Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III is the third numbered title, and the twelfth entry of the series. It is the conclusion of the Dark Seeker saga that began with the first game, picking up right after the end of Dream Drop Distance. Sora goes through a few new worlds (and a few familiar ones) in order to relearn the Power of Waking and bring an end this whole Master Xehanort and Organization XIII business once and for all.

It was also the first title in the series to be released multi-platform at launch (releasing on both PlayStation 4 & Xbox One) and the first to receive a DLC expansion, titled Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind. More ports would follow in the coming years; with PC in 2021, a Switch cloud port in 2022, and eventually Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.

Sub-Pages#

Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Unused Graphics#

Early Development Assets#

The editor folder contains multiple unused graphics that were used during early development, such as test generators and basic test maps. Some are carried over from Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- like the screenshots of Aqua and Mickey standing in a test map.

Unknown HDR#

A HDR texture can found in the shader folder, which seems to show the inside of an unspecified office building.

Daybreak Town HDR#

Found in the same shader folder exists a HDR texture of Daybreak Town from Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover. Besides being used for testing, there's a strange tall dark blue object next to one of the buildings.

Kingdom Hearts II Help Wanted Posters#

The signboard in Twilight Town actually has a unused texture beneath it, which is the "help wanted" posters directly taken from Kingdom Hearts II.

Luxord Tiling Mask Card#

One of the textures for Luxord's cards has a unseen debug texture filled with numbers, which was used for tiling masking purposes.

Dive to the Heart Union Leader Station#

The stained glass texture representing the union leaders from Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover can be found in the ex_05 map folder.

Dummy#

The common folder within the "dlc02" folder contains a simple dummy texture, likely used for placeholder purposes.

Debug Tileset#

In the shader folder, there are two debug tileset textures for common generic NPCs used for testing.

Placeholder Target Icon#

There seems to be a placeholder icon meant for targeting things found in the footstep folder, which also contains the model of Sora in his Kingdom Hearts II outfit. It cannot be found with any other model of Sora, which is somewhat odd.

Unused Models#

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- leftovers#

The NPC folder has various leftovers from Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-, with filenames for what world they correspond to. Additionally, while Kairi in her Kingdom Hearts II outfit does appear during the story, the model isn't used as it only appears in prerendered video cutscenes.

Leon/Squall Gunblade#

Alongside Leon's (aka Squall) model contains his signature Gunblade weapon, which never appears anywhere in-game.

ZZ Model#

The NPC folder has a... long green stick, which seems to have been used for testing. The filename is ZZ, which is also the name of a test level in Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance.

Keyblade Graveyard Tornado#

The dlc02 folder contains an early version of the tornado with debugging textures.

No Name#

The dlc02 folder also has an early version of the upper portion of the No Name Keyblade with debug textures.

"AT" Object#

In the Object folder are four unused models, which are flat, untextured squares with the world ID abbreviation "AT", which isn't used by any of the worlds in the game. It is not known which Disney property it might have corresponded to, if any.

Unused Party Members#

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Mickey Mouse#

Mickey, as he appears in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-, is an unused party member, and can be re-added using modifications or a cheat trainer. He's fully functional, but has no portrait, and uses Star Cluster instead of Star Seeker during battle.

Terra#

Terra appearing as a party member	Terra's stats in the status menu

Terra is the only Guardian of Light that does not participate as a party member during gameplay. However it looks like he was planned to be one at some point in development and meant to be a fully-fleshed out one too unlike other keyblade wielders, as there's a unused pawn slot for him via n_ex007. Adding Terra to Sora's party has him in a t-pose stance, being unable to do anything nor any enemies acknowledging his presence. Despite this, his name still appears in the status menu and has stats, although merely just a placeholder.

Six Party Members#

There are two unused slots that can bring the total party members to six, but this is never used in the game.

Unused Abilities#

Wayfinder Team Attack#

Watch on YouTube

The Wayfinder team attack from Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- can be activated if Aqua is playable alongside with the unused Mickey party member in combat. While it's mostly functional, you cannot do the finisher as the team attack will abruptly end once activated.

Unused Animations#

Superglide#

One point during development you could originally upgrade Glide into Superglide, making Sora's movement faster in the air. It's unknown why this was scrapped.

Donald Air Casting#

Donald has an animation of him casting magic in the air, which he never does anywhere in the game since his AI is not programmed to do that.

Unused Areas#

Battlegates#

The ex_28, ex_30, ex_32, ex_36, and ex_40 maps, which are meant for Battlegates, contain nothing but a white square platform in a black void. Judging from the level order, these were intended for Monstropolis, Arendelle, The Caribbean, and the Keyblade Graveyard.

Twilight Town: Tram Commons#

Watch on YouTube

The path leading to the Tram Commons was meant to be traversable at some point, as not only there's proper collision but there's breakable objects containing munny and synthesis materials. It's unknown why was this scrapped, although seems likely to be time constraints.

