#mickey also has the amazing ability to start the game with a keyblade (no one else does and you have to get a keyblade in order to win the

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I played Kingdom Hearts Talisman for the third time ever yesterday (the first time with three people playing the game, instead of just two). And my mom still won. LOL. Every single time I have played this game, she's won (and has also played the game as Riku... hmm. Maybe there's something there. Could Riku be OP?). LOL.

But this time, I was only one step behind her. It just always works that I'm always ahead of her, but then she eventually catches up with me and gets the lucky roll to enter "Gate to the Dark" (the game ending segment) before I do, and thus wins every time. XD

[razorblade180]

Ok I gotta ask this now since I just saw your post. How would you have written ddd and kh3 to make it a tighter more impactful plot? (Also would love to know how you would write narusaku or any other naruto ship

[please comment below. This took so much time and it would suck if no one read this😭💀]

I can already tell this will go beyond the line limit so buckle up everyone. We’re only focusing on KH right now. Let’s start with DDD

Dream Drop Distance

Let’s get the major change out of the way, Kairi is on this adventure. Why? Because there’s two previous games where they express how she wants to actively help and KH2 has lines of her saying she refused to be left behind anymore. This works out just fine for Yen Sid, since this test is supposed to be a relatively safe. Sora and Riku are officially taking their mark of mastery exam but for Kairi, this serves as a hands on learning course. Going the sleeping worlds together for them to learn proper keyblade wielding sounds perfectly fine. All three get out on the island, fight Ursula in the tutorial, and then Xehanort starts his shenanigans just like in the game. Here’s the difference! Sora and Kairi are still together, while Riku still accidentally dives into Sora’s dreams.

Immediately the trio would know something isn’t quite right but the only option is press on start figuring things out while completing their task from Yen Sid. This is where gameplay is now a bit different. You play as Sora with one dream eater and Kairi as your support characters while Riku plays the same. The drop system is still the same everything. Sora and Kairi go through worlds together and get to interact. At the beginning Kairi doesn’t know much but gains abilities/confidence as you progress. Sora ends up serving as a mentor for her and guides her through the troubles of going on your first adventure. It’s a good way to put Sora in a more mature role. He’s forced to keep his wits about in order to keep Kairi safe because he doesn’t know the organization is actually after him.

We get a couple of scenes of Kairi getting better and helping Sora through the worlds which still play out the same basically. Bad guys show up and say mysterious things before leaving and the two deal with Disney problems. Riku’s doesn’t change at all because. Things only start to get really different after Symphony of Sorcery. Young Xehanort shows up at the very end of it and goes after Kairi to bait Sora into rushing to save her. Sora ends up getting hurt in the process and Young Xehanort kidnaps him here and immediately leaves before Kairi can do anything. She’s now angry at herself for not being able to apply what Sora had taught her when it truly mattered. She couldn’t protect him or herself. Kairi almost wants to give up but meow-wow lifts her spirits and she finds the resolve to fight before. Sora would never give up, especially when it came to saving his loved ones. Kairi is now a playable character and able to do all the commands that aren’t character exclusive. His dream eaters stick around and become her party members.

You go through The World That Never Was as her back in KH2 attire, fighting her way through it and she’s the one that gets told how the organization has been tracking them and all the other plot things; including why they want Sora. Kairi ends up being the one to have to fight Xemnas and even though she’s outclassed, she’s gonna give him all she’s got. On Riku’s side he sees all the weird dream imagery in Sora’s head since he’s in Sora’s dreams with the added glimpse of Kairi trying her best against Xemnas; motivating him even further to hurry up and make it to her. He still confronts Ansem and makes peace with himself. Riku finally makes it out of Sora’s dreams but retains his dream eater powers like in the game and rushes to help Kairi. He makes it half way through the fight and Kairi tells Riku to back her up. The two of them fight together with you still playing as Kairi and manage to push him back. Riku is extremely surprised by her progress and both of them go together to save Sora because he knows telling her to stay back is not an option. Riku and Kairi both fight Young Xehanort together.

Everything is mostly the same after that in terms of plot and everything that happens in the cutscenes. Including Axel showing up. Riku convinces Kairi to stay when he jumps back into Sora’s dreams, telling her someone has to make sure everything goes fine in the real world and that person has to be her. Riku comes back out after is boss fight and those cutscenes and he sees those two slackers having a tea party. Yen Sid commends all three for their bravery, especially Kairi. He also apologizes. Riku gets named a master, Sora doesn’t. Sora thankd his friends and told Kairi he was proud of her before he left to go thank the dream eaters. Even though she did well, Kairi knew without Riku, the dream eaters, or Sora, she wouldn’t have lasted as long as she did. She wanted to be strong enough to protect herself and others. So Kairi asked Yen Sid if she could have further training. Yen Sid told her and Lea about the dimension where they could train and they both accepted. Riku asked what he should do now and then the 0.2 conversation happens off screen. Boom, DDD rolls it’s credits.

Kingdom Hearts 3 [internal screaming]

Okay! So I gotta tackle this one a little different. First of all, let’s live in a world where ReMind came apart of KH3 (as it should’ve) now let’s put the cutscene between Luxord and Xigbar where it belongs at the beginning of the game, and then let’s put the cutscenes of MoM/ the organization discussing the members somewhere in in middle of the game. Like after Monsters Inc. Because that information had no reason to be hidden. It reveals nothing, but explains how people are back which is important. This knowledge doesn’t even spoil the Luxu reveal!

Second, I have to explain my two major problems that really hurt this game for me. Plot pacing and only setting things up halfway or not at all. So I’m going to tell you what changes narritive and gameplay wise I would’ve changed. Then I’ll go through the game including those changes.

Sora getting his power robbed consequence will be in every world and weigh on him.

The time characters get rescued/revealed

Ventus and Roxas’s heart influence

Isa’s plan

Aqua’s trauma

Xion, Vexen, and Demyx appearances.

Multiple playable characters.

Kairi and Lea contributions.

Also if I don’t mention something then assume it happened just like in the game.

Okay, let’s get started at Olympus. Everything is the same except one thing that I will continue to do for the other worlds. Sora will try to be proactive in stopping an Organization member, triggering a 1v1 boss fight. He’ll fight Xigbar and lose so bad that his friends have to save him. This puts in perspective that Sora really has lost his powers and is frustrated about it. This will do two things. One of them is make him slowly get more upset when someone brings up him failing the exam, being a half pint, or not being able to do things on his own. I’ll come back to the second thing later. Sora is order to continue to gain the power of waking while leaving finding Aqua to Mickey and Riku.

Twilight Town is also basically the same. However, the Demon Tide really roughs him up. Ansem and Xemnas bring up how they hope Roxas didn’t get this weak as well just to anger him. Sora wants to put them in their place but is convinced not to by Donald and Goofy. Now he’s doubting himself internally a little. Also Merlin shows up now instead of later. The trio bump into him and He tells Sora that Lea and Kairi actually are almost done training because they trained in a place where time didn’t matter. The moment they went in should’ve technically they came out but I’m being generous. Sora is shocked to realize his short time at Olympus might’ve equaled months of training for Kairi or even longer.

Toy Box is the same with the addition of fighting Young Xehanort and losing to him before a gigas piloted by his friends intervene. We still get the comment about putting hearts into vessels of their pleasing. When the world is over Kairi calls to tell him she’s finishing training and wants to see him back at Yen Sid’s tower.

Kairi and Lea are both really jazzed about how strong they’ve gotten and ready to help. Before they do, Kairi asks for a friendly spar against Sora. While he does win, he is amazed by how strong she’s gotten. Kairi comments on how she’s still lacking the real battle experience and skill he’s gain over time and he actually starts to feel better, until she asks if she could go to a world with him to get it. He wouldn’t mind it if wasn’t for one thing, he’s worried he might not be enough to save her if she needs help. Not with all his strength gone. He keeps this to himself and Kairi and Lea end up tagging along to Kingdom of Corona. On this world you get the option to be Sora with Rapunzel Flynn has mandatory party members and the choice to choose Kairi and Lea or Donald and Goofy; Or you can play as Kairi which automatically makes the party during gameplay Flynn, Rapunzel, Sora, and Lea. This works out fine because half this world has Rapunzel and Flynn leave your party so the other two characters can fill in during those sections.

So the Disney plot in this world doesn’t have to change one bit. The changes that happen all occur with all the Kingdom hearts characters. For example, Marluxia now meets Sora, Lea, Kairi, Donald and Goofy when he first reveals himself. We get sassy and rude dialogue between Marluxia and Lea about being alive and who’s actually the traitor this time around. Lea can also fill Sora in on CoM since no one does it. What makes this scene important is the moment Marluxia directs his attention towards Kairi, she starts getting really nervous and Namine’s voice comes out unexpectedly, telling him to stay back. It’s Namine who’s actually nervous, terrified even. Sora might not have the memories, but the entire exchange is enough for his heart to remember the intense desire to protect Namine from Marluxia. Sora and Lea get in between the two. Marluxia only looks at everyone and can’t help but get a little nostalgic. “The more things change, the more they stay the same. Except for one...” he says that vague response referring to how Lea and Rikuplica switching sides, then he leaves.

The next major change is Soar and Kairi spend time at the festival together and share a moment during the lantern scene. It’s at this time Sora expresses the doubt he has to protect her and the others with his current strength. Kairi tells Sora that he can do anything he puts his mind to and to never lose that smile of his. She tells him how they will protect each other and that his heart will never steer him wrong. This touching moment is ruined when Donald screams off camera. The Nobodies shown up. Everyone quickly jumps into action when another hooded figure appears. Sora goes off to pursue them triggering Lea to follow him. Sora is evenly matched with the figure back and then hood falls off. It’s Xion. Immediately seeing her causes an intense reaction from Roxas’s heart that screws up Sora in the fight and he his taken out by her. Xion planned to take him but Lea intervenes, causing both of them to get a painful reaction to each other. Marluxia shows up to retrieve Xion, who was sent there for a test run and leaves Axel in pain because Kairi caught up to protect both of them despite the fear from earlier. All he can see is Namine finally taking a real stand against him before finally going. Sora wakes up that morning on the outskirts of the kingdom where he sees Flynn riding Maximus with Lea still out of commission. Donald and Goofy looked after him while Kairi helped resuce Flynn. He tells Sora about what’s happened to Rapunzel and they all go rushing to the tower, except for Kairi who’s understandably tired, and chooses to look after Lea since he’s also still recovering. The rest of the world stays the same.

Sora and the gang try collecting their thoughts and info while in the gummi ship. So many things were happening so fast. Sora tried to apologize to Lea and Kairi but they told him there was no need. They end up going to Yen Sid again for answers to things like the new seven princesses. While there, Donald ends up taking another jab at Sora for still not having the power of waking. Sora actually gets fed up this time around, frustrated with himself mainly. He yells how he’s doing the best he can and it’s not like Donald is being of any real help either. Sora claims that he can do this on his own and takes off to the Gummi Ship before anyone could really get a word in.

Monster Inc ends up being the next world he finds himself in but not by choice. Sora had been so worked up he had forgotten the ship ran on smiles and crash landed to the nearest world. That’s not all, Kairi had actually manage to sneak aboard by surprise. Now he felt bad about endangering her but didn’t get to apologize before Kairi bonked him on the head. She reminded Sora about their conversation on the pier and expressed how determined she was to knock Sora out of his funk. They’d be stranded here otherwise. Through all of that it slipped their minds that they were monsters now and decide to look around. One thing that immediately stirred something within Kairi’s memories was the unversed which convinced them that this place was now definitely worth looking around. The plot points of this world are pretty much the same. As you go through the factory making Boo laugh. Sora is also gaining his cheerfulness back and opening up more to Kairi about how down this situation had gotten him. He was happy she was here to cheer him up. Vanitas shows up and still gets thrown through doors. Sora wonders about his desire to save Aqua so quickly stems from the possibility of Ventus’s heart sleeping in his. Kairi tells Sora about how Namine’s heart reacted to Marluxia which only made his thought more valid. He tells Kairi how he really thinks he can save her and Kairi agrees, but tells Sora it would be easier with more people. He needed to make up with Donald and to some extent, Goofy. As if on que the gummi phone rings with Chip and Dale telling Sora that they’ve lost trace of Riku and Mickey in the Realm of Darkness. What’s worse is Donald and Goofy acted rashly at the news and took Yen Sid’s star shard, sending them to who knows where. It was possible that they actually got sent to the Realm of Darkness! Sora calls Ienzo to ask if he knows a way there but he only knows about the corridors of darkness.

Kairi tells Sora that he really is connected to Ventus then maybe he can open a gate. Even if he can’t, Sora’s connection with his friends might do something. He just has to do what he did to get to Olympus. Sora opened a gate that brought him and Kairi back to Destiny Islands where they found Donald and Goofy. More importantly, an unfimiliar keyblade. Sora uses it to create a door and heads off. The others try to follow him but he tells them that they need to stay behind just in case. He also apologizes for his outburst which prompts Donald and Goofy to apologize for not seeing how much the teasing was getting to him. Kairi tells him to be safe and Sora smiles truthfully. He just has to believe in himself like she said. He can do this. Sora goes through the door.

Sora drops right in the middle of the Riku vs Aqua fight and things play out normally until the halfway point where the darkness in her becomes almost too much for Sora. Just like with Vanitas, Ventus’s heart starts to react to seeing Aqua in such a state. Suddenly Sora summons Master’s Defender again and holds it back handed. Aqua is left shocked, she can only see the friend she promised to wake up. With a heavy heart she manages to ask for help and Sora nods. You play the remainder of the fight with attacks and even a command style used by Ventus. He’s calling the shots now. You beat Aqua and she gets saved. Everyone’s happy, everyone’s crying.

Aqua takes Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi to go wake up Ven while Riku and Mickey rest up. Sora gets more strange feelings at the sight of Castle Oblivion. He can’t help but think of Namine, as well as fuzzy memories of Marluxia and a few other people but he keeps it to himself. Aqua remakes the Land of Departure and they make their way to Ven. Vanitas shows up and Aqua challenges him alone. Instead of her loosing because she blocked a fireball with her body, We get Aqua losing because she’s still very tired and the PTSD she has from the realm of darkness. Everyone panics. Sora activates the power of waking to wake Ventus (I’ll cry when he thanks Sora) and he saves Aqua. Vanitas leaves.

Everyone regroups at Yen Sid’s tomorrow again. Finally, progress is being made in collecting guardians. Ventus and Aqua need more time to recover and choose to rest. Kairi keeps them company to learn more about them, her past, skills, and also take a break. All this adventure has gotten her really exhausted. Mickey goes looking for Ansem the Wise and Sora manages to convince Riku to tag along with him. Maybe they’ll find Terra? Onward to frozen!

