Kingdom Hearts III Shows Sora at His Most Powerful

Kingdom Hearts III will not only close the story of Sora and friends, it will also feature its upbeat protagonist at his most powerful. Speaking with GameSpot, director Tetsuya Nomura said that the young man we see in the latest trailer has evolved alongside the series' combat mechanics and storyline.

"Another thing you can expect from Kingdom Hearts III is giant, Shadow of the Colossus-style boss battles."

In addition to the new Kingdom Hearts III footage, Square Enix showed off another Kingdom Hearts game: Kingdom Hearts Unchained X (the "X" pronounced "key"), a mobile title that chronologically takes place first in the franchise. Nomura urged those interested in KHIII to play Unchained X first, as it gives a lot of background to a major event discussed and viewed at length throughout the series, the great Keyblade War, in which those who could use Keyblades (like Sora and Riku) took up arms against each other in a cataclysmic battle of light and darkness.

In addition to the narrative link between Unchained X and KHIII, Nomura also said the Sora we see in the new trailer has passed his Keyblade wielder's Mark of Mastery exam--a test he miserably failed at the end of the last KH title, Dream Drop Distance. We now know that he passes.

One major addition gameplay-wise to Kingdom Hearts III is transforming Keyblades. The new trailer shows Sora's Keyblade becoming a wide gambit of other weapons, from a rocket launcher to dual guns to a flying pegasus creature leading a chariot. Each Keyblade transformation is unlocked by clearing all missions in one of Kingdom Hearts' worlds, and each individual world offers its own unique Keyblade transformation. Nomura said the Pegasus and chariot version, for example, is from the world of Disney's Hercules (which also confirms there is a Hercules world in Kingdom Hearts III).

"The concept of transforming Keyblades was conceived during development on Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix," Nomura explained. "The Lingering Sentiment battle [between Sora and the abandoned Armor of Terra, a hero from Birth by Sleep] featured transforming armor, and the Keyblade itself transforms, and I wanted to recreate that and be able to incorporate that mechanic into Kingdom Hearts III's gameplay. As you train and become a more masterful Keyblade wielder, your style of fighting develops and you are able to transform your Keyblade."

Co-director Tai Yasue added the the game will have a lot of different transformation options, though Square Enix is keeping quiet for now on those not shown in the trailer. It's worth scrutinizing the transformations we've seen thus far; maybe that Keyblade bazooka-lazer is a play on Rocket Raccoon's weapon from Guardians of the Galaxy?

"Our goal is, because you are able to obtain world-specific Keyblades after you beat certain worlds, the transformations of each Keyblade will be related to the world you visit," Yasue explained. "We've made each transformation unique to the world.”

Another thing you can expect from Kingdom Hearts III is giant, Shadow of the Colossus-style boss battles. There will be fights against smaller enemies, but some of KHIII's bosses will be gargantuan, allowing Sora greater freedom of movement and room to experiment with attacks--including the new theme-park-ride summon attacks.

"When creating a Kingdom Hearts game, we start with a gameplay system that I think would be a fun element," Nomura said of designing gameplay, "and once we have an idea of what kind of gameplay or system we want in place, we flesh out the story around it, surrounding the basic concept of what kind of fun we’re going to have with this new instalment."

He added: "The gameplay mechanic is the skeleton, the root of building the game. As an example of how some concepts come about… the game system in Dream Drop Distance where you switch between Sora and Riku and interchange, that concept fell into place first and then I built the story.”

Kingdom Hearts III still doesn't have a release date. For more details, check out our trailer breakdown below.