200th Post! AKA My Kingdom Hearts 3 Dream List

... In all seriousness, 200 posts? Wow? Me?  I really never expected it to go like this.  This blog has had it's ups and downs, but it is something I'm proud of, even with the excessive KH... which I shall continue since it really is one of my favorite game series and there is so much fascinating information and analysis in it.

Okay, moving on!  (I am WELL aware very little of this may come true, still, fun to speculate!) LOTS of spoilers!


Story wishes:


St. Canard appears:  Darkwing Duck is an utterly fantastic show.  It began as a spin off of Ducktales combined with a parody of James Bond.  Unfortunately, legal issues (namely the "double 0" callsign is copyrighted by Ian Flemming's estate)  forced it to be a parody of super heroes instead... and it turned out so much better.  

By day, Drake Mallard takes care of his adopted 9 year old daughter (the comic series confirmed he didn't have a job.)  By night, he is "Darkwing Duck"! (A glory hound and protector of the city.)   

Kingdom Hearts and Darkwing Duck already have a few small connections.  Scrooge and Donald's Nephews were the focus of Ducktales, and are reoccuring characters in Kingdom Hearts.  (Although Launchpad, the actual connection between the two shows, has not appeared in Kingdom Hearts)  In addition, when Jim Cummings portrayed the version of Pete called "Captain Dark", he is channeling parts of Darkwing Duck, such as Darkwing's tendency to alliterate.

 Can you imagine fighting with Negaduck (Darkwing's self from an alternate, inverted, universe) or the Fearsome Five (Negaduck, Megavolt (who canonically survived going to the electric chair... twice and who thinks electric bulbs are alive), Bushroot (a plant-duck who is only there because they sort of accept him), Quackerjack (A mix of Jocker and Toyman), and Liquidator (an dog turned into sentient and moldable water... who used to be an ad executive).  What about flying in Darkwing's airplane? Facing off against Darkwing's other enemies, FOWL?  Meeting Gosalyn? 

(Also, the comic series was amazing and should have gone on. Buy it if you can, it was a victim of the Disney/Marvel deal.)

More Kairi:  Look, she's a critical part of the Destiny Islands trio and she has had very little development since she keeps on getting shunted off to the side.  She's a PRINCESS OF HEART and a keyblade wielder. (She most likely fits into the Final Fantsay "Paladin" archetype.  Low attack, high defense, and specialization in light based offensive and healing magic.  I love Paladins)  We don't know much about her past, and as a Princess of Heart she may have access to Light Magic which can  balance Riku's dark magic, in addition she's training as Keyblade Master under Riku and Yen Sid, and she has a link to Aqua. She needs training, but she's probably going to be the one to save the day.  Let's watch her grow.

Sora going completely insane:  Sora may have four or five entities in himself right now.  Sora, Roxas, Ven, and Xion.  Where Vanitas stands is completely unclear.  (though I hope he's in there too.)  End result, Sora should probably have  a massive breakdown soon as each part of him struggles for dominance. Roxas is closer to the Organization, was besties with Axel (and Xion),   Sora is aware of Ven, somehow, and had to watch as Ven's existence unraveled but he lived on.  Xion mostly just vanished.  She's a replica, she's not even real by Nobody standards, but there she still stands. In KH3D Riku (who can't remember her) finds her sitting on the iconic friendship tree in Sora's heart.  Ven is stuck in Sora, and his heart is incomplete without Vanitas.  He's pure light, and may be what is keeping Sora alive.  Vanitas is evil. He's partially insane too.  According to the novels, he could feel Ven's good emotions and he grew jealous and angry which then made more unversed because... as Ven's dark half he got Ven's dark emotions.  (though Ven can get angry sometimes, but Vanitas can never be happy)  Sora has at least three people in his heart besides himself, all with different desires and motivations.  If they wake up, fully, what happens to Sora?


Ven, Roxas, and Xion get their own bodies and identities.  Okay, technically Ven still has his body. But Roxas and Xion deserve the shot.  

I also want to see what happens to Sora when that happens.  His heart is built around Ven's.  If Ven leaves, will Sora's heart collapse? Will "Sora" as we know him cease to exist?  Would Roxas or Xion fill in the void until Sora reconstructs himself?  Would he be different from before? 


Is "Kingdom Hearts"Cosmos from Dissidia?  Their functions seem to be similar, and I could see her taking the form of Kingdom Hearts.  It would also explain the FF people there.  KH could be an afterlife or a between world for them. Plus, Kingdom Hearts and Cosmos have a similar kind of color scheme.  Sort of.

The Return of Repliku.  He may be a Vessel, but he feels like he will come back. Especially when Riku runs into him during KH3D. The poor kid had a tragic life.  He was a replica, like Xion, but was somehow faulty.  Everyone manipulates the poor kid's emotions, he doesn't know what will happen to him, and he's constantly striving against Riku who is trying to reach out to him  Oh, and Namine rewrites his memories several times then breaks his heart. Literally.

Is Vanitas evil, or does he hate MX more than Sora/Ven?  What role will Vanitas play in the future?  He's a BRILLIANT villain, and gets infinitely more complicated the more you think and analyze him. He shows up for one scene in KH3D, but as Ven's heart was destroyed in BBS, WE DON'T KNOW FROM WHERE HE APPEARED.  Is he lurking in Sora? (always possible, especially with the physical similarity) Is he part of MX? (Young Xehanort was the only other person in the scene and Vanitas projected next to him)  Will he take over Sora and then act as Vanitas in Sora's body?  What will he do?

Explore the Princess of Heart.  Have there been previous ones?  Do they have any special powers aside from guarding KH?  If there haven't been previous ones, why have they all sprung into existence now?  How is one picked as a PoH? Why is Alice picked over Ariel or Wendy?  Will Tiana, Rapunzel, or Merida be back up PoH?  Why Kairi???

Divide KH3 into A/B/C stories.  Sora, Donald, and Goofy take side A.  Riku and Mickey are working Side B (probably more of the Darkness stuff like normal).  Kairi and her team (The other PoH? Namine?)  Take a Side C.  We either switch like in KH3D or follow one story through like BBS and then pick another one.  They've been experimenting with multiple narratives for the last few games, and with the PS4's processing power they should be able to successfully pull it off.  We know Kairi will have her own story (either as a PoH or a Defender of KH), there's stuff going on with VAT, Riku... is Riku and may have some angsting and subterfuge to do... there's several possibilities.