Sora and the gang meet else Elsa and Riku empathizes with not being able to control power and being scared of hurting people close to him. Sora emphasizes with Anna when it comes wanting to help someone important to you but they keep running away and create things that make it harder to reach them. It’s one big moment of reflection and growth in this world. Larxene still shows up and Sora knows her by name surprisingly. The feelings of anger he gives her is all he needs to know that she cannot be allowed to do whatever she pleases. He tries stopping her but fails. He’s not too upset though. His previous accomplishments and encouraging words from Kairi push him forward. Unknowingly, Vexen shows up and has an argument with Larxene. She complains about why he’s heat and he tells her that he heard memories are extremely malleable here (trolls) and he’s come to look into it before leaving Larxene to her own devices. Elsa starts really thinking her powers are nothing but darkness but Riku convinces her otherwise. Elsa thanks him but that moment of weakness creates the boss of this world. Sora and Riku fight it with Snowball while Elsa goes to save Anna. Things work themselves out the same from there. Riku and Sora feel closer than ever and Riku tells Sora he’s a master in his own right which makes Sora’s day. Vexen got valuable data.

Ventus finally felt like his body was used to moving again and was ready to start getting back in the swing of things, but Aqua was still feeling down. The guilt of taking so long and trauma was weighing on her heart. Kairi tried everything to cheer her up but nothing helped. Kairi has no choice but to pull out the big guns. She called Sora. Through lot of persuading, he convinced her to tag along with him and Ventus to go traveling with him to get them up to speed. Part of the agreement was Riku and Kairi go finding more clues about Terra’s whereabouts so they stayed behind. Checking Radiant Garden again seemed like a good idea. Kairi hadn’t been so it would kill two birds with one stone.

Pirates world was next on the list. This time we there’s four organization members! Luxord goes looking for the box and Demyx is forced to help because Isa wants him to prove his worth or why even be around? They’re on the water so he should be decent muscle. Vexen is intrigued by Davy Jones but also dropped Xion off with Luxord to see if his recent research on memory would have her perform better than earlier. Aqua and Ventus marvel at the stars, thinking of Terra. Sora told the two of them about the first adventure he went on to look for his friends. Sora praises both of them by telling him that he was at least half as skilled as they were back then, telling them that they’ll find Terra way faster than he took finding Riku and Kairi. They came across the waterfall fell. Aqua nearly panicked at the thought of being trapped when they woke up in Davy Jones’s locker but Ventus calmed her down. Sora needed to find a way to build her back up. The plot of this world doesn’t change but gameplay does a little. Ven and Aqua will grant the pirates ship most of its abilities by controlling the wind and sea while Sora navigates. More fights by boat grant them more abilities and gets them back into the swing of things. Ventus and Sora team up during the air skirmish against the flying heartless. This invigorates Aqua not just because she wants to protect them, but they looked like they were having some fun. Yeah they were fighting a heartless but they were doing it together and trusted that they had each other’s back. Aqua had missed that feeling, it had been so long since it wasn’t her vs everything. She quickly got her chance to be apart of a team again in the underwater fight. Her nerves weren’t completely calm but Sora taking her hand and being excited about getting the treasure pushed those feelings away. She had friends again, friends that wanted treasure and to sail the seas with her. How could that not be fun. Sora happily let Aqua take the lead and supported her alongside Ventus.

The crew bumps into Luxord and the black box conversation happens that leads into the race but with the added wager of Luxord willing to tell them about Terra if they win. The race has still has the heartless boats but as well as the water nobodies to personally attack your crew and hinder your abilities. After you win, Luxord still cheats and you have that boss fight. Things change when you board the boat. He still leaves but Demyx and Xion stay behind with some Nobodies to by time. Halfway through the fight, Xion starts clenching her head again and Sora does the same with his chest. Seeing Ventus’s face and feeling Roxas’s presences is just too much. Luxord takes the opportunity of the chaos to nab is companions and attack the ship. Fortunately Aqua was able to protect everyone. Vexen orders Demyx to take Xion back and that he might as well not come back either. Demyx really doesn’t want to face Isa since he was basically told not to comeback without anything useful. So he drops Xion off and plans to avoid him altogether.

After the ship is repaired and Phantom Jack leaves, Aqua takes a minute to think. They were about to head into what sounded like a war. Their fun treasure adventure had turned a serious matter. She confessed that she might not be up to the task. This one, or even the keyblade war. Ventus pulled out his wayfinder and told her even if she decides not to go, she’ll always be fighting beside him as long as he had this. He believed Terra was still fighting and got his strength from them. Aqua pulled out her wayfinder and simply held it to her chest. He wasn’t wrong. All that time in the darkness and a piece of her never felt truly alone as long as she held this. Their unbreakable connection to her friends was something Aqua would never doubt. To top it all off, Sora had remembered he still had Kairi’s good luck charm from before the exams. He said he couldn’t count how many times this simple thing had driven him to keep going. Aqua joined them on the boat. It was only after seeing the other pirates did her resolve really hit its peak. All of them were ready to face staggering odds to fight for what mattered most to them, despite the fear. Aqua was sure of it now, she’d stand with her friends when the fated day came. Aqua raised her keyblade a creates the whirlpool for the Kraken fight. For the first time since she arrived, she looked at Sora and completely immersed herself in the moment. She calls him captain, and says she’s ready whenever he is. He couldn’t be more thrilled and Ventus was happy to see Aqua ready to go. The rest of the world plays out the same all the way until the very end. I would personally add a scene though of three sailing alone for just a little longer. Sora can’t help but think about how this was his dream with Riku and Kairi once. He wondered if is the only one who even rememberers or cares about a thing like this. Suddenly another ship Sails by them. They get ready to fight until they sea a papou fruit flag. Riku and Kairi unexpectedly reveal themselves on it with smiles on their faces. Apparently the gummi phone had really included all of information Jimmy had written. Riku explained that he just knew without question Sora would come here of all places to try and cheer someone up. Riku and Kairi told Aqua they hadn’t found much info on Terra but they did find her armor and keyblade thanks to Kairi’s foggy memory of certain places and Ienzo’s participantion in those lab areas. They all were about to continue their journey but since they were here, something had to be settled. Sora wanted another race to decide who would be captain. Riku laughed and told him they both have ships and that didn’t matter. However, he vaguely mentioned another reason to race, the real reason Sora tried so hard that day on the island. Riku pointed at the symbol on his flag and Sora immediately pouted. He grabbed the wheel of the ship and told Kairi to countdown for the race. No one knew what they were racing for except them and a giggling Kairi, who had a pretty good idea on what it was about. She says go and then the cutscene ends.

Big Hero Six is exactly the same except Sora sees Riku Replica and is pretty sure he’s from castle oblivion. Vexen uses the knowledge Rikuplica favs him about making Baymax filled with suffering so he can fix Xion to her absolute peak. When he’s done, Isa informs him that a Demyx has ran off and orders Vexen to go bring him back. Which is actually code for “good job, now escape while you still can.” Vexen informs him that it would take an extremely strong connection for Xion to have any “unfortunate” memories of the past to resurface. Things play out normally until Zexion meets Ansem the wise. What happens this time? He tells Sora and friends that he’s back with Vexen. (That’s kinda important.)

Everyone rests up for the final battle. The Sora and Kair scene on destiny islands is now longer. Kairi asks if Sora is feeling like his old self again. Sora tells her that he is thanks to her never giving up on her. Both of them get quiet for a moment before Sora speaks again. He does confess that he’s still worried a bit. Every word he went to had one thing or another that ended up being too much for him alone, and couldn’t help but feel like it would’ve been different if he truly regained all of his power. Kairi tells him that he isn’t alone but he shakes his head because she’s missing the point. Sora wasn’t scared of the organization overwhelming him, but he was terrified of that he’d try protecting someone and fail. He admitted he was scared of losing her. Kairi admitted that tomorrow scared her too. Every adventure they went on together was filled with so many enemies and left her exhausted by the end of it. Now she was joining the war. Kairi felt more than a little unprepared despite all the prep she tried squeezing in. Sora tried asking if by any chance at all that she could wait here one more time and she refused outright. No matter how nervous she was about the whole thing, Kairi told Sora that she would never wait again. That they will protect each other no matter what. And for added luck, she hands him a papou fruit. Sora was shocked. Kairi simply smiled and placed it in his hand before grabbing another one. Sora pulled out her good luck charm to give it back but she said it’s basically his at this point. The two smiled gently and finally shared the fruit. You get OathKeeper

Keyblade war time! Woo! This is by far the easiest to put into words. Riku and Kairi are your party members for the 10,000 enemy battle because it’s a literal crime that the Destiny trio didn’t work together. You get past that and Terranort still bodies half the team. Aqua’s resolve starts the crumble as she races to Ven, he isn’t moving at all. Sora is left in a state of disbelief as Goofy and Mickey try getting Donald up, and Kairi checking on Axel. In no time at all, his fear seams to be coming true. They need to regroup. Unfortunately the demon tide appears and blocks the exit. Riku gathers the remaining forces to try and fend it off but seeing Ven taken out by Terra really shook Aqua. We see the shadows turn into Anti-Aquas as the real Aqua starts to slowy panic. She doesn’t even hear the others screaming her name, telling her to look out before Mickey and Goofy try saving her, but they’re all swept up. Now it’s the Destiny Trio vs the Demon Tide in a fight the player is forced to fight, but can’t win. No music plays, just the sound of the fight and the sight of the organization watching from above. Eventually Kairi slips up due to the overwhelming odds. Sora quickly tries to outrun the Demon Tide coming towards her but can’t. Sora screams for Riku’s help but turns to see nothing but his friends hand reaching for him before being swept away. He can’t hold it in anymore, Sora drops to his knees and screams. He wouldn’t have made it this far without all of them, but now they’re gone. Sora drops his keyblade, then is swept away.

He arrives in the final world and gets his task from chirithy. In the beginning he feels so defeated, then encounters Namine. Instead of her telling him that Kairi is keeping him together, Namine says that she can feel everyone connected to him doing their part. Sora has done so much to try and keep everybody safe and spent all this time with them during their adventure that it’s only natural that they would believe in him. Now Sora feels a twinge of guilt, he gave up way too soon. No way he can let that slide. He was going to make it up to them for this second chance. Sora tells Namine about all of these flooding emotions he’s had involving her and everyone else in castle oblivion. Namine is genuinely shocked. Despite the chains being broken, Sora retained the key events. He didn’t look at her like he did back in The World That Never Was. Sora had been talking to her like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. Sora told Namine that he was going to save everyone, including her. He promised that they were going to get her a body and she had to wait just a bit longer. Namine believed him and said she will try to get in contact with Terra. For a moment it felt like Sora could actually see Namine smile at him instead of just being a star. Sora smiled back and told her thank you, for everything. He ran off to do his job. Namine simply watched and tried not to cry. Their promise really found a way for them to meet again in a way she would’ve never dreamed of. Instead of it fading away. You get oblivion.

Before Sora really starts piecing himself together, he encounters the mystery star, and then an extra star. This extra star follows him around and surprises Sora when it reveals himself to be Roxas. He tells Sora he should’ve expected this since Sora was barely hanging on himself! Sora sheepishly apologizes but Roxas isn’t too bothered by it because he knows it’s temporary. What bothers him is Xion. He tells Sora who she is and the reason he feels hurt when they’re around each other is because of Xion’s connection to himself. Roxas asks Sora to face Xion and embrace that hurt so they can save her. Sora agrees but wonders if he can handle it. So far all fights against her didn’t go well. Roxas tells him not to worry. All he needs Sora to do his try his hardest and Roxas will make up the difference. Sora has no doubt Roxas will and thanks him before heading off. Roxas continues to follow you just so you have someone to talk to. Sora puts himself together and opens a gate to go find the others. Chirihy tells Sora that for future reference not to use the power of waking like he’s about to and explains how incredibly dangerous it is. Sora nods and leaves.

Sora beats up The Lich like usual and Young Xehanort calls him dumb. Everyone gets rescued from the cusp of death, now thoroughly frustrated by how sloppy they were. They’re going full throttle this time.(Oblivion obtained!) The team runs towards the fight again. Aqua and Ven are ready for Terranort but Lingering Will beats them to the punch, taking Terranort away as they fight. The Demon Tide arrives again with heartless and you fight it with the Destiny Trio. The fight has custom team attacks and even a trinity limit. You win and it turns into the hurricane again. Union X keyblades show up. (It’s so cool.) Ventus puts his hand on his heart. He feels oddly happy. All the scenes leading up to the boss rush are the same.

Sora and Riku vs Xigbar and Dark Riku goes off without a hitch. Nothing changes with Xigbar but Dark Riku is different. The original Riku Replica takes over the vessel. It’s clear the other’s could use the help and Vexen is on the good guy’s side so they can make more, is his reasoning. The original Riku goes off to chase Ansem while Rikuplica stays with Sora. He tells Sora it’s nice to see him again and Sora couldn’t agree more. The two of them don’t even have to speak to know exactly where to go next. They rush over to help Mickey, swiftly beating Luxord and freeing him so he can go after Xemnas. Suddenly the war feels like an old grudge match. Sora and Rikuplica vs Larxene and Marluxia. The heroes point their weapons at their foes and tell them this one is for Namine. Marluxia is actually happy Sora finally remembers him. It makes this fight all the sweeter. The fight ends with the heroes win, but at a price. Larxene and Rikuplica had struck each other down at the same time. Sora rushes to his friend who was starting to fade. Rikuplica told him not to feel bad about it. He planned on giving up this vessel after the fight anyway. The only reason he took it was to make sure those two wouldn’t hurt Namine and to fight by Sora’s side again at least once. Rikuplica tells Sora to take care of her before fading away, leaving the vessel. Sora finally remembers Castle Oblivion in its entirety. He simply clenches his fist and accepts the hurt before pressing on.

