As this video's doing pretty well, we're gonna try something. There's plenty of great KH content out there, so I'm going to plug a KH video that I think is underrated and if this yields positive results, we'll do it again. So here's a short KH animation that takes the Riku VS Anti-Aqua battle and (without spoiling) gives it a bit more fun and life. Great watch, the creator's hella talented. ruclips.net/video/E_f1TC3etjU/видео.html
"Kingdom hearts 3 would rather tease a story than write one" Honestly that hit the nail on the head. My problem with this franchise summarized perfectly.
@@darkscoutergamer6168 Oh you still can love it. I freaking do. You definitely get attached to the characters. That's enough to keep me coming back to the story.
@@darkscoutergamer6168 Oh boi. Honestly hard to say. I normally rank it in terms of my favorite characters. I love Aqua so much. Naminé is great. Axel is best boi. Roxas is amazing. I love Brain and hope to see more of him in 3d games. I'm curious about Strelitzia ( or however you write that) As for villains. I liked the organization 13 back when it was about being nobodies, don't like the "Real organization that much" I appreciate Vanitas commitment to who and what he is. When ranking the game itself. 358/2 Days ending made me feel the most emotional. I love the trio tragedy. Birth by sleep is close too. Poor aqua. Gameplay wise I'm enjoying my Kh2 critical level 1 playthrough the combat is surprisingly satisfying when you actually have to pay attention to the enemies move sets. Storywise, surprisingly enough I love the writing in Union X. (Granted I didn't have to sit to all the filler stuff since I watched only the important cutscenes when the servers were already closed). But it was the first game where the universe started making sense to me. And honestly the only thing keeping it from making it my favorite is that it is a mobile 2d game . Whitout spoilers the ending was great.
@@Eden.-. ah bet bet💙 and fr? I think both versions of org 13 are awesome but for sure can understand the og for sure🔥 and is dark road the only one available on mobile atm?
@@Duncadinca there's a theory I heard a while back that made a lot of sense but it unfortunately has been disproven. The TLDR is essentially "Sleeping realm means we get to ignore fate then transplant this new timeline onto the old one"
Hi there, I know this is an old video and all, but I feel if there's anyone who'd appreciate this greater context it'd be you based on this video. You posed the question "How could a series with one of the best deaths also have one of the worst?" comparing Xion's to Kairi's, and well, it has a lot to do with a person who's mostly unknown to the mainline games enjoyers. Her name is Tomoco Kanemaki. She was the lead scenario writer for Days, and is the writer of the Kingdom Hearts Novels. Even if she wasn't the one writing out the dialogue for the game she was the one who conceptualized and wrote out the big ideas and plot points of Days. If you've ever wondered why Days seemed to have a lot more writing in it, like how it has this whole allegory for corporations running employees into the ground only to replace them with younger, better ones when they're done, it's because of her. I am not saying that KH needs more of this higher writing, KH1 is campy as hell and I don't think a lack of "deep subtext" hampers it in the slightest. However, what I will say is that the current writing team seems to lack an actual writer to help them. It's what I feel is the driving reason behind the distinct lack of narrative catharsis most of KH3 has in it's finale. I don't think every issue would be solved by bringing someone in like Kanemaki for more games, such as the very heavy hand of Disney forcing them to do what they did to the Tangled, Frozen, and Pirates world, but I think it would do them a lot of good. At the very least I think it'd help cut out things like, "we don't know which way this plot should go, let's consult the fans." I may not be an expert at writing, but I have enough experience to tell you that delegating major plot points to the fans is... not a very good sign. Truthfully, I'd rather see the version of this without Roxas and Xion, because it's clear that feeling an obligation to add them back had very poor results on how they were handled. That statement from Nomura honestly settled something that's bothered me for a while. Personally, I hate that Roxas and Xion were brought back, characters who's original character arcs ended in the realization that they needed to go away for the better. The tragedy of their characters was that they willingly chose their sacrifices, and for me, effectively undoing a sacrifice for the sake of fanservice is just gross writing. Which is not to say I'd hate seeing them return under better circumstances (like with the proper guidance of a writer, see this tangent is still relevant to the original point), but I'd want some damn good writing to justify bringing them back into the fold. It's also an issue I share with Axel's return. It's a case of fanservice and not because they had some cool, interesting new journey for him to go on. (honestly that's probably why the majority of the true org XIII members get character assassinated in their farewell cutscenes in KBG) It's this lack of a writer's touch that leaves Axel's main function as... comedy relief outside of the reunion hug. Do you know how killer it'd be to see Axel take charge in the save Roxas campaign? That shit writes itself, and seeing Axel struggle would give Roxas' return some narrative catharsis. But I digress... I know this has gone supremely off tangent for the original purpose of this comment, and is perhaps excessive and self indulgent for a video with a comment section that died nearly a year ago, but I couldn't help myself, not when it's for someone who's got a passion for KH and wants to see it be the best it can be.
I always thought Larxene had a thing for Demyx instead of Marluxia, their dynamic always felt a lot more “Tsundere” than the practically nonexistent interactions with Marluxia
Listen, I don't care how much of a bandaid was placed on Kairi's character in ReMind. She was so nonexistent as a character that her AI was given no thought. Seriously, she was the ONLY party member (In my game at least) that did nothing beyond run into an invisible wall throughout the entire fight. And when I tried to free her (Thinking her tracking bugged out), she just turned 180 degrees, ran across the field, and into the invisible wall over there. The writers don't care about Kairi. The programmers don't care about Kairi. Sora doesn't care about Kairi. I don't care about Kairi. She used to be my favorite character. She is no longer such. She had a brief moment of being important at the end of KH2 with her "This time, I'LL fight!" moment. Which was good. And then she does fuck all in KH3 other than get in the way, pretend like she's doing something, get kidnapped, and be "killed." And now let's discuss everyone's uber happy reunion at the end: So, I work in the English Literature field. This means I go through stories constantly. I yell at authors for dumb decisions in story-telling and scribble in red ink on their manuscripts. And there's something I find myself constantly telling authors: It's okay to have a tragic ending for a beloved character. Fans will constantly whine to bring the character back, but if that wasn't the original intention, it will fail. Every. Time. Roxas, Xion, and Namine were never meant to be brought back. That was never the intention behind their characters. They were tragic characters with a tragic ending. And, to a lesser extent, the same can be said about Axel and the other organization members. However, where Axel's return doesn't feel as forced and contrived (And we need our villains in the Org members), Roxas, Xion, and Namine's returns do. Axel's story didn't necessarily feel finished. So it wasn't as grating to bring him back. And it felt nice to return him because it meant the second arc of his story SHOULD have been about his redemption. Making up for the things he did as a Nobody. However, Roxas, Xion, and Namine all had very clear stories. They had a clear arc to their character and a satisfying (yet tragic) end. And even so, Roxas and Namine's end wasn't even all that tragic. But the emotional weight of their ending is undercut by their return. But their story's end felt good. It made you cry and feel the emotions. It was beautiful and symbolic. It showed the consequences of decisions made. It reminded people that there ARE consequences. Xion gave up her existence to return to Sora, so he could be whole again. Because she was simply a piece of him that was scattered. Roxas gave up his existence to return to Sora, so he could be whole again. So he (Roxas) could be whole again. As Namine told him, "You won't disappear. You'll be whole." He accepts his fate at the end of KH2 with grace after fighting against it for so long. Namine gives up her existence to return to Kairi, so she could be whole again. She never stopped accepting her end with grace. She did what she needed to make up for the things she did and then she returned to the place she belonged. And then they're all brought back. With no real explanation of a satisfying nature. They're just casually back. And it doesn't really add to the story as a whole. Yes, they had their cute mini-scenes. However, nothing of value was added. They don't massively change the direction anything goes. The battle with Roxas (And playing Roxas in ReMind) was cool and epic. But we could've achieved that without bringing him back (Considering he is a part of Sora), if that was the direction people wanted it to go. Random spitball: Sora sees Kairi kidnapped and has a freeze up moment. Panic strikes. He doesn't know what to do. Roxas takes the reigns of his body for a bit to save him and the others. Gorgeous moment with Axel after the battle to promise that he's still there. He just IS Sora. The same can honestly be said about Terra. He had a complete story. It was tragic. Granted, his return was a bit better, since it's clear that him returning was at least a casual thought floating around the writing department. But he didn't need to return. I would argue that it would've been more narratively satisfying if after Terranort was defeated (With the help of Lingering Will because how badass would that have been?! Then in ReMind we could've played as Lingering Will! Omg, the alternate reality of KH3 sounds so beautiful) the cutscene showed Lingering Will shudder and kneel down again before the armor collapsed into a heap on the ground, leaving only the keyblade sitting there. And Ven or Aqua could have a tearful moment when they say, "He's finally free." Riku inherited Terra's keyblade since Way To Dawn is apparently too edgy for new Riku. Would've been better than a damn CAR KEY. And it would've had story significance beyond "Master Yen Sid has a ton of keyblades in the basement, yo." Since Riku is who Terra chose in BBS. Then in the ending cutscene with Ven and Aqua, they place Terra's wayfinder on the grave thing they made before holding their own up to the sky, saying without words that they'll find each other eventually. Even if it's just in the next life. You can't be afraid of killing off characters and keeping them gone. If that is the original intention, stick with it. Trying to force characters back who were never meant to return does not make for a better story. It makes for an unsatisfying conclusion that doesn't feel earned.
I can say by the 38 likes(at this moment) on your comment that we 100% agree with your perspective. Breaking the purpose of any important moment of any story is lazy and it's a big slap in the face of a character that "sacrificed" theyself. "My sacrifice is necessary!" -Well, good for ya.
As much as I do dislike the way they returned them as some kind of checklist of oh that one's gotta come back, I disagree that having this be the end of their story is satisfying. Roxas IS NOT Sora, that's the whole point of his story, Naminé didn't take her reunification with grace because it's super cool actually, she is implied throughout CoM, 2 and some parts of days to want to disappear in a suicidal sense. Xion's existence being denied for Sora, being told that there'll be "nothing left of her" is proven false by her remaining there, having grown her own heart through the bonds she's made with others. See, one of Kingdom Hearts' themes is what it means to be a person and it goes out of its way to show even beings of data (Tron and Data-Sora), puppets/replicas (Repliku and Xion) and nobodies (Roxas, Namine, Axel, debatably some of the others partially it's unclear) can be real. There's no such thing as someone fated to never have their own identity and staying hidden within Sora and Kairi - while a good story turn for a while (I think the moment with Roxas taking over that you mentioned or maybe also Naminé showing through when Kairi is in danger would be super cool) - I do think if they want to ever fully resolve their arcs they have to become their own people in some way. Again, I do not like how KH3 handled this I hate how it handled pretty much everything, but that's like I said because I felt they were going off a checklist and contriving ways for them to come back. Especially Roxas coming back in the middle of battle, while I do get what they're going for it just feels like they're doing whatever they want. I think a scene in the end credits with them coming back in replica bodies (like they did with Naminé(even though I am sad about her relative absence from the story before that) properly and their respective friends welcoming them back would have been a good end to things with further games exploring their new dynamic. Although I do like the khux plotline it is sad that Nomura seems to have moved on entirely past resolving everyone's problems just by cramming it all into this game with no room to breathe, having it feel artificial and having everyone stay in their groups of three as if nothing happened.
