I had a dream...

[NeoCracker]

In which I said I was going to play through all the Kingdom Hearts games chronologically. And for some god aweful reason I'm going to to this, and it's not going to be in short burst every so often. I'm going to make sure to dedicate portions of time to this.

The exception to this is Birth By Sleep, which unless it's confirmed for release in the US before, say, June, It will be ommited from the play through. If it is, however, I'll wait until it comes and start with that one.

Now, I've only played KH 1 and 2 before, so the information from any other games I've only heard spinets of.

The one question I shall ask before going on this quest, however, is chronologically, would it be better to play Chain of Memories or 358/2 Days first? I'm guessing Chain of Memories, given it ends before 358/2 days chronologically speaking.

I'll be starting here in a few days most likely, as I don't see much hope of Birth By Sleep being released soon.

As well, I will be cataloging the story events here as I play through, and offer my interpritations of them regularly, which makes me think I should avoid Birth by Sleep regardless, as most will not have played it, and wont' bother checking anyway for fear of 'teh spoilers', but if its out soon enough, smurf em.

checklist of games
[x]1. Kingdom Hearts
[]2. Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
[]3. 358/2 Days
[]4. Kingdom Hearts II

Quick Post Guideline
1.) No discussion of story event after the point I have reached in the game. If you insist, mark in spoilers please. The Idea is to get a view of the Chronology of Kingdom Hearts as presented.

2.) I really, really, wanted to have a second one.

[Tavrobel]

Don't forget the first game, which would be pivotal to your success.

BBS (not released) --> KHI --> CoM --> 179 --> KHII

As for Re:CoM (PS2) and CoM (GBA), there's virtually no difference between the two. However, if you want the rather insignificant three extra seconds of plot footage, play the PS2 version.

btw, the original GBA game does not have the "Re:" tag on it.

[NeoCracker]

Don't forget the first game, which would be pivotal to your success.

BBS (not released) --> KHI --> CoM --> 179 --> KHII

As for Re:CoM (PS2) and CoM (GBA), there's virtually no difference between the two. However, if you want the rather insignificant three extra seconds of plot footage, play the PS2 version.

btw, the original GBA game does not have the "Re:" tag on it.

I know, I had to go out and buy these games cause of that damned dream, and It was cheaper jsut to grap the PS2 one.

And The Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (ORiginal) on my list is refering to Kingdom Hearts 1.

I should probably edit it so it's more clear, cause that does read a bit funny.

Edit: I swore the PS2 RE was the original Kingdom hearts as well as Chain of memories. I think I was high at some point and started hearing things....

Ah well, I'll just pick up a copy of KH 1 in the morning.

[Tavrobel]

I swore the PS2 RE was the original Kingdom hearts as well as Chain of memories.

No, that's not how science works, sorry.

[Wolf Kanno]

You are probably remembering the stuff about Final Mix cause in Japan, Re: CoM was released as a bundle with the Final Mix edition of KHII.

[NeoCracker]

Alright, I am currently beginning my Run of Kingdom Hearts 1. Mind you, I will be using a guide to find Dalmatians and Trinity Marks. The main purpose of this run is to do a beginning to end story analysis, as it were, that anyone can comment on. So, I will not be imposing any weird limitations on myself.

To begin, I picked Expert mode, cause I'm hard core.

I picked the Warrior and gave up the Guardian.

I went with slow leveling early, and quick leveling later in the game as well. With that, I'm off to finish the dream and Destiny Island.

To begin, I remember how clique the dream dialogue is, bout getting closer to the light your shadow becomes larger. But regardless, it's a rather effectiv use of it, so it doesn't bother me at all. It's also been a while since playing, as I got beat by Darkside right off the back.

Damn me for trying to reflect those damned energy attacks on expert when I'm this out of practice I guess. Well, I hate losing, so time to re-load and kick his ass.

And after 5 tries, I beat him without getting hit, and only give him time to launch one volley of energy balls at me... God I feel dirty he was able to beat me so much before I mopped the floor with him. I guess I just needed to get use to the deflecting attacks with my sword bit again.

Anyway, the music was really fitting there, and the monster was awesome looking, I forgot how well designed the creatures in this game were. I'm quite enjoying this run through.