Unused Events#

Land of Departure Debug Text Box#

The dp_50 map places Riku in the Land of Departure, and a text box appears with a debug message in Japanese (translated below). Pressing any button will dismiss the message and play the cutscene between Riku and Terra.

Shibuya Mysterious Message#

Attempting to load the ss_50 map shows a text box with a very strange message. It's currently unknown what this message is supposed to signify.

Unused Text#

Superglide Menu Description#

グライド ( Lv1 ～ Lv2 ※Lv2はスーパーグライド ) 空中で□ボタンを押すと、□ボタンを放すまで自由に飛ぶことが出来る

There's leftovers text strings for the scrapped Superglide ability in the Abilities menu.

Development-Related Text#

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Remnants#

TresGameBools.txt, TresGameFlags.txt, TresGameLabels.txt contains flag remnants from Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-.

gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_ALLEND
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_01_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_02_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_03_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_04_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_05_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_06_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_07_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_08_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_09_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_10_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_11_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_12_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_13_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_14_END
gameflow_DW_TUTORIAL_15_END
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_STAIRS_IN
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_CORRIDOR_IN
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_C_TUNNEL_IN
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_STAIRS_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_CORRIDOR_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_C_TUNNEL_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_BATTLE01_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_BATTLE02_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_BATTLE03_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_MIRROR_TREASURE_CLEAR
gameflow_DW_02_BATTLE_CAMERA_01
gameflow_DW_08_BATTLE_CAMERA_01
gameflow_DW_08_BATTLE_CAMERA_02
gameflow_DW_08_RAILSLIDE_FINISH
gameflow_DW_08_DARKPUNCH_A_FINISH
gameflow_DW_08_DARKPUNCH_B_FINISH
gameflow_DW_09_BATTLE_CAMERA1_01
gameflow_DW_E3
BattleBonus_DW_dw_02_DevilTower
BattleBonus_DW_dw_07_MirrorAqua_03
BattleBonus_DW_dw_08_Darkside
BattleBonus_DW_dw_08_Darkball
BattleBonus_DW_dw_09_DevilTower
BattleBonus_DW_dw_10_DevilWave
BattleBonus_DW_dw_07_MirrorAqua_04
gameflow_REBELLIS_CLEAR
gameflow_REBELLIS_TUTORIAL_ALLEND
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_01
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_02
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_03
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_04
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_05
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_06
gameflow_CHALLENGE_29_07
gameflow_CHALLENGE_34_RED_FLOWER
gameflow_CHALLENGE_34_BLUE_FLOWER
gameflow_CHALLENGE_34_GREEN_FLOWER
gameflow_CHALLENGE_38_dw_02_MEMORY
gameflow_CHALLENGE_40_dw_05_MEMORY
gameflow_CHALLENGE_45_dw_08_MEMORY
gameflow_CHALLENGE_49_dw_09_MEMORY

gameflow_DW
gameflow_DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT
gameflow_DW_CHALLENGE_42

DW_INIT 0
DW_WORLD_VISIT 10
DW_ROAD_EV_dw005 20
DW_ROAD_BT_BATTLE01 30
DW_ROAD_EV_dw006 40
DW_ROAD_EV_dw007 50
DW_ROAD_EV_dw008 60
DW_ROAD_BT_BATTLE02 70
DW_GEAR_EV_dw009 100
DW_GEAR_EV_dw010 101
DW_GEAR_EV_dw011 102
DW_GEAR_EV_dw012 110
DW_GEAR_EV_GET_GEAR1 120
DW_GEAR_EV_GET_GEAR2 130
DW_GEAR_EV_GET_GEAR3 140
DW_GEAR_EV_GET_GEAR4 150
DW_GEAR_BT_BATTLE03_START 160
DW_GEAR_BT_BATTLE03_END 161
DW_GEAR_EV_dw013 170
DW_GEAR_EV_dw014 180
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw015 200
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw016 210
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw017 220
DW_MIRROR_PHANTOM_BATTLE01 230
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw018 240
DW_MIRROR_PHANTOM_BATTLE02 250
DW_MIRROR_PHANTOM_BATTLE03 260
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw019 270
DW_MIRROR_EV_dw020 280
DW_FOREST_EV_dw021 300
DW_FOREST_EV_dw022 310
DW_FOREST_BT_DARKSIDE01_START 320
DW_FOREST_BT_DARKSIDE01_END 321
DW_FOREST_BT_AREA_F_BATTLE_START 322
DW_FOREST_BT_AREA_F_BATTLE_END 323
DW_FOREST_EV_dw023 330
DW_FOREST_BT_DARKSIDE02_START 340
DW_FOREST_BT_DARKSIDE02_END 341
DW_FOREST_EV_dw024 350
DW_FOREST_EV_dw025_A 360
DW_FOREST_EV_dw025_B 361
DW_DARK_BT_DEVILTOWER_START 400
DW_DARK_BT_DEVILTOWER_END 401
DW_FOREST_EV_dw026 410
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw027 500
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw028 510
DW_ISLAND_BT_DEVILWAVE_START 520
DW_ISLAND_BT_DEVILWAVE_END 521
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw029 530
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw030 600
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw031 610
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw032 620
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw033 630
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw034 700
DW_ISLAND_EV_dw035 710
DW_MAGICROOM_EV_yt036 800
DW_COCKPIT_EV_gm037 810
DW_END 9999
DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT_00 0
DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT_01 10
DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT_02 20
DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT_03 30
DW_GEAR_GETCOUNT_04 40
CHALLENGE_42_START 0
CHALLENGE_42_BATTLE_01 10
CHALLENGE_42_BATTLE_02 20
CHALLENGE_42_BATTLE_03 30
CHALLENGE_42_BATTLE_04 40
CHALLENGE_42_BATTLE_05 50

