Kingdom Hearts Re:coded on DS Jan. 11

Kingdom Hearts will be one of the many franchises that receives the 3D treatment following the release of Nintendo's 3DS in March. And though the particulars of that release, including a date, remain largely under the radar, Square Enix will be tiding fans of the franchise over with Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. Today, the publisher announced a date for Re:coded, saying the game will be available for the DS in North America on January 11.

An action role-playing game set after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, Re:coded revolves around a second Sora found inside the journal Jiminy Cricket kept of their previous adventures. The game is being developed with the help of h.a.n.d. Inc., the studio behind last year's well-regarded DS entry in the series, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

To the franchise, Re:coded brings a new character growth system. The game also hopes to meld a variety of different genres, ranging from side-scrolling platformer to shooter. The game also features an avatar menu in which gamers can customize their appearances with more than 800 unlockable items.

For more information, check out GameSpot's hands-on with Kingdom Hearts Re:coded from this year's Tokyo Game Show.