#it's missing khux and khdr hours here.....

[kh-described]

do you ever think about the parallels between Baldr&Hoder and Lauriam&Strelitzia? do you ever think about a young Xehanort knowing, somewhere deep within his heart, that the khux characters are his friends, even if that doesn't make sense, and finding Brain in his friendship with Eraqus, and maybe finding Lauriam in his friendship with Baldr? do you ever think about how both of those friendships ended?

[fantomette22]

HELLO

1, 8 and 11 for the asks? 👀

Robbie !!! :D ❤️ The asks are here !

8. Your favorite zone ?

Hm great question… i spend tons of time in Central Yharnam & Old Yharnam.. they’re good. But for some reason the forbidden wood maybe ? I never found it really hard.

11. What impacted you the most while playing the game ?

The ambiance ? And way too much things but i will say the fight against the Wet nurse… Mergo really put le in pls 😂 i mean you have epic music and all and boom lullaby. + well i thought for 1s i would need to give a hit to the crib… i feel not well for some reason.

When and how did you discover the game ?

Alright! Finally i can tell the story >:) 

Short version : it’s thanks to Kingdom Hearts and a friend.

Long version :

Warning minor spoilers for Kingdom Hearst Union Cross finale

Alright so in the summer 2020 I discover and played all the Kingdom Hearts games (ok I never finish Re:Com and I just watch the cinematic for it and 365/2days and Re:coded but basically I did everything else. It’s a bit complicated to explain the story and all if you didn’t played the game, it’s not as cryptic as Fromsoft but still ! I talk hours and hours about theories and made lots of friends ! It’s just we don’t have a main game since 2 years so it’s calm but when Kh4  or Missing link is going to release watch me go crazy !👀

BUT we still got the end of the two little mobile gauche game Khux and KHDR (Union X (cross) et Dark Road. With the BIG LORE (yeah almost all the lore in there) in may 2021 and the end of khdr (main antagonist backstory) in September 2022 (we were supposed to have it in 2021 ahhhhh) so it did prepared me well for Fromsoftware lore digging ;) really I love this series… the characters are amazing (especially in the mobile 2d gapcha game XD even the player !! And oh my gosh children died too… on screen (yes I'm not joking between Disney and magic there's Darkness lurking wink wink ;) ! I swear it’s crazy and mind blowing with the time travel and all and I’m gonna stop here I just lost everyone who don’t know anything about it XD)

The point is… THIS is the secret ending of KHUX

Feel familiar 👀 ??

The one on the left is a new mysterious character, Sigurd. And the other one is Brain. He became my favorite character of the series afterwards. I love him ;-; the state represents Ephemera one of the other protagonist.

I can’t wait for Missing Link… i’m so hype for their story… 

So after this and i spoke with a friends who played fromsoft games too and he talk to me about Bloodborne a bit. I saw a few thing and so I always told myself (even before the finale but even more after) if I were to ever played a soulsborne game i will begin with this one. 

2022 arrived. I got a ps5 played ffvii remake after the original. Elden ring released but i didn’t knew if i would like it or not so instead well i buy Bloodborne. And i love it. ❤️

[missavira]

Oh. My. GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KINGDOM HEARTS 4 LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was pretty sure this was gonna be the announcement with all the hints but I'm still finding it hard to believe. Like I just woke up but it's early here so I was going to go back to sleep for a few hours but then I was like "oh yeah! KH 20th event finished, gotta check the news while I'm up." And now I'm wide awake with my jaw dropped. I truly feel like I'm in a dream or an alt reality or something holy crap!

I probably will go back to sleep so I'll reblog a bunch of stuff later, but I wanted to write down my first reactions. Shocked aside, I'm immensely excited (obviously!) And I'm smiling like an idiot. I love this series so much ❤️

Sora looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL 😍 The CGI looks sooo good ✨ Like wow! Baby boy I love you and I've missed you and I'm ready to bring you back home.

The only thing though is that I really don't like his hair. Like the hair itself is totally fine, but it doesn't really feel Sora-esque :/ It's not spikey enough and if you removed the little flips on the sides it'd be resemblant of Riku/Yozora/Noctis. Like everyone is just starting to look the same... Idk I'm sure it will grow on me (I didn't like his KH3 hair as much at first either) but that's how I feel at this point.

Also his clothes. He looks great and I love them (like who doesn't love that super groupies look), but they are a bit boring compared to past games. Like I get it, it fits better with the modern-esque Quadratum but hmmm. Wonder if that'll be his outfit for the whole game or just the Quadratum part.

