A Simple (& Clean) Kingdom Hearts Retrospective
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- This is 4 videos put together as one large video. I made a few small changes, just to fix small things that bothered me. I decided against adding Dewbacks or having Repliku shoot first.
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▪ Union X footage ▶ / everglow8444
[SONGS USED]
Enrico Deiana Those Chosen by the Planet - • FF7 Those Chosen by th...
X III - v e N - • X III - v e N (Roxas T...
00:00 Part 1 Re:Context
04:28 Kingdom Hearts 1
31:57 Part 2 Re:Unite
34:17 Chain of Memories
43:28 Kingdom Hearts 2
1:41:48 Part 3 Re:Purpose
1:44:33 358/2 Days
2:05:40 Birth by Sleep
2:37:54 Extra Notes
2:41:54 Coded
2:45:20 Part 4 Re:Awaken
2:48:23 Dream Drop Distance
3:16:40 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A fragmentary passage -
3:22:57 Thank You 
Игры
So uuuhhh, I didn't expect this video to blow up as it did. Thanks to everyone who's given kind words or even disagreed with me.
I didn't redo the intro because I expected this thing to get like 5 views, but to clarify, this is a super cut of 4 videos I had already done with minor changes made to each. Think of this as the DX version. I've always been a little scared to keep making long videos since I've always been told people don't have the patience for them, but given the positive feedback here, I'm gonna go forth with some bigger ideas in the future.
I know a lot of y'all want to see me talk about KH3. I have every intention to eventually do it, but it will likely be closer to the release of KHIV than it is to today. I am much more passionate about some other ideas at the moment.
I post updates a lot on Twitter so follow me there - twitter.com/NovaZone7
Take my sub damnit
You are good, I am not even a fan of the series, I never really understood why people enjoyed it so much. I always thought it was only okay at best and kinda boring and pretty lackluster at worst. Though, with its rabid fan base that almost seemed like a religion to me, I was kinda put off by it even more since I couldn't really understand peoples love for the game. Though, I find videos like these a great way to see people's perspectives and I believe does a much better job than people simply fanboying or fangirling over such things. I think it showcases the love and enjoyment for such games and reveals how people actually feel about them.
Definitely glad to hear as I loved this video, and I love long retrospectives. Looking forward to see what you do in the future! Definitely subscribing.
I like to watch this long form content because I spend a lot of time working on something else. It's a lot more like a podcast that has visual aids whenever I choose to look over. Love it
This is a insanely well put together and fleshed out.... documentary? Review? It's a bit in depth for the title review lol and your level of research and analysis for something this complex is immaculate. Can't guess how long this must have taken you to put together. Only/first video I've seen of yours and you get the sub straight away dude 🙌
According to all known laws of world travel, there is no way Beast should be able be in Hollow Bastion. Travel between world is only possible by traveling through the void between worlds. Beast, of course, is there anyway, because Beast doesn't care what humans think is impossible.
It's is possible, even though the organization seems to think different, that Beast's cursed transformation into his animalistic form is somehow related to darkness giving him a bit of "armor" in that context but that's really just head cannon. I think what they were going for is that the brute strength of Beast's will to rescue Belle shielded his heart and guided him to her. Not that that makes anymore sense than the prior option.
Is this a Bee movie reference?
10/10 post
It Was his live for belle
Do you like roses 🌹 ?
He must have an incredible willpower!
The Lingering Will being a suit of armor given life by nothing but the wearer's sheer unyielding hatred and rage for a single individual is one of the hardest things in fiction
For real and his theme Rage Awakened is so fitting for it
Kinda like Clockwerk from Sly Cooper, actually.
Berserker armor
Or like full metal
Right, like it goes hard, and I've seen something go that hard a few times
Seeing "kingdom hearts isn't that confusing" followed by a 3+ hour length video is hysterical and what got me to click on this
Edit: y'all. I literally know the entire plot. I know that it's not that confusing. I just think it's funny that the video is so long
For real I read the title and I was like just the pure fact it is such a long video is hilarious and proof the story is a lot haha
😂
I mean it isn’t really confusing if you play them in order
@@Nixus237good luck finding the 20 different consoles to do that lol. Especially since certain games like 358 didn't get updated to new consoles
@@CodexQuinn you just need a ps4 and you don’t need to play 358 since they out the full story on 1.5
The best memory i had of KH2 was beating the last phase of xemnas with a friend. We were taking turns trying to beat him but we both sucked ass at mashing the triangle on the laser barrage xemnas did, but we somehow did it after mashing triangle together with our little kiddy fingers. Both of us couldn't care what the ending was, we were so hyped that we finally beat him together
Funny thing is that you’re supposed to mash triangle and x as one is for sora and the other is for Riku
@@Serna171 Yeah I typically pause, turn the controller so my thumbs are on both X and Triangle and then mash, mash like the wind.