I'll keep my destiny Island anctics to a minimum, but I grinded to Level 6 just to kick Riku's ass, because before I reloaded I had a score of 0-30, and I was embarassed. Though it was fun beating the living out of Tidus.

I do notice something odd though. After getting the Mushrooms and all that for your trip on the raft, it's easy to see that Kairi is more attached to Sora then Riku. She brings up how Riku seems to have changed, then makes the 'joke' about leaving without him. She proceeds to ask Sora to never change. I think part of Kairi's attachment to Sora is the fact he hasn't changed much in recent years, and she's grown attached, in part, to the familiarity, the constant in her life. Just a random though, and I doubt it will bear much on the overall plot.

Beat the first boss in Traverse town as well. A couple of things to note however. First off, Leon and co. seem to know about King Mickey. Outside of that, theres not much to note outside of that, other then this is when Sora learns ever so little about the multiple worlds, and that he was chosen by the Key Blade, and the group of enemies knows of the Keyblade and seem to want to use Sora. Off to adventure!

[Tavrobel]

I, personally, would've given up the Wand. Giving up the Shield makes it so that you'll lose an inventory slot by the endgame. Of course, since this isn't a full save file with Crystal Crowns, I guess it would be a moot point. Also, there's not much to beating Riku on the Islands. You'll get way more experience fighting Wakka and Tidus, as they give tech exp points for deflected attacks.

I would have to say that Sora is a static character. He doesn't truly change over the course of his adventures, with the exception of CoM (which is in part, one of my many reasons why CoM is actually the best game in the series).

Keep going. I look forward to more analysis; it's been a long time since I've played any of the games, except for Re:CoM on the PS2.

[NeoCracker]

I know the other two were worth more, but dammit, I have pride issues at odd times.

And I just enjoy playing this way more then forgoing the staff, not really sure why. But meh.

Anyway, for some progress updates.

Alright, so I've been running Alice in Wonderland, and managed to beat the tower and card thingys, only to find Alice has been kidnapped. Not much to really say about this world. Sealed the Keyhole, Alice disappeared, and listening to the advice of the crazy cat they decide Alice is no longer on that planet.

Beat up Cloud and Cerberus at Olympus Colosseum, and you are showed Hades is trying to kill you off. He actually seems more worried about Killing Hercules, and not really dealing with Sora, it seems like more of a side job he has to get done. Though the scene with him and Maleficent does show one thing for sure, the villains of this game are hardly on good terms. Even in the scene of them meeting prior to this, it is shown quite plainly that this is more an alliance of people with similar goals then anything else, not some well greased machine. Maleficent, however, constantly shows an heir of authority, and keeps a close eye on the others. It's easy to tell she is probably one of the more important players in the Villains corner. Outside of that, not much development on anything.

Crash landed on Deep Jungle after the 'fight' with Donald. To note, the initial confrontation with Tarzan is painful to listen to. And I know it wasn't much of a fight, but does Sora really need to pretend he isn't looking for Donald and Goofy? I mean yes, they had some issues moments before, but god damn. They crash landed on a damned planet and god knows where they are. Sora is just being a whiny bitch right here. But I digress as I follow Tarzan.

And nothing really happened. Made up with the duck, sealed world, and it was just revealed Maleficent now has a hold of Alice. Really, all that came from me going to this world is having to put up with a children s quarrel, which I hate.

Made my way back to Traverse with the special gummi to show to Leon, and he sends me off to Cid after giving me the Earthshine Gem. The only thing expanded on here is Leon making sure you know just how little he knows about anything by his inability to answer any of your questions...

Of course, the real boost in the story is when you run into Riku. He quickly leaves though after finding out about the Keyblade and Sora's new friend, all so we can see Maleficent try to convince him to join with her, meaning until now it's likely that Riku hasn't really joined with anyone as of yet.

It's also important to note his black sword, meaning within the short time he's been gone, he has already obtained a powerful weapon, which leads me to believe that back on destiny Island, he really did accept the Darkness around him, and used it to escape the destruction of the world. However, unlike the crazy shotgun guy back in Deep Jungle, he kept his mind. This leads one to believe Darkness can be mastered, or at least controlled to an extent. I would believe a strong heart is what is necessary for these. I base this off of the meeting of villains after Deep Jungle, as they said crazy shotgun guy had a weak heart, and that's why he fell pray to the darkness.

