Kingdom Hearts 3 paid DLC announced

Kingdom Hearts 3 might have brought a conclusion to the story that began in the original Kingdom Hearts, but that doesn’t mean there are no more stories to tell. In addition to a new difficulty mode released a few days ago, Square-Enix has announced future DLC. The premium DLC will be called “Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMIND”, and will contain new bosses and story content. An English-language option for the Japanese version of the game will also be released. These DLC plans were announced at a Kingdom Hearts Orchestra performance in Tokyo by series director Tetsuya Nomura.

As the first Kingdom Hearts title made for current-generation consoles, it was perhaps inevitable that Kingdom Hearts 3 would eventually receive DLC. From what few details that have been released, ReMIND sounds similar to the Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. The Final Mix versions contained new bonus bosses and story content, and were Japan-exclusive until they were released for the PS3 and PS4. Fortunately, players will only have to buy the DLC, and not re-purchase the whole game again to unlock the new content.

In addition to the paid content, Nomura also announced a new Keyblade and associated Formchange will be added for free. Recently, a new Critical difficulty mode has been patched into the game. In Critical mode, Sora’s HP and MP are halved and enemies hit a lot harder. As a result, you need to become good at preparing for encounters and reading enemy attacks. This puts the game more in line with previous entries in the series since Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix, which have had that extra difficulty setting.

Critical mode also includes some new abilities exclusive to the mode. These include the option to disable the Attraction commands. Players are also given some higher-level abilities earlier on. Critical mode does not affect the Gummi Ship sections, however. Players can select it from the main menu when starting a new game, or can import Sora’s Keyblades from a cleared save file. If you felt like Kingdom Hearts 3 was too easy, this new difficulty setting could be a great way to re-experience the game.

It is good that Square-Enix has future plans for Kingdom Hearts 3, especially considering how it is the fastest selling entry in the franchise. Whilst some may be annoyed that they will have to pay extra for more post-game content, more Kingdom Hearts content and opportunities to flesh out its story are something to look forward to.