Square Enix have announced they’ll be bringing Kingdom Hearts Re:coded to Australia & New Zealand on the 14th of January. This lines us up with the US & UK releases, although Japan has had something of a head start.
Re:coded is the Western version of the Japanese game “coded”, a new story taking place shortly after the events of Kingdom Hearts 2. It will feature the same style of real-time action, combining the world of JRPGs with that of Disney, as well as “side-scrolling boss battles, 3D shooting and even Command Battles – as seen in the legendary Final Fantasy series.”
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded will only be available on the DS.
how many god damm side stories are there?
I mean there are 6 games in the franchise and only two of them are main games? That's just stupid.
Birth by Sleep is counted as a main title on the lines of both KH1 and KH2, both by SquareSoft and the more hardcore fans. Isn't a surprise really, seeing as they started early development on it during the development of KH2. It certainly is an extremely solid title, and the Command system is possibly the best and most addictive combat system I've seen in ANY Kingdom Hearts title. Hell, they even made the idea of character summons useful by turning it into the D-Link system. I'd definitely suggest picking it up if you haven't already, as I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Re:coded, on the other hand, is a slightly updated port of a Japanese-exclusive mobile phone game, and is only there to fill in some backstory and continue to set up KH3. Just keep in mind that if you do plan to purchase it, you're essentially paying for a slightly graphically updated mobile phone game at a DS game price, with an additional chapter added to 'make it worthwhile'.
Ugh. As a former fanatic of the series, it astounds me how much they're tying the mythology in knots and pushing the Disney properties - the one thing that set it apart and made it sell so well - into the background. Still, I cling to the hope that they'll bring Kingdom Hearts III to the PS3 and seize the opportunity to let some fresh air in.
They actually did the right thing with BBS. Most of the worlds you visit are expressly Disney, and some are very old-school Disney in that regard. On top of that, BBS does a decent job at cleaning up the KH-side of the mythology while clarifying points that were up in the air or unexplained.
I'm inclined to agree with Minic. The series still has some really good stories to it. In the main series. BBS was pretty darned good, but Days was pretty average. Frankly, I have to wonder why the blazes this story is necessary in the first place, as the Final Mix games (Japan only, surprise) filled in Sora's memories. Nomura seems adamant on milking the series as long as possible(if I recall, there's still a 3D game and an unannounced game) when most people would rather see the series reach a PS3 conclusion.
It just annoys me, is all, especially since the series is leaning further and further to the Disney side, with much less of the Final Fantasy seriousness and awesomeness that most of them seem to be lacking (I still have nightmares from my encounters with Disney town). I'd much rather have a conclusion to the series already, if only to tie up all of the plot-holes and give us some answers without requiring us to spend lots of dollars on learning answers to incredibly complicated questions that should never have required asking in the first place.
I agree, they are milking the series to the max! I haven't played BBS yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. Hurry up and get on with KHIII!!
Just happy that the release is on my birthday. :P
That last DS outing bored my pants off, and not in the good way that Aria Giovanni bores my pants off...
Oh, this is great news. I was wondering if it was going to get an Aussie release.
I like the Kingdom Hearts series, and as far as I've played there has only been one 'bad' side story (Days), and this one looks a whole lotta more interesting than Days, so I don't see what people are complaining about.
I've played all the KH games except for the final mixes and they are all awesome. Who cares about side stories or main games? As long as it's a game and you have fun with it.