Kingdom Hearts - an opinionated retrospective

[Fynn]

So with Kingdom Hearts III just around the corner, I find myself in an increasingly deeper a slump. No PS4 means no revisiting all the games in that sexy, sexy “The Story So Far” box set or getting the next game in time to play it before getting spoiled. It’s such a shame because in the end, Kingdom Hearts is my favorite overall game series of all time. So I’ve decided to entertain myself and maybe cheer up a bit by doing two things. One is replaying the DS titles - one of which I love to bits and the other I feel is one of the weaker parts of this excellent series though I do wish to give it another shot. The other is, well, this.

In this thread I’ll be posting some written pieces about each and every KH game in order, whether I’ve played them or not (I’ve played most and I’ve at least familiarized myself with the lore of others). These won’t be full-on reviews and will mostly serve as a recap so that I hope I can drum up some more hype for this game and give everyone a refresher on some of the more crucial story bits. For each game, I’ll be writing a more loosely organized thinkpiece, followed by a list of the most important things that happen in the game, my personal favorite story sequence in the game, as well as the gameplay highlights and lowlights. I’ll be going off the top of my head with all these, so they can be a bit chaotic, but I’ll do my best to research stuff I’m not certain on. We’ll finish each one off with an updated “play order” chart, just to make it extra cute for everyone ;)

Keep in mind that I am a fan of these games. A big one. I unironically love this story and not even as a guilty pleasure. It’s one of my absolute favorite gaming experience in large part due to how crazy the twists get. Some games I like better than others but as a whole, this series gives me life. As such, expect joy and gushing from me. Some cynicism is of course welcome and to be expected (heck, judging by how the Master of Masters is written, I’m pretty sure Nomura himself is very much aware of the silliness that’s inherent to this series), but overall, I won’t be making another “KH’s Story is garbage and here’s why” hot take. Quite the opposite actually. Consider this your trigger warning ;)

So yeah, hope you guys will enjoy this as much as I plan to and see you later today once I’ll be posting about the first game in the correct play order? What, o what game could it be?


~Play order~
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[Fynn]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Kingdom_Hearts_logo.png

Kingdom Hearts is a game that needs no introduction. It seems even the most jaded of fans still hold very much respect for this little gem that has, against all odds, remained as one of the PS2’s most beloved classics. This was a time when SE was still doing tons of risky, experimental stuff rather than trying to capitalize on the thing that was big at the time. I think it should come as no surprise that I really miss those times.

Though Kingdom Hearts may be the last of its kind - that being a quirky, experimental title - it’s still a shining example of a simple joy of creating new and exciting things that used to be SE’s M.O. I’d argue it’s also one of the last bastions of such creative joy within the company, but I guess I’ll be elaborating more on this in later pieces.


https://lparchive.org/Kingdom-Hearts/Images/6-KingdomHearts.png

But what is it that makes KH so risky and experimental? Why, it’s the unique combination of Disney and Final Fantasy, of course. As if that needs to be stated. Much like the mythical encounter Sakaguchi had with a Disney exec, it’s just one of those things that we treat as a given nowadays, but were just a wild concept back in the day. The result? A game that exceeded all expectations and exploded into the gargantuan franchise it is today.

Though the game was originally meant to star Mickey Mouse, Disney was a bit reluctant to let SE use their characters just right of the bat. And so we got Sora, aided by Donald and Goofy, among various other classic Disney characters, on a very straightforward quest to save his friends and prevent the worlds from falling into Darkness. You know, the regular stuff.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EXK_1Q1lEUs/maxresdefault.jpg

The one thing that really makes this game stand out, if you ask me, is the fact that the Disney worlds, for the most part, have stories that are actually tied to the main plot. The Disney villains, not just Maleficent, are actually very active agents until they get hijacked by Xehanort (as you do; more on that later). I love how Monstro and Captain Hook’s Castle just straight up float between the worlds and move the plot forward. It also helps, that the further they are along the game’s storyline, the more involved they are, culminating in the sublime segment of the game that is Hollow Bastion which, though it may not be a Disney world on its own, has enough of Beast and Belle’s presence in the main plot to count.

Speaking of the events of Hollow Bastion, though Kingdom Hearts I’s story may be a very simple start, with a fairy tale quality to it (compared to later titles, which are far more shounen manga-y in their execution), the characters are quite deftly handled from the very beginning. Sora may remain pure-hearted throughout, but I love how he gradually shifts from just wanting to save his friends to basically considering everyone his friend and selflessly striving to protect the worlds from devastation. Riku’s journey is far more complex and though I feel he really grows into the most fascinating character in the series in later installments, you can definitely appreciate the dark personality traits planted in him in this game just for the sheer, teen drama that it causes between him and Sora. Both of their character arcs culminate in the Hollow Bastion segment, again solidifying it as the best portion of the game, no contest.


https://cdn.staticneo.com/w/kingdomhearts/1/10/Hollow_Bastion.jpg

Finally, the last large bit I want to touch on in this part of the retrospective is the atmosphere. Sadly, this is the one element the series has lost after the first game. Kingdom Hearts may be pure Disney joy and one of the lightest storylines in the series, but the atmosphere can be downright dreary at times. From the spooky Halloween Town with all its nooks and crannies, to the harrowing Night of Fate at the beginning segment at Destiny Islands, the quiet loneliness of Traverse Town and, of course, the oppressive Hollow Bastion and eerie End of the World, the various worlds of Kingdom Hearts keep you hooked in not just through their involvement in the main plot, but sheer aesthetic value and amazing ambiance. This, of course, is achieved in part thanks to the mesmerizing soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura who has since scored every single game, providing consistently outstanding music. Even if you’ve become disillusioned with the series, you can never deny that the music has never stopped being excellent.



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Kingdom Hearts is a game that I hold in very high regard, even if there are many more entries in the series that I enjoyed more. I’ve spent a lot of time with it, beating all of the optional bosses - and let me tell you, when you’re 13, it’s hard. The game may not really be that challenging by today’s standards, but it’s definitely a slower ARPG that can be downright brutal if you don’t swing your Keyblade methodically. As button mashy as these games get, over here you really needed to take things slow if you wanted to make it out alive.

What else can I add? I’m glad that at least this game still gets the credit it deserves after all these years and has provided the people who played it with enough nostalgia to last them until today, so that they’re hyped for KHIII even if they hadn’t played every game in the series up to this point. Big mistake, if you ask me ;)

Alright, so let’s recap this baby!

Important story bits
A hooded figure shows up at Destiny Islands, talking about how “this world has been connected, tied to the Darkness”
Riku gives in to the Darkness, losing his right to use the Kingdom Key, resulting in it choosing Sora instead
Sora finds Kairi in a near-unconscious state. She disappears as he gets closer
Destiny Islands, along with other worlds, gets sucked into the Realm of Darkness
Riku is found by Maleficent as Goofy and Donald join the Keybearer (Sora) on his quest; she fuels his envy of Sora and turns him into her little henchman. He gets the Souleater blade for some reason? It’s a sword that has a blue eye in it. This is actually way more important than it sounds.
Sora locks many Keyholes, protecting the worlds from the abundance of Heartless
Riku finds Kairi’s body in a catatonic state
Hollow Bastion happens! Hoo boy.. Riku manages to get the Keyblade back from Sora because he’s its rightful owner, but then Sora’s strength of heart actually gets it back to him, leading Riku to become possessed by Xehanort’s Heartless (AKA Ansem)
Sora learns Kairi is a Princess of Heart, therefore has no Darkness in her Heart, so once their world was lost to Darkness, her Heart landed inside Sora. He uses the Keyblade of Hearts to release it. He loses his Heart and becomes a Heartless but it’s okay because Kairi hugs him and he get better. For now.
Sora goes to the End of the World, defeats Ansem, and restores the worlds to light. However, Riku and Mickey are still trapped in the Realm of Darkness, so he sets out to find them instead of going back to his island with Kairi. Sora, Donald, and Goofy travel the Realms Between.

Favorite story segment
It’d be a cop-out to say “all of Hollow Bastion”, though that’s what it would be for me, if I’m being honest. If I had to pick one moment, though, I’d have to pick Sora’s fight with a Xehanort-possessed Riku. Everything leading up to that fight is epic, their showdown is incredibly important to both of their arcs, and the fight itself is intense and gave me quite a bit of trouble when I was a kid. 10/10 would get my ass kicked by this dude again.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JA5zdNTY3bc/maxresdefault.jpg

Gameplay highlights
There’s a nice weight to every Keyblade swing
The world design is really cool, with tons of nooks and crannies to explore. I don’t think any other game in the series has this much platforming.

What are your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts? Favorite moments, worlds? What do you like about this game? Feel free to take part in the discussion!



~Play order~
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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kh1c_6910.jpg

[WarZidane]

While I appreciate that KH1 started the whole thing, it's actually pretty far down my list of favorite entries. Of all the non-mobile games, the only ones I consider worse are Days (actual game, not the cutscene compilation) and Recoded.

You can tell it was still trying to find its footing, especially in the gameplay, which is far less refined than later entries and often very clunky. The world design was okay at times, but then you had Deep Jungle being terrible and things like Hollow Bastion's elevator maze and flying enemies that would hover in place where you can't hit them without falling down to earlier areas.

Boss fights were a bit of a mixed bag for me in this one. Cerberus is annoying, Jafar is a nice idea on paper but terrible in its execution and the optional phantom boss is an exercise in tedium (made worse by the fact it's a giant MP drain)

As for the story, being the first entry of course it was still pretty simple and clean. I'm not sure I agree with you that it stands out as the game where the Disney worlds have the most story relevance. Wonderland, Deep Jungle, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, Halloween Town and Atlantica are no more relevant than KH2 or BBS worlds if you ask me.

I feel like all of this makes it sound like I hate the game, which I don't, so I'm trying to think of something nice to say, but I honestly can't think of anything in KH1 that made me go "I *really* like that aspect of it" besides the music. :p

Overall, looking at the game now, I think it's decent. But I think that's fine, the game's 17 years old and a lot of things in gaming just don't age that well, IMO.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said so far. The first game is probably my favorite in the series. I liked the simple story. I liked that the Disney worlds were better integrated into the overall story. I felt the difficulty was just right, and everything felt a little less button mashy and more tactical than most of the future games.

I’m glad the rest of the series exists since it is one of my favorite series of games, but if no more came after Kingdom Hearts 1, I still would have been pretty satisfied with it.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel the first game is still charming, but definitely showing it's age. The story is nice, but at this point in the series life, it's difficult to even comprehend that it started off so simple and fanciful. KH1 almost doesn't feel like a part of the rest of the series narratively speaking.

Gameplay hasn't aged as well but that's largely because KH1 has that awful camera which made platforming and some of the boss battles a complete chore. This might be the most difficult entry in the franchise but largely for the wrong reasons. Still I appreciate the amount of content it delivers and I ffeel the Disney Worlds have a bit more presence than the rest of the series but it helps that Sora largely deals with the main plots of the Worlds whereas the sequels had to scrounge around for ideas to justify going back to certain worlds other than "because they're popular".

One area I will certainly give KH1 props over the sequels is that it easily has the best selection of Keyblade designs in the series. Sure not every single one is a winner, but I happen to like more of the designs in this entry than any of the sequel titles.

[Vermachtnis]

Sora is probably the most broken in this game. Leaf Bracer+Second Wind+Second Chance+MP Rage+Tinkerbell=Immortality. That little fairy is the best. The two super bosses have attacks to counter that too. On top of not even being able to summon Tinkerbell in the Sephiroth fight. Sephiroth as that one attack that destroys your MP if you don't DPS him enough and the Hooded Man as that cheaty roulette attack.

And you nailed the one thing I couldn't place on why I liked this game as much as I do. The Disney Worlds aren't filler. And I'm looking forward to reading the rest. Can't wait til the post on Days.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I’ve never understood the camera complaint. I’d guess it is because I am just used to it after the playing the game so much, but I’ve never had any issues with the camera in this game.

The only part of this game that I remember getting overly frustrated with was probably Halloween town when you have to destroy all the black/purplish orbs.

[Wolf Kanno]

I’ve never understood the camera complaint. I’d guess it is because I am just used to it after the playing the game so much, but I’ve never had any issues with the camera in this game.

Most likely. Honestly the lock on feature in this game is terrible, especially compared to other action games like Zelda. Mainly because the camera doesn't follow the lock on, so you can lock onto opponents that are still off screen. Not a big deal against cannon fodder opponents who die in one or two hits, a much bigger deal when fighting bosses, especially ones like Sephiroth whose teleporting shenanigans are designed to take full advantage of this design flaw. Not to mention doing the White Mushroom mini-game is a hassle with it. For platforming, it's largely the fact that despite letting you control the camera directly, there are a few places, mainly Tarzan's world, where you can shift the camera to make it easier to do a jump, only for you to make the jump and watch as the camera "fixes" itself back to the default setting and reversing your controls in the process. Compared to the sequels barring 358/2, which has similar issues but thankfully far less platforming, the camera is pretty unintuitive for the genre. The fact that the platforming was phased out in the sequels allowed the developers to focus on making improvement to the camera as a battle piece instead of trying to pull double duty.

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/2/2a/Kingdom_Hearts_Chain_of_Memories_Logo_KHCOM.png/revision/latest?cb=20150412160247&path-prefix=pl

Alrighty, here we go. This is where it really begins. And by it I mean the Kingdom Hearts ConundrumTM. So despite Kingdom Hearts II being confirmed and people being very hyped for it due to a Secret Ending or two, SE decided to put this little title on the Gameboy Advance. Who cares, right? :erm:

And that's the thing. It turned out that the only actual difference between numbered games and "spin-offs" in this series, apart from the various platform switches, are gameplay. You'll notice KH I and II have similar gameplay styles, and III seems to follow suit, while all the non-numbered games experiment more. But that's it. Everything else about these non-numbered games is critical information for the overarching plot. KH is by no means unique in this, as I heard MGS does something similar, for example), but it is by far the most notorious case, if only due to the relative obscurity of these titles. Meanwhile, here I am, not bothered by that thing honestly because I always had the system necessary (UNTIL NOW :crying:), and honestly, the "spin-offs" easily make up my favorite games in the franchise due to how fun and fresh the gameplay often is, and how bold the story can get, compared to the relative safeness of the main titles.

Coincidentally, Chain of Memories happens to be my favorite of the series.


https://i.pinimg.com/564x/4c/2a/9e/4c2a9e16ccff5793c399afb2c1a7038b.jpg

I'll get the bad out of the way first, just so I can bite into what I really love here. The Disney worlds this time around are really an afterthought to an even greater extent than any other game in the series. You get no new Disney worlds, and you don't even get to explore them properly, instead generating random rooms with different set-dressing. From a purely gameplay perspective, it's fun to experiment with the doors to get the result you want, but the charm of exploring unique locales as you do in most of the other games just isn't there anymore. That's not to mention the fact that the Disney stuff is this time 100% irrelevant to the plot.

Everything else about the game is, however, sublime. The card game battle system is off-putting to many, and I know this is one of the least popular games in the series, but I genuinely loved every element of this system. When playing as Sora, you get to customize your deck freely and with new cards constantly found in the fields, after battle, or in booster packs sold by Moogles, there's just so many stuff you can do with these decks that it's easy to just get yourself lost in this. It's definitely one of the more varied KH games in terms of the battle systems, as you'll never have the same decks since getting the exact same stack of cards is statistically impossible. This doesn't apply to Riku's story, however, as he gets a fixed deck for every floor of Castle Oblivion. Oh yeah, did I mention Riku is playable in this game? And he plays completely differently to Sora and it's amazing.


http://www.vgblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/Games/KingdomHeartsHD/KingdomHeartsHD-8302013/KingdomHeartsHD_0009.jpg

The story is what really makes this game stand out, thought. Yes, many lament the loss of simplicity in the series after I, but honestly, it's the intrigue that CoM promised that really got me hooked on the series. It's a mystery story, with lots of intrigue and backstabbing, mysterious allegiances, and a very interesting character study on the nature of single-minded obsession. So far, this is the only entry in the series in which Sora is allowed to show any kind of darkness or flaws of character to him, to the point that he can lose many a player in the later portions of the game - and that's exactly the intention. Other than that, this game is just excellently paced, with something interesting happening after completing every floor, and more of that intriguing original KH content that many criticize the series for while faithful puns keep crying about to this day.

