criticizing aspects of the plot. A high-definition remaster of the game entitled Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD was released as part of the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue compilation for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Windows , and Nintendo Switch . The game, which largely follows
11946-517: The approach to be an improvement upon the original game, which she felt relied on "backtracking, tediousness, and confusion". Louis Bedigian of GameZone also concluded that the game would not be challenging to players experienced with action RPGs from the SNES and PlayStation eras. Patrick Gann of RPGFan deemed the partner artificial intelligence to be superior to the first game, whereas Haynes denounced it as "absolutely terrible", attributing this to
12127-423: The atmosphere of the game". Gann, however, faulted what he perceived to be a rushed localization from the equivalent Japanese track "Passion". He elaborated that "Full harmonic backup parts have been cut, and Utada's stand-alone melody sounds flat in English. She stretches syllables to make up for the bouncy melody of the very syllabic Japanese version". The voice acting was generally commended for its quality and
12308-531: The camera to some degree. As such, these are often grouped with other "isometric RPGs". The popularity of the Diablo series spawned such franchises like Divinity , Torchlight , Dungeon Siege and Sacred . Commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; The Diablo series spawned many terms like being referred to as "dungeon crawler" "slasher RPG" "hack and slasher",
12489-430: The card gameplay, with the addition of Reaction Commands from Kingdom Hearts II . Like the first game's Final Mix, the two games serve as a canonical update to the series. The book Kingdom Hearts -Another Report- was included along with the game for those who reserved a copy. Based on Amazon.com figures, Final Mix+ was the number one PlayStation 2 game in sales during the week of its release in Japan. Nomura cited
12670-451: The characters, setting the standard for first-person computer RPGs for several years. It inspired many other developers to make real-time dungeon crawlers, such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos . Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss , released in 1992, has been cited as the first RPG to feature first-person action in a 3D environment. Ultima Underworld
12851-653: The complaints of no map and camera bugs with the previous game. The player directly controls Sora from a third-person camera angle, though first-person perspective is available via Select button. Most of the gameplay occurs on interconnected field maps where battles take place. The game is driven by a linear progression from one story event to the next, usually told via cutscenes , though there are numerous side-quests available that provide bonuses to characters. Like many traditional role-playing video games , Kingdom Hearts II features an experience point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated,
13032-588: The development of Dragon Slayer (1984) and Hydlide (1984). Dragon Slayer , Hydlide and Courageous Perseus (1984) "vie for position as genre precedent" according to John Szczepaniak, and there was an ongoing rivalry developing between the Dragon Slayer and Hydlide series over the years. The Tower of Druaga , Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they influenced later action RPGs such as Ys , as well as The Legend of Zelda . Falcom's Dragon Slayer , created by Yoshio Kiya,
13213-427: The enemies were also visually adapted to their environments, which he said granted them personality. The full-motion videos were admired by Albiges, Gann, and Bedigian, and compared by Gann to those of Final Fantasy XII . Gann was also impressed by the special effects applied in the dream sequences during the prologue, and claimed to be impacted by the "artistic flair that combined the binary/data/static effect with
13394-449: The events of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded , and focuses on Sora and Riku 's Mark of Mastery exam, in which they have to protect parallel worlds in preparation for 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 to assist them in fights. The Square Enix staff decided to develop Dream Drop Distance after being impressed by
13575-626: The events of that year to be left unexplained. To bridge the gap between the two games, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories was developed. To explain the loss of all the abilities from the first game at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II , Nomura had Sora's memories scrambled in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories . Many aspects of the gameplay were reworked for this sequel. Some changes were made due to user feedback and others were meant to be included in previous games but were omitted either because of time or technological constraints. The camera
13756-454: The events of the original Birth by Sleep , told from the perspective of Aqua. It was released on January 12, 2017, in Japan and January 24, 2017, for other countries. Action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG ) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat where
13937-455: The exam, Sora and Riku arrive in the World That Never Was instead of the realm of light. The youth reveals he and his associates have lured Sora into a trap and places him into a deep sleep, where his heart is consumed by darkness, but is encased within Ventus 's armor for protection. Meanwhile, Riku learns he has spent the exam traveling through Sora's dreams as a Dream Eater. He escapes the dream and
14118-566: The film which the world is based on. These party members include Fa Mulan , a woman who passes as a man to take her ailing father's place in the army; Jack Sparrow , a pirate who seeks to reclaim his ship, the Black Pearl ; Simba , a self-exiled lion and the rightful king of the Pride Lands; and Tron , a security program in Hollow Bastion's computer network who seeks to end the dictatorship of
14299-517: The finished product resembled Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep but improved. The team wished for the game to have more action than the previous games. Nomura noted the similarities with 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 , would look like. New worlds were included in