Ventus and Aqua catch up to Vanitas and Terranort. Aqua demands to know what happened to the armor that appeared earlier and Terranort simply laughs. Enraged, Aqua summons Master’s defender and rushes in to fight. Ventus follows her lead and Sora joins in a few minutes later. While that’s happening, Riku rushes through the maze towards Ansem until he hears a familiar voice. It leads him to dark chains that suspend and crush Lingering Will until he cuts them. The armor is cracked but still functioning. He thanks Riku and starts heading off before Riku stops him. Riku hadn’t told Ven and Aqua but he found something else at Radiant Garden. He pulls out Terra’s wayfinder and gives it to the armor. Riku tells him to go protect what matters and heads off. Things aren’t going to well back at the battle. Terranort manages to break Ven’s keyblade and Vanitas rushes in after Aqua as she tries to save Ven. Sora is quick enough to try and take the hit for both of them but Lingering Will swoops in again to save them. They’re all stunned to see him. Terra thanks Sora for looking after his friends but he can take it from here. Sora nods and manages to escape the battle. Terra tries to convince Ven and Aqua to leave too but they flat out ignore him. They pull out their wayfinders and each one starts to glow. Aqua tells Terra from this point forward they fight as a team. She tosses Ven Master’s Defender and summons her original keyblade. Her and Ventus bring out their armor and stand beside Terra. Now the real fight begins. The fight gives you the same team attacks from the Mirage Arena and each character gets their original command style that transforms into their character exclusive one from bbs. Wingblade, Ghost Drive, and Rockbreaker; while Terranort uses Dark impulse and Vanitas loses his mask and fights like he does in the final phase against Ventus. Vanitas is the first to fall. He nearly beat a Ventus until the boy gained a boost of strength from seemingly nowhere, his swords of light turning into starlight keyblades and striking down Vanitas. He simply laughs, giving Ventus no answer to his many questions about Vanitas. The entire wayfinder trio is know souly focused on Terranort. Refusing to give up, the man summons the chains again and captures them. He goes after Aqua first who almost managed to break free. The others scream her and The Guardian rises from the shadows to save her. It breaks the chains and rips off the bandages. Ven quickly uses the keyblade to wrap Terranort in chains while Lingering Will holds his body down for The Gaurdian to fire his heart out. A massive beam of light shoots up before fading and only leaving the armor. Ven and Aqua are speechless until the armor lifts its helmet to reveal Terra underneath in tears. Ven and Aqua throw their helmets off too and ran into their friends arms. All three of them hugging and crying.

Sora runs right into the middle of Saix and Xion fighting Axel and Kairi. Instinctively he screams out Xion’s name and everything goes quiet. Axel is confused by the name until she finally takes off the hood to reveal the white hair and yellow eyes. His memory starts to reform bit by bit and he grabs his head. Sora and Kairi’s chest both feel heavy but for the first time, Xion doesn’t react. Because of all the experiments, the only thing she has is broken memories and the suffering from them. You begin fighting her alone but to no effect. Sora rememberers Roxas’s words and lets in the pain. Xion comes at him again but stops at the sound of her name, this time with Roxas’s voice coming out of Sora. Xion’s head gets a little fuzzy but it doesn’t break the rampage. Kairi and Axel manage to endure the pain as well and stand with Roxas/Sora. If one voice isn’t enough then they’ll all try calling to her as they knock some sense in into her. Sora/Roxas summons Two Become One. The three are ready. It’s now or never. After an intense 3v2 fight, Xion starts to mentally down in the middle of combat. Then the standard cutscene happens where Xemnas shows up. The only difference being Axel’s keyblade doesn’t break. Xemnas grabs Kairi with his lightning instead of her wrist and leaves. Sora tries running after her best Saix gets in the way until the Seasalt trio pushes him back. Roxas tells Sora to go after Kairi and leave this fight to them. Sora runs off and you basically play the Remind fight but with no Xemnas. It ends the same though.

The battle against the Nort court is the same. Kairi getting shattered is the same, as well as getting into Scala. Xion tells Sora she can still feel Kairi and for him to remember her words. The thirteen armors and Xehanort boss are all the same as well. The only difference I added was a clash that sent both Sora and Xehanort flying backwards. Sora gets up first and has the chance to end it but realizes the good luck charm had fallen to the ground in front of him. Sora picks it up and all the pent up anger frustration he has from Xehanort ruining his and his and friends lives gets put on a leash. Sora remembers Kairi’s words about never losing his smile. He can’t help but get emotional and once again asks Xehanort what was the point of any of this. Xehanort gives his speech about balance and the entire scene and plays out like normal. Next major change is the end. Riku and Mickey convince Sora to not use the Power of Waking right off the bat, fearing the consequences. Sora listens to their idea to see Yen Sid but even he isn’t sure how to get Kairi back but they’ll do their best to find her. Sora leaves to get some air outside. Riku can’t help but follow him outside minutes later and finds Sora looking at his keyblade. He calls out Sora’s name and the boy turns around and does a smile similar to when he released his heart in Hollow Bastion. Riku knows Sora better than he knows himself. He doesn’t even try to stop Sora, but tells him to be careful. Sora puffs out his chest and says he’ll be back with Kairi in no time at all. Sora asks Riku to tell the others thanks and not to worry before opening up a gate and walking through. The ending sequence plays out the same and then the credits roll.

ReMind is a bonus episode after getting the secret reports and nothing in it changes because it’s perfectly fine. The only added thing we get is Sora giving back the lucky charm before he fades away, telling Kairi to be sure and bring it back to him. Limit cut and secret episodes are DLC or more extra stuff but yeah, I’m done.

In Summary:Kingdom Hearts 3, but the characters interact with each other and are allowed to feel multiple emotions at a time for extended periods of time. I know I sound like I’m punching down on this game but I genuinely do love this franchise since forever and I have strong feelings about almost everything to do with it. Which is why I’m bummed that KH3 is like my least favorite kingdom hearts game. It has good things in it but falls short on so many scenes and opportunities. This soft rewrite was literally me taking 92% of what the game already had in it and rearranging it to create various new situations that inevitably end the same way it does in the actual game. So yeah I give this game a 7/13 I’m still buying every game though 💀 (I’m not getting into any of my ideas of how kh3 could’ve gone before we knew too much about it. Now that’s a rewrite!)

[killscreencinema]

Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

When Kingdom Hearts was first announced, I was excited to say the least.  By this point, I was still a diehard Squaresoft fan (let me emphasize - SquareSOFT, before the dark times... before Square Enix...).  I was also a lapsed Disney fan.  I used to be obsessed with all things Disney as a child, and even dreamed of some day being an animator for Disney, before I discovered not only how limited my art ability was, but how torturous an existence being an animator is.  Ah, to be steeped in the warm nostalgic womb of Disney, before life pulled me out and smacked my ass with adulthood.

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts appealed to me because it was the conglomeration of my childhood fandom with my mature fandom, smooshed together in a way that made every bit of sense, like peanut butter and chocolate.  When it released in 2002 (wow, has it really been that long???), it did not disappoint, and I spent countless hours playing and replaying it until I 100% completed it.  Oh man, sorry, I’m having ‘Nam flashbacks to the many fits of rage I had while trying to beat the Ice Titan.  Screw Sephiroth, the Ice Titan was a real bastard, what with his only vulnerability being knocking his projectiles back at him, taking off lil bits of his health at a time, while he relentlessly pounded you with area attacks or magic that freeze you. 

So obviously, I’m very well acquainted with Kingdom Hearts.  After playing the second game, though, I dropped off because the spin-off sequels became overwhelming and stupid.  I knew something was amiss when I booted up Kingdom Hearts II the first time, and didn’t know what the everloving fuck was happening (while the first game’s plot was more or less pretty straight forward).  I’ll dig into Kingdom Hearts II in a later post though.

So when Kingdom Hearts III finally came out, I was ambivalent... but curious.  I started to get that ol’ Kingdom Hearts itch.  I didn’t want to go into the game completely ignorant of the lore, though.  I want to give the game as fair a chance as I could WITHOUT having to play the umpteen games before it.  So I got the HD remix for the PS4 and decided to start from the beginning.

I’m glad that I did, too, because replaying Kingdom Hearts was a nice revisit to simpler times.  I forgot how well structured the game is and how well realized the Disney/Square amalgamation premise was.  The two properties were surprisingly compatible, with Final Fantasy characters seamlessly coexisting alongside the likes of Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, and other iconic Disney characters.  Speaking of Mickey, Kingdom Hearts is nothing if noteworthy of one amazing accomplishment - making Mickey Mouse BADASS!  Who saw that coming? 

The story still holds up - you play as Sora, a kid from the peaceful world of Destiny Isles, who dreams with his friends Riku and Kairi of someday leaving their humdrum existence and going off on an adventure.  Naturally, they get more than  they bargained for when their home is destroyed by an existential threat known as the Heartless, who have been ravaging worlds left and right.  Sora only survives after being mysteriously given a magical weapon called a Keyblade, which is the only thing capable of defeating the Heartless and sealing off worlds from their attacks.  Sora wakes up at a refugee world of sorts called Traverse Town, where survivors of the Heartless attack have gathered, and he teams up with Goofy and Donald Duck, both of whom are on their own quest to find King Mickey in order to hopefully beat back the Heartless threat. 

As the trio of heroes, you travel from world to world, each one based on some Disney property or another, teaming up with the likes of Aladdin, Jack Skellington, or Ariel from The Little Mermaid to vanquish the Heartless.  The gameplay is fast-paced hack n’ slash action, where you can only control Sora, leaving Goofy and Donald to the mercy of a questionable AI (which brings me to my first pro-tip:  do not, except under the most extreme circumstances, give Donald or Goofy items because they will burn through them in a single battle or two).  Like any other RPG, you eventually upgrade keyblades, buy and equip armor or stat boosting accessories.  Kingdom Hearts is a pretty accessible game for even the most RPG illiterate, no doubt because Square suspected the Disneyification would attract younger than normal gamers.  However, the game isn’t “baby’s first RPG” either, as it can get pretty difficult pretty quickly for the uninitiated. 

Speaking of difficulty, since this was my third play through of the game, I wanted to really make it count, so I played on the hardest difficulty setting - Proud Mode.  Phew, let me tell you, it kicked my ass for good long while before I acclimated to it.  Even weaker enemies at the beginning of the game can kill you in 2-3 hits if you’re not careful, and with Sora having not yet learned useful combos or the Cure spell yet, this was an extremely trying way to begin a game I hadn’t played in more than 10 years.  Eventually, as you level up, get better weapons, and spells the playing field evens up a bit more, but you’re going to need patience if you’re going to try this challenge.

I also decided to “platinum” the game since I was playing on PS4, which meant for this play through on “Proud Mode”, I needed to complete all the side quests (including the secrets bosses and all the Coliseum matches), obtaining all the weapons, completing nearly all the Gummi ship missions, never using a continue, and maxing out Sora at level 99.  Then after beating the game, I’d have to play it again, this time on Easy (fuck it, I’ve earned it), and beat it under 15 hours while using only the default weapons and armor.  So yeah, I really made it count this time around, and I’m happy to say I succeeded in getting the platinum trophy.  For those playing at home, that means I beat all the secret bosses, including Sephiroth and the aforementioned Ice Titan, like total bitches on Hard Mode.

I’m a goddamn Kingdom Hearts Master!

And I had a ball doing it, even when things got frustrating or tedious.  The game really holds up and I’m shocked that it be completed in under 15 hours (my speedrun clocked in around 10).  So it’s a surprisingly short game as far as RPGs go, if you just stay on the main quest.  If you’re a Disney fan and/or an RPG gamer, but haven’t play this game because you’re intimidated by the ridiculous lineup of sequels and spin-offs that it spawned, I say give it a try anyway.  It’s one of the best games on the PS2 and probably one of the masterpieces crafted by Square before they dipped in quality.

But all that  is about to change..... ohhhhh yess.... (Cue the first iconic notes of the intro cinematic to Final Fantasy VII)

[nadziejastar]

NO FEAR: IsaLea is still subtly canon (ill take what I’ll get) and Skuld comes and they become a platonic trio. No Isa/Skuld or Lea/Skuld (writers could try to flip it on us). FEAR: Skuld eats up all the attention in the trio. Isa and Lea’s characterization gets reduced to one dimensional fanboys. Skuld paired up with Isa or Lea. We stick in forced pairing hell and there will be ship wars.

NIGHTMARE: The writers make Skuld and either Isa or Lea get married and have a kid. I don’t think push it THAT far. I dunno if they’ll truly go through with a romantic pairing. But I’m gonna lose hope and interest if they do. 

Sora: Kairi, I’ll keep you safe.

Kairi: Let me keep you safe.

Well, if you ask me, Lea and Isa were already reduced to one-dimensional fanboys in KH3. Lea was more of a one-dimensional fanboy for different characters, though. And in future games, he’ll probably continue to be portrayed that way. I’ve already lost interest. The only hope I have left is the sick humor I’ll get watching all the characters get destroyed. Lea and Kairi’s role in the final battle was supposed to be saving Isa from Xehanort’s control. But since that idea was thrown in the trash, they had no real reason to be there anymore. Thus, they became totally irrelevant to the plot. Roxas conveniently arrived just in time to take Lea’s place, while Xion arrived to take Kairi’s place.

Saïx: You’re the fire that feeds Sora’s anger.

Kairi: No… Sora’s in danger because of me…

Kairi wanted to prove herself during her training. She wanted to keep Sora and the others safe for a change. And she does! She becomes a real hero instead of a damsel-in-distress. Psyche! She actually regresses to be an even MORE useless damsel than ever before! 

Her new friend Axel doesn’t even react when she’s kidnapped. Kairi, who? Who cares about her? Roxas Stu and Xion Sue are here! Time for a big snuggly hug! But wait. Now there’s more Guardians of Light than necessary. Kairi is superfluous. How can we make her important? Well, I guess she can motivate Sora again? A-hyuk! How does her fight with Saïx go? Exactly like it did before she could wield a Keyblade, of course! She is simply the fire to fuel Sora’s anger…again.

Kairi: I’m training to become a Keyblade wielder like you. That’s right. No more waiting for you to come back from your adventures.

It’s okay. She still has a happy ending! While everyone else celebrates, she gets to imagine Sora is with her while crying to herself. Sure, everyone starts to worry as she’s hallucinating. But it’s okay. Sora will be back. 

Donald: Kairi, you were great!

Kairi: Oh?

Sora: You are different, Kairi, but I’m just glad you’re here!

Kairi: You and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you.

Any minute now. She’ll just wait right here for him to come back.

Lea: Ah, I’ll catch up with ya in no time flat.

Sora: What? You wanna be a Keyblade Master?

Lea: Yeah. I mean, I came here to learn how to wield one.

Lea wanted to prove himself as a Keyblade wielder as well. He put himself at risk using the D.T.D just to find Mickey. All so he could become a wielder and find Isa. He believes that inside people’s memories, he can live forever. He spends the whole game training with Kairi in preparation for the final battle. Yeah…Lea was a pretty cool character. 

Xigbar: Axel!

Lea: Axel? Please. The name’s Lea. Got it memorized?

Xigbar: You’re not supposed to be here!

Xigbar was right. Lea, you aren’t supposed to be here.

Axel: You kidding? Do you know how popular I am? I got loads of people rootin’ for me. Sorry, boss. No one axes Axel. Got it memorized?

That’s better.

Sora & Riku: YOU!?

Lea: Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, I was gonna come swooping in, Keyblade in hand! But I just couldn’t get mine to materialize. Must be in the snap of the wrist or something.

For some reason, Lea stopped caring about Isa, and his sole purpose in life became…Roxas…again. A character who he has…no ability to bring back, actually. Not even with his snazzy new Keyblade. So, what now? How can he still be useful?

Lea: You had your perfect little script, but you kinda forgot to write the sequel. Now, let’s find out what happens!