After playing kh 1, 2 seems easier. Coming from dragon all game my bottom mashing from beam struggles n collisions was far beyond now
Roxas: What's summer vacation?
Axel: "Well you see, there's a hundred and four days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it."
Bruh, this one's pretty good. I'm gonna pin it
Sounds like an annual problem to find out how to spend it imo. But could just be me
Like maybe buliding a rocket? Idk
or you could fight a mummy i guess
Or climbing up the Eiffel Tower. Just a suggestion.
I love how Xehenort was so pissed at how useless everyone else was that he decided to just do it all himself 13 times
If you can't get someone to do it you've got to do it yourself
@@Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024 With yourself, by yourself with only yourself to guide you as you find yourself sometimes lacking but you've got to trust yourself since you believe in yourself and you only have yourself to blame.
Thirteen times, lol.@@Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024
*old man voice:* “grah, why did I bother trying to Nort unwilling people. I’ll just find people who *want* to be me. Like, uh, me!”
@@Lukecario1216Barry really dropped like the most quotable video of all time then basically dipped lmao
I still remember the sheer dread I felt striking that final blow to Master Xehanort as Terra, only for him to say "Only now...have I truly won...!"
Truly a “fool! This isn’t even my final form!!” shonen antagonist moment
Got a similar feeling fighting terra-nort as aqua and bearing his first phase only to hear "not yet!" as he summons forth the Guardian
Honestly I agree. It’s not really confusing. There is just a LOT to remember. Plus, a lot of it deeply revolves around concepts that are very foreign to our modern real world understanding.
I like how I watched a whole 3 and a half hour video for a story I knew already because the way you explained it was just so perfect and even for me a die hard fan tied up loose ends for things I forgot or were confused about
I cant be the only one who watches every kingdom hearts retrospective.
then you haven't heard of the tales of Symphonia video 😂
@@TheVeritasForYou what… what’s that?
@@SqUidwAt3rMelon EruptionFang did an unabridged timeline of the entire series, and I thought I knew it all but boy...he straight up proved me wrong
Yo I feel the same way
One correction: Axel isn't in the lower ranks of the Organization. He's Xemnas's personal assassin, taking out anybody who gets in his way. That's an important job. He's not really disrespected until he betrays the Organization
Isn’t he the 9th or 10th member? So technically he is one of the lower ranks
@@WayofMJ the order they were recruited is not representative of their rank, more so representative of the timeline... somewhat lol
@@jordanpetersen4841 vexen thinks otherwise lol
@@WayofMJ Axel is Number 8.
it's not wrong to think he's near the bottom rung. Organization Number has little to no bearing on their place in the pecking order, just the order they were recruited (Marluxia is actually the third strongest member and yet he's Number 11). Axel was the one constantly disrespected and left doing the Organization's dirty work. In his own words, he's "always stuck doing the icky jobs"
“Ansem’s stand, Owner of a Lonely Heart” is the best Ansem stand joke I’ve ever heard
Ngl as someone who never played kingdom hearts before this was like watching a movie fr hell the story with aqua ventus and Terra almost had me crying fr amazing video I understand now why this game and series is loved so much
When I played Chain of Memories as a kid I was pretty convinced that it would be "non-canon" in a sense, and Sora losing his memories of the game at the end basically confirmed that for me. I fully expected to start KH2 in that field again, with CoM "happening", but forgotten and never mentioned again, which I was pretty sad about.
Starting up KH2 and seeing the castle and Marluxia in the opening was one of my most exciting childhood memories. Felt like I was in on a secret club because I knew what was going on and that it actually mattered!
This is one of the most satisfying feelings that permeates through the entire series. Playing Kingdom Hearts 3 for the first time and having the context to understand what's going on was an amazing experience. The series does such a good job of rewarding your investment in it by making almost everything matter and have some form of payoff, even when you least expect it.
Same. The first game in the series i played tho was chain of memorizes as i didn't have a playstation at the time
same lol
The problem is that the vast majority of people refuse or don't play handheld games.
I can't play the handheld games, they are not good games. So I won't finish them.
@@mr.voidroy6869 theres a version for the ps2 one, what are you on about?
“I just wished I could’ve played these 358 days over 2 Analog Stick” this is the truest statement ever made in gaming
😂😂
I'm dumb. I don't get it
@tgatt5759 it's because the game is played on the DS which makes it harder to control and not as fluid as say KH2 or 3. 358/2 would have alot more merit and interest from other fans if it was made on console, hence the "2 analog sticks" which are the two thumb sticks on console controllers
I love the pun in this statement too haha
it's actually possible if you have a modded n3ds !!! you can use the circle pad for full 360 movement and the cstick for camera controls!!
Getting to the end, very very very long stretch but Lee picks up Ventus's training sword, and made a heart felt connection with him in that moment. In a game with a character touching another character's blade, that is kinda Ventus's moment with Lee.
I was think of that scene whenever I get confused about Axel being a keyblade wielder, but at the same time the logic in it is very finicky considering it's a fake keyblade.