Where are the other Org members? Seriously, were are Marluxia, Demyx, Lurxord, and Larxene?  What worlds are they from?  What did Marluxia find out to make him, and Larxene, rebel?  Could they use this information in the end? 

What happened in the Keyblade War?  Why is MX so fascinated with it? We know the outcome, but what started it?  How is the info still around?  What does the Keyblade Graveyard have to do with Kingdom Hearts itself? If the children saved the universe, where were the adults?  Did everyone just have a keyblade back then? If the keyblades disappear when the wielder goes unconscious, why are all those blades around?

Monster's Inc should be a world, and the villains (or the heroes) Can use the doors to travel between worlds.  Plus, in a place that thrives on fear and screams, who knows what could happen to our tortured heroes? If travel between the worlds is cut off, how long before someone figures out you can use bedroom doors to go to different worlds?  What would happen if Maleficent or MX found it first? Would they use the world's capabilities to analyze Sora's nightmares in order to scare him from completing his mission?  Does Riku get nightmares? Kairi?

FIND OUT THE OTHER VESSELS.  Seriously, we know the identity of four or five.  There are thirteen. Who are the rest?  Is/Are Terranort and Xehanort Beta two different people? Is Repliku one? Is Sora still one?  Can they be saved?  Saix has an X carved into his face, if Lea brings him back, could he still relapse?  Why did Braig go along with it in Birth By Sleep? When exactly was Terra marked as a vessel?

Terra should be saved, and keep his white hair. Seriously, look at it! 

Explain Terra's vision.  You don't put in one of your main characters having a vision of the end game while it's in the beginning of the game, at the location of the final battle, while he talks to the main villain, and then don't follow up on it.  Is Terra a Seer?  Is he living through the events again? Has this happened before?  Do other vessels carry this capability? Or is it just Terra?  Does Riku have it too? 

How is Lexaeus important? (See here.)

Who are Ienzo's parents?  He is repeatedly mentioned to be abandoned then AtW adopted him.  Why? Who left him in the first place?

Can Master Eraqus come back? How could he help? They did establish he lived in Terra's heart and helped keep part of Terra in some control, why did Terra lose that control?  Considering all the forms Terranort went through, where exactly is that piece?  Will he hold MX back somehow in the final battle? Plus he's based on Final Fantasy creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi.  It seems disrespectful to kill him off like that. To add to the mystery, we don't know how death works in Kingdom Hearts.

How is Maleficent back... again


Make Doctor Facilier a villain.  He would work excellently as a member of the "Hellfire Club".  Plus with his Friends on the Other Side, and his debt, he could offer the heart of the world/all worlds to his "Friends". He could also use his Voodoo to separate Sora into his other selves then try to manipulate those parts of Sora's heart.  Or maybe offer Sora's heart to the "Friends."   Honestly, great villain right here. Besides, what would happen if he does manage to get Sora's heart/soul?  Who would come out to animate Sora's body?  And what would it be like if Haley Joel Osment continues to voice Sora even while, say, Xion is in control?

Fanservice wishes:

Disney now owns Marvel.  MCU should give a summon or Deadpool appears to fill in information to Sora/the player on items Sora would know nothing about... like why he should care about someone named "Master Eraqus" I more want an "Avengers, ASSEMBLE!" summon, though.  Similar to Final Fantasy VII's Knight of the Round.  More extreme would be Sora dying and he visits the world/universe of the dead Disney characters.  Ray the Cajun Firefly, Mufasa, Coulson...   

In all seriousness, a summon would work best.  I think pulling off a full world would get difficult and we don't know how many rights they could work with (Kingdom Hearts usually uses the movie properties for their games, but while Marvel studios lacks the movie properties to the X-men and Fantastic Four, they do have the game rights for them) but it would be interesting.  If there was a world, Mr. Fantastic would be a good scientist... and I really hate Tony Stark.


The Radiant Gardens Protection committee!  Okay,  I made them up.  But it's  Cyan Garamonde of Final Fantasy VI (Samurai), Shantotto of Final Fantasy XI (VERY POWERFUL Black Mage), Fang (Dragoon) and Laguna (Guns)  Basically, they were the set up for the KH2 Restoration committee.  They defended Radiant Gardens until the Heartless overwhelmed them.  A sidequest during KH3 would be to find the members and bring them back.  The pay off would be story expansion, or a new keyblade (or four), and new characters to wander around and ally with during fights! (or new summons, more Final Fantasy based than before) Fang would be in the crystal Caverns/Great Maw.  Cyan would be in a mountain cave.  Shantotto would be in a library and Laguna would be found when you return to town.  Why? (Aside from my desire to hear David Boat voice Cyan and see him in High Quality CG.  He's my favorite character)

For the Laguna/Xigbar battle of course!   He was almost in Birth By Sleep, the two of them are gun specialists, and Laguna's happy and protective personality contrasts well with Xigbar's angry and possessive one. 


Rosa and Cecil are Kairi's adopted parents.  Come on, they'd be perfect! Besides, they are the only confirmed married playable couple in Final Fantasy history.

Final Fantasy VI's Terra appears.  She's a caring character, a great mage, oh, and she can be called "Mama" because of pre existing KH Terra and canon memory loss.  Can you imagine Leon calling for "Mama" when she gets lost? And considering what a Mama Bear she is, can you imagine her Esper form coming out in a rage that someone DARES to hurt "her kids" (AKA everyone in Radiant Garden despite how most are older than her.) She could also be adapted as a experiment gone wrong from someone trying to synthesize a human heartless.  We get Sweet and Pure Terra with the Esper/heartless half.

Zack/Aqua is canon.  In fact, the reason why Zack disappears from the (Chronologically)  later games is because he chases after Aqua when she goes missing.  He's in the Realm of Darkness right now, just waiting to escape with Aqua.   In the mean time, they are exploring and practicing... look, I have made lots of headcanons about all the fluffy stuff that is going on as they practice and fall in love.  It's my only possibly canon KH ship. 
And the game spends a large amount of time dwelling on what is in the Realm of Darkness. What is actually there?   