14480-413: The first game, were voiced by Richard Epcar , Mena Suvari , Doug Erholtz , George Newbern , and Tate Donovan (Hercules' original voice actor), and newcomer Tifa was voiced by Rachael Leigh Cook . Besides English translation and localization , the international version of Kingdom Hearts II differs from the original Japanese version in the content of gameplay and several scenes. The Hydra boss in
14661-653: The first game. Other details included the return of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as new costumes. Information about Mickey Mouse's involvement was kept to a minimum. At the 2004 Square Enix E3 Press conference, producer Shinji Hashimoto said that many mysteries of the first game would be answered. Square Enix launched the official Japanese website in May 2005, followed by the English website in December 2005. The websites featured videos and information regarding characters and worlds. Commercials were aired in Japan which highlighted
14842-527: The first game; Reiner, describing most of the Disney-based conflicts as "tacked on" diversions, speculated that Disney "handcuffed Square Enix on being able to create new content". The game received numerous awards, including a Satellite Award in 2006 for "Outstanding Game Based on Existing Medium". It tied with Resident Evil 4 as Famitsu ' s "Game of the Year" 2005. Famitsu ' s readers ranked
15023-537: The first time that characters other than those from Disney and Final Fantasy have appeared in the series. The game introduces a new type of creature called Dream Eaters, which come in two varieties—"Nightmares", which eat good dreams and create nightmares, and serve as enemies similar to the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed from previous games; and "Spirits", which eat nightmares and create good dreams, and also act as Sora and Riku's party members. Anticipating Master Xehanort's return, Yen Sid puts Sora and Riku through
15204-483: The first to use voice dubbing . The game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as other prizes. Another 1989 release, Activision 's Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon , attempted to introduce "Nintendo-style" action combat to North American computer role-playing games. Action RPGs were far more common on consoles than computers, due to gamepads being better suited to real-time action than
15385-406: The first-person mode as unhelpful, with Mielke warning that the inability to see Sora's Keyblade was disorienting. The RPG elements were described as light, with Haynes calling them a "casualty" of the increased emphasis on combat; he remarked that items were "practically useless" due to a lack of need to use them in certain places as in the first game. Although Albiges considered the quality of
15566-817: The following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: Temple of Apshai (1979) and its sequel Gateway to Apshai (1983), Beneath the Pyramids for the Apple II (1980), Bokosuka Wars (1983), and Sword of Fargoal (1983). Jeremy Parish of USgamer claimed that Adventure (1980) was an action RPG. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton claimed that the Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983) were action RPGs. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade notes that Adventure lacked RPG mechanics such as experience points and permanent character growth, and argues that Gateway to Apshai
15747-455: The frequently changing cast of characters made up for the game's lack of challenge, and that the use of lines from the original Disney films enhanced the sense of immersion. However, she deplored the "aloof" dialogue for the Square characters, singling out an instance in which Final Fantasy VIII antagonist Seifer declares "We totally owned you lamers!". Bettenhausen faulted what he perceived to be
15928-417: The game "should be the benchmark of RPG storytelling". Villoria and Gann said that the frequent cameos were well-handled, and pointed out that the inclusion of Square characters not created by Nomura was an interesting risk, though Mielke occasionally felt that the cameos were for their own sake. Gann considered the plot to be more cohesive than that of the first, as the Disney worlds held more relevance to
16109-492: The game 29th on their "All Time Top 100" feature, ten places below Kingdom Hearts . It was ranked number one on IGN's 2006 "Reader's Choice" for PlayStation 2 games. Eurogamer ranked it 34th on their "Top 50 Games of 2006" list. Video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded it "Best Sequel" of 2006, and Game Informer listed it among the "Top 50 games of 2006". VideoGamer.com featured it 10th in their article "Top 10: Role playing games". GamePro named it
16290-399: The game as a result of multiple requests by fans. The switches between player characters 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 word "Distance" in the title because the two characters never interact across their stories. The Free Flow system
16471-455: The game being developed concurrently with Chain of Memories . In developing Kingdom Hearts II , the development team sought to address user feedback from the first game, give the player more freedom and options in combat and present a deeper and more mature plot. The game was critically acclaimed; earning several awards upon release. Like the original game, it is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time . Reviewers praised
16652-440: The game came out. Merchandise ranged from toys and figurines to clothing items and books. The game has also been adapted into both manga and novel series. Prior to the game's release, an Ultimania book titled Kingdom Hearts Series Ultimania α ~Introduction of Kingdom Hearts II~ came out. It provides extended information on the first two Kingdom Hearts games, as well as information on the unreleased Kingdom Hearts II . After
16833-448: The game is played from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their player character , which learns to cast spells, brew potions, and master combat abilities, eventually developing their own special combat style. In late 1987, FTL Games released Dungeon Master , a dungeon crawler that had a real-time game world and some real-time combat elements (akin to Active Time Battle ), requiring players to quickly issue orders to
17014-416: 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 an "HD Technical Test" in order to commemorate the series' tenth anniversary and to entice new players to