Honestly, I agree. I've never touched a Kingdom Hearts game (it's high on my "I want to play it eventually but that day is not today" list) but I feel like I have a pretty solid grasp on the lore and story. It's not complicated at all, but it IS convoluted. I can follow it's story easily, but the methods it uses to tell it's story can be confusing
The story telling thing make more sense when you which 2 FFs influenced it the most: FF7 and FF8.
Oh my god, hearing Xigbar say he's not just "any old dude" in KH2 with the context we have now really just blew me out of the water
And then with the added context of ALL KH3 it’s even better!
Fucking Nomura planned Xiggy being Luxu all along...
@@CodexQuinnincomprehensible
@@mjestik5268It makes sense. He IS number 2, after all. Whoevwr holds the penultimate seat next to Xemnas in the Organization would have to be important to things. I'm sure Nomura left most of their backstories vague on purpose so he could fill in later, but he probably at least had a general sense that Xigbar would be more important in the grand scheme of things.
i dessperately need thiss guy to explain whatever the fuck iss going on with union crosss
I can't believe I got called out as a persona fan in the first 5 minutes of the video
HEY WHAT THE FUCK IS A BUFU
@@alekthecool123 a attack that has a low chance of frezzing the opponent stopping their next turn. This chance is increased with the upgraded versions of the move: Bufula, and Bufudyne. You can also hit multiple opponents with this move using; Mabufu, Mabufula, and Mabufudyne
Hope this helps
@@HeroXAS thanks
@@HeroXAS no it doesn’t help. Wtf persona.
@@ryanmcwilliams8784 ok fine. Its an ice attack that does more damage and freezes more easily the longer the name is
I remember watching the commercials on Disney about a game of Disney x Final Fantasy and being so hyped for it. I remember getting it for Christmas of 2002 when I was 9 and playing the hell out of the game. I know the plot is nonsense and Nomura loves to mock us but goddamn Kingdom Hearts is my favorite series of all time so thanks for this amazing analysis 🙏🏽
As someone who has put probably about five thousand hours into this series, even this taught me a few things (mainly Sora being the only wielder at the beginning of kh1, and Ansem only writing the *first* report)
This is a MASTERCLASS in attention to detail. This covers pretty much every single plot point without considering X and III.
You've done the impossible, king. Keep it up.
"There are now three flavors of Kairi walking around. This is the best flavor"
I see you're a man of culture as well.
funnily enough, the original flavor is the least developed
@@elipticalecliptic481 yea because for whatever reason Namora acts like his limbs are gonna fall off if you actually treats her like a character and not a plot device
@@thatoneblackdude3333 He knows what he's doing whenever he writes Kairi. He simply does it with a smile enjoying the lamentations of the fans.
@@weridplusho I don't think he does it just to fuck with people honestly Idk what his deal is with Kairi he set up her wanting to be more involved and hints to it but never commits to it for whatever reason and seems content with using her as a plot device and damsel even tho he knows people hate that .
@@thatoneblackdude3333 Even the way you describe it sounds like he's fucking with fans. lol
I get the whole thing with Kairi is to both use her as a plot device and develop her character when she's not, it's just the _unapologetic_ way he writes her that gets me.
Kairi is the perfect example of when the writer doesn't want a character around anymore but can't kill them off.
Throwing in that "Restoration at 12%" line there after explaining Roxas' day-to-day life, it creates this foreboding sense of 'this isn't going to last'.
Probably my favorite narrator for a video essay I've seen. Not afraid to call out things existing just because the developers thought it was cool. Succinctly skipping over shiz that has little relevance, and really just getting to the core of the story and its themes
I ALWAYS sob at the 358 story. So beautiful. There is nothing else so tragic i swear
8:26 I never noticed that Riku's gloves didn't fully cover his entire hands and now I can't unsee that (seriously, that's going to bother the shit out of me for a while).
Naruto, animation error be like.
Wait until you notice how small Hayners jacket is
I figured it had something to do with his fighting style. Since Riku liked fighting one handed and doing the sweeping swings while keeping his sword held mostly at his fingers and just above his palm using sweeping swings that use long arcs that generate most of the power. While Sora used his arms and brute force to to do most of his attacks in the first game
@@deathmastersful no it’s just a stupid design.
He also has overpants for his jeans
That final story mission in 358/2 where you’re cutting through hordes of heartless as Roxas desperately tries to hold onto what little of Xion he remembers is incredible. I’d love it if it got a remake some day, one where it plays like a modern KH so the gameplay is actually good.
Someone did a mock up of that with the KH3 engine that looks fucking insane!
@@NovaZoneTV Oh neat. If it’s on RUclips somewhere I’ll have to see if I can find it.
