very first trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3. And that means it's time to kickstart the mobile

Analysis Machine to see what kind of details we can find in this far too brief trailer.

So the trailer kicks off with scenes from all of the Kingdom Hearts games in order to

drive home that Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the culmination and conclusion of the Xehanort

saga. It also provides just the slightest of hints as to what Sora's quest will be in

this game. The quote that overlaps this footage is actually from the secret ending of Birth

By Sleep and shows Sora's dedication to finally rescuing the protagonists from the PSP game.

But there are still many mysteries as to how this story will unfold though there are several

clues to spot in the trailer. The biggest of which is when Sora finds a Keyblade on

the shore of the Destiny Islands. That Keyblade is actually the Master Keeper which originally

belonged to Master Eraqus in Birth By Sleep. It was eventually passed on to Aqua who used

it to transform the destroyed Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion in order to protect a

comatose Ventus. The question is; how did it end up with Sora?

The last the Master Keeper was seen it was with Aqua in the world of darkness. So how

did it arrive in the Destiny Islands? And why did it choose Sora? It's worth noting

that the Master Keeper has only been used by Keyblade Masters. Since Sora failed his

Mark of Mastery exam in Dream Drop Distance, shouldn't this Keyblade appear before Riku?

It's just another mystery that we're not sure of the answer to. Just like we're not why

Sora has returned to Destiny Islands when Riku and Kairi were all last seen at Yen Sid's

Tower in the ending of Dream Drop Distance. Perhaps he returned there after his visit

with the Spirit Dream Eaters that helped him throughout his last journey. And the only

other location shown in the trailer is Twilight Town. Both of these Worlds have proven to

be quite important to the lore of Kingdom Hearts but we're just not sure what more they

could offer. In terms of the timeline, Kingdom Hearts 3

looks like it takes place soon after the end of Dream Drop Distance since Sora's still

wearing his outfit from Kingdom Hearts 2. Sora's classic outfit also appears in the

trailer though we think that's only to show how closely the new graphics match the cutscenes

of past games. However, there's a slight cel-shading effect

added to the graphics engine which is likely designed to keep Sora from looking too realistic.

The series has always tried to emulate the animation style of the Disney movies and the

cel-shading would allow Sora and the rest of the main characters to fit in.

The trailer also provided a small glimpse of the possible gameplay in Kingdom Hearts.

The Command Menu HUD shows three options: Attack, Magic, and Items, with a question

mark filling in the remaining slot. This immediately tells us that the battle options will be much

more reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts 2 rather than the Command Decks featured in Birth by

Sleep and Dream Drop Distance. This is further supported by the left-pointing

arrow next to the Attack command as well as the tab featured above. If the battle system

is indeed based off Kingdom Hearts 2 then that means those other options could be Summon,

Party, and Limit. And that could mean that the magic system of Kingdom Hearts 2 returns

as well. In that game, each spell expends the entire meter and recharges based on the

spell used. But what about that mystery option below the

Item command? It could very well be the return of the Drive Forms, and this is supported

by the similar appearance of the EX Meter. However, the mere fact that it's labeled an

EX Meter means that the Drive Forms could work quite differently.

And that's not the only element that may be tweaked for Kingdom Hearts 3. We can see that

both Donald and Goofy return as party members, but they're nowhere to be found in the trailer.

However, we can see that their icon locations have shifted positions and their HP and MP

bars have been shrunk. But there's still an awful lot of space next to their portraits.

Is it possible that some form of the D-Link system from Birth by Sleep is being used for

Kingdom Hearts 3? The battle system could indeed be seeing more

additions than just the D-Link. We see Sora jump off the side of a wall to avoid the incoming

Heartless Swarm. It could very well be the return of the Flowmotion system from Dream

Drop Distance though in a more limited form. And speaking of that swarm of Heartless, is

that a brand new enemy where the pack is treated as one? Or is it an indication that the packs

of Heartless that Sora faces are more numerous than ever before?

Okay, we're almost done here, but there are just a few more details that we'd like to

point out. It's hard not to notice that the HUD is much more basic than in past games.

Kingdom Hearts 2 and several of the spin-offs actually used a more intricate, world-dedicated

HUD that gave a sense of personality to each world. Kingdom Hearts 3 appears to be opting

for a more uniform design. Next we noticed that Sora appears to be even

more agile with his jumps as he flips and spins with his animations. He's even able

to ride on top of the Shadow Swarm for a brief moment. Is this just a limited instance or

is it possible that Sora can leapfrog over enemies to better position himself?

And with that, we've finished picking apart the debut trailer of Kingdom Hearts 3. Of

course, let us know if there's anything we missed by posting in the comments. Thanks

for watching and be sure to subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more on Kingdom

Hearts and other things gaming too.