#i want kairi to be deeper than kh is willing to go is that so hard

[depressedlochnessmess]

just the two of us.

[phoenix-downer]

How would you personally rank the Kingdom Hearts games? Storywise, that is.

In terms of story alone, discounting gameplay (and insert disclaimer here that this is all my personal opinion):

1. KH1 and KH2 are tied for first place for me. KH1 is just so magical. It has this sense of awe and wonder and mystery and hope and bittersweetness and nostalgia. Sora’s sacrifice for Kairi will forever stick with me, and everything that occurred from Hollow Bastion onward elevates the game from “really good” to masterpiece. And KH2 has the best ending of the series. I tear up every time I see it. So, so satisfying to experience after everything the characters go through up till that point. Sora and Kairi reuniting is just... it makes the ending of KH1 (which is beautiful in its own right) that much better, and it was so lovely to see Roxas and Naminé living on through them, despite what they’d been told about Nobodies having to cease to exist. 

2. KH3 including ReMind. ReMind really completed KH3 for me and elevated the whole game because it showed just how far Sora was willing to go to save Kairi, and his compassion for his friends’ suffering was really moving. That plot point has been teased since Re:coded, and this time he was able to bear their hurt without it breaking them. Being there with him for his journey over the years just makes me feel really proud of who he is now. And Kairi getting to fight is technically gameplay I suppose, but man was it satisfying, especially because we got to fight the guy who was responsible for her “death.” Her fighting by Sora’s side was what I’d been wanting ever since I played KH1 and KH2, so yes playing through ReMind was immensely satisfying, haha. 

3. BBS has such a good ending in Blank Points that it elevates not only BBS but the entire series. Plus I like the whole “tragic heroes” angle with the Wayfinder Trio, and Eraqus and Xehanort’s relationship fascinates me. 

(I keep waffling back and forth on how to rank KH3 and BBS. Without ReMind, I’d definitely rank BBS higher, and probably Chain of Memories and Reverse/Rebirth higher than KH3 as well, but again ReMind really elevates KH3 for me). 

4. Chain of Memories and Reverse/Rebirth. Really excellent, strong story for Sora, Riku, and Naminé. I loved the themes it dealt with, and watching Naminé stand up to her captors and Sora kick Marluxia’s butt was immensely satisfying. So was Riku’s journey to rediscover himself and forge his own path, and his moments with Mickey were really touching. 

5. Kingdom Hearts Coded/Recoded. Maybe it’s a surprise I have it here, but the ending was fantastic and actually made me cry. It set things up so beautifully for future KH games too with revealing to the audience what Sora needs to do to save his friends. Mickey being so supportive of Data Sora was the kind of Mickey and Sora interaction I didn’t know I needed. Data Sora and Data Riku’s interactions were great too, gave me Steve and Bucky vibes, and it was so nice to see even data versions of them get to work together like that. 

6. Kingdom Hearts 0.2. Really got me excited for KH3, and I enjoyed the deeper dive into Aqua’s psyche. The moment where Terra protected her and Ven are top-notch, and her battle to protect Riku stuck with me too. 

7. Back Cover. In some ways I wonder why it’s all the way down here on this list because the Master of Masters stuff was great and had me wanting more. I guess the lack of closure kind of hurts it, but it was still an enjoyable watch and got me interested in the Foretellers. 

8. KHUx. I struggled with where to rank this one, because the story itself is really intriguing, but the presentation of it is frustrating with updates being rare. I wish the game updated more frequently, and I hope the story is released as a cutscene movie at some point a la Back Cover because I’d love to experience it all at once. The recent revelations have been tugging at my heartstrings, so I can only imagine what it would be like to experience the story with full voiced cutscenes!

