While Kingdom Hearts 3D, by virtue of its name alone, seems like a 3D re-release of the popular PlayStation 2 title from Squaresoft, it is actually a fully-fledged sequel to the long running franchise. That 3D in the title actually refers to the subtitle of the game, which is Dream Drop Distance.

Though it's tough to generate excitement over a Kingdom Hearts game, because so many of them change up the gameplay and the core story, Kingdom Hearts 3D seems like the one to check out -- not just because it is hitting Nintendo's new handheld, but because its North American release may be sooner than we thought.

As we already know from the Nintendo Direct address that took place a few days ago, Kingdom Hearts 3D is heading to Japanese markets in late March, the 29th to be exact, but beyond that other markets were left in the dark. But just recently Square Enix might have let the cat out of the bag, at least for French gamers, when their store posted a release date of July 27th.

The product listing has since been taken down, and switched with a 'Summer 2012' release date, but it's safe to assume that the proverbial cat was let out of the bag. French markets (whose release schedule usually lines up with all of Europe) typically see Nintendo releases on Fridays, which the 27th is, and it might be safe to assume that a North American release would take place sometime around then.

Before Kingdom Hearts fans get too excited, though, this is all quite a bit of speculation based on a since taken down product listing, but signs definitely point to this being the real deal. Incorporating many of the gameplay elements from Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Kingdom Hearts 3D feels like not just a perfect entry for KH fans, but for Square Enix fans as well. Hopefully the game reaches our shores sooner rather than later.

Are you eager to get your hands on Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance? In terms of gameplay how would you like to see Kingdom Hearts 3D riff on what Final Fantasy Versus XIII is trying to do?

Source: Gimme Gimme Games (via Kotaku)