Riku's story is just as good, if not better, than Sora's and has definitely cemented him as my absolute favorite character in the series. It's a study on how you can reconcile having done bad things in the past, as well as accepting that the various darker parts of your personality are still you - and that's okay. His friendship with Mickey Mouse gets full focus here and it is one of the more adorable elements of the entire series, if you ask me. Whenever the lore gets too crazy for you or you just can't keep up with all the developments anymore, Kingdom Hearts reminds you that it's the characters that keep us hooked. And Chain of Memories keeps the characters the focus and develops them incredibly well while still moving the plot forward substantially.


https://middleofnowheregaming.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/791179-khrecom_wallpaper3_std.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1

Speaking of moving the plot forward, what exactly happened here?

Important story bits
Organiization XIII is introduced. Well, half of it - Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia and Larxene. They manage this place called Castle Oblivion where cards rule all.
Both Sora and Riku find their way to Castle Oblivion, though through different means and are unaware of each other, as they're exploring different parts of the castle - Sora starting on the ground floor, Riku at the bottom level of the basement.
Sora visits the Disney worlds recreated from his memory, and slowly starts losing some memories of his own. Losing them makes him remember Namine. However, these memories are false.
Namine is actually a witch who is able to influence the memories of Sora and those connected to him. She is being used by the Organization - they want her to rewrite Sora's memories in a way that will make him subservient to the Organization.
Apart from the Organization members, Sora encounters a Replica of Riku made by Vexen on a number of occasions. Riku Replica doesn't know he's fake at first, but later has to face this reality.
Vexen introduces Sora to Twilight Town, telling him that's where his "Other Half" is. However, Axel straight up murders Vexen before he can elaborate further on this.
It turns out Marluxia and Larxene were planning to use Namine to overthrow the rest of the Organization and Vexen was haing none of it and wanted to sabotage their plans. Axel killed him in order to prove his loyalties to Marluxia, but in truth he needed that trust to keep an eye on him.
In the end, Sora defeats Marluxia, but since his memories have been modified by Namine, he must now go to sleep (for a friggin' year) in order to regain his memories of Kairi, whom Namine had replaced with herself in those memories.
Meanwhile, Riku is being tormented by the remnants of Xehanort in his heart. The Disney worlds he visits are barren, with only the villains present, as Riku has cast away all his friends by choosing Darkness in the first game.
Mickey does his best to give Riku the strength he needs in order to face the Darkness within himself, but he can't help him directly at the very beginning, making Riku's journey completely solitary for the majority of it.
Lexaeus and Zexion (who are not in on Marluxia and Larxene's coup, by the way) see Riku as a threat, and don't really know how he got into the castle. They try to dispose of him but fail, of course.
Vexen was able to create the Riku Replica by fighting the real Riku and later pits the two against each other for research.
In one of the saddest scenes of the game, the Replica is killed by Riku. This happens after the events in Sora's story, so this is the actual end of the Riku Replica (for now). He fades away, asking Riku where his heart will go after this.
Riku gets reunited with Mickey and cries tears of joy. Mickey starts wondering if maybe Darkness isn't all bad, since Riku has power over Darkness yet is a sweet muffin underneath that broody exterior.
It turns out the voice from the beginning wasn't Xehanort after all, but a mysterious man named DiZ who was kinda testing Riku? Also, Namine works for him now, since he's overseeing the restoration of Sora's memories. This is where Riku talks to Namine and she convinces him that there's nothing wrong with using both light and dark.
Riku needs to handle things before Sora wakes up, but before that, he must lock up the remaining part of Xehanort in his heart, so that he can use his dark powers without Xehanort corrupting him again. DiZ gives him the card to the final level of Castle Oblivion, and Riku is victorious.
Riku and Mickey leave the Castle and join up with DiZ. As he claims, Riku chooses to "travel the Road to Dawn."

Favorite story segment
There are so many good moments in this game that it is legitimately hard to choose from. If I had to pick one, however, I'd say it would have to be Riku and Mickey reuniting. Because God damn, this was a good kid who was maybe a bit too ambitious for his own good and he definitely didn't deserve all the bad stuff that's happened to him.


https://gameranx.com/img/13-Sep/kingdom-hearts-15-hd-remix-mickey-mouse-and-riku.jpg

Gameplay highlights
The card battle system is incredibly underrated. There's so much variety to combat and deck building is incredibly addicting.
Riku's playstyle is completely different from Sora's and has you having to work around set decks instead, while making Riku a stronger, easier character to handle at the same time.

What are your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memorie? Did you play it the first time around? What do you like about it? Feel free to take part in the discussion!



~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????

http://yokoshimomura.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/chain-of-memories.jpg

[WarZidane]

So remember when I said KH1 is actually pretty far down the list of my KH rankings? There are a couple of games below it, and CoM is..not one of them, actually. I prefer it over KH1 despite the issues I have with it. Or rather, them, because I played both the original and the remake.

First of all, wasn't a fan of the Disney worlds being KH1 rehashes. I did, however, like the new story elements. Castle Oblivion, Twilight Town, Org XIII, all that stuff. Plus, once you beat it you get to play as Riku in a different story, which when I played the GBA version was quite the pleasant surprise. After that first playthrough it was still pleasant but obviously not a surprise. :p

The card system may not be my favorite, but I still like it. My biggest issue with it is simply that I don't like building decks. Good thing Riku's side of the game didn't have any of that! I also liked that you decide what's in the rooms through the cards you use to unlock them.

The combat itself, I really liked. Probably actually more so in the original version, because you don't have to control the camera in that one. I feel like the added camera control and 3D environment doesn't do the card system justice because you have to pay attention to more other stuff. Also, some bosses get a little spammy with their cards, which is annoying when they have a fair amount of 0s available.

[Wolf Kanno]

Chain of Memories is easily my favorite entry in the franchise and the only entry to crack my Top 100. I love the story and the fact this is probably the last entry where Sora and Riku ever received any meaningful character development before Sora started being turned into the KH Messiah and Riku became a brooding angst machine who pops up every few games because he's stupidly popular. Course I'll say the same for Axel, who never quite regained his trickster edge like he had in this game, though 358/2 did him some justice, but we'll get to that later. Namine is also a pretty intriguing character who never really got the chance to shine beyond this game sadly. Speaking of, this is probably the best game to feature Orgy XII, as it really laid down the idea of a group of powerful individuals who had their own secret motives and desires before the whole thing turned into the Xemnas show with KHII. Of anything, I think the biggest issue I have with the plot of the game is that it raised my expectations for the rest of the series too high. KH just never delivered for me what I felt the Deep Dive trailer and CoM promised.

The gameplay is also one of my favorites as I really enjoyed building decks in Sora's game while working around Riku's decks in his portion of the game. The real treat here for me is that the game is just better balanced. Magic and Summon finally have weight after feeling like an afterthought in KH1 and 2. Boss battles are actually really challenging and will push your prep skills far, the interface was better for techniques, and I really enjoyed the party summon mechanic and the different ways you can combine cards for special effects. The combat just has more variety and enough challenge to warrant it. The worlds could have been handled better, but considering the nature of the plot, it's understandable why we only got two new settings in the game and no new Disney worlds, though losing Tarzan's world was a bit odd.

The funny thing for me is that I've yet to play the 3D Remake, I just can't imagine it would improve anything from the GBA version which is why I've never made it a point to pick it up. I do own it now since I did get one of the Collections on PS3 as a gift, so maybe I'll strike it up the next time I feel like playing the game.

[Fynn]

One notable change in the 3D remake is that Riku gets this draw/war mini game whenever he and the enemy use the same value card. Also, you actually get to battle Zexion this time.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I enjoyed when I played the remake, but I think I prefer the original of this game. I just think it was perfect for GBA, and it is probably my favorite game on GBA. As a kid, I was amazed with how good this fame looked too, especially when you got the actual cg cutscenes. Heck, even hearing simple and clean at the end was super impressive to me back then since I’d never experienced something like that on the GBA.

So this game came out back when I was starting to be obsessed with deck building type stuff, so I loved the gameplay quite a bit. I did get bored with some of the rehashing of the Disney worlds, but the gameplay kept me going even when those stories weren’t interesting. Despite that, the game was paced well where we kept getting more of the main story of the game to keep me pushing through.

The first game is still my favorite, but this game comes close. I’ll agree with Wolf Kanno that KHII never quite lived up to my expectations after the Deep Dive trailer and this game

[Shauna]

There's been far too much love of the CoM combat system in this thread. I am here to rectify this. :up:

It is terrible and I could barely get through the game because of it. I played both the GBA and the PS2 versions and neither clicked with me. I'm not a big deck builder sort of gal, which doesn't help, obviously. However, Riku's story was only slightly more acceptable. So there's more at play than just "deck building be bad". It was always just too... clunky, I suppose?

I wish CoM existed with a different combat system, because the plot really was fantastic and the fact that I begrudged actually playing the game is a terrible blemish against it. It makes it hard for me to recommend anyone actually play this entry, and I only ever will with the caveat of "Play it on easy mode to not hate yourself".

I am glad everyone here enjoyed playing it though, it just makes me mildly jealous that I could never get along with it.


In any case, I am enjoying this write up! 6 more days til the big day :excited:

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I played the ps2 version for the first time with the hd remix, and I liked it a lot less than when I played on the gba just because of the battle system. The gba game just came out at the perfect time in my life when I was all over that sort of thing, and I would always play it when I was getting really into playing other kinds of card games at other points in my life. It’s the kind of game I have to be in the right mood for anymore, and I can see why others don’t like the gameplay. Sometime soon I may have to play the gba version again. I’m getting the itch for that kind of game.

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/8/86/Kingdom_Hearts_II_Logo_KHII.png/revision/latest?cb=20150407103415&path-prefix=pl

Okay, this one's a fan darling, so I feel completely justified in being a bit less nice to it :p

Kingdom Hearts II has consistently been considered the best game in the series by many. This despite the fact many people started getting confused by the Kingdom Hearts ConundrumTM (hence abbreviated to KHC), having jumped into it straight after KHI, even though the game definitely relies on your knowledge of Chain of Memories in order to really make sense of all the various plots in this game.

That's still not my problem with the game, to be honest, as I mentioned in the previous entry, since I have been able to play the games in order up until now (someone please just get me a PS4 already :onoes:). Heck, maybe mentioning my problems right off the bat isn't the best thing to do, since - make no mistake - I still love Kingdom Hearts II.


http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4400000/KH2-kingdom-hearts-2-4406228-1024-800.jpg

So let's start with the good. As big of a fan as I am of CoM's card battle system, KHII definitely feels like a much more refined version of I's battle system, making everything much more quick, snappy, and flashy as all hell. The various ways in which you can modify your combos are very fun, drive forms are cool to play around with (I'm a huge fan of Anti-form, fyi), and everything in general just feels so much more vibrant and exhilerating, with a final battle that I keep getting dreams about to this day. In fact, the gameplay is something I can say I enjoy immensely and don't really find the tiny flaws in it annoying. Yes, it's much too easy - even on proud mode it's the easiest game in the series to beat - and battles often dissolve into button mashing, but with reaction commands you sometimes have to *gasp* mash another button! The flashiness of the battles mean there's less of those methodical Keyblade swings from the previous two games, but hey - I'm always up for a good spectacle, and II doesn't disappoint in that regard. Also, RIP platforming puzzles, but if the game is much easier to navigate thanks to that, I just can't complain.

And now we get to the story, which I really consider a mixed bag. No, I don't think it's confusing or convoluted or the end of the world or anything. Perhaps that's because I actually had the intended experience with CoM and could follow every story beat without the problem, on top of just being completely immersed in the original plot of KH, which was driven much more strongly in CoM than it was in Kingdom Hearts I. The main issue I have with II's plot is that it's filler, ironically enough.


http://www.kh2.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/kh2hd4gamer-04.jpg

Yeah, that might sound weird, but from hindsight, now that we know what we know, II's role is answering some questions from CoM, and then setting up the story that gets built up on in the upcoming entries. Like, it's funny how Scotty and Wolf mention II disappointing them as a follow up to Deep Dive, when we now know Deep Dive was actually a teaser for another game that came after II. This half of the Organization is also far less charismatic and interesting (aside from maybe Xigbar, though I can't honestly tell how much of that is me projecting what I already know from later games, where he gets a lot of spotlight, and how much is him actually stealing the show in this game), with Xemnas's motivations being particularly hazy and, what do you know, the following games actually make this whole thing make much more sense. It's almost as if Nomura had come up with the story of 358/2 Days (at least!) as part of what was supposed to make it to II, but then it all turned out to be too big and the actual fascinating character moments went into Days (explaining why someone like Riku is so badly mangled in the game while Days actually gives it enough context to make sense with his road to dawn philosophy), so that II could focus on the action.

So the game, in my opinon, does a poor job exploring its characters (as CoM did masterfully) or giving proper weight to its plot - mostly by the plot being just so dense with various new concepts that aren't given time to sink in. While the fight with Xemnas is flashy, for example, he's a pale imitation of Ansem - we really only know his bad because of their connection. The Disney worlds sadly suffer a similar fate, being for the most part straight retellings of the movies and zero involvement in the main plot. I will admit, however, that the revisits were pretty great and unexpected (and I love that they're technically optional!)


http://www.kh2.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/kh2hd4gamer-13.jpg

And yet, there is one shining diamond in the Kingdom Hearts II story that really makes me forgive all of the things I consider wrong about it. The Roxas prologue was one of the most fascinating, mysterious, and tense moments in the series. Add to that the heavy dramatic irony connected with the reveal at the end of it, plus the way it connects to what was already hinted at in Chain of Memories, and you have an excellent three-hour mystery story with a gut-wrenching ending. Somehow, 358/2 Days only makes it hit harder.

But even if the plot is handled clumsily, there's plenty of lore advancement going on!

Important story bits
Roxas is leading a peaceful life at Twilight Town, until Axel shows up, acting all buddy-buddy with him, despite Roxas not having any memory of him.
Roxas learns he is Sora's Nobody - a being formed from a person's body and soul after they've lost their hear - and must cease existing in order to finish the process of restoring Sora's missing memories
Sora and pals wake up from a long dream, remembering nothing about Castle Oblivion, with only the note "Thank Namine" left in the journal (for now! Goddamnit, Kingdom Hearts!)
Mickey actually saves their butt from the Nobodies that attack them. Still, he disappears right after
Guided by Yen Sid, Sora &co. make their way to Hollow Bastion to meat up with Leon &co. so that they can stop the Nobody threat. Also, to find Riku and Kairi again, I guess.
Organization XIII show up, stir some trout, and tell Sora to keep defeating Heartless with his Keyblade.
At some point, Kairi gets kidnapped by Axel.
After visiting some Disney worlds and fighting some Organization members, Sora gets back to Hollow Bastion (the only place where any actual plot happens, tbh) and learns about Ansem and Xemnas' true identity - Xehanort. He was an apprentice to Ansem who wrote reports under the name of his master. He's the one who brought Heartless to the world, and willingly turned himself into a Heartless (the main antagonist of KHI). The real Ansem had been banished into the Dark Realm.
The 1000 Heartless battle happens and Sora just gets kinda fed up with the Organization. Goofy dies but then gets better.
Heading to the final showdown, Sora fights alongside Axel who later dies. He tells him Roxas made him feel like he had a heart.
At the Headquarters of the Organization, the World that Never Was, Sora reunites with Kairi, as well as Riku who is trapped in the form of Xehanort's Heartless. With the power of friendship, he gets better.
They also meet DiZ who turns out to be Ansem the Wise, and later blows himself up along with the false Kingdom Hearts created by Xemnas to atone for his sins.
Namine is also there. She's actually Kairi's Nobody. They merge back together, as does Roxas and Sora.
Xemnas is defeated and they all return to Destiny Islands. Sometime later, however, a mysterious letter sent by King Mickey finds its way to the trio.