9. Dream Drop Distance. This one is so near the bottom because its highs are really high but its lows are reaaaaally low. The time travel stuff is a mess, Kairi barely being in the plot really doesn’t have a good excuse, and Sora’s characterization doesn’t feel consistent with how you’d expect him to act after KH2 (thankfully KH3 fixed this but I digress). However, the “you treat people like bottles on a shelf” speech from Sora to Xigbar is fantastic, the whole “Sora almost gets norted” plotline was also really good, Sora and Riku being so supportive of each other shows how far they’ve come since KH1 days, and Riku’s arc in this game is just so amazing that really, it almost makes up for everything else. I just wish Riku being such a badass didn’t have to come at the cost of Sora’s characterization, but like I said, KH3 fixed my issues with that (but then handed Riku the incompetence ball unfortunately, but that’s a discussion to be had another day). 

10. 358/2 Days. A controversial choice, I know, and please don’t take this to mean I think Days is terrible! Much like DDD, it’s a flawed game that does some things very well; I just enjoyed DDD more personally. Again, this is all pretty subjective, and I have been informed I did things wrong by watching the cutscene movie before playing the game. I think that probably impacted my experience of the story (plus Xion’s death was spoiled for me). The plot was also really overhyped for me I think? There just wasn’t any way it could realistically live up to the expectations people had set for me. I also don’t think I played the game at the right time of my life. The people who seem to love it the most are the ones who first played it as kids or teens, and I was an adult by the time I got around to it. So I think the theme of struggling with identity/what it means to exist just didn’t impact me as hard. It’s like if you try to watch My Neighbor Totoro for the first time as an adult. It just doesn’t land the same.

Thanks for the ask! Again, this is all just my personal opinion, and I’m curious to hear how you’d rank the games!

[beabaseball]

I didn’t want to do anything productive so I did a rudimentary analysis of KH opening songs

(let’s put this here right away that I understand if people think one relationship has more weight than another--soriku, sokai, i’m an ot3 person and am not taking sides-- so interpret whoever you will as the ‘designated person being spoken to.’ A lot of this does feel very much like Riku, since he’s the one actively doing things and giving us more characterization, rather than Kairi, who is already set up as pure of heart and is comatose for like two games straight until she jumps off a balcony and destroys my little gay heart, but it’s like… obviously pretty vague in a lot of ways and up to interpretation.)

So there’s always been something that sort of struck me about the KH opening songs that I’ve been trying to define since Don’t Think Twice got partly released, and I think maybe part of it is the forthrightness of the narrator. Especially since it’s a woman singing about love. It could be the POV is actually Sora or Riku, etc. (probably sora, but to cover my bases), so the gender is a little muddy towards interpretation, but singer-wise it still sort of strikes a chord in me because of how forthright it is about not wanting to tie the other person down:

“When you walk away You don't hear me say, "Please, oh baby, don't go."”

For most of my life, I interpreted that as the person running away was not listening when the singer was trying to make them stay, but after listening to ‘don’t think twice’ I realized another possibility-- that the singer is willing to let the other person leave and be comfortable with that.

“Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight It's hard to let it go”

The current relationship is already simple and clean. They come and go as they please without strings attached, in a pure sort of childish love that doesn’t need to be complicated in order to be strong. Which is very much how Sora, Riku, and Kairi are at the beginning of the first game: they don’t have much complicating their friendship except a pretty convoluted love triangle over that’s never really mentioned again or built on at all--it’s just kids squabbling a little--but that also means it’s easy and uncomplicated, and it risks being made messy by trying to deepen the bond, even though they want to. They’re on the precipice of change lately (“it’s hard to let it go”)

"Don't get me wrong, I love you, But does that mean I have to meet your father?" When we are older you'll understand What I meant when I said, "No, I don't think life is quite that simple."

The speaker wants things to be deeper, though. ‘Does that mean I have to meet your father?’ / ‘No, I don’t think life is quite that simple,’ has always sort of struck me as a powerful line. The other person is trying to do what they think is expected of them, perhaps? Or yielding to another authority? Regardless, what they are trying or assume they are being asked to do is not at all what the speaker actually wants-- very much like how Riku fails to listen to Sora during the first game, exploring without really paying attention to the damage he’s causing and ending up sided with Maleficent and blinded by ego long enough for darkness to really sink its claws in.