@@TheLadysAtelier I see your point with that, but I personally disagree. I think it would've been... More satisfying (in my opinion) if it had been more a situation of Roxas showing up as Sora. Because he is meant to be that half of Sora. DiZ/Ansem even says in KH2 that Roxas should share some of that "anger" with Sora. Granted, we could debate for days whether or not Roxas should be his own person or not lol. But, personally, I like the idea of Roxas accepting his end as happened in KH2. KH2, as a whole, felt like a very satisfying ending for Roxas and Namine. And I personally love a good tragedy. Though I think everyone can agree that Terra coming back was just a why moment. Like, we can explain Aqua because she was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for four score and seven years. We can explain Ven because he was essentially frozen in time all passed out while his soul was chilling in Sora for a bit. But Terra doesn't really have an explanation as to why he's allowed to come back. I guess he was frozen in time by being the Guardian? But then I feel it undermines Lingering Will and it's just a mess. But if you are cool with Terra coming back, that's your thing. Glad to know I'm at least not the only person wholly unsatisfied with the way the game handled it lol. I think you're right on the money with the whole checklist thing. But it wasn't even that the revivals came crammed in one game. It was in the last BIT of the game. After a bunch of busy-work, essentially, because we have to have Disney worlds. It would've been better if that was a thing that was stretched out through the ENTIRETY of the game. Instead of Sora running around trying to get his strength back and "find the power of waking" I feel it would've been better if he was running around trying to find like... Clues to help get these people either out of his head or clues to figure out how to start charging rent because have you SEEN housing prices? And they just wanna live rent-free in his head? Takin' advantage of our boy, all I'm sayin'.
@@shaelynmartin1996 we can agree to disagree ofc I've seen some people (well, one fanfiction and one reddit post) wholeheartedly believing that actually Roxas is Ventus with temporary amnesia which also left me confused, like it'd be interesting but it just feels wrong to deny them both their own identity. Regardless, I definitely agree the interesting story parts should've been more spread out and they should've actually left them room to breathe. Have characters interact, have them interact with people outside of their designated friend groups. Like Kairi and Lea had a really good dynamic going in that like one scene and then it just goes away and Kairi starts being weirdly useless and almost emotionless and Lea turns into some kind of Deadpool-style comedic relief and they just kinda don't interact anymore (might be a bit biased as I've always been a fan of the they are siblings theory) Characters not having any conversations is a problem in general. Like someone pointed out that Sora doesn't think of or talk about Kairi even once before they physically see each other in the tower a chunk through the game (and even then feels like they barely acknowledge each other), Riku and Kairi feel like polite coworkers rather than childhood friends (do they even talk I genuinely don't remember) Why are super interesting situations like Ventus looking like Roxas dismissed away with a throw away comedic line from Lea and then one glance at each other when they actually meet. in reply to your point about Terra, I'm not entirely opposed to his return, it felt clear that it was going to happen. Having him be older would be the most logical case, considering all the other returned Nobodies have aged (see Ienzo, Isa and Lea) but I actually just really think defeating Xemnas+Ansem SoD should have brought back Terranort not Master Xehanort, which would've granted return to an older Terra, maybe. I'm kinda opposed to all the time travel shenanigans in general and I hate having all the different versions there it's just weird. Like Ansem's and Xemnas' defeat felt really poignant and having them just vibe here somehow feels off. Young Xehanort is a goddamn mess (wtf happened I like him in Dark Road like he's likeable to me in that game and I cannot fathom what happened on his grand world tour that turned him weird arrogant and a bit sadistic he feels less mature than at any point in dark road (even when he was a young child)) I've been thinking a lot about what I would've preferred, and aforementioned Terranort return would've been an acceptable option I feel. Have him be the main villain of 3, leaving Aqua, Ventus and Mickey, as well as Riku to some extent with an emotionally complex relation to the villain. The main quest would be reaching him and fighting some of Organization XIII that he managed to recruit back and/or Disney Villains he's recruited. I think what you mentioned with the throughline of the worlds being "we need to find a way to bring back (Ventus) Xion, Roxas" is a really good idea and could tie in into how do we bring back Terra from within Terranort. Also very much a side note but Guardian being Terra does not undermine Lingering Will, at least as much as it is entirely consistent (and probably planned) within the lore. In Kingdom Hearts a person is divided into body, soul and heart. The heart allows you to feel things and form bonds, while the soul connects the heart with the body and is basically described as a "will" or mind, which is why someone with a powerful will can become a Nobody, they're lacking a heart but the soul stays with the body. While Guardian is a representation of Terra's heart, Lingering Will is just his soul, his will to stop Xehanort that clung onto his armor. This is directly pointed out when Terranort exclaims "Your body submits, your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist!?" Lingering Will is literally remains of Terra's will, while Guardian is his heart being chained by Xehanort taking over his body.
@@TheLadysAtelier I respect your feelings on it, even though they differ from my own. Though I do think that you misunderstood what I meant by the Guardian undermining Lingering Will. It was that exact line that makes the sudden switch of the Guardian feel like it undermines the point of Lingering Will. "Your body submits, your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist!?" This line here gives Lingering Will weight. He's the last line of defense Terra had. And even then, it's just the lingering desire to fight whomever crosses his path believing it to be Xehanort. Upon being defeated, he recognizes the individual isn't Xehanort and returns to waiting for another chance. So the Guardian twist of it being Terra and saving Aqua and Ven undermines that chance Lingering Will represents. His heart is supposed to be succumbed. The only thing left being Lingering Will. So using the Guardian as the twist of saving Aqua and Ven instead of just having Lingering Will come in and fight to free himself one final time (As he does once Sora reverts time) takes away the weight of the character and what he represents. Of course, this is purely my opinion, personal and professional. It's just one of those things where if I had been the editor for the KH3 script where I would've underlined that part in my fun red pen and written on the side "Audience connection to this Guardian < Audience connection to Lingering Will. Advise rethinking how this goes for a more satisfying audience connection." As for the Kairi stuff... I don't have the brain power to even think about where to salvage her character from KH3. As I stated in my original comment, it was painfully obvious that no one cared about Kairi. Not even the programmers, considering how jank her AI is. She's only given some semblance of care in Re:Mind. And that feels more like a backtrack of "Oh damn, we didn't realize people still cared about her." But still, her characterization is atrocious. And the problems all start with the frozen time bubble she and Axel are in. (Amusing how most problems all boil down to time shenanigans lol). But, personally, I feel the game (from a story perspective) would've heavily benefitted from Sora not being the main character. Instead, playing through Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Sora: Going through non-Princess Disney worlds. Riku: Going through the Realm of Darkness. Kairi: Going through the Princess Disney worlds. Kairi going to the Princess Disney worlds would bring out her role as a keyblade wielder and a Princess herself. Maybe a subplot of how she's conflicted about losing her "princess" titles with all these new ones popping up. Worried that she'll be replaced too, but also not wanting to be forced on the sidelines again. Her main party member being Axel, Sora being Donald and Goofy (Obviously), and Riku being Mickey. Because really... Sora needs all this super hands-on training to learn the Power of Waking but Kairi gets stuffed into a time bubble? Why not stuff Sora in a time bubble and make him train until he learns it? Why doesn't Kairi need to know the Power of Waking? Just a bunch of problems that sprout from the sole desire to kick Kairi to the sidelines.
And versus 13 was scrapped becoming something else in FFXV. Square Enix has clearly lost its management when it comes the games produced by themselves unfortunately
There’s something you should have mentioned about the 1000 heartless fight. The build up wasn’t the only memberal thing about that fight but also the reveal at the end that you SIGNIFICANTLY helped the organization with their plans. When you thought you had a major victory, they take it away from you…
"It felt like Nomura only wrote this moment, because he knew thats what a lot of fans wanted." This is how I feel about the game as whole. It felt like one big check box, just so fans would stop asking for it.
nor did he need to be. KH3 xehanort. does however contradict BBSand DDD xehaort, and. to an extent dark road Xehaort but that came after kh3 so isnt a sin
@@flygonkerel781 he didn't get either vindicated or vilified, he just sort of sat there menacingly the whole game until the end, and even then his motivations are awfully strange and his sudden "redemption" was stupid.
My problem with Master Xehanort being re-written in to a misguided protector of balance of light and darkness is the same issue I would have if Disney made Palpatine into a misguided defender of balance to the force; both characters have shown throughout their respective series that they revel in darkness and have shown no grief or regret of taking advantage of others and ruining countless lives(especially in DDD where he gloats about ruining the lives of Ven, Terra and Aqua while smiling as if he enjoyed doing it) or even a hint of doing any one thing for the greater good in the name of balance but instead out of their own self-interests and curiosity and no confusing character contradiction that are the 'xehanort reports' will change my mind on that fact because you can tell me all you want that, "xehanorts reports say his intentions are this', but if his actions throughout the series completely contradict what he says in those reports up until a certain point where his motivations and reasons suddenly change to fit what was originally in those reports than that can be summed up to lazy writing. In the end, I feel like Disney had a hand in forcing Xehanort's backstory and motivations to be changed in order to make the ending more 'palatable' to a younger audience and it really shows how rushed the story was in not just in Xehanort and his motivations, but KH3's story as a whole.
Nomura doesn't care about Kairi, and I don't think he really ever has. He treats her like the princess peach of kingdom hearts, and it's just kinda sad. The female characters in the Kingdom Hearts series aren't treated very well in my opinion, but I guess that's just japanese writing. The few female characters in Kingdom Hearts ether die are villains or are damsels in distress and get captured by the bad guys. I thought Kairi was supposed to be a main character, but apparently not she's just a girl who gets captured or killed or to be a plot device. It's pretty sad for Kairi. I really love Kingdom Hearts, but I just wish that its characters were treated better.
I've seen people say this, and I have no idea why they do. Kairi is the only female character who's constantly sidelined. Larxene is a villain.....just like everyone else in Organization 13. Namine was an asset to the organization just like Roxas and Xion were. Aqua arguably did the most out of the Wayfinder trio, being the one in the group who passed the Mark of Mastery exam. If being stripped of your agency qualifies as being a damsel in distress then most of the male cast were more or less the same way at some point or another. Terra lost his body, Ventus had his Hearts shattered, Sora not only fell to darkness in the first game but also had to sit in a pod still his memories were fully restored, Riku needed help recovering after being manipulated into falling to darkness, Roxas wanted his own identity, etc Most people in KH male or female had to be rescued at some point, and I don't see how you can have played the games and not realized that.
