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cor-regnum · 1 year

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KH4(ish) wants and hopes

The following are just things I want and hope for in the future of KH and maybe others want and hope for similar and if not that's super valid.

More realistic wants

Sora to start unpacking all of his trauma This sweet baby boy has been through so much since the beginning of the franchise, but between back-to-back endless drama and constantly putting his own feelings aside for the sake of his friends, along with Donald and Goofy unintentionally instilling toxic positivity into him, he hasn't had ANY time to process any of it. Not to mention all the memories that have been buried down, during both CoM and even towards the end of KH3. He still genuinely believes that without his friends he's weak, so now that he's forced into Quadratum away from everyone, he'll get the chance to see how incorrect that is, which would then lead to him questioning more of his beliefs. I would say he'd see the truth in what Riku said to him before his sacrifice at the tear in KH3, but those are some of the memories he's lost. Essentially, what CoM was for Riku's growth, I want KH4 to be for Sora.

X-blade drama Sora was bequeathed the X-blade, his first formal bequeathment and now an actual keyblade of his own that wasn't meant for someone else. Now that it's in an "other side" I want to see literally any sufficient drama to happen involving the x-blade with Sora. Even if it's just him angsting over having it.

Potential ally Luxord At this point, it's all but confirmed that at the end of Re:Mind, Luxord's recompleted self is the one driving Yozora in the car. Now... I'll freely admit I just love Luxord and wanna see more of him. But knowing that he's also in Quadratum, and given his cryptic words upon his defeat in KH3, I don't think it's out of the question for him to help Sora out at some point. Considering Yozora's behavior thus far, I could see Luxord's recompleted self being another antagonistic force early on, turned ally.

Elrena and Lauriam reconnecting with Ven, and Namine is there Now that Larxene and Marluxia are recompleted, and given that Lauriam and Ven were vaguely close to each other in a coworker sense in Ux, I want them involved in bringing Ven's memories back. Naturally with Namine's help. I want Elrena to STILL be the girl that isn't overly sweet, since she's literally the only one, because that's something I love about her. But I also want them to give her stuff to do that isn't completely tied to Lauriam. Maybe even make it so Ven's memories hold some kind of key involving the foretellers so the drama on "this" side can continue to some degree without Sora.

More prevalent Namine Honestly, considering how strongly linked her powers have been to Sora, it seems silly that she hasn't been utilized in the search for him, as far as we know. Plus I'm sure she has more capabilities beyond that. Not to mention the amount of times Nomura has reiterated that the "Thank Namine" plotline is still incomplete. So I just need her to come back to being a primary character. I don't want her to be passive. And I JUST WANT HER TO BE HAPPY, OKAY!? She really deserves it.

Less Realistic Wants

Kairi growth game From the first game, Kairi has made it clear how averse to change she is, and that has been the biggest constant in what little character she's been given. My own belief is that's the reason she hyperfixates on Sora so much. Not because it's a crush, but just because holding onto this idea of how close they were before all the adventures started is easier than moving on and accepting all the changes for her. And honestly, she deserves better than that. So, this would ideally be an entire non-numbered game, but as part of her training under Aqua, I want her, Xion, and Namine (balanced, strength, and magic) to do their own journey through Disney worlds where a recurring theme in each world is accepting that change is inevitable and that it's okay. Along with varying bits to further Xion and Namine's own stories. And like how KH3 had moments where it would turn to Riku's perspective and let him be playable, Aqua would have that in this game. Aqua's side would be more about figuring things out about the foretellers. During these adventures, Kairi being a Princess of Heart would come back into play over the course of the story and give her more unique abilities, considering she's the only one of those princesses with a keyblade. After all that journeying, Aqua's Angels would end up actually helping Lea and Isa find that mysterious girl (Skuld) and it would not only be a step toward furthering the foreteller plot, but it would be a "oh, another person that's going to make things interesting for Ven when they meet" moment, given Ux.

Sora growth (cont'd) Okay, here's where I know I'll lose some people's interests... So, a lot of Riku's growth early on was accepting just how important Sora is to him and coming to grips with his jealousy and feelings. And he deserves major props for going through that. Sora, alongside canonically bisexual icon Strelitzia, is going to learn to admit similar things with regards to Riku. I don't think he's jealous of Riku, but he sure does care about him a lot. More than I think he realizes that would be on par with how much Riku cares for him. Instead of facing jealousy, though, while unpacking all of his traumas, he's finally going to have to come to grips with everything Riku did in KH1. Because he literally has not done that. I don't think it's going to be some over-dramatic angsty thing, I think it'll be more of a "Yeah... what he did really was messed up and I still don't know why. When I see him I'll wanna talk about it, but at least I know he's not like that anymore so that we can talk about it." And yes, I do firmly believe Soriku is going to be one of the ultimate plot points of the series and I'm not going to tackle why that is here. I just feel like Strelitzia is going to be pushing them together when she sees them.

I do have more wants, but I can't really think of how to expand on them, so I guess I'll just briefly list them here:

Either confirmation or further evidence to the necklace theory, ideally intertwined with the "Thank Namine" plotline.

Tied to above, I'd love if somehow the necklace is an emblem of the "Child of Destiny" brought up in Dark Road.

Kairi and Lea develop a friendly rivalry, constantly motivating each other to be better.

I do NOT want Hayner, Pence, and Olette to get keyblades and I'll honestly be super annoyed if they do. In my mind, it would be as foolish as giving Donald and Goofy keyblades, because these three have other strengths I'd love to see expanded upon.

Terra gets another Mark of Mastery exam, probably alongside any other characters that want it, but I'd want it from his perspective so we see him tackle more of his internal struggle with darkness and his time serving Xehanort.

Aqua with PTSD from her time in the Realm of Darkness. We already saw a glimpse of it in Re:Mind and I don't want it to get dropped.

Strelitzia actually fights and maybe even playable Strelitzia segments. We never actually saw her in combat in Ux, just saw her with her keyblade out. I can easily see her filling a similar role to Aerith in FFVIIR.

Ava. ...I just want something with Ava. Confirmation that she was Kairi's grandma, a mention of where she is now, anything. Literally I just want to know what's going on with her. Because unless she was Kairi's grandma, Luxu was the last one to see her, and that was FOREVER ago.

