Kingdom Hearts 3’s tough new Critical Mode arrives April 23

Square Enix will release an update for Kingdom Hearts 3 this week that adds a new difficulty mode, known as Critical Mode, to the Disney and Pixar-themed role-playing game.

On Twitter, a message posted to the Kingdom Hearts account, signed by series creator Tetsuya Nomura, said Critical Mode will be added as part of a free update on April 23. “We’ve changed things up from the previous games, so I hope you enjoy,” Nomura said.

Neither Nomura nor Square Enix have said how they’re changing things up with Kingdom Hearts 3’s version of Critical Mode, but it will undoubtedly present players with a new level of difficulty. In previous Kingdom Hearts games, Critical Mode — one step above the Proud Mode difficulty — has made the adventure more challenging by doubling the damage that players take or halving the damage they deal, among other changes.

We reached out to Square Enix for additional details, but were told that information will be released on April 23.