January 2010 BBS release date.

Famitsu PSP+PS3 KH:BbS Special + Interview

--”An exciting battle system”

Talking about BbS’s new system: This time we will be revealing more about the second level of the Command system, and the D-LINK (Dimension Link) system that has been a mystery up until now.

--”There are two levels of Command Styles”

When the Command gauge reaches MAX, and you’ve fulfilled the requirements, your Command Style will change. If the gauge fills up a second time, and again when you’ve fulfilled the requirements, you will change to the high level Command Style. In Terra’s case, the first level is called “Fatal Mode”, where in his Finish move him jumps up high and then slams the keyblade into the ground. The second level is called “Rock Breaker”, where floating rocks hit all the enemies in the area for the Finish move. For Ven, his first level is “Speed Rave”, where during his Finish move he attacks several times, and then attacks with a radiating beam of light. The second level is called “Cyclone”, where he uses a spin attack against all enemies in the area.

“An explosive Finish move!”
“You can change into a stronger second level Style!!”
“Riding the light!”
“A Command Style that’s almost like a Tornado”


--”Borrowing your companion’s power with the Dimension Link!”

Once the D-LINK gauge is full, you can activate the “Dimension Link”, where you can borrow the power of Disney characters that are your friends. When activated all of your Deck Commands will change to special moves, and you can perform special Finish moves based on how many Symbols you’ve collected. The characters you can borrow powers from will increase as you play the game. This time we’ll be introducing #626 (Stitch) and Cinderella.

#636 (Stitch) 1 Symbol = Shotgun, 2 Symbols = Spaceship
When you have 0~1 Symbols, you can activate “Reflect Beam”. If you press the button that appears on the screen at the right time, a beam that can reflect objects will appear. When you have 2 Symbols you can activate “Ohana Beam”. Buttons will go from right to left, and if you’ve hit them all a sound wave will come from the a ukulele and attack your enemies. It seems you can use both at the same time. The Commands you can use are mostly Thunder-types. “Thunder Blitz”, “Stun Blade”, and “Esuna” are the first ones you get. Also, there are effects when you are in D-LINK, with 1 Symbol giving you an “Attack Up”, and 2 Symbols giving you “CP x 2”.

“You can connect to Stitch via D-LINK”
“Get two Symbols”
“Get more power by being succesful!”

-- Cinderlla (1 Symbol = Tiara, 2 Symbols = Glass Slippers)
When you have 0~1 Symbols you can activate “Dream Sparkle”. Raise enemies up into the sky by a magic light. At 2 Symbols you can activate “Dream Waltz”, where you will spin making a magic vortex. With either one, when you’re suppose to start the Finish move, the Carriage will appear. Pressing the button at the right time is important. It seems there are a lot of moves particular to Cinderella? Just by the screenshots I can se “Fairy Cure”, “Fairy Step”, “Wish Turn”, and “Wish Shot”. With “Wish Turn”, you gather power and then release it in a spin attack.

“With Cinderella!!”
“When you Link there are special Deck Commands”

-- Comment from co-director Yasue:
“We’re coming up on the final stage of development, and now we’re able to see the game as a whole. Even the developers are surprise about just how much we’ve put into this game. Many different ideas have become reality, and it’s like we’re combining chemicals with all these new systems that we’re trying out here. We’ve only just begun introducing the new game system and worlds to you. And we’re going to continue introducing more of the game to you soon, so wait for it!”


Nomura/Yasue Interview

-- So Terra’s clothes are red, Ven’s are yellow, and Aqua’s are blue. These are similar colors to what we saw in KHII with Sora’s Form changes. Do these indicate similar fighting styles?

Nomura: No, nothing like that. We just matched colors to each element that is in their names, Earth, Wind, and Water, so their “image color” ended up being red, yellow, and blue respectively. Regardless of their name element attacks, much like the earth named Terra has power based moves, we’ve made each of their abilties with a specific image in mind.

-- How do they actually get to other worlds?

Nomura: There are no Gummi Ships, they do have a special way of getting there. It’s something like the Corridor of Darkness that Organization XIII uses.

-- This is a story set even before the first game in the series, will some of the same worlds be appearing in this game?

Nomura: Yes, of course. Even though it’s the same world, however, since the time and the place will have changed it will feel new.

-- Do you think it’s best to watch the original movies of the new worlds that will be appearing in this game?

Nomura: No, I don’t think it’s necessary. Although, “Experiment 221” in Stitch’s world, also named Sparky, can only be seen in the sequal. In that case I think it will be more enjoyable if you’ve already seen the original.

-- In “KH Birth by Sleep” will there be more new mysteries, or more previous mysteries being answered for us?

Nomura: Hmm, I wonder. Well I haven’t counted them so I don’t know the exact number, but there will be a lot of mysteries answered. But there will also be many mysteries that will deepen, so because of that perhaps you could say they’ve increased. We’ve already given you plenty of hints in previous games, so people with good sense will probably already understand.

-- I see. Of course, people who start the series with “KH Birth by Sleep” will be able to enjoy it with no problems, right?

Nomura: Of course. Just like “KH 358/2 Days”, it has a different main character from Sora, so I think it would be easy to get into. If “KH Birth by Sleep” is your first game, I’d like you to go on after that to play the first KH game.

-- So, when will the release date be?

Nomura: Well, we had to balance it with the release date of “FFXIII”, so once that was decided, we decided on January 2010 for BbS. We are still trying to figure out what day it will be.



-- Will you be able to use the same data with both multiplayer and single player?

Yasue: Multiplayer and single player are completely linked together, so all the items, commands, and character growth you receive in one will go over into the other.

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Going by this we should see an North American Release Date, May/June 2010 ish.