While Mickey's in Scala ad Caelum, there is confirmation that Riku, and possibly Kairi, originate from Scala ad Caelum. Or at least in Riku's case that his family originated from there, which leads to...

Riku is Ephemer's descendent, which I'm not going to go super into, but it would feed further into the necklace theory and would explain a LOT about him.

Ven and Roxas interactions... more than just a head nod at each other, please!

Xion and Namine friendship and I WANT TO SEE THEM BOTH HAPPY. Tie this into my Kairi growth game!

Utada makes another song based on Sora and Riku. We have confirmation Sanctuary/Passion is about them and their reunion in KH2, and analyzing the lyrics to Chikai/Don't Think Twice fits more with them than anyone else. So, more, please!

And then there's things I'd want from Missing Link, but that doesn't fit in here and I don't have enough wants to justify making a list...

I may reblog myself with more wants down the line.

#kingdom hearts #kh theory

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phoenix-downer · 1 year

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I'm really late with this question but, given that in the kh4 trailer they show donald and goofy looking for sora in reality, do you think we could see a dual story with sora in unreality learning about the MOM and kairi in reality learning about luxu and the foretellers, which is something that alot of the fandom seams to be forgeting about like, what are they gonna do? why did the foreteller's get brought to the future? where is ava? so many questions, and i think kairi's training would be a perfect avenue to reval these things to us through

Thanks for the ask! It's interesting you bring up Luxu and the Foretellers, because when I finished KH3, that was the element of the ending I was the most excited about, so I enjoy speculating about what their roles might be moving forward.

I also wondered about the glimpse of that cutscene we saw of Donald and Goofy. At the very least I think we'll get cutscenes like that scattered throughout the game showing Sora's friends in reality looking for clues to help him. Gameplay would be good too, and there might be a higher chance of that for the Keyblade-wielding characters at least? Like we might get moments in KH4 where we temporarily play as Riku, Aqua, Roxas, Kairi, etc. similar to what happened in KH3 and ReMind.

I'd love to see more moments of Kairi too, and I agree that connecting her to Luxu and the Foretellers would be a good way to do that. Since she's training with Aqua and presumably Terra and Ven are around as well, it would be a good way to involve them with the main storyline. It would be fun to see them sleuthing around trying to find out more about the Lost Masters, especially given that very brief moment we saw of Kairi in that teaser for Birth By Sleep Volume 2 (which it seemed to be scrapped and/or shortened into what became 0.2) that showed her investigating the Old Mansion with Hayner, Pence, and Olette:

(Then again, this same teaser trailer also foreshadowed Sora disappearing...

...so it's possible some of the concepts we saw in it that didn't get used for 0.2 might still get used down the line? Nomura pls)

I do think eventually that whatever Sora's learning/dealing with regarding the Master of Masters and whatever his friends are discovering about Luxu and the Foretellers in the Realm of Light will converge into a single cohesive narrative, perhaps at the very end of KH4 to set up the next game? I get the vibe that Sora will be fighting the Foretellers throughout this next saga culminating with him facing off against the Master of Masters at the very end of it.

My crackish theory for several years now has been that the Master of Masters is going to trick Sora into helping him return to reality and that's where the final showdown will be, but I could also see everyone going to Quadratum instead.

I'm hoping we get a few more crumbs of information soon to speculate off of lol, the KH4 reveal trailer was beautiful but I need more food to create better theories (and to avoid getting too attached to theories that might get jossed down the line).

Thanks for the ask!

Screenshots are from here.

#kingdom hearts #kh #kh4 #kingdom hearts 4 #kh speculation #kh4 speculation #sora #kairi #luxu #the foretellers #aqua #terra #ventus #master of masters #the master of masters #keybladebard #long post

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transrikuu · 2 years

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Things I think would be fun in KH4

Vanitas. Just anything about him really

Moana World simply because I love that movie

I really really do not want marvel in KH so I hope that does not happen. the reason is simply just. I don’t like marvel lol

I think Nomura confirmed that this wouldn’t happen but. I’d still love to see the TWEWY and/or NEO cast!!

I mean come on Quadratum is an alternate “Shibuya” that certain people go to when they die. That’s TWEWY.

Give me Kairi training under Aqua. Let me see it. Let me play as Kairi. Let her talk with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus and have real conversations with them

Terra and Aqua backstories?? Probably not but I still want them

Also want to see if Ventus will remember what happened in UX in KH4

I wanna know what the fuck Yozora’s deal is. This is probably the most likely thing to happen in KH4 on this list

Also who is Stella. Who is she.

I think it would be funny and silly if the Master of Masters revealed his face. Only to reveal that he doesn’t actually have one. He’s got nothing there.

Or alternatively he could be like how Xion used to be where the way he looks depends on who’s looking at him

Speaking of Xion! Give us updates on the sea salt trio and what’s going on in their lives. How do they feel about Sora disappearing.

Same with Riku. What are his feelings

Kairi too

Speaking of Kairi she better come to Quadratum. I can imagine a situation where it has been a few months or something since Riku left and she’s like “I can’t wait for them to come back anymore, I can’t train any longer, I need to go out there and find them both”

I hope that’s what happens at least

Strelitzia as a party member

Sora doing taxes

Sora gets a job at Starbucks

Wouldn’t it be funny if Sora lost all his memories when he came to Quadratum haha

Also uh. Where’s Naminé where did she go. Is she in Radiant Garden? Twilight Town? Destiny Islands? We really don’t know where she is after KH3. I hope we see her in KH4

#kaeya speaks #just putting some thoughts out there

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acerikus · 1 year

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Kairi

Send Me a Character

And I will tell you my:

First impression

Oh she's so adorable and cool, I like her :]

Impression now

Honey what did they do to you

Favorite moment

Probably the scene where she shields heartless sora in kh1, that was so sweet 😭

Idea for a story

For a while I've kinda wanted to write a kairi centric au (canon divergence starting from the end of kh3) kinda based on wandavision? Mostly revolving around her grief due to losing sora, never really getting to have the relationship and wanted w him and piles of survivor's guilt, that also plays around w the idea of how much power she could hold as a princess of heart and MoM taking interest in that. Probably won't find the time to actually write that though lol

Unpopular opinion

DON'T SHOOT ME BUT LIKE. I actually really loved the ending of khmom. Like, a lot. I'm not including the dumbass decision to turn her into sora for the xehanort fight in that bc I wanted her to at least get to take him on again properly in her own goddamn mind but like. Her deciding to stay and train and let riku go to quadratum alone was good.

