The Buzz about Kingdom Hearts III

New footage released in Japan this weekend for the D23 Expo has Kingdom Hearts fans in a buzz. The brief clip from Kingdom Hearts 3 shows Sora, Donald, and Goofy up to their usual duties of battling Heartless. What’s interesting about the clip is the “Shooting Ride” that rolls up in the midst of the struggle, which appears quite similar to the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin ride in Disney World.

The three friends board the ride and wield the lasers, transforming the melee into a shooting command system, almost like a mini-game.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy board the ride and wield the blasters, transforming the melee into a shooting command system, almost like a mini-game.

In Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin ride at Disney World, riders blast away at space invaders and the minions of Zurg.

No official announcement has been made by Square Enix at this time about whether this means we’ll see a Toy Story world or characters in the long-anticipated KH3. We have, however, already seen clips which confirm the rides in Disney World have a spot in the game, so this is certainly not definitive evidence that we’ll get to pal around with Buzz or Woody. The iconic pirate ship, teacup rides, and train have all appeared in previous trailer announcements. In the 2015 E3 trailer below, we see Sora uses these Disney rides as special battle commands.

So will we get a world in Andy’s room full of beloved toys? It seems more likely that the glimpses we’ve seen so far are just teasing the unlockable battle modes for Sora and the party hidden throughout the game, as with the summons in Kingdom Hearts 2 or the Command Styles in prequel Birth by Sleep. In the E3 trailer, Sora’s battle and transforming Keyblade are center stage, while Square Enix has been pretty tight-lipped about what worlds KH3 will include. As with Tangled and Big Hero 6, if a Toy Story world is included, no doubt we’ll get an official announcement before the game’s release.