For Kingdom Hearts fans, patience is nothing but a societal construct. The will-power and dedication it takes to wait over 13 years for the long-teased sequel to Kingdom Hearts II to arrive are unparalleled by any other group of fans. Of course, once Kingdom Hearts III finally did arrive and eager gamers were able to get their hands on it, we thought that was all she wrote. Time to ride off into the sunset and wait for Mother 3 to be released, right? Wrong. Shortly after the release of Kingdom Hearts III, murmurs of a massive DLC expansion were heard whispered on the wind. Eventually, we learned that the DLC would be called Re Mind, but not much else has been known about the upcoming content expansion, until now. A new trailer gives us a bevy of new information on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III expansion, as well as a release date of January 23rd for PlayStation 4.
Initially, this trailer was leaked online a week prior to its intended launch date. Worse yet, it was leaked by Square Enix themselves. Intrepid fans with Internet sleuthing skills discovered a new unlisted video on the official Square Enix channel, which ended up being the entire trailer for the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind DLC. Square Enix was quick to pull the plug on the video, and now a week later, the most recent PlayStation State of Play live stream event brought with it the official premiere of the Re Mind trailer.
The trailer for Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind shows off a huge amount of brand new story content and climactic battles that are sure to make the mouths of any Kingdom Hearts fan water. Right at the start, we see classic Final Fantasy characters returning to the franchise for the first time in a long time. We get a peek at Aerith and Yuffie in their Kingdom Hearts redesigns, as well as Squall Leonhart, who goes by “Leon” in this series. We even get a look at Roxas and Xion returning, donning their classic Organization robes and teaming up with newly-minted Keyblade wielder Axel.
One of the most interesting new character appearances comes at the end of the trailer, though, when we get a peek at a confrontation between Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora and a young man named Yozora. He’s mentioned briefly in the main campaign as the protagonist of a fake video game series called Verum Rex, which draws heavy inspiration from the canceled Final Fantasy Versus XIII game that Kingdom Hearts director Testuyo Nomura spent so many years working on. Yozora makes another appearance in the secret movie of Kingdom Hearts III, so he likely has a large role in the narrative that will begin to play out with this DLC.
The Re Mind trailer also shows off a variety of new boss fights that look incredible. One fight shows off a massive sword-wielding Heartless with a red scarf, while another shows off a horde of evil Aqua clones. One of the most interest shots of the trailer, though, shows off nearly every current Keyblade wielding hero battling together and unleashing an ultimate combo attack on a horde of daunting Heartless enemies. While Kairi seems absent from that scene, she hasn’t been forgotten. A later part of the trailer shows off a boss fight where Kairi is the playable character, unleashing her Keyblade prowess in playable form for the first time ever. We also get snippets of Sora fighting almost every member of the Organization in a series of new boss battles.
The end of the trailer lists off the add-on content we can expect from Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind. The DLC expansion is set to include an “Additional story: Re Mind”, which is likely the brand new main campaign. Additionally, there’s going to be a “Limitcut episode and 13 boss battles”, which is likely where we’ll find the new set of Organization member boss battles for Sora to tackle. There’s also a “secret episode and boss battle,” which could perhaps tie into the shot of Yozora from the end of the trailer. The DLC is set to introduce a variety of new difficulty settings to the game, as well as selectable gameplay challenges that alter certain aspects of the experience in order to provide an even harder twist to the gameplay. On top of these features, there’s going to be a “data greeting feature,” a “slideshow feature,” and a new premium menu added.
All of this comes with a price tag of $29.99 for the DLC expansion. A special $39.99 version of Kingdom Hearts II Re Mind includes all of the above, as well as a special 19-track concert video. Regardless of which version you do or don’t buy, though, a free Version 1.07 title update will be coming to the game that also adds an update to the main story, new combat abilities, as well as the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades with new form changes. The Sharing Features of Kingdom Hearts III are also set to be expanded, likely enabling players and streamers to share footage from specific parts of the game that were initially blocked from being viewed in streams when the title initially released earlier this year.
Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind is set to arrive on PlayStation 4 for $29.99 on January 23rd. An Xbox One release of the DLC expansion is expected to arrive later in the year for a similar price.