Maybe in another universe where she was handled better from the start it'd make more sense for her to go, but they've underutilized kairi for so long in a way that would make her going to quadratum and being good at it feel... Painfully fanservicey and insincere as it is. At most I'd expect her to fight a couple neoshadows before getting kidnapped by like aced or something silly like that, unfortunately.

We've already seen that despite the amount of time she had to train, she didn't have the resources or environment needed for that training to be GOOD, and she's not magically gonna become an ultimate badass all of a sudden (without it feeling terrible at least). Aqua is an amazing wielder and looking to her for training could be fantastic for them both, as well as giving potential for her to learn and grow in a less high stakes scenario, which I think she needs. She trusts Riku to be able to do this, and she wants to fight at both their sides when she's ready - if we get to see some of her learning PROPERLY unlike her training with lea in kh3, this good be good, and could set up for a genuinely good destiny trio party fight in a future game, or even the end of kh4. They fucked up w her in the past, and to fix that they need to do it carefully and meaningfully.

(also like, the whole girlbossification mom-friend-who-holds-the-brain-cell of every female character is unnecessary and getting tiring, and her coming to the conclusion that she doesn't care for fighting but wants to help in another way could be equally satisfying lmao)

Favorite relationship

The one that gets me most is probably her connection to naminé, tbh. Really hope we get more of them in the future, her little speech to lea in kh3 about wanting to save naminé was my favourite scene of hers in the game.

Favorite headcanon

I like to hc that the paopu genuinely did create some kinda deep rooted heart connection between her and sora - it may not have linked then quite in the way that she was going for but it makes them like... A lot more attuned to what the other is feeling even when they're not around each other???? I don't mean in like a shippy way (I don't even ship them lol), but they're able to see what the other feels and help them out when they need it. This also applies to thoughts occasionally and they use it to fuck w each other once things calm down like, waking each other at 3am from completely different places bc kairi got a really annoying song stuck in her head and now she's gotta plague sora with it too, stuff like that lol

#lullaby-snowangel8 #ask #ask game #thanks for this one!!!! hoo boy haven't been full kh fandom in like 2 years but i guess i still have Thoughts #kairi is so interesting and i really hope she's handled better in the future.#genuinely think khmom's ending was the best thing to happen to her development in years no matter how much in the minority i am w that #kairi #kh

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verathena14 · 1 year

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I was thinking a bit about the KH4 trailer. We know that a week is a year for the world Sora is from, so it could definitely mean we could see Ka*ri saving Sora for a change. If we spent a few weeks in the afterlife, it means Ka*ri has been training for a few years with a keyblade master. Resulting in her catching up with Sora and Riku. Remembering her saying that she would be right beside Sora and Riku the next time is actually not that far fetched anymore. Cuz I sure af laughed when she said this part. Or they could completely miss this opportunity for her to do something for once besides getting kidnapped or unlived once again. Since there was already such an opportunity where she could get stronger training with Lea in a timeless world.

ooo I hadn't even thought about that! that certainly would be interesting! (please nomura i just need her to have character developmentttt ToT) I also hope they don't screw up the translations in future titles like they did in kh3 and melmem because those mistranslations absolutely WRECKED her personality (presumably to make her seem less unsure of herself which. is certainly a choice.) anyways, i do really want to see her do something important and i think that her training with aqua could maybe accomplish that? (tho I'm trying not to get my hopes up)

#athena answers asks!#athena rambles #kingdom hearts #kh

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ofsanctum · 2 years

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Kairi really hates when people tells her that what happened to Sora wasn’t her fault. She knows that people won’t blame her for it because he would do that for any of his friends. But she still and will always thinks that it is her fault and true is, Kairi wishes that someone would yell at her because she was weak ; she let herself got taken away and even though she fought with all she’s got against Xehanort, so that she couldn’t be used against Sora, it still wasn’t enough. Kairi knows that she was weak and that’s why she trains and studies to her maximum so that she can fight and defend herself without someone having to protect her.

#( i really hope that in kh4 we get to see her training #and how strong / how she has improved #i also think that more of her will come #because i refuse to believe that nomura introduced her past just because of mom game )#hcs #⭐ ⭐ ⭐ . ❝ inside her heart. ❞ — ( headcanons )

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embraceyourdestiny · 2 years

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i hope we get another inbetween game before getting kh4 with at least kairi as a protagonist that isn't mom. i have a concept for one that has kairi, axel, and ven have separate stories like bbs where ven goes off to remember khux, axel goes looking for subject x after he finds evidence she's still alive, and kairi somehow gets roped into helping lauriam find his sister somehow (her's is kinda a stretch but i like kairi a lot so i don't care)

These are all very possible! For Kairi though I think she might uncover her own past in radiant garden. KHUX seems to be the crux the kingdom hearts story will be focusing on going forward and with that means unveiling the events that have already passed. The one to tell the story of fairytales is Kairi’s grandmother and Radiant Garden has been at the center of a lot of the events of the story and yet we don’t really know all that much about it. Plus I think the limit cut episode featuring the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee must mean something since they made models and the world, it’d be kind of pointless to do all that and nothing with it in my opinion. Plus something about RG has always struck me as being tied to Daybreak Town. It’s a world based on flowers and that reminds me of Ava’s dandelions. Plus Kairi learning things about herself seems to be where her character is going given MoM. It might not happen since Axel would probably be covering Radiant Garden for Subject X (Skuld) and Ansem but Skuld being tied to Radiant Garden and being from KHUX solidifies the connection between RG and DBT even more for me tbh. Plus Kairi would be training with Aqua and I wouldn’t be surprised if they go to RG to do so since Aqua’s been there before, and in that case all three of the trios would be centered around Radiant Garden and that I could see. Maybe they all start and orbit around Radiant Garden since that seems to be the new KH HQ and part ways to investigate clues before returning to brief each other.