More King Mickey. He's amazing. He's kind, powerful, and wise.  He's also what ties a lot of the plot together.  And, he just wants to help.  ((Oh, and Queen Minnie too.  Best Battle Couple ever. (Possibly.  Maybe tied with Zack/Aqua)))


Kain is an ally of Riku.  They can really relate, especially everything about Darkness and mind control. I'm really curious why Kain hasn't shown up yet.  Riku needs a third man, Kain could guard him for a while until he saves him, and the two could bond easily.  Riku does fulfill Kain's position in Kingdom Hearts (if Sora is Cecil and Kairi is Rosa) so he could complete it with Cecil actually appearing. If they don't want Kain and Riku to ally due to similarities, Kain could still be both a model and a warning who travels between worlds... and give Riku some new moves.  Dragoon Riku would be great.

Kaine, Weiss, or NieR (possibly with Yonah or Emil) appear.  Kaine would be a blast, but as she's a foul mouth, scantily dressed, hermaphrodite (and that's why we love her)  she would need to be toned down.  (in all seriousness, her swearing IS the first thing you hear when you boot up the English game)  Weiss could either be a forgotten tome of either Yen Sid or Maleficent and, like the original, he can either save or destroy the world.  NieR and Yonah would be NPC's who you help in game.  Or you find NieR doing a lot of different things in the world(s) in order to take care of Yonah. 

Was Shibuya saved?  KH3D makes a big deal over what happened to Shibuya, and combined with TWEWY mythology, it's more worrisome for Neku and the gang than it is for the other worlds. 

Great Mouse Detective. More than just "Sherlock Holmes with Mice", Basil (Named after Basil Rathbone, the iconic Sherlock actor)  the mouse matches wits with Rattigan (voiced by VINCENT PRICE, in his favorite role)  who is so over the top it's a delight to watch.  Unfortunately, Vincent Price is dead.  Corey Burton is good, but he lacks the vivacity of Vincent Price.  As Rattigan (and the final scene in Big Ben) are what steal the movie, it might be hard to pull off... but it would be glorious.  The back alleys of London, playing with size, the dive bar, the Big Ben fight, a rendition of "Worlds Greatest Criminal Mind"...

Other not quite Final Fantasy characters show up, besides NieR and TWEWY.  Lara Croft might be a bit too much, but what about Chrono Trigger? (especially with the new Time Travel element) The Mana series? Dragon Quest? Chrono Trigger might be the best bet.  The first one is a (Nintendo) classic, the story is interesting, and with the time travel element, Chrono and company could help fill in some gaps for Sora and co.

Gravity Falls as a world.  It's a very well done show about a possibly supernatural Oregon town.  Okay, supernatural stuff bursts at the seems.  The town is bonkers.  The eight and a half president is wandering around.  (He survived by encasing himself in peanut brittle) and no one knows about the Manotaurs (No, not a misspelling) Add in a scam artist great uncle, an episode about emotional and domestic abuse aimed at the target audience without being overly obvious, and a gorgeous background (and a pet pig) and you have a really good world where information about keyblades and darkness could be found.  It's not out of the question for a keychain to be hanging around in the back rooms of the mystery shack, or Dippers book to have information on The Heartless/Nobodies/Unversed/Dreameaters/KH3 enemies. Mabel would also make one heck of a heartless.   She's a perpetual smiler, and can fight. 

Sephiroth is revealed to be Cloud's darkness similar to Vanitas being Ven. Someone tried to repeat the Ven/Vanitas experiment and it didn't work.  Not exactly.  Cloud kept some of his darkness, lost some of his light, and Sephiroth is more independent than Vanitas.  Sephiroth wouldn't really work as a keyblade creation battle, but if someone wanted an evil assassin... (Which, BTW, is partly how FF7 works.  Sephiroth ends up in control of Jenova, but for a good chunk of the game and backstory the two either work together or Jenova is giving orders.  Sephiroth does end up in control in the end.  I am NOT saying Sephiroth should be the final battle, but it would explain why he keeps on popping up.)


The Haunted Mansion as a world.   It's my favorite ride, it's steeped with ghosts, Constance would be a great villain (as she's a conwoman)  And they could play with the viewer and Sora by having things constantly and subtly change in the background.  The graveyard can be a fantastic setpiece. And, then... everyone is dead!  Okay, not really.  But Leota can be used as a way to tell the future, Constance could try to lure them away, then we have the duelists, Great Ceaser's Ghost (quite literally!) The dancers, the hitch hiking ghosts, and let's just throw in Ramsley for the fun of it because he was the best part of that movie.  Look, I can talk about this forever. I've written an AU where they DID go there, and we know that Pirates of Caribbean exists.  Disney? Square? GET ON THIS!  (Oh, and the ghost hostess could be the last thing you hear in the game)

PS:  If they can work in Le Phantom and Phantom Manor, it would be even better.

Technical wishes:


There should be more NPCs.  People, I LOVE Kingdom Hearts but it's really embarrassing how many times crowds should appear (or are even referred to!)  And not one person shows up.  Look, they can have 10 generic models, give them a basic loop, and have them do their thing. The PS4 should have the tech to do at LEAST that. Look at games like Skyrim or even Animal Crossing.  Actually, look at Shenmue.  There were a lot of NPCs and they all had individual appearances and AI.  If you saw someone trying on clothes than later buying food, it was the same NPC.  I'm not saying to fully copy Shenmue.  I'm just saying the worlds should have more than just the characters you interact with in the game.  Where are the shop keepers?  Where are the people making food?  Where are the little exchanges that make me love Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite so much?  Let's make this world lived in.  Heck, the early Final Fantasies managed to do a better job with it then right now.  Up to at least 9 we had expansive worlds and lots of NPCs.


 Semi Dynamic time and weather changes. It would be nice if some things only happened at night or we got rain every once in a while.  That's all.  It helps make things feel more alive.  And the perpetual day/night cycles are unnerving.  They fit in Winnie the Pooh, a canon story book, Agrabah has the weather excuse of "It's a desert" but what about Olympus?  The movie has different days, nights, and weather.  A rainstorm post story wouldn't have gone amiss in Dwarf Woodlands.  What about secret bonus boss battles that only happen at night (which is every few hours in game)  Or combined with the NPC bit above, some things that only happen when you are at points in the game.  Like, say, running into Maleficent and Pete arguing in Dwarf Woodlands when you only enter the world 5 hours into your game?  Something like Animal Crossing would be nice too, where things only happen on certain Tuesdays in the real world.  Now, this is a bit overboard, but it would be nice.