After all that, you learn that Leon and gang are from the same world as Ansem, a scientist who studied heartless. They believe his Reports may lead to a way of getting rid of heartless, though Maleficent seems to possess most of the pages.

And I'll end this by saying I just made it to Agrabah, and Jafar and Maleficent discuss the need to have all 7 princesses for the Final Door, and it appears as though Jasmine is one of the seven, and Alice as well. Maleficent also warns Jaffar not to seep himself in darkness for to long, though Jafar doesn't seem worried.

And on an unrelated note, I was eating cereal out of Tupperware, using a wooden measuring spoon to eat it with... I think I need to do dishes in the immediate future.

[Wolf Kanno]

Sadly, major plot points in the original KH are far apart in my book. I don't feel you get a real story boost for the title until (SPOILER)Monstro and then you won't have any real significant plot elements again until almost the end of the game.

I'm kinda happy the later games are a bit better about giving out story details a little more evenly though they too also fall prey at times...

[NeoCracker]

Overall plot isn't really developed much until later no, but I find the little snipets on the characters you learn and just how Maleficents group si being run to be quite interesting.

Just got Aladin, and Genie mentions hering about a Keyhole some 200 years prior. Probably irelevant to the story overall, though that is something I found interesting he mentioned. Nothing of note happens until a ways into the cave of wonders either.

areThe only things to note i Jafar lets on about their plan, saying they need seven princesses to open the final door. I believe this is the only real information on their plan Sora has heard to date. Regardless, and that Riku seems to be on their side now. Maleficent seems to be using Kairi as a means to get Riku to help, though it doens't appear as they she is keeping Kairi captive, so much as she is able to help Riku get to her. Not to much is clear as of yet.

Just got Swallowed by Monstro, and now Sora has a flashback of him and Riku going intot he Secret Area back on destiny Island, where they were disapointed to not find any monsters to fight. They instead decide to go see the new girl living at the mayors house. Cut back to inside of Monstro.

A few pointless dialogue scenes, and you (Not Sora) see Riku walking through a tunnel, and you then see Pinnocio following after. Sora and Co traverse the depths of the Whale to find him. You immidiately find Riku, who seesm awefully hostile. towards Sora, and runs off with Pinnochio so you can 'play a game' or something along those lines.

Another cutscene emergest with Riku and Maleficent talking, and Riku showing an extreme distaste for her as she warns him of the darkness in his heart, claiming that the Heartless feed off of it.

Riku and Sora meet shortly after, Riku questions Sora's intent to save Kairi, as Pinnochio screams in the distance. The two follow after. Not really much to say here. It seems clear Riku is being strung around, and he hates the people he works for, a lot, and his goal is to ultimately save Kairi.

Riku helps save Pinnochio, though he seems to have alterior motives. He hints that Kairi's lost her heart, and he may be able to use Pinnochio to somehow restore her.

After encountering Riku again, he shows just how obsessed he's become with saving Kairi, going as far as to giving Pinnochio's own life no thought, if it means saving her. He escapes as youf ight a heartless. He does so through a dark portal he creates, showing you just how he has been getting around.

You are then treated to a scene were Maleficent explains to him that if they can obtain the Seven Princesses, they can open the door to the world of all hearts, and perhaps then they can save Kairi.

Only other thing to note is Ansem's Report 1. Here Ansem speaks of the darkness in peoples hearts, and how it can consume them. He is unaware of how the darkness is born, but it's safe to assume he is reffering to the Heartless once the Darkness takes over. He wished to learn what it is in order to save his world from it.

Anyway, on to Atlantica. It should be noted King Triton knows of the Key Bearer, and states that they bring Ruin where they go. He tells you to get the smurf out of his ocean basically. I am curious as to how Triton knows of the Key Bearer though. Outisde of that, you beat Ursala, seal the keyhole, and move on to the next land.