AND THEY BETTER FUCKING KEEP THE MULTIPLAYER GOD DAMN IT BBS WHY
It’s so awesome because of the usage of the DS’ two screens, so you see faint memories of the cutscenes on the bottom screen
@@heszedjim9699 "lets remaster a game with online multiplayer on a console with way better online play and completely remove it" --Square
1:21:45 Axel uses Self-Destruct! It's super effective!
this is genuinely the most entertaining retrospective I've ever watched,
the editing and your narration are INSANE. this is everything I've now realised I wanted in deep dives. can't wait to watch more of your work
Kingdom Hearts 2 is a masterpiece. I've played it probably 90 times through and that ending STILL makes me get goosebumps and teary eyed.
Honestly I played kh 1 and 2 so many times. They were one of the only games I 100%
I'd say kingdom hearts 1 is a masterpiece. I've played that so many times....two....meh
Couldn't agree more, hell KH2 was the only reason I got in to KH at all. I never played the first game, had no interest in it, I watched a video of someone playing KH2 after it came out and when I saw the final fight I just had to play it and decided it was probably a good idea to play KH1 first lol.
God no it's not a masterpiece. It has major flaws to hold the game back from that caliber.
@@notusgodwind4512nah the gameplay of the first one is the reason I can't go back
KH2 has a useful camera an in my opinion is way more enjoyable
I just gotta say, it sucks Billy Zane didnt reprise his role as Ansem after KH1. He did a phenomenal job and really gave Ansem that ominous tone with his voicework.
This is the best Kingdom Hearts summary ever made, congrats and thank you the awesome content. Just finished to play everything before KH3 and was looking for some recap, and damn, this video is perfect. Not only you got the main plot points in one video but you were also able to tell most of the thoughts we had at the time of each game released, you described exactly what I thought in the end of KH2, that was nostalgic to watch.
Thank you, I'll watch this every time I want to reconnect with KH
I finally gotta come clean... Ive watched this video more times than i want to admit.. Amazing rewatchability due to such a well made video. Thank you for letting me and so many others relive all the feelings attached to this franchise!
"Oh we do too have hearts. Don't be mad."
WAIT HOW THE FUCK WAS DEMYX THE ONLY ONE TO GET THAT THAT SOON?!
OH MY GOD
Because Demyx is a badass who acts like a moron when in actuality he is a fucking genius xD
Well he was an ancient keyblade master which if it's time travel I dont get but whatever
I just don't get the "Don't be mad."??
Demyx never listens to what the organisation says. Pretty impressive that he was fed with nobodies being with no heart daily but he is more aware of what he is.
One thing I want to mention as far as the whole "keyblade master" thing in KH1 goes. in japanese, it's "keyblade no yuusha" (hero of the keyblade) but that's a mouthful in english so keyblade master was used in the localization. so in the end, nothing was retconned in that regard, just kinda a chance accident term that localization chose that nomura eventually also used.
But can there be two Keyblade No Yuushas?
@@NovaZoneTV
Good one XD
@@NovaZoneTV This town ain't big enough...
I haven't watched the whole video yet so apologies if I'm being redundant by saying this, but I think it makes sense of you think of keyblade masters as a sort of lost culture. If you think about it, most keyblade wielders went missing a decade ago and they mostly keep to themselves anyway - in that case I think it's perfectly reasonable for characters in kh1 to have created this mystical ideal about the keyblade and how special and rare it is, and in subsequent titles (especially BBS) we're shown more of what a keyblade "culture" looks like, with TVA's training and mark of mastery and such
@@NovaZoneTV No one else but Sora is called that (as far as I can tell in the my Japanese playthrough of the games rn - on 384/2 days now). But in CoM, Riku is called Yami no Yuusha (Champion/Hero of Darkness) by the Organization, and Sora is gets the second name of Hikari no Yuusha (Champion/Hero of Light), during Riku's campaign.
the probably accidental comedy of the thumbnail saying " it's not that complicated " right next to the 3 hour run time is smth worth noting, i think
[ that being said- excellent work, it's a great video ! ]
358/2 is actually my favorite kingdom hearts game. I remember playing that game so much compared to the other games.
during the part in KH2 opening where Roxas remembers Sora's name.
In japanese, Kairi's/Namine's voice gave him a hint to "look up"
Which is a pretty nice touch since in Japanese, Sora means sky.
All you have done is make me want to replay KH, and for that I salute you.
Kingdom Hearts" "Having two Rikus would be confusing"
Also Kingdom Hearts: "So, everyone is named Ansem"
I absolutely loved this video😮 is it such a good job explaining things to me because this is the first video I watched explaining the lore of Kingdom hearts 😊
Riku replica's death was very much doubted, he says "I wonder where a fake goes" and Riku says "who knows maybe it'll be where I end up" in which Replica scoffs and say "a faithful replica to the end"
I mean it would be cruel for him to say something mean in someone’s dying moment lol.