Favorite story segment
Again, I want to say the entire intro with Roxas, but I'll say explornig the Mansion takes the cake. It's where all of Roxas' big reveals happen, it's dark, and the end is just horribly tragic. It gives me similar feels to the Hollow Bastion sequence in game 1.


https://middleofnowheregaming.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/kh2-roxas.jpg

Gameplay highlights
Fast-paced battle system with tons of options
Reaction commands are very flashy and effective
Having the worlds be two shorter stories each instead of one makes them much more fun to explore

What are your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts II? Did you play it right after 1, or did you at least know what happened in CoM? What do you like about it? Feel free to take part in the discussion!



~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????

https://static.zerochan.net/Kingdom.Hearts.II.full.10226.jpg

[WarZidane]

At the Headquarters of the Organization, the World that Never Was, Sora reunites with Kairi, as well as Riku who is trapped in the form of Xehanort's Heartless. With the power of friendship, he gets better.
They also meet DiZ who turns out to be Ansem the Wise, and later blows himself up along with the false Kingdom Hearts created by Xemnas to atone for his sins.

Not the power of friendship actually, he returns to his true form after Ansem blows a hole in Kingdom Hearts, and they handwave it away with Mickey saying "Ansem did say anything could happen" :p

KH2 is my second favorite KH game. The gameplay, of course, is miles better than KH1. As for it being filler..we must just have a different definition of that word. The whole Roxas story happens here (sure, it's done more elaborately in another game, but that game didn't exist yet), we learn more about Axel and Namine, as well as their ultimate fate, the purpose of Org XIII, the rest of its members, Riku and Mickey's fates, Ansem the Wise's story and more.

I never really got the complaint that the first visit to the worlds is mostly just events of the movies with heartless added in, as there is the second visit for actual original stuff and half of KH1's Disney worlds were also just a warped version of the movie's events anyway. The worlds being inconsequential to the main story is nothing new since in KH1 really only Neverland was (even Monstro is just a couple of minutes of Riku being Riku)

But anyway, that aside. There is actually one downside to the combat, and that is its over-reliance on reaction commands. They're neat and all but there are bosses you can literally beat by only using reaction commands to attack them, except maybe the final strike because i don't remember if reaction commands can actually kill bosses (Xaldin, for example, learn/jump is all you need to obliterate his health bars)

The Final Mix version also has new cutscenes, many of which hint at events in later games or have more exposition on Org XIII and Roxas (remember, Final Mix was released in 2007, years before Days and BBS)

My favorite world is The World That Never Was, but if that's too broad to count, the battle with Roxas (the fight itself is Final Mix only). The fight itself is probably the best mandatory fight in the game (also the hardest one, IMO) and in the cutscenes surrounding it, Roxas' story truly comes to an end with him accepting Sora and having a last goodbye with Axel. The fact that his theme plays during the fight is also a nice touch.

The music is, of course, still great. I prefer the ending version of Sanctuary over both Simple and Clean and Don't Think Twice. I also prefer the opening version over Simple and Clean (but not Face My Fears, don't punch me EDM haters :p )

[Fynn]

Oh yeah, that goes without saying. The game never falters for a bit in the series. I’m not a fan of the original KH2 midi quality as it sounds like a downgrade from KHI, but with the HD rerelease all the tracks have been recorded, pretty much all of them contains real instruments in some capacity, so that’s no longer an issue and the KH2 soundtrack can truly shine

[Scotty_ffgamer]

That Roxas fight was pretty tough. I think I got stuck there a bit when I played the HD remix.

I love this game to death despite the negatives I have for it. It’s flashy and fun to play despite being a bit too easy most of the time. I’m just in the minority of preferring the gameplay of the first game. I also enjoyed the story despite it not fully living up to my expectations. I can definitely see where Fynn is coming from with it feeling like filler somewhat.

My main issue was that the Disney worlds felt more like a chore this time around. I hated the moonlight mechanic in the Pirates world. I just didn’t enjoy the music of the Little Mermaid world. I go back and forth on the 100 Acre Wood.

[Wolf Kanno]

While not a a true confession for those who ever paid attention to my posts in the past, KH2 is easily my least favorite KH game I've played. Even though the plot of 3D was the straw that finally broke the back and made me decide I didn't care enough anymore to see it end, my real ire with the direction of the series really begins with this game.

I'm of the minority who hates the combat, it's not just easy, it's practically mindless for the most part, and the Drive Forms are hardly balanced. I appreciate having a proper camera this time around and the Drive forms do add some variety but it's all flash and little substance which just gets boring to me after awhile. Maybe this is because I cut my teeth on Devil May Cry and it's ilk, but if you're going to go action game, then bring the challenge or at least add something to make the combat more interesting like the way Drive forms were handled in BbS. So yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the combat because it's mostly canned cutscenes and mashing one button. Even the final battle against Xemnas to me feels more like a farce compared the battle with Ansem in KH1 which was at least challenging. Hell, KH1's combat at least required a little skill on the players part. KH2's combat just feels like it wants to let you think your special and badass but I personally find it insulting to do so.

The one area where I'll concede that KH2 has better gameplay is the Gummi Ship sequences. I can't tell you how much I hate the Gummi Ship parts in KH1, absolutely hate them, but KH2 actually made them into fun rail shooters and here the spectacle aspect of the game works because the sequences are fairly challenging and shmups are traditionally particle effects show.

The plot follows suit, it's just one silly shocking twist after another with nothing to anchor it all in. Riku's whole plot is pretty dumb and is resolved so anti-climatically that it just feels cheap and forced, the fake out death of Goofy is similar, Namine and Kairi have so little in the way of purpose in the title that you almost wonder why they bothered letting them show up, and Axel should have died in the prologue like it was originally planned because it's not like he did anything meaningful after it. The Xehanort twist felt really dumb at the time as well and even now, I still feel like there was no real reason to have Ansem be a separate character because it's not like he's really important to the plot, he's a cryptic figure in CoM and it amounts to diddly squat in payoff in KH2. He was better portrayed in KH1 as the guy we know as Xehanort and him taking over his identity just never even made sense to be honest. I mean you overthrow the guy and then become a Heartless, why take his name?

Like Fynn points out, most of the few meaningful plot elements of the game exist simply to hint to all the future games like who this Xehanort fellow? This game is like Amazing Spider Man 2, just setting up all the future sequels instead of actually being a good story. I mean Sora has to wander the worlds to build Light roads or something and not only does this never get much clarification, but it's also never really been brought up again after he does so in both the game itself and every game after it which just makes it painfully clear that's it's just an excuse to justify why Sora has to travel the worlds again, like trying to find Riku and Mickey wasn't enough of an incentive. Also what happened to Org XIII? I mean they're presented as the multifaceted organization with colorful members but KHII pretty much drop kicks that notion our of the story right off the bat. I mean they were one of the best parts of CoM and a great source of drama, the ones in KH2 are basically Mega Man bosses with Xemnas being the only important one.

This is also the game that basically tells you that every rule you know about the KH world from the first game no longer matter, Nomura and Nojima decided between CoM and this game that old rules and the princess idea was stupid so we're just going to make up new rules about how Kingdom Hearts works and the whole cosmology of the series, and we're likely going to change the rules again after this game anyway so please don't be butthurt by our inconsistency. KH2 is basically when the plot decided to run on pure Rule of Cool. It doesn't have to make any logical sense, it just has to sound and look cool when we do it. They did the same nonsense in the Compilation of FFVII and both franchises as a whole have been running on it since about 2006. Now with that said, I agree with Fynn that Roxas Prologue sequence is easily the best part of the game from a story standpoint, where I don't agree is that it magically redeems the rest of the game's "seat of there pants" writing style. Roxas, in those few hours showed more depth and intrigue as a protagonist than Sora has in the course of the whole series. I am always disappointed when the game finally switches back to Sora. So yeah, I hate the plot.

One thing I will give KH2, and this might be another reason why I'm a still a bit salty about my dislike of the game side of things, is the fact it has my favorite set of worlds in the whole franchise. Barring the Pirates world which was terrible and simply felt like SE banking on the popularity of the film franchise at the time; I actually love every location in this game because it largely hits all of my right nostalgia buttons. I even love the Little Mermaid World, but I also love Rhythm Games and you haven't lived until you've heard Japanese Donald Duck sing. My only real complaint with how the worlds were handled is not the "let's just insert our new characters into Reader's Digest version of the plot" cause as WarZidane points out, KH1 pretty much started that trend, it's actually the lazy bullshit that is making us go through all the worlds twice. It's like they knew they only really had enough content and story to last ten hours but needed to push it to twenty so the fans wouldn't whine but I generally hate backtracking in games, especially when the plot forces me to do so. We could have easily just condensed both story sequences into one setting and got more bang for our buck in each world instead of just playing one little part, getting booted out and then having to go back ten hours later to actually resolve all the conflict. If you weren't being constantly bombarded with plots twists and shock value sequences, I feel most people would be aware of how off the pacing of this game is.

I honestly remember finishing this game and was wondering if a new team made it or something because it seriously lacked the restraint and finesse of the prequels. So yeah rant over until we get to Dream Drop Distance...

[Fynn]

I somehow still have a shred of hope my hot take on DDD will tide you over :p

Still, while agree with most of the grievance you and many people around the Internet has expressed, I mostly don’t care because for me it’s obvious that the story is being made up as it goes along (though not completely, which I’ll elsborate on later) but that doesn’t hamper my enjoyment because KH to me never fails to deliver in the feels, and this series is the epitome of feels over reals.

Also, side note here and a mini rant, but there’s this huge movement (or at least a very vocal minority) within the KH community that claims II’s combat system is perfect and the Osaka team have removed all strategy by adding the command deck (????) and making the game “floaty” (*sigh*). So now they’re looking at leaked footage of III and reasons to decide whether III is a masterpiece or worthless trash. May I remind you the game isn’t even out yet. And whenever people claim to like various systems in the series they’ll be like “oh that’s because you’re playing the game casually.” Like holy shit, I never realized there was a competitive KH scene :stare:

[Vermachtnis]

If there's a way to meta game something while simultaneously pissing on something else, the internet will be all over it. Wait does that make Kingdom Hearts 2 the Super Smash Melee of the franchise?

This game isn't as broken as the others. There's that infinite combo and magnet can clear a room. And yet at the same time, like Wolf said. This game is a power fantasy and doesn't need to be broken. Take Earth Shaker for example. The second boss of the Lion King world. This thing is massive and takes full advantage of the huge map and had like ten health bars. And then it's dead with like no effort. Bite its feet until you can bite it's head until you can bite it's core. Repeat like three times.

And there's a phase during the final fight where you're fighting Xehanort in his armor. And he just sets there throwing spears. And after you do enough damage he throws you and you have to fly back and repeat. And then later in the fight they repeat this past with no change.

That's another thing, the final fight drags on. It's a spectacle to be sure, but after the fifth phase I was done. And the final final FINAL fight starts with this extended sequence where you mash triangle for a minute until the actual fight starts. And there's a party where you have to play as Riku and run up and mash triangle to continue the fight, but for whatever reason wouldn't always work or that part would trigger at an unwinnable section and you have to start that fight over. I am glad that there wasn't an Undefeatable trophy for 2.

[Fynn]

Roses are red, violets are blue...




https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/b/b5/Kingdom_Hearts_358-2_Days_Logo_KHD.png/revision/latest?cb=20180602090411&path-prefix=pl

So I mentioned how Kingdom Hearts II felt like filler to me and how its story, despite having plenty of different plot, felt underdeveloped. I'm pretty sure the ideas Nomura really wanted to explore with his characters in II made their wa into this game. That alone of course, was not enough to make a whole game out of (there's only so far we can milk that Deep Dive hype, people). The end result is a semi-prequel that seems to deconstruct fanfiction tropes and is honestly one of the most gut-wrenching moments in the entire series. It is also my second favorite Kingdom Hearts game.


https://images.khinsider.com/Kingdom%20Hearts%20358-2%20Days/Artwork/Promotional%20Artwork/Artwork04.jpg

The game was not received very warmly at first, however. After the KH2 secret ending, people wanted to get in on that sweet BBS booty, but instead they got a game about Roxas' time in the organization. However, instead of getting a story focused on the underdeveloped Organization XIII members present in 2, Days introduces a brand new character called Xion, a mysterious XIVth member of the Organization, never mentioned before or since. Add to that a fairly clunky battle system and repetitive missions, and you got yourself a very angry - or at least apathetic - fandom.

Honestly, though, I feel that 358/2 Days not only does a lot to fix many of the issues I had with 2's plot, but it also carves an entirely original story of its own that resonates with me to this day and has left its mark on the KH continuity in a far more emotional way than, say, BBS, whose contributions are far more lore-focused (not that there's no emotional input there, but we'll get to that). So Riku became broody after his optimistic ending in CoM? Turns out he had to do some horriifc things to people he genuinely respected, all in order to bring his best friend back. Axel went from a conniving, calculating bastard to a depressed ex-boyfriend that's just sad all the time? While a later game will explain it fully, turns out he's naturally changed from one to the other through his friendship with not only Roxas, but also Xion. And since he's forgotten Xion, all those memories were focused on Roxas. So basically he missed two friends in one while his heart was still relatively fresh.


http://www.wtfgamersonly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/3426.kingdom-hearts-358-2-days-event_1.jpg

The inclusion of Xion was weird to me at first and did indeed seem very fanficky, but in the end I feel she's one of the most worthwhile, tragic additions to the series. And by that I don't just meet her ultimate fate. 358/2 Days is a story about friendship in a dark time, and about how friends can and will drift apart. Roxas, Axel and Xion dream of nothing more than to just be together forever, but the circumstances they're in have caused their goals to become misaligned, and everything just falls apart from there.

The last thing I want to touch upon is the gameplay. So 358/2 Days has been condensed to just cutscenes in the HD rerelease and many people say it's for the better. While I can't say that myself since I haven't seen that version, I can definitely see why they'd say that - the missions do get repetitive and to some that may detract from the overall story experience. However, I would argue that the daily routine you go through as Roxas is a crucial part of building up the character development that this game so heavily deals out to you, to the point that I honestly can't imagine how a 3-hour movie could make as much of an impact. And honestly, I still really like the gameplay. The game may lack 2's flashiness or CoM's level of customization, but the Panel system was one of the series most unique and interesting. If you can, I'd still recommend trying to get the DS version just to get the full experience, but since the story is the absolute strongest part of this game, you won't be missing out on that much by just sticking to the HD cutscenes on the collection.


http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wK1Muf19L9k/maxresdefault.jpg

As I mentioned, Days is much more character focused than lore focused, which is why the list of plot points will be shorter. It'll also be out of order as due to the games day-by-day nature some elements take their sweet time to resolve. As such, this will be more of an actual plot point list this time, rather than an event-by-event summary.

Important story bits
Roxas is added to the Organization to help them collect Hearts for Kingdom Hearts, as only the Keyblade can do that.
Xion is a Replica made by Vexen who gets filled with Sora's memories that he had removed from him during CoM. Since the memories removed mostly related to Kairi, Xion has her face. It's worth mentioning, however, that what she looks like depends on who's looking at her. Her default face is her Kairi face and it can be seen by people she's close to (Roxas, Axel). People who have encountered Sora in some way shape or form beforehand see a face most relevant to them (Xigbar sees Ventus), while some people just see a blank, featureless face of a doll (Saix). She is brought in as a failsafe, should Roxas prove too unstable to fulfil the purpose of the Organization.
Roxas, Axel and Xion become very close over the course of the game.
Since Roxas and Xion are the only thing preventing Sora from regaining all of his memories (which is why the process took so damn long), Riku is sent out by DiZ to bring them to Sora. Riku finds Xion pretty quick but doesn't take her by force. He and Namine explain exactly what her nature is and what her fate is, but ultimately Riku lets Xion make her own decision on the matter.
Axel is torn between his loyalty to Saix - his old friend with whom they'd planned to overthrow the Organization - with his loyalty to his new friends. In the end, he focuses his priorities on Roxas and Xion, even to the point of bringing Xion back to the castle against her will (as she'd decided to rejoin Sora), since he believes that this will keep her safe.
After the rift between himself and his friends has grown to the point of no return (as he says, he can't really recognize Axel anymore), Roxas decides to leave the Organization, with Saix standing in his way. He soon encounters Xion who feigns insanity to ensure that Roxas defeats her, so that he can take in Sora's memories which she has inside her. After this happens, everyone starts forgetting her, making it as if she'd never existed in the first place.
Nevertheless, Roxas vows to stop Xemnas and, two Keyblades in hand, attempts to destroy the artifical Kingdom Hearts. However, he is stopped by Riku and Deep Dive finally happens for realsies. Riku is defeated, but he must take Roxas to Sora at all costs, so he gives in to the deepest darness in his heart and takes the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Roxas is put into the data Twilight Town, setting up the prologue of KHII.