The lovely Haloween town. ^_^ I'll just take the time to say how much ass this world kicks appearance wise. There is one interesting point brought up though. Jack and the Doctor are trying to create a heart that will control the heartless, and Oogie wantsit so that he may control them. This says that not all the villains you encounter have the ability to control the Heartless. It's a gift Maleficent gave to Riku, and one that Jaffar seemed to possess as well. Perhaps not all Villains have really accepted the power of Darkness? Perhaps it has more to do with Oogie himself? Oogie seems to be able to use the power of Darkness though, given he submits to it for the final fight. So I'm guessing that Maleficent only gave a few of the villains the power to control Shadows, the only ones so far being able to are Jaffar and Riku.

Regardless, I'm now reading Ansem Report 3. Ansem the creatures Heartless, theorizing that they were people who lost their hearts. He determined that these heartless are devoid of Emotion.
Ansem report seven speaks in part of Gummi's, though the real information it gives you is apparently he opened some kind of door, and thats when the gummi's came in meteors, he begins theorizing about other worlds.

Just ran into Riku in Neverland, and he seems as hateful as ever. He has found Kairi, and Sora is trying to convince him to switch sides. And it seems hook can't control Heartless either. Other then that, it was revealed Riku ran off to Hallow Bastion, Maleficent's home base it seems. And sora still seems to believe he can save Kairi, of course. ;p

And finally we are treated to a flashback from Riku gazing upon the Door at destiny Island, only this time you see a Key Hole.

Maleficent warns Riku about overusing his dark powers as someone shows up at Hallow Bastion, allegedly arriving there through shear force of will, even though is world is destroyed. Maleficent proceeds to awaken further powers in Riku.

Finally to Ansem report 9. King Mickey found his way to this world, and spoke with Ansem about many things. It seems Ansem's opening the door allowed for travel between worlds. Mickey told Ansem the Legend of the Key Blade, which means he has known about the Key-blades for some time now. It's curious as to just how this is.

Edit: And now to finish KH 1 off.

Now que flashback 'like' story with Sora. Kairi is being told a sotry of people who were overcome by darkness, and the old women telling the story speaks of scattered worlds, adn a bright light in the darkness. This makes it sound as though some of the elders of Destiny Islands knew about the other worlds.

On to Hallow Bastion, Riku jacked my Key Blade, claiming I was his 'delivery boy' and didn't have what it took to save Kairi. In the fastest double backstab ever, Donald and Goofy follow after Riku, then within the hour jumped back to my side..

Anyway, Sora's heart proved stronger and won back the Key Blade and Riku ran off. One other thing to note, however, is beast. He managed to get to Hallow Bastion through force of will. No gummi's or darkness, just shear awesome. But yes, it is interesting that is even possible,

Regardless, we finally see the creepy shrouded figure back from Destiny Island again. He tells Riku 'The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade.' He tells Riku his heart was weaker then Sora's, but by plunging even further into Darkness, his heart shall grow stronger.

He also mentions Riku showed no fear when going through the door to Darkness. I believe he has been connected to Riku since the events at destiny Island because of this. Riku not seeming phased by his appearance seems to hint at a connection as well.

Further into Hallow Bastion, you see Riku talking to Maleficent, who is completely un-phased by Riku's strange new voice. I believe that she was in cahoots with the shrouded man because of this. Unable to open the Keyhole here at Hallow Bastion, however, it is noted that they are unable to fully reveal the Keyhole without her heart. Riku also possesses a Keyblade of his own now.

Malificant also reveals her plan to use the Darkness to conquer all worlds, believing herself above the darkness's control. However, that quickly changes in just a few short moments. After you beat her, Riku reveals his Keyblade unlocks ones heart, and when doing so to Maleficent, the darkness overpowers her. After beating her again, Riku says she was being used by the Heartless since the beginning.

Following after Riku you end up in the chamber all the Princesses are kept. Sora immediately realized that this 'Riku' isn't really Riku. 'Riku' proceeds to say that Kairi's heart has been resting inside of Sora this whole time, which could explain the flash back Sora had to one of Kairi's memories, instead of his own.

And I'm going to be the first to say how smurfing creapy it was to hear Sora say 'Kairi's Inside me?"