17195-409: The game's mouse-based combat were mixed. In 1997 Blizzard's Diablo was released and became massively successful. It was an action RPG that used a mouse oriented point-and-click interface and offered gamers a free online service to play with others that maintained the same rules and gameplay. Diablo ' s effect on the market was significant, inspiring many imitators. Its impact was such that
17376-511: 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. The game's story
17557-425: The gameplay style, and "Distance" referring to the main characters' interaction, and, while unintentionally, the system's autostereoscopic 3D effect. Although Tetsuya Nomura admitted the English used was not grammatically correct, the team still decided to use it based on the way it sounded. Development was notably shorter than the ones from previous Kingdom Hearts games. However, co-director Tai Yasue emphasized how
17738-412: The gameplay while criticizing the plot. It received an aggregated score of 75/100 on Metacritic . Game Informer writer Bryan Vore praised the new gameplay elements and, unlike other reviewers, how well the story handles the franchise's plot, especially as it was set after that of Kingdom Hearts II , unlike many of the other newer titles in the series. Audrey Drake from IGN echoed similar comments about
17919-414: The gameplay, but felt that the story was sometimes not very interesting. Mark Walton from GameSpot praised the combat systems and environment design, though he wished that the game did not force the player through the levels linearly and dismissed the plot as "labyrinth-like" with poor dialogue and confusing motivations. Bob Mackey of 1UP.com was harsher on the game than other reviewers; while he too found
18100-577: The gaming market and its influence on the MMORPG genre later popularized the strongly used mouse-oriented point and click combat. While in the Diablo series this type of combat does not have a lock-on key, World of Warcraft and most MMO games uses some kind of key to target an enemy, usually TAB, to lock into it, usually referred to as "tab-target". In tab-target combat the player's character automatic do attack animations with some kind of regular attack, while
18281-515: The genre's roots to Japan, noting that the "Western game industry of the time had a tendency to treat action games and RPGs as separate things for separate demographics". Jeremy Parish argues that action RPGs were popularized in Japan by The Tower of Druaga . It was released for arcades in June 1984, and was intended as a "fantasy version of Pac-Man , with puzzles to solve, monsters to battle, and hidden treasure to find". Its success in Japan inspired
18462-421: The heartfelt scenes from the first title". Reviewers praised the soundtrack, which Bedigian described as "An impeccable, unforgettable mixture of classic Disney tracks and new Square Enix themes". He added that despite the limited nostalgic value of the Disney tunes, they "never get tiring, slightly repetitive, or seem out of place". Gouskos remarked that the presence of some songs from The Little Mermaid were
18643-455: The high standard set by the first game, while Gann complained of the synth quality and recycled tracks from the first game. Gann considered the live orchestral and piano recordings to be the best tracks. Mielke (writing for 1Up.com ) and Larsen spoke positively of the theme song "Sanctuary", with Mielke calling it "a sublime contribution that grows with each listen" and Larsen deeming it to "have been perfectly crafted to both set and build from
18824-402: The highest reviews for the game out of the major English review outlets; though she had similar praises and criticisms as other reviewers, she felt that the gameplay and graphics more than made up for the sometimes confusing plot. In the credits of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix , clips of Dream Drop Distance were shown as well as the inclusion of a secret ending related to the game, hinting at
19005-526: The improved execution, they were still overall unimpressed, though Larsen singled out the battle against a giant pirate ship as a highlight. Villoria considered the ship-building interface to have been greatly improved, whereas Fischer and Gann still found it obtuse and confusing. The visuals were lauded, with Mielke and Albiges considering them among the PlayStation 2's best, and Villoria putting them on par with Square's best productions. The environmental renderings were praised, with special mention going to
19186-620: The introduction of the Reaction Command were added to give players more choices in battles. The inclusion of worlds based on live-action Disney films was aided by technology that generated the character models from live-action pictures. Like the first game, Kingdom Hearts II features music by Yoko Shimomura and Hikaru Utada . The Original Soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts II was composed by Shimomura and released on January 25, 2006. The opening orchestration and ending credits theme were arranged and orchestrated by Kaoru Wada and performed by
19367-549: The introductory world. The World That Never Was is a new world that serves as the headquarters of Organization XIII. The three protagonists of the game are Sora , a 15-year-old boy chosen as a wielder of the Keyblade, a mystical key-shaped weapon that can combat darkness; Donald Duck , the court magician of Disney Castle; and Goofy , the captain of the Disney Castle guards. Both Donald and Goofy are under orders from their missing king, Mickey Mouse , to accompany Sora and his Keyblade. Other original characters include Riku , who
19548-513: The keyboard and mouse. Though there were attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, very few saw any success. Times of Lore was one of the more successful attempts in the American computer market, where there was a generally negative attitude towards combining genres in this way and more of an emphasis on preserving the purity of the RPG genre. For example,
19729-448: The largest worlds at the time, with over 17,000 computer screens without loading times. In 1988, Telenet Japan 's Exile series debuted, and was controversial due to its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling Crusades-era Syrian assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as 20th-century political leaders, The gameplay of Exile included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, and featured