More detail, or at least varied designs.  the worlds can be big, the cast can get intricate, stylization is part of the design, you did put a lot of heartless onto the screen at the same time... but we're two generations away now.  Keep the stylization, but let's get some varied models for the trees or something.  Maybe the models can have some more intricate detail?  (like naturally moving chains on the clothes, etc.) Don't forget the better sound quality available too. 


Well, that's my wishlist.  I probably have some more things, but I forget right now.  And this thing is LONG right now, and I know not everything will be in there.  (Seriously, Darkwing Duck and Gravity Falls is a HECK of a longshot)  and there are probably more worlds to put in, keep the tournament worlds (Hey, a great place to level up!) and let's not forget the other Bonus Bosses...  


But, what do you think we should see?  Do you agree? Disagree? What's your wish list? 

Why being a Princess isn't a bad thing.

So, as Merida is formerly introduced to the Princess Line at Disney, she received a hand drawn make over.  In case you didn't see Brave, Merida was Pixar's first female heroine.  She loved her family, was unafraid to speak her mind, and preferred the outdoors to "Womanly" pursuits.  (This article will have heavy spoilers for Brave and other games.) 

I'm not here to talk about the actual design change.  I'm sure some of it was simply because hand drawn and CG vectors are two different things.

I'm going to talk about what went on around it.  This IGN article discusses Brave, and then goes on to mention how the original Disney Princesses were terrible role models for young girls.

I actually take offense at that.  These girls are great role models, and so are other gaming princesses.

Yes, I'm bringing Kingdom Hearts into this, but I'll look at others too.  

Looking JUST at Kingdom Hearts (and the sequels/spin offs)  Let's look at the Disney princesses.

In Kingdom Hearts, there are seven Princesses of Heart.  Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty/Aurora, Alice, Belle, Jasmine, and Kairi.  Ariel also appears, but is not a Princess of Heart.  Wendy, Mulan, Meg, Queen Minnie, Jane, Tinkerbell, Elizabeth, Daisy, Esmeralda, and Quorra also appear.  Then we also have Aqua, Xion, and Namine who fit into their own category and are not Disney.

Almost all of them have had their movie story told, but in stripped down format.

With Snow White, she generally does react to situations, and she does fall asleep, but she also takes what she can into her own hands.  No, she doesn't know that the Evil Queen is out to kill her.  She, however, is aware she is in danger and the dwarves offer her a safe space.  In addition, she offers hospitality by taking care of them.  The story's true love aspect in KH is an afterthought.... mostly because the Prince appears in the last bit of Aqua's story.  Snow White understands she is in over her head, but she reacts with aplomb by controlling what she can and never becoming vengeful. 

Cinderella is a hard and cheerful worker.  She puts hope in her dreams, but her dream was to have a good time at the ball.  Falling in love was second. She's kind, she rescues Ven.  But she also allows herself to have emotions.  When Terra finds her, she's broken down because her wicked step sisters tore her dead mother's dress to shreds. 

Sleeping Beauty: Okay, fine, she's asleep for all of Birth By Sleep and most of Kingdom Hearts.  But look who picks up the slack.  The three Good Fairies and Maleficent.  We can't blame her for being cursed.

Alice: for the little we see of her, Alice is trying to make sense of what is going on.  Unfortunately, she is in a land that flat out doesn't.  So, she orders Sora around (well, Sora partly offers)  and instead of just going with the flow, she fights that what is going on because it IS unfair.

Belle:  She got her chance to shine in KH2.  She knows something is wrong with Beast, and she fights what she can.  While she does get kidnapped, she uses her cleverness and wits to save the day.  Namely, she elbows Xaldin to save the Rose.  To get the full context, she's just been kidnapped by Xaldin who's threatening both her and Beast.  Xaldin tells Beast that he can save either Belle or the Rose... so Belle elbows Xaldin, steals the Rose, and runs away to safety.  She can't fight, but she WILL make it easier for the rest. And that's not counting how much she loves to read, and how she cares for each member of the staff. She's a discerning, caring, and clever girl who may be a princess, but wouldn't care if she was.  Her Jiminy's Journal entry also mentions she did this to save her father. 

Jasmine:  While present in KH1, she takes more of a role in KH2.  She knows something is wrong with Aladdin and while she often is taken captive, she also shows she can be a leader.  (And it's bugging me I swore to KH only because Jasmine is my favorite princess.  And I can't really talk about why!)

Kairi: The last PoH, Kairi is unique to the Kingdom Hearts series.  Fulfilling the role of childhood friend, Kairi is, most of all, kind and discerning.  She wants to help people, save her friends, and make sure everyone is safe.  She can get into action, but lacks the other's training.  She is brave (she jumped into a Portal of Darkness) and wise (After realizing in five seconds Axel was up to no good.) she makes friends easily, and finds Riku's heart.  She's closest to the "Classic Princess" trope, barring the first three Disney princesses, but she can and will fight..  And she is awesome.  Pink isn't a problem with her.  All her feminine attributes just make her better.

Ariel:  A Princess, though not a PoH, Ariel is a singer with an un mermaid dream. She wants to go to the surface.  She very much makes her own decisions, and she mostly accepts the consequences.    She decides to chase her dream.  The Prince is an afterthought, but a very welcome one. And if something is unfair, like Ursula sabatoging her, she'll fight it, but not at the expense of other's lives.  If you watch the KH2 Boss battle, you can see her repeatedly trying to save the prince's life.  She knows he's human and therefore can't handle himself in the mermaid fight with a sea witch.

Princess Peach: And outside of Kingdom Hearts, meet Princess Peach. A wise ruler, calm decision maker, and she practically bleeds pink.  Her people love her, her economy is stable, and while she may be kidnapped, she can also find a way out of it, especially in the Paper Mario series. She's got a discerning eye about who is, and is not an ally.  In Super Smash Bros Brawl, she makes friends with Zelda/Shiek very quickly and realizes Star Fox is an ally, something Sheik did not.  In fact, she offers them a cup of tea and a place to talk about what is going on.  Diplomacy in a fighting game, who would have thought?