I love all of the "don't worry about it" thrown in because wooooof there is a lot there in those moments if you let yourself go down those tangents
I'm always happy to see Sora's KH1 outfit being given the respect it deserves. A lot of people criticize it for looking too much like Mickey Mouse, but they're not realizing that was the whole point and it's perfect for what Kingdom Hearts is. It's a Disney game that crosses over with Final Fantasy, so of course it makes sense for Sora's design to be based on Mickey's classic look. It's something I think was sadly lost in most of Sora's later outfits.
i knew little to NOTHING about kingdom hearts going into this video to pass my time at work and OOOHH BUDDY
its the way i was CRYING during most of the KH2 portion i am ACHING. coworker kept giving me looks as she walked past lmao. love this video and you explain things in a very concise way and i REALLY appreciate going through some of the split portions of games in chronological that keeps the events lined up super well.
cant wait to check out more!!
Seeing (and helping) Sora and Riku block a literal onslaught of attacks while always defending the other's back (at the end of KH2) will never not give me chills. Till the day I die
I really want to see Soras Darkness explored more. It shows up actually pretty frequently.
1. Dark side growing out of his shadow.
2. Shadow sora that riku pulls out of him in neverland
3. Sora turning into a heartless to get kairis heart
4. Antiform
5. The organization trying to harness his darkness while he slept to turn him into a host for Xehanort
6. Rage form
7. Xehanort taking your light leaving only soras darkness during the final fight of kh3
Even with references in the manga that darkside IS soras heartless. Seems like sora being an incredibly powerful heartless if not the strongest is always something thats hinted in the background
I want heartless Sora to just be a super emo sad boy sora
@@ryanmcwilliams8784 well, if Coded exists, is to show us what Sora's heartless looks like, and is capable of doing if Kairi didn't turn him back to normal
See? Coded is toooootally relevant to the overall plot :)
Wow. I watched this video in pieces each night before bed as a refresher for one of my favorite, yet confusing stories in gaming. I appreciate all the time and effort that you put in on this incredible video. Thank you
when’s the kh3 video coming out
I always assumed that ventus’ heart connecting with sora’s was the reason why sora was able to wield a keyblade and also why the older he got the more he looked like vinitas (who came before the connection between ventus and sora). It makes a parallel with roxas (soras nobody) looking like ventus, and sora looking more like vinitas when ventus lost his heart and connected with sora. Terra’s lingering will even mistakes sora for vinitas in kh2.
.... holy shit
I just want to point out how horrifyingly accurate the "there can't be 2 keyblade masters" line from riku in the first game is, even though I'm 90 precent sure it was a mistranslation from "there can't be 2 hero's" or something like that. But I mean every time we have been shown a mark off mastery exam, only one person gets made a master (Riku or Aqua). So so far in the series, yes, there can't be two keyblade masters
Kingdom hearts isn’t confusing, it’s complicated, these are two very different things. A confusing story is a mess that contradicts itself or is hard to keep track of because it doesn’t do a clear job of explaining. A complicated story is what kingdom hearts is, it has so much to cover that it takes 3+ hour videos, this does not make it a bad story, I think that metal gear is one of the best video game franchises ever but I also think it’s pretty complicated, hopefully that all made sense to you.
the appearance of Neku and the others in 3D should've set up for a twewy world in 3 or something that would've been so awesome
Alright so I’m only 9 minutes into this but I just gotta praise how well done this is so far. The stuff you mentioned about Sora and Riku’s character design was mind-blowing. Buckling up for the rest of this adventure.
Thanks, I know very little about character design and that paragraph started from me rambling at my friend at 3AM😅.
@@NovaZoneTV thanks to that I noticed how the Keyblades colour scheme is the same as Riku, so it looks more natural on Riku than on Sora when he takes it away from him
One of Sora's key character traits is his friends and the connections he makes. It makes complete since that it's all Roxas wants and what motivates him and it also makes 358/2 one of the most underrated games in the series. I would love a full remake.
This is the most complete summation of the KH series I've watched. It found a way to let me relive a lot of the amazement I had for this series as a kid while also being realistic and critical to the series. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this, clicked on a whim and was enthralled for the the whole 3.5 hours. I would love to see a KH3 video, as well as a UX and Dark Road breakdown if those are things youre invested in.
Im more excited to see the future of this series now than ever. Hopefully KH4 will lead to some new discoveries for the lore, and characters we love!
A 3 and a half hour video explaining why kingdom hearts isn't complicated. At this point, it's complicated. Sign me up!
we lost so many good actors just hearing Christopher Lee got me teary eye
Not to mention Leonard Nimoy AND Rutger Hauer as Master Xehanort.
1:43:29 as someone who's first game was 358/2 days of all things, it's actually not the worst place to jump in at. Getting to learn about these characters like this made going through Kingdom Hearts 2 at a later date WAY more cool when you actually know and have been friends with the Organization members, and knowing their relationship to Roxas, and how they are trying to get control of him again through Sora throughout 2.
I always say if you have the means to absolutely play through the games in release order, but it's really fun to see people's experiences of the series when they jumped in from other points in it :3 (plus like if you have fun playing it "wrong" who cares right)
Yeah, Days was my entry as well. And I think I wouldn’t have gotten into the series nearly as quickly had I started with another game.
