Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is a 2012 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. The seventh installment in Disney's Kingdom Hearts series, it was released in Japan on March 29, 2012, Europe on July 20, 2012, Australasia on July 26, 2012, and in North America on July 31, 2012.
The game takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and focuses on Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam, in which they have to protect parallel worlds in preparation for the return of Master Xehanort. Besides controlling the two playable characters across a single scenario, the player is able to recruit creatures known as Dream Eaters to assist them in fights.
The Square Enix staff decided to develop Dream Drop Distance after being impressed by the quality of the Nintendo 3DS. Taking advantage of the console's functions, they increased the action elements from the series based on the system previously seen in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Additionally, both the gameplay and the plot are meant to give a glimpse of what the following title in the series, Kingdom Hearts III, would be like. The game has been well received in Japan and in the US, selling over 250,000, and 180,000 units on its debuts respectively. Critics generally praised the gameplay, and graphics, while criticizing aspects of the plot.
A high-definition remaster of the game entitled Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD was released as part of the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue compilation for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch.
Gameplay
The game, which largely follows the action RPG and hack and slash gameplay of previous games in the series, sees players alternate between the roles of Sora and Riku, which is done via the 'Drop' system. During gameplay, a Drop Gauge gradually depletes over time, though it can be replenished with items. When the gauge completely empties, control will switch to the other character, though players may also opt to drop manually at any time. Drop Points, which are earned by defeating enemies and completing optional objectives, can be spent on bonuses that can be used until the next time the character drops, such as a slower Drop Gauge or increased attack or defense. The game reuses the Command Deck system from Birth by Sleep, in which players can customize a deck filled with various actions, spells, and items that can be quickly selected. There are also several new elements added to the gameplay. Flowmotion allows players to move quickly about by performing actions such as bouncing off walls, grinding on rails, and spinning around poles. Reality Shift is a system the player can use on certain objects or weakened opponents. It involves a touch-screen activated minigame unique to each world, which includes dragging the screen to fling a target like a catapult, touching hidden words to take control of enemies, and playing a rhythm-based minigame to cause fireworks to appear.
One of the key elements of Dream Drop Distance is the inclusion of the Dream Eaters. Whilst they generally serve as the main enemies of the game, up to three good Dream Eaters, known as Spirits, can be recruited per character to assist them in battle. Spirits can be created by combining Dream Fragments with an item or spell, either via experimenting with combinations or using recipes found throughout the game. Characters can also link with Spirits to perform unique attacks. Along the way, the player can care for Spirits by petting them, feeding them items, or playing mini-games with them, which can unlock new abilities.
The game takes place across multiple worlds based on Pinocchio, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tron: Legacy, Fantasia, and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, with each world having two different plots told from the perspectives of Sora and Riku. These worlds need to be completed by both Sora and Riku to unlock new worlds and progress through the game. Upon visiting each world for the first time, each character must go through a Dive section, in which characters freefall down a tube and must clear a certain objective, such as obtaining a certain number of points, defeating a certain number of enemies in a time limit, or defeating a boss character. In this mode, Sora and Riku can attack opponents, slow down their descent, or dodge attacks. They can also pick up magic spells which give them a limited supply of magical attacks to use against enemies.
Outside of the main game, players can play an additional mode called Flick Rush, which can be played alone or with another player via wireless multiplayer. In this mode, players battle with a team of three Spirits and pit them against each other. Players fight against their opponent by flicking up cards from the touchscreen. Each card has a number value determining its attack strength, with multiple cards combining to increase the overall value. The player whose attack value is greater than their opponent's gets to attack with their Spirit. A slowly replenishing meter determines how many cards the player can send out at a time, and each Spirit has a limited number of cards that can be replenished by swapping them out with another Spirit. The first player to eliminate all of their opponent's Spirits wins the game.
Plot
Setting Dream Drop Distance follows the events of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Coded, though much of its plot is set concurrently to the original game via time travel. There are a total of seven playable worlds, most of which are based on various Disney properties, albeit in a "world submerged in sleep" due to being destroyed by the Heartless. Most of the Disney worlds introduced are entirely new, including worlds based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tron: Legacy, Pinocchio, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, and Fantasia. The other two worlds, Traverse Town and the World That Never Was, are original to the series and have been featured in previous games. In addition, the game's opening tutorial is set on the Destiny Islands, another original world.
