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Square Enix Reveals Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ Smartphone Game

Square Enix unveiled the Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ (pronounced "key") smartphone game on Thursday. The company plans to release the game this year for Android and iOS devices. The role-playing game will be free to play, but in-game items will cost extra.

The game will take place in the distant past, and players will take on the role of a keyblade wielder. Players will strengthen their keyblades and collect character medals while investigating various Disney-themed worlds. Players can use the medals to launch big attacks, and create and use decks. Players will also aim for a "one-turn finish" in battles.

This week's issue of Kadokawa's Weekly Famitsu magazine also confirms the following worlds: Olympus Coliseum, Dwarf Woodlands, Agrabah, and Wonderland, as well as the original world Daybreak Town.

Square Enix previously released the Kingdom Hearts χ PC browser game in 2013 in Japan only. The game is set during the events of the Keyblade War. The two games will "share the same worldview," and those who play both games will be able to port their avatars from Kingdom Hearts χ into Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ.

The smartphone game is using medals for battles instead of the cards of the PC browser game. Kingdom Hearts game director Tetsuya Nomura told Weekly Famitsu that Square Enix is creating the game while including a vision for releasing the title overseas. Nomura revealed that Americans who played the test version of the game considered the game a "card game," and Nomura wanted to give a different impression of the game, so the smartphone game will use medals instead. Nomura also said that because the game has a voice chat function, Square Enix is considering separating game servers by language.

The smartphone game will tie into Kingdom Hearts III. Japanese news website 4Gamer posted screenshots from the game on Thursday.

Nomura had told Weekly Famitsu in April that he would announce the development of a Kingdom Hearts smartphone game soon.

Japanese video game developer Square (now Square Enix) collaborated with The Walt Disney Company to develop the Kingdom Hearts series of action role-playing games, which feature characters from Disney animated films. Square released the first game in the series in 2002 for the PlayStation 2. Nomura directed the two main games in the series, as well as its many spinoffs, and is also directing the development of Kingdom Hearts III. Nomura told Weekly Famitsu in April that development on Kingdom Hearts III was going well.

Source: Famitsu via Hachima Kikō