Favorite story segment
There are many moments in this game that could take this title, but in the end I'd have to say it's the moment when Riku defeats Xion in Beast's Castle. After he calls her Keyblade a sham and makes her question everything she knows, she screams with this visceral anguish in her voice that just solidified her as one of the biggest woobies in the series in my book.


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41D20aHIrhL.jpg

Gameplay highlights
Just the panel system, really. It make s a low level run easier and I liked that you could only change stuff around before missions, making choosing the right setup every time very important.
If you've got friends with the game, Mission Mode can be pretty cool, as you have tons of characters to choose from.

What are your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days? Did you play the original or just watched the cutscenes in the collection? If you've done both, which do you prefer? Feel free to take part in the discussion!



~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????

https://s1.zerochan.net/Kingdom.Hearts.358.2.Days.600.932509.jpg

[WarZidane]

As a game, I could never get into 358/2 Days. There were a number of reasons for this. I'm not big on handhelds and I don't like the mission-based structure (for these reasons, I was also not a fan of Crisis Core). I recall finding the gameplay disappointing too, but it's been quite a while and it was pretty brief (i didn't finish the game) so I'll refrain on really judging that part.

I will say it's cool that you could actually play as all the organization members in mission mode.

As a "movie" in the HD collection, I much prefer it, and it rises up the ranks considerably. It's a good, tragic story that fills in a lot of gaps left behind by KH2 and introduces a new character that I really like.

It's hard to pick between two specific parts of Days as my favorite one.

First, there's the climax to Xion's story, where she fights Roxas so that he can end her existence (and all memory of her), which is necessary to fix Sora's predicament. Hearing her theme play as she fades away while Roxas forgets who she even is (though he briefly regains the memories) hits you in the gut pretty hard.

The second is the famous Deep Dive scene, as you finally see it fully play out. Roxas and Riku fighting each other and a bunch of heartless while you see their memories of Xion starting to fade away, and finally you see her being completely wiped from Roxas' memory at the same moment as Riku-Ansem subduing him, to the sound of Dearly Beloved.

I consider both to be about equally good really. Coincidentally they're also both about equally tragic. :p

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I really liked this game, and I never minded the gameplay. I was completely engrossed in the story when it came out, especially since I’m a sucker for very character driven narratives. I thought the gameplay worked for a handheld game, and I did like messing around with the level up system. I’ve only watched the movie version once, and I will not do that again since I feel like it loses impact without going through the day to day and not seeing all the fights.

[Wolf Kanno]

I really enjoyed 358/2 and I feel it cemented Roxas as my favorite character in the whole franchise. There's nothing really to say on the subject that Fynn didn't mention in his great write-up. Except I still think the whole Riku-Ansem thing was stupid and mostly used for cheap shock value. I will say that 358/2 is one of the most heart wrenching entries in the whole series with probably one of the biggest gut-punching endings in the franchise, which is saying something because most of the games have bittersweet endings. Well the good ones at least...

I'll stick up for the gameplay a little more though. I enjoyed the Grid system because the one thing KH tends to lack is a good customization system. The console entries lack any meaningful one and CoM probably has the best one in the series if you dig deck building. Still I appreciate the challenge of the Grid system imposes on the game. I feel the two best features of the game, which were largely ignored for the rest of the franchise was how magic and keyblades worked in this game. Granted, magic is unique because it's built for the multiplayer, but I appreciated the fact that each level of a spell was unique and not simply a "bigger" version of the first spell. You could also build some interesting combos with stuff like Blizzaga and Firaga. For the Keyblades, I liked the fact they had alternate combos depending on whether you hit an alternate button at certain times. One of my favorite Keyblades would open up into a powerful aerial combo if you chained it right and with the aforementioned spell changes, it was possible to create some fun and challenging combat setups. So I feel the core idea of the combat system was actually really strong, the issue was the game was made for the DS.

Don't get me wrong, I love the DS, but 358/2 should have been made for the stronger PSP system if they wanted a hot handheld multiplayer itle, especially since Wi-Fi support on the PSP was better designed than the poor DS. It may have also improved the controls of the game as well. Like KH1, 358/2 asks more of the camera than it really could, especially with the added problem of lacking a right analog stick to fix things. Made more annoying by the game lifting areas from verbatim from KH1, leaving us to deal with finicky camera controls in some platform heavy areas like Agrabah or bringing back the awkward flight controls from Neverland back. There are also just some flat out obnoxious missions that just make the gameplay side of things more tedious than it should be such as the stealth missions against Cogsworth and Pete or the obnoxious "chase down the giant heartless" missions in the Wonderlnd Maze and Neverland. I like to hope that had the game been remade for a stronger system with a better camera, it would actually really shine as one of the better entries but obviously SE has decided that's more effort than they are willing to give to the poor title.

[Fynn]

TFW no one notices the little poem you made with the game title >.>

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Oh I appreciated the poem, Fynn!

I forgot about the stealth missions in the game. Those were definitely pretty bad.

[Vermachtnis]

I've only seen the movie and that was because I wanted the cards that you get from watching it. Then I loved it. It was not a happy movie. And I can't imagine that fight with Xion at the end being a fun one. I read the ingame journal that unlocked after watching it and the entry said something along the lines of, "And Xion finally got her wish of dying." Kingdom Hearts, for kids!

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/8/8d/Kingdom_Hearts_Birth_by_Sleep_Logo_KHBBS.png/revision/latest?cb=20180214213535&path-prefix=pl

Time for another fan favorite! Luckily, this time I'm in the "yay!" camp! With its intricate lore, greatly expanding the universe of Kingdom Hearts, a compelling cast with incredibly tragic stories and heavy doses of dramatic irony, and a stellar battle system that perfectly blends deck-building with high-octane action, Birth By Sleep has all the makings of a masterpiece. And so it sits comfortable on the number 3 spot of my personal Kingdom Hearts ranking list.


https://images.khinsider.com/Kingdom%20Hearts%20Birth%20by%20Sleep/Artwork/Promotional%20Media/Artwork05.png

Birth By Sleep takes place ten years before the events of Kingdom Hearts I, and here's where the other half of the build-up from II went. We've got the scenes from the secret ending, we go right into the whole origin of the Xehanort shenanigans, we get to learn why Sora and Roxas look so different, and... then there's this new girl? Oh wait, she's the actual main character here?

So a notable thing about BBS is that you get to experience its story through three different perspectives. There's Terra, the hot muscleboy who's a little too trusting of authority figures. Then there's Ventus, a narcoleptic young man who will literally die if you don't love him enough. And then there's Aqua, a literal perfect, flawless human being who can do no wrong but always has to clean up after everybody and is rewarded with everything bad the universe can throw at her. Don't get too attached to this lovely bunch, though. The fact that you haven't seen nor heard of them throughout the series run so far should tip you off that something is not right and that there is no way any one of these guys will be getting happy endings. Ventus and Terra's appearance and behavior can give you a lot to mull over, however, and if you've been paying attention throughout the series, you can probably deduce what will happen to them before things really start going downhill for realsies. Aqua, however, is where the story really gets interesting. In the end, she is the glue that holds the plot together and the plot is ultimately about her trying to make the best of a bad situation, and still failing despite her best efforts. Still, it's admirable how she can still persevere despite all this tragedy (for nOW DAMN YOU NOMURAAAAAA!!!!).


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But even aside from our main trio, there are plenty of other, lore-heavy scenes in this game - which I'll get to in a moment in my usual list format - and while the game isn't as character-heavy as Days or CoM, it still does a decent job of fleshing out our characters and their motivations, to the point that they're at the very least very likeable, so that you really feel sorry for them after all is said and done. That still doesn't mean I don't like what was added to the KH universe - I love it too! Honestly, this is what I think really makes this game's plotting different to KHII's. Both games have tons of new plot points, but you can tell that, while it was seat-of-your pants writing for KHII, Birth By Sleep is actually the start of a completely new arc, with Nomura already planting seeds for future releases. In short, this (and Days too, even if just a little bit) is where we don't really focus on II anymore and instead start preparing for Kingdom Hearts III. I've admitted myself that a lot of the stuff in KH is made up as it goes along, but in this game in particular you can see that there's some very subtle, methodical build up happening. As stupid as many of you consider Dream Drop Distance's plot, many of the plot points are already foreshadowed here (e.g. Braig's appearance, as in the eyes and ears, is different in the Blank Points secret ending than it is during the main plot), with scenes that would later make their way to 3D (even if slightly altered) are hidden within this game's code. All I'm saying is, there was way more build-up to the whole Seekers of Darkness saga climax, people. This time Nomura was actually probably too subtle for his own good, though ;)


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But enough about plot, as we'll cover that in more detail later - the gameplay is also top notch here! I really love the command deck system and I'm so glad it made its way into two more games in the series, to the point that I was genuinely saddened when I learned III would be going back to a more traditional KH system. Birth By Sleep honestly does the system best. With leveling up commands, melding commands to not only get better ones, but also unlock permanent abilities, and the absolute joy that is the command board, there are a ton of ways to play around with - and break - Birth By Sleep's combat. Which is why the current hardcore KH opinion about the Osaka team and it's "floaty" combat just drives me- ack, nevermind. Birth By Sleep is a bit slower than KHII and a tiny bit less flashy, but the deck and command styles more than make up for all of that, if you ask me, creating a battle system that is satisfying both on a visual and a strategic level. It's one of the most interesting, satisfying battle systems I've ever experienced. And hey - each character plays completely differently, so you never really get bored!


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/ohga-shrugs/images/8/86/Kingdom_Hearts_Birth_by_Sleep_HD.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151224014122

Now, Birth By Sleep is very dense, so I could go on about many different aspects of the game. But this isn't a review. It's just a very, very opinionated retrospective, so it's time to move on to the actual summary part so that everyone and their mother is ready for KHIII!


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Again, rather than going chronologically (with three separate campaigns intertwining, it'd be a mess), I'll simply sum up the most important plot points.

Important story bits
Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus are two old friends who mastered the Keyblade under one master. Eraqus has this kinda sorta religious devotion to light while Xehanort is tempted by darkness very much. It's what made him leave Destiny Islands, after all. Oh yeah, he's from Destiny Islands - kinda important. Also, his Keyblade - No Name - has the blue eye from the Soul Eater on it. Pay attention! I said this would be important!
So Xehanort is obsessed with legends of the Keyblade war and, in particular, Kingdom Hearts and the χ-blade (pronounced "keyblade"; I know. Nomura.). He decides to recreate the χ-blade by making light and dark clash together, hoping this would return Kingdom Hearts to the world of men, and he can gain the knowledge within. For this purpose, he gets an apprentice, Ventus, and forcefully separates his dark half from his light half, creating Vanitas. His Heart broken, Ventus looks like he's about to die, so Xehanort takes him to the Islands as a last expression of kindness. Over there, Ven's broken heart makes contact with a newly born Sora who gives Ven some of his heart so that he can survive. And survive he does.
Years later, Xehanort comes to the Land of Departure to help Eraqus with the Mark of Mastery exam in which Terra and Aqua are tested or the Mark of Mastery (Ven has joined them in their training there a couple years prior, though he;s not ready to take the exam just yet). Xehanort interrupts the exam and makes Terra fail, with only Aqua becoming a Keyblade Master.
Disappointed, Terra listens to Xehanort who suggests he should maybe give into his darkness a little bit and sets out on a journey on his own. Egged on by Vanitas, Ventus leaves too. Since she's the only responsible adult in the group Aqua leaves to find both of them before anyone gets their face bashed in.
Oh yeah, there's the Unversed - a swarm of beings born from negative emotions but also they all actually come from Vanitas? Who actually looks like Sora underneath his Spider-Man mask, btw.
The friends travel across various worlds, including Radiant Garden, where you get to meet Ansem the Wise along with a big chunk of what will become Organization XIII. That includes Braig, who is really rising to prominence in this game and is kind of operating as Xehanort's right hand man. Far more than Vanitas, honestly, who is really only there to fight Ventus.
Aqua encounters a young Kairi who, when attacked by Unversed, grabs ahold of Aqua's Keyblade - this counts as an accidental bequeathing, so Kairi can later use a Keyblade because of this. Kairi later asks her grandma to tell her the story about the light from the first game.
Aqua and Terra both make it to Destiny Islands at separate points. Riku bequeaths his Keyblade to Riku, which will later result in him being the Kingom Key's original chosen. Aqua thinks of bequeathing on Sora when she sees how bright his heart shines, but since Riku already has the mark on him, she doesn't do it. She only tells Sora to bring Riku if he ever strays off his path. I'm sorry, I just got something in my eye.
Our trio keep running into each other and just missing each other, their mutual trust gradually deteriorating. Ventus learns of his nature and Eraqus tries to kill him in order to protect the world from destruction, so Ventus doesn't stop him as he believes it's the right thing. Terra comes to stop him and kills Eraqus in the process, unleashing the darkness within him.
The three later meet at the Keyblade Graveyard to face Master Xehanort who attempts to forge the χ-Blade and reach Kingdom Hearts. Terra fights him alone and loses his heart and body to the old master, though his will still inhabits his armor and tries to kill him. Ventus gets hijacked by Vanitas and has to battle him from within. Aqua, meanwhile, has to battle a Vanitas-possessed Ventus. Vanitas loses, but Ventus' heart is shattered in the process and he falls into a coma.
Aqua returns to the Land of Departure and puts Ven there to keep him safe. She finds Eraqus' Keyblade and uses it to lock the world securely, transforming it into Castle Oblivion, so no one but her can reach Ventus. She later faces a Xehanort-possessed Terra in Radiant Garden in order to save him. They both fall to the realm of darkness but, with the last of her strength, Aqua uses her armor to send Terra back to Radiant Garden. He ends up losing his memory and becomes Ansem's apprentice, who later becomes responsible for the Heartless invasion.
Aqua becomes stranded in the Realm of Darkness. She encounters Heartless, with only Eraqus' keyblade being her guiding key. She wanders the world until she finally reaches the Dark Horizon, where she meets a hooded figure. This turns out to be Ansem the Wise after his sacrifice in II - more than ten years have passed since Aqua arrived in the Realm of Darkness. However, Ansem restores some of her hope by telling her about a young boy named Sora. In the last scene, we see Sora with the letter from Mickey, ready to set out on a journey to help those who have faced a foul fate becasue, as he puts it himself, he is who he is because of them.

Favorite story segment
Easily the Blank Points secret ending. It was a masterful way of connecting this prequel to events occuring after the end of II, so even though you're looking at an origin story, you still feel like this is building up to something much bigger. This is what I meant before when I said Birth By Sleep is actually a sign of Nomura actually taking his time to plan out a much more substantial plot, and I'm here for it. To top this all of, all the doomed characters looking up to the sky with hope in their eyes just warms my cold, dead heart so much. Add to that the most gorgeous rendition of Dearly Beloved at this point, and I'm not crying, you're crying.


WOJ6bzveAlE

Gameplay highlights
The Command Deck is a very engrossing character customization systems with incredibly useful, if broken skills that are easy to use with a simple press of the triangle button.
Each of the three characters play differently, with Terra being a stone wall, Ventus being a lighting bruiser, and Aqua being kind of an all-rounder, though still more agile than bulky, just with a magical bent rather than a physical one.
Command styles are what happens when you keep using a specific group of commands, which changes your combos up significantly. These styles are branching trees that you can unlock as you progress, with some styles requiring that you already be in another style to access. They're very flashy and very powerful.
Shotlocks are a very cool thing if you like crowd control.
D-links are a thing. :erm:
The Command Board is insanely addicting.