@@utopian4769 Kairi is the only female character that has very little to no agency in the games. If you look at characters like Aqua, Xion or Namine they're all story relevant and active in the plot for better or worse. It has nothing to do with Kairi needing to be saved and all about the fact that she literally does nothing for the plot other than act as a drive for Sora. They even teased her as a real keyblade wielder at the end of DDD and throughout KH3 only for her to get completely sidelined. Yeah she finally gets her moment in Remind after all the fan backlash.
@@yderga8707 Yeah I pretty much agree with you. I see people in the fanbase always saying KH mistreats its female characters when it's literally only Kairi who is given barely any screentime. Namine, Xion, and Aqua all have their own story arcs.
39:23 Thanks for validating my not being crazy-- that's some really strong onee/shota energy, it nearly took me out and the wildest part is that THIS is the most emotion-laden line uttered by Aqua's English VA.
I honestly think that Nomura wanted KH3 to have the storyline of the mobile game and foretellers but he had no idea how to work it into the narrative, so instead KH3 basically just was a teaser for the game he actually wanted to make.
Well, as Duncadinca stated, Tetsuya Nomura is not the only one in charge of the writing of the KH series, as he's still working under Square Enix and effectively Disney's control since Disney apparently owns the Kingdom Hearts series now.
@@Loner098 Disney has always owned the Kingdom Hearts series. I think they just didn't care about it until they realized they could use it as advertisement for their movies.
There are 5 Foretellers and there were 5 empty slots in Xehanort’s Real Organization 13 at the end of DDD… add to that Xehanort talking about the Lost Masters and the Keyblade War and Xigbar talking about his ancient Keyblade. So some did speculate that Xehanort would summon the Lost Masters (maybe with the Book of Prophecies) to help him start the Second Keyblade War. Could have been cool. Instead now the Foretellers will be roaming around downtown Tokyo, probably wearing modern fashion. How captivating…..
I think you're the only other person I've seen mention how Riku Replica's relationship with Namine is built on lies and gaslighting, which makes his sacrifice less heartwarming and more concerning. Even if you're meant to see him as making this choice of his own volition, Namine has never really cared about him at all, which makes any supposed bond between these characters tenuous at best. That said, the reason I imagine he doesn't take a body of his own is because he still has hang-ups about feeling like a copy of Riku, even if both of them are very distinct visually at this point given RR is (seemingly) KH1 Riku permanently.
Am I the only one that is extremely bothered by the fact that Lea and Ventus never talked except for that one brief moment? Like, in BBS, Lea says of Ventus that they're friends now, and then in a cut scene with Kairi, he implies that he is drawn to Roxas because he looked like Ventus, but no, let's have everyone go to their respective trio and just stay there.
If they spent even monicrum of effort or thought into the pacing of the story or the layout of events there would've been plenty of time for each character to get interactions in this game. We spend so much time following Mickey and Riku in the dark realm doing and saying nothing of importance, and scenes of Xehanort doing absolutely nothing while the guardians of light conspire against him. You mean to tell me there was *no* better way of re-introducing the plot than stuffing it all at the end? You mean to tell me it's absolutely necessary for Sora to aimlessly wander Disney worlds when he's supposed to be learning the power of waking? Something intangible of which 99% of the Disney cast could offer no help or relevancy in learning?
This was great. Broke down the whole game scene by scene. I hate that Riku just threw away his Way to the Dawn Kayblade. It's HIS Keyblade, it represents his growth as a character and his overall journey. Then some Demon Tower snaps it in half and Riku just... tosses it. Oh don't worry he gets a much better Keyblade in Yen Sid's basement. What the hell was that about? Riku sees his Keyblade snapped in two and basically says "Welp, can't use this Keyblade anymore. Oh well." You can apparently just swap Keyblades no problem, kinda makes it feel like their relevance and sentience (Keyblades choose their wielders after all) is slowly fading away... Riku saying he'd miss Ansem just feels wrong considering all of the trauma that Riku suffered. Maybe if Riku said something like "It'll be strange not having to worry about you anymore. I look forward to finding out what that's like." A sentiment like that could be a way for Riku to look to the future and tie into Ansem's last word of "It's time to move on. There is more to seek so go forth now and seek it."
The Keyblades seemingly losing sentience sucks as well, cause we know there used to be a lot more, and that originally darkness was a few sentient beings that turned into a massive force spread across the worlds, so they could have paralleled that with the Keyblades of light going from a massive population of wielders to only about a dozen chosen ones. The ONLY way i could see the whole thing make sense is if WtD breaking somehow made it become not a Keyblade, and Yen Sid resummoned a Keyblade for Riku in the form of Braveheart, and even then that's just really convoluted.
I saw the sheer quality (And horniness) of the editing and I was Like "HOW DOES THIS BEAST DOES NOT HAVE MOR-" until I realized this is your first video. Let me say what a absolutely strong way to begin your RUclips career, I'm speechless the technical quality was on another level !!
Hilarious, insightful, heartfelt, compelling, the editing, the points made, the presentation of it all, the fact that the critiques made here come form a place of love and desire to see the story really shine, the way you were able to voice many of my hang-ups and frustrations with the series, love everything about the video and I'm honestly blown away, I can only imagine all the hard work of putting this beast together. Watched the whole thing in one go and I'm sure I'll be coming back to watch it again many times more. THOSE LAST THREE MINUTES THO! Incredible job, Instant new sub!
1:41:39 Well, yes and no. Nomura couldn't decide whether to revive them or not. He had a Roxas-and Xion-less scenario in mind, but wasn't sure about implementing it. So, he turned to the fans to make up his mind. "There are parts of the story that I won't budge on, but when I'm having trouble, I will consider what everyone is saying." If Nomura were confident that he didn't want or need Roxas and Xion anymore, then he never would've cared about what the fans wanted.
I still find it hilarious how Nomura saw how much fans loved Roxas and wanted him back, then wrote in a character who's an exact copy of him, who fits into Roxas story narritively and would give a perfect excuse to bring Roxas back as a human, only to tell us he's not Roxas, and then immediately after sweat about how he's going to find a way to bring Roxas back in 3.... So now one puppet body, Nobodies growing hearts scenario later we have two of the same character model running around, lol.
You pretty much summed up my thoughts on the finale, as much as I liked it. I loved the buildup, but the KH3 ending felt like a “To Be Continued…” rather than a proper finale to the story up to this point. If they didn’t tease all the Union X-related stuff or just showed us what was in that stupid black box, I think the story would’ve been more cohesive. I could rant about the Limit Cut story stuff, but all I’ll say is you could not convince me it's been a year between then and KH3’s ending. All the pieces were there for a grand finale, but they just weren’t put in the right place.
This is so accurate! KH3 was boring nothingness on repeat, extremely back heavy and ultimately unsatisfying in its conclusion. Not to mention the dialogue, they make Sora out to be the dumbest most unaware moron in the universe every time he opens his mouth.
Addressing the paopu scene: I had already been a retired avid Sokai shipper and through Kairi's personality shift from BBS (blank points..?) wasn't expecting much. However, it did fucking blow. Not only that but because my friend had an early copy and hinted at it, I decided to see how many times Sora mentions Kairi throughout the entire game (particularly without her present, like it's done in kh2). It is zero. The first scene they are in together they do not acknowledge each other in the slightest (Yen Sid's tower). The paopu scene IS the first time he even speaks in anyway in reference to her in the game. That was around 26 hours of game he didn't even think about her (My file was 30 hours). It's literally so bad. I do see more positivity towards it from Sokai fans and I can never bring myself to feel the same way as it's just not the same as it used to be nearly two decades ago. but yea when I ignore the end of the game it's actually pretty fun. Similar feelings to where the series moves on from here, though I'm slightly hopeful that the next game will at least just be less setup and mostly story. We'll see how that goes...
Huh. Racking my brain trying to think of moments where Sora mentions her pre-finale and you may just be right. Definitely keeping this fact in mind. Thanks for your input, that’s interesting.
This is DEFINITELY a video I will watch over and over again! Not only because I agree, but because of how creative the writing and editing is! I can’t wait to see more videos from you! 😂🤍
@@auriauri8872 he got reverted to a mental 5 year old in KH3 with the emotional depth of a pack of sardines. Edit: I take that back, even 5 year old Sora understood Ventus heart was in pain.
You made an almost-three hour long video into S-tier content. I watched it in one sitting. Looking forward to you hopefully doing the rest of the series.
Those last 3 minutes of the video. Holy shit man, emotional. For me I think KH3 became more of a symbol or idea for me rather than a new game. I would imagine myself playing the game for a long time growing up, and finally seeing it become announced in my teenage years made it feel like it would close that early chapter of my own life. The game itself was fun enough and some story beats satisfying, I just don't think it could have ever reached the emotional and straight forward finality that some people (including myself) were looking for
The New Seven Hearts is a weird concept. For starters, everyone except Kairi passed their powers on for no clear reason. But then there's the narrative reason they are brought up: Xehanort will use them in his plans if the heroes don't fight him. But that raises a lot of questions. If Xehanort can just kill the opposing side and get the X-Blade (and he can, based on the fact that he does just that to Sora and Co. in the Zettaflare scene while saying that the X-Blade will form from this), why not use the Princesses as Plan A? They'd certainly go down quicker. Why would Sora and Co. not playing ball even be a factor? Ansem and Xemnas have already shown what kind of destruction they can cause if left alone, so there's no way the heroes wouldn't show up. It feels like addressing a plot point with an explanation that doesn't need to be there. Why doesn't the Organization grab some of the Princesses for leverage on the off chance that the heroes can't fill up their ranks in time for the Keyblade War? Rapunzel in particular is completely powerless at the end of her world. But we don't really have time to dwell on any of these questions because KH3 is trying to pump out yet another cutscene to answer yet another question or resolve another plot thread from one of the previous several games, which also leads to other moments that don't get enough expansion on. Demyx and Pals being Keyblade Masters in the past, for example.
This also raises another question: Why are the heroes going along with Goat Man's plan? Instead of trying to prevent it? The entire point of the Keyblade War is to forge the X-Blade. "Oh, but if they don't fight, Xehanort is going after the princesses!" So why aren't they the MAIN target? The Plan A?
I hate "May your heart be your guiding key" so much. It feels like a rip off of "May the Force be with you." and "Live long and prosper." Even my son like's "My friends are my power." better.
Funnily enough it could even be likened to Aleisteir Crowley's "Do as thou will..." and I think in that context it doesn't mean just flowers and wholesomeness.
@@--Morpheus-- There are some hilarious rewrites of some old Carl Barks' Donald Duck comic speech bubbles where they mumble some stuff relating to Black Metal and all that satanic jazz music scene.