But that’s just a possibility of what I think could happen lol. Kairi could likely go in some completely different way and her teaming up with Lauriam (and Elrena?) is still KHUX related and I think that would be very interesting, esp because of their connections to flowers and Stelitzia likely being a pure light. And that could still happen around Radiant Garden. And Lauriam did end up in an field of flowers, maybe that was the original Radiant Garden or is at least connected because flowers? I also like that trio because it’s like CoM but with Kairi instead of Naminé, though she could be involved too! Might be kinda awkward though because of Marluxia Larxene stuff but I’d like her and Kairi to meet strelitzia honestly.

Whatever happens, I think a bbs style is the best way to go and I really hope it happens. Kairi Ven and Axel as the leads are perfect because they are the ones to have the least amount of focus of their trios, to me at least, and have a lot of unexplained things from their past that should be explored.

#kingdom hearts #kh #og #Kairi kh #axel/lea #ven kh #Ventus kh #khux #kingdom hearts union cross #kingdom hearts union x #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #kingdom hearts remind #kh remind #asks #i rambled a lot sorry lol #i love ur ideas though anon I hope this happens in some way

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moony-mae · 4 years

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Kingdom Hearts Memory of Melody spoilers below ! And by that I mean story spoilers. Just my thoughts.

I'm sorry, because I know that despite everything, people are still hopefull about Kairi. That's she's going to train with Aqua, that since Ven is going to be here and he is involved in the Ux plot, she's going to be to, in a way.

But I can't believe anymore.

This was an insult to Kairi. For weeks, I knew this wasn't going to be a real Kairi game. It's a rhythm, music game about celebrating the music in Kingdom Hearts. Which is good ! The music of the series is the part that never disappoint. But story wise, it would just be the start of the new story arc. That the Black Coat wouldn't be the Master of Masters, and nothing truly important would be said.

I wasn't wrong on this part. I was just wrong when I thought this would lead to a real Kairi game.

(And again, I know that some still believe will have one. But I don't, not anymore.)

Kairi had to turn into a man so things would be done. Literally. She could fight ! Even worse : she fighted just before, and she fighted so well ! She learned from before, with her materializing and dematerializing her keyblade. But no, the plot decided that she wouldn't do things.

(By the way, the choreography of the fight against Xehanort was well done.)

And this isn't even explained. Yes, it will be probably be explained later, if Kairi has a litteral part of Sora with her or if it's the papou magic. But she turned into a man ! If they really wanted to have Sora give her strength, she could have simply heard him say her name ! That would also have be a nice callback to KH1.

And then Riku telling her no. Because she have to train. Who in this series have learned and succeed because of training ? NO ONE.

For me, it was Nomura clearly telling us that it's not that he doesn't know what to do with Kairi, he doesn't want to write or use Kairi. That's it.

(Or that he doesn't know how to write female characters. And before you throw Aqua or Xion at me : Xion was written by the person who writes the novels, I forgot her name, and the writer of FFXIII was in the writing room for BbS. And we could also talk how every female character in this saga will be here next BECAUSE and FOR a man.)

People are happy because Kairi is going to train with Aqua, and choosing to do so : and I understand you, because it could be so, so great. (Mostly because of the bond they share, but also because she isn't going to be train by someone who's going to leave mid-training to drink tea and speak about Winnie the Pooh.). But I just feel like we'll see nothing of this training. Kairi is just going to come back in KH4 or whatever be like, ''Oh yeah my training with Aqua was great I learned a lot'' before Nomura find another way to bench her.

I just feel like it's 2012 again. Riku is going to save someone, and Kairi is going to learn and train.

This writing of women should not be praise. But I know what's going to happen : more jokes about Kairi being useless (and how it should stay this way). How Nomura is a genius and a madman.

Also, I don't feel very hype by unreal worlds.

Maybe I'm just pessimistic. Maybe it will be better, and I'm wrong. And I hope so, in a way. But I can't hope anymore. I've been let down too many times.

We'll see what the future of KH is but.. I'm afraid it's just going to be more Riku. And I'm kinda sick of how Nomura shoves him down my throat every opportunity he got. I'm sad because I like Riku, but over time I'm getting so tired of him. I'm sad because Kairi could do great things, because it's in her character, she wants to help, but the plot isn't going to let her.

I'm sad.

#kingdom hearts melody of memory spoilers #kh mom spoilers #kingdom hearts spoilers

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nonsensical-rants · 5 years

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So, I 100%ed the Kingdom Hearts Franchise.

Alright. This might be a long take, just saying that now. But I know exactly where to start. This franchise. Is not as confusing as the entirety of the internet would like you to believe. It's mostly due to bad writing decisions here and there. I mean, yeah if you wanna have every single detail and definition ingrained into your brain. Then of course it can get complicated, but what franchise lasting as long as Kingdom Hearts isn't annoyingly convoluted? I can't think of one.

So my thoughts about the series is that they're pretty good! Both as a story and as games, with some very big exceptions. I wanna say that you should definitely not try to 100% all of these games in chronological order in rapid succession. It will drain you. I can confirm this beyond a shadow of a doubt. After I beat KH2 it really start to hit me. Chain of Memories was fine, if not a bit tedious to get all the cards and Riku to level 100. But other than that I more than enjoyed my time with the game.

Heartless are born from the darkness in peoples hearts. Nobodies are created from the husk of a body left behind in the creation of a Heartless. While Unversed are born from supreme negative emotions that live inside us all. The stronger these feelings are/the person is, the stronger the heartless/unversed and nobody. Especially strong people can keep their identity when transformed into Nobodies. Thus explaining Organization 13. Only the keyblade can truly defeat these creatures. What's so hard about describing that to someone? It isn't that far fetched in terms of the fantasy genre.

Though personally. I have an enormous hatred from Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. Despite trying to keep an open mind about any and all forms of media I come across, I cannot ever get behind this title in the series because it is just too much and strays too far from what i consider to be "Kingdom Hearts". The gameplay was not fun for me personally, the story was iffy at best in comparison to the others and it really felt like the biggest amount of padding. If you have to do that to become a Keyblade Master, I think i'd rather stay as a rouge agent like Sora did for 99% of the series.