Yes, there’s a lot that you don’t understand if you start here, but that’s actually what I loved about it. Besides just putting me on the same page as Roxas, it places this air of mystery front and center that compelled me to know more. I then carried that mentality on to the rest of the series, and found it rewarded me for it.
Re:coded was my first, which was also an underrated first entry. Didn't pay attention, so when I played Days right after, I knew the basics of the world but had no idea what was going to happen.
I jumped in at DDD. Therefore my experience with the franchise is very personal to me, since so much of it is by going on wikis, watching random RUclips videos and let's plays since retrospective Videos weren't a thing back then.
An experience I will probably never have again but it was so much fun to obsess over finding out the context of everything happening, throughout my internet searching.
I played parts of the first game on my aunt's ps2 when I was like 10, but that was the majority of my experience until I ended up playing 358/2 days before playing kingdom hearts 2 as well, so I know exactly what you mean. I'm so glad I did too, everything hits so much harder when you have that context and I can't imagine how I would've felt without it. Axels "death" scene legitimately made me cry the first time I ever reached it and it still makes me tear up a little ngl. "He made me feel like I had a heart." 😭 Days is still my favorite entry in the series too.
I've been playing Kingdom Hearts for 10 years and even though I think I understand it all, something will come and throw a spanner in the works. This was a very helpful guide and I'm still lost :p
@NovaZone This is such a great video. As a KH fan, this is such a clear and entertaining summary. Looking forward to your future content.
i am someone who has never played kingdom hearts, but is really interested in the story, and this was FANTASTIC. please consider making another instalment covering X and III (and anything else in the Kingdom Hearts series you find interesting, i didn’t even know there were novelisations!!) - i would really love to hear your thoughts on them!!
I like this. This just feels like someone who actually played kingdom hearts and payed attention, thorwing all the BS aside and just looking at KH as any average game series and giving it the, what I would say as minimal, effort to actually pay attention to it. Not coming up excuses at to why its too goofy to take even look at or too convoluted to pay attention too. Just seems like someone who grew up playing games, understands how games were made then, and enjoys experimentation in games enough to get through something like kingdom hearts. You honestly take me back to an era of gaming I miss so much. tldr, wonderful video dude.
It made sense to be confused back before all the games where ported onto a single console, so people could actually miss games. Now there's no excuse
@@Gloomdrake ikr! I like to my explain the “convuluted” ness of KH to be based on my experience of LoTR.
If you only watched a portion of Lord of the Rings until Frodo got to Rivendale, then fell asleep and woke up when the crew was on the Mountain, Frodo is fighting Golem and watched until the end credits.
Im sure anyone would be confused simply replace the movie with a book or any kind of plot driven story.
That is what explaining KH to someone who missed games or missed chunks of the story.
@@Gloomdrake yep . Atleast watch the cutscenes.
Also nomura makes These games so that he lets us i terpret things( wich is some of the fun) He only gives us enough to work with befor eather revealing the truth in a future Titel or not
I do have some headcanons that have some Basis on context from the games mostly relatet to Xehanorts plot that ar mostlikely what nonura thought. I Respect him as a writer he isnt as bad as people thing. People just hate his ideas and ar Not smart enough to figure things Out on ther own and becaus its cool to hate ther hate.
Fantasy Plots ar fallen with "BS" lore all the time anyway so kh isnt doing anything wrong..but why people hate on it i dont understand. Yes its "weard" but its a story and game Not real life soweit cares.
@@indedgames4359 Nomura's writing sounds bad when people take it out of context for comedy. Like how a fish dies when you take it out of water. It's a nice experience if you meet it on it's own terms, though
I'm not gonna lie, this video deserved going viral. Spectacularly made. Interesting to people who know NOTHING of kingdom hearts.
Best recap on RUclips man. Good stuff keep it up
I loved this compilation of video essays. It's such a refreshing thing to see someone who understands and loves Kingdom Hearts go through it without just saying 'oh its so complicated' because like you said, if you follow all the breadcrumbs, it all adds up. It's a passion project spanning decades and it's my favourite game series ever. Thanks so much.
Thank you. I never wanted it to end. The scope and magnitude of your work on this is amazing.
i absolutely died at the "im me he says" then it cuts to credits that was way too funny bravo man
it feels so nice to find people who connect to and see kingdom hearts and it’s story the same I do
this game has defined who I am as a person
I'm sorry that happened to you
I fell asleep listening to this, and holy shit the way my dreams have their own interpretation to what I heard it felt like I was part of a sadder grim dark Kingdom hearts story.
27:22, well actually this room DOES have importance. Its revealed in melody of memories and its one of my favourite pieces of foreshadowing Normura has done. Literally 18 years apart from each other.
Can you elaborate on its purpose meaning? I haven’t played that and I couldn’t find anything googling about the room.