What are your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep? Do you think the story and gameplay are a step up from II or the other way around? Does this game feel like a main entry to you? How do you feel about the new plot developments and all the retcons that are inevitable in prequels like this? Feel free to take part in the discussion!



~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>????=>????=>????=>????=>????

https://images.khinsider.com/Kingdom%20Hearts%20Birth%20by%20Sleep/Artwork/Promotional%20Media/Artwork07.png

[WarZidane]

Hello, my favorite KH entry (for now).

I loved it when I first played it, and I still loved it when I played it again in 2018.

Sure, the camera has its PSP limitations, but the command deck is just great. Spells and skills that don't rely on MP but instead a cooldown timer that's not too long means you're finally able to just go all out instead of going "oh but what if i need my MP for a curaga in 3 seconds". The style changes depending on which skills you use are also great, really overall it's just a joy to play, IMO even moreso than KH2.

Story-wise it's also my favorite, which considering my prejudice against prequels is honestly astonishing.

Having to go through the same worlds three times may sound tedious but it's really not, thanks to the events being different for each character and the worlds also just being pretty short.

One thing that never bothered me (because of the power of overleveling and great command setups) but I can see why it bothers other people, some of the bosses in this game. They can be brutal and kind of cheap.

My favorite segment, same as Fynn, Blank Points. It's not as flashy as other secret endings, but damn is it good, and that scene with Dearly Beloved playing as you see all the characters waiting for Sora gets me every damn time.

[Wolf Kanno]

Birth by Sleep is probably my second favorite entry in the franchise. It easily has my favorite gameplay in the series tied to CoM, mainly because it brings the challenge and the combat actually has some substance to it and real customization. Of anything, the fact the later games kind of shy away from this one was a disappointment to me because I could honestly live with this being the de facto battle system for the series. Also shame on you for dissing D-Links, they are actually super useful when you use them at the right time, especially in the early game when your character doesn't have much to work with like poor Aqua.

Though it's hardly my favorite set of worlds, BbS honestly made going through three of the most iconic Disney Fairy Tale worlds super enjoyable, and unlike there previous two handheld efforts, the level design for these places is pretty fair and doesn't feel completely phoned in. Mechanically speaking, my only real issue with BbS is similar to my issue with 358/2. This game deserved to be made for something with more power. If Days would have been better handled on the PSP, I strongly feel that BbS should have remained as a console entry like it was originally intended. I'm not even saying make it for PS3, I would have been fine had it stayed as a PS2 title. Not like the system was completely obsolete by it's release date. We would have likely lost out on the Multiplayer mechanics, but honestly, I felt Days multiplayer was more fun when I tried it.

The plot is a mixed bag for me. There are certainly some great moments here, and collectively, I found the story of the three Keyblade wielders once again more engaging and interesting than whatever Sora and Riku are doing, but there is also a real sense of been there and done that with some of the characters. Terra's fall to Darkness wasn't really as good as Riku's story, and Ventus may look like Roxas and shares his existential angst, but he comes across more childish and flat as a character. Aqua is about the only unique figure among the roster and as Fynn kind of points out, she's a wee bit too perfect as a person compared to her compatriots who wear their flaws on their sleeves. I will say Xehanort did turn out to be a pretty interesting villain, you can feel the influence from Ansem the Wise of KH1 here as opposed to smug snake Xemnas. I do wish we could have gotten more screen time for Org. XIII's human members and Real Ansem, still disappointed that their roles in the plot were just a silly cameo and we're still denied any real character development for them. On the other hand, I appreciate that Scrooge McDuck got some real screen time in this entry. I will always take more Scrooge.

I think my biggest beef with the plot overall is the introduction of yet a third means of getting to Kingdom Hearts and a method that feels suspiciously like Nomura and the team are simply laying the groundwork for the post-Xehanort arc of the franchise. This inconsistency with the world's cosmology is really irritating to me, though it wouldn't completely break my patience until 3D.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I do enjoy this game a lot. I especially like how fun blowing everything up with Aqua becomes by the end of the game. I appreciated the difference between playing as the three characters on the first play through due to variety, but Aqua will always be the most fun to me.

It’s hard to say anything else that hasn’t already been said. I do remember having Wolf’s same exact thoughts when I first played this game about yet another change to how Kingdom Hearts works.

Also, that secret ending had me super pumped to get to the conclusion of the series. It really felt like it was building up to the conclusion, and a part of me always feels like we should have just got the final game after that. I do appreciate 3DS more since the last time I played it, but Fynn will get to that game too. I’m just excited that we are finally getting the conclusion that I was pumped for after this game.

[Fynn]

To be fair, it does look like KHIII is actually concluding stuff this time instead of making new stuff up, and there’s a big chance the .Org XIII members will be getting more screentime judging by the trailers, but I guess we’ll get that at a later point. I will agree that this is the game that actually made Xehanort into an interesting villain, but I’ll probably get note into that once I cover DDD.

[Wolf Kanno]

To be fair, it does look like KHIII is actually concluding stuff this time instead of making new stuff up, and there’s a big chance the .Org XIII members will be getting more screentime judging by the trailers, but I guess we’ll get that at a later point. I will agree that this is the game that actually made Xehanort into an interesting villain, but I’ll probably get note into that once I cover DDD.

Except that's what a lot of us were saying when we saw the Org. XIII members in BbS. It might be nice to see Marluxia and Larxene again, but there's not enough evidence yet whether the game will properly explore the cast or simply make them one scene wonders. I gave up on Org. XIII getting anymore characterization after 358/2 dropped the ball. That was a perfect opportunity to really explore the group, I don't really feel like KHIII is going to come through because as it stands, the game is juggling too many plot elements as it is. It would be silly for them to try to cram in some more characterization into characters whose role in the story is likely coming to a close. Especially since this game has enough on it's plate and will likely be dealing with a MCU Avenger's scenario of trying to cram too many characters into one title, but at least KHIII will likely have the time to do them justice.

KHIII is finishing Xehanort's plot, but Nomura has already said in interviews that the next arc after Xehanort will explore the Keyblade War. I imagine KHIII will end Xehanort's plot but also spend a good chunk of it;s time laying down the new mysteries pertaining to the Keyblade War, in fact they've been doing that since KHII when they introduced the concept. While it's not fair to judge a game before you play, considering the series track record, I feel KHIII will follow the pattern of all of the other games and spend just as much time introducing new mysteries while answering the few lingering questions left.

[Fynn]

Except all the Keyblade War stuff is being explored through χ (now Union Cross), which will 100% be necessary reading before the next console title, so I have faith Nomura will at least attempt to make this feel resolved, since he has gone on record saying resolution was the main theme of the game.


But again, we’ll get to this in my later write ups

[Shauna]

You know, reading this whole thing made me realise - I think that I liked BBS as much as I did, not just because it was fantastic, but because it was the first KH game I'd played since KH2 that I actually, you know, enjoyed the activity of playing.

I played KH1>2>CoM (scandalous, I know)>Days>BBS. It felt like a bit of a return to form! For me, at least. I actually did everything the game had to offer (on baby difficulty lmao) which is incredibly uncommon for me to do, because I am bad at video games. But yeah, that's the kind of level I enjoyed playing this game.

[Fynn]

https://www.khwiki.com/images/c/ca/Kingdom_Hearts_Recoded_Logo_KHREC.png

So a little sidenote here, guys. Some of you may know that I am very annoyed whenever someone goes "wow this must have been done on drugs". People are creative, stop chalking up outlandish concepts that you wouldn't have been able to come up with yourself to intoxication.

That is not the case with Kingdom Hearts coded, however. Nomura was literally drunk when he came up with this idea.

God save us all.


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I also make no secret of the fact that I consider this hands-down the worst Kingdom Hearts game of them all. The fact that I still liked it and think it's very fun to play just goes to show how solid a track record Kingdom Hearts has with its games, but that doesn't change the fact that this game frustrates me to no end. And no, it's not because of the gameplay.

I knew from the moment I started this retrospective that this game would be a little bit problematic. And this is due to the fact that, despite Nomura's insistance on the contrary, coded is completely, 100% irrelevant and skippable. Incorporating this in a retrospective that's meant to sum up plot points that will most likely be relevant come KH3 just seems like a waste of time. Were that the only grievance I had with the story, it would have been fine. The problem is that throughout the whole game, it tries to make us feel stuff by recontextualizing previous events from the game. It's a damn shame all of this, all of the stuff happening is a complete sham.

The game starts with Jiminy looking at his Journals. The old one, with the "Thank Namine" note, happens to have a new message - "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it." Naturally, King Mickey decides the only way to get to the bottom of this is to digitize the journal's contents and guide a data copy of Sora through its contents in order to find out what the deal is - you know, as you do. Bugs start appearing, corrupting the data within the journal further, and it's up to Data-Sora to save the day...? Then it turns out there's a hooded Riku running around and he's actually... the Journal's anthropomorphic representation? At some point Mickey and the rest of the Disney Castle gang are sucked into the Datascape somehow? And Maleficent tries to take over the datascape, of course - if she can't have the real thing, she'll at least settle for a Second Life account.


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There are so many things that make this much more frustrating than it needs to be. Data Sora is clueless, so we need to learn everything from scratch along with him, and he gets his memory wiped at least twice in the game, so it reaches the point that I seriously question Mickey's computer skills. All the worlds are rehashes from KH1, with the exception of Castle Oblivion, and the game really tries to make the scenes feel weighty and emotional but just fails at all of that because Data Sora is a cheap imitation. Donald and Goofy treating him like the regular Sora and promising to be friends forever is meaningless because this dude is a program and their memories and bond are with a different person. Thanking Namine near the end is a slap to the face since neither Sora nor Namine in this game are the Sora and Namine for whom the thanking act actually matters. There's just so many layers upon layers of artificiality in this game's story that it is beyond me how Nomura expected anyone would relate to these characters. The absolute worst thing is that this could have been avoided wth one, very simple fix, but I'll get to that later.

Now that that's out of my system, I can finally talk a little bit about the gameplay, which is easily the best part of the game. It's baffling to me how this game of all the games in the series, got condensed into cutscenes, considering how utterly irrelevant everything that happens here is and how stellar the gameplay is. Not the camera though, as thats once again atrocious, and there's no type-2 camera to pick this time around. The Command Deck is back and its as good as ever, but coded takes full advantage of the fact that we're in a virtual world now to really do some exciting things. First of all, theres the Matrix system, which gives you access to several Sphere Grid/Licence Board-like character progression boards that are incredibly fun to tinker around with. There's the Overclock system, which is kind of reminiscent of BBS's command styles. And then there are all the various challenges for you to undertake in the debugging sections. It's also really cool how most worlds have interesting gimmicks, with Traverse Town having 2D platforming segments, Olympus Coliseum playing like a traitional turn-based RPG, and Hollow Bastion having you without your Keyblade and needing to rely on Donald and Goofy, whom you have limited control over.


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What I'm trying to say, this may be one of the most creative games in the series from a gameplay standpoint. It's a crying shame, then, that the story is so empty - especially at this point when we're slowly but surely reaching the quickening stage of the KHIII buildup.

The following section will be really short because I'll be summing up the story bits which are actually relevant to the plot. Data-Sora's adventures for the most part are just digital variations on his KHI adventures, so you're really not missing out. The story's one serving grave is Roxas' appearance in Castle Oblivion and how different he seems from anything we've ever seen before - you can really feel the frustration born from forgetting Xion.

Important story bits
We learn that Sora's heart is the thread connecting the hearts of all those who have faced a foul fate, and is the key to saving them (which we already learned in Birth by Sleep, but OK, I guess it's spelled out now).
Mickey, of course, is here to learn all of this, and this is what pushes him to write the letter from the KH2 epilogue to Sora.
Yen Sid tells Mickey that when both the Heartless and the Nobody of a specific person are defeated, the original being reforms.
An added scene in the cutscene version introduces us to Young Xehanort as he shows up near Ansem's awakening apprentices (not exactly necessary since the next game gets you up to speed very quickly.


Favorite story segment
You know, I could just say the Castle Oblivion segment since it's the only area of the game that actually has any story relevance and is pretty intriguing, but instead, I'm just going to say how much of a massive missed opportunity this game was. You can tell from the interviews, as well as most of the interesting cutscenes in the game, that Nomura wanted to make this game Mickey's story. And I'm all for that idea - but why have Data-Sora steal the show then? Why have him in there at all? You could have just madea game where you investigate the Datascape as Mickey and that would have been so much more interesting. It's great that the Disney Castle crew got a day in the limelight, but it would have been so much more compelling had they gone full out and just let us see stuff from Mickey's perspective and him learning everything he knows first-hand. There would be plenty of room for character development for him - his guilt, his friendship with Donald and Goofy, all of that should have been center stage instead of some weird B-plot that is actually somehow trying to be the A-plot. This story would have been a million times more enjoyable with just this one minor change. And now I'm mad that this is a game I'll never get.


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Gameplay highlights
The Command Deck is back!
The Overclock system is reminiscent of Command Styles, with its own digital twist.
The Matrix System is one of the coolest character progression systems in the series.
A lot of really cool gameplay gimmicks in every world.

So what did you think of coded? Did you even play it? Did you even bother to watch the cutscenes? Perhaps you disagree with me and think this game really is relevant to the overarching plot? Feel free to take part in the discussion!


~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>CODED=>????=>????=>????=>????

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/CodedChar.png

[Wolf Kanno]

I never bothered with coded, it pretty much looked like the type of game that CoM was accused of being, a rehash of the first game with two new story bits to justify dropping some dough to play it, and your overview seems to confirm that assumption. I did like the fact Roxas was the final boss, but he's my favorite character in the franchise so call me bias.

I imagine that Mickey was short changed because of Disney. Despite letting them have access to their IPs, it seems to me like the Mouse House is really stingy and very specific with how Mickey can be utilized in the game. I feel the only chance of Mickey being a prominent character in the plot and fully playable would likely require Disney to have heavy involvement with the game's development which I don't feel Nomura and SE are really willing to do.

I will totally laugh if it turns out Data Sora is going to show up and be important in KHIII.

[Fynn]

I still recommend it though. The DS version, of course. It really is a blast to play.

[WarZidane]

I'm gonna be honest here and say I never played the actual game. Added to the whole handheld issue I already had with Days, this one was released in 2011, at which point in time I had already completely abandoned my DS in a dark corner of my room.

I did however watch the whole thing on the collection, so judging by that it is indeed the worst KH. Completely irrelevant until the final part, and even that is questionably relevant because yeah, even the information you get from that is basically covered in other games.

All that said, I'm guessing the structure and story of the game was like that because it was originally an episodic game made for mobile phones.

[Vermachtnis]

I loved the circuit board. I messed around a lot with it. Easily the best character progression system in the series. Prolly my favorite of all time.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I never really expected too much of the story since it was originally a cell phone game, but I remember being so disappointed with this game from a story standpoint. I agree with basically all you say regarding the story.

That being said, I did have a lot of fun playing it. I did watch the cutscenes to get a theme for my ps3 I think? It is dumb to have just had the cutscenes from this game since the gameplay was the only real point to the game.

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/3/3e/Kingdom_Hearts_Dream_Drop_Distance_Logo_KH3D.png/revision/latest?cb=20180602090413&path-prefix=pl

To say this game is controversial is an understatement to say the least. From the complex story, even by series standards, to the very experimental gameplay, Dream Drop Distance have left many fans scratching heads as it took the series in a direction no one was really expecting, really shifting people's expectations of Kingdom Hearts III. Now, despite the fact that I believe the game was most likely cut severely either due to time or platform constraints, I still can't overstate how much I love it. Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance shares the comfy #3 spot with Birth By Sleep.


https://s1.zerochan.net/Kingdom.Hearts.3D%3A.Dream.Drop.Distance.600.1011142.jpg


One of the most notable elements of this game is the fact that we take control of both Sora and Riku again. Unlike in CoM and BBS, however, this game doesn't do separate campaigns - instead, both characters are controlled in tandem, the details of which I'll explain later. Due to the fact that we've just learned that Xehanort has reformed and that there's a small village worth of Keyblade wielders to be saved by Sora, who has become a Messiah of sorts in between defeating Xemnas and receiving Mickey's letter, the boys need to take the Mark of Mastery exam, stat. Due to the impromptu nature of this exam, they can't really do it the long and safe way that the Wayfinder trio has, so instead Yen Sid sends them balls-deep into the Sleeping Realms, tasking them with awakening the worlds that couldn't awaken after Sora restored most of the other ones after KHI. The cosmology of this universe is all over the place, I know. Don't worry about it too much.