19910-624: The latter's appearance having been changed to that of Xehanort's Heartless after using his power to capture Roxas. Mickey encounters DiZ, who reveals himself to be the true Ansem, Xehanort's mentor. Ansem uses a device that dissipates some of Kingdom Hearts' power, but a system overload causes the device to self-destruct, engulfing Ansem and returning Riku to his original form. Atop the Castle That Never Was, Sora and company battle Xemnas, who uses what remains of Kingdom Hearts to fight them. After Sora and Riku destroy Xemnas, they become trapped in
20091-475: The locales to be consistently high (singling out Port Royal for praise), others lamented the decreased size and increased linearity of the worlds, with Haynes particularly describing Halloween Town and Atlantica as "shadows of their former selves". While the assortment of minigames in the Hundred Acre Wood was said to be improved from the first game, the transition of Atlantica from an action set-piece to
20272-474: The magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan , published by Square Enix. The artist is Shiro Amano, who also did the Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories manga series. The first volume was released in Japan in December 2006. As a result of Amano working in the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga, the series has been on hiatus and resumed publication in October 2012. Tokyopop licensed the manga and released volume one in North America on July 3, 2007. The second volume
20453-749: The main enemies of the game, up to three good Dream Eaters, known as Spirits, can be recruited per character to assist them in battle. Spirits can be created by combining Dream Fragments with an item or spell, either via experimenting with combinations or using recipes found throughout the game. Characters can also link with Spirits to perform unique attacks. Along the way, the player can care for Spirits by petting them, feeding them items, or playing mini-games with them, which can unlock new abilities. The game takes place across multiple worlds based on Pinocchio , The Hunchback of Notre Dame , Tron: Legacy , Fantasia and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers , with each one having two different plots told from
20634-444: The main story, while Maleficent and Pete reprise their roles as antagonists, and Yen Sid as a supporting character. Unlike other major installments, which feature an extensive cast of Final Fantasy characters, only a Moogle appears. Dream Drop Distance features appearances of Neku Sakuraba and other characters from The World Ends with You , another game owned by Square Enix with characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura, marking
20815-528: The mentor of Xehanort . As in the previous games, characters from both Disney and Square Enix works appear. While some make a return from Kingdom Hearts , new characters from Disney fiction are also introduced, such as Scrooge McDuck and several characters from Disney films in their home worlds. Pete appears as a persistent enemy who works with the resurrected Maleficent . Nearly twenty characters from Final Fantasy games appear, notably Auron of Final Fantasy X , Tifa from Final Fantasy VII , and
20996-459: 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, which made Dream Drop Distance the second highest rated game in the series for them, after Kingdom Hearts II . The game debuted at
21177-545: The next time the character drops, such as a slower Drop Gauge or increased attack or defense. The game reuses the Command Deck system from Birth by Sleep , in which players can customize a deck filled with various actions, spells, and items that can be quickly selected. There are also several new elements added to the gameplay. Flowmotion allows players to move quickly about by performing actions such as bouncing off walls, grinding on rails and spinning around poles. Reality Shift
21358-479: The normal regional releases in Japan, North America, and PAL regions , which only differ nominally in content editing and localization. The European and Australian PAL releases were reformatted to run at 50 Hz to fit the definition size of PAL encoding systems . The fourth version has additional content and was released under the title Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix . Like the previous titles, both Square and Disney released numerous types of merchandise before and after
21539-472: The numerous Disney characters in the game. Although the game was announced in September 2003, a release date for the game was not set until two years later. Nomura admitted that the game was announced too early and information regarding the game was not released until a debut period was in sight. Within a week of its Japanese release, Kingdom Hearts II shipped one million copies, selling almost 730,000 copies. The NPD Group reported that Kingdom Hearts II
21720-609: The omitted ability to issue AI commands. The quick time events were a generally welcomed addition, with Luke Albiges of Eurogamer regarding their quality and impact to be on par with the knife fight scene in Resident Evil 4 . Bedigian declared the game to be the first instance of quick time events being successfully implemented, and admired the resulting actions as "some of the most beautiful polygon sequences seen on PlayStation 2". While Russ Fischer of GameRevolution deemed their lenient mechanics compared to God of War to be
21901-552: The past year to regain their lost memories. Roxas, Sora's Nobody, is trapped in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town created by DiZ to merge him with his original self and restore Sora's power. DiZ's plans are threatened when Nobodies led by Axel, Roxas's former friend in Organization XIII, infiltrate the virtual town to extract Roxas. However, Roxas is able to repel the Nobodies and merge with Sora. Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken in
22082-407: The perspectives of Sora and Riku. These worlds need to be completed by both Sora and Riku in order to unlock new worlds and progress through the game. Upon visiting each world for the first time, each character must go through a Dive section, in which characters freefall down a tube and must clear a certain objective, such as obtaining a certain number of points, defeating a certain number of enemies in