Elika:  A princess of a dead land, she sacrifices everything to save the world.  Then when the Prince may have negated her sacrifice, she abandons him.  Oh, and her land is a desert which she heals and she has magic. She uses the power offered her, but only as far as the heal and save the land.  She rejects her father who has fallen to evil.  She is fascinated with knowledge of all kinds and dreams to see the sea.  She could let the evil have her land, and she retreats to find more allies.  But she doesn't.  She fights for every single bit she has, and she only lets it go when it is truly lost.  But she doesn't give up, she goes off to learn more and to learn who can help stop this, permanently.

Princess Zelda:  Starting off as a plot device, Zelda has grown throughout the years into a capable leader, a trickster, a pirate, and a goddess.  Some of the evolution is simply due to space and programming improving. Other evolutions turn it from "A game about Link" to "The Legend of Zelda."  She, and no one else, knows Ganon is evil in OoT, she gathers other barrier maidens in "A Link to the Past", surrenders and is imprisoned rather than allowing her kingdom to be destroyed in "Twilight Princess" (Then sacrificing herself for Midna), and as the holder of the "Triforce of Wisdom" She's the wisest person in the game.

Calista: Polite, serious, and detesting corruption, Calista escapes the palace due to her uncle's controlling her, and understands politics, especially the ones around herself, very well.  She understands she has flaws, but also understands you don't have to do anything alone. (I need to play The Last Story)

Garnet: From Final Fantasy 9 (Another one I have to play.)  Garnet is discerning, noticing changes in her mother before anyone else does, forgiving, naive, and can both rule with honor and wisdom and can blend in with the common folk.  (Admittedly this does happen over the entire game, but it's there!)  She also realizes she can't do everything by herself and relies on others, though for her it's partly a coping mechanism. 

Merida: Yep, back to Merida.  A key part of the movie was Merida becoming like her mother, and how she (and her mother) by nature of being female had different, and just as valued, talents.  Like getting a bunch of Scottish warriors to stop brawling and listen. Merida had to learn to listen to other people, to understand where they are coming from, and there is a great dignity in activities other then fighting (such as sewing... look, it is actually more dramatic in the movie).  Plus, family is the most important thing a  person can have.  But even with that, the movie NEVER dismisses her love of archery, her horseback riding, and she still does not like corsets.  And that is fine.  She can still ride  ,walk with her elbows out, and she can hold a political conversation.  She's well rounded, and she is still a princess.



All of these girls are, in one way or another, feminine.  The PoH are, in fact, described as pure light.  But this doesn't make them weak or undeserving in any format.  Some are competent rulers (especially Jasmine in the source material and expanded in the TV show.  She ran Agrabah incredibly well). Others are hard workers who love everyone.  Others can cook. Others prefer to fight.  Even more can hold a court.   All are capable of sacrifice.  Their traits are feminine, not weak. And in fact, they are the stronger for it.  

Square Enix and it's international releases.

Square Enix has this annoying habit of releasing a game for Japan, updating it for it's US release (Fixing glitches, adding bosses) then rereleasing it AGAIN in Japan as a "Final Mix" with an even more updated, and canon, bonuses.

For example:
When Kingdom Hearts 1 was released in the US, it added a few cut scenes and bosses to the US version, such as Sephiroth and Kurt Zisa.    When the FM version was released in Japan, it added in a Xemnas boss fight. 

((The user has dubbed in English lines from else in the series to provide a rough translation.))

That's great, you may say, but why should I care?

Well, those scene made it into the KH2 flashback openings.   At the end of each "Day", we see corrupted flashes of KH1 and the scene of Xemnas walking through Sora.  This left many US players very confused because it was NOT in the KH1 game they played. 





Okay, so why am I going through this?

Square Enix has announced they are releasing FFX and X-2 in HD.  Some screen shots were released yesterday.

((Comparison))

but Famitsu has reported that the status of Final Fantasy's X-2 International/Final Mix post epilogue "Last Mission"  might not be in the game proper.  This mission serves to tie up the lives of the Spira cast and have a conclusive end to the game.  It was only available to the Japanese players. 

Square, you better fix this problem.  It's getting really frustrating. 

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 RELEASE DATE!

We have a date!  The HD remix of Kingdom Hearts 1 FM (Never released in the US), Re:CoM (released in Japan and the US, but not in HD and at the end of the PS2 life cycle) and the expanded cutscenes of 358/2 (It was supposed to be the full game but they didn't have time.)  is coming to the US and Europe!

The release date is September 10th, and in VERY limited quantities you can get a 24 page art book with renders and concept art!

So, pre order and I can't wait to play this.  It will be lovely. 

Localization: Sora in Kingdom Hearts (later Hallow Bastion visit)

So, bowing in the Japanese Culture has a lot of meaning.  The angle, how long you do it, the rank of the person, it all denotes different things.

Actually, Sony got into trouble after the PSN Hacking scandal because they did not bow for a full minute. ((And I can't find that now.  Here, have some info on bowing: it's a good primer))

Okay, now that that is out of the way... this should give you some idea on Sora's bow.

While English has "Grovel like a dog" or somewhat similar in our vocabulary, it does not do justice to this scene.  Due to the length and the position of him being on his hands and knees, Sora is putting himself so below Saix  he has effectively declared Saix to be his master.  He has (Possibly figuratively) Given up his freedom to be with Kairi. 

That has no English connotation.

Character Analysis: Riku (Spoilers)

Riku: What are you making me choose now?
DiZ: Between the road to light and the road to darkness.
Riku: Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road.
DiZ: Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?
Riku: No. It's the road to dawn.

Sora, while the hero of Kingdom Hearts, is kind of blank, especially when compared to the around 5 people living in his heart.  (Trust me, it makes slightly more sense in context)

Riku is much more complex.  Riku is the could have been hero who followed the failures of his predecessors and found success.

For starters, Riku was selected by Terra to be the next Keyblade wielder.  Terra ultimately let his anger take root in him and was taken over by Master Xehanort.  So far, his true heart has not been discovered. 

Riku, as he grew older, grew restless over his inability to experience the outside world.  He knew it existed, when he met Terra he knew Terra wasn't from Destiny Islands immediately. And that knowledge that there WAS something outside his idyllic island life gnawed at him.