The dream eater system was probably the biggest factor here as for 100% completion you have to get every single dream eater, and every single skill that they can give you which means leveling a lot of them up to the point where they have points to buy said skills. Which takes forever. And then there's the Dream Eater tournaments, which I would have never gotten past without cheap strategies I found online. Usually I get everybody to max potential in these games and give the best items and accessories all around. But as soon as I got the platinum I ejected the disk and took a break. I felt like I needed it.

Alright, putting that behind us. The difference in fighting styles from game to game can get a bit jarring but in the PS4 re-releases it can usually be adjusted too in about half an hour to an hour's worth of gameplay. Chain of Memories was fun, but tedious like I mentioned. And Birth By Sleep was actually a fresh of breath air (until you get to the secret boss fights that is...) If it wasn't for my need to see that 100% bar next to the game title I would classify these games as something everybody should try out and enjoy. They are fantastic experiences. So lets go in order for a bit.

KH1 is a classic story, going through Disney worlds with a fine mix of Final Fantasy. Meeting the princesses and seeing they are "Princesses of Heart" that have strength beyond muscles. Able to use the power of Light and what not. There's a few hiccups here and there (like Cloud and Sephiroth not acting like how they are in FF7 but everyone's already mentioned that.) But aside from that and the bad platforming, its a genuinely fun game to 100% and I'd highly recommend it. Maybe even try to get cosmic arts for everyone so you can have 16-19 MP bars. It gets silly.

Chain of Memories i've already mentioned a lot so far. So I don't think I need to go that in depth. Fun to go through but wouldn't recommend 100%ing it because it takes far to long. The story is actually pretty decent and isn't that complicated. Sora and the gang lose their memories of KH1 because of the magic witch Namine, while we get our first look at Organization 13.

KH2. The golden child. Still played by many to this day and its obvious to see why. The game play is crisp and fantastic as I remember it from my youth. Traveling to Disney worlds again (and not card versions of them that have no people except for cut scenes, like CoM) and having a constant looming threat over your head while you try to have fun on your journey. Its great. I have yet to do a level 1 critical mode (as that's not required thankfully) but I did thoroughly enjoy my regular Critical play though. Story still isn't that bad yet. Organization 13 comes in full force, trying to get a new version of "Kingdom Hearts" so they can restore their humanity. I'd highly recommend 100%ing this one as well. Would also recommend maxing out your stats and putting on multiple Full Bloom+'s and Shadow Archieve+'s for the fun of it.

Birth By Sleep. Still not that bad honestly. It comes at a weird time though, and the story telling kind of requires you to have some outsider knowledge so that you're not thrown for a loop the entire time. So it feels weird to go back in the past, but also necessary for the story as a whole. Fun game to play minus the hundreds of mini games you need to do for all three main characters. If it wasn't for that I would recommend playing this game to completion. It's hard to reach higher levels though and as everyone's who played the game knows. Terra sucks at End Game compared to Aqua and Ven. I beat the Secret bosses by sheer luck and I would not go back for them. You do get to learn the origins of what makes most of the future events play out though and you even get to see younger versions of Organization 13. Back when they weren't evil!

Nothing eventful happens in Re:Coded.

Dream Drop Distance... Already talked about it. Let's move on before i'm forced to remember dream eaters and their annoyingly high pitched theme song.

Birth By Sleep 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage. Really good demo for KH3 in all honestly. I had a fun time with it and seeing Aqua's pain and journey through the realm of darkness for a whole 10 years was interesting.

And now we're at Kh3. The big game we waited so long for. And its... Alright. Nothing really spectacular. The graphics are certainly splendid and gameplay feels great! If not a bit too floaty. Thats a problem for some people, especially those who were avid fans of KH2. But I had no problem with it. I have yet to play it on critical but i've heard it makes things far more entertaining. As for story, its also alright. Not the grand ending I was expecting but it was really fun all things considered. Just another ride through more modern Disney worlds. But no Final Fantasy! I get that they feel KH can stand on its own legs now but you can't take out half the formula that people fell in love with originally. Then there's no battle arena or replayable boss fights. Doesn't have to be the Real Orginization 13. Just any replayable fights with end game gear would be enough.

As for my real problem with the games. Is the treatement of the third member of the original trio. Kairi. Oh, how this character has divided a good portion of the fan base just by existing. It feels like all the time that she is just a damsel for Sora/Riku to save and rescue. In the first game, thats fine. Whatever. She was unconcious the whole time and had her heart within Sora. Chain of Memories was a game about Sora losing his memories and Riku overcoming his darkness. Thats also fine. But in KH2. Really? She gets a keyblade and can't even handle a group of shadows? The lowest level of heartless? It's embarrassing. She's supposed to be a Princess of Heart. What's that even mean anymore? It doesn't even seem relevant.

KH2 should've been her moment to become a party member just like Riku did. I dont care that it means you could possibly not have Donald or Goofy. KH2 felt the most like the penultimate ending to the series than Kh3 did in my opinon. Having the choice between your KH1 buddies (Sora, Donald and Goofy) or the Island Trio (Sora, Riku and Kairi) would have added excellent variety and much needed development for Kairi as a person rather than leaving her as a one dimensional damsel in distress who has a Nobody with more internal conflict and character motivation. Moving past that... BBS is a prequel so nothing for the original trio except for meeting Aqua/Ven/Terra. And we come back to the dreaded DDD again.

If my vision for Kairi in KH2 couldn't have become a reality. Then why wasn't DDD Kairi's game? The set up was perfect. The heroes of light need to train to overcome almost double the amount of darkness agents. Kairi (and Axel) are practically beginners at wielding a Keyblade. It should've been their time to shine and get some love while occasionally helping Sora and Riku in their Mark of Mastery exam. Why did it have to be something you do alone? Well actually you're not alone you have the stupid Dream Eaters. Regardless it could have been the newbies learning how to get to Kh2 Sora's level while Sora goes beyond his limits.

