Why the lack of FF characters?

[Fatal Rose]

The ONLY reason I played these games is for the FF characters. Seems like with each new KH game they add less FF characters. Not cool!

Anyone else bothered by this?

[Mirage]

Not me. I think a large amount of players enjoy the disney characters as well.

[Fynn]

Yeah, I'm with Mirage on this one. Also, the original characters are way more awesome anyway :P

[Depression Moon]

I sometimes forget that there are FF characters in it. They don't really play that much importance to the plot.

[Ayen]

If they had actual relevance to the plot and you got to visit their worlds, maybe. But since they're mostly just fan service, no.

[Fatal Rose]

Guess I'm alone on this one.

[Psychotic]

The FF characters were a hook to lure FF fans in to this new series - I never would've played a bloody Disney RPG without them let me tell you - but now that KH is popular in its own right they don't need to.

[Shauna]

I think that Psy hits the nail on the head here. Their cameo appearances are enough, the KH series can stand on its own two feet these days!

[Aulayna]

Because it's not an FF game.

/thread

[Wolf Kanno]

To be honest, considering how poorly implemented they have been in every installment, I'm kind of happy they are being fazed out cause I never felt they brought anything to the series. So pretty much what Psy said.

[Sephiroth]

I don't know what this thread is about. Kingdom Hearts is an RPG by Square. Square + RPG = Final Fantasy.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

My only real gripe is not being able to visit an FF world. Sora in Balamb Garden would be really cool.

Despite the fact that the series is a collaboration between Disney and Square, i'm surprised there aren't more Final Fantasy characters incorporated into it considering the project director is Tetsuya Nomura.

[chionos]

I think it was fun seeing them initially in part 1, but completely unnecessary after that. Cameos are enough, in whatever capacity, as long as the rest of the game is rockin'.

[Vyk]

You're not alone. I think I would have enjoyed it more if they played a bigger part in things

When the game was first pitched it sounded like it was going to be equal parts Disney and Final Fantasy. Totally not what we got and it's become less so over the years

I too would have been interested to visit Final Fantasy world with Disney characters and such. But simply just playing a Disney RPG didn't cut it for me. Especially with the high whimsy low plot value and the simplistic action elements

But I never completely put my finger on why exactly the series turned me off so much, so I'm not sure a more inclusive FF bias would have made me any happier. As it stands most of its fans are happy. So I guess they did something right

[Mercen-X]

Personally, I wish I could play a version of Kingdom Hearts without Final Fantasy or Disney characters. Neither of them play a significant role in the game anyway. The ability to experience the world of Disney firsthand was a played out gimmick after the first game... hell, I got bored of the concept after visiting the second world. It would be different if the world's were designed differently, with a layout that granted more freedom of exploration and less screen-to-screen travel. The world's are all just so chamber-like and stifling. It was a feeling that could not nearly be redeemed by being able to fight alongside Aladdin and Tarzan. Worse than that was the fact that these characters couldn't travel to other worlds with you, so you couldn't see Jack Skellington fight beside Jack Sparrow or Ariel fight beside the Beast.

I want Kingdom Hearts to start having fewer Disney worlds and more original worlds. They can still include Disney stuff, just relegate it to the new stuff that's coming out (like Frozen or Day of the Dead) or at least other stuff we haven't seen in the game yet (like the Mickey and the Beanstalk, Ichabod and the Headless Horseman, Robin Hood, Popeye, Black Cauldron, Return to Oz...)

[Freya]

I think fitting a lot of the FF characters into KH just doesn't fit well. It's not like it's creating character arcs or development for FF characters, they have their own games for that. They are fanservice really. Fan service i'm a fan of but still. KH is growing into it's own thing so they need less and less of them to hook people in, like others have said.

[Vyk]

And yet it still needs Disney. Not that I can complain since I haven't legitimately enjoyed one. But are there worth-while story arcs for Disney characters? I've never gotten the impression that they do. But I really wouldn't know personally

[Freya]

Well for the disney ones it's more that we're going through their story but KH style. Disney movies are far shorter and the story is far easier to make more concise. The FF games are huge and very long. It just wouldn't work out to go through their worlds/story

[Vyk]

I can probably concede that point. But now that you mention it, it seems plausible at least that it'd be fun to jump into a certain part of stories and join them for that segment and maybe see it from different perspectives or perhaps even leave that particular scene and join whatever's going on elsewhere at the time. Like you land in Tifa's bar while Cloud and Barret are storming the reactor or something. But it's probably just me daydreaming and wishful thinking. I think it'd be interesting at least. As long as the formula works for it's actual fans I shouldn't complain

