KH HD 1.5 Remix in Famitsu Weekly (12/27)

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix scans have appeared in the December 27th edition of Famitsu Weekly. The seven page spread has a look into several worlds, HD version renders of several Final Fantasy cameos and other characters. You can check out the images below:

The lovely goldpanner has translated the entire article, you can read it below:

The scoop on upcoming release: KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX

★10th Anniversary Scoop!
This work is composed of three titles from the series remastered in HD. The price, three titles for 6980 yen (tax included), is also quite appealing.

Goofy: Captain of the royal knights, very thoughtful of his friends.
Sora: Our cheerful and honest protagonist.
Donald Duck: Royal Magician, leave magic to him.
Jiminy: Chronicles the journey.

IN BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS…

The story of KH Final Mix:
Destiny Islands, a gentle world bathed in warm sunlight. Sora, Kairi and Riku lived there, and the three of them formed a plan to leave on an adventurous journey to outside worlds. However, the day before they were to depart, Destiny Islands were swallowed by the darkness, and the three were separated. At the same time, Donald and Goofy, who lived at Disney Castle, received an order to “stay with the one who has the ‘key’,” left by their missing King, and they set out on a journey to find the one who bore the ‘key’–the Keyblade. Sora, thrown out into an outside world, met Donald and Goofy there. Sora, who came to have the Keyblade when Destiny Islands were swallowed by the darkness, along with Donald and Goofy set out on an adventure.
*Screencaps are from a work in progress

Maleficent: Queen who controls the darkness.
Riku: Sora’s best friend and yet rival.
Kairi: Childhood friend of Sora and Riku.

Console: PS3
Developer: Square Enix
Expected release: 14th March 2013
Price: 6980 yen (tax included)
Genre: Fantasy, Action RPG, Single Player
Credits: Directed by Tetsuya Nomura, Co-directed by Tai Yasue, Produced by Rie Nishi

★Titles included in KH -HD 1.5 ReMIX-
~Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Used the North American version of the first title of the series as a base to add new components.
~Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
A title that depicts the events that occured directly after the first title and connects to KHII.
~Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Included as a volume of videos. The other protagonist, Roxas, plays an active role.

With over 18,000,000 units shipped worldwide, the Kingdom Hearts (here-on KH) series is very popular. The latest installment is a HD remaster of the early stretch of the story. Of the three titles included in this work, we will now introduce KH Final Mix, which details the very first adventure of protagonist Sora. We will also reveal changes from the original.

…THE FIRST ADVENTURE TOLD

★Updating the Original KH Final Mix
+On top of being made HD, some character models and textures have been updated
+The English voicing has been changed to Japanese voicing
+With trophy support there is more to do after clearing the game
+PS3 custom theme made available after clearing the game
+Addition of abilities ‘EXP Zero’, in which you cannot earn EXP, and ‘Combo Master’, in which combos continue even if an attack misses
+Camera controls have been changed to the right stick. R3 button to swing the camera behind to default position
+’Talk’ and some special abilities etc. now executed with only the △ button
+’Summon’, which used to be included in ‘Magic’, has been added separately to the command menu

WORLDS OF ADVENTURE

After his home is swallowed by the darkness, Sora sets off on a journey to the ‘outside worlds’ to search for his missing friends Riku and Kairi and drive back enemies known as ‘Heartless’, and as he does so, he travels through many Disney worlds. Now we will introduce each world and present screenshots showcasing how beautiful they look remastered in HD!

TRAVERSE TOWN (KH original world)
Leon: Mediates everyone.
Aerith: A mysterious girl.
This is the first world Sora ends up on. Living here are Final Fantasy characters such as Leon (Squall from FFVIII).

WONDERLAND (from Alice in Wonderland)
A world loaded with strange interactive tricks!
Queen of Hearts: An arrogant ruler.
Alice: A girl with a strong sense of curiosity.
Alice is put on trial for the crime of trying to steal the heart of the Queen of Hearts. In order to save her, evidence must be collected in this strange world.

OLYMPUS COLISEUM (from Hercules)
Hades is making Cloud his attack dog… what is he calculating…?
Sephiroth: Swoops on one wing.
Cloud: A soldier pursuing his sworn enemy.
Hercules: A hero among heroes.
Hades: God of the land of the dead.
Sora enters a tournament, sights set on becoming a hero. However, in the background is Hades and his schemes… Visit again after for the chance to battle secret boss Sephiroth!