As for KH3, it's just awful. Kairi's treatment is awful and everyone knows it. She said she was gonna help but hit one whole heartless in the finale. Better than KH2 i suppose. And as for the argument of her being "too weak" to try anything agaisnt Xemans. Really? She couldn't even like. Step on his foot? Pull agaisnt his grip or switch which hand the blade is in? Since the keyblade can teleport to your hands when you need it. I don't expect her to randomly become a Keyblade Master, but. I think we all would've prefer if she just did ANYTHING over what actually happened. It's sad. I hope KH4 will give Kairi the proper treatment and character development she deserves. But for all we know it might be another Sora/Riku dual protagonist game like CoM or DDD. What do you think?

#Kingdom Hearts #KH #KH3 #kh sora #kh kairi #kh riku #NoksNonsense #Nonsensical-Rants #Opinion

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butterfly--empress · 5 years

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Fix it Headcanons...

After sitting here writing a really tldr post to get things off my chest, I felt like it just wasn’t worth the post because a lot of you are already saying things that I totally agree with and yeah...it’s not worth it so I’m just going to move on and conjure up headcanons because I need to cope with that ending.

So instead, I will in tumblr traditon make a reaction gif post on my feelings with some commentary about the characters.

The New Organization XIII

I wish a bit more was done with you guys??? I’m half and half on their role in this game, *shrugs* Also I am assuming Nomura pretty much confirms that Demyx is also from the past and now I’m wondering if we will get a story update for him in KHUX.

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if all the story content we need before KH4 is going to be handled through the mobile game...eh...great..........just...fucking swell.

Can we petition for the Kingdom Hearts manga to continue? I think I rather have a physical boxset collection of the Kingdom Hearts manga, because at LEAST in the manga, characters actually get some goddamn growth......I’m not going to rant about Kairi just yet...

Disney Worlds and Characters

Nothing like Nostalgia and good old fashion pandering with a dash of Disney films having a consistent foreshadowing theme of love, hope, loss, pain and SACRIFICE TO GET THE BLOOD PUMPING!

What do you mean I’m bitter, I told you, I’m not!

Wayfinder Trio

I have nothing awful to say about these three to be perfectly honest. I saw nothing wrong with Aqua and Ven getting bodied like some were because as much as I love Aqua and know she’s OP my girl was doing nothing but fighting in the realm of darkness and really had no time to recover, and then girlfriend fights my delightful little shit of a son, and then girlfriend is STILL FIGHTING! I’ll let her being one-shotted by Terranort slide...

I will also let her running in front of Ven to shield Vanitas’ blast from hurting him go, because, honestly one could argue she probably was still exhausted and didn’t have time to react to put up another shield???

Ehh, this argument can go either way, really but I didn’t have a problem with any of it.

I just really loved everything about these three, they acted like friends/family who missed each other for YEARS...they hugged and cried together and then despite the fuckery of their Master/Father figure, I think they forgave him for his apology and I just started bawling my eyes out....AGAIN.

I really am not exaggerating and I wish I was but from the Aqua/Ventus reunion to the secret ending, I cried so hard.

I didn’t cry for him or his bald boyfriend...*twitches eye* I cried because those three children didn’t deserve any of this! None of these children deserved any of this! TT_TT That reunion was all I wanted.

Vanitas

My poor fledging child, I knew your ultimate demise was nigh so I tried not to be too sad about it. Not gonna lie, Sully dragging your ass through that door and then multiple doors and then shredding that door was hella funny!

It can be confirmed tomorrow that you dead and I would resurrect you and all your glorious edginess and tsundere tendencies in my fanfics because if you don’t come back to be your own person, a sass master and the anti-hero that likes to stir trouble cause he can, to help get Sora back, while gloating about it in the same breath, than I don’t know what even is the fucking point of another game.

I do wish a bit more something meaningful was done with your supposed ‘redemption arc’??? I guess I’m suppose to assume that was a redemption arc...but it was handled so choppy I don’t know what to really make of it tbh...

Eraqus and Xehanort

People think ya’ll going to heaven...nahh bruh you two fucked up! And I refuse to believe anything else. Yeah you two was real cute in the past before I’m assuming things went to complete shit but you two FUCKED UP!

I don’t know what the fuck Xehanort did to make Eraqus so jaded but because Eraqus felt jaded he indirectly dismisses Terra because ‘darkness’....BOI!

We already know Xehanort’s rep sheet we don’t even have to review it.

I don’t have any sadness for you two. Eraqus gives me mixed feelings I don’t like how he was the cause of Terra being norted, Aqua being lost in the realm of darkness and Ventus falling into a ten year magic coma but at least he didn’t rip a child’s soul in half to create some damn keyblade and control Kingdom Hearts so i guess he gets kudos???

I don’t care about Xehanort, NOT ONE CARE!

I’m glad that motherfucker is gone! Buh bye!

The Sea Salt Trio

Axel/Xion/Roxas...you three did NOTHING WRONG!

That’s it, I sobbed and they reunited and they hugged and then they hugged Saix and then Saix is good again, they cried and shared Ice Cream with the Twilight Town Trio and it was great. It was all I asked for.

Namine

You’re a precious delight, i wished we had more screen time of you in the game but c’est la vie. At least your character wasn’t ruined like someone’s I know.

The obvious Riku/Namine ship still surprises me but I totally dig it...still side-eyeing my green-eyed white haired son for some of his fuckery...but we about to get into that in a bit...

The Destiny Trio...BOI I am about to lose my fucking shit because really WTF WAS THAT?! You did everyone else right...except for these three?! the same three you started this glorious shitshow with?!

THESE THREE!?

Sora: I have no issues with my baby here, if Nomura got one thing right, it was Sora. I still don’t like what you did to him and Kairi but as for as the writing for his character, that shit was on point so you get kudos Nomura...you get the fucking kudos!

Riku: ....What the fuck happened to the very close friendship between he and Kairi??? Like WTF?! I’m confused how we went from KH1 Riku giving into the darkness because he thought it would save Kairi to KH2 Riku looking out for Kairi and encouraging her to fight by giving her destiny’s embrace and crying when she recognized it was him, despite he looked like Ansem, to KH2.8 Riku having playful banter with her before he left off on his mission with Mickey to KH3 Riku who, outside of anyone not Sora, Mickey, Namine (because suddenly Nomura wants that to be canon obviously...) and to an extent, Aqua being this distant stoic character...