Few people realize that Lea—excuse me, AXEL— was breaking the fourth wall all the way back in KH3D. He knew exactly what would happen!And instead of braving the darkness, rescuing his friend, and becoming a hero…Axel gets benched. Literally. He gets to watch from the bleacher seats.

Lea: Promises to keep. I’ll always be there to get my friends back. What, bad timing? 

Well, whaddaya know? It turns out that getting his ass handed to him was just the magic spark Roxas Stu needed to magically arrive and save the day. Axel fanboys over Roxas Stu’s sheer awesomeness! Roxas Stu smiles at Axel with a cool expression. Roxas Stu is back, so Axel has served his purpose. He tells Axel that his five minutes are up now. It’s HIS turn.

Xemnas: Ah, ever the rogue pawn. Knocked from the board early in the game. Utterly useless and forgotten.

Whoa, Xemnas can break the fourth wall, too? He sure called it ahead of time. But it’s okay. He is more than happy about it. He compliments Roxas Stu and Xion Sue for their amazing prowess with the Keyblade! Those two are old pros, unlike him, after all! A-hyuck!

Saïx: Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves.

This picture is a fairly decent representation of KH3′s Isa. He’s on his knees, alone, being looked down on by everyone. Lea is disgusted with him. He’s lost all sense of purpose…in the story, that is. If you think about Isa’s canon story, he and Lea try to rescue a girl that they barely know, and are not sure even exists. They become apprentices just for her, then get turned into Nobodies. They devote their lives to finding information about this girl, and they conspire to make Saïx Xemnas’ right-hand man. Saïx is so obsessed with this random girl, he drifts apart from Axel and becomes…a sociopath. Yep, that’s all folks. You were expecting a tragic backstory? Nope! There’s no intriguing human experiment plot! Just girl drama.

Maleficent: You see? It’s just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you. You’re better off without that wretched boy. Now, think no more of him and come with me. I’ll help you find what you’re searching for…

Roxas Stu and Xion Sue observe with pity as Axel’s OLD best friend gets put in his place. As his NEW best friends, they are rewarded with brand-new DLC packs…starring them, of course. They were always special after all. The only Keyblade users in Days. But it wasn’t enough for them to simply steal Axel and Kairi’s first and only fight as wielders. Now they need MORE screen time so we can bask in their glory.

Axel: You let them reduce you to this?

Axel does break the fourth wall a lot in KH3. Well, he was actually doing it here, too. He’s not referring to Organization XIII when he asks this—he was talking about Square Enix and Disney. He’s asking Isa how he let himself get turned into such a pathetic character. And the answer is simple: Axel went off and made other friends. More POPULAR friends. So he got left in the dust. From a narrative standpoint, that’s exactly what happened.

Riku: Take care of her.

Somewhere along the way, Saïx became part-Xehanort. The implication in KH3 was that he willingly became a vessel, since he wasn’t being controlled like Terra was, and Lea was disgusted at how he let himself get reduced to his state. So, he basically sacrificed his humanity JUST to find this random girl. Totally believable actions from a complex and multi-dimensional character, right? Then he became obsessed with power…or something? Meanwhile, Axel makes other friends. Saïx gets jealous and becomes a giant asshole, and now he has to redeem himself by getting replicas for Lea’s NEW bestest friends. 

He then quietly fades away in the background, out of shame. It’s an utterly sad and pathetic story, really. One more fitting for a tragic villain than someone on the side of the good guys. I can’t decide which would be worse. Isa and Skuld actually getting together, and rewarding this horrible characterization…or Isa continuing to degrade himself for her while his feelings go unrequited. I remember how much I despised Riku’s character arc in KH1, and how pissed off I was during his ending scene. I was SO grateful that the future games stepped away from shit like this. But now, it’s back, I guess.

Roxas: You’re me, so you can feel what I felt.

Sora: No. Roxas, you’re you. We’re not the same. I wanted to tell you that. That you deserve as much as I do to be your own person.

Personally I doubt that Isa and Skuld will actually become a couple. I think Isa’s fate is to be the same as the Riku Replica. Naminé brainwashed him, and implanted false memories inside of him to make him think he was in love with her. He became obsessed with a phantom girl to the point where he wanted to kill his childhood friend, Sora. He finds out the truth about how their relationship was a fraud and never existed in the first place. Then he dies.

Then comes back! But…he sacrifices his only chance at having his own life. Like Isa, he did it “all for her”. In a narrative sense, he was sacrificed as a pawn in order to bring back Naminé. She needs the replica more (ie. is more popular) than him. And nobody needs him, since the REAL Riku is already around anyways. A faithful replica until the very end. Isa served the same purpose in KH3. His arc was sacrificed in order to concoct an excuse to bring Roxas and Xion back, and also to put the spotlight on Skuld from now on.

Riku Replica: So…it’s over. Hmph. Death doesn’t frighten me. Good riddance to a phony life. My heart was never real. I’m sure even what I’m feeling now is probably all fake.

Riku: What are you feeling?

Riku Replica: What happens when a fake dies—one like me? Where will my heart go? Does it disappear?

Riku: It’ll go somewhere. Maybe to the same place as mine.

Riku Replica: Tsk. A faithful replica until the very end. That’s…okay.

Riku Replica had a MUCH more dignified death in CoM. He rejected the fake memories he had. He resented the fact that he was a fake replica. He didn’t have to go to the Dark Realm or the afterlife. He was always a part of Riku. So ultimately, he went back to him. They had the same heart—they were the same person. I thought that was a fitting end, and his final words were quite compelling actually. KH3 plays up the fact that replicas are totally unique individuals, yet treats Riku Replica as being even more disposable than before. But it’s okay. He’s happy about it. A-hyuk!

[flynn-science]

Ryan Reacts to Kingdom Hearts 3

Okay, so this is a mix of live reactions and post-world reactions. Lot of live reactions in the beginning and end, more sporadic in between. You can probably guess what I’m reacting to most of the time from the sequence of events.

Mmm dat orchestral Don’t Think Twice Needed a minute on the menu. Finally seeing it say KH3 was A Lot. HOLY FUCK WHAT A COOL INTRO The speed is the same as 0.2, with that sprint that kicks in. Will take some getting used to. The stained glass looks gorgeous though Nice touch of KH1 Sora’s jump animation changing to KH2 Sora’s Making choices again like the original. Vitality is probably health, Wisdom is probably magic, and Balance is, well, balanced. I’ll go balanced. (I’m on Proud, btw) Guardian, Warrior, Mystic. Same as the weapons in KH1. In that case, I’ll make the same choice I do there: Guardian. SORA HAS AN IDLE ANIMATION OH MY GOD BLOCK AND DODGE FROM THE START! Also this sky place is new for a Dive to the Heart (AND THOSE HOOOORNS, LISTEN TO THEM) The water looks great A four-hit combo instead of the usual three? Huh Scan from the start too Nice detail of Sora’s head angling towards the locked on target All this music sounds SO GOOD I’MMA NEED THIS SOUNDTRACK ONCE I’M DONE Ahhh that little soft version of Sora’s theme WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS KINGDOM HEARTS II.9 SHIT These Instagram-style posts on loading screens are adorable Oh damn, we get a LOT of abilities from the start. And this is on Proud! Dodge Roll, Air Slide, Aerial Dodge (formerly a Master Form ability), plus all the Flowmotion stuff Wow, THREE shortcut menus! 12 total! Wow, and a LOT more control over how allies use items. That can be very useful! Sweet, synthesis materials are back! Water is an interesting new spell. And being able to reorder the Magic menu is nice (though I only use shortcuts). Kinda glad the item art has stayed the same. Also hey, Wellspring is from BBS. And first AP Boost of course goes into Sora, as will they all. WOW USING THOSE IS WAY FASTER NOW Yooo that Underworld music with the Titans’ appearance Take a shot every time someone says “Sora, Donald, Goofy” Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 1 HERCULES HAS JOINED THE PARTY “Team Effort: Always start battles with a team attack command.” Damn, what are those that this ability is FIFTY AP?! (Are team attacks that move we saw Sora and Goofy do in a trailer? The throw?) I like that tutorials are playable at any time Also I was worried Save Points might not return with that auto save message at the start ALSO THIS IS NIGHT OF FATE PLAYING IN THE COMBAT TUTORIAL Ooh, Panacea art is nice. (Panacea has only appeared as a command in games like BBS and re:coded, so it hasn’t had art before) *reads Ability Ring* Damn, if 10 AP is a SMALL boost, I can’t imagine how expensive abilities are gonna get (well, Herc does have that one 50 AP ability) Ultima Weapon returns, looks like Synthesis recipes are based more on collector’s goals than finding them. Looks like there’s 60 synthesis materials, sounds about right. Ooh, synthesis item rarities, types: soothing and pulsing are from BBS, writhing, betwixt, sinister are new. Looks like everything goes in Shards, Stones, and Gems. Ooh that’s a lot of Heartless. Hey when is Jiminy gonna show up? Gonna need to complete that Journal again. Oooh battle music has bits of the old Coliseum battle music. Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 2 Environmental fire damage followed by Sora’s butt on fire limiting my actions. Neat. Okay, these have been live reactions so far, but I’m gonna stop doing that because it’s slowing my progress. “What the heck is Rage Form?” “OH. OH THAT’S A THING.” I keep seeing hidden Mickeys, I bet those are gonna be a thing with the camera once I get it. Also damn are they giving me a lot of ingredients for the cooking minigame I can’t play yet. So the biggest thing I’ve noticed about the new combat is that because they give you so many really powerful abilities (grand magic at higher levels, formchanges, attractions, team attacks) that are all basically free (are you hitting things with your keyblade or magic? Can you hit this specific enemy once? Can you wait for your teammate to give you a prompt?), the number of enemies in each fight seems to have SIGNIFICANTLY increased from previous entries. KH2’s level design this is NOT. Lots more nooks and crannies to search. Me approaching the gates of Olympus: “Is this Anor Londo?” Yay nostalgic Coliseum music! And oooh little environmental puzzles are back! Like from KH1! I forged Goofy a new shield! Aaaand playable Riku. I have no idea why they were so dodgy about the second playable character. This is only the third time Riku’s been playable. Anyway, gotta fight the Demon Tower again. Damn, Riku is WAY stronger than Sora right now. Wish I could have read his abilities (and moved shortcuts). Nice emulation of the death screen. Also hot damn, is that Repliku talking??? I guess Riku’s “other me” really could be Repliku. Awwwww yeah, Lea’s getting new clothes too! YEAH JIMINY! “Dream Heartbinder” So Heartbinders must be this game’s summon gems, and this one lets me use Dream Eaters. SORA’S THEME IS THE RINGTONE!!! Ienzo’s here, with a bit of OrgXIII music from CoM. HOLY SHIT THE GUMMI SHIP IS THE BEST IT’S EVER BEEN UPGRADEABLE KEYBLADES?! I guess that makes sense, considering they all have different formchanges. They want all of them to stay viable throughout the game. OH MY GOD, DEMON TIDE HAS SO MUCH HEALTH I guess the bosses have to with all these powerful attacks I have Does Hayner have a new voice? Olette sounds different too. Checked the wiki, all three have different actors. Pence sounds closest to his original though. So judging by the Dusks and Snipers, no more enemy-specific reaction commands. The Ducklings sell Gummi blocks now?? Huh. Whoa wait, the road out of Twilight Town’s Tram Common leads back to the world map? Can I NOT go to the clock tower in this game?? Man, Twilight Town felt really small. Hope the remaining worlds don’t, though they’ve certainly seemed significantly larger than the two I’ve been to so far. Also, totally called the Lucky Emblems, though I’m gonna keep calling them hidden Mickeys. I think Tou Story is my favorite world. Granted, I’ve only been to three, but still. The Gigas are super fun, Woody and Buzz look amazing, and I can’t stop whistling/humming along! AHHH CREEPY DOLL Lol, the Verum Nox poster even has a Square Enix logo. First death, the Gigas battle in the video game. GOD DAMN! WOODY dropping an amazing “The Reason You Suck” speech to Xehanort! “Unless you’re in the ~real~ Organization too? Good for you!” Damn, Sora! Also love hearing that music from Chain of Memories every so often Glad flowmotion’s jump isn’t as level-breaking as it was in DDD. Same goes for the attacks. Wow, so Rapunzel permanently leaves the party. Was wondering they’d just give her a different moveset like with Mulan/“Ping”. This is the first time a character permanently leaves your party. And of course, Marluxia. Who I didn’t think could or would return. And Vexen who rejoined willingly, which is, man. Not something I’d have done. Both Norted of course. And was Saïx missing his scar? Maybe he’s just Isa now. I could tell it was Unversed, and Flood specifically, in that first Monstropolis cutscene just from the sound of them spawning. That’s how I know I’ve put a lot of hours into this series. Monstropolis feels the most linear so far. Arendelle’s ice labyrinth is awesome, the level design gives me some light Dark Souls vibes. I like how there’s zero explanation for Sora, Donald, and Goofy being able to breathe underwater in The Caribbean. And by that I mean I would have liked even just one line to explain it. The ship combat isn’t as good as AC3’s and AC4’s, but it’s still pretty good for a one-world mechanic! The ship is a LOT more responsive than the AC ones. And damn, is this world open. Okay, San Fransokyo is gonna be a pain to search for chests and Mickeys. PRESS TRIANGLE TO SORA IS THE BEST REACTION COMMAND I HAVE EVER SEEN Jiminy telling people about summaries on the gummiphone is Square Enix saying “IF YOU DIDN’T PLAY THE GAMES, READ THE FUCKING SUMMARIES” Giant battle at the start of Keyblade Graveyard was cool, but hurt the frames, especially on the fake shadows. And just as I was getting hyped at the possibility of having Riku and Aqua as party members. Oh hey, just realized Riku’s keyblade has a Mickey keychain now too. “And so, as legend foretold, darkness prevailed and light expired...” “Your hearts will be torn from your bodies” “To move through time, you must leave your body behind.” THE FINAL WORLD?! Wait, Sora’s been here MULTIPLE times?? Okay, so the star talking about the person who’d miss them, whose heart has been taken by another’s? Strelitzia? Talking about Lauriam? Love and hate? Going back for fight after fight? Hm. Cloud or Sephiroth maybe? (Longshot, but it doesn’t sound like a khux character, or anyone else) Identical pair? There’s no twins in this series. Like walking alongside a mirror... maybe it’s not an literal identical nature? Same clothes, same food, maybe Xion?? “Nothing left to teach you”? Damn, that’s not much to go on. Maybe Eraqus’ and Xehanort’s master?? “Just friends... stepped back” Skuld maybe? “I’m gone... they’ve added another member” Could that be Xion? Wait, no, how could Xion be here, she’s still within Sora’s heart. Are these actual named characters we’ve met before? Or not? The one who was defeated and supposed to fade... Repliku?? But he’s with Riku now... Someone searching for their Papa??? Most of the characters in this series don’t have parents at all, so my only guess here is Pinocchio?? No way a Disney character ends up here though. I don’t think all of these are characters we know. Someone holding onto a sliver of memory, and a servant?? Yeah, these could all just have been ordinary people. Naminé?! What happened to Kairi??? Okay, so the darkness split them. KAIRI IS KEEPING SORA FROM FADING AWAY OH MY HEART “GO TO HER” SHE SAYS "That's not the official thank-you!" Lol Damn, this area is fuckin huge, why is it so huge?? A PORTAL?! A DDD PORTAL HERE?! Well this place is rad. I better see that weird Darkside at some point here OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH OH IT ROTATES THAT'S FUCKIN SICK God damn, this game's got some of the best level design of the series! Is... is this OUR Chirithy? “He doesn’t remember the past”? Although I guess it could be Marluxia/Luxord/Demyx’s too. Or Ven’s. My bet is that it’s Ven’s. DID SORA JUST TIME JUMP BACK A FEW MINUTES??? Aaaand did nothing different. So now we’re world-hopping like we did back in End of the World. OH WHAT IS THIS DIVING INTO STATIONS TO PICK A WORLD?!?! YOOOOOOOO Just Kairi and Lea are left. Haven’t hit San Fransokyo or Twilight Town yet. Guess they must be in those two. Last one is San Fransokyo. Lea must be here. Kairi’s probably gonna be the last. “Traversing hearts to reach worlds” That must be what I’ve been doing here. Not jumping between worlds, jumping between HEARTS. Was Sora just considering telling her he loves her? He should have. Wait, am I back in time? This already happened... OH SHIT! THE LINGERING WILL IS HERE! EPHEMER! OHHHHHHH HO HO WOW! OHHHHHH FUCK! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Congrats to all the lucky people who got their names in the game! PRESS TRIANGLE TO UNION X GIANT SHADOW MASTER XEHANORT IS TERRIFYING I like how Axel is holding his keyblade by the guard instead of the handle OH SHIT MASTER YEN SID! YOOOOOO! Okay KH3, I want to fight thirteen bosses now, you hear me? DAMN that Ancient Light finisher on Starlight’s Second Form is STRONG YOOOOOOO THREE BOSSES AT ONCE??? (I really hope this is as tough as they were before, but seeing as Xemnas was harder in 1 than in 2, doubt it) Went to help Mickey first, so I’m taking on Marluxia, Luxord, and Larxene Oh come ooooon, I barely got to fight them! Luxord’s out, 12 to go OH SHIT THE OTHER TWO Larxene’s done, 11 to go. With XI conveniently up next. Marluxia’s defeated once again. 10 left. Hey whatever happened with that comment of their ancient keyblade legacy...? Xigbar... might be gone? So maybe 9 left. Dark Repliku is defeated, and light Repliku gave himself up so the Replica could be used for Namine. That’s sweet. 8 left. YO actual time of day change! I like the door switches. Nice having little environmental things like this. Hm, Kairi and Lea one way, Aqua and Ven the other. Well that’s no contest, gotta go back up my girl Kairi! Mysterious new hooded figure??? Oh. Oh no. I think it’s Xion. D: Yeah. It’s her. *Xion stops Xemnas “YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYYE YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH” *Roxas shows up “OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK” THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE YOOOOOOOOOOO Shout outs to Ienzo, Ansem, Vexen, and Demyx for helping Roxas return! WHY THE FUCK IS KAIRI GETTING KIDNAPPED A-FUCKING-GAIN, NOMURA WHY WAS SHE EVEN TRAINING, FUCK Okay, so Kairi and Lea/Axel are out, BUT ROXAS AND XION ARE IN OH HOLY SHIT, SORA SQUAD FORM UP!!!! I HAD TO STOP AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FOR A MINUTE It’s all three of their themes! (Plus a bit of Another Side) THIS IS THE HYPEST SHIT Aww, Saix’s death mirrors Xion’s. AND THE SEA-SALT TRIO REUNITE! Saix is out, 7 left. Xion turned, 6 left. Vanitas fades again, 5 left. I know some people had hoped for a heel-face turn, but I knew it wasn’t likely. WHAT TERRA’S HEART WAS IN ANSEM’S GUARDIAN THIS WHOLE TIME. THAT THEORY WAS RIGHT! Terra-nort’s back to just Terra. 4 left. Just wanna say, I love that it’s Sora who gets to turn the tides of all these fights. Who’s dull and ordinary NOW, huh?? AND he’s still going! Oh boy, time for a triple Xehanort fight! UMMM NINE KEYS (but why are they No Name and not the X-blade?) OOOOOOOHHHHHHH THIS BLEND OF ANSEM, XEMNAS, AND YOUNG XEHANORT'S THEMES Guardando Nel Buio, Darkness of the Unknown, and Impeto l’Oscurito 1V3 ME, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON Young Xehanort returns to his time. 3 left. I like how we all agree to pause the fight whenever someone falls. Xemnas fades. 2 left. Ansem as well. Just 1 darkness left. WHAT THE FUCK, KAIRI NOOOOOOOOOOOO AH SHIT HE’S GOT THE X-BLADE AH SHIT HE’S GOT KINGDOM HEARTS Oh hey, everyone’s caught up. Donald: “You can’t do anything without us, Sora.” Me: “Donald, shut the FUCK UP.” Xion: “Kairi will be alright.” Me: “OH THANK GOD” Scala ad Caelum. Stairway to Heaven. It looks like a proto-Land of Departure. But the music is Case of the Foretellers from X Back Cover. Could this place and Land of Departure once have been Daybreak Town? Damn, Dark Kingdom Hearts is over the ENTIRE Keyblade Graveyard now Spooky twelve figures are spooky Why do they have the Organization’s weapons?! I love this return of Destati though They all had a shared HP bar? Scala ad Caelum’s world icon is kinda shaped like a heart Oh wow, full Inception Weird hearing Rage Awakened without the Lingering Will here “There is one sky, one destiny!” “DEEEESTAAAATI!” Ohhhhh shit Shout out to the heart in the floor design though And the figure in the middle has 7 points Classic Xehanort pose from the KH2 secret ending Aaaaand now he’s got ANOTHER Kingdom Hearts! GREAT WHOA HE FORCED ME INTO RAGE FORM DESTATI IN FULL FORCE WHAT A RAD FINISHING BLOW! The canon death screen, the heartbeat, Donald and Goofy calling from my controller! ONE BIG BLAST! So Xehanort sees himself as some sort of white knight? A templar to guide the masses with an iron fist? Yeah, no dice dude. Sora’s right, not your choice to make, and destiny is beyond your control. So Eraqus really WAS with Terra all this time. MARK HAMILL IS BACK!!! Xehanort just hands it over, huh? Wow, closure between Eraqus and his apprentices after all these years Eraqus and Xehanort mimic Sora and Riku from KH2, and pass on. Go get her, Sora. HIKARI ORCHESTRAL Ven met his Chirithy! Lea’s finally wearing his new outfit. Aw, Xion looks good too! And Isa’s here! Naminé is back too! And I bet the Namine/Riku shippers are happy! AWWW They’re all hanging out at Destiny Islands! Look at them all being friends!!! THERE THEY ARE! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

