dream drop distance

Darkness becomes light, light falls into darkness.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance was conceived to bridge the gap between KHII and the soon-to-be Kingdom Hearts III. DDD was first released in 2012 on the 3DS. Much like BBS, DDD introduced many new worlds as well as The World Ends With You characters into the series, seeing Square branch out beyond Final Fantasy for the first time. For party members, Dream Eaters accompany Sora and Riku as they take their mark of mastery exam, and again, there is a dual storyline. However, this one is forced, as you will "drop". A small bar on the screen indicates the amount of time left before you drop, which can be extended by fighting enemies (actually, it's mostly an annoying feature. How many times did you drop during a boss? So many.)

The main crux of the game is Sora and Riku taking their exams to become Keyblade Masters in order for the showdown against Xehanort. However, Xehanort's not that content to wait, and he successfully invades the controlled conditions of the test and attempts to goad Riku into the Darkness once again, but as Riku's overcome it, he has a new target - Sora. Xehanort, both young and old and nobody, kidnap Sora and attempt to induct him as one of the Thirteen Darknesses, which was the true purpose of Organization XIII (as it happens, Nobodies do too have hearts. Demyx was right all along!). Thanks to Riku and Lea as well as the Disney trio, Sora is saved, and Riku dives into his heart to bring him back.

Yen Sid decides to make Riku a master, much to his surprise, and he is last seen travelling to Destiny Islands to pick up a certain Keyblade wielder that Yen Sid has heard much about. Sora, meanwhile, heads back into the world of dreams, to thank his Dream Eater friends.

Like many of the spinoffs, Kairi only has a short appearance and in this case, it's the bonus epilogue, but it's very important none the less. No more waiting, it's time for training!