Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind

 KINGDOM HEARTS III RE MIND

 TRANSCRIPT

Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind

Kana

キングダム ハーツ III Re Mind

Rōmaji

Kingudamu Hātsu III Re Mind

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Release

January 23, 2020

PlayStation 4

January 23, 2020

/ January 23, 2020

January 23, 2020

January 23, 2020

Xbox One

February 25, 2020

/ February 25, 2020

February 25, 2020

February 25, 2020

Rating(s)

ESRB:

Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind is an additional package of downloadable content for Kingdom Hearts III. It consists of three different episodes that take place during and after the final chapters of Kingdom Hearts III, and focses on Sora as he traces the hearts of the seven guardians of light in order to save Kairi, as well as his friends' efforts to rescue him afterwards.

Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind was first teased at the premiere of the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- in Tokyo, Japan, on April 27, 2019. It was officially announced at the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- performance in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2019. Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind released worldwide on January 23, 2020 for the PlayStation 4 and will release worldwide on February 25, 2020 for Xbox One.

Story

Re Mind

While watching Maleficent and Pete as they search for the Black Box, Xigbar is suddenly confronted by Luxord. Luxord begins asking Xigbar about the nature of the black box they're looking for, and questions Xigbar's motives for ordering him to find it. He suggests that Xigbar only seeks the box to hide his own connection to it from everyone else. However, Xigbar does not respond to Luxord's insinuations, and Luxord leaves, saying he's content with feigning ignorance.

Having defeated Master Xehanort, Sora and the others gather in the Keyblade Graveyard. While King Mickey declares victory, Sora refuses. Despite Riku's suggestion that they return to Master Yen Sid to figure it out, Sora decides to use the power of waking to bring her back, and sets out to search for Kairi himself.

Sometime before his Mark of Mastery, Xehanort meets with an unknown being in a black hood. The mysterious figure asks him about his tour of the worlds, and Xehanort reveals he sees people who only pretend to live peaceful lives while their hearts are full of darkness. He concludes that, rather than allow people to be until their darkness consumes them, he would seek out and control darkness, and use it to bring about order to the World. The mysterious being encourages him to use his power to improve the world and, after revealing his name, leaves him with the words "May your heart be your guiding key."

Seventy-five years later, as he prepares to bring about the Keyblade War, Xehanort reminisces his past encounter with the mysterious figure. He then reviews with Saïx and Xigbar their current plan, and Xigbar notes they lack two seekers of darkness. Xehanort reveals that they would be using Terra's body, recovered upon Xemnas and Ansem's defeat without Terra's heart, recreating Xehanort when he had possessed Terra years before. Saïx, meanwhile, introduces their plan for their thirteenth, one of Vexen's prototypes from the Replica Program that had close ties to Sora and his memories. As Xigbar and Saïx leave, Xehanort recalls the words the mysterious hooded figure had spoken to him, "May your heart be your guiding key."

Following the defeat of Master Xehanort, Sora returns to The Final World, planning on using the power of waking to rescue Kairi. There, he finds Chirithy, who reveals that Sora's use of the power of waking to rescue the guardians after their first defeat actually constituted a forbidden act that altered the course of history, and warns him that if he tries to use it to rescue Kairi, he will lose his power, fade form the world, and will not be able to return to the world he came from. Sora, however, decides he will rescue Kairi no matter the cost. He returns to the Keyblade Graveyard in the past, just before the point in time when he altered the course of events, reduced to just a heart now, and traces his way through the guardians of light in an effort to reach Kairi before his past self defeats Xehanort. As he does so, first to Ventus and then to Aqua, he experiences their pain and fears.

As Sora passes through the tear in time he created by rescuing his friends, he finds Terra's Lingering Will facing Terra-Xehanort, just as Naminé promised. However, he realizes that Terra is in trouble, and so he intervenes in their battle. Despite being defeated, however, Terra-Xehanort fights and destroys the Lingering Will before capturing Sora, the Dark Figure clutching him until he passes out.