Epilogue: XIGBAR HAS BEEN LUXU THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHAT WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! You know while watching Back Cover I was like “Man, the Master of Masters really talks like Xigbar for some reason.” BOY DOES THAT MAKE SENSE NOW So what was it about Ava’s role with the Dandelions that led to her absence here? AND WHAT’S IN THE GODDAMN BOX Is it a Book of Prophecies? Something else entirely? In any case, I doubt Maleficent and Pete would be able to get it away from them all. Secret Ending, “Yozora”: Ooh, “Another Side, Another Story” vibes right off the bat. SORA! And... Riku? Well this is just Japan. Wait, the guy from Verum Rex? And a black coat, who’s probably Xigbar/Luxu or the Master of Masters? After watching, a friend informed me that Riku is in Verum Rex. And Sora’s dead. Cause he’s in TWEWY’s version of Shibuya, since that one building said “104.” But which one is the black coat in? It could be the Master of Masters dead, in Sora’s world. Or Xigbar/Luxu, still watching things.

I have no idea what comes next. But I am excited.

[nomilart]

Final Thoughts on Kingdom Hearts 3

I’m gonna gush and bash this game in great detail in a sort of rant/ organized essay manner

Spoilers… duh

               I’ve been a longtime fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. I’ve played every single damn game. The only two I haven’t finished were CoM (Could never get into the gameplay) and Ux (The story isn’t even finished yet… which I’ll get to). I have lived and breathed KH for most of my life and anticipated the climax to my favorite video game series for so long. Upon finishing Kingdom Hearts 3, I was washed with a tidal wave of emotions. I just finished the game I have been waiting on for 5 years upon confirmation that it even was a thing and anticipating it for even longer. There was so many amazing things about this game. Plot points involving characters I longed to make a return in some form were tied together. Things like the reason for why Xemnas and Ansem have returned were answered or what happened to replica Riku. The triumphant return of Aqua, Terra, and Ven and my personal most favorite the reuniting of Axel, Xion, and my favorite character Roxas! On top of super fun gameplay, graphics that dazzled my eyes even playing on the base ps4, a solid ost as usual thanks to Yoko Shimomura, and Disney worlds that really complemented the flare and grandiose of the rest of the game, this Kingdom Hearts game was shaping up to be my favorite among the entire series. Upon finishing the game, despite trying to overcome my biases of Kingdom Hearts 2, am still unsure of if I think I consider KH3 to be better or worse than KH2.

               Story:

               Whoooo boy what a STORY. The KH series is (understandably) mocked for its ridiculous and often convoluted approach to writing and storytelling, but I have stuck with every cheesy line and dumb plot point until this very day. I like to think of KH’s story telling as some kind of weird Avant-garde experience that is really just something that the series director, Tetsuya Nomura, comes up with as he goes along. The often awkward yet charming writing definitely comes from this.      

               KH3 starts off with Sora trying to regain his lost strength from the events of DDD and he is to search for the “power of waking” in order to rescue the hearts tied to his so he can help assemble 7 guardians of light to hopefully overcome Xehanort and his 13 darknesses. All is good until Sora finds out that Xehanort is very close to completing his 13 and just deciding to avoid waiting for the 7 guardians to assemble so he sends his “real organization” to search for the new seven hearts of light instead (these ultimately have little significance to the plot). Towards the end of the game Sora manages to save Aqua because for some reason Riku and Mickey just were too incompetent to go along with their mission even though Sora was allegedly the one who wasn’t strong enough to join them in saving Aqua. After Aqua is singlehandedly saved by Sora they all travel to Castle Oblivion were Aqua reverts it back to the Land of Departure in a really cool cutscene. They find Vanitas and stop him from preventing Ventus from waking up and get ready for the big fight after Sora dives into his heart. Sora and his friends all seem to die but not really after some weird stuff I’ll talk about later goes on. In short the last parts of the game are Sora stopping the remaining organization members and hearing their reasons for joining. Eventually they reach Xehanort and he merks Kairi and screws off to Scala ad Caleum. To be completely honest I’m still lost as to why this place has as much significance as it does besides the fact the Xehanort states it to be the Nexus of all worlds but upon further research, HOPEFULLY it makes more sense (I was caught in the heat of the moment). Xehanort’s motives are revealed and he reconciles after we defeat him and he *seemingly returns to Kingdom Hearts with Eraqus (This is only my theory). Afterwards Sora uses the x-blade in order to *seemingly free Kairi from death. All is well and everyone saved lives in harmony in a really touching scene but we soon learn that Kairi’s return seemingly costed Sora’s life or ability to be enjoy the peace with his friends because he fades away before the credits roll.

               Oh boy that was a real basic summary but now I’ll talk about things I liked. I loved Sora so much in this game. He has grown on me more than ever because he displays so many more emotions than just being happy go-lucky most of the time. While that I the core of who he is, I know he has experienced pain (hurt is a silly word in KH) in the past but it was never this serious. He lost one of his best friends because he wasn’t strong enough to save her in time, he kind of understandably beats himself up for losing his strength and having to rely on his friends for strength, dealing with the pressure of being the bearer of a lot of people’s hearts while simultaneously being expected to rescue them, and last but certainly not least, seeming to sacrifice himself in order to save a friend/ potential love interest. I thought I’d hate the way Roxas and every other nobody would return based on the trailers seeming they were going to get all the data versions of them and implant their memories into them. While that is still somewhat how it goes down, it’s handled slightly better. Instead of using the bodies of data Roxas or Namine, they only use a “vessel” which I like to think is basically a human shaped husk that can only be a human when a person’s heart and memories are placed into it. It sounds goofy but I can get behind that. While a part of me wishes Roxas, Xion, and Namine stayed the way they were because I think It’d give the series some seriously needed consequences, I’d be a damn liar if I said I wasn’t glad my favorite character gets to be his own person. While the whole “Vessel” program can be seen as a cop out, I think it could have been handled much worse. I loved the interactions Sora and the gang had with the Disney characters and I 100% feel like this is the best integrated Disney worlds in the entire KH series. My definite favorite moments include Woody roasting Young Xehanort, Sulley yeeting Vanitas out of the world, and Sora going ham on Davy Jones. I also really liked the reveal that Ansem’s guardian was Terra, it was so badass. Although I totally called Xehanort being a villan who had good intentions but went about them in the worst way possible, I still liked the way it was explained how he got to where he was. I loved the ending scene where the wayfinder trio pay their respects to Master Eraqus (REAL DEATH CONFIRMED IN MY KH GAME?!) as well as the sea salt trio hanging out with the twilight town trio and SAIX/ISA. Also the secret reports have some super dark implications and it only makes me wish they were actual cutscenes. I haven’t read all of them but my favorite so far is one where Saix writes about how Lea and him snuck into the chamber of repose and heard screams of children being experimented on. They also mention a girl they were friends with (WHiCh ill GeT INto LaTeR).  Pretty content with the story as a whole.