So in regards to Terra-nort, there's actually a pretty decent explanation behind it. The game states in the dlc and the secret files that the only characters who have traveled through time are Ansem, Xemnas, Vanitas, Young Xehanort, and the dark replica Riku. In Terra-Xehanorts case, Terra was revived along with Xehanort after Ansem and Xemnas were killed. When Xehanort came too, he simply norted him and he became Terra-nort again. So he didn't time travel like the others.
but that doesnt make any sense xehanort killed his own body, same as sora did in KH1 to release his heart to overtake terras body to have a new one and be young again. The old Xehanort shouldnt exist because he is terra in that moment when ansem and xemnas became one again. Xehanort either is just a wandering heart or a Nobody/heartless at that point and that would also mean there is another half of him just running around, because otherwise it wouldnt make any f sense
This feels funny to say because the game took so long to release, but I feel like it was rushed because a lot of detail was left out so instead of the creators making a part 1 and 2 of KH3 they just decided to squeeze it all into one.
This deserves so many more views!! I’ve been searching for KH3 takedowns that put my own thoughts into words and I think this is the best one. Well edited, funny, and accurate critiques all while still giving credit where credit is due. Funny story, I was actually so disappointed in KH3 that I didn’t even finish Olympus and I abandoned the game, only finally coming back to it recently after 4 whole years. I was like hey, maybe it’s not as bad as I first thought, only to be disappointed again. But at least I got to see the sea salt trio in glorious updated graphics so ig that’s something Anyway, absolutely amazing video, I can’t imagine how much work was put into it
You were disappointed that early on? What were you anticipating in the prologue? I feel like you would have been disappointed by anything if that's the case.
@@GogetaEiyuuYamcha A lot of it was the stilted voice acting and lack of clear motivation or mystery. Plus I had been hearing less than stellar reviews so it turned me off from playing. I wouldn’t have been disappointed by anything, and I went into the game again seriously giving it the benefit of the doubt. I am still interested in KH though, despite how lackluster a lot of KH3 was to me since I do care about the characters a lot
@@GogetaEiyuuYamcha Bro I pretty much abandoned the game when I saw the first Instagram-like loading ads. To call Kh3 a huge disappointment is putting it lightly.
"I haven't even talked about the cut scene with darling Vani Vani yet". 😂❤ this was absolutely amazing man I follow alot KH channels and this is one of the most well thought out breakdown videos I have ever watched. Thank you so much will spread your channel in my area of Philly. Also Vanitas is my favorite character cause I think there's a ton more to his story and dark road showed that
There surely must be more to Vanitas than "What I am is Darkness" in the KH Character Files, Vanitas state's plainly that he doesn't want to be used by the old geezer or any one for that matter! He doesn't want to be merged with Ventus either! He just wants to BE!! I think that if Sora were to convince Vanitas to be free, he would be. That would've been something I'd get behind! Then Vanitas wouldn't want to go back to the void only to be forgotten AGAIN He'd serve a much better purpose than that! And knowing Sora, he'd allow Vanitas to be free to be his OWN PERSON, not just some PUPPET who's strings are being pulled to NO END!!! I stan Vanitas as well I want him to have so much more than he unfairly given ❤😢 All this poor guy has been through, is ABUSE!!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH XEHANORT!!! STOP PUPPETEERING VANITAS, HE'S ONLY A BOY, MEANING HE'S STILL JUST A KID!!! SO LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! VANITAS STANS UNITE ❤❤❤
Loved this video but my favorite part was how much you put into talking about the thousand heartless battles and specifically sora donald and goofys look at each other. That silent “we got this” will forever be my favorite moment in the entire franchise and solidify donald and goofy as more than just recognizable side kicks, but your badass partners who have have been with you on this massive journey. It’s wonderful and this video captures that perfectly along with everything else. Keep up the great work. Also every Xheanort round table discussion has me dying.
Easily the best Kingdom Hearts video on RUclips, don't think I have words to express how perfect this encapsulates my and the community's thoughts and love for this series.
I’m pretty sure the Terranort we see in KH3 was not one who time traveled. Remind tells us that when Xehanort was reconstructed, Terra’s empty body was as well, and he simply re-Norted him to fill his ranks. That’s why his heart returning restores him.
I'mma be honest, I wasn't even a huge KH fan before playing 3. I had seen videos about the story and stuff but I wasn't too invested in it. Was excited to play KH3 and it was my first KH game that I played to completion And even I, going in with no expectations, was disappointed in the ending. Felt like such a cop-out. While I hadn't played any of the games much, I knew the story and this was just such a slap in the face. I knew when I finished it fans were not going to be happy
Hey! I just got to the part of the video where you said you have no idea how Xion came back (great vid so far!). On the small off-chance you see this comment: The Organisation relearned about Xion when they found research data logs on her creation and progress on their systems. Xehanort wanted to explore the idea of bringing her back as a vessel because of her ability to wield a keyblade, and her links to Sora. He sent Young Xehanort to Toy Box to find out whether or not a so-called "puppet" could have a heart in the first place. He saw the toys as "puppets" of sorts, and split the world into two so he could try driving a wedge between their relationships. If he could witness them falling to darkness, he'd know they have hearts. His plan ultimately failed, but his goal was still achieved: The fact they were able to use light to defeat him at all was proof enough. He even remarked: "So even empty puppets can have strong hearts. I'll have to remember that". Xehanort also sent Replica-Riku to San Fransokyo to find out if the foundations of a heart can be created using data. He retrieved the defunct Baymax, and used viruses to try and create said heart within him. Again, this venture ended with relative success. With the information they needed, the Organisation set to work bringing back Xion to introduce her to their ranks. They succeeded, and made a somewhat primitive heart for her with tweaks so she may obey them. However Saix (being a traitor to the Organisation) made his own tweaks to try and return her to the light. Not only did he ensure he was paired with her during the final battle, but during cutscenes he also made conscious efforts and glances toward her while saying the names of her friends out loud in ear-shot. He was trying to get her "blank" heart to remember. As she did, Xion's independent memories locked within Sora started to bleed over to her. Eventually she regained all of her memories in one final pull, which also restored the "chain of memories" linking her to everyone else's memories.
I see every comment. Post-Remind, I pretty much understand, but I wanted this vid to be mostly ReMind exclusionary. I still have all the problems with how cheap her return is, but I've clarified that already. I'm glad you're enjoying the vid, thanks.
What I always found funny how Xehanort gets his good ending with Erequs not even half an hour after having killed Kairi in cold blood. And Sora‘s just standing there all gucci. I know Xion told him that Kairi would be alright. He still just saw the love of his life die in front of his eyes due to this old man. Now said man goes to literal heaven right in front of his eyes. And he has absolutely 0 qualms with it. Fascinating. Truly a human reaction.
You had said EVERYTHING I’ve been thinking about! And so beautifully played out as well! The way kingdom hearts has moved me since I was a kid keeps me coming back, and I will never stop indulging in the games even if they are bad, but I just wish with all my hearts to see a new updated game of KH that made me feel like I was playing KH2 again. I know that will most likely never happen but I still hope. Thank you for all of the time you put into this and showing that KH fans do need to have a bit of a standard.
Agree strongly. Could wax poetic but in short, KH2's strong pathos allowed you to forgive the handful of missteps. KH3 didn't execute its story well enough to get you the pathos you needed to overlook flaws, and then on top of that, its flaws were far stronger and more numerous. You covered the details well and I agree with the vast majority of the video.
Bravo!! Bravo!! 👏👏 So many great points that point out all the issues with the KH3 ending. And I love the video's ending showing why we were soo freaking hyped for this game's release for all these years!
I think the main point of the "backup lights" was to explain why the guardians had to go fight xehanort instead of ignoring him to prevent making the x-blade. Like "if you don't show up we'll just kill the princesses instead and it will still work so you better show up lol" Why they decided fighting the guardians was the easier option, idk
That still doesn't make much sense though. Everyone (or, *almost* everyone) was there to hear about or _witness firsthand_ what kind of damage Ansem and Xemnas alone can do to all the worlds with their control over the Heartless and Nobodies respectively if they are just left to do whatever they want. And now they have Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort himself among them. Remember how the Heartless in the first game were genuinely threatening, were actively killing people/turning them into Heartless, and the worlds were being entirely plunged into darkness which Sora spent a lot the game trying to prevent from happening to the other worlds by defeating the Heartless and sealing the keyholes to keep them from returning? Why would Sora and everybody else *not* expect something like that to happen again when the Heartless are back (and seemingly stronger than before) as well as the Nobodies *and* the Unversed, who are all running around spreading everywhere and causing all kinds of trouble with no end in sight for pretty much as long as Xehanort lives. Why would they choose to just kick back and relax and *not* go stop that? In hindsight, the thought of the guardians considering doing that is even dumber when you see that the entire group ended up initially being killed off by *basic Heartless shadows alone* when they joined together and turned into that giant cyclone in the Keyblade Graveyard. They _all_ got smoked by a tornado of Kingdom Heart's Goombas... They have no room to be cocky and act as if they could simply deal with the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed at any time with no problem.
idk why, but I have weird memories of Larxene doing fucked up psychological torture shit to Sora in CoM, but can't stand that game enough to go through and check.
I love this video with it fair share of positive and criticism it done very well, and there are also huge props for even showing the past years of fan made video to covers of Kh3. Those were nice to see again
I'm not sure I'd consider myself a SoKai shipper because like... I don't hate? it? at least in theory? and I was just idk, waiting to see anywhere of where it went. But where it went was idk, right into the garbage, it felt. Like, idk I don't remember every bit from every game over the years because it's bee far too long but like, I felt like the ship never really got to go anywhere because Kairi has unfortunately just felt like a giant plot device rather than a character of her own and it sucks because like, i want to like her. I have spent years convincing myself that I liked her cos like, the design is good n all. She just... never felt like a properly character and KH3 made it even more noticeable than before and I guess it's just frustrating cos its like when I listen to video essays like this it just reminds me of how poorly she got treated as a character like RIP Kairi (2002-2019) - She Was Just Standing There and That's Really All She Did.
[Edit: We've passed the scene I was hopeful of, and even though it got a bit more commentary than I've seen before, it still wasn't the in depth look I'm searching for. Still very much loving the video though! Your jokes make me laugh really hard and I have yelled my agreement with your points many a time.] Loving the video so far (just about half an hour in) and I am truly hoping you address something I yelled at my TV for when I played - I have never once understood Sora's reaction to the heartless tower taking everyone but him and Riku. His reaction actually made me laugh until I realized he was serious and then I started raging. There has literally been no point in this series when someone was "gone forever", so his reaction felt so melodramatic and out of left field and I have never understood it, and I haven't been able to find a review that talks about this point yet. This coming from someone who loves the KH series, but personally only played the numbered games while watching reviews/recaps/playthroughs of the spinoffs. A heartless tower still means nothing to me - we saw it multiple times in the game and nothing bad happened. And multiple times people have been taken to the realm of darkness or wherever and they DID NOT die or were even considered lost forever (Aqua, Sora when he became a heartless, Riku, Mickey, the list really just goes on). If anyone can explain Sora's reaction to me in a way that is comprehensive lore wise I would be most grateful, but I really think this was just bad writing/voice acting. Nothing leading up to that moment made it feel like it was even REMOTELY a possibility of being true so Sora's reaction was just a total joke in my opinion. I will be keeping my fingers crossed you bring this up in some capacity but you still get my like and sub regardless because your editing and jokes are top tier!