Anyway, 'Riku' reveals himself to really be Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. After defeating Ansem, he disappears. Sora and gang now want to wake up Kairi, in order to finish the final Keyhole to lock it. To do so, Sora picks up the Keyblade Ansem left behind, and used it to unlock Kairi's Heart by... stabbing himself. I know this makes sense given everything thats happened so far, but its kinda creepy that he does it with a smile.

Kairi wakes just in time to see Sora disappear, and we cut to Sora 'falling into Darkness'. Kairi doesn't take this very well.

A white haired man suddenly appears and approaches Kairi, however a spirit like form of Riku appears in front of him saying, 'No, you won't use me for this.' and the other make an escape. It's a safe assumption that this is the same body that you fought, only it no longer looks like Riku, but Ansem.

Regardless, I am currently running around as a Heartless. Not even a cool one, but one of the dinky smurfs that pop up everywhere. Anyway, Kairi somehow recognizes you as Sora immidiately as many heartless begin to attack. She grabs sora as a swarm of Heartless jump on her, but they are blown off in a burst of light, revealing Sora, good as new.

Anyway, the attack on Hallo wwas renewed, and the Keyhole sealed. Turns out this is the Homeworld of Ansem and the FF Characters you've met. Now I'm off to the heart of Darkness to confront Ansem, after winning Hades Cup and getting the last report of course.

And now, a recap of the reports.

1) Ansem begins to study and research the darkness in peoples hearts.

2) Ansems experimetns lead to the creation of creatures born of darkness from peoples hearts.

3) Ansem named these test subjects 'Heartless' due to their lack of emotion.

4) Ansem learns Heartless feed on living peoples hearts through his experiments. He beleives heartless are the darkness that exist within ones heart.

5) Ansem opens the door to his world, and found a powerful mass of energy on the other side.

6) Ansem believes it is the heart of the world, and that it is the Heartless's ultimate goal.

7) Ansem comes to believe thier are other worlds out there, and that he opening the door somehow connected the worlds.

8) Ansem creates an machine capable of artificially producing Heartless. It seems succsesful. Artificial Heartless are marked.

9) Ansem meets King Mickey. H heres the legend of the Keyblade, and desires to know more about it.

10) Ansem willingly plunges himself into Darkness and begins searching for the Keyblade and the Princesses, hoping to discover what exactly lies at the center of worlds, convinced at this point it is the world of heartless.

And now I'm in the last area. I appeared on Destiny Island and am speaking with ansem. He tells Sora that all worlds begin and end in Darkness, and that Riku oppenly accepted the Darkness to escape his world, and that he can no longer return from Darkness. He then says Darkness is the hearts true essence, and Sora fights this theory.

After beating up Ansem a couple times, I'm an in a world of darkness, at the center of which, acording to Ansem, lies Kingdom Hearts. And there he is defeated one last time.

He goes on to say that the Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to Darkness. He proceeds to open the Door to Kingdom Hearts, asking for the Power of Darkness. However when the Door Opens, there is a massive light that exits from it. The Heartless can now be seen on the other side of the door as the three try to close it. Riku suddenly appears on the other side, helping to close the door from there.

Multiple Darksides appear behind Riku, but are destroyed. by a Mickey, who is also weilding a Keyblade. He helps to close the door, saying that him and Riku will be able to find a way out. With that, the door to Kingdom Hearts is closed,and Riku and Mickey seal the door shut with their Keyblades.

Kairi appears to Riku, Here the two are sepearted, as Sora promises to find Kairi again, and she drifts away as the End Credits and final Video roll...

Thank god they made a sequal, this game on it's own leaves so damned much to answer.

Anyway, Credits roll and your three are walking around a grassy plain, wondering where to find Micky and Riku, asking about a Door to the Light. Pluto appears, and leads the three somewhere, with a letter from King Mickey in his mouth, to god knows where.

The words "Remember Sora, you are the one who will open the Door to the Light' appears. And now for the secret ending.

A guy dressed in a dark cloak appears, along with some heartless. It appears to be a mysterious dual Keyblade user, who asks where Sora is. Riku appears to be watching from above, and many phrases flash through the screen.

Anyway, endgame stats.

Heartless Defeated: 5805
Times Defeated: 28 (Mostly in the begining actually. )
Attacks deflected: 1210
Times hit by an enemy: 2313
Total Item Usage: 24
Party Member Knockouts: 85
Curative spells cast on a friend: 85

In my next post, before I start my Chain of Memories playthrough, I'll have a quick synapsos of whats happened.