@@FalseH3khux its a time travel room that let you travel out of the code world. The code world was made by the og masters to seal the 13 darknesses that existed in the beginning of time.
Actually it looks a lot like the room with all the lifeboats (the time travel pod things) from union cross. Edit: I believe this comment is referring to the pod that Kairi(?) was put in by Xeonort when she was a kid? It’s deffos the same room we still don’t have all the context to know what the heck is going on in there tho edit edit: okay it was for sure Kairi I went back and watched the cutscenes from MoM and it was when radiant garden was falling to darkness she was put in there “to find a keyblade wielder’s home world but also might end up “”on the other side””” (meaning a world of unreality that was introduced at the end of the remind dlc)
As far as keyblade wielders go the way I always interpreted the lore is that you can either be bequeathed a keyblade or your heart can forge one. The only requirement is having a strong enough heart either strong in darkness or light you can seemingly lose access to a keyblade if your heart weakens but how keyblades are made/ how they work are a very underdeveloped aspect of kh
The way I see it, just as the x-blade is the counterpart of Kingdom Hearts, the keyblades are essentially artificial mini-versions of the x-blade made for use by people. On a related note, I believe that the Keyblade of Hearts in KH1 is essentially an incomplete x-blade.
@@sixthcairn that does kind of make sense yea I’m just saying the specific way you can forge a keyblade is in a few ways.
Like if a realm creates a keyblade from its own heart you get the kingdom key or kingdom key d
If a person creates a keyblade from their own heart/someone creates one for their heart that’s how you get stuff like the way to dawn and most other keys we’re shown
And if kh forms a keyblade that is the x-blade
The other thing is they could be a descendant of one of the Dandelions (seriously, that's the ultimate Get out of Jail Free Card for the series: 'Oh well, they're just... a descendant of one of the Dandelions. So that's why they can use a Keyblade.'.
In Sora's case, well we know why he's one (Ventus' heart resided in him for so long that he unknowingly went through the ceremony without having to physically make contact with another Keyblade Wielder). Also since it seems that Sora can't become a Keyblade Master, that means he's probably the Endless Potential.
@@SBaby as long as sora ain’t the MoM I’m fine
@@kaison12205 I don't think Sora's the MoM. If he IS someone we've seen before, I'd be more likely to put my money on Ephemer. But that's just from our frame of reference. It's probably someone we've never seen before.
Someone on the KH development team years back when Back Cover came out said that if you wanted to do power comparisons, you could compare it to an anime like Sailor Moon. Ansem from the first KH game would be like Beryl, and the MoM would be like Galaxia. Now whether that means that the MoM was taken over by some evil entity like Galaxia was, I don't know.
Props to you for making me feel more emotion in the 358/2 days segment than any other 20 minute long explanation of that games story has given me.
I can’t believe I listened to this entire video. You did a great job and you were really good at explaining things. I’m a life long KH fan so I appreciate it
Whew~ Thx for the video. Finally i got what i had missed, and understanding the confusions i had. Thx so much.
I cannot stress enough how great this video’s pacing is. I find so often that RUclips commentators have no charisma or any sense of pacing in their writing but this 3 hour long video about a video game series I’ve never played is the most enthralled I’ve been watching something on RUclips in months. Keep making your stuff, man!!
13:19 I kind interpret it not as "they have no actual heart" but that they are "heartless" in the way that someone can "heartless and cruel" which fits with how we see heartless behave in most cases.
Just finished this video! Thank you my friend! Greatly appreciated! This game has been my favorite ever since I first got it when I was 11. 32 now and some of the story and plot points hit even harder than before.
I legit cried at one point when you were discussing Riku’s journey through Kh2.
My guy, this was an incredible retrospective and I am so thankful you put in so much time and effort into making this. Your effort shows and I look forward to watching all your other content. 🙂
Fun Fact: The letter "χ" in Ancient Ionian Greek is pronounced like "key"
and is now pronounced as a palatal/velar fricative in Modern Greek.
It was never pronounced like "kai". Only English speaking normies pronounce it that way.
In short, Nomura did his research.
Its still stupid why would you not make the difference more clear having 2 things both be called" key blade " but be two completely different things is just dumb and makes things needlessly confusing.
@@thatoneblackdude3333
Nomura: Needless? No... The confusion... Is darkness. I have placed you in darkness. This darkness is necessary for your enlightenment.
Embrace darkness, embrace confusion.
Find the light within this darkness.
@@thatoneblackdude3333 Well...the χ-blade is the origin of all Keyblades (they are created in its image) so them sharing a homophonic name kind of makes sense; it is essentially the "true Keyblade".
@@thatoneblackdude3333 no its not. Because the subtitles helps.
@@thatoneblackdude3333 see, the thing is that The χ-blade is the original and first keyblade.... ever. The other blades were all named after it. So having them share a similar name makes perfect sense. But anyways, the game has subtitles so...
