History VideoGame / KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance

** [=FlowMotion=]. As long as there's a handy wall, ledge or pole nearby to get your initial jump-off, you can zoom across the map to unleash powerful area-of-effect attacks and drill into a single enemy for extra damage, and there is absolutely no penalty or cost to continually jumping off walls to attack. Early in the game [=FlowMotion=] will probably do more damage than actual commands, but by the end of the game when you have access to your choice of powerful group attacks, they do pitiful damage and take too long to execute.

** Daisy Duck doesn't make appearance as Minnie's lady-in-waiting in Country of the Musketeers, a world based on ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers''. Quite ironic, considering she's also already established as Minnie's lady-in-waiting in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' universe. Clarabelle, who is also a major character character in the movie, doesn't make appearance, either, and her absence makes the scene when Goofy runs off from the palace rather stupid.[[note]]Instead of being tricked by her like in the movie, it looks like he just runs off for thinking he saw something that Sora (and the player) never even saw what the hell it was.[[/note]] Also, the scene where Donald is almost [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]] is understandably omitted because there's no way it could be included in a ''Kingdom Hearts'' game due to rating reasons. Unfortunately, this makes him seem like more of a coward than he was in the movie, because rather than running away after almost losing his life, instead he's just running away out of fear of ''[[GoldfishPoopGang Pete]]'' of all people.

** Look at the box art for a while. Notice how Sora is falling while Riku is in a rising position ? Yup. [[spoiler:It serves as a {{Foreshadowing}} to the fact that Riku is the real hero of this game, and what will happen to Sora late in the game.]]

** Earlier than that is Wargoyle. For Riku he [[GetBackHereBoss flies around the battlefield]] firing hard hitting attacks as he does so. For Sora he is even worse thanks to using many powerful attacks one after another in long combo chains as his health decreases.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' world, all of Frollo's mentions of God granting him power are changed to more indirect statements like "righteous judgment" and "I have been granted this power" in order to avoid inserting religion into the game. This is sort of odd, given this was one of the film's prominent themes.

* GratuitousFrench: The ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' world is named La Cité des Cloches (The City of Bells). However, besides that, the world is surprisingly devoid of French. The same can be said about Country of the Musketeers, with the Mont Saint Michel.

** [[GrindBoots Faith line]]: The Reality Shift of [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame La Cité des Cloches]] which you grind into enemies upon [[HolyHandGrenade chains of light]].

* TheUnfought: [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Frollo]] and [[Film/TronLegacy CLU]]. [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} The Coachman]] is completely absent, but his KarmaHoudini status in the film makes him notable here nonetheless. Not to mention [[spoiler: [[BigBad Master Xehanort]], Braig/Xigbar, or Isa/Saïx. Notable for Braig because he actively taunts you throughout The World That Never Was, making you think that there may be a boss fight with him]].

** Averted with the Poison [[StandardStatusEffects status effect]]. Especially annoying if [[spoiler:[[BonusBoss Julius]]]] inflicts it on you. Given his insanely powerful attacks, it can mean Game Over if you get stuck with it at low health.

* StandardStatusEffects: While used by some enemies in previous games, it's a much bigger problem this time around, with practically every dream eater possessing at least one attack that inflicts a bad status, on top of some of them also using the same status inflicting spells you have access to (Which can be nigh impossible to avoid due to how quickly they trigger). Abilities that provide resistance to each of the different effects were added to alleviate some of the pain.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Riku encounters a doppelganger of himself in Prankster's Paradise, which is implied to have been his Replica from ''Chain of Memories''. It's never explained how the Replica got there, if it's even real or part of the dream, or what happens to it after the encounter.

* BubblyClouds: Sora's version of Symphony of Sorcery is based off of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'''s "Pastoral Symphony", with him walking on the clouds for the first couple of rooms.

'''Riku, in the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness''': It's Ansem.]]

