‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ Game Director Tetsuya Nomura Reveals Keyblades Transforms Into Multiple Weapons

The main character of "Kingdom Hearts 3" pictured here with his keyblade, which is getting an upgrade with multiple new weaponry abilities. Tumblr.com

While the delayed release date of "Kingdom Hearts 3" has left fans saddened, new features revealed in a recently released trailer should lift the spirits of loyal "KHIII" gamers. The game features were exposed at the D23 Expo in Japan, where Square Enix released the first real trailer for "Kingdom Hearts 3" and fans were able to get the first definite look at the forthcoming KH installment. The trailer while providing no actually indication of release date did provide fans some information in terms of gameplay and features!

One of the more exciting aspects of "KH3" was the reveal of Sora's new combat capabilities. According to game director Tetsuya Nomura, Sora's keyblade is providing even more mysterious weaponry, than in past installments. In the trailer, Sora's keyblade boasts a minimum of three new abilities; Nomura categorized these new abilities into two distinct categories. The first category is "Keyblade Transformation," at the 30-second mark in the D23 trailer, Sora's Keyblade turns into a pair of guns that he uses to shoot at a surrounding crowd of enemies. Nomura described this "Keyblade Transformation" as varying "depending on the Keyblade" and that "battle style would change."

The second category of keyblade abilities is described by Nomura as "Attraction Flow" which, according to Nomura, is "an evolution of the Free Flow of "Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance"." As reported by Kotaku.com, in Japanese "attraction" refers to theme park rides. And in the trailer, we can see that theme park rides and settings heavily influenced the combat, Sora is seen riding iconic Disney World attractions while simultaneously fighting off enemies. Nomura explained that this "Attraction Flow" could be selected depending on the location or enemy.

But despite the exciting new features found in the trailer for "KH3" Nomura revealed that the game is far from completed. "This is the first gameplay footage of "Kingdom Hearts 3" that we've released, but (the game) is still nowhere near a state that the staff is satisfied with, so we're going to continue to strive improve the quality." The game is scheduled for release on the Xbox One and PS4, but following long delays and Square Enix's resources being funneled towards "Final Fantasy 14" it could be a long wait of at least 2 years before "KH3" is ready to be played.