[NeoCracker]

Alright, a quick recap of KH 1 and my KH Chain of Memories.

Before that, however, I'll mention I hate Chain of Memories. A lot. Not that it was a bad system, but that damned card deck in the corner you use feels like nothing more then an annoyance to use, and I refuse to subject myself to that for the soul purpose of a story guide of some kind. So, I cheated and used one of GameFAQ's CoM guides. Anyway, Here you go.

Destiny Island, Sora's Home, is overrun by the darkness. Sora is saved by the Keyblade and appears in Traverse Town.

He joins up with Donald and Goofy to search for King Micky, Riku, and Kairi. All they know at this point is what Leon and co told them. The heartless devour the hearts of people, and they try to find the Heart of the World to devour that as well. The Keyblade is capable of sealing the worlds heart.

Riku escaped by embracing the power of darkness. I presume Ansem had somethign to do with this, however it's never really brought up specifically. Regardless, he joins with Maleficent and Ansem in order to save Kairi, regardless of what it costs.

As it turns out, Ansem was using them all. He wanted to use the Seven Princesses of Heart, Kairi being one of them, to create a path to Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of all worlds. He believes that at the center of Kingdom Hearts lies Darkness.

In Ansmens reports we learn that Ansem learned how to artificially create heartless, and researched The Darkness for some time. He learned about Keyblades from King Mickey.

Back to near end game events, you learn Kairi's Heart has been residing inside Sora, preventing them from finishing the Keyhole Ansem was creating. Sora defeats ansem/Riku, and he retreats, leaving behind the Dark Keyblade. Sora uses it to unlock Kairi's heart, and return it to her.

This, however, causes Sora to turn into a Heartless, as well as destroying Riku's Keyblade. He is saved from the Darkness, as it were, by Kairi a short while after however. They manage to all escape Hallow Bastion in tact.

Sora leaves Kairi behind with Leon and Co as he and the others return to Hallow Bastion, sealing the Keyhole. They then chase Ansem to The End of the World to stop him once and for all.

With Ansem defeated, the Door to the Darkness is opened, revealign the Dark world with Kingdom Hearts, which is light, as opposed the Darkness Ansem believed it to be. With the help of the now freed Riku, and King Mickey who shows himself wielding a Keyblade, manage to seal the door. Riku and Mickey, however, are trapped in the World of Darkness. Sora and Kairi are once again seperated, and Sora swears to find Kairi again. Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave in search of the the others. Pluto shows up with a message from the King, giving them some kind of Direction. They go in search of the Door to Light.

Here ends Kingdom Hearts 1.

And now for Chain of Memories.

Sora, under the guidance of a cloaked man, finds his way to Castle Oblivion. There, he begins loosing his memories, however as he descends into the castle looking for Riku and Mickey, he begins gaining memories of a Girl named Namine, who he once promised to protect.

As it turns out, 'Organization XIII' is in control of Castle Oblivion. Sora was lured there by none other then Larxene (Member # 12) and Marluxia (#11) in order to use Sora to take over the Organization. Larxene even goes so far as to tell Sora, after he 'remember's' his promise to protect Namine, that the other members of the organization our bad guys and kidnapped Kairi, spurring him to fight them.

As it turns out, these memories of Sora are all fake, created by Namine in order to Manipulate Sora.

Sora even fights Riku multiple times while in Castle Oblivion, as Riku possess the same memory of the Promise, and believes Sora is after Namine. Regardless, Sora wins and continues to the top of the Castle.

We meets with Vexan (#4), who takes Sora to 'the otherside of his heart' which is a place called Twilight Town. Here, Sora beats Vexen, who gets killed by Axel (#8), before he can say anything. When Axel was asked what their organization was, he responds "I don't even know what we are, I wish I knew..." and disappears.

After, Sora descends further into the castle, only able to remember Namine' at this point. Cut to Larxene and Marluxia who are confronted by Axel, who convinces them to let him join their Take Over after he killed of Vexan. Though after they agree, Axel betrays them and releases Namine', so that she may talk to Sora.