Reverted to their kid forms and with new duds that have mystriously materialized them for what is most likely no important reason at all, don't worry, Sora and Riku make their way through a small selection of surprisingly elaborate worlds from Disney's B lineup, which incidentally happens to be my favorite. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, and then there's Fantasia which is like, my entire childhood, and the Three Musketeers which is something that amused me and my brother to no end when I was in high school. The world selection is surprising, is what I'm saying, and in a good way. It helps that, aside from the first and final world (both of which have been substantially altered, by the way), all of the worlds in 3D are completely new ones. So no more revisiting the same four rooms of Wonderland or murdering rogue pots in Olympus Coliseum!


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6N5yIyG0t80/maxresdefault.jpg

Now, before I move on to talking about the gameplay, it's time to address the great pink elephant in the room. KH has a reputation of being complicated and, let me tell you, even though I usually rebuff these notions, 3D had me scratching my head for a long time. There's time travel, dream worlds, parallel worlds, possessions - all the things that let you cook up a nice big confusion smoothie, just like mom used to make. I've mentioned the beta scenes found in BBS before as evidence that most of the stuff that seems out of left field has actually been planned, or at the very least foreshadowed before (it has, don't lie), but they're also evidence of the fact that the story was definitely meant to be spread out better. The Destiny Islands segment in the game proper is incredibly short and very vague, while the content found in BBS appeared to be much more robust. Whether Nomura ran out of time or space on that tiny little 3DS cartridge, it is clear that corners were cut since I think the story's absolute biggest sin is the fact that it feels choppy and rushed and poorly explained.

However, despite all this, I am actually a fan of everything that is happening here. Say what you will about the inclusion of a time travel mechanic, but I see it in a similar way to how I see the Time Turner in Harry Potter - it's a thing that has very specific limitations and nothing can really be altered to create a separate timeline - you can only really change the stuff that's already been changed due to time travel. Nomura's way of implementing this particular plot point may be sloppy, but God damnit, I can't be the only person who really felt that the stakes needed to be raised significantly before KHIII? For goodness sake, Sora already has Riku at his side, so if he were to have five more Keyblade wielders, all in order to beat Grandpa Xehanort, then the old guy doesn't feel like he's very much of a threat. 13 Xehanorts sounds menacing and, to take this HP allegory further, reminds me of Voldemort and his horcruxes, which were also seemingly late additions to the story that were there in plain sight all along (though how much was actually pre-planned in either case is debatable; I am pretty convinced Nomura had thought none of this up before BBS, but I'm sure everything since that game has been part of this setup).


http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/39600000/Riku-and-Shiki-The-Knight-Shining-Armor-kingdom-hearts-3d-dream-drop-distance-39670653-2466-1387.png

It's crazy, but it's a good kind of crazy that keeps you wanting more. It doesn't hurt that, despite the very poor explanations, the characterization is still fairly strong. I love the fact that Xehanort is capable of playing the long game and him being prepared for everything beforehand not only makes sense within the context of time travel, but also make him seem so much more conniving and threatening. Young Xehanort was interesting since this is the guy that's still kind of in his "oh, you know, just kind of curious about darkness" stage and I love that he was his own start of darkness. That's just hilarious. And then there's Riku. Sora, sadly, has regressed a bit in this game, becoming the generic all-loving hero again, but I do enjoy the fact that it's that overreliance on light that has made him fall at the very end of the story and nearly have him become one of the 13 darknesses. Riku, on the other hand, finally has his arc complete, and I feel it's very satisfying and I love the fact that he's the actual protagonist of this game. His experiences may have weighed heavy on him and it's been a rollercoaster ride over the whole series, but now that what he considered to be his "taint" with darkness has actually given him an advantage, making him immune to Xehanort's influence, this is exactly the boost of confidence that Riku needed in order to save Sora and ace the exam. He really did deserve to become a Keyblade Master after all this time.


https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/b2ljtmvsxmsjd5xdhm3a.jpg

So gameplay. There's a lot to unpack. There's the command deck again, but you don't meld commands this time. How do you get abilities, then? Dream Eaters. These creatures serve as your companions this time around and it's them that you have to grind if you want to get access to new abilities. Sadly, this involves some very repetitive mini games, which I wasn't really a fan of, but eh, they're cute. Then there's flowmotion. I've said before that the worlds are much more expansive right now, and part of the reason for that is the fact that you can now parkour across the scene, making skills like high jump and glide obsolete. Additionally, they add a whole new variety of combat abilities, so now your surroundings are far more important to your battles. Then there's the drop mechanic. You get to play both as Sora and Riku at once, but each of them is on a timer and when it runs out, whether you're just exploring or in the middle of a boss battle, you are forced to switch characters. Still, it's far less rigid than it sounds, as you can get items that extend your time very early on very cheap. It goes without saying, then, that 3D plays like nothing else in the series, and for the most part, it's very enjoyable Those mini games, though, I could really do without.

Alright, time to take on this bad boy.

Important story bits
Sora and Riku undergo the Mark of Mastery exam, which involves unlocking te sleeping worlds. Upon arrival, Sora and Riku get new outfits - Sora's has a large X on it, while Riku has the Dream Eater mark on his back.
Back in the real world, Lea - Axel's complete form - awakens in Radiant Garden along with Ansem's other apprentices. They all retain their memories from their time as Nobodies on top of their human memories. Lea goes to visit Yen Sid and asks to be trained in the Keyblade.
Riku and Sora get separated, and they end up exploring two different versions of the same world every time. It later turns out this was due to Xehanort's meddling - Riku has actually found his way inside Sora's dream by accident, instinctively trying to protect him when Xehanort and his minions were trying to find a way to Sora's heart.
At the end of his journey, Sora confronts the various people from his memory and ultimately faces Xemnas. The X on his clothes is the Recusant Sigil - something which lets Xehanort trace people (which is why he gave Organization members names with Xes), marking Sora as one of his chosen for the 13 Darknesses. Sora defeats Xemnas, but falls to sleep anyway, leaving his heart vulnerable to darkness. Luckily, Ventus' heart protects him using his dark-resistant Keyblade armor
The rules of time travel are simple: you must abandon your body, you can only travel back in time to a period where a version of you exists, once you travel to the past you can only travel forward in time, and you cannot change Destiny's course. After returning from your journey, your memory of the time trek is wiped so that Destiny can still take its course. This is how Young Xehanort is present here, as well as all the other 13 Darknesses, and the reason they disappear is because they travel further to the future, to the final confrontation.
Speaking of the final confrontation, Xehanort still wants to forge the χ-Blade, but this time he plans to pit 13 beings of pure darkness against 7 pure lights instead, as apparently that method is more reliable than just using one dude.
Riku faces off against Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and ends his power over his heart once and for all, but now he must rescue Sora. He's the one to witness the gathering of the 13 Darknesses, which Mickey interrupts with a Stopza spell. Young Xehanort, however, shakes it off and a battle ensues. Riku saves Sora, but the Darknesses must now travel in time further for the fnal confrontation.
Sora still won't wake up, so Riku must dive into his heart once again. After defeating the Ventus armor, possessed by Dream Eaters, he frees Sora. Riku receives the Mark of Mastery, and even though Sora doesn't, he is still extremely happy for his friend. Bless his heart. Sora must now retake the test to become a true Keyblade Master.
After the credits, we see Axel get his Keyblade, and Kairi also wants to get in on the action. Since she doesn't want to just stand by anymore and has been bequeathed a Keyblade, she starts her training with Yen Sid alongside Axel.


Favorite story segment
Honestly, everything that happens after Sora's story is over is pure gold. You've go some high stakes, Riku is super fun to play, and his boss rush is simply exhilerating. The fact that this time it's Sora falling to darkness and Riku is here to rescue him this time is incredibly fitting and makes a very nice bookend to Riku's character arc.


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/atrocious-gameplay/images/6/67/Young_Xehanort.png/revision/latest?cb=20180712183425

Gameplay highlights
COMMAND DECKS!!!!!
The Dream Eaters are actually pretty fun to play around with, what with their ability boards
Flowmotion gives a new dimension to exploration, and it's just a very satisfying thing to execute in battle
The drop mechanic adds an additional level of strategy and makes things tense in a pleasant way

So what are your thoughts on DDD? Did you play it? Did it make you quit the series or quite the contrary - it whetted your appetite for III? Feel free to take part in the discussion!


~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>CODED=>DREAM DROP DISTANCE=>????=>????=>????

https://s1.zerochan.net/Kingdom.Hearts.3D%3A.Dream.Drop.Distance.600.1082807.jpg

[WarZidane]

DDD was okay but definitely not one of my favorites.

While I have no issue with the actual content of the story, I did feel like the way they spread it over the game was poorly done. When I think back on KH games in terms of "where do the story bits happen" (apart from coded/recoded, because what story :p ), the only game that makes me go "they really just dumped it all at the end of the game" is DDD. Every other game there are bits and pieces that play out over the course of the game.

Gameplay-wise, I was glad the command deck was back but I did not like the dream eaters system at all. This is troublesome because not only are dream eaters your partners in battle, they're also your source of abilities and commands. The actual combat was fine, but everything around it just annoyed me.

As for flowmotion, some aspects I liked, some aspects I could do without. I didn't really care about its in-combat uses and things like launching objects, but I did like being able to just wall jump infinitely.

This is the one entry I actually didn't replay in the collection. I just had no motivation to go through it again and watched it online instead.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

So when I last played DDD, i definitely appreciated the story more than the first time I played. I think part of my issue is what you laid out, which is just that the story should have been spread out better. I also think it would have been a better game had we gotten rid of the Sora gameplay, or perhaps relegate him to a sort of prologue section. I liked all of the Riku moments, and I always felt things would have been better completely from his perspective with perhaps just some cutscenes showing Sora’s stuff if need be.

I was really appreciative that we basically got all new worlds in this game, and I also liked that The World Ends With You crew were represented. I also enjoyed the gameplay for the most part once I got used to the flow motion stuff. I do generally like monster collecting type stuff, but the Dream Eaters didn’t quite do it for me. I think the repetitive mini games were a part of it. I did also like the visual design of the Dream Eaters for the most part. I don’t know, I go back and forth on it.

Really, most of the story beats I’m unsure of from this game all depend on how things are handled in III

[Wolf Kanno]

I have a lot of issues with this game. So to get the praise out of the way, I liked the gameplay side of things. The drop mechanic was interesting and kept you on your toes, the flowmotion finally made getting around the stages less hassle free, and the Dream Pokemon weren't exactly as cringy as I feared. I feel the one element of the gameplay that does bother me is something I felt about all of the post FFV entries of FF, which is that many of those game systems are just remixes of the excellent job system, but hardly live up to it. I meant it when I said that BbS's gameplay mechanics could have remained the standard for the rest of the series and I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest, and while 3D gives you a taste, it still false short of the great customization and unique battle flow the Styles mechanic brings to combat. It's still fun though. The one exception is the silly travel between world segments which I really didn't enjoy.

I also didn't mind the worlds for the most part, except I really hate Pinocchio, so I could have done without revisiting that world. The 3 Musketeer world was also an oddity for me, and I would have preferred a more traditional feature film world. Minor gripe though because it's honestly one of the better worlds. I also appreciated TWEWY cast showing up as well, but I love that game. I kind of hope/wish future installments would start giving cameos to lesser known SE properties, cause Musashi or Mint would be pretty fun to see in the games.

My issue lies with the plot. I strongly disagree that KH needed "the stakes to be raised" I mean we watched Old Xehanort wipe the floor with three of the strongest wielders of the keyblade we seen in the whole series. Just the idea of him coming back in Terra's body at full power seemed like a pretty high stake to me. Having this incredibly over-elaborate plot to justify having Sora and Riku need to fight every incarnation of the dude again is both some Silver Age comics nonsense and tells me KHIII is just going to be one long boss rush. It didn't feel necessary is the issue I have with it. The fact it also involves my least favorite plot twist in the series is what really makes me angry.

I like the Nobodies. Despite my whining about KHII, I feel that they are conceptually one of the coolest and most underutilized ideas in the franchise, and the entire retcon plot twist that they can eventually grow new hearts completely undermines their entire niche in the series. They went from being an interesting and morally divided third power to just being a means to an end for the big bad, and it pretty much cheapens the drama of all of their appearances for me. Like this twist retroactively made me dislike their entire appearance in the series. It was just dumb, and I might have been able to swallow the rest of this game's nonsensical dime store novel writing ability until this bombshell was dropped. I'm seriously livid just thinking about it right now. Also, how does this even work then? I mean if Axel grew a heart because of Roxas and Xion, but now he's Lea, what happens to his two hearts? Do they just merge or what? Can Lea say he's the same person now? How about Sora? I mean he's got like Four hearts wandering around that body now, and that's not even talking about the whole Kairi//Nanime thing. Also, how do you just "grow a heart back" I thought the whole fucking point of this series was that everyone was trying to find Kingdom Hearts because it's literally the "Heart of Everything" and that's where people's hearts come from? You mean to tell me we can just grow this shit? Like from KHII beyond, I'm struggling to understand why people are bothering to look for this thing, because it seems like every new installment undermines everything we were told about this place in the first game. Seriously, this just adds more gasoline to the poor cosmology of the series and how the author's are sort of just making it up as they go. This was such a poorly thought out twist that just didn't really need to happen.

To make matters worse, I used to kind of like Axel, until his fanbase started to drive me crazy and the KH team capitalized on it by giving him the most appearances out of all of the Org. XIII people. Now he's back as a human and we're going to make a him a keyblade user as well, despite the earlier games acting like it was special. But considering we've been walking over that whole concept since KHII, I shouldn't be surprised. Hell, Donald and Goofy will likely get keyblades in KHIII for good measure. It's like the concept of Bankai in Bleach or Super Saiyan in DBZ, which were treated as something special and rare, and then just as we jump into the next arc that whole build up is forgotten and it becomes common place and not even treated as special anymore, it's practically the bar set just to fight the bad guys foot soldiers. My real issue here is that this is blatant fan pandering. It's not relevant for the story as much as it's just giving in to fan demands to make their favorite character still relevant and special, like all of the characters they've been building up since the first game.

So yeah, the three biggest bombshells pf the story were all misses for me and simply told me to stop bothering. For every moment I felt the series took one step in the right direction, another entry took three steps back. I get, I shoudln't care so much, I mean this is basically a silly crossover story starring Disney characters fighting eldritch horrors with Hot Topic version of the FF franchise, and I should never have gotten my hopes up that the writing was ever going to be good because the base concept is ridiculous, but hot damn if KH1 wasn't a surprise and both Deep Dive and CoM promised some really good intrigue. Instead it's just been squandered for cheap drama and childish notions of what's "cool". I get it, I shouldn't be getting all hot and bothered by a silly Disney crossover game, "the entire concept was dumb to begin with, what were you expecting?". When I reached that conclusion, I decided I didn't care anymore about the franchise, and that it had been a waste of my time altogether.

I'm fine with anyone else who still cares, and I'm not trying to say anyone is foolish to still care. But for me, I know now that KHIII is just not going to end in any satisfactory way for me, nor is the franchise ever going to live up to the misguided expectations I placed on it. It's silly fun, but I no longer have any emotional attachment to it (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EightDeadlyWords).

