The long-awaited Critical Mode difficulty forKingdom Hearts 3now officially has a release date. According to the officialKingdom HeartsTwitter account,Critical Modewill be offered as free DLC to allKingdom Hearts 3players starting tomorrow, April 23rd. In the message,Kingdom Heartsdirector Tetsuya Nomura warns that, “We’ve changed things up from previous games,” but looks forward to players enjoying Critical Mode for themselves.
Critical Mode is a difficulty setting introduced inKingdom Hearts 2as part of its Final Mix rerelease (western audiences first experienced it inKingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. How it works differs from game to game, but it typically includes double damage received from enemies and halved damage output. However, inKingdom Hearts 3Nomura has previously promised a “completely new experience” with new abilities and a much more technical approach to combat.
Currently,Kingdom Hearts 3features three different difficulties: Beginner Mode, Standard Mode, and Proud Mode. Standard Mode can be considered the baseline difficulty by whichKingdom Hearts 3was designed. Beginner Mode increases damage output by 50% while decreasing damage received by 50%. Proud Mode increases damage received by 50%. Also, the more challenging the difficulty chosen, the easier it is to unlockKingdom Hearts 3’s secret ending.
Proud Mode, beingKingdom Hearts 3’s currently most difficult mode, disappointed many players hoping for a truly challenging game experience. PreviousKingdom Heartstitles have all provided such a challenge, butKingdom Hearts 3’s unique offering of powerful abilities made even the increased damage of Proud Mode simple for many to overcome. Hopefully, Critical Mode delivers that challenge.
In February, Nomura promised thatKingdom Hearts 3would continue to be supported through 2019 withboth free and premium DLC. The Critical Mode difficulty was always promised as free DLC and its late-April release is on-schedule with regards to what was previously promised.
After the release of Critical Mode, perhaps Square Enix will be ready to start talking aboutKingdom Hearts 3’s upcoming premium DLC. Nomura’s previously said that this paid DLC will fill in some ofKingdom Hearts 3’s lingering story questions. This type of premium DLC is said to be taking priority over a Final Mix type of release forKingdom Hearts 3, so hopefully Square Enix will be able to release it relatively quickly just as it’s doing with Critical Mode.
Kingdom Hearts 3is available now on PS4 and Xbox One.