"Thus begins the final fight between the strongest being of darkness, and 3 boys taking turns holding their braincell."
Holy crap I lost it at this and cackled for a good 5 minutes.
Thank you for this video. A little bit of my love for the franchise rekindled. It make me want to go back to the franchise.
I played all these games. Even chain of memories on the GB. I never was confused about this story. KH will always be my favorite games.
When I’ve played the ‘confusing games’ like 3d and 3 I’ve NEVER found them confusing. It’s only when I go on the internet with everyone screaming xyz makes no sense do I start to overthink it a bit, but when I rewatch the cutscenes it always makes sense again, once I get the internet ramblings out my head. Plus, it’s a LOT easier to grasp when you have basic trust in tetsuya nonura who clearly loves his own franchise.
There’s nothing wrong with having critical thinking skills and finding something to be a plot hole. People can have different opinions on if a story is coherent or a mess.
This sounds like a bs comment. Kingdom hearts is a great series and i love the games but the story is a mess. Anybody who told me that they understood the story as it is was full of it. They thought they did but they didnt.
@@drewmyers3916 no you can absolutely understand the story just by playing them in order of release, but that's not to say that the story isn't a complete fucking mess after 3d
@@drewmyers3916 you had no idea. Nothing is bs, KH never be a simple series yet ppl these days wants a simple story
@@mikashi1593 that has nothing to do with that. kh just has straight up, objective, plotholes. i love the series and i wish i could say something different, but it just is how it is.
That damn summer vacation is over line gets me every time I think oh yeah kingdom hearts this game makes me happy but no blindsided every single time I play it gets me all emotional
I literally can't watch 358/2 cutscenes without tears in my eyes. It's brutal.
Xehanort recreating the Keyblade War, because he's curious
"What are you f**king Stupid"
I have to say, even with it's flaws story wise I really love and appreciate Re:Coded on the DS. I mean it essentially is kh1 on the go! Plus it's gameplay is kind of fun for level 1 crit runs 😃
Especially with how you don’t even have to use level up tiles since you get stat tiles anyways
There aren’t many ‘flaws’. Most ‘flaws’ are misconceptions because people are incapable of following something other than the simple cookie cutter stories that plague media or simply personal opinions, such as disliking the aspect of time travel.
Although I didnt really appreciate the game, im glad you enjoyed it.
I loved recoded but I wish the developers did something else instead of the minigames. I think one of the reasons recoded on the ds exists is because they wanted to see how much of the first game they could fit on the ds.
Loved the CPU system. The combinations to get newer and more powerful moves, the ability to freely customize your difficulty on all fronts, and the chips really sold it for me. 3D was great too for me, only issue was I wish you could at least turn off the Drop Gauge after the main story to help with exploration.
1:12:03 fun to think this was the pinnacle of characters from different FFs interacting with each other back then, before Dissidia was a thing... seeing Cloud and Squall figthing back to back, exhaling that big "we are rivals" vibes... so epic
definitely still one of my favorite scenes of the whole franchise
I somehow didn't realise this retrospective didn't include X and III, and I then found out it wasn't in a separate video either, so now I'm sobbing.
I played and beat KH1, and played half way though chain of memories and KH2. And I never quite understood the story. So I tried watching other KH lore videos and every video was super long, and I would be lost within ten minutes of the video.
And when I saw this video in my recommendation, I figured the same, would happen. But this is by far the cleanest video explaining the KH games. Thank you.
I’ve seen other videos explaining kingdom hearts’ story but this is the first one to lay it out in a way that makes sense to me. It’s incredible how simplified and rich this explanation is.
Being a fan of the whole X series of games, especially the story of KHUX, seeing the life pods at 27:22 described as not being plot-relevant for the dark seeker saga hurt my soul 🥲 So much happened there...
Can't believe this just hit a MILLION. Been watching this video over the course of the last week and I think it's finally given me the courage to get KH3.
56:08 I remember that initial feeling seeing the rest of the org standing atop that wall, the mystery, the chills, I was so awe struck when I first played it. I can’t believe it’s been almost 20 years now.
And that 4 year wait from kh1-kh2 really did feel like forever
Directors cuts are always great, especially for this series! It's good stuff man
K.
L.
TPP should’ve got a directors cut
M.
this is an absolutely fantastic series! got randomly pushed by the algorithm to me and i'm super glad it did. a very concise, clean analysis of the plot across all the games pre-kh3. great work!
Yeah i saw it the otherday, and finally decided to watch it.
27:33 I have never taken a deeper breathe and just hit my bowl and actually shook my head. I was so in this video. That was so good it was extremely cringy.
dude !!!!! this was soooo awesome to watch and so well written, this felt amazing and I'm very grateful for you putting it together.
if you ever get around to doing 3 ill be here in a heart beat omg
AGAIN THANK YOU~~~!
358 has in my opinion the best story in the series. It plays out as more of a hopeful tragedy then a whimsical adventure and I love it for that.