I'm really worried it will be for PS5 only. Me buying a console specifically to play KH is nothing new, but I absolutely do not have the money to get one right now. 🙏 Please please please be a PS4/PS5 deal 🙏

I'm super excited to have another mobile game! While it's not my favorite medium for KH, it's fun to have something KH that I can play at anytime and anywhere 😊 (KHUX I miss youuu) Looking forward to hearing more about it and how it will play into the main series (as they all do lol) 💕

KHDR in August!! 🎉 Can't wait to get the whole story for that 😁

Phew okay, is that all?? I literally only saw like one post explaining things so not sure I got all the details on everything. But wow! So many things!!! My serotonin is MAXED and I'm so excited hahaha

Kingdom Hearts my dearly beloved ❤️

[derekscorner]

When relevancy goes too far

Relevancy is a bit of a complex topic the more you think about it. How far do you push it? Which parts of a story are needed to know the other? How should something define the follow up? These questions have widely different answers depending on the person and especially depending on format.

Hell, if you wish to nit pick it further, even the series in question is a factor. Some series’ thrive on whats done while others drown in their own scripts. I believe Kingdom Hearts is one of the latter.

That said, I am not someone who hates KH’s expanded stories simply for existing. The “side games” in of themselves aren’t bad nor is the idea of using such things to expand a world. The same could be said for game novels or comics in my opinon.

However, these things can be a slippery slope or a lazy exist. For example, Assassin’s Creed threw out it’s whole Juno arc into a comic just to get it out of the way which completely shattered my investment.

In turn, Nomura himself isn’t at fault for as much as we bash him for. Something he’s admitted himself as seen here;

So, the new Days is one of the three titles announced in the Autumn of 2007 as new projects in the KH series.

Nomura: Those three titles were all announced at the same time, but in reality the opportunities for the projects were raised in a disjointed way. Birth by Sleep is a project that was raised within our company, but Days is from Nintendo, and coded is from Disney, so we started by talking to each of them.

-source <--Link btw

And anyone that’s read interviews out of curiosity will know that there’s also factors like how ‘Birth By Sleep’ was shifted from PS2 to PSP or that ‘Chain of Memories’ wasn’t a planned title either. (seen here)

So if these things aren’t inherently bad or planned that begs the question of why it’s a problem here? At least in my opinion of the series.

The answer is simple and it lies solely on Nomura’s shoulders for it as a fault, relevancy. The man goes out of his way to make each and every game, concert, or otherwise is attached to the series in some meaningful way going forward.

Naturally, any expanded media is tied to the main narrative in some way. I know this, I am not that foolish. The problem is that Nomura makes them plot relevant going forward.

These titles can’t be true “side games” because they dictate the story going forward in some way. It’s for this reason the more radical fans hate to hear the terminology “side game” to begin with.

This problem was especially bad for years because of how spread out the series became among other gaming systems. And while some like to say it’s fine now due to the collection discs I dont think this will last long given the “phase 2″ images released for KH’s near future.

Hell, I’d even argue this problem isn’t even fixed in truth because the current KH story involving Foretellers, Luxu, and so on is all things spun from a mobile game. Yes, you have to sit through scenes on YT or play a mobile game to fully grasp that cat creature (Chirithy) you saw in KH3.

Naturally, it’s much easier to watch the scenes on YT these days but that also feeds into the loop of not paying for the game itself. I personally see no issue with it but companies are much worse in recent years for shutting down Youtube channels over loose definition of “piracy”.

No game series is worth several consoles. Of course, I’m just speaking from experience, with KH now on the Xbox this may be a moot point in a few years.

I am rambling, off track, lets focus. “Why is this an issue?” is what you’ve read this far for me to explain. The biggest issue with this poor decision making is how it harms the main narrative you’re telling.

For comparison, look at Sora in KH3. He’s often confused by people he doesn’t remember meeting or events he doesn’t remember nor took part in. This is roughly close to what it would be like for someone that’s only played KH1, 2, and 3.

Sora has that same level of insight including what he was told about others like Roxas or Aqua but other characters in-game. This feeds into KH’s misconceived air of complexity.

Kingdom Hearts, as a story, isn’t that complex. It has deeper themes it throws to the wayside but it is easy to follow if you play most games in some form. This ties back into how the series was handled up until the PS4/KH3.

Ever want to know who Roxas was in KH2? Well you had to play Days or you can sit through that horribly boring 3 hour movie on the Remix disc. Even then, the Roxas you see in Days wont be like the one in KH2.

Wish to know who Xehanort was? Play Birth by Sleep! All three campaigns with little variance. Then once you’re done get ready to sit on YT or download a phone app and play Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.