[Fynn]

See, for me that twist had a completely different effect. I was skeptical l about the no heart business from the start, but I chalked it up to the writers just not being able to at all convey this type of being. No fault of their own, it’s just an incredibly outlandish concept that is hard to place. With the revelation that they were growing hearts, a lot of the character-focused stuff in the series makes more sense - Axel in particular who should not have cared by Roxas in the slightest, but in the end he really did, which is why I think Nomura must have at least thought of it at this point. I’m not saying it was planned, just that he may have treated Axel as an inspiration for this twist. Or maybe he noticed he’s written himself into a corner with these emotive Nobodies in II and Days to the point that he needed to come up with SOME kind of explanation. I’d also say it adds an additional layer of tragedy since they could have just become regular people and moved normal lives were it not for Xemnas’ propaganda, but that’s just my personal take.

But I do agree with everyone saying the pacing of this story is really bad and it would have been much more coherent had more relevant stuff happened either in or between the Disney worlds.

[Fynn]

https://i1.wp.com/d3hgyjcstprd02.cloudfront.net/uploads/20150516152300/Kingdom_Hearts_X_chi_Logo.png?resize=518%2C352&ssl=1

Here we go again. Now that we all thought things were finally getting streamlined as we tied up all story threads and connected them directly to III, in comes another... thing. It's hard to call it a game even at this point since it seems like it's its own transmedia franchise at this point. In any case, the Kingdom Hearts Conundrum is in force yet again, because apparently the recommended order of play now involves... a mobile game, of all things.

But we need to talk about Kingdom Hearts χ, people.


https://images.khinsider.com/KINGDOM%20HEARTS%20X/Artwork/Promotional%20Media/PC%20Background.jpg

Now, I think I should mention that at this point these write-ups will become a wee bit problematic for reasons that will become clear as I write them. I will no loner be covering my favorite story bits or gameplay highlights. Kingdom Hearts χ started out as a Japan-only browser game, which later got localized and brough to iPhone/Android as Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ. The II.8 collection contained a set of cutscenes in the new engine called Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, which doesn't summarize the story of Unchained as much as it basically shows you what's been happening behind the scenes. And then the mobile game got a story and multiplayed update and it is now called Kingdom Hearts Union χ, and its story is still ongoing and nearing completion.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ocjDK3WUvMk/maxresdefault.jpg

This is where the conundrum comes in. χ as a whole may seem like a silly, cute mobile game, but it actually contains critical story details. However, since Union χ is still on-going, even at this point when we're one day away from the Japanese release of III, it is obvious that the game, at this point at least, is setting up plot points that will come into play after the epilogue of Kingdom Hearts III. As such, it is natural to assume that only the stuff covered in Back Cover will be relevant to the Dark Seeker saga, so I'll focus on that in my story summary, though what I know of the rest will also be mentioned for context's sake.


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/8/8d/Tejados_Ciudad_del_Amanecer.png/revision/latest?cb=20140424143631&path-prefix=es

So why no favorite story bit? Well, the movie isn't particularly compelling and the mobile game is more padded than my bra during my drag show. As such, I have not seen all the game scenes yet. The gameplay is nothing to write home about as it's your typical mobile game fare. Still, it's definitely got to have something special in it since this game has actually been able to keep my attention to this point, so that's cool.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AGDmexgZoQE/W_WLeUlvshI/AAAAAAAAK60/vlZECXfbq7oGm8NLmrnWORK87tZehYdIQCJoC/w540-h250/52f025a8f4892eef50d27b6ba7c95be57ef2c390_hq.gif

All that aside, however, I do genuinely like χ and what it brings to the KH table. I may not enjoy the fact that it's in mobile game format, but the content has been, in typical KH fashion, surprising, a little bit confusing, but definitely good theory fuel. And why is that? Well, this game takes place in the fabled time of fairy tales and as such is the deepest prequel KH has gotten yet. It covers the buildup, incitement, and aftermath of the Keyblade War, and there are a ton of shocking twists if you've been keeping up with series lore. For instance, Ventus is there, and so are the human forms of Marluxia and Larxene, and while I can't say for sure how interesting their characters are yet since they're a new addition to the Union χ storyline, there's definitely some intriguing stuff in there.

So there's tons of cool stuff that really makes the KH universe even more interestin (in my opinion; it may be just much dumber in yours and hey, that's fine). I just wish they didn't make a mobile game with hundreds of padded missions required reading for KHIII onwards. At least the art style is super cute. I mean, have you seen my avatar? And then, of course, there is the character of the Master of Masters, who is hands down the most enjoyable part of the Back Cover movie and is definitely a breath of fresh air from the series. He almost feels like a self-insert of Nomura who is very much a troll, very self-aware and works amazingly in contrast with all the other Foretellers, which I think is definitely meant to poke fun at the fact that the series' dialogue can get a bit uptight sometimes. He kinda feels a little bit like Xigbar, to be honest? Make of that what you will.


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/CoolImpeccableBellsnake-size_restricted.gif

But what exactly goes down here?

Important story bits
Long ago, when all worlds were one, everything was filled with light. People loved the light so much that they started collecting and monetizing that trout in the form of Lux. And this is a story of how capitalism is evil, folks.
In all seriousness, it is the task of the Keyblade Wielders to collect Lux as part of their unions, as this helps maintain the balance of light. They travel to different worlds accompanied by a Chirithy, a Dream Eater that serves as their guide. They try to stop the Heartless, which appear in the worlds for unknown reasons.
There are five unions in total, each headed by a Keyblade Master - they are called Foretellers. These unions are: Unicornis - the unicorn - led by Ira, Vulpes - the fox - led by Ava, Leopardos - the leopard - led by Gula, Anguis - the snake - led by Invi, and Ursus - the bear - led by Aced. "May your heart be your guiding key" is their shared motto.
These masters are not the only ones, however. There is Luxu, as well as the Master of Masters, both of which wear Organization cloaks. The Master of Masters, as the name suggests, is their leader. He is the one who forges the Keyblades from people's hearts in the image of the χ-Blade. So yeah, he pretty much made the Keyblades. And the Chirithies, but no one cares about the Chirithies.
[*}The MoM gives the five Fortellers a Book of Prophecy each. They contain knowledge of future events, including the notion that the Keyblade War will happen and that it is inevitable. Warning his disciples that he will disappear, he leaves them the books and gives them roles that are meant to help them rebuild after the Keyblade War. Ira is assigned to be the leader of the Foretellers, while Aced is tasked with acting as a counterbalance to him. Invi is tasked with being a mediator. Ava's task is to gather the strongest Keyblade Wielders from all unions (despite the strict order not to upset the balance of the separate unions) so that they can later rebuild - these are the Dandelions. Finally, Gula receives a page from the Book of Prophecies that no other Foreteller receives, which says that there is a traitor among them.
Meanwhile, Luxu is given a special job. He receives the No Name Keyblade. It contains the Master of Masters' eye, which is what allows him to view future events and write down the Book of Prophecies (see? Told you this would be important), and is told to pass it down to his apprentice, then to his apprentice, and so on and so forth. He is also given a box that he must carry to a specific place but he must never open it. MoM does tell him what's inside, however, but we never learn what he heard. We do see him wince and ask "why?" though.
The Foretellers start mistrusting each other when they find a Nightmare Chirithy, which indicates its owner has fallen to Darkness. This leads to a ton of in-fighting, collecting way more Lux than necessary by the Union members, and what do you know - Keyblade War happens.
After the Keyblade War, the survivors are sent to a digital version of Daybreak Town and the other worlds, so that they're not entirely aware the Keyblade War actually happened and now the world is divided and the Keyblade Graveyard is a thing, Matrix-style. Also, I'm pretty sure the Foretellers died in this battle. The Dandelions are still around, though, and five youths gather to become leaders of the Union, and these are Ephemer, Skuld (those two had a role in the story while the game was still Unchained), Brain, Ventus, and Lauriam. However, it soon becomes pretty clear that another character, Sterlitzia, was meant to become a Union Leader, but someone subdued her and stole her book of prophecies. But who could it be...?


So what are your thoughts on χ? Did you play it? Did you watch Back Cover? Do you like how it expands the KH lore, or are you done with this series by now? Feel free to take part in the discussion!


~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>CODED=>DREAM DROP DISTANCE=>χ=>????=>????

http://cdn3.dualshockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Kingdom-Hearts-UnionX-2nd-Anniversary-Art.jpg

[Wolf Kanno]

See, for me that twist had a completely different effect. I was skeptical l about the no heart business from the start, but I chalked it up to the writers just not being able to at all convey this type of being. No fault of their own, it’s just an incredibly outlandish concept that is hard to place. With the revelation that they were growing hearts, a lot of the character-focused stuff in the series makes more sense - Axel in particular who should not have cared by Roxas in the slightest, but in the end he really did, which is why I think Nomura must have at least thought of it at this point. I’m not saying it was planned, just that he may have treated Axel as an inspiration for this twist. Or maybe he noticed he’s written himself into a corner with these emotive Nobodies in II and Days to the point that he needed to come up with SOME kind of explanation. I’d also say it adds an additional layer of tragedy since they could have just become regular people and moved normal lives were it not for Xemnas’ propaganda, but that’s just my personal take.

But I do agree with everyone saying the pacing of this story is really bad and it would have been much more coherent had more relevant stuff happened either in or between the Disney worlds.

I get that, and yes the inconsistency of the concept had been around since KHII even, but I'm still so disappointed that one of the most interesting concepts from the scenario was so poorly utilized, and this bombshell mostly told me that I was never going to get the story I really wanted.

[Fynn]

But you do get Nomura's story instead! Good trade-off, right? :D

So how about that Ventus, guys?

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I have this game downloaded, and I always think about playing it. I probably never will though as I hardly play any games on my phone. It’s just not the kind of game I normally do play.

I wish we had a different game with any important lore/story points from this game.

[WarZidane]

I tried the game once and didn't like it (Union Cross, that is).

I did however read what happened in it so far, and watched back cover. Master of Masters is certainly interesting, and I'm curious to see what his endgame is (because the keyblade war was not it, evident by the task he gave Ava)

I'm also curious about Ventus, Lauriam and Elrena being in it. Especially when you consider that Larxene and Marluxia were the two that wanted to overthrow the organization in CoM, it's too much of a coincidence that out of all the Org members, those two show up as pre-nobodies in Union Cross.

Sadly, however, like you said, the story is so infrequent and there are so many filler missions inbetween, who knows when we'll actually find all that stuff out?

I'm also unsure how much of this will really be relevant in KH3. I don't question that it will be relevant at some point, but who's to say it's not after KH3?

[Wolf Kanno]

Seems like a terribly relevant part of the lore to left to the devices of a mobile title that seems to have gone through three different phases and reboots.

[Fynn]

Honestly, this game feels like the reverse of coded. It’s not really that fun and it isn’t really brought up as important either (officially, Back Cover should be all you need for KHIII), but the story that is there is actually super relevant.

So like, Kingdom Hearts. Please. With the HD rereleases I was hoping we were over this.

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/c/c5/Kingdom_Hearts_Birth_by_Sleep_0.2_A_fragmentary_passage_Logo.png/revision/latest?cb=20180602090411&path-prefix=pl

So I have a confession. You guys may not notice, since usually I'm pretty shy about it, but... I don't have a PS4. I know, it's tragic. I am looking for a way to fix it but, sadly, to no avail. But that aside, you can probably see where I'm going with this. 0.2 Birth By Sleep ~A Fragmentary Passage~ is exclusive to the II.8 Final Chapter Prologue collection, and as such, it can only be played on the PS2. But still, I've decided that I'm too stubborn to let my ignorance stop me, so I'll do my best to talk about this game anyway, going by the things I've learn by just aggressively consuming everything related to Kingdom Hearts.



https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L4v_WNN1QPA/maxresdefault.jpg
(you guys have no idea how hard it is to find key art for this game)

0.2 is the final entry in what I like to call the Quickening phase of the buildup to KH III (with the original trilogy being the Beginning that's kind of its own whole, BBS, Days and coded being the setup stage, and all the things on the II.8 collection making up the quickening). It is very short, but that can really be attributed to the fact that this is a glorified demo to KHIII - it showcases the engine, as well as the battle system, which seems to be a mix of the KHII battle system with various additional elements introduced in the later games, e.g. flowmotion, shotlocks, command styles, etc. Apparently it plays very well, but I can't judge that, so I don't want to focus too much on the gameplay. I can see why SE did this - they wanted to let fans know that work was actually being done and tide them over for the new game that was coming along God knows when. And yet I can't help but feel this is kind of the Kingsglaive scenario - in that it feels that this should have been the prologue to KHIII that was part of KHIII, much like the Roxas segment was in KHII. Then again, the then-unknown Aqua game was hinted at since Birth By Sleep Final Mix, so it might acutally have been intended to be a longer experience. But I guess we'll never really know this stuff.


https://www.samanthalienhard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Kingdom-Hearts-Fragmentary-Passage-Realm-of-Darkness.jpg

Storywise, this game serves as a nice exploration of the Realm of Darkness and Aqua's increasingly hard to bear loneliness, along with some pretty interesting connections to the first game. I like that fact that Aqua actually needs to mentally cope with the stuff that's been happening and that she's constantly being under threat both from the Heartless, as well as Xehanort, to an extent, who desparately wants to find out where the Chamber of Waking - the place where Ventus sleeps - is.

So what important things happen here?

Important story bits
Aqua is alone in the realm of Darkness and explores the Castle of Dreams as it's been engulfed by darkness.
On numerous occasions, she encounters the Demon Tower, which is this huge amalgamation of Shadows, and they're pretty dangerous.
Aqua does go a bit insane along the way, as she encounters visions of Ventus and Terra, as well as fighting her own reflection which is kind of a manifestations of all the dark and lonely feelings within her? I don't know, I'm not exactly seeing all these scenes in their proper context :(
Finally, she finds a friendly face in the form of Mickey! He finds the Kingdom Key D and informs her that Sora and Riku need to close the door to darkness, but she has to fight of waves of Heartless in order for them to be able to do it. Therefore, she is there in the background during KHI's epilogue.
While battling the Demon Tower, Mickey loses his shirt, which explains why he's naked at the end of KHI. This is very important and I'm glad they explained that scene because of all the crazy things in the series, it was this that I was losing sleep over.
Aqua later resumes her journey and eventually encounters Ansem, leading to Blank Points.


What are your thoughts? Did you play 0.2? Do you think it was too short or just right? How is the gameplay? Feel free to join the discussion!


~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>CODED=>DREAM DROP DISTANCE=>χ=>0.2: BIRTH BY SLEEP ~A FRAGMENTARY PASSAGE~=>????

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CrDDLAWO_AI/maxresdefault.jpg

[WarZidane]

I actually played this the other day because before that I'd only ever watched it and played like 30 minutes of it.

I really like the gameplay in it, certainly promising for KH3 which has since evolved from the state it was in when 0.2 was released. Styles are back, super powerful spells like Thundaja (which you can use once every while if you're using the regular spells enough) look amazing. Sadly no command deck, but at least they added some of the other new stuff onto KH2's gameplay style.

Two scenes you skipped in your summary:

- Yen Sid and Mickey tell Riku and Kairi about Aqua and how she sacrificed herself to protect Riku. The reason they never told Sora or Riku (besides the fact Nomura hadn't thought this stuff up yet :p ) is because they didn't want them to recklessly set up a rescue mission for Aqua. Yen Sid gives Mickey and Riku fancy suitcases with new clothes and sends them off to save Aqua. He also tasks Merlin with teaching Lea and Kairi to use the keyblade.

- Sora returns from his little reunion with the dream eaters at the end of DDD and Yen Sid tells him to get out there with Donald and Goofy to power up (he's lost his power from Xehanort shenanigans at the end of DDD). He suggests finding Hercules because he has experience with losing and regaining his power. Lanes are closed, but when they remember "May your heart be your guiding key", they blast off to Olympus Coliseum.

These two scenes are really what cement it as a prologue to KH3, IMO.

Fun fact: You also see Luxu and his mystery box at the very beginning of 0.2

[Wolf Kanno]

Fragmentary Passage is a bit odd for me. I have not played it because I really don't care to own another copy of 3D which is surprisingly one of the few handheld entries besides CoM that feels right on a handheld. It is a glorified demo much like Ground Zeroes was for MGSV but at least it came with enough other products to justify it's price tag somewhat. So I don't have any salt for this entry like I did for GZ which was a fantastic game, but not worth the $40 admission.