So, he decided to make a raft and leave.  Or that's what he said.  The night before Sora and Kairi planned on leaving with him, he opened up the Heart of the World to connect it to the Darkness so he could use it to travel. After all, he wasn't scared of the Darkness.

At this point, he mostly disappears from the first game until around mid to late game.  What we DO see is Maleficent slowly seducing him to evil.  Maleficent manipulates situations so it looks like Sora is ignoring Riku.  She asks him to do little evil things for him in order for her to help him find Kairi.  She gives him power over the Heartless.  And this power he accepts.  He never really revels in it, but he takes it as a necessary evil in order to find his friend Kairi.  And it works, mostly.  He kidnaps Jasmine, he uses the Heartless to attack Sora on Captain Hook's ship, and he does find Kairi.

So, he claims the keyblade back.  It was supposed to be his, after all.  He summons it from Sora and leaves Sora out  in the open.

Sora, though, manages to summon the Keyblade back later.  Riku loses and then Ansem comes, offering him power.

(start at 7:55)

Riku accepts, and mostly disappears for the rest of the game.  Ansem has taken him over.  Riku is somewhat aware of what is going on during the takeover.  Ansem and Riku's voices overlap.  Sometimes, especially when talking about Kairi, Riku's voice is stronger and overwhelms Ansem.  When Ansem attempts to kill Kairi, Riku manages to physically hold him back for a short time.    The only time his heart/soul appears after that, is when Sora is attempting to shut some doors to seal the Darkness away, but Riku would be trapped on the wrong side.  Riku tells him to do it anyway, and to take care of Kairi.


Then Chain of Memories happened.   In Chain of Memories, Riku is a playable character with his own story line. In it, Riku must grapple with his use of Darkness. Vexen makes a copy of him, Lexaeus tells him he should accept the Darkness so he can't be destroyed from the inside out, He has to face a clone of himself who revels in the darkness, and then Zexion tries to trick him to drown in either light or darkness.  Of course, this is not counting Ansem constantly trying to use him as a vessel (and he's working independently of the Organization) and Ansem the Wise/DiZ imitating Ansem to try to get Riku to work for him.

Then Namine comes in to save him.  She tells him that Riku is both Light and Dark, and while neither side can claim him, his path is wide open to do what he wishes, and he can use both to save every World.  That's what he needed to hear.  He manages to defeat Ansem's conciousness, seals him away himself, and goes off to save everything with King Mickey.  (This is where his quote at the top of the page comes in.)

That's the plan anyway.  358/2 shows he had a lot of trouble with the plan.  Ansem's heart continuted to bother him, so he left Mickey to travel the worlds by himself.  He rejoined Ansem the Wise/DiZ.  He half kidnapped half saved Namine. He covers his eyes with a blindfold. He stalks Xion to figure her out,and ends up becoming close with her.  He helps her figure out what exactly she is, who she keeps on dreaming about, and what she is supposed to do.  After she returns to Sora through Roxas (Sora's nobody. LONG story),  Roxas challenges Riku.  Roxas and Riku fight to a stand still, but Riku wins... by tapping so deep into Darkness he embraces Ansem in his heart.  And by embracing Ansem, he turns into Ansem.

This is where Kingdom Hearts 2 picks up chronologically. Riku is sulking behind the scenes.  He watches over Roxas in the digital world.  When Sora wakes up, Riku keeps an eye on both him and Kairi.   He fights Sora in the "Land of Dragons"  for unknown reasons, he saves Kairi the first time Axel tries to kidnap her, but he generally stays out of the way until the last level.

In the last level, he finally managed to rescue Kairi and Namine, he helps Sora in a fight by holding off Heartless, he gives Kairi a keyblade, Kairi shows Sora that the Ansem:SoD who's been following them around is actually Riku after he tried to leave, and he protects the group after DiZ blows up a fake Kingdom Hearts (again, makes somewhat more sense in context) 

The blowing up did have a good side effect, it gave him his body back. He fully reclaimed his identity as Riku.  He helped Sora defeat Xemnas.  He used some dark abilities to protect them, Sora gave him a keyblade to use,  and while he is injured in the final battle, he doesn't fade.  Instead, he finally manages to return home with a clear concious.



His story does NOT end there (In all seriousness, this has taken quite  a chunk of time)  After an undetermined amount of time, Riku has (FINALLY!) Cut his hair, and YenSid (as the only master currently in existence) offers to give him and Sora a Test of Mastery.  There's a lot of dream craziness, but Riku finds himself being stalked by Ansem:SoD and Young Xehanort throughout the game. They begin by urging him to fall to the darkness.  To accept his fate as Ansem:SoD's pawn.  Riku, however, continually refuses.  Then he runs into either the image of himself or Repliku.  We're not given clear notice either way.  As time goes on, Young Xehanort eventually appears to tell him Riku is no longer needed, especially because Riku is firmly set in such a way so he can not fully succumb to darkness or light.    So Chernabog is to kill him.

After that, Riku FINALLY manages to track Sora down... and finds out he's  been captured by the new Organization to be the Thirteenth Vessel for Master Xehanort.  (Again, makes slightly more sense in context).  Riku, of course, says that is a horrible idea and manages to mostly hold the possession off.  Mostly, because after that point he can't wake him up.

As it turns out, Riku knew something was wrong from the beginning and became a dreameater for Sora's dream and protected him through that.  So, to wake Sora up, he'd have to go BACK into the dream and defeat a shadow version of Sora wrapped up in Ven's armor then answer questions from Roxas, Ven, and Xion (while not knowing who Ven or Xion are) then finally making it back and finding out he's the new keyblade master.

(Deep breath)  Okay, got all of that?    Yeah, it's a bit of a doozy.



So, let's analyze all of this.


First off, Riku may value freedom highly, but he always valued his friends more.  When he left, he did seem to want to talk his friends with him. When his friends are in danger, he will do anything to protect him.  Kairi lost without a heart? He'll drown in darkness to get her back.  Sora's currently drowning in darkness?  He'll risk his life to wake him up.  Random person who's in trouble in the world?  He'll protect them.  Mickey has a very high priority since the two are besties (and I can't show it here.)  As for Xion?  Well, he did all he could to save her, even when he knew he would forget her.  Even though Xion had to go back to Sora, he still tried to find a way for her to exist separately from Sora at the same time.  As of right now, it hasn't worked out but it still may in the future.

