Launch Station: Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Square Enix has done their best to draw out the Kingdom Hearts series as much as humanly possible before they have inevitably end the series with Kingdom Hearts 3.  For close to six years now, Square Enix has been releasing side story after side story trying to flesh out the entire mythos surrounding Kingdom Hearts that fans have gotten quite anxious for the next numbered entry in the series.  To tide fans over just a little bit longer, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, exclusively for the 3DS, serves as the official prequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 as the ending of Dream Drop Distance is said to lead right into third core Kingdom Hearts game.

In preparation for the return of Xehanort, King Mickey and Yen Sid decide to put Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam.  As part of the Mark of Mastery exam, Sora and Riku are sent into the Sleeping Worlds.  Sora and Riku's task is to reawaken these Sleeping Worlds by unlocking each world's keyhole and eliminating the new Dream Eater threat that stands in their way.  If Sora and Riku are successful in completing this task, they will be deemed full-fledged Keyblade Masters.  In Dream Drop Distance, there are two playable characters, Sora and Riku.  You never control both characters at the same time, but you will rotate between each character on the fly thanks to the Drop Gauge.  The Drop Gauge, which gradually depletes over time, controls when you switch between the two playable characters.  Once the gauge empties, you will switch control from Sora to Riku or vice versa.  You can add more time to the gauge by fighting Dream Eaters and you can also switch characters at any save point in the game.   The Command Deck battle system that was first introduced in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP returns in Dream Drop Distance with a couple additions.  Dream Drop Distance adds a new Flowmotion mechanic.  Flowmotion allows the player to interact with their surroundings in new ways to help traversal of the environment and set up new combos in battle.  Along their adventures, Sora and Riku are able to capture Dream Eaters, which can be used to help out in battle and provide different abilities for each character.  In past Kingdom Hearts games the Gummi Ship was used to travel between each world, not in Dream Drop Distance.  Dream Drop Distance makes use of a new mini-game called Dive Mode, which has player's literally diving down a long tunnel, collecting stars and defeating enemies before you reach the world's gate.  Also Dream Drop Distance is compatible with the Circle Pad Pro, which will make it much easier to control the game's camera, and has Augmented Reality functionality, which will allow players to play with the Dream Eaters they obtain in the real world.

No matter what I say, all Kingdom Hearts fans that own a 3DS will pick up Dream Drop Distance.  I do applaud Square Enix for their incredible support for the 3DS this past month.  It seemed like they were the only publisher other than Sega that wanted to keep us 3DS gamers satisfied this July and I along with many other gamers are grateful for that.  Speaking of Dream Drop Distance, I personally think it will be a really good game for the 3DS.  From my time with the demo, I do believe that to get the best experience with the game is to play it with the Circle Pad Pro because without the camera seems to be a quite erratic.  Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance should be a solid portable RPG to keep gamers satisfied for the coming months.