The Foretellers, Luxu, or the Master of Masters? That’s another set of hours, if not days, with the KH Union X Cross, KH Dark Road, and should you choose you can even watch the Back Cover movie which answers nothing at all but shows you the Foretellers in Kh3 graphical glory.

You wish to know how Namine knew who The Lingering Will was? Well dig up a fan translation of a script the Japanese voice cast read for a music concert event. (yes that happened)

You can see where this is going I assume and this is just scratching the surface by the way. You wish to know the finer details like Keyblade types, the inconsistent time traveling, “recompletion”, and so on then be prepared to read word of god interviews, in-game dictionaries/journals and always be ready for a few to change.

Whether it’s a true retcon or just an ambiguous statement, the series is ongoing, Nomura heads the ship, and he is by no means obligated to stick to previous statements if he can make a new one to alter those events.

Then again, holding too much weight in words said outside the game itself is a faulty way of doing things that most fans (like me) have fallen victim too at least once.

At the same time, all of these things are relevant by Nomura’s decision. Sure, the remixes have fixed this to a degree but it’s anyone’s guess for how long. Better yet, at what cost did the remixes fix anything?

The best example of what I mean is Coded. It was originally a game for phones. At the time, only Japan had a phone capable of playing it. Feeling that a shame the game later found it’s way to the DS for all fans to play.

At this point in time Coded was the only true example of a “side story”. It was by no means necessary. The whole datascape plot was more convoluted than it needed to be despite data!Sora being far better than the original at this point, and easy to miss.

But...well that was good. The DS version of Coded was fun as hell to play. The only version of the “command deck system” I’d consider worth any semblance of praise. It did it’s job of getting some level of fans invested such as my friend @blackosprey​ and it’s story was missable.

You did not need to play Coded to understand Dream Drop Distance or further. This was perfect. This is what games like Days, KH Chi/UX, 0.2, and DDD should’ve been.

Games that reached out to grab new people, games that played around, and games that expanded on the main narrative without dictating it’s direction. A side game is something that exists alongside or outside your main story.

However this isn’t what we got. 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage was a short sequel to BBS but also a pretty tech demo for KH3. Dream Drop Distance was there to show the real Sora that people needed help and to show us that Xehanort was back.

KH Chi was a browser game meant to show the Keyblade War and how it shaped Sora’s era. Now it’s an ongoing curse on the series with time traveling plot that affected KH3 directly.

Coded was made into a movie you needed to sit through thanks to one small newly added scene. Days lost many small interactions it’s fans loved in the transition to a movie that is hard to sit through.

I’ve also heard KHDDD and 0.2 were “shaved off” KH3 in a sense to be their own titles...this...this makes so little sense.

Nomura calls KH “Sora’s story” but this is a lie. If it truly was Sora’s story then your main narrative would be BBS, KH1, CoM, 2, and the original combined form of KH3. That’s the titles he’s relevant, those are the titles he stops Xehanort’s plans.

These other titles could’ve been so fun but none of them were truly allowed to breath and be themselves. They were weakened and limited by Nomura deciding to prop the ongoing story upon them like they’re stilts.

Then as a result you can’t close out KH3 without resolving all of these other events and characters which drags it’s own story down. KH3 feels all over the place because it is. It’s trying to tie as many knots as it can from threads created in titles that were way more relevant then they needed to be.

Kh3 can be seen as a clean break for many but I see it as a matter of time. KHUX and now KHDR are still there casting a shadow, dictating what comes next. Melody of Memory is one of several games planned for an unknown but hopefully more thought out direction.

I worry I haven’t explained what I meant well enough but moral of my story is that making things too relevant hurts not only your main story but these new stories you wish to explore.

You can’t have a story and it’s cast breath if you’re tying a knot of mythos too tightly around their necks and this is a tragedy to me. KH began life with such potential but it constantly holds itself back because so few entries into it’s story are truly just an entry.

And I am not saying games can’t follow up one another nor that they shouldn’t. What’s needed is a clear idea and some breathing room. A good example would be to save people in Days with the game DDD. DDD could’ve wiped away some clutter to focus on the final Xehanort battle in a sense.

Nomura has a huge problem with wanting connectivity without letting games be connected by the name alone. It’s like he wants to do the opposite of what Final Fantasy has done but to detrimental results.

This harms so much but worst of them it hurts development. Because Days was made so important, we had a movie made. Because Coded was elevated, a movie was made. Because the keyblade war was so popular, Union Cross was made.

The Remixes would’ve been better to consolidate lore not waste time trying to appease every whim. KH’s relevancy is a huge problem and I doubt it’ll stop any time soon.