Second:  When it comes to him falling to Darkness, he fully admits he was wrong but he not only tries to fix it but to keep people from following him.  In other words, he may be a kind of anti Xehanort.  He understands that what he did was wrong, even if he may end up becoming the most powerful and wise keyblade master because of it, and he is willing to sit down and explain why it worked for him but it wouldn't really work for anyone else.

Third: He's blunt.  If something isn't going to work, he's going to say so and say why.

Fourth: He's very focused.  When Shiki attempts to flirt with him, he doesn't know how to react and he freezes up. He wants to save Kairi, he WILL save Kairi.  He wants to save Sora, he WILL save Sora and ignore all the other distractions, unless they are "The world will be destroyed"  type of distractions.  Those cross his path quite frequently.

Fifth: He's very compassionate.  He knows what it's like to be wrong, to face the darkness, so when people face any sort of problems, he wants to sit down and talk it out.  He wants to make sure they are okay before he moves on.   He doesn't worry about anyone's pride, but he can tell when people need help and he'll reach out.


Sixth: He's focused on redemption.  He knows he screwed up in KH1, and he's spends the rest of his time trying to fix it.  It may not always be right, and it takes a while for him to get there, but he's always eying the possibility that he can do something to save the worlds and everyone in it.  And if he gets redemption, then so can everyone.

Riku is one of my favorite characters, especially from Kingdom Hearts.  Riku is complex, sympathetic, and caring.  So, what will he do when the games start up again?  Especially as he is know the universe's only Keyblade Master.

I guess we'll find out in Kingdom Hearts 3.

How Tron: Legacy owes a debt to KH

In 1982, Disney released a movie about computers that utilized the first significant use of CG in film.  And, for the record, that amounted to about 10 or 15 minutes.  Most scenes were done in black rooms with flourecesnt tape, but considering how code had to be entered in line by line, 10 to 15 minutes of basic CG is amazing.

The movie had a devout cult following, but it never really had any significant financial play. 

Until 2005/6 when Kingdom Hearts II came out.   In it, one of the worlds was Tron.  But here's the thing.  Because Kingdom Hearts has a large and different install base, it suddenly introduced a new generation to the world of Tron.  And Tron is a rather interesting world.

The reason why this is important, is then people began to seek out Tron 1.  For example, my family rented it on VHS.  (which should give you some idea of how hard it was to find a copy.)

While I have no proof, I have always found the sudden interest in the Tron property, especially how it was released a few years after Kingdom Hearts.  In addition, it was a continuation of the first one, rather than a new story. 

 Not only was it released a few years after KH2, writers were hired in 2005, Disney hired the director in 2008, and they released the movie in 2010. It takes years to develop a game.  In fact, Kingdom Hearts 2 started development in 2002/3.  Disney has to approve all of the worlds in the game, so they would have known about KH2 using the world.

Admittedly, the story used the Flynn family (who did not appear in Kingdom Hearts 2) but the thought is still there.

Character Analysis: Lexaeus (and his possible importance in the future plot)

Kingdom Hearts likes to throw curveballs.

For example, the "X" that pops up all over the place?  Actually very critical to the story.

As in, the plot could very well hinge on which people wear an "X".



Which led me to think about one of my favorite Organization members, Lexaeus.

There is something REALLY odd about Lexaeus.  No, nothing obvious but.... there's just all these little things there.

This scene for starters. Vexen is number IV, Lexaeus is V, Zexion is VI.  Vexen claims he ranks higher than Zexion, but shuts up when Lexaeus tells him to stop talking.

There's quite a few little moments like this scattered throughout the series.

When facing Riku, Lexaeus seemed honestly worried about Riku and wanted him to embrace Darkness NOT for power, but for Riku's on sanity and balance.  At the end of the game, Riku ends up doing exactly that.  As the games move forward, Riku continues to use his dark power in order to serve and help others, something Lexaeus said he should do from the beginning.

After Riku and Lexaeus meet for the first time and battle, Ansem:Seeker of Darkness takes over Riku to kill Lexaeus.

In every form of Ansem, (Ansem:SoD, MX, Xemnas, etc)  only two people have been killed by him onscreen.  One is Lexaeus, the other is Master Eraqus.  This is especially interesting for four reasons.  First, Lexaeus started to just walk away.  Ansem:SoD actively sought out the chance to kill him.  At that point, Lexaeus became actively aware of what the Darkness inside Riku WAS, or rather who the darkness was. The second is that MX killed ME as part of a plan to turn Terra to darkness. There appears to be not apart of any immediate plan.  Thirdly, SE added this scene in the updated rerelease. Originally Riku beat Lexaeus, who then released his remaining darkness to overwhelm Riku. This caused Riku to turn into Ansem:SoD.  So not only was this change one of the largest in the updated rerelease, but is very deliberate.


Back to the battle, while Riku wins, he looks utterly exhausted.  He's on the verge of collapsing.  Lexaeus? Lexaeus is simply winded and reveals he has enough power left to swing his heavy axe and knock Riku into the ceiling.  Which leads to the last part about Ansem killing Lexaeus.  Lexaeus was stabbed in either the chest or the stomach.  Something like this defies the previous uses of the keyblade (a channel for magic or as a blunt weapon)   but also shows that Ansem:SoD REALLY wanted to kill him for as yet unknown reasons.  

In Birth By Sleep, we meet Aeleus for the first time.

Unlike every other person there, Aeleus was actively interested in keeping Ven safe.  He was more interested in stopping some random UnVersed then guarding the castle (his job)

Finally in Kingdom Hearts 3D, we see him twice.

 In the first example, he says nothing but he's the second person conscious after he reforms into a person.  You can't really tell from the picture, but in the scene he's trying to push himself back up.

Aeleus spends most of this time, watching, thinking, and being very well aware that if Isa and Braig HAD shown up, they would have been found.  Something Lea and possibly not Ienzo was aware of at that point in time.


I have honestly no idea where I'm going with this.  You can dismiss these little bits individually, something to fill time, to explain, whatever.