From my understanding, the game is based on the ideas for the cancelled Birth By Sleep Chapter 2 that was hinted at BbS Final Mix but was never fully conceptualized until now. I will say it was tempting to want to pick this up because I loved Aqua and the story of the trio Keyblade users from BbS. Combat sounds to me like a mix of KHII but with some of the mechanics from BbS and 3D mixed in like Shotlocks, Style forms, and Flowmotion type shenanigans. There are apparently tier four magic spells as well which allow you to manipulate the environment a bit. I also heard it was rough when it originally came out and SE had to patch a few things into it to make it play better, but I hear now it's pretty fun. I may pick it up once the price of a used copy drops a little more.

[Fynn]

I mean you also get Back Cover in that bundle, but that can be easily found on YouTube so it hardly justifies the purchase

[Vermachtnis]

Aqua's Reflection, Dark Aqua, whatever you want to call her. It's a great boss. It reacts to you and how you play and gives me hope for the next game. All the bosses were great fun. And I love this track.

qB1zEvdRVT4

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I’ll have to play this again, but I remember enjoying it a good amount. I do remember my wife being confused after I got the 2.8 prologue and brought up that it had some new stuff to set up KH3. She somehow thought I was getting a full length game and was extremely confused with how quickly I finished it.

[Fynn]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/5/55/Kingdom_Hearts_III_Logo_KHIII.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/640?cb=20150412152104&path-prefix=pl

So here we are. It's been a long 17 years. Not counting rereleases and remixes/reboots, we've had nine games occur between 2002 and now. Though only two were actual numbered titles, all of the games (sans maybe coded) have proved to be extremely relevant to the overarching plot of the series. Now, with the third numbered entry, we'll finaly end this story arc we've been following for almost two decades. This is one dense shonen manga, let me tell you. Jokes aside, it's quite surreal going into the third game right now. It doesn't help matters that I don't have a system to play it on and will thus be missing out when, ironically enough, I had all the systems needed at exactly the right time to actually play every single installment until the PS4. To think that we're promised to have the majority of dangling plot threads resolved now is nothing short of confusing.


https://www.trueachievements.com/customimages/082670.jpg

For years, Kingdom Hearts has pretty much been defined by its unpredictability, acting as an inspiration for countless theories that we've delved so deep into in-between the relatively frequent releases. RIP to all those fanfics written in the meantime that have been rendered void by the sheer extent to which this universe has evolved beyong anyone's wildest imaginings. Part of me is scared that a lot of this will end with the Dark Seeker saga, even though I know for certain that that's not how Nomura works.


https://sm.ign.com/ign_pl/video/k/kingdom-he/kingdom-hearts-iii-together-trailer_5apk.jpg

I think that's part of the reason why I wasn't really initially that hyped for KHIII. There were more reasons - the fact that they ditched the command deck, that I wasn't completely sold on the new engine, that the marketing focused so much on the Disney element despite the fact the main story had so many loose ends to resolve - but the main one was really the fact that for year's I've lived in this Schroedinger's box of Sora's battle against Xehanort, to the point that now I didn't want to leave it. Partly because I believed there was no way Nomura could come up with a resolution that would really leave me satisfied. Mostly, however, because I knew I would miss those days dearly.

But then, something happened.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a8ChibJp_hA/W1lH4hPxBKI/AAAAAAABARc/jxYD8NLQDnE6a65OMfcfKbmXQpICsg89ACJoC/w480-h270/gplus5568074355560189582.gif

I'd thought I had it all figured out. Sora's journey in III was to be simple - that was a consequence of having multiple games set up a final confrontation in III. We knew where all this was going. We knew that Sora just had to gather all the other Keyblade Wielders. But then the trailer subverted my expectations with this one scene. The character that we all thought incorruptible, simply by virtue of already having undergone so much stuff and still being a shining beacon of all that is good in the world, had somehow fallen to darkness. Suddenly, I really needed to know what happened.


https://ocs-pl.oktawave.com/v1/AUTH_2887234e-384a-4873-8bc5-405211db13a2/spidersweb/2018/12/kingdom-hearts-3-wyciek.jpeg

The stakes only seemed to raise from there, and the tiny bits and pieces of interviews with Nomura I've glimpsed online have only served to whet my appetite further. Apparently, and I never knew this, Nomura is a big fan of Tetsuya Takahashi and treats his work as a great source of inspiration. He's also mentioned the theme of Kingdom Hearts III is "resolution", and while there will be future games in the series as this is not the end of Sora's story, the end of the Dark Seeker saga is meant to bring a lot of closure. He's also gone on to say that he will miss certain characters, hinting that the stakes might actually be higher than expected, though I personally doubt he'd go that far as, as far as I remember, death is not a concept that exists in the KH universe. Then there's the latest Japanese TV spot, parciularly its ending:



EElFaj4ezUU

And we see what appears to be Sora at his lowest point, channeling an anger and, dare I say, darkness from within him that we haven't seen since Chain of Memories. Could this be the game that not only ties loose ends but also feels emotionally satisfying for us - the fans who've sticked around since the beginning for this wonderful, mesmerizing, beautiful mess of a series?


http://andrew-hankinson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/11402278_1025572464127051_7563199681636456862_o-e1434545417712.jpg

The game has been out in Japan for a day. The reviews have come in several days ago, and I'm not even going to mentioned the leakers, some of whom have had the game since December. The Metacritic score is very high and, shockingly, all the reviewers seem to be praising the story for being very satisfying, which is all the more odd when you consider that story is the one thing that has always been a point of criticism from the mainstream media.


https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/article_images/2018/11/kingdom-hearts-3-winnie-the-pooh.jpg?itok=AWx7LI_Q

But those are reviews, and life isn't so simple. In the end, we all know what we're looking for in KH, why we love it, and based on tha we've most likely made up our minds about the game already, even if we aren't aware of it. What does it matter in the end, anyway? There will be more KH games, there will be more mysteries, but whatever the future may hold, I am glad I've been on this journey for so long. I am glad I got to share my thoughts with you guys. And, most importantly, I am so happy that Kingdom Hearts has connected me with so many people, as we discussed what we love and hate about it, theorized what would happen next, and joked about all the silly things that make this series so incredibly special. So whatever Kingdom Hearts III turns out to be like, I'm here for it. I'll keep on sharing the love, and hope that it reaches someone and maybe sparks their love for the series someday in the future. After all, there are many worlds, but they all share the same sky...


https://www.gamespew.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kingdom-Hearts-Sora-min-696x391.jpg

But yeah, shame that I can't play it yet! Just an FYI, I am now accepting donations of PS4s if anyone's willing ;)


OL_uJJyWJ_E

~Play order~
KINGDOM HEARTS=>CHAIN OF MEMORIES=>KINGDOM HEARTS II=>358/2 DAYS=>BIRTH BY SLEEP=>CODED=>DREAM DROP DISTANCE=>χ=>0.2: BIRTH BY SLEEP ~A FRAGMENTARY PASSAGE~=>KINGDOM HEARTS III

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnVF3pZXsAEsTAF.jpg:large

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real or not?

Also, surprise twist, Xehanort gets killed off in the first few minutes and the big bad is really Maleficent all along.

[Vermachtnis]

I'm waiting for Coded and the whole Datascape to be the focus of the next arc.

[Lord Golbez]

I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real or not?

Also, surprise twist, Xehanort gets killed off in the first few minutes and the big bad is really Maleficent all along.

I actually hope this happens. I've already tired of the KH original villains and I haven't played half the games most of you all have. I don't have any real belief that it does though.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I like the kingdom hearts villains, but I do like maleficent a lot too.

[Fynn]

I'm waiting for Coded and the whole Datascape to be the focus of the next arc.

Data-Sora is the Master of Masters. You heard it here first, folks.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I would have guessed data Riku personally.

Of course DDD also had a data version of Ansem the Wise in Sora’s heart. In fact, Ansem’s research data was put in Sora’s heart. Also, Ansem was digitizing Kingdom Hearts into data in the second game with that machine. Clearly, there are many things laying the path for the datascape and data Sora being a part of the true final battle.

[maybee]

I would have guessed data Riku personally.


MoM is too cheerful to be Riku.


Data-Sora sounds like a good guess, it sounds so Nomura-y.

[WarZidane]

Just two more days before I get to play it, hopefully. :eager:

[Wolf Kanno]

I'll probably check out KHIII eventually. I'm no longer hyped for the franchise like I used to be, but if this retrospective has taught me anything, it's that I've probably invested too much time into the franchise by this point not to see how it all ends.

Personal theory time: Sora is Kingdom Hearts.

[Fynn]

Well, he’s already got four hearts inside him. What’s a couple billion more?

[Wolf Kanno]

Well, he’s already got four hearts inside him. What’s a couple billion more?

Actually, I'm being serious here.

What is the one unique trait Sora possesses over every other keyblade user we've met that isn't somehow directly connected to Sora? He has the power of friendship. He has the power to connect other hearts with his both literally and figuratively. Kingdom Hearts isn't a physical place or some mystical power source as we've been led to believe, it's the power of friendship, the power to connect hearts with one another and if you have enough hearts, you have great sway over everything. It would explain how Sora has been capable of so much despite the series talking up the fact he's the unchosen and hinting to the fact his power over the keyblade is not really his power to begin with. Likewise, the theme of Sora facing Xehanort is that Sora will likely overcome everything because he has so many friends, not just the regular characters but all of the Disney pantheon as well, whereas Xehanort is such a calculating bastard that the only means he has to get his goal accomplished was to use the timey whimey ball to basically make a team consisting of just himself. He is technically alone, whereas Sora represents the power of many. It's why Xehanort will not likely to ever find KH because he believes it to be something physical, but it's very likely that Kingdom Hearts, much like the Lifestream in VII is symbolic and somewhat allegorical.

[Fynn]

That’s all we’ll and good but Kingdom Hearts is an actual thing that’s still there within reach in the χ time period. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but it would require for Sora to 1) literally become KH at some point and 2) time travel to eat before the time of fairy tales. The best thing is this really doesn’t discount this theory.

[Wolf Kanno]

That’s all we’ll and good but Kingdom Hearts is an actual thing that’s still there within reach in the χ time period. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but it would require for Sora to 1) literally become KH at some point and 2) time travel to eat before the time of fairy tales. The best thing is this really doesn’t discount this theory.

You're missing my point, Kingdom Hearts is friendship. It's never been a place outside of the characters, it's the bonds that bind them. I only use Sora as an example because he best exemplifies the current KH. If my theory were true, then there are multiple KH, because it's basically created whenever people form a strong bond of friendship together. What I'm saying is that we're being misled on the idea that KH is an actual place or tangible thing. In the current setting, KH is basically Sora, he has the power of KH already, he's just unaware of it. Likewise, Xehanort is incapable of finding KH because he only trusts himself and his thirst for power and knowledge has made him incapable of forming bonds.

Basically, my theory says that KH is not something you can find by traveling other worlds, you can find it on your journeys, but it's not a destination, it's the bonds formed by the people you meet. The "journey is more important than the destination" and whatnot. It's basically like the number one fan theory about One Piece, a lot of fans don't believe One Piece is a physical treasure or power, it's very likely going to be the friends you made reaching the goal. Likewise, I feel that's what Kingdom Hearts will actually turn out to be.

[Fynn]

Ok, I get it now. That is pretty likely considering that Kingdom Hearts disappeared in the aftermath of the Keyblade War, i.e. when friends turned on each other to gain more light. Then again, the Foretellers did set out to collect more Lux in the first place to reach Kingdom Hearts so that they might meet the Master again, hopefully. So it almost seems like it’s set up that nobody in the χ timeline actually knows what it is either and consequently end up driving it out completely by losing sight of the connections that are really important.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

You’re wrong! I know now, without a doubt, that Kingdom Hearts is light!

[Fynn]

I’m also convinced the Master of Masters is someone we know. Of course, probably the actual reason why Nomura used the hooded designs was that he himself didn’t know who it was at that point and/or he didn’t want to spoil the new design. But with all that buildup I sincerely doubt it’s going to turn out to be some rando because Nomura loves his connections.

I honestly think it might be Sora. Not much there to support it other than that he seems to be a cheerful guy and the Gazing Eye is blue. It’s even weirder to consider when it’s really vague whether he’s a good guy or bad guy, but I guess we’ll see eventually.

[maybee]

You’re wrong! I know now, without a doubt, that Kingdom Hearts is light!

Meanwhile, somewhere Billy Zane falls to ground in pain.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/233/353/ca0.gif

[Scotty_ffgamer]

So I now know what you mean, Fynn, about KH fans. I went on Reddit looking at something to do with Kingdom Hearts III, and one of the first thread chains I looked at was talking about stuff being floaty. Someone else said “Your Osaka team is showing” about the game. Someone else said that Kingdom Hearts 1 wasn’t floaty enough, but 2 was the pinnacle gameplay of the series and the right amount of floaty.

Anyways, I wonder what Sora’s mom thinks ever happened to Sora.

[Fynn]

You know what I wonder? Why does Xigbar sound like a surfer dude? Is this important? At this point every little detail might just be important

[Scotty_ffgamer]

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

[maybee]

You know what I wonder? Why does Xigbar sound like a surfer dude? Is this important? At this point every little detail might just be important

IMO he sounds like one of those 90's chicks. "As If !" :lol:

https://media1.tenor.com/images/950bd709fd6cd4fc2015135a81f81aa6/tenor.gif?itemid=3547950

[Wolf Kanno]

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

75932

[Lord Golbez]

Gawrsh!

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Ever since getting KH3, my ps4 pro has been acting funny. Yesterday when I shut it off, it just kept blinking the white light and wouldn’t shut off fully. Today it froze while playing the game and crashed, giving me some sort of error message. I’m going to be mad if I don’t get to beat this game.

[maybee]

https://img.playbuzz.com/image/upload/q_auto:good,f_auto,fl_lossy,w_640,c_limit/v1537851575/yutkt06rekhdmwzylcss.jpg

[Fynn]

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

75932

This is false. In one short Goofy vores Mickey and Minnie and they have sex inside his stomach. This is canon.

h1-cL9NM6JY

[Depression Moon]

Surprised there isn't a separate thread about this, but anyway, how's KH III?

[Wolf Kanno]

There are two minor, if lingering questions I just thought about in the last few days.

1) If Namine is a Nobody with such an extraordinary gift, why wasn't she asked to be a member of Organization XIII? Was it because she was too pure for Xehanort's ultimate plan or the more likely fact that the dev team hadn't quite figured out the particulars for Nobodies and Org. XIII?

2) Can Xemnas use a Keyblade? I mean he's technically like Roxas when you think about it and that guy can use two of them. Or does Roxas' ability also have to deal with the fact that Sora had Kairi's heart as well? I bring this question up because it was allegedly asked in a Ultimania and Nomura did his best Tibetan Monk impression and answered the question with another question before the subject was dropped entirely.

[Fynn]

1) I think it’s established Naminé is pretty incorruptible due to the very unique circumstances of her birth, plus the fact that she’s the Nobody of Kairi who has no Darkness in her heart. I imagine that, since the true purpose of the Organization is to make Xehanort vessels, she was most likely not considered because it just wouldn’t be possible.

2) I think he can use a Keyblade, but then I understand Nomura being tight-lipped about it would be because of spoilers. As for why he doesn’t use the Master’s Metblade - ???? I mean, theoretically, he could’ve lost that ability when he forced Terra out of his body and lost his memory, but then at the start of 3D we see him calling that Keyblade. I think it might be important to consider that one specific Keyblade can only really exist as a single entity - Roxas and Xion have to share Sora’s Keyblade as he sleeps up until the point Roxas grows his own heart (and then when Xion disappears, he can use two). Now considering the fact that during what we’ve currently experienced to KH, the Master’s No Name Keyblade is tied to Master Xehanort. When he became Terra Xehanort, it was Terra’s body and a weird mix of Xehanort and Terra’s heart (as far as we know), so maybe in the end Xemnas - being technically a Nobody to neither Terra or Xehanort - didn’t have access to it after all? Or maybe all the time travel resulted in someone else having the No Name all this time during the events leading up to three?

It is a mystery.