22263-677: The player and allies gain experience to "level up", allowing them to grow stronger and gain access to new abilities . Combat in Kingdom Hearts II takes place in real-time and involves hack and slash elements with button presses which initiate attacks by the on-screen character. A role-playing game menu on the screen's bottom left, similar to those found in Final Fantasy games, provides other combat options, such as using magic or items, summoning beings to assist in battle, or executing combination attacks with other party members. A new feature
22444-741: The player can focus on activating other skills and items by pressing other keys. Usually this type of combat is not heavily based on aiming or hit boxes thus the player can hit enemies from different distances and even from a far. Some tab-target MMOs have other targeting options such as an "Action mode". Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm , Bungie 's Destiny (2014), Irem 's Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix's third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 , and
22625-417: The player can send out at a time, and each Spirit has a limited number of cards that can be replenished by swapping them out with another Spirit. The first player to eliminate all of their opponent's Spirits wins the game. Dream Drop Distance follows the events of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Coded , though much of its plot is set concurrently to the original game via time travel . There are
22806-512: The player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu -based combat while still having a focus on character's stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games . The term "action role-playing game" may also describe action-adventure games , which include a mission system and role-playing game mechanics, as well as MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. Allgame listed
22987-411: The player is allowed to customize their behavior to a certain extent through the menu screen, such as attacking the same enemy Sora targets. In response to criticism, the "Gummi Ship" feature of the first game was re-imagined to be "more enjoyable". Although retaining its basic purpose of travel, the system was completely redone to resemble a combination of rail shooter and "Disney theme park ride". In
23168-516: The player progresses through. As in the first game, the player can travel to various Disney-based locales, along with original worlds specifically created for the series. While Disney-based worlds were primarily derived from the Disney animated features canon in the first game, Kingdom Hearts II introduces worlds that are based on live-action franchises with one based on Pirates of the Caribbean . Each world varies in appearance and setting, depending on
23349-426: The player's stats, or as a currency to purchase items, and penalizing player deaths without imposing an outright failure state. It also incorporated online features allowing players to leave messages in the overworld that can be read by other players, to temporarily join other players' sessions to assist them cooperatively, or "invade" another player's session to engage in player versus player combat. Especially after
23530-442: The plot incomprehensible, he also felt that the numerous game mechanics combined to form a confusing and frustrating system. The reviewer for GameTrailers had a different take, finding the combination of mechanics to form "the best battle system in the series to date" and was not as dismissive of the plot, though they did note that it required a lot of knowledge of previous games in the series to follow. Leah Jackson of G4 had one of
23711-582: The possibility of a sequel. Rumors for a sequel on the PlayStation 2 were spurred in Japan when the video game website Quiter stated that "an internal (and anonymous source) at Square Japan" confirmed that development of Kingdom Hearts II had begun. It was not until Kingdom Hearts II was announced, along with Chain of Memories , at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2003 that rumors were confirmed. Initial details were that it would take place some time after Chain of Memories , which takes place directly after
23892-466: The presence of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories to explain why Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ was so popular. Nevertheless, in a Famitsu poll in July 2011, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was voted the most popular entry so far. It was released for the first time outside Japan as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix . A manga series based on the game started its serialization in the June 2006 issue of
24073-415: The prestige of its cast. Christopher Lee's presence in particular was singled out as commanding and show-stealing. Although Gouskos determined the overall voice acting quality to be excellent, she noted that the Square characters were not given an equal level of treatment to the Disney characters, and she identified "one or two bad apples among the bunch", describing Jasmine as "screechy". Larsen praised
24254-405: The quality of the 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 of what the following title in the series, Kingdom Hearts III , would be like. The game has been well received in Japan and in
24435-454: The real Twilight Town and meet King Mickey and Yen Sid , who send them on another journey to find Riku and uncover the Organization's plans. Afterward, Maleficent is resurrected and joins with Pete to continue her quest for power. Sora travels to familiar and unfamiliar worlds and resolves problems caused by Organization XIII, the Heartless, and various local villains. During a visit to Hollow Bastion, they reunite with Mickey, who explains that
24616-560: The realm of darkness. There, they discover a portal to the realm of light in a bottled letter sent by Kairi, allowing them to return to the Destiny Islands and reunite with their friends. In a post-credits scene , Sora, Kairi, and Riku receive and read a letter from Mickey, the contents of which are hidden from the player. Development plans for Kingdom Hearts II began around the completion of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix , but specific details were undecided until July 2003. Nomura noted several obstacles to clear before development could begin on
24797-452: The redeeming quality of the Atlantica rhythm minigames, and she considered the music's infectiousness to be "a tribute to how well the music was adapted and integrated into the gameplay". Larsen only criticized some repetitiveness, but noted that the fast-paced action made this hardly noticeable. However, Villoria and Gann were less than impressed; Villoria felt that the soundtrack did not meet