But if you ad them up, it's every single time he's appeared on screen, something slightly odd has happened to him/about him/around him.  And Slightly odd things in Kingdom Hearts end up in two categories.  Either they are just something odd, or they become critically important down the line.  (See the X's I mentioned earlier.  Also, costume changes and the constant visits to Traverse Town)

I'm putting Lexaeus into the critically important part.  Especially as his death scene was changed between the GBA and the PS2 release.

Square Enix has made a point of making Lexaeus/Aeleus be consistently odd, but also in the background.  The most up front bit of oddness is him being one of the two people any form of Xehanort has killed, let alone by stabbing.


I have no idea what Aeleus' role will be in the future.  Quite frankly, no one thought too much of the brown robed guy in KH1 until KH3D turned everything on it's head. I'm not going to predict anything about Lexaeus.

Except one bit.  Lexaeus will probably end up being somehow vital to the series.  And we won't see it coming.

How Kingdom Hearts 3D showed Religion in a great, and subtle, way.

I don't know why, but games shy away from using crosses in games.  I can see if someone was using to use a cross to impale people... yes.  That's offensive.  But using it in it's proper context or as an easy way to mark a grave isn't offensive at all.  (And I'm saying that as a Catholic)

Now, in Kingdom Hearts 3D, one of the worlds you can visit is "Les Cities de Cloches" aka "City of the Bells" or Hunchback of Notre Dame.

This world:

For various (and should be understandable) reasons, Disney modified the original novel into the movie.  (Such as making Frollo a judge instead of a priest, and having a lot of people live at the end, along with various edits for time since the novel is massive and animating is a very time intensive process)

But they did keep most of the religious imagery in, it's called "Hunchback of NOtre Dame" for a reason.

Now, Kingdom Hearts 3D takes the story and... shortens it even more.  Almost all of the religious imagery was stripped, characters vanished, and Frollo became much less conflicted (Okay, Okay, I know it's space reasons and Kingdom Hearts always does the abreviated versions... but the movie and book are very complex and deserve a bit more discussion!)

Which means I was very happy when I noticed this: (yes, I took the picture myself)

It's not the best picture, but it's a carved picture  of  "Jesus' Ascension into Heaven" which, while not a cross, is a very important theologically.  It's also behind a wooden altar in the Cathedral... and you can't step on the altar (I tried in order to get a better picture.  It made me quite happy when I couldn't.)


Okay, Okay, theology time.

At the end of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke, they both spend a bit of time talking about what happened AFTER Jesus rose from the dead.  After 40 days past, Jesus took the disciples up to a hill, gave one final speech, the rose up into the clouds and disappeared.  After the Apostles spent some time looking up after him, Angels showed up and basically told them to leave.

I'm horribly simplifying it, but the main part is, this is a KEY part of Christianity.

And while there is no cross in the game, there is a Nave, and in that Nave, right where the Crucifix and the Monstrance should be, there is a wooden Altar and a carving of Jesus being assumed into Heaven.


All this Catholic Symbolism, without it being actually said.  It's brilliant.

Happy Valentine's Day, take 2!

Last time I talked about The Prince and Elika

This time I want to talk about

Aqua/Zack from Kingdom Hearts

While the Prince and Elika had an entire game to bond (if out of order)  Aqua and Zack are only together for one jaunt through a world.

But Sweet Cosmos does it make an impression.

Let's look at a few of the incidents:
Zack is incredibly cheerful, and while he's not afraid to fight Aqua, he also wants to protect her.
Aqua is very much okay with fighting boys, but knows Zack can't handle an ice giant so she has him stop.

Zack has one of his most famous interactions in Final Fantasy with her:

He's also one of two people to touch Aqua throughout the entire game (via cutscene).  The only other time is when Terranort lifts her up by the neck in an attempt to kill her. 

Aqua is noted to blush when Zack leaves (though the graphics didn't show it.)  and she also covers her heart while she's shown to be embarrassed.  She's not shown to be embarrassed in front of any other character.  The only other time she's shown to cover her heart is in the opening when a (possibly) corrupted Terra walks by her.

And then there's their goals.  Zack wants to be a hero in order to protect people, as does Aqua.  They both train to do it.  But while Aqua gets to actually go out and do it, it's for more selfish reasons then Zack's.  She's going because she's ordered and she saves the worlds semi accidentally as she tries to find her friends.  Zack may not have left yet, but when he does he will do it with no ulterior motives.  (With that being said, Aqua's motives are pretty pure all in all, and none  of the Trio left to save the world)

Unfortunately, as Birth By Sleep is one of the most recently released Kingdom Hearts games, Zack does not show up in the earlier ones since Birth By Sleep takes place ten years before Kingdom Hearts 1 takes place.  So, we don't know what happened to him.  The credits imply that Sephiroth may be responsible for his disappearance.  However, as Aqua has disappeared too (and Terra, and Ven) I hold he's doing what he always wanted to do.

He's out, being a hero and searching for them. 

(And by that, I mean Hades threw him into the Realm of Darkness when Zack started asking questions so he's currently living there with Aqua until Kingdom Hearts 3.) 

Character Design: Marluxia

Marluxia, the (sort of) first Big Bad of the Organization.  (Although, the Final Mixes throw a boss battle with Xemnas in KH1)

He is also a localizer's nightmare.  He's got a giant pink scythe, a flower motif, and his frightening motif is based dramatically more in Japanese ideas then American ideas with no real way to explain them in text.

Marluxia is based on the ideas of Shinigami, the Japanese version of the Grim Reaper.  However, the idea of the Grim Reaper didn't make it to Japan until around the 1800's (by which time the European and American ideas of the Grim Reaper were already firmly established)  the Japanese ideas of Shinigami tend to be a bit... wide ranging.

The World Ends With You Shinigamis (they are called Reapers in the localization)  are completely different from the Bleach Shinigamis which are, in turn, different from Death Note. 

Examples: The World Ends With You:

Generic Reaper: 

Bleach Shinigami:

Death Note 


The flowers, on the other hand, are Cherry Blossoms.  In Japanese mythology, Cherry Blossoms are connected with the fleetingness of life.  So those flowers that accompany him everywhere? It's him saying "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE."

These subconscious cues are very important.   These should be our ways to let the player know his motif and powers.

And, in cases like this, normally there would be text inserted to explain the powers.  Unfortunately, there was no space to do it with Chain of Memories, so these cues are lost on non Japanese audiences.