However, rather then fufilling her duty, she betrays the Organization and tells Sora his memories are false, and if she can return his real memories if he makes it to the top of the tower. However, further in, Sora defeats Riku one last time, only to learn from Larxene that he was nothing but a fake built by the Organization. Sora defeats Larxene, resulting in her death.

Axel appears later and Kidnaps Namine, taking her to Marluxia (#11) and begins to fight him. Sora interrupts however, and implies he and Sora are somehow connected. Sora wins, and Axel escapes. Sora proceeds to defeat Marluxia and rescue Namine. She restores Sora's memories, though at the cost of Forgetting everything about Castle Oblivian. He agrees, but promises to remember Namine.

Now to Riku.

Riku awakens, and a voice tells him he can remain here for Eternal Peace, or fight forward and see whats in store. The Voice leads him to Castle Oblivion. He first stumbles into Hallow Bastion, created from his Memories, but it is devoid of anything but Heartless. The voice tells him it is because he had rejected all else, and that only darkness existed within his heart. He rejects this adn continues forward. He speaks with Maleficent. He defeats Maleficent, and continues forward.

He meats with Ansem, of KH1, who had been guiding Riku. He almost manages to take Riku over once again, but King Mickey appears and saves Riku. Mickey, however, isn't physically there, but is using some of his power to help Riku when he can. Riku fights off Ansem and continues through the Castle.

Lexaeus (#5) and Zexion (#6) notice the pressence of Riku, who is able to Harness the power of Darkness as 'The Superior' could. Vexan appears and says Riku managed to escape from the Darkness, and he was connected to Sora, which is why he was able to reach Castle Oblivion. Since Marluxia is already suspected of Foul play, they decide to use Riku to deal with Sora.

Vexen then appears before Riku. When asked if Riku works for Ansem, Vexen replies it is, but not the Ansem Riku knows, but instead a Nobody that walks in the Twilight in between Light and Dark. Vexan says both he and Riku have the same power, but not wanting to join, Riku fights. Vexan reveals he did this simply to gather information on Riku and leaves.

Vexan creates a fake Riku, which loses to the real one. He is then implanted with the real Riku's Memories, but tweaked so that he must defend Namine, and he is sent after Sora.

After a bit, Marluxia realize Axel killed Vexan, whom they already considered contacting for Help. They almost decided to kill Sora, as he is already Stronger then Vexan, but decide to instead gather up both Sora and Riku.

Lexaeus goes after Riku, attemptign to convince him to join and use the darkness within him. Lexaeus fails to convince him and dies by the hands of Riku. Zexion realized both Lexaeus and Larxene are dead, and begins to worry about their organization.

Zexion realizes Sora is about to kill Marluxia, and decides Riku is no longer needed. He approaches Riku directly, and tells him Sora is here. However he also states Sora would have to defeat Riku, as Riku still holds Ansems Shadow inside him. It is also revealed that it was Riku's desire to leave and see other worlds that opened the door to Darkness that inevitably destroyed Destiny Island.

With a little help from Kairi's voice, however, Riku finally decides to accept the Darkness within him, as well as the light and defeats Zexion, forcing him to retreat.

Zexion retreats to find Axel and the fake Riku. Axel is now manipulating the fake, and tells him killing Zexion is a good way to start becoming his own person, justifying it by saying it was more itneresting to watch Sora and Riku then to save Zexion.

Ansem appears to Riku again, and again Mickey appears to save him. Though this time it's the real Mickey. Ansem dissapears after saying the stronger the Darkness in Riku, the stronger he becomes.

Riku meets Ansem once more, though learns that this whole time it had been another guiding him, a man buy the name of DiZ, who takes him to meat Namine. She offers to lock his heart, sealing away Ansem forever, as well as the memories of his friends suffering due to his actions.
He declines, and instead decides to face his crimes on his own, and destory Ansem for good. It is also revealed Namine was the voice of Kairi earlier.

It's also revealed Mickey seems to know DiZ, but as another name, but he can't quite place it. Regardless, Riku defeats ansem one more time, and decides to walk the road of Tiwilight, instead of Darkness or Light. Him, Mickey, and DiZ escape the Darkness, and travel on.