               Now I talk about some things I did NOT like very much or at least still don’t understand at the moment. The main thing that REALLY peeved me off was the amount of KHUX stuff that is not only connected to the story of the XEHANORT SAGA but the fact that a lot of it is infuriatingly still not answered like the damn black box or why Maleficent specifically wants it so bad. On top of that there’s a lot of set up for the next entry in the series or what my personal cynical theory is, more backstory for KHUX that will be revealed in future updates. What I’m referring to is characters like Marluxia/ Lauriam , Larxene/ Elrena, Demyx, and Luxord who are intentionally left with super vague backstories. Lauriam and Elrena were revealed to be important to KhUX so I can only assume Demyx and Luxord will follow suit, especially after being revealed to have connections to the keyblade. What’s worse is that Marluxia and Larxene only seem to remember this after Sora defeats them… again… Luxord also gives Sora some assistance with this mystery card and it lowkey pissed me off. Oh yeah speaking of stuff that pissed me off, the “final world” section was super frustrating to me not because it was inherently bad, but because it was blatant setup for KHUX/ next game in the series especially with Sora seemingly* being transported to this limbo like area where the spirits of people who have died roam. One of these supposed spirits seems to be either a friend of Ephmer, Ventus, or Isa and Lea. It is intentionally vague and there only to spark speculation especially after she tells Sora a secret (Or was it the Chirithy? I don’t remember). I’m all for speculation and theorizing, I AM a KH fan afterall, it’s that this is speculation with a character we have no clue who it could be despite our best efforts and they throw her on us like she’s been part of the series this whole time…ESPECIALLY when Saix and Axel bring her up… I have my theories on who this girl might be but it ultimately doesn’t matter or doesn’t feel like good speculation because their might be multiple “mystery girls”. I personally think this mystery girl could be Strelitzia, Skuld, or some new character because Nomura hates us. The problem with it being either Strelitzia or Skuld is if it really IS one of them who is in this world or friends with Lea and Axel, then it leaves us wondering what happened to the other.  Ugh. Next this is really a gripe but I’m just lost to be honest. I have no idea what happened to Demyx or Vexen. They both defected and while Vexen/ Even helped out with the “real replica” or “vessel” program, I either missed what happened to Demyx after providing the vessel for Roxas or they actually just forgot to write a conclusion for him.  While I liked the interactions between Kairi and Axel I wished they actually showed Axel and Kairi training with their keyblades especially since they don’t do much with them in the final battle anyways… Kairi especially. It’s no secret that Kairi is literally worst girl in the KH series but I had hope that she’d get some much needed character development. My hopes were dashed when I found out she was just as useless and bland as ever and on top of that results in getting our sweet boi Sora sent to the shadow realm or wherever he gets sent to at the end of the game. A lot of annoying ship people really think that Riku and Sora were going to get together at the end of the game, and while I don’t blame them for thinking that way because honestly I would love to see that happen, the setup from KH1 and Com forbids that. I however, DO take issue with Riku taking a back seat in the story and honestly not contributing a whole lot besides motivating Sora do complete his mission. I like that Donald and Goofy were so charming in this game and that they joined us in the fight with Xehanort, but I still really would prefer that Riku also joined us like in KH2. We still have no concrete idea on what Kingdom Hearts itself actually is but as usual, I have my theories. The Kingdom Hearts that Xehanort summons in BBS and KH3 is the heart of all people and I think it’s the KH equivalent of Heaven or the afterlife because that’s where Eraqus and Xehanort go away to. The Kingdom Hearts in KH1 s the heart of all worlds and is apparently “light”. I’m also indifferent to the reveal of Xigbar being Luxu...anything to do with the black box or KHUX honestly bothers me. I know I must sound like I hate the story but I actually think it’s still the best out of all of them, I’m just expressing my concerns because I love the series and take serious issue with some of the choices made.

 Gameplay:

               The gameplay of KH3 is arguably the best of the series depending on who you ask. The general fan who mostly meanders through the game on the easiest difficulties on each entry might not really appreciate the depth of the combat and just stick to the go-to mash x to swing keyblade or triangle to do cool move. I however normally play on the hardest difficulty not only to seek a greater challenge, but to be forced to see how good or bad the game’s combat really is. I never really liked the argument of floaty combat because neither side really understands the real issue/ consequence of floaty combat. It all really comes down to enemy design, behavior, and placement. When a game has floaty combat and bad enemy design, (Enemies that don’t stagger or randomly stagger, shoot projectiles that do a lot of damage, big and un-telegraphed attacks) it cause the player to play the game in a really uncomfortable way. In BBS spamming dodge, surge moves, and shotlocks was essential in order to stand a chance against some of the bs that the game would throw at you. In DDD, flowmotion was far better than normal attacks because they gave you super armor, did better damage, and could be spammed. Balloonra was also OP AF. In KH1 Sora felt like a rock and while I personally enjoyed how it felt to control him, I can understand why someone wouldn’t like a lot of jumping and attacking over and over. Kh2 however, has the best combat in the series to this day in my opinion because of all the options you have. Your basic keyblade attacks are effective on every enemy in the game but at higher difficulties, the game suggests you branch away from mashing x and experiment with magic and summons. Then you realize how good it is. On top of solid enemy design, KH2 is probably my favorite game to play for action rpg gameplay.

               Going into KH3 I set my expectations on the gameplay low based on the 0.2 gameplay and the seemingly super floaty gameplay of the trailers. Although KH3 does have its floaty feeling, I can say that the game is designed to be fun while having the best floaty gameplay in the series. The enemies almost all stagger to your basic keyblade attacks and larger enemies that don’t consistently stagger to finishers and keyblade transformation attacks. Magic feels AMAZING to use and is clearly useful early on. Team attacks, while I feel are still better as limits you can individually choose, are still fun and satisfying to use when provided. Attraction Flow was my least favorite feature not because they are all useless, quite the contrary as the pirate ship and splash run seem pretty good, but because I don’t have the option to turn them off. They fill the situation command slots with too much clutter and I’d like to turn them off since I don’t use them much anyways. As for combo modifiers, it’s pretty subjective what you prefer to run with but personally I only used one air combo plus and no combo pluses for my ground combos, speed slash as my only equipped finisher, and the air launch move to render my enemies useless while I air comboed them Marvel vs Capcom style. Shotlocks while useful, aren’t busted as they were in DDD. I recently found out that the Hero’s origin shotlock, when not fully charged, actually heals you a little which came in handy in the battle gates. Links or Summons, are actually pretty bad except for Simba and Stitch. The reason they are so bad is because they cost a FULL mp bar to use and they all leave you vulnerable to damage, granted you take less damage but doesn’t really matter on harder difficulties or battlegates. Simba and Stitch are good because their damage output makes up for the full mp bar. Links also fully heal you but I think that’s because you don’t have I frames and the devs just hope you wouldn’t notice. All in All pretty solid gameplay. Not better than 2 in my opinion but I wouldn’t laugh at someone for saying KH3 has their favorite combat. Regarding the final bosses they are all designed great but they come in groups which I don’t like and wished there was a way to fight them individually. I know they come in groups because it makes it the endgame drag less but, it result in super short fights that have too much going on in them and abruptly stop when you beat one member one by one. I also wished we fought Ansem and Xemnas in their final forms instead of all 3 in a group (Also they have the best boss theme and it should’ve been the final boss theme but the real final boss theme is still good). Every other boss is SOLID my favorite was definitely the ice wolf and mother gothel’s heartless thing.

               Last but not least, Music

               It’s Godlike. The end.  

[biscuitreviews]

Biscuit Reviews Kingdom Hearts (Anniversary Review)

It’s been one year since my first review on Biscuit Reviews. Thank you everyone for reading, following, liking, and reblogging!

I recently purchased the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remaster for PS4 in response to Square Enix finally announcing a release date for Kingdom Hearts 3. I’ll be honest, I’m actually afraid of Kingdom Hearts 3 because of how Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance ended, but that’s a story for another time. 

For now, let’s focus and review where the series started, the original, Kingdom Hearts!

My story of how I came across Kingdom Hearts is probably very similar to many of you. I really enjoyed playing Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10. I remember walking through the video game section in the store and saw the cover of Kingdom Hearts. My immediate thought was “Why is that guy using a giant key as a weapon? That looks dumb. Why is Donald and Goofy there?” Then I noticed the name and the companies behind it, Squaresoft and Disney. The makers of Final Fantasy teamed up with Disney to make game.

I was curious enough because of the Squaresoft name, I imagined it would have fun RPG gameplay and an emotional-complex story to go along with it. Come Christmas, I would find the game under the tree. I immediately loaded up the PS2 once the gift opening was done and went on to save various Disney worlds.

The story for the first entry was very simple and easy to follow.

You play as Sora, a boy who wants to visit and see other worlds. One day, his world is destroyed by dark beings known as Heartless. It is then he obtains the power to summon the Keyblade, a mysterious weapon that can seal the keyholes of worlds to protect them from the Heartless. The Heartless have great fear over the Keyblade and will stop at nothing to defeat its wielder. Sora later teams up with Donald and Goofy to join them on their mission to find King Mickey and they travel through various Disney worlds to search for him as well as Sora’s friends, Riku and Kairi.

This was a really cool concept, traveling to the worlds of various Disney movies and not knowing which one you would find next. Even interacting and participating in a modified version of the movies was really cool. You even got to fight well known Disney villains, like Hades, Jafar, Captain Hook, Ursula, Oogie-Boogie, and Maleficent.

Not only were there Disney characters, but Final Fantasy characters also made an appearance and contributed to the main story. When first playing this game, fighting Squall from Final Fantasy 8 was mind-blowing and unbelievable. It was that fight that really cemented the charm and uniqueness of Kingdom Hearts for me.

As mentioned earlier, Kingdom Hearts is an action-RPG. The player moves around the environment in real-time to attack, cast magic, and dodge attacks. This was amazing, being able to react appropriately in battles and move around at will. It even had a great lock-on feature to where the camera would keep focus on the targeted enemy.

It was a simple game with an easy to follow story of searching for Sora’s friends and battling the darkness. It does a fantastic job to teaching you how the fantasy elements of the series work, but it doesn’t really dive into the core story until near the end of the game. It gives enough information to be curious for more, but, not enough to make you know everything about how the Kingdom Hearts series will approach it’s world. Which in this case, I guess it’s the universe since you’re traveling to various worlds protecting them.

Although the series did set new standards for the action-RPG genre, it wasn’t the first entry that set those standards, that honor goes to Kingdom Hearts II, which I’ll talk more about when it comes time to review that game.

The first entry in the series, although unique and charming, came with quite a few faults. The first was a not so user friendly camera. Locking-on is great, but using it to explore the environment, not so much. The Final Mix versions on the PS3 and PS4 actually fixed this issue, making world exploration more user friendly. Combat was kind of clunky and often teams really stiff. The Final Mix Versions are much smoother, but you will still feel the occasional stiff motion. There’s also the biggest issue with Kingdom Hearts, that the Final Mix version couldn’t fix, the environments. They’re small and cramped giving the feeling of claustrophobia during fights.

There’s also one of the most heavily criticised parts of the game, the Gummi ship. This ship is what allows Sora, Donald, and Goofy to travel through the various Disney worlds. Although the gameplay for the Gummi ship sections function well, it’s how that gameplay was handled for the first ¼ of the game is what cemented a lot of dislike towards the Gummi ship. During this section, you’ll will be repeating the first few levels of the Gummi ship and it’s this repetition having to go from world to world that brings it down. Although you gain the ability to warp to other worlds that you have visited which gets rid of the repetition. The other strike against the Gummi Ship aspect is the creator menu. Commands are delayed and is not user friendly when trying to create your own Gummi ship.

The first Kingdom Hearts is a game that I feel will continue to charm gamers for generations to come. Playing this again had me appreciate what it was that captured the hearts of many fans of the series. Fighting alongside and interacting with the many beloved characters of both the Disney and Final Fantasy franchises.

It’s shame that the rest of the series gained the stigma of having a complex and convoluted story, which is a topic I’ll tackle another day. However, this misconception has started to dissipate with Square making the entire series playable on one platform, rather than multiple consoles.

If you’re curious about the series, I highly recommend picking up the 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remaster for the PS4 as this edition does fix some of the issues the PS2 version had. It even includes some extra story cutscenes and extra bosses for those that love a challenge.

Kingdom Hearts gets a 3 out of 5

[monasatlantis]

Kingdom Hearts 3 and why I was disappointed

(Obviously, Spoilers included.)

We were waiting forever for this game and I think that makes it natural to have high expectations, which of course also makes it easier to be disappointed in the game. Which, sadly, I was. I would give the game barely a 7 out of 10 and even tho that is not exactly bad, it isn’t as good as it should be.

 The biggest disappointing point for me in this game was, that visiting the Disney-Worlds either had no purpose at all or that sometimes the purpose was never (fully) fulfilled.

 We go to Hercules to find Soras lost powers. We do help Hercules solve the problem of his world successfully, but that’s it. We do not find a way to bring Soras powers back, we don’t even really get a hint on how to find them – besides of course, you think it is a worthy hint that Sora has to figure it out himself. I mean, come on. Even Donald says that this mission was a huge failure.

 We visit Twilight town to find Roxas… or to find a way to bring him back. But the only thing we do for it is to convince Hayner, Pence and Olette that they knew Roxas and were his friends and for some reason that I totally do not get, we opened the way to the “other Twilight town” but I have simply no Idea why we did that. It definitely did not bring Roxas back. So once again, we leave a world without fulfilling our actual goal.

 Next, we going to visit the world of ToyStory. At this point I totally lost track of why we even did that. I heard something about searching for Terra… but honestly? Did we do that? Not really, if you ask me. Besides, did Sora even know how Terra looked like or had any other hint how to recognize him, just in case he has lost his memories or something – which doesn’t seems so far off given the fact how long he has been missing. In this world, we did not even fulfill the actual goal of the world, all we do is save the people that were in danger because we interfered with this world. Yes, at least now the characters of the world know what is going on, but that’s all. I get why the characters couldn’t go back to their original world immediately, as Sora should have still been able to visit this world for training, hidden Mickeys and stuff… but why didn’t we at least found out how to get the characters back and then they decide to stay a little bit longer for Soras sake, since they can now go back whenever they need to? I felt really empty after this world, because I had the feeling all we did there was cause more problems. We solved almost nothing.

 We move on to the world of Tangled. Still I was missing a purpose and here… something else starts that made me somehow dislike most of the Disney/Pixar-Worlds. Sora becomes less and less part of the story of the actual movie that the world is based on. He misses out on several pieces of information that are needed for some things of the story of this world to make more sense. And while it was mostly minor stuff in the Kingdom of Corona it gotten worse in Frozen and Pirates if the Caribbean. The World is finished and a few pieces of information about the future of the Characters that grew on Sora were given. Okay. At least we fulfilled the purpose of the world, although Sora himself didn’t find anything but new friends and the chance to gain more experience in fighting. And even tho we constantly meet members of the organization, at that point, most of the stuff they say doesn’t make any sense or lose any meaning at the end of the game. As we never officially found all 7 new lights, nor did we actually need them. It seems more like a cheap excuse for the fact that in every world a member of the organization showed up. Like, at least they needed a purpose, although the purpose of keeping an eye on Sora was good enough for them in my eyes.

 In Monstropolis the Story was nice for once. The information given on the original movie weren’t that big, but enough to understand what was going on right now. It was one of the worlds I enjoyed a little bit more and also when Vanitas showed up, he was there with a purpose that made sense. He wanted Ventus to be finally complete and Sora has his heart hidden – which also finally added some useful information for Sora. (Which brings me back to the question of how Mickey and co. took so long to figure out that Terra was norted… because it also seemed weird that Sora so far only realized Roxas was in his heart, but not Ventus…) The worlds purpose was fulfilled and finally we see Sora doing something useful with his keyblade by locking a door. Wasn’t that always the purpose in the first two games? Weren’t we visiting the worlds to lock or unlock doors or hidden paths? Sora finally using his keyblades real power again made me almost happy.

