The trailer, while short, does reveal quite a bit, showing off new story and gameplay content for Kingdom Hearts 3. Just a quick warning, the trailer (and the rest of this article) contain massive spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 3’s endgame.
The trailer begins with a new scene at the Keyblade Graveyard, where Young Xehanort can be seen talking with another hooded figure. There’s no voice acting, but the dialogue is shown so we know what the two are saying. While hooded figures are a mainstay of the series, the identity of this particular one is something of a mystery. Their build and mannerisms suggest that it’s recurring villain Xigbar but, given that we can’t see his face, it’s also entirely possible that it’s the Master of Masters - the oldest and most powerful Keyblade wielder who mysteriously vanished years ago. If it’s the latter, him interacting with Xehanort in the present raises a whole lot of questions. Another interesting detail is that Young Xehanort doesn’t have his trademark yellow eyes. Could this be hinting that he was being manipulated or controlled this whole time?
A later story scene shows some sort of confrontation between Xigbar and fellow Organization member Luxord in the Hercules world, with the latter questioning the former’s identity, though he then admits he doesn’t care and will continue to play dumb before vanishing, leaving Xigbar to wonder who Luxord really is. We know very little about Luxord’s past, aside from that he was apparently a Keyblade wielder from the ancient past, but this scene suggests that there’s even more to him - at least enough to make Xigbar concerned. Whether any new info about these two scenes will actually be revealed in the DLC is still unknown; it’s entirely possible that Nomura is still planting the seeds for future plot developments in the inevitable Kingdom Hearts 4.
Aside from that, we get to see some short snippets of gameplay as well; specifically moments from the stretch of final battles at the Keyblade Graveyard. Though this time, there’s a noticeable difference. Originally, players would control protagonist Sora during these fights while teaming up with one or two of the other Guardians of Light. But it looks like the DLC will be adding an option to try these fights as other characters. At the very least, we can see a playable Riku and Aqua (both of which were playable during key scenes in the main game), as well as Roxas. Whether we’ll be able to play as the other Guardians (Mickey, Kairi, Axel, Ven and Xion) remains to be seen.
And finally, we get a quick glimpse of a new Keyblade and Form for Sora to utilize. In fact, the Keyblade appears to be Oathkeeper, a recurring weapon that was primarily used in the first two games, and eventually became more associated with Roxas. Long-time fans will no doubt be excited to see it make its return.
It’s slightly surprising to see this new info be revealed before Square Enix’s E3 presentation. Could this mean that there will be a separate trailer that will show off even more new stuff? That’s merely speculation, though, and maybe they’ll simply show the same trailer again. After all, it looks as if the main focus this year will be on Square Enix’s Avengers game, which we’ll finally get to see after years of silence. Square Enix’s presentation will air on Monday June 10th at 6pm PT.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is currently available for PS4 and Xbox One. The first DLC episode, ReMIND, is slated to release this winter.
Source: KH13