I know it doesn't do any good fixating on what could have been but I'm going to do it anyway. What I imagined kh3 was going to be before it came out was a journey of the protagonists to slowly release the various lost keyblade wielders until they had enough to face Xehanort. Many people talk about how aqua being freed should have happened halfway through and I'm inclined to agree. Is there any reason why the clashing of light and dark had to happen at the keyblade graveyard all within about an hour? Maybe but it could have just not been written and then you could have had the organization actually go after the heroes throughout the story. The fact that we had the entire demo as aqua and yet, in kh3 you only get to lay as her once and never in battle is absurd. The DLC allows you to play as all the characters people wanted to but still only in specific battles during a boss gauntlet. I think they should have spread out the rescue of aqua and ven and given them to us as playable characters as new warriors of light are assembled. They should have removed the hyperbolic time chamber since it didn't mean squat and just said that Kairi and Lea were training and unlocked them as playable characters after a few disney worlds.
PLEASE LMFAO the singing part killed me, and your sarcastic everything, great extreme agree kh3 to me felt horribly rushed and left me unfulfilled, relying on idk emotional manipulation in certain aspects across the game which feels.....cheap?
Fantastic video, KH3 was bloated way down by too many characters. I have a feeling that it wasn't supposed to drag on that long, but Square kept pulling Nomura away to work on other things, while Osaka team made endless sub-stories to keep the Brand(tm) alive. After KH2, the series shifted more to focus on world building instead of plot it feels like. I hope the writers can start fresh in this new "world of fiction" in KH4 and keep things manageable.
I agree. I expected the side characters appearances to be sprinkled more evenly throughout. Like Riku waiting for Sora to talk to Hercules, then be a party member on the first trip to save Aqua. Or introducing a minigame with Lea and Kairi after Sora finds where they are training. Imagine collecting each member of the seven as a way to measure progress.
@mesutozil33 So what you're trying to say is that people should just blindly praise a game even though there are very evident inconsistencies with its mechanics or story?
Tbf, for Xemnas feeling loneliness, he did say that for as long as he could remember, keyword being "remember", it was his first durge of emotions. And him saying what he said in DDD actually makes his feeling of loneliness more valid, 'cause he knew firsthand that his heart was replaced the first chance the body got.
This showed up in my recommended and I’m glad it did. The longer it’s been since this game came out I just get more and more bitter about how it ended. Hopefully kh4 will take notes from the faults of this game but we will see. Great job on the video, hope you are doing well!
@Duncadinca I know this is a bit random, but I'm surprised you didn't mention Ventus telling Sora to "just believe" was basically meaning that the Disney Worlds were completely irrelevant to the plot, because Sora was *TRYING TO FIND THE POWER OF WAKING!* Not only that, but there also shouldn't have been anything stopping us from saving Ventus.
this is the second time i’ve listened to your video, it plays in the background while i (somewhat) do my job. i cannot put into words the utter hole kingdom hearts 3 left gaping after spending over a decade starved for this release, but you do it so perfectly - and hilariously! knowing there are people that genuinely enjoyed this game, after experiencing both one and the MASTERFULLY done two, it’s something i can’t comprehend. nor do i think i ever will. these characters mean everything to me, my childhood love come back from the war. i can tell this series meant the utter world to you as well and that the very least, i take comfort in knowing more people who had dedicated so much to this saga was left gutted by the final installment. thank you for making this ❤ also! sokai shipper here! i’ve been waiting for this budding romance since i was eight, watching sora promise kairi in a glorified sewer system that he’d bring back her lucky charm in one piece. this felt like i was observing two completely different characters wearing their faces, trying to act like the slow burn couple i spent literal years cheering for 😤 i don’t think sora even talks directly to her until the paopu scene, you could very easily convince me sora doesn’t even like her after having proceeded these events. almost gave me whiplash after witnessing sora be reminded of her any time a disney couple came together in the second game. i’m actually embarrassed by their progression in kh3, like someone throwing a toy at me and telling me to shut up about wanting things. i’d almost rather their romance never be touched on again.
So, fun fact, the scenes that are universally seen by fans to be the best in the game are actually the ones that caused me actual irl emotional turmoil and existential dread I'm an OSDD 1b system, in other words, I have Dissociative Identity Disorder with no memory loss. It can be a tough condition at points, but it's something we've managed to live with, and to some extent have managed to be proud of. Stories like KH2, with Roxas coming to grips with needing to share his existence with Sora, helped us cope a lot with the condition! In fact, we thought it was very cool how in KH universe, splintering people or getting hearts out of one's body is a process that typically requires heavy sacrifice (Kairi KH1, Roxas and Xion, Ventus and Vanitas, Xehanort losing og body, etc.) KH3 came out a single week before our official diagnosis appointment and the replica plot has no sacrifice to it I hope this isn't traumadumping, but we think it's important to acknowledge that seeing our childhood series, the one that included the first video game we ever owned, casually declaring the obvious logical happy ending to everyone in the series is to have their own body... MIGHT have distressed us on the trip to our "Determine if you're multiple people stuck in one body for the rest of your life" appointment Because of this the entire replica plot feels so... unnuanced, compared to KH2 before it. It's such a shame. The sea salt trio and wayfinder trio reuniting does genuinely nothing for us, there's this overwhelming sense of stomping over what was established earlier to justify it happening. We're not even opposed to most getting bodies back, just, when you realize how sea salt ice cream represented Roxas and Sora initially (Salty, but Sweet!), did EVERY single entity have to separate? It feels like the nuance was strategically taken out. In the DLC Vanitas even rejects coming back with Ventus, isn't the point of his character that his existence is terrible and he desperately wants to rejoin? To us, Kingdom Hearts will always be that page from the KH2 manga, where Sora and Roxas sit together on the Twilight clocktower, eating ice cream together in their shared mental space. Hearts as close as close can be, but still existing as themselves nonetheless
The problem (as someone who loved the game) i realize looking back is that it feels like half of it should have been in-between games, and not part of a main series one.
It’s plus ask your uncles video will forever be my go to for a playlist of very long video documentaries I can just drop entire evenings on and not be sad at all. I am one of the many one’s disappointed by this and you 2 creators really helps put my feelings into coherent context so thank you
Since you are adamant on avoiding the mobile game, I'll give a spoilrer; Dream Eaters are dead kids. Their theme is associated to death, which is likely why they used it in the Final World scene.
31:00 this is so cathartic to hear since nobody seem to remember that, that is true, they did do all those things, some even before they turned into nobodies so their redemption makes no sense. Btw funny you bring up that Xemnas scene, because at the end of the end of that speech he said "through weakness of body, weakness of will, or weakness of *trust* most of the members chosen for the org were inadequate" which kh3 completely retcons by making most of the "new" members are old ones, including Larxene and Marluxia even tho he said trust was an issue lmao.
@@ZaiDrizzleDropyeah it is. Pacing in game is terrible be cause it's a GaaS told over 5 years, but reading it all at once definitely shows more care than the Sora arc.
Thank you for calling out the bad writing of Isa/Saix. That was not a good "redemption" arc. I still love the series but this aspect has become my least favorite part of KH3.
I thought the whole “new princesses of heart” plot bit was to fill in a plot hole. The bad guys need the good guys to fight them to forge the chi-blade, but what if they just don’t fight? Then they’ll just kill these princesses to forge it anyway.
When Sora went to Olympus as the first world, i thought *for sure* it was a ruse, and that Xehanort was going to show up and plunge the world in darkness. Think about how powerful it would be to return to a beloved world, one that is one of the most recurring and consistent worlds in the series, and have Sora absolutely powerless to save it. Not only would it scale Xehanort as this insanely powerful threat that towers over the Guardians amd singlehandedly turning Herc into a heartless, but it would set the tone for the rest of the game. I would also say that having that world by blocked off and Xehanort using the destroyed remains as a hub for his villainy would put more salt in the wound. I think Sora experiencing that type of loss and powerless-ness for the first time would really put his character into a new predicament and challenge his role as a savior. You could have Soras excuse goofing off in consequent Disney Worlds as a means of him running away from his problems and responsibilities out of fear that he cant save those he loves. You could have Donald and Goofy question his intentions and going along anyway. It wouldve made for a satisfying end game moment where Sora uses his power of waking to bring Olympus and Herc back from the brinks of darkness and finally earning the title of "true hero" just before his final battle in the keyblade graveyard.
Superb! Love to see you rightfully rip apart this lukewarm entry in our beloved series hope to see more Perhaps a video on the mobile prequel? since the servers shut down sqex uploded a gachaless version so you can just wach the cutscenes, no mobile penny pinching anymore
I don't think you needed to do the expectations point at the end, I saw the writing on the wall for kh3 and I knew years before it's release that it was gonna be disapointing, so I HEAVILY tempered my expectations for it, and even still I was surprised at how god awful the pacing and writing is in the game, almost NOTHING works, it feels kinda souless, as if they we're just making checkmarks on what should happen and just going trhu the motions. And keep in mind that I am also a lifetime fan, I grew up with this series. Also I have to touch on the characters assassinations, it feels more like aliens wearing the shells of the characters doing their best to pretend and be them while lacking a fundamental notion of what makes them tick, this is true for almost every character in the game. Look I was never much for ships, or anything relating to romance and drama for that matter but you know, Sora and Kairi were very obviously meant to be a couple from the start, I mean Riku at the start of the series already knew that and tried to help a little on that front. What i'm trying to say is that they're a very cute and romantic couple and in kh3 it's like they're barely acquaintances, and this is just one example of whiplash from character assassination, there are MANY more, like their infatuation with redempion for the villains for example. Not to mention the 20 hours of filler you have to sit thru just to have that excuse of a finale for the series. I find it impossible to have any semblance of immersion playing kh3 and I envy the ppl who can enjoy this, they're 100% injecting the purest form of copium cooked up by Heisenberg himself.
The story ended at 2 for me. Idc if by some miracle 4 revived the series, canonically in my mind, 1, CoM, Days, and 2 is all that the series will ever be. That letter at the end of 2 is just a birthday party invitation from Mickey.
@@Duncadinca you made a data copy of the part of my brain devoted to riku? Does this count as Xion-Riku? Can we expect a spin off mobile gotcha game cameo?
I've watched sooo many of these videos but this. THIS hands down is my exact thought process, but the back and forth fan battles kept my mouth shut 😒 13 ironic years we waited, lol. This is FANTASTIC. Please begging for more. 👏🎉
You sound hot so your opinion is instantly more relevant than any other kh3 essay Also, knowing how much the square enix translators Demyx time is definitely on purpose
41:37 Oh god it’s so painful. Nomura says he dropped Final Fantasy characters to focus on the original characters, yet so many of those characters barely acknowledge one they have long plot lines with. If we’re lucky we get a few sentences. That’s the main issue with backloading the plot.
