Aside from the English voice acting, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] is pretty much the same game Japan got in March.
One of the main features in Kingdom Hearts 3D is the drop system, which forces players to switch between Sora and Riku when the meter runs out. It’s a mechanic, Co-Director Tai Yasue said, that adds tension to combat. When I spoke to Yasue, I told him about my experience of having the game "Drop" for the first time when I was in the middle of a boss fight. When I switched back to Riku the boss’ life bar refilled, but Riku’s health wasn’t.
Yasue assured me that won’t happen in the North American version. Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] will restore your HP before a boss battle begins. Basically, if you happen to "Drop" out during a boss fight Sora or Riku and the boss will all start the fight again with full health whenever you switch characters. This was a good move by Square Enix since replaying an entire boss fight after losing life from the same fight before the Drop was unnecessarily frustrating. I’ll just imagine Kingdom Hearts Rubicante healed both groups off screen so they can have a fair fight.
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] comes out on July 31 in North America. We’ll have a longer interview with Yasue on Siliconera after E3.