Sora re-awakens just as his past self joins Aqua and Ventus to fight Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas. After Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas are defeated and Terra regains his heart, Sora helps Roxas and Xion regain their hearts as his past self, Kairi, and Lea face Saïx and Xemnas. Sora then traces Roxas's heart to help them reclaim from Xemnas the mark that was the foundation of their bond, the Recusant's Sigil. Sora finally joins Riku ans King Mickey as they face Master Xehanort, Xemnas, Ansem, and Young Xehanort. However, having followed only five hearts, Sora realizes he still needs to follow two more to get to Kairi. After Master Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts, Sora decides to travel through Master Xehanort's portal to search for Kairi within, and arrives in Scala ad Caelum. He quickly tries to recover Kairi's heart, and finds five fragments of Kairi's heart before running into Master Xehanort. Xehanort reveals it is he who has hidden the fragments of Kairi's heart, and that there are two more. However, he also reveals to Sora that he is out of time, as his past self arrives in Scala ad Caelum to face Xehanort.

As the final battle begins, Sora finds his way back out of the portal to Riku and joins the guardians in fighting the Replica Xehanorts, who escape from Xehanort's portal as Kingdom Hearts completely darkens. However, the Replica Xehanorts manage to trap the guardians of light within a series of keyholes, and Sora's heart escapes to King Mickey's just as Riku is trapped. King Mickey is then able to defeat the Replica Xehanorts, while Sora recovers the last fragment of light he needed to rescue Kairi. Sora then dives into the keyhole to help the guardians of light, who use their Keyblades' light to unite the fragments of Kairi's heart together, bringing her back into the world.

As Sora and Kairi embrace, the darkness of the Xehanort Replicas comes together to form one last Xehanort Replica, which Sora and Kairi work together to defeat. After defeating the Xehanort Replica, they use their Keyblades to rescue the guardians of light. Together again, all the guardians of light use their Keyblades to destroy the Xehanort Replica. Kairi and Sora then disappear just as Sora's past self defeats Xehanort within Scala ad Caelum.

Sora and Kairi arrive in The Final World, where Sora notices he's beginning to fade. Sora calls for Chirithy, and tells Chirithy to join them in returning to the real world. Sora, Kairi, and Chirithy return to the real world, watching the fireworks high above Disney Castle before reuniting Chirithy with Ventus in the Land of Departure. Sora and Kairi then eat ice cream high above the station clock tower in Twilight Town before journeying to Radiant Garden to release Naminé's heart within Kairi's, allowing her to return to existence before returning to Destiny Islands. As they watch the sunset, Sora disappears.

Limit Cut

Terra and Riku meet in the Land of Departure, where Terra reveals that he has nothing left to teach Riku because he has already found the strength to protect those he cares about and is a Keyblade Master. Riku then watches as Terra, Aqua, and Ventus don their Keyblade armor and journey to the realm of darkness.

One year after Sora disappears, Riku, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith discuss their lack of progress in finding Sora. Riku explains that King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have been searching every world Sora had previously visited. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus have been in the realm of darkness searching for Sora, and the Twilight Town gang has been searching Roxas and Xion's memories for clues. As for Kairi, Riku explains she's been asleep for a year while Ansem the Wise and Vexen search her heart, as she believes it may have a clue. Cid has been working the data he, the team in Twilight Town, and the group at the Radiant Garden castle have, and recreates Sora in data form with his abilities, as well as those of the Real Organization XIII. Believing the Organization's data may have a clue, Cid attempts to use Sora's data to gain access to it.

In the end, the data does not appear to have a clue, with the computer saying that Sora's data is not updated before shutting off. Just then, Fairy Godmother appears, searching for Riku on orders from Master Yen Sid and Merlin. She asks Riku about his dreams, and he begins to describe one where he searches for Sora in a dark place and feels someone watching him from above. Fairy Godmother explains that because Riku had been in Sora's dreams before, Master Yen Sid had thought that perhaps Riku's dreams might have a clue that lead to Sora.