24978-477: The related television series or direct-to-video sequels were chosen over original voice actors where applicable, such as Robert Costanzo as Philoctetes rather than Danny DeVito or Cam Clarke as Simba instead of Matthew Broderick . Some characters were given new voice actors in the English version; Ansem, Aerith, Leon, Sephiroth and Hercules, who were originally voiced by Billy Zane , Mandy Moore , David Boreanaz , Lance Bass , and Sean Astin respectively in
25159-514: The release of its spiritual successor Dark Souls (2011) and its sequels, other action RPGs emerged in the 2010s that incorporated mechanics influenced by those of Demon's Souls , which have been popularly referred to as " Soulslike " games. In 2013, Vanillaware released the fantasy beat 'em up ARPG Dragon's Crown , a spiritual successor to Princess Crown and a "deeply moving product" of Vanillaware director George Kamitani. Kamitani cites many classic RPGs as his inspiration, stating in
25340-521: The release of the game, Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania , which focuses on the game itself, came out. Another book, titled Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ Ultimania , was released after the Final Mix version came out. Released along with Final Mix , Kingdom Hearts -Another Report- was a hardback book which includes game information, visuals by Shiro Amano , and a director interview. In North America, BradyGames published two strategy guides—a standard guide and
25521-509: The return of Squall Leonhart , Cloud , and Sephiroth . It was stated that although the first game strictly stuck to characters Tetsuya Nomura designed, this time they were going to "take some risks", implying that characters not directly designed by Nomura might appear. Other new characters to series are Vivi of Final Fantasy IX , Seifer Almasy of Final Fantasy VIII , and Setzer of Final Fantasy VI . The various worlds that Sora explores often have an optional party character from
25702-459: The second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time, rather than players having to join the game at the same time. The game has remained influential through to the present day, with its ring menu system still used in modern games and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games such as Dungeon Siege III (2011). Most other such games, however, used a side-scrolling perspective typical of beat 'em ups, such as
25883-411: The series was also heavily criticized by players and media for not being a proper RPG due to it being focused more on fighting enemies and creating character builds than following a proper narrative and dialogue-heavy journey. After its success many other games tried to mix its influences with different structures and narratives, there are multiple games like Divine Divinity that were an attempt to have
26064-431: The series. This occurred on March 3, 2012, in the form of a premiere event where footage from the game, including its full CGI introduction sequence, was showcased to celebrate the game's release. The game was first released in Japan on March 29, 2012, and in North America and Europe on July 31, 2012, and July 20, 2012, respectively. In Australasia, it was released on July 26, 2012. A limited edition titled "Mark of Mastery"
26245-422: The sleeping worlds. Yen Sid sends Sora and Riku back in time to their homeworld's destruction, allowing them to enter the sleeping worlds. The two are separated at the start of the test, each arriving in alternate versions of the worlds. Throughout the exam, Sora and Riku encounter a gray-haired youth who is accompanied by Xemnas and Ansem, respectively, despite them having been previously destroyed. Upon completing
26426-492: The songs included are tracks from The World Ends with You , originally composed by Ishimoto, who remixed them for Dream Drop Distance . Orchestral arrangements were provided by Kaoru Wada. The Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Original Soundtrack was released in Japan on April 18, 2012. 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
26607-555: The sound-alike actor for Captain Jack Sparrow as "iffy at best". Responses to the narrative were varied, with some reviewers cautioning that the plot would be confusing to those who had not played the previous games. Haynes, however, assured that the Journal feature provided sufficient context, and added that it had been improved from the first game. Proponents of the story include Intihar, Bedigian, and Gann, with Bedigian declaring that
26788-475: The story. Andrew Reiner of Game Informer promised that the story would "give you shivers and make your heart leap" despite not being as powerful as the first game. Mielke complimented Nomura's "eye for epic drama" previously observed in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , which he said "touches you where games like, say, God of War never will". Gouskos said that the interactions with
26969-418: The storyline as linear and somewhat nonsensical, but "endearing and twisty" enough to hold players' attention. Bettenhausen and GamePro ' s Bones respectively dismissed the prologue as "woefully boring" and "sluggishly slow", though Reiner stated that "In a devilish yet remarkable plot twist, you may not want Sora back". Reiner and Fischer were disappointed by the amount of recycled Disney content from
27150-499: The studio instead created a spiritual successor : Arx Fatalis . Toby Gard stated that, when designing Tomb Raider , he "was a big fan of ... Ultima Underworld and I wanted to mix that type of game with the sort of polygon characters that were just being showcased in Virtua Fighter ". Ultima Underworld was also the basis for Looking Glass Technologies' later System Shock . The 1988 Origin Systems title Times of Lore
27331-620: The template for many future action RPGs, even though it does not strictly fit the definition of later action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as Dragon Slayer and Hydlide, which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, The Legend of Zelda featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay , and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since. In 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link implemented
