All screenshots of Riku and Sora in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance have depicted the two in their original Kingdom Hearts attire, before they grew older in Kingdom Hearts II. This has caused a fair bit of confusion regarding the game, so let’s clear that up via a more complete version of a Famitsu interview conducted earlier this week.
Dream Drop Distance is the latest game in the Kingdom Hearts story chronologically. As reported previously, the game will feature all new Disney worlds. Series creator, Tetsuya Nomura, hints that one of these worlds could be from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Speaking to the issue of Riku and Sora’s look, Nomura says there is a reason the two are dressed the way they are. While he wouldn’t reveal the cause, he acknowledges that this could cause people to perceive Dream Drop Distance as a remake. For this reason, he’s considering having Riku and Sora change clothes partway through the game.
Nomura says that Dream Drop Distance isn’t Kingdom Hearts III. While the numbered games will remain fairly orthodox going forward, the concept of Dream Drop Distance is “bold and daring” action. This is a result of the fact that it isn’t a numbered game. It will also be bolder than Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep was, Nomura says. This is partly reflected in the fact that Dream Drop Distance forces you to change between Riku and Sora.
Nomura elaborated on this a little more. While Riku and Sora will visit the same worlds, they will have different stories. They’ll visit different places within these worlds, and the order in which they visit these places will be different as well. Depending on which one you’re playing as, the bosses that appear, too, will be different. Nomura also says the two characters will rarely find themselves in the same place at the same time.
The swaps between the two will have absolutely nothing to do with the story and will be sudden and unexpected, in order to keep players on their toes. We aren’t entirely certain just how this works yet, as you could probably come up with a lot of different possibilities if you were to think about it.
Riku and Sora will control differently as well, and they’ll each have their own moves. Nomura compares this to the way each one could use his decks in a different manner in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The stylish moves you saw in Sora’s different form changes in Kingdom Hearts II will be incorporated into regular moves in Dream Drop Distance.
Finally, Nomura also mentions that the “Drop” in the title refers to the 3D visuals, in the sense that the 3D effect will focus on depth rather than 3D effects flying out at you from the screen.