EXCUSE ME...but where was Riku’s usual anger and sadness when Kairi was taken by Xemnas and just outright killed?! IN FRONT OF HIM?!!

Say what you want about SoKai becoming canon, a close friend is still a close friend!

There was no reason to make Riku distant at all, like I don’t mind the SoKai sharing the paopu fruit scene but I still feel like that scene should have included all three of them. That should have been a call back to them having a bit of reprieve together like the ending of KH2. It would not have taken any time to have Riku have a moment with Repliku and have Kairi call him over after Sora asked ‘why he’s over there?’

I mean, damn! Even Sora was like, our group dynamic is off by -1???

Kairi: First of all, I am going to put it out there that, Kairi did not need to be overly super strong. Not for a girl that just started training to fight in the final battle and for what we did get, it was more than I had expected at all. I mean for a novice, girl did pretty damn decent with keeping up with berserker!Xion.

No, my annoyance is not at the lack of Kairi fighting, it’s being used as an unfortunate plot device and feeling like nobody except Sora cared enough about her. At times it did feel like my girl was treated as a burden that nobody wanted there because she was such an easy target to distract Sora....

And boi! When she got taken and then obliterated in front of Sora and the others I was both angry and sad, at this point I was already sobbing because Sora was sobbing and I felt that and my hate for Xemnas went from 100 to 1000 real fucking quick.

But like I already said, I started to get frustrated because Riku continued to seem like he was suddenly emotionally stunted when it came to Kairi, like my dude! YOUR FRIEND JUST DIED?! WHY AM I MORE ANGRIER THAN YOU?!? DO SOMETHING!! GO WITH SORA TO BRING HER BACK THAT’S YOUR FRIEND..YOU’RE NOT THE RIKU I REMEMBER WTF!?

Just jadlkfjflkajdjakdjk! *inhales than slowly exhales* Nomura, Nomura my dude, my pal, my senpai! There were a lot of ways you could have made SoKai canon that did not include sacrificing the deep, close 12yr bond that was Kairi’s and Riku’s friendship. The wasted potential...

You mean to tell me i waited for a DECADE, a freaking DECADE hoping that to have some real friendship bonding between Riku and Kairi and see nothing done with it!?

And speaking of SoKai...I know some people find it lackluster because unfortunately, Nomura never gave Kairi satisfying character growth that didn’t make it seem like she satellites around Sora and nothing else. But I more or less was never really bothered by how it developed, yea it could have used more work but I’m on very neutral ground. My only complaint is that I don’t like how at times it can seem a bit forced or rushed in 3 and I don’t like that Nomura thought it was a cool idea to make it seem like Kairi and Riku were never friends or that Riku never cared about Kairi.

I...I guess Nomura wants to fuel the ridiculous SoKai vs Soriku shipwars??? Because that is what your doing and those dumbass wars don’t need unfortunate implications from the actual game for people who didn’t get their ship canon to further hate Kairi because you decided that Riku needed to be ‘distant’...with HER, poor girl can’t catch a break because you promised character growth but you take one step forward, two steps back and she can’t break the damsel in distress trope. My poor baby.

I knew once I went to the Tangled world I knew KH was dealing with the consistent theme of Love, Pain, Hope, Loss and Sacrifice. This became more apparent when you get to PotC and I knew deep down that Kairi and Sora were bound to end up doing something to sacrifice their own lives for one another and yet, they have done this before and it turned out alright.

I hoped it would have been akin to KH1 but fuck me, how goddamn naive was I, amirite?! Nomura goes and does EXACTLY what I was wishing he wouldn’t do and he did it anyway, and I was no more good after that.

And then, AND THEN TO HAVE THE BALLS to make it look like Sora was there after all at the very end only to have him fade away. A part of my heart still aches from that and I’m surprised I didn’t wake up my household at 8am because I was sobbing that loud!

Yes I know Sora is alive but again, my heart and mind are in conflict. My mind wants to let go and update and reboot the phone but my heart is still stuck on a refresh/poor battery loop...

...............................................If Kairi is not out there with Riku to go find and save Sora in KH4 someone is going to feel my motherfucking wrath!

No, I’m serious! No more of this shafting Kairi bullshit! This is the perfect setup for a full on Kairi character growth arc. If I have to play that shit on a handheld or mobile well fucker bring it on!

Nomura, you have the story, Kairi could start out feeling loss and regret and guilt, blaming herself and thinking the other’s blame her for Sora not being there with them. And then she goes on a journey, hell she and Riku go on a journey together to reconnect and Riku, being a Keyblade Master could mentor Kairi in her training and she has some self discovery as she’s getting stronger and confident again in herself and it would be great because she’s finally getting to save Sora like she’s always wanted too!

You know what? YOU KNOW WHAT??!

FUCK IT!

Because Nomura will never give me this and I will not hope for anything concerning Kairi’s character growth.

So I guess I have to fanfiction that shit my damn self...I think I will...

At least the gameplay for fucking fantastic and Yoko-san delievered with the music, when is that KH3 OST dropping again?

I need to eargasm to Anti-Aqua battle theme and the other promise/vector to the heavens one million times.

Also I’m legit done ranting, I got this off my chest so I can move on.

#kh3 #kingdom hearts iii #destiny trio #wayfinder trio #sea salt trio #there be a lot of trios...#epic rant #i'm good now #going to read other people's rants #i still love this game but that ending though #holyshit why?!

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xiiishadesofgrey · 5 years

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Kingdom Hearts III: A Long Time Coming

As we’re about a month after the release of KH3, I wanted to get out my thoughts on the game (there are spoilers below). I might be talking into the void, but hey, that’s what fandom’s all about. Anyway, let’s rock.

First things first: I loved the game. I’m biased, because I’ve been in love with this series ever since I saw the first trailer on tv all those years ago. I have some criticisms, but please never take those to mean that I don’t love this game because I do.