★Invigorating battles and Sora’s companions
Simple controls and exhilarating flashy battle are staples of the KH series. A Disney character from each world will join you in battle alongside Donald or Goofy. You can also call friends through any Summon Magic that you gain. Your companions have various abilities, such as wide-range attacks and healing. There are RPG-esque elements such as a level-up growth system and ability customisation, so people who don’t feel confident about their action skills can rest at ease!

MONSTRO (from Pinocchio)
Pinocchio: A puppet with a heart.
Geppetto: Pinnochio’s guardian.
Adventure through the insides of a giant whale, Monstro, who swallows you. While searching for the missing Pinocchio, you come across Riku, but…

ATLANTICA (from The Little Mermaid)
Defeat the giant Ursula!
Ariel: A mermaid who longs for the outside world.
Ursula: A sea witch who is scheming for revenge.
In this world, Sora and his friends take the shape of sea creatures like dolphins, and swim around freely under the sea. Perfect the art of swimming and challenge Ursula.

★Development Staff comments have arrived!
~Character art director Gen Kobayashi (Menu, additional graphics supervisor):
In order to match the HD remastering, a great deal of the base material had to be made high resolution as well as remade entirely. The KH menu screens were originally created in high graphics but we made them even nicer. We widened the screen to 16:9, and we even gave the controls a pleasant do-over, so I am sure that even those who played the PS2 game will be able to enjoy the fresh feeling of this title. We’ve also prepared custom themes and many trophies, so please try and collect them all.
~Character division team leader Tohru Yamazaki (texture work, in charge of adjusting some of the models):
When we first inspected screens from KH, everyone said admiring things like ‘but it’s so pretty right now’. It was the result of the developers back then layering trial and error onto their ways of creating textures. With this title, I started work with the aim to bring things up to basically post-KH2 quality, which meant things with drastically increased resolution and for other parts changing the creation style to fit textures created after KH2. I took great care to make sure people who had been playing the most recent titles in the series would feel the least sense of incongruence possible.
~Producer Sumio Nasu (general programming, handling PS2 to PS3 data conversion):
Because it was a ten year old program, nobody remembered how to use it… We finally worked out how to get moving after a lot of trial and error. I want to make use of the knowledge I gained from this project to bring the next remastered title to life. I want you to feel satisfied by the story on large screen, the image capacity, and the volume that is unbelievable for a ten year old title. In this title the controls feel closer to KHII, and you can also skip cutscenes. Even if this is your first experience with the series, I’m sure you will be able to enjoy the controls without anything feeling off.

HALLOWEEN TOWN (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Pay attention to the colourful attacks of Boogie, who moves according to dice rolls!
Jack: The Pumpkin King.
Boogie: Wants to control the town.
Sora and the others have special forms here too. Confront Boogie, who stole something important from Jack, but with all the trickery, it seems a tough battle is unavoidable!?

★Also packed with minigames!
A shooting game when moving between worlds, customising the ‘Gummi Ship’ you drive during that, searching for treasure with the ‘trinity’ abilities that Sora and his two friends can pull off: this game is rich in a variety of minigames. You’ll find yourself unintentionally absorbed in the game as you aim for the reward, no mistake.

NEVERLAND (from Peter Pan)
Peter Pan: Eternally a boy.
Captain Hook: Boss of the pirates.
Work alongside Peter Pan to search Captain Hook’s pirate ship. In this world, you can fly the skies just like Peter. Enjoy the exhilaration of swimming through the air.

100 ACRE WOODS (from Winnie the Pooh)
The kerfuffles of Pooh and his friends.
Pooh: A bear who loves honey.
100 Acre Woods is picture book world. Collect the torn pages scattered through other worlds and clear mini-games to repair the damaged parts.

THERE ARE MORE WORLDS!
Minnie Mouse: A wise queen.
Chip and Dale: If it’s mechanical, leave it to them.
There are many other worlds that we haven’t showcased today. The works of Disney and the original story weave together as a grand tale expands. As this is Sora’s original journey, we recommend that those who have never played the series begin playing from this title.

Thanks to hokanko-alt, and translations by Zephy of KH Insider, we now know that the approximate run time of the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days cutscenes is about 2 hours and 50 minutes! The music of Days have also been replaced with live instruments with arrangements by none other than Yoko Shimomura!