[Shauna]

I can probably concede that point. But now that you mention it, it seems plausible at least that it'd be fun to jump into a certain part of stories and join them for that segment and maybe see it from different perspectives or perhaps even leave that particular scene and join whatever's going on elsewhere at the time. Like you land in Tifa's bar while Cloud and Barret are storming the reactor or something. But it's probably just me daydreaming and wishful thinking. I think it'd be interesting at least. As long as the formula works for it's actual fans I shouldn't complain

Funny you mention this, since Birth by Sleep did exactly that. With the three protagonists, each of them got to see a different segment of the Disney story. Granted it's still the Disney side of things, but eh. :p Who knows what KH3 will bring to the table.

[Wolf Kanno]

Nomura has said before that we'll never see an FF world and this point is proven that the FF characters seen so far have different histories than their true counterparts. Technically Hallow Bastion/Radiant Garden is the FF world where Squall and the others are from. We have a better shot at seeing Marvel and Star Wars pop up than an actual FF world.

[Rin Heartilly]

I just want a Rinoa and Squall cameo scene =.=" Cloud got both Aeris and Tifa fawning over him, along with a bromance scene with Squall....I don't see why Squall can't get a Rinoa D: Especially when they teased with the letter from Rinoa at the end of KH2.

Other than that, I don't really mind if Disney is the main focus. Although, I'd hope they'd keep the Disney worlds classic - early 2000's disney. I really don't want to play marvel and especially star wars worlds ugh....

[DMKA]

It's ironic because the FF characters are the very reason anyone had any interest in the original game at all.

The main reason my interest in Dream Drop Distance is pretty low and I haven't striven to get a 3DS and play it is because, from what I hear, it's void of FF characters beyond moogles. I really hope KH3 is loaded with FF characters like the first couple games were.

[Vyk]

Do they really need any license characters anymore? I'm with DMKA, though I think we're in the minority. I find FF characters a little more interesting, because you get more exploration of their personality and motives. The Disney characters are usually just the same as they're represented with Disney. No growth or exploration that I had experienced. But everyone says the FF characters are no longer needed now that the hook is over and the mythos is set. Following that train of thought, do we really need Disney characters either? There's tons of KH-only characters and plot-points established that could be explored. I might be more interested if I knew I wasn't just going on a trip to Disney World and had an actual game to play. But I guess that's not really for me to decide, since I'm not a fan of the series, and it'd have to drastically change to pull me in. People like it for what it is, more power to 'em for catering to those fans I suppose. At least they listen in some regard

[Crop]

Honestly, the whole Disney thing was what got me into this series in the first place, things like fighting alongside Goofy and Donald, and having Maleficent as a main antagonist were among the best parts of the original game for me. The FF characters were a nice bonus too.

I know I'm in the minority here, but outside of Sora, Riku and Kairi I find the majority of the original characters very bland, stereotypical JRPG characters and could do without most of them to be honest.

[Sephiroth]

With a cast of

Sora and his Nobody fragment Roxas as well as his clone Xion
Master Riku
Kairi
Master Xehanort in all his incarnations (Young, Old, Terra's body, Ansem Seeker of Darkness) and his Nobody Xemnas as well as the other bodies which are connected to him
Master Eraqus
Terra
Master Aqua
Ventus and Vanitas
The Organization and all their Somebodies
Ansem the Wise

we already have a main cast that is important enough and all those smaller bits of Disney and Final Fantasy, except Mickey, Donald and Goofy they only serve the story purpose of just being there to represent a world. If there is more around them then I guess it is cool but it is pretty hard to make a crossover and everyone really relevant enough.

[Vyk]

I think that was another thing I had a problem with. Those characters didn't come out of their world and join in the fight. They were just there for novelty. I wouldn't have minded Ariel and Belle to be on my team :jokey:

[Sephiroth]

We got Auron once so I guess the chance is there.

Lightning as supporting guest character!

I'd also like to see all important characters and Final Fantasy characters be a part of one great final battle - like the one in Radiant Garden but actually towards the end and on a bigger scale. I would not mind seeing Sephiroth, Kefka, Kuja or others showing Xehanort he is not the only villain who actually is a problem and at least fighting him for a moment or be immune to him or whatever.

[Ayen]

I'll admit when I was a kid the Final Fantasy characters were the reason I played the first game, but then I fell in love with the Disney characters all over again. I'm indifferent to the OCs (keep in mind I only played the first game) in the long run.

Hearing David Borenaz as Squall still blow my mind.