What an absolutely incredible video. If the mysterious unopened door doesn’t return in your future content, I’ll be writing a two hour long take down on this channel that I’ve newly subscribed to
It’s going to be super easy barely an inconvenience damn it you showed the guy and all damn it. Honestly kh2 was peak I don’t mind three but this ending was more spectacle than anything
0:11 through 0:57 - Goddamn man. Watching all these people be excited for this game is just.......heartbreaking. Knowing now that Nomura just rushed through this game just so he could get to the revival of his failed Final Fantasy Versus 13 project _(i.e. KH4),_ these are the people he betrayed by putting out this terrible half baked game. 0:57 through 1:25 - And in the meantime, Nomura released Dream Drop Distance.......which was such a slap to the face that it ended up sobering me up to just how badly written and played by ear thos series actually was since Chain of Memories. It was with that game that I stopped being a Kingdom Hearts fan, stopped being another one of Nomura's battered wives letting him walk all over me and take my money without question. Dream Drop Distance was the point where I finally had enough. 2:47 - KH2 huh? That's a funny way of saying DMC5 XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD 3:38 through 4:08 - so then.....you're gonna be covering the 30 dollar scam that was Re:Mind? 4:48 - Cause lord knows there has to be some amount of percentage to justify 60 goddamn USD. 5:43 - Even residential dead beat Goku is looking at this spikey haired nitwit with a look of disbelief going _"Brah"._ 6:50 through 7:52 & 13:28 - Getting Batman V Superman flashbacks here! XD 8:22 - Nomura has as much _"love and respect"_ towards Disney characters as Toei and Toriyama have for Tien Shinhan. 8:43 - Pretty impressive _(in a completely fucked up way)_ how this game manages to make a worse version of a movie that everyone hates. Can't wait to see how KH4 does an even worse version of Rise of Skywalker...........don't lie, you know that's exactly what the Star Wars world is going to be a about. 12:56 - Yeah speaking of Tien Shinhan.......... 14:03 through 14:59 - Yeah buckle up kiddies, we're going full Naruto Steven Universe up in this bitch! HALF ASSED UNDESERVED VILLAIN REDEMPTIONS AWAY! 22:18 through 23:22 - Getting Goku and Naruto flashbacks here! XD 24:04 - Oh yes, this flaccid wet fart that was even more anticlimactic than Junketsu Wearing Ryuko. 29:09 through 30:40 - Just when you thought the utter raping of death as a concept didn't get any worse than seven magical orbs that summon a wish granting dragon.......there's the bullshit that happened in FF7 Remake. This is a close neck and neck second, and from the same fucking director no less. 35:17 - Meh, I've seen better........Metroplex from Fall of Cybertron.......Metal Madness from Sonic Heroes........Baal Zebul from Bayonetta 3..........Michael Jackson in Moonwalker.......Mega Maid from Space Balls.....any given Megazord from Power Rangers/Super Sentai..... 37:34 - ruclips.net/video/pqLvFfwcqfw/видео.html
_(Fucking character limits.)_ 44:24 through 47:01 - Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Sasuke Uchiha. 48:59 - That's alright, neither did Nomura. In fact I'm calling it now Sora ends up having a deeper relationship with, err, hold on... _(one google search later)_ that one chick Strelitzia in KH4 than he ever does with Kairi. 52:17 & 1:16:12 - If only Nomura's character writing was as intentionally funny and enjoyable as this....and yes, I'm lumping FF7 Remake into this jab at the idiot. 55:02 through 55:16 - Apathetic. Not only was Kingdom Hearts my first real exposure to these characters but the second game barely gave me reason to even care about their return. 56:46 & 1:13:48 - You hear that sound? That is the sound of every complaint about character frame lag lobbied at any given Nintendo Switch game going right into the shredder >:3 58:15 - YES!! FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT!! Goddamn!! So many fucking sheep praise the upcoming shout out to the fanbase as this grand pivotal moment in the franchise, glossing over the fact that it's being wasted on these fucking KH Goombas! 1:00:09 through 1:01:02 - Someone I actually admired made a joke about how it was now understandable how Donald wasn't very good at healing since his magic was actually better suited for combat. It was not funny, it was stupid. The idea that Donald was secretly this powerful the whole time and was able to kill Terra Xehanort is as stupid as the idea of Bulma being able to defeat Frieza. _Which form of Frieza specifically?_ Yes. 1:03:36 - Eh, I'll do you one better - ruclips.net/video/F9FXdLcrkss/видео.html 1:05:45 - ruclips.net/video/7Chf3Ob63SI/видео.html 1:08:22 - Simple, it's an overglorified tech demo. _"Look how many KH Goombas we can render on screen at the same time! Truly this is the next evolution of graphical horse power for this franchise!"_ 1:08:46 through 1:11:03 - And on top of all that, again, literally a bunch of proverbial Goombas piled on top of each other. 1:21:28 through 1:22:25 - Don't worry about it just pay 30 goddamn USD and you can have proper Org XIII bosses like the good ol' days... 1:23:54 - Because the first game was just that fun and charming _(especially if you were a Disney fan)_ that you couldn't help but love it?
1:26:37 - AND THEN THERE'S THIS ASSHOLE! >8O 1:34:29 - Ths it begins, Nomura callously shoving Kairi into the refrigerator. 1:42:44 - I dunno man, maybe it's just me but I don't feel it's that difficult to explain or understand this series; --- The first Kingdom Hearts game made bank. --- The second Kingdom Hearts game made even more bank. --- Nomura wanted to use Toy Story in the next game after KH2, Pixar said no, so he got pouty about it and stretched this series out with spin off after spin off until Pixar finally said yes. 1:43:41 - Ah, someone else who agrees that Blue is an absolute cunt. Fist bump. 1:43:58 - ruclips.net/video/tXm6F-K6Ffo/видео.html 1:49:53 - And there you have it, Kairi has been fridged. 1:50:24 - See if this was the first game where the other writers were allowed to ring in Nomura if he got out of line I'd buy that point. Hell if he was even willing to step down as director and allow someone else to direct any of the games after 2 let alone direct 3 we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation. But given how much creative control he got with this series? How much pull he gained in the company after the first game became a hit? After the second game became an even bigger hit? I find it hard to believe these other writers were even allowed any say in the story. 1:55:23 - Vergil from Devil May Cry 3 and 5? _No they're talking about Xemnas from KH2._ Oh, okay then...... 1:59:01 - Yeah more accurately he got a full pardon for all his war crimes by the idiotic state. 2:04:42 - Not to mention basically _"Bowman Killing Smaug"_ the plot so hard it ends up being Ansem that stops Xemnas' ultimate plan and save the day, not Sora. 2:05:53 - And then this guy was put in charge of FF7 Remake.....there is no joke here it's just depressing...... 2:06:13 - Oh look this game thinks it's Avengers Endgame, that's just precious. _Didn't this game come out first?_ Allowing that movie to pretty much steal all of this game's thunder by being a better proverbial KH3 than the actual KH3 yes. 2:09:36 - Yeeeeah, guys? You might wanna curb your enthusiasm....and have a drink.... 2:12:01 through 2:13:12 - 30 goddamn USD ladies and gentlemen. 30 goddamn dollars. 2:17:47 through 2:21:24 - Yeah this game's reputation as Duke Nukem Forever 2.0 pretty much speaks for itself doesn't it? XD
This was probably the best unintended recap video I ever seen. reallyed enjoy the 2 hours long video. tho I kinda would love to see a video of the games of the KH series now. this was god tier comedy in this video I haven't laugh this much in years.
Terra-Xenahort was the recompleted version of Xenahort mentioned in the RE:Coded secret ending. Lingering Will is more akin to a Fantasia Broom servant buth with imprinted Terra emotions from the BBS climax rather than a sentient creature. Yes, this isn't explained in game well.
@@d.saunders2506 If memory serves the lingering will stuff was mentioned in the lore bibles that clarify bits of world building. The "nobody have a heart bud" retcon stuff in DDD was actually first established in the 2 tie-in book if memory serves so these books are in fact canon. Like I said poorly conveyed but the answers are technically there.
I will say my favorite part of doing the Saix fight either the first or second time was watching Roxas shred him while Xion would run up, do a few hits, get hit and then run over to Sora. I'd toss a potion on her and watch her run back to the fight. It was fucking adorable
I would happily watch you snark about any game I've played. If you ever want to go back and just joke around about the cutscenes of earlier KH games, please share here! I'll come running to watch. Thank you so much for making this. There was never a dull moment and that's impressive for such a long vid.
I simply can not fathom how you have so few subscribers. Your videos are well thought out, extremely well edited, you're absolutely hilarious, and you don't say the same thing five times in a row( a pet peeve of mine with newer channels). I know you only have 3 videos but they're all so incredibly well made. I'm definitely subscribing and I can't wait to see more from you.
1:03:40 me in 2019: "well that was some weird whiplash" Me in 2023 after the mobile game ended and seeing this clip again: "Nomuraaaaaaa!!!!" Being a kingdom hearts fan is indeed frustrating. I didn't even know about the concert lore.
I have to say going into Kingdom Hearts 3 I had checked in on what was happening with the mobile game and mostly watched back cover and already knew that this game was going to be disappointing because Nomura had already started to write the next ark and clearly didn't give a shit about this one anymore. All of my friends said I was crazy but after we all beat the game and started discussing it they realized I was right and as the mobile game ends I'm sitting here incredibly pissed that I was 100% right. It especially doesn't help that with the events of the mobile game, Xehanort loses so much agency as a character. It's why I've jumped ship and stopped caring about the series. They couldn't even finish the arc that they had been building up for well over a decade before starting the new one and only put out Kingdom Hearts 3 to sloppily wrap this arc up so they can move on to the next one
@@MesserMusic I mean KH2 is still one of the best action games there is so I'll replay it for that. 1 still has some charm and I might get around to playing Re:CoM eventually. At the end of the day though it's gonna only be checking them out for the gameplay alone which would be the only reason I even look at any future games. At least 3 showed that they can finally make a decent game finally
i just found this video in my recommended and i love your editing. KH3 for me was eh, 2 will always be the goat. hopefully 4 will release in my lifetime and not 10 years later along with another 6-7 spin off games. i genuinely hate that the most important story elements and the most interesting to a degree are in fucking MOBILE GAMES. i think theres already one in the making rn called missing link. i love kh but this one felt hollow, i hate DDD but this one is a close second.