 When we were in Frozen, we had time to actually watch a fully animated version of Elsa singing “Let it go”, but we missed out on A LOT of plot of the actual movie the world was based on. If I hadn’t seen the movie, almost nothing would have made sense in this world. I wondered why Sora never quotet Olafs “Who is this Hans?” – line as his character was just some random dude who kidnapped Elsa and tried to kill her, because Sora had basically no idea of who that guy was and why he was doing what he was doing or what connections he had to Elsa in the first place. The end of this world was also… irritating at best. Sora did not talk with the Characters again after the worlds purpose was fulfilled. No explanations, like in Tangled, no one worried about the Snow Monster despite it being blown to god knows where when he helped Sora in the fight against dark Hans – granted, we see him well in the end, but it is so not like Sora to not worry about a friend who has helped them in need and then seemingly vanished after that. This world was advertising and minigames and that’s basically it.

 The Caribbean was also a big disappointment for me (adding to the fact that I hated beein in control of this ship and fighting with it instead of with Keyblades and Magic most of the time XD) as we basically fell right into the plot of the second part of a two-part-movie and then got kicked right out of it again, then we were in again… but then we weren’t because we had to search for over a hundred fucking white crabs in PortRoyal as if there was nothing better to do with the plot of the world still somehow happening somewhere in the background. In the end Sora technically doesn’t even have enough information to understand what happened to Will or why Elizabeth suddenly is Mrs.Turner. In fact, he should barely be able to understand anything at all with the lack of informations he had. I think the only purpose of this world was Sora being able to be a pirate – don’t get me wrong, my little sunshine deserves that, but it would have been nice if he would have gotten what he deserved while actually being part of the freaking plot of that damn world.

 San Fransokyo was my favorite world, as the plot was made in a way (like in Monstropolis) that made sure that the few informations we had about the original movie were enough to mostly understand what was going on. Plus, this time too, you were mostly part of the plot yourself and not just someone who goes in and out of the worlds plot so that in the end you have no idea of what is going on. Plus, I really really liked the plot of this world and the ending of it as well. Still… we had no purpose in this world either. Granted, bad-Riku caused the problems here, so I guess it was our job to solve them, but why did we go to that world in the first place? There was no reason for it. Like in almost all the other worlds, we were just there because… well… because the game needs us for some advertisement-reasons to visit Disney-Worlds before the real Kingdom Hearts Plot can happen.

 And happen it did afterwards…

 Something that also bothered me a lot was… that suddenly, no one had trust in Soras amazing ability’s. We’ve all seen Sora doing amazing things, things people never expected him to do. He was not suppose to be chosen by the keyblade and yet he managed to be the most amazing and most powerful of all the keyblade-wielders of that age. He never got his master-title and for some reason they constantly had to pick on that, but he is yet the one who in the end did all the hard work in KH3 and made the biggest difference in almost all of the battles against the organization and also finished of Xehanort. So… when he said he wanted to go save Aqua… why did no one actually see that he was the best choice for this mission no matter how you looked at it? If anyone can show Aqua the way home then it is our Sora and I can not understand how not even Riku, who said himself that Sora would be able to swim his way out of any darkness,  believed he would indeed not be able to save Aqua. I mean, screw the power of wakening. I mean, putting aside that he never really needed that power to save Aqua or that this damn power was never lost in the first place, Master Yen Sid said it himself, that Sora can do miracles in moments of need, so why didn’t they trust he would be able to save Aqua the way he has worked countless miracles before? Mikey and Riku failed twice in the realm of darkness – since Riku would have probably not been able to win this one battle without him literally summoning Sora for help. Two fucking Keyblade Masters, who laughed about Soras wish to go and save Aqua, got saved by a guy who should not have been able to even get into the realm of darkness on his own and still managed to do so. The same guy, without a mastertitel, without finding the power of wakening in himself yet, also fought and saved Aqua himself in the end. On his own. How on gods mighty earth is it possible that people like Soras best friend Riku ever doubted that he would be able to do all this? That didn’t make any sense to me. It was totally out of character for Riku and they only did it to have an excuse to send Sora to all those Disneyworlds (for pure advertisement-reasons….) before the actual real Kingdom Hearts plot could start and I don’t like that. It makes the game look cheap in a way. I am well aware that Kingdom Hearts has always been advertisement for Disney. But this time, they overdid it, by not giving Sora any real reasons to actually be in most of those worlds.

I could also talk about the fact that it took them a damn lot of time to save Aqua, despite the fact that right at the beginning, Riku was urging Mikey on to hurry as he knew how awful it felt to be stuck in the realm of darkness. And yet they did spend multiple worlds in Hollow Bastion (and no, I am not even getting into the fact that all the Final Fantasy Characters were missing from this game…) with excuses like “finding someone that is connected to Aqua” – especially since at some point they must have screwed that idea again – or getting sidetracked and making sure they find a body for Roxas. Once again, a lot of bullshit that didn’t make much sense and once again only served the purpose to postpone the actual Kingdom Hearts plot. And I somehow get that it was necessary, but could they not have made it more realistic? Why not saving Aqua earlier but then she had to rest for a few worlds so Sora can continue his Disney-trip before saving Ventus? They did a really bad job in this game with mixing the plot of the Disney-Worlds with the Kingdom Hearts plot. And seeing that they didn’t do so well with the plot of the Disney-Worlds themselves, that makes you wonder what they were doing with this game.

 A hug point that a lot of people seems to miss when the criticize Kairis role in the Final Battle is the fact that they were starting the final battle so damn unprepared. Lea and Kairi have hardly any real-world-battle-experience. They trained in a different realm, were time didn’t really matter. Did they really learn how to beat heartless and nobodys in this world? Did they learn how a real battle feels like? How different it is to fight when there is no one who would save you if you fuck up? Did they ever fought against a keyblade-wielder who had more experience the themselves? Honestly, Kairi has always been protected. There was this one battle in KH2 were she fought, but here too she had Riku by her side, who would have never let anything happen to her. And Lea might have experience in real-world-battles against heartless and experiences keyblade-wielders, but not while wearing a keyblade himself. I mean, that showoff-scene with Sora in the Big Heroes 6 world would have never looked the way it did if Sora would not have had gained a lot of battle-experience over the past years/games. But instead of sending Kairi and Lea to some of the Disney-Worlds to give them some more real-world-experience and training, they straight up all ran into the final battle. They didn’t even train together to see how they would do as a team. In all honesty, it is well deserved that they all die when the final battle begins… because neither of them was really fully prepared. Like… at all. I mean, look at Sora, he was crying and on his knees after loosing everyone. They should have emotionally prepared them for possible losses. They should have prepared them for a lot of things. I mean… how did they even beat that damn organization if they couldn’t even take on a mass of heartless? Not to mention that no one could beat the big bads without Soras help. And Lea lost his Keyblade for a moment (however that was possible… lets not talk about that) really early on in his fight and Kairi was abducted soon after the fight started….anyone still thinking these two were really prepared at all? What was Master Yen Sid actually thinking? Was he thinking at all? Was anyone thinking?

 Something which was… a problem for me personally while playing this game was, that I felt like I had no time for emotions. Like… I was so happy when our two long lost trios were finally reunited but it just happened so… badly timed. I didn’t really had time to process it, to enjoy it. Also… the scene with Sora crying on his knees? I had tears in my eyes when I saw it in the trailer. When I saw it in the game… I felt… empty somehow? Like… I couldn’t feel it. And it happened so damn fast. And at first I wasn’t even sure that they were all dead and then suddenly we already were in this nice looking cloudy-place and… were searching for Soras. When was I suppose to let it sink in and cry with Sora? The same goes with the Ending. We have no freaking idea what happened to Sora. I felt so devastated after he vanished, but I barely cried a minute, because I… had no idea what I was crying about. What happened to my poor baby boy? And why was everything nice and fun and games before he suddenly vanished? What the hell? I really felt like the game didn’t give me any time to actually really, really, feel something. Everything happened so fast and there was no time to process it. And I wanted to feel this game so badly… this also disappointed me a lot.

 (We could also discuss how it wasn’t weakening Soras abilities that Ven and Roxas left his heart… but… lets not even go there…)

 Of course, the game had also some good side. The worlds and characters looked simply amazing. The  CGI-scenes were looking even more awesome. I have to tell you… most of the time I was simply drooling over Sora because he looked so… amazingly beautiful all the time. Speaking of Sora, it was also really amazing to be finally reunited with him. I really enjoyed being on an adventure with him again. The nostalgic-feelings he brought by simply being himself were amazing. The game was a bit overdoing it with the possibilities in fights, if you ask me, because I really think Disney-World-Rides AND transforming Keyblades were a little bit too much. But I appreciate the possibilities it could bring – although I personally never managed to use the possibilities as I found the Disney-Rides rather… annoying most of the time, as they kind of disturbed my kind of battle-style. Anyway… I was also really happy about what they did with the Story of Big Heroes 6. It felt… really good how this turned out in the end. It was also really nice that we could control Riku and Aqua for a bit, but I would have preferred actually controlling Roxas as I remember how much fun it was to fight with two Keyblades XD Also I have to tell you, I am currently watching my cousin play the game and I really have to say that you have to appreciate all the foreshadowing. Starting with the freaking Intro and continuing with the various talks with the organization-members that doesn’t usually make much sense the first time…. but make so much more sense the second time. I really loved how my cousin sat there with a big questionmark over her head while I was sitting there like: “OH! Now that all makes so much more sense!” XD And of course I was happy to be able to save all those people and reunite them with their friends. It felt good and right. Anyway… as you can see, there is a lot I do not like about the game, so getting a 7 out of 10 was actually pretty generous of me if I look at it now.

[matthew-niverse]

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance: Partners in Time

As the last main title in the series before Kingdom Hearts 3, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance is rather heavy on its story and has quite the impact on the series.

This was the last game in the series to make use of the Command Menu system (thank God). However, the best parts of DDD,

such as the link system and flowmotion have been carried over to KH3. Now to summarize the story.

Sora and Riku stand before Yen Sid, and begin their Mark of Mastery exam. The trial is for them to visit various worlds that were restored from the Heartless’ attack after their first journey, but have remained in a state of “Deep Sleep” that disconnects them from other worlds. Sora and Riku must “awaken the worlds” and return them to the Realm of Light by unlocking the seven Keyholes they find in these Worlds. Through this, they will obtain the power to defeat Xehanort,the Power of Waking, and be named Keyblade Masters.

They are sent back in time to Destiny Islands to enter the Realm of Sleep along with the world.

Sora dives into the dreams of the Worlds. Riku, however, unknowingly dives into Sora’s dreams instead, becoming a Dream Eater and protecting him from his nightmares.

Dream Eaters are creatures that gain their strength by… eating the dreams of people and granting said dreams.

Nightmares are creatures that mirror Dream Eaters, and wreak havoc within the minds of those within sleep.

While Sora and Riku are away on the sleeping Worlds, Mickey gets a letter informing him that Minnie has been kidnapped by Maleficent and Pete, and he, Donald, and Goofy set off to Disney Castle to rescue her.

Once there, Maleficent demands access to the Data Worlds Mickey created when he digitized Jiminy’s Journal. Mickey refuses, and a Corridor of Darkness opens where Lea’s chakrams fly through, blocking Maleficent’s attack and scaring her and Pete away.

Lea emerges from the Corridor, and Mickey recognizes him as Axel. Axel- er- Lea corrects him before the four of them return to the Mysterious Castle to speak to Yen Sid. There, Lea requests that Yen Sid give him the ability to wield a Keyblade.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Yen Sid warns him that this path will not be easy, but Lea persists, and is trained by Merlin the wizard, and the three good fairies, who use their magic to shorten the training period.

In the Sleeping Worlds, Sora and Roxas encounter both Xehanort’s Heartless, and Nobody, along with a mysterious young man. After they seal all seven keyholes, Sora is transported back to the real world and to The World that Never Was.

There, Sora finds that Braig has once again become his Nobody: Xigbar.

The mysterious young man appears and reveals that he is actually Master Xehanort back when he was young.

He reveals to Sora his ability to time travel. Sora travels deeper into his own dreams, trying desperately to make it to the castle.

However, along the way, he is haunted by visions of Namine, Roxas, Xion, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, with each vision weakening his heart. Upon reaching the castle, Sora finds both Xemnas and Xigbar, who explain that Young Xehanort has been using his time traveling ability to gather various incarnations of Xehanort to create a new, Real Organization XIII.

This was the original plan for the Organization: to create empty husks that Xehanort could turn into himself by placing within them a fragment of his own heart.

However, due to the independence of such members as Axel, Roxas, Xion, and others, this plan eventually failed.

Xigbar reveals he is already “half-Xehanort”, and also reveals the current members of the Real Organization XIII. Xemnas and Xigbar attempt to turn Sora into one of Xehanort’s vessels, but he refuses and battles with Xemnas. Although he is victorious, the battle does damage to his heart, and he falls into a comatose state.

Young Xehanort brings him into the Castle.

There, Sora falls into the darkness, but to protect him from being swallowed whole by it, Ventus’s heart emerges from Sora and envelops him in Ventus’s Keyblade Armor. Meanwhile, Riku, after sealing the seven Keyholes, also finds himself The World that Never Was, but inside Sora’s dreams.

There he finds Sora’s unconscious body, floating within a force field, since Young Xehanort had dragged him into his own dreams. Suddenly, a shadowed being, emerges from Sora’s Nightmare.

Riku defeats it, only to be dragged into the Darkness by a still lingering Xehanort’s Heartless. Xehanort’s Heartless reveals to Riku that he is a Dream Eater, destroying Sora’s Nightmares along their exam.

Xehanort’s Heartless attempts to take over Riku’s body once again, but Riku is reminded of his initial meeting with Terra as a child, and elects to consume his Darkness and return it to Light. The two battle once again, and Riku prevails, returning from Sora’s dreams into the real world. He makes his way to the Castle’s throne room, where he finds Sora, still asleep.

Young Xehanort appears, and reveals that Sora will be used as his new thirteenth Vessel, since using Riku and Roxas had failed in the past.

Young Xehanort reveals the other versions of Xehanort to Riku, including a nearly revived Master Xehanort. Mickey arrives to save Riku and Sora, but is stopped by Young Xehanort, whom Master Xehanort has put his consciousness within, allowing him to draw his Keyblade and do battle with Riku.

“Begone.” (THOT!)

Riku is victorious, but in the time of the battle, Master Xehanort was fully revived. Xehanort reveals his ultimate goal to create the thirteen darknesses to battle the seven lights to recreate the x-blade and restart the Keyblade War.

