Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls

Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls is a fanon Kingdom Hearts game created by lone video game-designer extraordinaire: BandAid606, who managed to, with the help of his seven-man tech crew, create this Kingdom Hearts addition for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Currently, it is largely in the developement stage, and is in construction parralel to BandAid's other video games.

Gameplay
Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls features an editable control system that is somewhat similar to certain previous styles. The Attack command is no longer on the Command Deck, and, instead, attacks are executed through the square button on the PS3, and the X button on the Xbox 360. (However, controls are editable in the Options menu, this is only for the default setting.) The Command Deck is precisely how it was in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. From the menu, players can equip magic and attack Deck Commands to the Command Deck. However, BandAid606 saw Items as totally useless, and hence, all items such as 'Potion' and 'Ether' have been replaced by a magic spell of the same effect. Like in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, all commands have a recharge time, and levels, which level up the more you use them. They have a hidden experience counter, and their maximum level in this game is ten. Naturally, the player gains more of them the more they progress into the storyline. (The only exception to this is with the Multishot attack Deck Command, which is gained after playing Multiplayer Mode for the first time.

Reaction Commands make a re-appearance in this game. Identically to those in Kingdom Hearts II, they are based off of pressing the triangle button (PS3) or the Y button (Xbox 360) at certain moments during a cutscene. Although with one certain difference, in Lost Souls, pressing the triangle or Y at the wrong moment results in failure. This is to prevent definite success from countlessely pressing triangle or Y. To balance this, however, each reaction command is given a four second time limit, which should be more than enough for the average gamer to hit the button. Reaction Commands are also used for speaking to people, etc. Like in Kingdom Hearts II.

The other basic commands are simple. X (PS3) or A (Xbox 360) is used to select a Deck Command, whether it be Attack or Magic, and O (PS3) or B (Xbox 360) is used to jump. Blocking and Dashing is done with the R2 button, and lock on with the R1.

A new function is available in Lost Souls. Similar to Drive Forms and Riku's Dark Mode, Power Forms are available, and depend on a meter around the HP bar called 'Appetite.' The bar is colored in orange, and increases every time a dæmon is defeated. Cloud Strife describes this as what happens when the Souleater 'full.' It is in fact the Souleater having eaten enough souls, and needing to discharge the power. It does this by granting the player the ability to use the souls' power, but only temporarily. This is what turns the player into Power Form. There are three different types of Power Form, and which one you turn into is determined by the kinds of dæmons you killed to charge up the meter. Each form has its own unique skills, and can each be leveled up to a maximum of 7, like Sora's Drive Forms. However, they each bear an uncanny resemblance to Riku's Dark Form, but with different colorations, and a dæmon emblem instead of a Heartless one. When the 'Appetite' meter is full, the player can press L1 to turn into one of the three Power Forms.

Abilities
The Abilities in Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls are divided into two categories: 'Hit' and 'Help.' Hit abilities allow a player to customize their character's combos. By selecting abilities in the Hit category, a player will add an unique new hit to their character's combo. And these hits can be activated in specific orders, specifying which hits come first, and which come last. The game will automatically convert the last hit selected into the finisher. By selecting hits in certain orders, and simply by being creative, the player can create very dangerous, effective, and potent combos. Some examples are 'Horizontal Slash,' 'Vertical Slash,' or 'Uppercut.'

Then there are 'Help' abilities. These consist of abilities like 'Scan.' Activating these give the player various helpful effects. For example, activating Scan lets the player see the HP of enemies, and others such as Magic Booster increases the power of attack magic like Fire and Ice.

Like previous games, the ability system runs on the amount of AP the player has, which increases throughout the game usually at the same time as a new ability is gained, which is helpful for the activation of said ability.

Multiplayer Mode
Like Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls has a Multiplayer Mode. By inserting more controllers into the PS3 or Xbox 360, other players can join in in this mode. The mode's versatility increases the more the player progresses through story mode. Since the player can choose between the main character and any of the people he has had in his party during story mode. Therefore, the more party members the player has had in Story Mode, the more playable characters are unlocked in Multiplayer Mode.

Multiplayer mode had two options: Co-Op or Versus. As in most video games, Co-Op features two or more players performing various tasks together, while Versus mode has them all fight in an arena until there is only one remaining. In an effort not to make Versus mode last too long, Bandage, Medicine, Heal, Cure, Cura and Curaga are unusable in this mode.

A new enemy
Kingdom Hearts: Lost Souls features a new kind of enemy. This enemy is an entity that is almost parralel to Hearrtless in some ways. It is named: the Dæmon. Dæmons are the result of an 'unknown side-effect' from Xehanort's experiments with the Heartless. Xehanort's attempts to create Heartless was not always succesfull, and sometimes the test subject would just vanish without a trace. It was in this instance that a dæmon had been created. The dæmons then started to spread from world to world, multiplying by devouring more and more people. The Dæmon, as explained by Lockhart, is in fact a human soul that has been devoured by darkness, and manifested to a creature such as this. They are in this instance similar to Heartless, for the Heartless is a heart that has been devoured by darkness, manifested. It is the same process with heart and soul, and with different outcome.

The Dæmons serve as the primary enemies throughout half of the game, and, like Heartless, have many different forms. Their form usually depends on the homeworld of their original persona, and also most often appear in the homeworld of the original persona. The other half of the game, Heartless enter the picture, and thus, the player will encounter a mixture of Heartless and Dæmons. Both being creatures of Darkness, Heartless and Dæmons tend to work together, so Heartless will appear at the same time as Dæmons.