Kingdom Hearts 3D will connect with III

Kingdom Hearts 3D – the planned 3DS Square Enix/Disney cross-over role-playing game from Tetsuya Nomura – will connect to the yet-to-be revealed Kingdom Hearts III.

It'll do so both in terms of gameplay systems and story, Nomura told Famitsu magazine (translated by Andriasang).

Apparently it's possible the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3D will lead into the story of KHIII.

In 3D you'll be able to control Sora and Riku, and they'll both work differently. The game's central gameplay systems are "all complete", but Square Enix is still working out how to put them into the game.

The world selection for the game's Disney areas is also being worked on. SE plans to use all new Disney worlds this time around, but Traverse Town and other originals will reappear.

Meanwhile, work on Kingdom Hearts project, Birth By Sleep Final Mix is said to be "almost complete". It's all getting a bit complicated, isn't it? Let's recap.

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded is due out on the DS in Europe on 14th January 2011. We've got Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the international version of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, for PSP - that looks like a Japanese exclusive.

Then we've got Kingdom Hearts 3D, the working title for series' Nintendo 3DS entry. It'll be the seventh instalment in the franchise.

Beyond that there's Kingdom Hearts III, which is probably the big one but a long way off. Phew!