Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Strategy Guide Strategy guides and Books

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Strategy Guide Product Details

Released on 27-Jul-2012

• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - Review

  
  

  

  Once Upon A Time

  Dream Drop Distance, the latest Kingdom Hearts game, is everything fans of the Japanese action role-playing series could hope for and a little bit more. The seventh instalment in the franchise sees players taking on the roles of dual protagonists, Sora and Riku, the two most popular characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe, as they prepare to battle foes old and new.

  The story focuses on Sora and Riku's bid to master their Keyblades, mythical weapons that play a crucial role in an ongoing battle between Darkness and Light. Yen Sid, the powerful sorcerer from Disney's Fantasia, puts the young pair through a Mark of Mastery exam they must pass to become Keyblade Masters and counter the impending return of Master Xehanort, the game's main antagonist, who believes that darkness need not be rejected if it can be controlled.

  Those new to the series, which is a collaboration between Disney and Square Enix, can get caught up to speed using Memoirs, a series of optional cutscenes that fill in key points in Kingdom Hearts' rich back-story. The game also includes a handy database that expands as the player advances, with entries providing important bits of information about characters and locations.

  

  A Whole New World

  As in previous series entries, players spend the majority of their time bouncing around different Disney-inspired worlds chatting to various characters from Final Fantasy games. Players will visit locations including The Country of the Musketeers, Tron: Legacy's The Grid, Pinocchio's Prankster's Paradise, the ancient Paris of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and many more beautifully realised Disney locations.

  As part of their trial, Sora and Riku are separated from each other and sent to different areas where they're required to defeat malevolent Dream Eaters, creatures born from darkness which eat dreams and plant nightmares. At the same time, benevolent Dream Eaters can be recruited as computer controlled partners to provide combat support and provide Sora and Riku with new abilities.

  

  Monsters Inc.

  Battles generally revolve around tapping the A button for standard attacks and the X button for special ones, while the Y button can be used to perform new free-flowing moves that use the surrounding environment. If you're in open ground, pressing the Y button will perform a simple dodge roll, but rolling into a wall, a column or an enemy sees you cling to the object or foe in question before giving you the opportunity to choose a follow-up action, be it attacking or evasive.

  Utilising Dream Eaters successfully is the best way to get the upper hand in tough battles, as they can be used to execute link attacks in which both of you team up to deal out major damage. Each Dream Eater has its own link attack, which is generally an over-the-top special move that not only keeps your character out of the firing line but also makes short work of enemies.

  Boasting gorgeous graphics, a fantastic soundtrack, hours of full voice acting and a cool battle system, we think Dream Drop Distance is the best Kingdom Hearts game in years. Colourful, imaginative and above all good fun, it's a dreamy debut for the franchise on 3DS, and the Kingdom Hearts sequel fans of Square Enix, Disney and the series have been eagerly anticipating for years.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Satisfying combat
  • An engaging story
  • Unique worlds to explore

  The Bad:

  • Story can initially be a little overwhelming
  • Lots of reading required to stay on top of events
  • No multiplayer

  Published: 18/07/2012

• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - Review

  
  

  

  Once Upon A Time

  Fair warning: if you like games with a nice simple story that you can follow by paying vague attention to a couple of cutscenes, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance probably isn't the game for you. If, on the other hand, you love the sort of epic tales of destiny and heroism that Squaresoft does so well, and you love games that demand your full attention for hours at a time, then you'll want to dive right into this brilliantly dense manga Disney mash up.

  Wake Up Call

  We start with Sora and Riku, the heroes of the previous games, being told by their mentor, Yen Sid (geddit?) that to save the universe from the evil Xehanort they'll have to pass their Keyblade Master trial. This means visiting an all-new selection of worlds pulled from classic Disney stories and bringing them back to life. These worlds are "asleep", you see, and overrun with vicious critters called Dream Eaters.

  Battles against these enemies use a simple but effective melee combat system of fast and heavy attacks, but don't be deceived - this is a game of often remarkable depth, and it doesn't take long before the game starts to show you how deep it goes.

  

  Flow Riders

  There are multiple gameplay systems in Dream Drop Distance, all overlapping and intertwining. Flow Motion, for example, adds a dash of Parkour-style exploration by allowing you to flip, spin and grind around the levels. But Flow Motion can also be used in combat, turning larger enemies and scenery items into launchpads for even more spectacular and damaging attacks.

  The Drop system, on the other hand, finds you switching between Sora and Riku as they follow two different paths through the game. These switches can be triggered at save points, but will also happen outside of your control whenever your Drop meter runs dry. It's more than a simple character swap, as the pair can use their collected items and "munny" currency to pass on status boosts and other benefits across the void. Travel between worlds, meanwhile, is via a dizzying minigame in which you plunge downwards, collecting stars and beating enemies as you fall.

  Those Dream Eaters are more than they seem too. As well as fighting them, you can also create your own, crafting them from recipes and dream fragments left behind by defeated enemies. These Pokemon-esque sidekicks will then follow you around. Work together with them in a fight and you can trigger unique and powerful Link combos, perfect for when you're backed into a corner.

  And still there's more! Your Dream Eaters are more than just in-game buddies who help you bash the bad guys. They're virtual pets, a surreal spin on Nintendogs. Stroke them, tickle them, play AR games with them using the 3DS camera - everything helps them evolve and grow into more powerful allies, while still remaining rather adorable.

  

  Go Deeper

  It's a lot to take in, and since the game doesn't waste time trying to ease newcomers in, it can all be a bit overwhelming. Info-packed tutorials are crammed in between lengthy and complex story cutscenes, and it's almost as if the game is daring you to battle through and discover what's underneath.

  Thankfully, what's underneath is quite wonderful, an action RPG bursting with charm and personality, with rich gameplay ideas smuggled inside deceptively simple button-mashing combat and exploration. The more you play, the more the wild concepts of Dream Drop Distance begin to make sense, work together and pull you in for the long haul.

  Happily Ever After

  This is a sprawling adventure that really pushes the 3DS hardware to the limit, taking you from the sumptuously realised old world whimsy of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mickey Mouse's Three Musketeers, via the digital perils of Tron Legacy and the assured classicism of Pinnochio and Fantasia. Everything is fully voiced, often by the original Disney actors. As far as polish goes, this sets a high standard for other handheld games to match.

  And as well as the huge smile-inducing amounts of Disney fan service, there's the mind-boggling sight of Sora and Riku's broad Final Fantasy heroism crossing over with characters from cult emo-RPG The World Ends With You. It's a combination that really shouldn't work, a soup filled with conflicting flavours, but Square's sure hand means that, like Heston's bacon and frog ice cream, it somehow makes sense in the mouth.

  Dream Drop Distance is too packed with ideas, sometimes confusingly so, but that's all part of its offbeat genius. If you're willing to put in a little more concentration and effort than many other games demand, you'll discover something wonderfully, insanely unique.

  Our rating: 8.0

  What's Good?

  • Stunning graphics and mesmerising 3D
  • A seemingly endless number of things to do
  • Bizarre and charming fan fiction mash up

  What's Bad?

  • The first few hours are overwhelming
  • Camera can be distracting in close quarters
  • Flow Motion can be tricky to trigger

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