--->[[spoiler:'''Data-Ansem the Wise, in this game''': Young man! I do not believe you told me your name.\\

** "You made us a promise... that [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 you'd always be there to bring]] [[spoiler:us]] back. Got it memorized?"
*** And later: "Promises to keep! I'll always be there to bring my friends back! [[SpannerInTheWorks What, bad timing?"]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: If it took the combined strength of Sora and Riku to finish off Xemnas in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', then naturally Sora will have a hard time here on his own, to the point that it drains him of his energy entirely. And unfortunately, even though Xemnas has once again been defeated, there are now other villains around to pick up the slack, which is easy with a weakened Sora.]]

* SayMyName: Sora calls out for Riku near the beginning of the game upon entering Traverse Town. And near the end, [[spoiler: Sora [[{{FamousLastWords}} speaks his best friend's name again]] as his heart is smothered in darkness; this time, Riku was able to hear him, which would soon lead to Sora being revived and Riku becoming a Keyblade Master]].

* TitleThemeDrop: See ThemeTuneCameo above.
** Also, in the scene where [[spoiler:Riku explains to Mickey and the others why it has to be him that dives into Sora's heart to rescue him from the darkness,]] the version from the title screen of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII the second game]] picks up in the background.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The Sound Ideas that Riku and Sora combine in the Symphony of Sorcery is the menu theme, "Dearly Beloved." The arrangement used sounds like [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the original version]], but with added strings.

* FinalDeath: Once a Spirit loses all of its hitpoints and you fail to revive it within 30 seconds, it will permanently die.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: [[TyrannosaurusRex Tyranto]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Rex]], a boss in the Three Musketeers world. Also, a Triceratops Dream Eater. Both are available as Spirit Dream Eater party members. There's also a [[DemBones bony]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot version]] of the Tyranto Rex. Like its living version, it is creatable.

* AdaptedOut: Daisy Duck doesn't make appearance as Minnie's lady-in-waiting in Country of the Musketeers, a world based on ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers''. Quite ironic, considering she's also already established as Minnie's lady-in-waiting in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' universe. Clarabelle, who is also a major character character in the movie, doesn't make appearance, either, and her absence makes the scene when Goofy runs off from the palace rather stupid.[[note]]Instead of being tricked by her like in the movie, it looks like he just runs off for thinking he saw something that Sora (and the player) never even saw what the hell it was.[[/note]] Also, the scene where Donald is almost [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]] is understandably omitted because there's no way it could be included in a ''Kingdom Hearts'' game due to rating reasons. Unfortunately, this makes him seem like more of a coward than he was in the movie, because rather than running away after almost losing his life, instead he's just running away out of fear of ''[[GoldfishPoopGang Pete]]'' of all people.

** [[spoiler:The World That Never Was]] is the ruined version. It also [[spoiler:traps Sora in a dream within a dream, while Riku gets to explore its dream version because he dove into Sora's dreams after Destiny Islands. Riku manages to break free and wake up in the real World That Never Was, but Sora's lack of resistance against the darkness serves to immediately shatter his heart after fighting Xemnas.]]

** There's a small chance during the FinalBoss that [[spoiler:Young Xehanort will just fail to summon the clock that the player needs to Reality Shift to do the second phase of the fight, forcing a restart.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: You know that robed figure who causes trouble in the first world? [[spoiler: ''He's the final boss.[[note]]Technically, he's the second-last boss fought, but it feels more like the final boss.[[/note]]'']]

This would be the final game in the series to feature Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka and Creator/LeonardNimoy as the voices of Master Xehanort before both actors' deaths in early 2015.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Sora's version of the [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Symphony of Sorcery]] world is based off of the Olympus segment where the wine-drinking god Bacchus throws a party. As such, some of the locations to use Sora's Reality Shift on resemble goblets with obvious wine flowing out of them.

** Part of the reason the subtitle is the way it is was so it could abbreviate to 3D (being, originally, a 3DS title and all). However, the [=PS4=] UpdatedRerelease doesn't have the 3DS's 3D functionality, although it also omits the ''3D'' from the title and simply uses ''Dream Drop Distance''.

** Symphony of Sorcery's Reality Shift is named "Fantasmic" in the Japanese version, referencing the Disneyland MassiveMultiplayerCrossover show.