Story

My main issue with the plot of KH3 is that I think pacing was a weak point in this one. Now, I’m used to playing through mostly irrelevant Disney worlds the whole time and then getting a plot dump at the end. I know how this series works; that’s not my issue. The problem is that there are a lot of characters who would pop in to do something pivotal, and then make an equally swift exit without any real closure. Demyx and Vexen come to mind, but even the non-benched OrgXIII members didn’t do much besides serve in the boss rush and make their goodbyes (while the other fighters politely waited before continuing to rough you up). We knew there was going to be a huge cast of characters, but for the ones that served to move the plot forward, in a lot of cases I was left feeling like I didn’t have an answer for why the roles had to be filled by them in particular. (Connections to KHUX were blurry at best, though that’s more of an issue with series planning than with this game on its own. I’m okay with using Luxu as a cliffhanger, though, since that’s more of an intentional setup.) Motivations weren’t explored and many of the characters ended up just where they were before: lost, floating in the void.

I was also a little put out with the game’s treatment of the main heroes. Riku and Mickey spend 5/6 of the game throwing themselves against a wall, staunchly refusing Sora’s help. Meanwhile Sora (aka the player) is supposed to just wander around until the Power of Waking comes to him all deus ex machina style? That’s not a plan, and it makes for a meandering plot. And when you finally do get to the Realm of Darkness, lo and behold, the power was in him all along, meaning that we’ve all wasted a lot of time in what we’re supposed to believe is a pretty urgent situation. If I’m considering this within the framework of the KH universe, it means we should probably never take direction from Yen Sid again. If I look at if from a real world perspective, it’s a rather poor excuse for the player to visit the obligatory worlds while the main plot gets compressed to a cutscene movie at the end of the game. Either way, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

And finally, I was truly disappointed with KH3′s treatment of Kairi. I try to be understanding. I get it, she’s not the main character. But here’s the thing: the writers set Kairi up to be in a position of agency, if not power. She has a keyblade, she has the benefit of legitimate training in no less than a genuine hyperbolic time chamber (more than Sora has ever had the benefit of, mind you), and she has a history of being eager to pull her weight as a Guardian of Light. Plus, she’s a Princess of Heart. You’d think this would lead to her being able to contribute to the fight in more ways than just believing in Sora enough to keep him from keeling over when he loses his cool (another thing I took a bit of issue with, but I won’t digress here). But no, Kairi is demoted very solidly to damsel in distress when the plot finally sees fit to release her and Lea from their bubble. To be blunt, I call bullshit. I think she deserved better as a character, and I think if they weren’t going to do anything with her having a keyblade, they shouldn’t have wasted all that time making it happen. In the last fight, she and Lea were more liabilities than anything. I think they both deserved better than that.

End(?)

Obviously, the end of the game contains a culmination of the complaints I’ve mentioned. I’m overjoyed that my favorite characters get their lives back, but a lot of that takes place without direct player contribution (for example, Roxas showing up by himself, having melded with a replica body offscreen, or Namine being a footnote in the closing scenes). I acknowledge that the player character doesn’t need to (and shouldn’t) be the sole instigator of action in a game, but for some of these instances, having these points basically narrated to me felt like things were coming together because they had to for the plot to resolve, and not because our own actions had led to an optimal outcome. I didn’t feel like we had earned all of the pieces falling into place the way they did.

I mentioned unclear motivations before. All I will say about Xehanort is that I don’t quite see the connection between the story they’ve been selling us for him literally this entire time and the story he painted for his motivations at the very end. I don’t feel one way or the other about them trying to redeem him, but I don’t feel that that was a well-established path to try to take with the character they’d built. It’s important to give evidence throughout if that’s the final claim you’re going to stand on, and nothing in any previous game has ever hinted at the “noble reset” MO.

And then, there’s Sora. My precious sunshine child. They damseled Kairi so hard that Sora died got lost in an alternate universe. I had two problems with this: 1) it just made me sad, and 2) it was like...completely unaddressed. I get it, you’re leading into the next saga, and that’s admittedly an excellent hook. But like, I feel like a plot point as pivotal as the main character functionally disappearing warrants some sort of ... visible reaction from his friends and comrades??? To have that emotional fallout completely unaddressed makes me feel like the story wasn’t complete. And not to make a somewhat unrelated gripe, but I feel like if they had space to make us watch the entire Let It Go song, they had space to let the audience know that Sora’s disappearance actually had some effect on the people he’d saved.

Experience

So, given all that grumbling, what did I feel about the overall experience of the game? I actually thought it was very positive. The gameplay - both exploration and combat - was very smooth and exciting. The worlds we visited were well-executed and fun (though San Fransokyo felt deceptively small, somehow). The graphics were awesome. (I’d been concerned that the new engine would lose some of the Kingdom Hearts feel, but I think they really nailed it.) Yoko Shimomura triumphed as always with a stellar soundtrack. (I found myself humming along to the Arendelle and Corona themes for hours.) The plot, obviously, was great despite my issues with the execution in this particular chapter. I think that most of the problems that I mentioned earlier with pacing and details stem from there being what I consider to be too many plotlines to handle in one ~40 hour game. I wouldn’t want another side game of course, but I think that the telling of the story might have benefited from the Dark Seeker saga continuing into a KH4. The plot is sprawling, as we all know, and it just needed a little more space to resolve everything cleanly.

(Side note: I missed my FF friends, but I understand why they weren’t present. Like I said, there was too much going on as it is.)

Aside from that, I personally got to spend a lot more time with my brother than I have ... probably since KH2 came out, to be honest. We promised to only play together, and we took turns with the controller just like we had to do in the good ol’ days when we were kids. And we’ve always played the main games together, so this was a really nice throwback. Closing this chapter of the story was impactful for us as individuals, but sharing the experience was just as great. After several years of being pretty closed off, I feel like this reminded me how to be a kinder sister. So, I thank the KH franchise from the bottom of my heart for that.

All things said, I really enjoyed the hell out of playing this game. At the end of the day, I think that’s all you can ask of a game, really. This one did much more than that, though. It largely followed through on my hopes for the characters, and definitely fulfilled my technical expectations. Most importantly, it felt like it came through on my immense emotional investment in the series. I cried (a lot), like I knew I would. Heck, I might even play it again sometime. lol ...Maybe not right away, since I still have to heal emotionally. But yeah. Thank you for the ride, KH. I won’t make this sound like a goodbye because you still owe me some closure. But thanks.

Here’s to the next half a lifetime. :)

#kingdom hearts #KH #kingdom hearts 3 #KH3 #Source: me

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