Kairi, meanwhile, continues to sleep.

Secret

Sora awakens in an unknown world of endless stars. After calling out for anyone, he's confronted by a stranger he identifies as Yozora, which confuses him. Yozora, on the other hand, is also confused of how Sora knows him, and asks him his name. Upon Sora revealing it, Yozora explains that he's heard of him, but also asks him why he's using Sora's name. Sora reaffirms his own identity, and Yozora then challenges him, explaining that he accidentally wandered into the world and was told to save Sora after going through trials before attacking him.

The following is not considered canon to the main story of the Kingdom Hearts series.

After Yozora defeats Sora, Sora stumbles to the ground in confusion, as Yozora explains that he doesn't lose. Sora then begins to crystalize; once he fully crystalizes, Yozora states that he will save him. A bright light shines suddenly, and Yozora finds himself in The Final World.

Yozora awakens in a car and looks around. Sora and Yozra both wonder to themselves if any of it is real or not, before Yozora states that none of it makes sense to him.

After Sora defeats Yozora, Yozora wonders if his powers aren't needed yet as he begins to fade away. A bright light shines suddenly, and Sora finds himself in The Final World.

Yozora awakens in a car to the sound of someone calling him "Commander", and looks outside as he rides through a city. Sora and Yozora both wonder to themselves if any of it is real or not, before Sora states that none of it makes sense to him.

Changes

• Slideshow was added, allows placing objects and characters in settings to create custom photos.
• Data Greeting was added, allows creating custom slideshows using screenshots, music, and effects.
• Premium Menu was added, allows changing difficulty settings for additional challenges.
• Due to the passing of Rutger Hauer in July, his voice has been replaced with Christopher Lloyd's in all the scenes in Re Mind, including scenes from the main story.

Story

• Re Mind episode was added
• Limit Cut episode was added
• Secret episode was added

Enemies

• Thirteen boss battles based on the Real Organization XIII were added in the Limit Cut episode
• Yozora was added as a secret boss battle in the Secret episode

Development and Release

Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind was first hinted at in an interview featured in the Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania. Details about the package were first revealed at the premiereof the 2019 Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- in Tokyo, Japan. There, series director Tetsuya Nomura first mentioned Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind, the first of three upcoming scenarios, along with the "Limit cut" and "Secret" episodes, but it was not mentioned outside the performance. The DLC was officially announced on June 8, 2019, at the conclusion of the Los Angeles, California, Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- performance, and was announced to release that winter. The announcement trailer revealed that the scenario would feature Riku, Roxas, and Aqua as playable characters in battles that appear similar, but not identical to the final battles in Kingdom Hearts III. In an interview with Famitsu later that month, Nomura explained that the trailer featured content from the Re Mind scenario, except for the Oathkeeper Keyblade, which would arrive in a free update for the game. He also reveals that the Limit Cut scenario would have the same number of bosses as Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.

A new trailer was revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2019 on September 9, 2019. The trailer revealed more gameplay from the final battles and additional story snippets, including a conversation between the Master of Masters and Young Xehanort. Square Enix shortly afterwards revealed the ability to switch characters in the game.

On December 6, 2019, a new trailer was accidentally leaked to the official Kingdom Hearts YouTube channel. The new trailer features all the guardians of light as playable, including Kairi. It also revealed that the DLC would be released on PlayStation 4 on January 23, 2020, with a release on Xbox One on February 25. The trailer was soon thereafter hidden, and officially revealed during PlayStation's December 2019 State of Play livestream on December 10, 2019.

The downloadable content will feature the additional story "Re Mind", the Limit Cut episode with thirteen boss battles, the secret episode and boss battle, a data greeting feature, slideshow feature, and premium menu with diverse difficulty settings and gameplay challenges. Another package also adds a concert video with 19 tracks from the November 26 Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- performance in Osaka, Japan.