Frozen Slider Debug Flag#

In the Tres folder, there's a debug flag meant for the frozen slider minigame in Arendelle.

gameflow_FZ_Sub_DEBUG_PILLAR_A_USE_AFTER_START

Status Effects#

Like with the previous entry, there's a few status effects are never used anywhere in the game.

TRES_BADSTAT_DRILL_BIND
TRES_BADSTAT_YO_BIND
TRES_BADSTAT_RALPH_BIND
TRES_BADSTAT_ENERGYBURST
TRES_BADSTAT_HP_BREAK
TRES_BADSTAT_TIME_BREAK

Platform Differences#

Exclusive Keyblades#

Long Night (Nintendo Switch 2)	Midnight Blue (PlayStation 4 & 5)	Phantom Green (Xbox One & Series X)	Advent Red (Nintendo Switch)	Dead of Night (Steam)	Elemental Encoder (Epic Games Store)

Every version of Kingdom Hearts III has it's own unique keyblade, either based off of Star Seeker or Star Cluster while functionally having the same stats and abilities.

Technical Differences#

To do: Add differences for the PS5/Series X and S/Switch 2 versions when those release

• For future ports starting with the PC version in 2021, the ReMind DLC is now included with the game by default due to releasing later.
• The Nintendo Switch version was the only version of the game to not be a native port, instead running via cloud streaming.
• Each version of the game outputs at a different resolution:
  • PlayStation 4: 900p
  • PlayStation 4 Pro: 1296p or 1080p (the latter if the console is set to that resolution and supersampling is disabled)
  • Xbox One: 720p
  • Xbox One X: 1440p
  • PC: Dependent on the option chosen in the game's settings.
• The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions have a toggle between 60fps (Default) and 30fps (Stable). On PC, additional options were added for 90fps, 120fps and Unlocked.
  • Additionally, the Gummi Ship sections and cutscenes were locked to 30fps on PS4/Xbox One. This lock is removed from the PC port.
• There are various differences between each versions' device profiles:
  • PS4: "r.GarlicHeapSizeMB" set to 2600, "r.RenderTargetPoolMin" set to 500. (respectively 3000 and 900 on PS4 Pro)
  • Xbox One: The "r.GarlicHeapSizeMB" parameter is not used in this version. "r.RenderTargetPoolMin" set to 500. (1000 on Xbox One)
• The Kingdom of Corona's festival dance minigame has the rings for each action colored after the controller's respective button colors (exclusing Spin, which is red on all platforms). Step and Clap are respectively colored blue and pink on PS4, and green and red on Xbox One. While the PC version includes both, only the Epic Games release changes them depending on what button prompts are selected. The Steam version always uses the Xbox One version due to the game's usage of Steam Input.
• On the PS4 and Xbox One versions, the Starlight keyblade could be obtained early through a redemption code found in Kingdom Hearts Union χ. This functionality would be removed from the PC version onwards.
• The Steam release of the PC version has some mentions of Virtuos in the "WindowsEngine.ini", suggesting that they were involved with bringing the game to the platform. No mention of them exists in the Epic Games Store release.

Oddities#

Kingdom Hearts Sora Keyblade#

Sora in his Kingdom Hearts attire can have a keyblade appear in his hand if he's in combat or outside of his designated area, which isn't possible under normal means. However though, he'll be stuck in his idle animation until said keyblade disappears after a while.

Final World Battle Theme#

The battle theme "Edge of Existence" is internally labeled "BGM_EW_Battle", suggesting that it was meant for the Final World instead of Scala ad Caelum. Additionally, the music track will play if enemies are added into the world, adding to this potential suggestion.

Internal Project Name#

The internal project name for this game is "TresGame". "Tres" means "three" in Latin, which makes sense given the title.