27512-427: The temples to refuse to level him up. Xanadu Scenario II , released in 1986, was an expansion pack , created to expand the content of Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu . Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985) also featured a morality system. Eurogamer cites Fairlight (1985) as an early action RPG. An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure The Legend of Zelda , which served as
27693-468: The term "action RPG" has come to be more commonly used for Diablo -style games, with The Legend of Zelda itself slowly recategorized as an action-adventure. Very commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; even with 3D graphic engines, such point-and-click games are still presented from a similar isometric view, though providing options to rotate, pan, and zoom
27874-410: 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
28055-713: The things that I wanted to do and all the games that I ended up working on came out of the inspiration I took from [ Ultima Underworld ]". Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski also cited it as an early influence, stating that it had "far more impact on me than Doom ". Other games influenced by Ultima Underworld include The Elder Scrolls: Arena , Deus Ex , Deus Ex: Invisible War , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , and Half-Life 2 . FromSoftware 's Demon's Souls (2009) emphasized unforgiving enemies and environments, combined with risk-and-reward mechanics such as limited checkpoints, collecting "souls" that can be consumed as experience points to increase
28236-547: The third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action RPG, real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. Shooter-based RPGs include Imageepoch 's post-apocalyptic Black Rock Shooter (2011) , which employs both first-person and third-person shooter elements, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV (2016) , which features both hack and slash and third-person shooter elements. The online live service version gained
28417-477: The top of Media Create 's sales charts, selling 213,579 copies during its first week. The release was also noted to have helped boost the sales of the Nintendo 3DS console. Although the number of pre-orders surpassed that of 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 number of units sold between
28598-412: The triangle button. The Summon ability and each Drive Form are leveled up separately and by different criteria; obtaining higher levels allows for extended use and in the case of Drive Forms, access to new abilities. Kingdom Hearts II begins one year after the events of Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories . The game's setting is a collection of various levels (referred to in-game as "worlds") that
28779-435: The use of two Keyblades. When a Drive is executed, Sora's combat statistics are heightened. Drive Forms also give Sora new abilities that can be used in normal form, called "Growth Abilities". Sora's first two Drive Forms only combine power with one party member; later-obtained Drive Forms require him to bond with both party members. When allies are used in a Drive, they are temporarily removed from battle for its duration. Unlike
28960-457: The visuals, soundtrack, voice acting, and emotional weight, but assessments of the gameplay and narrative were mixed. In both Japan and North America, it shipped more than one million copies within weeks of its release, with over four million worldwide by April 2007. The gameplay of Kingdom Hearts II is similar to the action RPG and hack and slash gameplay of the first Kingdom Hearts game, though developers made an effort to address some of
29141-433: The voice actors' effort, but said that the cutscenes felt longer than they are due to the timing of the spoken dialogue. Haynes felt that many lines fell flat and the incorporation of film dialogue was awkward. Mielke and Bratcher respectively deemed Mena Suvari's performance as Aerith "pretty dry" and "all wrong". The absence of the actors from Pirates of the Caribbean was a source of disappointment, with EGM describing
29322-459: The world map, the player now controls the Gummi Ship from a top-down view to fly to the world they wish to enter. Worlds are no longer open from the beginning—the player must unlock the routes to them by entering a new level, controlling the ship from a third-person point of view, and battling enemy ships. After the route is opened, travel to the world is unimpeded, unless it is blocked again due to
29503-430: The worlds to solve lingering problems while seeking a path to Organization XIII's base of operations in the World That Never Was. Throughout his endeavors, Sora is secretly aided by a hooded figure whom he believes to be Riku. Following a lead, Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter a passageway to the World That Never Was through Twilight Town, where Axel sacrifices himself to allow them to proceed. Sora finds Kairi and Riku, with
29684-501: Was also included within the "Kingdom Hearts 10th Anniversary Box" package made in commemoration of the franchise's 10th anniversary. The box also included the Nintendo DS games Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded . Unlike Kingdom Hearts , Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep , there would not be an updated version of the game according to Tetsuya Nomura. A guidebook, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Ultimania ( キングダム ハーツ 3D [ドリーム ドロップ ディスタンス] アルティマニア ) ,
29865-478: Was also one of the earliest action RPGs. Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , released in 1985 (billed as a "new type of real-time role-playing game"), was an action role-playing game including many character stats and a large quest. It also incorporated a side-scrolling view during exploration and an overhead view during battle, and an early "Karma" morality system where the character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin (killing "good" enemies), which in turn causes
30046-544: Was also released in North America featuring twelve art cards, AR cards able to unlock new Dream Eaters, and a protector case for the 3DS console. While this has been noted to be the shortest gaps between the Japanese and English releases in the Kingdom Hearts , the latter version does not include new features not seen in the former. However, the Mark of Mastery limited edition was made so that English gamers would be able to obtain bonus material that can only be obtained in Japan. The game
