Gameplay footage of the PlayStation 3 game Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX has hit the web, and it shows off a very odd portion of gameplay, in that Sora is shown using magic at the beginning of the game.

Devout fans of the Kingdom Hearts series will note that the ability to use magic attacks in the first game only comes after players visit Traverse Town. There, they learn magic skills from characters such as Donald Duck and Merlin.

Check out the footage of the opening minutes of gameplay for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. Skip to 1:08 to see Sora use magic against Tidus.

It is possible that this gameplay demo, shot off-screen at the PLAY PlayStation event in South Korea, was given additional features not canon with the game. This may be to allow players to get a feel for all of the game’s mechanics in a spoiler-free area of the story.

The footage also shows off the improved graphics of HD 1.5 ReMIX. The game is to include remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and a theatre mode for HD cutscenes of the Nintendo DS game, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

More recently, the remake game was announced for localization and release in multiple territories, including America, Australia, England, France, Germany, New Zeland, and Italy.

The game will release in Japan on March 14, so expect spoilers of the game’s new content to be leaked online sometime later this week. It releases in other territories in fall 2013/spring 2014.

Are you impressed with the changes made in 1.5 so far? Did you notice that the music seemed to be re-tracked? The textures of the environment saw a large improvement from their pixely original version.

Check out the announcement trailer for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX here (in Japanese, with English subtitles). Visit the game’s official website here.

Featured image source: FreeWebs.com
Video source: Scottyyy77 YouTube channel (gameplay)