Suddenly Xehanort’s Heartless and Xemnas grab Riku and Mickey to restrain them, and Master Xehanort attempts to place a fragment of his heart into Sora.

At the last moment, however, Lea appears to protect Sora and block the fragment.

Xehanort summons his Guardian to defeat the group.

Donald and Goofy are able to blast in out of the ceiling and defeat it however.

Master Xehanort retreats with his Organization, vowing that this is only a temporary setback, and that his plan will succeed.

The group return to Yen Sid at the Mysterious Tower with Sora’s body and inform him of Master Xehanort’s current scheme.

In order to awaken Sora, Riku must use the power he obtained by sealing the Seven Keyholes to materialize inside Sora’s body to re-assemble his broken heart.

Inside, Riku does battle with Sora, inside Ventus’s Keyblade Armor, which has been corrupted by a Nightmare. This frees Sora, but he disappears, causing Riku to use Sora’s Keyblade to enter a version of Destiny Islands.

Here, Riku meets with what appears to be Roxas, Ventus, and Xion before finally meeting with a data projection of Ansem the Wise.

This projection reveals that Riku is actually accessing the research data that the real Ansem had hid inside Sora while his memories were being restored.

Ansem tells Riku about Sora’s ability to connect with others’ hearts, and that this ability, along with data contained in a bottle given to Riku, might be able to bring back those who have been lost.

Ansem finally reveals that by defeating the nightmare, and his subsequent interactions with the Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, Riku was able to awaken Sora in the real world.

Riku returns to find an awakened Sora, celebrating the end of the exam.

Yen Sid reveals the results that while both Riku and Sora performed admirably, only Riku is declared a Keyblade Master, as Sora failed by falling to the Darkness.

How unfortunate.

Lea then surprises the group by exclaiming that he will the next to attempt the Mark of Mastery.

He summons his Keyblade for the first time.

Sora then travels back to the sleeping Traverse Town to visit the Dream Eaters he met.

Elsewhere, in Castle Oblivion, a still resting Ventus smiles as a result of Sora’s happiness.

A lot was happening in this game, despite the amount of “not happening” that happened in this game, y’know? Though the story bits were short, with the Disney cameos taking much of the spotlight, they were sweet. Development was made for Sora and Riku, with the both of them learning about the past of Xehanort,

and the pain that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus went through. We also have our segway into the start of Kingdom Hearts 3, where Sora must regain his strength that was lost when Xehanort almost stole his heart. In the Secret Ending, Mickey and Yen Sid discuss the fact that they need one more Keyblade wielder in order to face Xehanort.

Donald and Goofy discuss if they’ll ever get to do something truly important (possible foreshadowing?) when Riku comes by, bringing a friend along. To Mickey, Donald, and Goofy’s surprise, that friend is Kairi.

It’ll be amazing to finally get to see her fight in the war in Kingdom Hearts 3!

Take THAT Mr. Hogan!

[snowembrace]

Same KH Anon. No, spoilers are fine. I won't be able to play the game anyway. What is the basic concept behind KH like, what's the essential thing one has to know to understand the KH universe? And could you tell the story of the very first KH? (You can skip this one if you find this too tasking.)

Aahh alright then!!

Well, to be fair there are many different things that one has to know to understand the KH universe fully. I’ve been into KH since 2002 when the first game was released, and after 15 years there are still things that we all, as a fandom, hope will be cleared up in the future.

I would say that playing the games (or watching the cutscenes online) is essential to understand KH, but there are also a few key concepts that I’m going to list here to give you an idea of what its universe is like. This might get a bit long since you also asked for the story of the very first game, but I hope you won’t mind! That being said, lets start with the list. I’ll put everything under the Read More due to its length.

→ Hearts are a very important (if not the most important) element of the game. As I’ve explained in the previous answer they can give birth to the main enemies, but they can be also used for other purposes. They are the main source of emotions and feelings, other than life to some extent. No one as of now knows exactly what this “Kingdom Hearts” (the one mentioned in-game) is, but it is said that we will eventually discover it in KH3 next year. Hearts are usually made up of both Light and Darkness, although some are either completely pure or completely dark.

→Another very important element of the game, other than its main weapon, are the Keyblades. They are big keys similar to swords that are used to fight. Not everyone can wield a Keyblade - it is said that only people with a strong heart and the memory of wielding one in the past can do so. This connection will be further explained later on in the following chapters of the story though. The Keyblades are a lot and each one has different abilities. Also, a Keyblade wielder can wield more than just one Keyblade by collecting the various keyholders. The Keyblade is the only weapon able to defeat the main enemies in each game as well.

→ The KH universe is divided into many different Worlds floating in something similar to our space, where the stars are the Worlds themselves and they shine thanks to the fact that they are made of Light - each World is populated by different characters (not only Disney characters), and it can be invaded/destroyed by the Darkness. If that happens, its inhabitants all end up in the so called Traverse Town, while the old World falls into the Realm of Darkness until its Keyhole is sealed and its Light gets restored by the Keyblade wielders.

→ KH gathers many original characters, as well as Disney and other Square-Enix characters. Mickey is the king that rules over the Worlds and is in charge to preserve the balance between Light and Dark. He’s a Keyblade wielder.

Tbh there is a whole lot to say still, but I don’t want to make this too long. However, if you’re interested, you can always ask me more specific questions. As you can see there’s not only just one essential thing to know to understand the KH universe - KH is very complicated but that’s what makes it interesting and special to many of as well.

That being said, I’ll try to answer your second question now without adding content that is not fundamental to understand the story.

It all starts in a World called the Destiny Islands, where we get introduced to our protagonists: Sora, Kairi and Riku. They are best friends and always spend time together - among them, Kairi is the only one that comes from a different World and therefore she’s the reason Sora and Riku wish to leave the islands as well to explore the universe. One night a storm hits the islands and Heartless start to invade them, taking Riku away in the Darkness. In an attempt to save him, Sora discovers that he’s able to wield this weird weapon he has never heard of before - the Keyblade. Meanwhile, Kairi disappears as well, and Sora is taken to Traverse Town while his World falls to pieces. There he meets Donald and Goofy, who are looking for their King Mickey and the person able to wield the Keyblade.

The trio leaves the town together to go free the other Worlds from the Heartless that have invaded them, and eventually run into Riku, who has seemingly surrended to Maleficent’s control - the witch uses a lifeless/sleeping Kairi as bait for him to obey her orders (as of KH1 both Sora and Riku have a major crush on Kairi). Maleficent’s aim is to gather the Seven Princesses of Heart (Alice, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Snow White, Aurora and Kairi herself) to unlock the door to Kingdom Hearts, which appears to be the source of all knowledge and the place all the hearts go to. The hearts of the Princesses, once released from their bodies, all end up in a special Keyblade that Riku now wields.

After restoring the Light of many Worlds, Sora, Donald and Goofy reach Maleficent’s lair. Here we discover that right when the Darkness was about to take Kairi away back at the islands, her heart chose Sora as its protector (there is a logical explanation as to how this happened but it has to do with another game of the series) and Kairi fell into a deep sleep, just like the other princesses captured by Maleficent: only by sacrificing himself with Riku’s Keyblade Sora will be able to wake them all up. 

As you can easily imagine, Sora obviously stabs himself with Riku’s Keyblade right after and frees both his and Kairi’s heart, other than the hearts of the other six Princesses, but he then turns into a Heartless. This, until Kairi recognizes him while escaping the fortress and is able to bring him back.

We also discover that Riku was actually under someone else’s control, someone seemingly more powerful than Maleficent - a humanoid Heartless named Ansem.

He’s the last boss of the game and you fight him at the End of the World, a World made up of fragments of the other Worlds that were destroyed by the Darkness. 

Once you defeat him, he explains that the Darkness is the heart’s true essence, while Sora is convinced that Kingdom Hearts is actually made up of Light. At his words, the big door to Kingdom Hearts (the one Maleficent was looking for) finally opens and “kills” Ansem with its Light. However, behind this door there are also many Heartless. King Mickey and Riku appear behind it to seal it, but of course this means that they will be lost again until they eventually find a way to escape and go back to their Worlds. We never get to really see what’s behind the door in the first game.

Mickey reassures Sora that there will always be a door to Light, aka a way to see his friend again, and while Sora closes the door from the outside with the help of Donald and Goofy, Riku asks him to take care of Kairi before disappearing. Sora then locks the door with his Keyblade. He eventually finds Kairi again, but as the Worlds start to reconstruct themselves, the girl is pulled back to the Destiny Islands. Sora promises her that they will see each other again soon, and the game ends with Kairi wandering around the islands and discovering a drawing that Sora left for her before the Darkness took over their World.

The one that Sora holds and offers to Kairi is a Paopu fruit, a fruit that grows on the islands and that is said to intertwine two people’s destinies if they share it. We are left with this last shot of Kairi crying while smiling and offering another Paopu back to Sora, seemingly returning his feelings for her. This is probably one of the most powerful scenes in the game, and it doesn’t even need words to work, just the background music and this gorgeous CGI (even after 15 years it still looks amazing).

And this is pretty much it! I’m sorry if it came out this long, but there isn’t a way to sum up the plot without giving away all the informations I wrote down here. I hope that you found this interesting to read though! Thanks again for the ask!

One thing I did not add (other than how and why Kairi’s heart “merged” with Sora’s), is the fact that when Sora stabs himself and, as I said in the previous ask, creates his Nobody Roxas by losing his heart, he also inevitably creates Kairi’s Nobody too, Naminé. I might expand this more another time if you (or someone else) asks for it.

[anthonyonrequest]

Games I Want to See Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

February is nearly over, and 2017 is off to a good start in the gaming world. With the upcoming Nintendo Switch, the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the highly anticipated Horizon Zero Dawn on PlayStation, the gaming scene is in full swing. One thing we here at On Request Magazine always look forward to seeing is the upcoming games that will be listed as Backwards Compatible on Xbox One. As avid Xbox gamers, we were recently excited to see Square Enix release Hitman: Absolution to the Xbox One server. With that in mind, we started to think about some games we'd love to see become backwards compatible, (and some we'd love to see come over from PlayStation to Xbox)!

F.E.A.R. Series:

Alma Wade. Her name was enough to invoke terror in a gamer as they entered the world of "F.E.A.R.". Playing as Point Man in the first and third game, (and Michael Beckett in the second game), the series followed the city shattering haunting from ghostly specter Alma Wade, a young woman with psychic abilities who was used in a science experiment to create a psychic army, only for the experiment to go horribly wrong. The series featured ghosts, demons, cannibalistic killers and family drama unlike any other. The series last entry was F.E.A.R. 3 in 2011, and I know we have been eager to see the game's return, but for now we'd settle for having the entire series become backwards compatible on Xbox One. With horror games like Outlast and Resident Evil 7 seeing a rebirth of the genre, this is the perfect time to see F.E.A.R. make a comeback!

Assassin's Creed III:

Since the Xbox One launched, fans have seen most of the Assassin's Creed series make it's way to the platform. Assassin's Creed, AC II, AC: Black Flag and finally the launch of The Ezio Collection (AC II, AC Brotherhood and AC Revelations). However it is evident that AC III is notably absent from the lineup. While not the most beloved game of the franchise, the exploration of the American Revolution, along with the final chapter in main character Desmond's story, makes this a must for the backwards compatibility lineup. With Ubisoft's record of making their games backwards compatible, let's hope this game is not far behind.

Kingdom Hearts I-II:

Now this series has yet to make it's way to the Xbox brand, but with Kingdom Hearts III making it's debut on Xbox One when it releases, this is the perfect time to re-release the previous games in the series to the Xbox One. The Final Fantasy and Disney fused series follows a young boy named Sora as his world is turned upside down and he is ripped away from his best friend and the girl he likes when the evil Darkness swallows his world whole, and he wakes up in a new world. He learns he is a Keyblade Wielder, and with the help of Donald Duck and Goofy, they explore various worlds, protecting them from the Darkness while searching for his friends and the missing King Mickey Mouse. The combination of popular Disney and Final Fantasy worlds and characters along with a beautiful musical score and some of the most emotional storytelling I've ever seen, this is a series that needs to bridge the divide between PlayStation and Xbox. This is a series filled with fantasy, fun and powerful emotions that needs to be on Xbox One, so let's hope with the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III that this becomes a reality sooner rather than later.

L.A. Noire:

The dark, dangerous world of 1940's Los Angeles has never been more realistic than in Rockstar Studios epic game, L.A. Noire! The story of police officer Cole Phelps and his rise through the various departments of the LAPD is fun to play, and brings to mind films such as L.A. Confidential. Investigating various crimes in Vice, Homicide, Arson and more departments, the exploration of 1940's LA in classic cars and beautiful architecture makes for a beautiful game. With Red Dead Redemption (also from Rockstar Studios) having successfully made the jump to Xbox One, now is the perfect time to take the story of Cole Phelps and put new players in the shoes of an LAPD detective, possibly enhancing the visuals and allowing players to share epic car chases and shootouts with mobsters and shady real-estate developers. Featuring an all star cast and a great musical score, this is a must have for Backwards Compatibility.

Batman: Arkham Origins

With the recent release of Batman: Return to Arkham, the Xbox One compilation of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, players have shown an eagerness to take on the Arkham series on Xbox One. With recent rumors of a second prequel game in the series, now would be the perfect time to bring the prequel game, Batman: Arkham Origins, to Xbox One. Getting to see the rise of Batman in his early days and getting to see fan-favorite characters and villains meet the Dark Knight for the first time made this such a fun game, and would benefit greatly from the Xbox One engine and enhanced graphics.

The Prince of Persia Series (Sands of Time, Warrior Within, The Two Thrones)

With the success of the Assassin's Creed series, now is the perfect time to see the return of The Prince of Persia. The highly beloved trilogy of games, (Sands of Time, Warrior Within, The Two Thrones), the story of The Prince of Persia and his adventures throughout time battling evil creatures and trying to right history is something that would be amazing to see get a collectors edition on Xbox One. Using an engine similar to the one Ubisoft uses for the AC series and enhanced graphics and game rewards, this would make for an incredible collection that would put gamers back in Persia, fighting evil Vizers and monstrous creatures hell-bent on his death. Sounds like a fun time to me!

Rock Band 1-3

Finally, the Rock Band series needs to head to Xbox One. While fans can buy the new Rock Band equipment and game for Xbox One, the first three games were iconic in their own right, and for many the price of the new game and quipment is too much to indulge in, so now would be perfect to bring the first three games to Backwards Compatibility, giving fans a chance to get an adapter for their old equipment to play these fun, amazing games. Who doesn't want to pick up a guitar or microphone and just start belting out songs, from "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen to "The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars!

What games do you want to see come to Backwards Compatibility? Leave your comments down below and don't forget to follow this blog and follow us on our website, as well as our social media profiles!

@xbox