The daily things (like this and that and what is what) That keep us all busy are confusing me That's when you came to me and said, "Wish I could prove I love you, But does that mean I have to walk on water?" When we are older you'll understand It's enough when I say so And maybe some things are that simple

This is basically a whole summary of the game. Sora is getting run down and confused, but searching for Riku and Kairi keeps him going--and yet, when Riku finally is able to listen, it’s too late in a lot of ways. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still love.

Sora loves them because he says so. And sometimes it’s exactly that simple-- that love conquers and you can both come back from the brink and bring back others from the brink through the love you share: like Kairi bringing him back from darkness, and Riku returning to aid one last time. There is no ‘perfection,’ but that doesn’t mean Sora has to settle for anything, either. “It’s enough when he says so.”

Hold me Whatever lies beyond this morning Is a little later on Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all Nothing's like before

As long as that concrete love is under his control, he’ll be okay, because his friends are his power. With them, he has nothing to fear.

By the second game, Sora has something to fear!!!!

Sanctuary from the second game is…. More upsetting in a lot of ways. It’s obviously a lot more jumbled than ‘Simple and Clean,’ and much more alarmed. Sora’s gone through a lot and spends most of the game searching for answers, for his friends, and for a way home. The adventure has definitely lost a lot of its charm and now he’s more focused on survival and carving out his place as a person--which is important in a game largely about identity.

In you and I there's a new land, Angels in flight My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah Where fears and lies melt away Music will tie What's left of me What's left of me now

In-game we’re aware of Roxas, and externally of Xion, Vanitas and Ventus. Sora’s also undergone puberty which uh is a whole new fucking land, but it’s probably more literally about being in a strange new situation which sometimes includes new worlds. They’re no longer on the island and searching for sanctuary in what is familiar: each other.

I watch you fast asleep, All I fear means nothing

Riku could honestly be the singer of this one I think, if the songs shift POVs. The only thing here to fear is losing the other while they’re out of sight, and while, literally, Sora is asleep and may not wake up for the first part of the game.

But to also put back that Riku could be sharing the song, if not singing it, Sora is also helping him on his journey of traveling between Light and Dark:

My heart's a battleground

You show me how to see, That nothing is whole and nothing is broken,

This can also be still Sora, of course (woo hoo, overlapping themes!) who has Literally both Light and Dark inside him as whole fucking people-- and more specifically, who has a doppleganger running around trying to find his own identity, which in turn makes Sora question his own internal self some, while never doubting his own personhood, only insisting on Roxas’ personhood: but they can only both be whole people, if you dismiss the idea that things only have the states of ‘whole’ or ‘broken.’

Woo. Now the last one:

We don’t know a ton about the 3rd game yet, but…

“How did I live in a kingdom of thieves And people who say things they don’t really mean (really mean)?

You’re all the everything I ever dreamed of (ever dreamed of x2) You must be kidding me, did you really think I could say ‘no’?

I want you for a lifetime, so if you’re gonna think twice baby I don’t wanna know, baby, I don’t wanna know Everything is just fine, but if you’re gonna think twice baby I don’t wanna know, baby, I don’t wanna know”

Sora is fucking done with these people not being forthright with their emotions and being deceptive liars and fucking with himself and his friends and all the people who are now in a boarding house in his metaphysical heart. He’s ready to go and take the final step and plunge of having the other person ‘for a lifetime’ -- but if they’re going to hesitate at all, he doesn’t even want to touch it. Things are going fine: but he’s ready to take the plunge, and if the other person isn’t as absolutely dedicated to it as he is… it’s just not worth it and he’d rather not know.

Do it or don’t. But don’t leave him hanging.