Characters
The game features Sora and Riku as the two main characters, taking part in a test to improve their skills with their weapon, the Keyblade. For most of the game, the two are depicted as they appear in the original game, while also being given new clothes. Their older selves from Kingdom Hearts II appear during cutscenes, while Sora is briefly playable in this incarnation during the end credits. A younger incarnation of Xehanort, first introduced as the optional "Mysterious Figure" boss from the North American and European releases of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, serves as the game's primary antagonist with his two revived alter egos: his Heartless, Ansem, and his Nobody, Xemnas. Several former members of Xemnas' Organization XIII, including Lea and Ansem the Wise's apprentices Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo, return after being restored to their human forms.
Like previous games, Dream Drop Distance features various Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, who is seen in the game in three different incarnations: his original characterization in the Kingdom Hearts series as the king of Disney Castle; a musketeer as featured in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers; and the young apprentice of Yen Sid shown in Fantasia. Donald Duck and Goofy make similar appearances as well. Characters hailing from their respective worlds play a small role in the main story, while Maleficent and Pete reprise their roles as antagonists, and Yen Sid as a supporting character. Unlike other major installments, which feature an extensive cast of Final Fantasy characters, only a Moogle appears. Dream Drop Distance features appearances of Neku Sakuraba, Joshua, Beat, Rhyme, and Shiki from the Square Enix title The World Ends with You, marking the first time that characters other than those from Disney and Final Fantasy have appeared in the series.
The game introduces a new type of creature called Dream Eaters, which come in two varieties—"Nightmares", which eat good dreams and create nightmares, and serve as enemies similar to the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed from previous games; and "Spirits", which eat nightmares and create good dreams, and also act as Sora and Riku's party members.
Story Anticipating Master Xehanort's return, Yen Sid puts Sora and Riku through a Mark of Mastery exam to bestow them with the power necessary to rescue their missing allies and counter Xehanort. For the exam, they are sent to worlds that remain trapped in a "sleeping" state after being destroyed by the Heartless. There, they must unlock seven keyholes to fully restore them, and are advised to create benevolent "Spirit" Dream Eaters to guide them and battle the malevolent "Nightmare" Dream Eaters that infest the sleeping worlds. Yen Sid sends Sora and Riku back in time to their homeworld's destruction, allowing them to enter the sleeping worlds. The two are separated at the start of the test, each arriving in alternate versions of the worlds. Throughout the exam, Sora and Riku encounter a gray-haired youth who is accompanied by Xemnas and Ansem, respectively, despite them having been previously destroyed.
Upon completing the exam, Sora and Riku arrive in the World That Never Was instead of the realm of light. The youth reveals he and his associates have lured Sora into a trap and places him into a deep sleep, where his heart is consumed by darkness, but is encased within Ventus's armor for protection. Meanwhile, Riku learns he has spent the exam traveling through Sora's dreams as a Dream Eater. He escapes the dream and is confronted by the youth, who reveals himself to be Xehanort's past self, tasked by his present self with assembling thirteen incarnations of Xehanort from across time – including vessels of his fragmented heart – to form a new Organization XIII. Young Xehanort battles Riku to stall out time until his future self's revival. Despite Young Xehanort's defeat, a revived Master Xehanort appears and attempts to turn Sora into his final vessel, intending to pit his thirteen "seekers of darkness" against seven "guardians of light" to achieve his ultimate goal of recreating the χ-blade. He is foiled when Sora is rescued by Donald, Goofy, and Lea, the revived human form of Axel. Xehanort and his incarnations return to their original time periods, but assure that both factions will inevitably clash.
Upon returning to Yen Sid's tower, Riku re-enters Sora's dreams and releases his heart from Ventus's Nightmare-possessed armor. Riku then arrives in a simulation of Destiny Islands and meets a virtual copy of Ansem the Wise, who gives him research data he had left in Sora's heart to help Sora save those connected to it. After Riku returns to the realm of light and reunites with Sora, Yen Sid commends him for braving the realm of sleep a second time to reawaken Sora and declares him a Keyblade Master; Lea also reveals himself to have become a Keyblade wielder, and intends to become a Master as well. Sora is undaunted by his failure and returns to the sleeping worlds, where he thanks his Dream Eater companions.
In the game's secret ending, Yen Sid and Mickey discuss Xehanort's plan. Yen Sid reveals his intent to gather seven Keyblade wielders to prevent Xehanort from using the Princesses of Heart to forge the χ-blade, and to this end, he has Riku summon Kairi to be trained as a Keyblade wielder.
Development