** [[spoiler: In the Japanese version, after Young Xehanort's HP in his first phase has been depleted he shouts [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure "Toki yo, tomare"]][[note]]This literally means "Time, stop!", which is what it gets translated to in the English version.[[/note]]]]

* UpdatedRerelease: ''2.8'''s ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance HD'', which probably has the most changes made to it of any of the games remade for the {{Compilation Rerelease}}s. These include, among a graphical upgrade optimized for 60 FPS and other minor changes, most of the Reality Shifts being reworked, three new Spirits[[note]]Tubguin Ace, Catanuki, and Beatalike[[/note]], the Fountain minigame being completely overhauled, and the Treasure Goggles being entirely replaced by the Candy Goggles as a new minigame.

* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler:Four of Master Xehanort's incarnations ([[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI Ansem SoD]], [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII Xemnas]], [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Master Xehanort]], and [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance Young Xehanort]]), as well as Braig and Isa, form a new Organization of sorts, with six other members remaining unidentified. Xehanort is still working at getting the thirteenth and final one.]]

** The game's cover is this too. Riku is soaring up towards the top, while Sora is falling to the bottom. [[spoiler:This represents Riku's success at passing the Mark of Mastery, and his ascension to a Keyblade master, while Sora falls into darkness and failing his Mark of Mastery exam]].

** In ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' world, all of Frollo's mentions of God granting him power are changed to more indirect statements like "righteous judgment" and "I have been granted this power" in order to avoid inserting religion into the game. This is sort of odd, given this was one of the film's prominent themes.

* BubblyClouds: Sora's version of Symphony of Sorcery is based off of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'''s "Pastoral Symphony", with him walking on the clouds for the first couple of rooms.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Sora's version of the [[Disney/{{Fantasia}} Symphony of Sorcery]] world is based off of the Olympus segment where the wine-drinking god Bacchus throws a party. As such, some of the locations to use Sora's Reality Shift on resemble goblets with obvious wine flowing out of them.

* GratuitousFrench: The ''[[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' world is named La Cité des Cloches (The City of Bells). However, besides that, the world is surprisingly devoid of French. The same can be said about Country of the Musketeers, with the Mont Saint Michel.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: A matter of course for the ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''-based world Symphony of Sorcery.

** [[GrindBoots Faith line]]: The Reality Shift of [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame La Cité des Cloches]] which you grind into enemies upon [[HolyHandGrenade chains of light]].

** [[FloatingInABubble Bubble Burst]]: Reality Shift of [[Disney/{{Pinocchio}} Prankster's Paradise]] giving you the ability to [[BubbleGun launch bubbles]] at the enemy as well as trap them in one and smash them into the floor.

** [[MagicMusic Melody Catcher]]: The Reality Shift of the [[Disney/{{Fantasia}} Symphony of Sorcery]], after a RhythmGame unleash a TechnicolorDeath on the enemy.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The last room in Riku's visit to Symphony of Sorcerery is a winter wonderland based off of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'''s "The Nutcracker Suite" segment. It's covered in snow and there are large snowballs that he can use to crush enemies.

* UnderTheSea: The last few rooms of Sora's version of Prankster's Paradise are parts of an underwater canyon near Pleasure Island. Instead of swimming, Sora just casually walks on the ground as if he was on normal land and can breath fine as a CallBack to how it worked in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}''.

* TheUnfought: [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Frollo]] and [[Film/TronLegacy CLU]]. [[Disney/{{Pinocchio}} The Coachman]] is completely absent, but his KarmaHoudini status in the film makes him notable here nonetheless. Not to mention [[spoiler: [[BigBad Master Xehanort]], Braig/Xigbar, or Isa/Saïx. Notable for Braig because he actively taunts you throughout The World That Never Was, making you think that there may be a boss fight with him]].

* [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]: Basically. [[spoiler:Xehanort]] comes out of this story just a footstep away from securing victory. [[spoiler:He has twelve of the thirteen, one of which is one of the lights and at least three of the lights are down and out for the count.]]