So I'm one hour in so far, I don't know if you'll adress it later in the video, but just wanted to say that you forgot to mention one last thing that made the 1000 Heartless fight in Kingdom Hearts II so great; the consequences. As you said, it was that one epic fight that shook the entirety of Radiant Garden and gave us an amazing middle half act to Kingdom Hearts II (alongside the exploration of Tron's world, the reveal of Xehanort/Ansem/Xemnas, the fight against Demyx, meeting Sephiroth and fighting alonside Cloud, Leon, Tifa and Yuffie), however at the end of it all, Sora is confronted with the horrific truth: Saix reveals to him the the Organization is using him to kill heartless so that their hearts can join their artificial Kingdom Hearts made out of people's hearts, in contrast to Ansem's Kingdom Hearts made out of Worlds hearts. And oopsy! You just destroyed 1000 emblem heartless as Sora! And thus released AT LEAST 1000 hearts to be fed to the organization! This is what really puts this huge sequence as something amazing in my opinion: intense buildup, amazing and epic moment and tragic conclusion that contrasts every feeling you had prior to it!
I considered mentioning that, but I felt I made the point clear enough and when a script is this long, you’ve gotta cut a corner or two so the length doesn’t become unreasonable. As much as some would argue it already is.
Well said. The KH2 moment is a feeling of empowerment that switches to a moment of realization that you played into the hands of the villains. The KH3 moment is just a moment that has no bearing on anything. If anything, it's a waste of time on Xehanort's part since it prevents him from getting to the X-Blade faster.
@@Duncadinca Oh I guess that’s fair indeed. Ended up finishing the video and really liked it! A shame that lot of KH fans like us aren’t open to criticism so they likely won’t watch your video, but still you made a really interesting work! I don’t agree with everything, but most of what you said is good points. As someone who’s favorite game of all time is also Kingdom Hearts II, I really do think that KH 1 through BBS was the golden age of the series, the Re:Coded and DDD came and… yeah, then III was better than them but still felt disappointing. Now with KH IV taking on the Yozora plot points and making reaction commands back, I’m really expecting IV to be better!
@@TheAzulmagia yeah… I guess it was a sympathetic fan service moment without too much to it, which is a shame when we think about the symbolism that II had
The biggest bothering thing for me is when sora is like "I'll be the one to face xehanort, you guys keep kingdom hearts shut" they decide to give us the nostalgic trip of sora donald and goofy following each other into the depths of hell, in the very same manner as we started way back in traverse town, they go down to put their hands together, and they say "all for one and one for all" wrong! They said "three half pints together again" like what? The fuck? I'm so mad. Like what the fuck, I love the game pretty much otherwise, and remind makes it a bit better, but this part, this dialogue, I get the three half pints came in the kh3 game, they should make a call to it, but they need to make a call back to the original line that brought them together.
I'm a huge Sokai shipper and the paopu fruit scene was pretty disappointing. It felt awkward and like square didn't want to fully commit to the ship despite the series intending it to be a thing (whether or not one reads it as the otp depends because even I can't ignore everything with Sora and Riku). I also thought they'd share a single paopu fruit. In fact, basically all the Sokai interactions in 3 (with the exception of ReMind and I will fight everyone on that) feel forced and shoehorned in to give Kairi a purpose to be in the game. However, that could be a whole ass video essay of my own so I won't get into it here. On another note, I like to joke that Mickey is a misogynist specifically because of this game.
Boy I sure love how you edited the fight between Aqua and Vanitas, making her appear weaker than she actually is, even though Vanitas was on the back foot near the end and had to resort to cowardly tactics by targeting Ventus 😑 Don't get me wrong, I still think the result of that fight scene doesn't make much sense; knowing what she's capable of, Aqua had plenty of ways to prevent things from ending that badly, yet the writers apparently don't know shit about power scaling and just want Sora to yet again steal the spotlight.
This was superbly made. The editing was top notch, and I laughed a lot throughout. I imagine OP being dressed as an English nobleman from the Regency era. Wig and hankerchief included.
Pretty good review of the final act. I'm pretty sure every fan could agree the writing could've been better (I have a rewrite on the whole game myself, might even do it for the whole series as a writing project.) I only watched the first four trailers and had a blast with the game despite its flaws. Even though I enjoy the concert only cutscene readings and interviews. They were referenced in the game- but not having the Kairi letter to Sora, the Namine/Terra interaction, and the interview where it was said that once you aquire Master status you can upgrade to a master level keyblade. The last bit is very very important to not explain in game. I agree with your rebuttle about may your heart be your guiding key replacing my friends are my power. I love the key quote, it was on my graduation cap. But it should have stayed said by characters like Chirithy and the characters of the past. But thank you for your dedication to edit this long video
I will say and have happily said for the last 5 years that Kingdom Hearts should have ended at 2. 3's ending did not satisfyingly conclude and felt like a kick to the guts for fans that had been following since the beginning. I can't say I got too into the hype, because although I watched every trailer, having major story moments spoiled in each one of them kind of dulled the enjoyment.
Kh3 is definitely not a fantastic game with a bad ending. It’s a bad game with a bad ending. Everything besides the finale was meaningless jumping around in disney worlds. And the ending was just bad too. They had a shot for shot recreation of let it go. Like wtf is this shit? A giant disney advertisement?
@@MesserMusic hell no, the way they went about it in this game was completely different. The worlds in the old games had specific tie ins that tied in with the plot, and the kh stuff that happened in the world had relevance. In KH3 they literally just added in worlds from popular movies and no one in the organization had any rhyme or reason behind their actions in those worlds, they literally were just waiting for the war the whole time it was a very bad game. Explain to me why a shot for shot recreation of let it go was in there?
@@s3raphhI think you lost just by saying “nostalgia” if you can’t argue back and think by saying “nostalgia” you win I think u just gotta accept this game was really bad game and nomura just wanted the money and didn’t put effort on this game funny how fan wanted this game so bad and square alright let’s make this a check list game
As this video's doing pretty well, we're gonna try something. There's plenty of great KH content out there, so I'm going to plug a KH video that I think is underrated and if this yields positive results, we'll do it again.
So here's a short KH animation that takes the Riku VS Anti-Aqua battle and (without spoiling) gives it a bit more fun and life. Great watch, the creator's hella talented.
ruclips.net/video/E_f1TC3etjU/видео.html
"Kingdom hearts 3 would rather tease a story than write one"
Honestly that hit the nail on the head.
My problem with this franchise summarized perfectly.
Oh damn lol I just got into the franchise myself💙🤣 but maybe that is understandable yeah,although I still love it.
@@darkscoutergamer6168 Oh you still can love it. I freaking do. You definitely get attached to the characters. That's enough to keep me coming back to the story.
@@Eden.-. YES 💙 the characters are amazing,what’s your fav game? I haven’t decided yet since finishing yesterday
@@darkscoutergamer6168
Oh boi. Honestly hard to say. I normally rank it in terms of my favorite characters. I love Aqua so much. Naminé is great. Axel is best boi.
Roxas is amazing.
I love Brain and hope to see more of him in 3d games. I'm curious about Strelitzia ( or however you write that)
As for villains.
I liked the organization 13 back when it was about being nobodies, don't like the "Real organization that much"
I appreciate Vanitas commitment to who and what he is.
When ranking the game itself.
358/2 Days ending made me feel the most emotional. I love the trio tragedy. Birth by sleep is close too. Poor aqua.
Gameplay wise I'm enjoying my Kh2 critical level 1 playthrough the combat is surprisingly satisfying when you actually have to pay attention to the enemies move sets.
Storywise, surprisingly enough I love the writing in Union X. (Granted I didn't have to sit to all the filler stuff since I watched only the important cutscenes when the servers were already closed). But it was the first game where the universe started making sense to me. And honestly the only thing keeping it from making it my favorite is that it is a mobile 2d game . Whitout spoilers the ending was great.
@@Eden.-. ah bet bet💙 and fr? I think both versions of org 13 are awesome but for sure can understand the og for sure🔥 and is dark road the only one available on mobile atm?
"She can bring him to the Keyblade Graveyard"
HE WAS ALREADY IN THE KEYBLADE GRAVEYARD. WHY THE FUCK DID HE ONLY SHOW UP THE SECOND TIME
………..I’m keeping this comment in mind, the next time I talk about that scene.
@@Duncadinca there's a theory I heard a while back that made a lot of sense but it unfortunately has been disproven. The TLDR is essentially "Sleeping realm means we get to ignore fate then transplant this new timeline onto the old one"
Hi there, I know this is an old video and all, but I feel if there's anyone who'd appreciate this greater context it'd be you based on this video. You posed the question "How could a series with one of the best deaths also have one of the worst?" comparing Xion's to Kairi's, and well, it has a lot to do with a person who's mostly unknown to the mainline games enjoyers.
Her name is Tomoco Kanemaki.
She was the lead scenario writer for Days, and is the writer of the Kingdom Hearts Novels. Even if she wasn't the one writing out the dialogue for the game she was the one who conceptualized and wrote out the big ideas and plot points of Days. If you've ever wondered why Days seemed to have a lot more writing in it, like how it has this whole allegory for corporations running employees into the ground only to replace them with younger, better ones when they're done, it's because of her.
I am not saying that KH needs more of this higher writing, KH1 is campy as hell and I don't think a lack of "deep subtext" hampers it in the slightest. However, what I will say is that the current writing team seems to lack an actual writer to help them. It's what I feel is the driving reason behind the distinct lack of narrative catharsis most of KH3 has in it's finale.
I don't think every issue would be solved by bringing someone in like Kanemaki for more games, such as the very heavy hand of Disney forcing them to do what they did to the Tangled, Frozen, and Pirates world, but I think it would do them a lot of good. At the very least I think it'd help cut out things like, "we don't know which way this plot should go, let's consult the fans." I may not be an expert at writing, but I have enough experience to tell you that delegating major plot points to the fans is... not a very good sign.
Truthfully, I'd rather see the version of this without Roxas and Xion, because it's clear that feeling an obligation to add them back had very poor results on how they were handled. That statement from Nomura honestly settled something that's bothered me for a while. Personally, I hate that Roxas and Xion were brought back, characters who's original character arcs ended in the realization that they needed to go away for the better. The tragedy of their characters was that they willingly chose their sacrifices, and for me, effectively undoing a sacrifice for the sake of fanservice is just gross writing.
Which is not to say I'd hate seeing them return under better circumstances (like with the proper guidance of a writer, see this tangent is still relevant to the original point), but I'd want some damn good writing to justify bringing them back into the fold. It's also an issue I share with Axel's return. It's a case of fanservice and not because they had some cool, interesting new journey for him to go on. (honestly that's probably why the majority of the true org XIII members get character assassinated in their farewell cutscenes in KBG) It's this lack of a writer's touch that leaves Axel's main function as... comedy relief outside of the reunion hug. Do you know how killer it'd be to see Axel take charge in the save Roxas campaign? That shit writes itself, and seeing Axel struggle would give Roxas' return some narrative catharsis. But I digress...
I know this has gone supremely off tangent for the original purpose of this comment, and is perhaps excessive and self indulgent for a video with a comment section that died nearly a year ago, but I couldn't help myself, not when it's for someone who's got a passion for KH and wants to see it be the best it can be.