30227-508: Was also released that year. It was a party-based action RPG, with the player controlling a party of four characters at the same time in a side-scrolling view. The game also featured character creation, highly customizable characters, class-based puzzles, and a new scenario system, allowing players to choose from 15 scenarios, or quests , to play through in the order of their choice. It was also an episodic video game , with expansion disks later released offering more scenarios. Falcom also released
30408-433: Was an action RPG with an icon-based point-and-click interface. Bad Blood , another Origin Systems game from 1990, would use the same interface. The designers were inspired by console titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda , to make their interface more accessible. The 1994 title Ultima VIII used mouse controls and attempted to add precision jumping sequences reminiscent of a Mario platform game, though reactions to
30589-519: 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 of prior to deciding which console use. The game's title was used to reference its various themes, with "Dream" referencing the storyline, "Drop" for
30770-436: 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
30951-400: Was made to preserve the official voice actors from the Disney movies used in Kingdom Hearts II . Many actors reprised their Disney roles for the game, including Ming-Na Wen as Mulan, James Woods as Hades, Bruce Boxleitner as Tron, Chris Sarandon as Jack Skellington, Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, and Zach Braff as Chicken Little. Some voice actors from
31132-497: Was made using data from Birth by Sleep , which took 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, Dream Eaters, who would also join the player in fights. They were also inspired in part by Nintendogs + Cats —Nomura wished that his virtual dog could battle with other pets met through Streetpass and created
31313-500: Was met with "generally positive" reviews upon release according to the review aggregator Metacritic . Like its predecessors, the gameplay received mixed reviews. Carrie Gouskos of GameSpot and Jeff Haynes of IGN criticized the combat's decreased difficulty, with Haynes remarking that he completed the game without using any offensive magic, and observed that the large amount of health orbs released by enemies during battle rendered healing items redundant. However, Gouskos regarded
31494-422: Was published in Japan on May 1, 2012. Square Enix also published a light novel by Tomoko Kanemaki based on the game on June 28, 2012, under the title of "Side Sora". The second volume, titled "Side Riku", was released in Japan on September 27, 2012. A HD remaster of the game for the PlayStation 4 , titled Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD , was announced in September 2015 at Tokyo Game Show to be part of
31675-562: Was re-released with a PS4 "Pro" edition in 2018. Assassin's Creed , a long-running Ubisoft franchise, also shifted towards the action RPG formula, inspired by the successes of The Witcher 3 and the Dark Souls series, with its titles Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018) and Valhalla (2020). Avalanche Software released Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding areas,
31856-632: Was released on December 14, 2005 and "Sanctuary" was first previewed on MTV 's official website in early 2006. Kingdom Hearts II features well-known voice actors for both the Japanese and English versions. Many of the original voice actors from the first Kingdom Hearts reprised their roles; Miyu Irino and Haley Joel Osment as Sora, Mamoru Miyano and David Gallagher as Riku, and Risa Uchida and Hayden Panettiere as Kairi. New voice actors included Kōki Uchiyama and Jesse McCartney as Roxas, Iku Nakahara and Brittany Snow as Naminé, and Genzō Wakayama and Christopher Lee as DiZ. A special effort
32037-482: Was released on July 16, 2006, the third book, "Tears of Nobody", revolving around Roxas' past, was released on September 29, 2006, and the fourth book, "Anthem—Meet Again/Axel Last Stand", came out in February 2007. In the credits of HD 1.5 Remix , clips of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix were shown, hinting at its inclusion in another collection. On October 14, 2013, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix ,
32218-485: Was released the following year. The game has also been novelized by Tomoco Kanemaki and illustrated by Shiro Amano. The first volume, titled "Roxas—Seven Days", was released on April 22, 2006 and covers Roxas' story to when Sora wakes up and leaves Twilight Town. The novel depicts extra scenes that were added in the Final Mix version, such as interaction between Organization XIII members and between Axel, Naminé and Riku. The second book, "The Destruction of Hollow Bastion",
32399-502: Was switched to the right analog stick of the DualShock controller instead of the shoulder buttons and the Gummi Ship travel was reworked. The combat system was completely redone and did not use any animations from the first game. Because Sora had matured, Nomura wanted his fighting style to reflect that. Other changes included more integration between exploration and battles. The variations in combat styles associated with each Drive Form and
32580-687: Was the highest-selling console game in North America during March 2006 with 614,000 copies. In the month after its release in North America, Kingdom Hearts II sold an estimated one million copies. GameStop listed the game as their best-selling title for the first quarter of 2006. The game was also on IGN 's "Top 10 Sellers in 2006". By December 2006, over 3.5 million copies of Kingdom Hearts II had been shipped worldwide with 700,000 in PAL regions , 1.1 million in Japan, and 1.7 million in North America. By March 31, 2007, Square Enix had shipped over 4 million units worldwide. Kingdom Hearts II
32761-511: Was used in many later games. T&E Soft 's Hydlide , released in December 1984, was created by Tokihiro Naito, who was influenced by The Tower of Druaga . It was the first action RPG with an overworld . The game was immensely popular in Japan, selling 2 million copies across all platforms. According to John Szczepaniak, it "cannot be overstated how influential Hydlide was on the ARPGs which followed it". The same year, Courageous Perseus
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