I appreciate the info, thanks
I always thought Larxene had a thing for Demyx instead of Marluxia, their dynamic always felt a lot more “Tsundere” than the practically nonexistent interactions with Marluxia
Chad opinion
That was my first thought when I heard her mention that
Listen, I don't care how much of a bandaid was placed on Kairi's character in ReMind. She was so nonexistent as a character that her AI was given no thought. Seriously, she was the ONLY party member (In my game at least) that did nothing beyond run into an invisible wall throughout the entire fight. And when I tried to free her (Thinking her tracking bugged out), she just turned 180 degrees, ran across the field, and into the invisible wall over there. The writers don't care about Kairi. The programmers don't care about Kairi. Sora doesn't care about Kairi. I don't care about Kairi. She used to be my favorite character. She is no longer such. She had a brief moment of being important at the end of KH2 with her "This time, I'LL fight!" moment. Which was good. And then she does fuck all in KH3 other than get in the way, pretend like she's doing something, get kidnapped, and be "killed."
And now let's discuss everyone's uber happy reunion at the end:
So, I work in the English Literature field. This means I go through stories constantly. I yell at authors for dumb decisions in story-telling and scribble in red ink on their manuscripts. And there's something I find myself constantly telling authors: It's okay to have a tragic ending for a beloved character. Fans will constantly whine to bring the character back, but if that wasn't the original intention, it will fail. Every. Time. Roxas, Xion, and Namine were never meant to be brought back. That was never the intention behind their characters. They were tragic characters with a tragic ending. And, to a lesser extent, the same can be said about Axel and the other organization members. However, where Axel's return doesn't feel as forced and contrived (And we need our villains in the Org members), Roxas, Xion, and Namine's returns do. Axel's story didn't necessarily feel finished. So it wasn't as grating to bring him back. And it felt nice to return him because it meant the second arc of his story SHOULD have been about his redemption. Making up for the things he did as a Nobody.
However, Roxas, Xion, and Namine all had very clear stories. They had a clear arc to their character and a satisfying (yet tragic) end. And even so, Roxas and Namine's end wasn't even all that tragic. But the emotional weight of their ending is undercut by their return. But their story's end felt good. It made you cry and feel the emotions. It was beautiful and symbolic. It showed the consequences of decisions made. It reminded people that there ARE consequences. Xion gave up her existence to return to Sora, so he could be whole again. Because she was simply a piece of him that was scattered. Roxas gave up his existence to return to Sora, so he could be whole again. So he (Roxas) could be whole again. As Namine told him, "You won't disappear. You'll be whole." He accepts his fate at the end of KH2 with grace after fighting against it for so long. Namine gives up her existence to return to Kairi, so she could be whole again. She never stopped accepting her end with grace. She did what she needed to make up for the things she did and then she returned to the place she belonged.
And then they're all brought back. With no real explanation of a satisfying nature. They're just casually back. And it doesn't really add to the story as a whole. Yes, they had their cute mini-scenes. However, nothing of value was added. They don't massively change the direction anything goes. The battle with Roxas (And playing Roxas in ReMind) was cool and epic. But we could've achieved that without bringing him back (Considering he is a part of Sora), if that was the direction people wanted it to go. Random spitball: Sora sees Kairi kidnapped and has a freeze up moment. Panic strikes. He doesn't know what to do. Roxas takes the reigns of his body for a bit to save him and the others. Gorgeous moment with Axel after the battle to promise that he's still there. He just IS Sora.
The same can honestly be said about Terra. He had a complete story. It was tragic. Granted, his return was a bit better, since it's clear that him returning was at least a casual thought floating around the writing department. But he didn't need to return. I would argue that it would've been more narratively satisfying if after Terranort was defeated (With the help of Lingering Will because how badass would that have been?! Then in ReMind we could've played as Lingering Will! Omg, the alternate reality of KH3 sounds so beautiful) the cutscene showed Lingering Will shudder and kneel down again before the armor collapsed into a heap on the ground, leaving only the keyblade sitting there. And Ven or Aqua could have a tearful moment when they say, "He's finally free." Riku inherited Terra's keyblade since Way To Dawn is apparently too edgy for new Riku. Would've been better than a damn CAR KEY. And it would've had story significance beyond "Master Yen Sid has a ton of keyblades in the basement, yo." Since Riku is who Terra chose in BBS. Then in the ending cutscene with Ven and Aqua, they place Terra's wayfinder on the grave thing they made before holding their own up to the sky, saying without words that they'll find each other eventually. Even if it's just in the next life.
You can't be afraid of killing off characters and keeping them gone. If that is the original intention, stick with it. Trying to force characters back who were never meant to return does not make for a better story. It makes for an unsatisfying conclusion that doesn't feel earned.
I can say by the 38 likes(at this moment) on your comment that we 100% agree with your perspective. Breaking the purpose of any important moment of any story is lazy and it's a big slap in the face of a character that "sacrificed" theyself. "My sacrifice is necessary!" -Well, good for ya.
As much as I do dislike the way they returned them as some kind of checklist of oh that one's gotta come back, I disagree that having this be the end of their story is satisfying.
Roxas IS NOT Sora, that's the whole point of his story, Naminé didn't take her reunification with grace because it's super cool actually, she is implied throughout CoM, 2 and some parts of days to want to disappear in a suicidal sense.
Xion's existence being denied for Sora, being told that there'll be "nothing left of her" is proven false by her remaining there, having grown her own heart through the bonds she's made with others.
See, one of Kingdom Hearts' themes is what it means to be a person and it goes out of its way to show even beings of data (Tron and Data-Sora), puppets/replicas (Repliku and Xion) and nobodies (Roxas, Namine, Axel, debatably some of the others partially it's unclear) can be real.
There's no such thing as someone fated to never have their own identity and staying hidden within Sora and Kairi - while a good story turn for a while (I think the moment with Roxas taking over that you mentioned or maybe also Naminé showing through when Kairi is in danger would be super cool) - I do think if they want to ever fully resolve their arcs they have to become their own people in some way.
Again, I do not like how KH3 handled this I hate how it handled pretty much everything, but that's like I said because I felt they were going off a checklist and contriving ways for them to come back. Especially Roxas coming back in the middle of battle, while I do get what they're going for it just feels like they're doing whatever they want.
I think a scene in the end credits with them coming back in replica bodies (like they did with Naminé(even though I am sad about her relative absence from the story before that) properly and their respective friends welcoming them back would have been a good end to things with further games exploring their new dynamic.
Although I do like the khux plotline it is sad that Nomura seems to have moved on entirely past resolving everyone's problems just by cramming it all into this game with no room to breathe, having it feel artificial and having everyone stay in their groups of three as if nothing happened.
@@TheLadysAtelier I see your point with that, but I personally disagree. I think it would've been... More satisfying (in my opinion) if it had been more a situation of Roxas showing up as Sora. Because he is meant to be that half of Sora. DiZ/Ansem even says in KH2 that Roxas should share some of that "anger" with Sora.
Granted, we could debate for days whether or not Roxas should be his own person or not lol. But, personally, I like the idea of Roxas accepting his end as happened in KH2. KH2, as a whole, felt like a very satisfying ending for Roxas and Namine. And I personally love a good tragedy.
Though I think everyone can agree that Terra coming back was just a why moment. Like, we can explain Aqua because she was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for four score and seven years. We can explain Ven because he was essentially frozen in time all passed out while his soul was chilling in Sora for a bit. But Terra doesn't really have an explanation as to why he's allowed to come back. I guess he was frozen in time by being the Guardian? But then I feel it undermines Lingering Will and it's just a mess. But if you are cool with Terra coming back, that's your thing.
Glad to know I'm at least not the only person wholly unsatisfied with the way the game handled it lol. I think you're right on the money with the whole checklist thing. But it wasn't even that the revivals came crammed in one game. It was in the last BIT of the game. After a bunch of busy-work, essentially, because we have to have Disney worlds. It would've been better if that was a thing that was stretched out through the ENTIRETY of the game. Instead of Sora running around trying to get his strength back and "find the power of waking" I feel it would've been better if he was running around trying to find like... Clues to help get these people either out of his head or clues to figure out how to start charging rent because have you SEEN housing prices? And they just wanna live rent-free in his head? Takin' advantage of our boy, all I'm sayin'.
@@shaelynmartin1996
we can agree to disagree ofc
I've seen some people (well, one fanfiction and one reddit post) wholeheartedly believing that actually Roxas is Ventus with temporary amnesia which also left me confused, like it'd be interesting but it just feels wrong to deny them both their own identity.
Regardless,
I definitely agree the interesting story parts should've been more spread out and they should've actually left them room to breathe. Have characters interact, have them interact with people outside of their designated friend groups. Like Kairi and Lea had a really good dynamic going in that like one scene and then it just goes away and Kairi starts being weirdly useless and almost emotionless and Lea turns into some kind of Deadpool-style comedic relief and they just kinda don't interact anymore (might be a bit biased as I've always been a fan of the they are siblings theory)
Characters not having any conversations is a problem in general. Like someone pointed out that Sora doesn't think of or talk about Kairi even once before they physically see each other in the tower a chunk through the game (and even then feels like they barely acknowledge each other), Riku and Kairi feel like polite coworkers rather than childhood friends (do they even talk I genuinely don't remember)
Why are super interesting situations like Ventus looking like Roxas dismissed away with a throw away comedic line from Lea and then one glance at each other when they actually meet.
in reply to your point about Terra, I'm not entirely opposed to his return, it felt clear that it was going to happen. Having him be older would be the most logical case, considering all the other returned Nobodies have aged (see Ienzo, Isa and Lea) but I actually just really think defeating Xemnas+Ansem SoD should have brought back Terranort not Master Xehanort, which would've granted return to an older Terra, maybe.
I'm kinda opposed to all the time travel shenanigans in general and I hate having all the different versions there it's just weird.
Like Ansem's and Xemnas' defeat felt really poignant and having them just vibe here somehow feels off.
Young Xehanort is a goddamn mess (wtf happened I like him in Dark Road like he's likeable to me in that game and I cannot fathom what happened on his grand world tour that turned him weird arrogant and a bit sadistic he feels less mature than at any point in dark road (even when he was a young child))
I've been thinking a lot about what I would've preferred, and aforementioned Terranort return would've been an acceptable option I feel. Have him be the main villain of 3, leaving Aqua, Ventus and Mickey, as well as Riku to some extent with an emotionally complex relation to the villain. The main quest would be reaching him and fighting some of Organization XIII that he managed to recruit back and/or Disney Villains he's recruited.
I think what you mentioned with the throughline of the worlds being "we need to find a way to bring back (Ventus) Xion, Roxas" is a really good idea and could tie in into how do we bring back Terra from within Terranort.
Also very much a side note but Guardian being Terra does not undermine Lingering Will, at least as much as it is entirely consistent (and probably planned) within the lore.
In Kingdom Hearts a person is divided into body, soul and heart. The heart allows you to feel things and form bonds, while the soul connects the heart with the body and is basically described as a "will" or mind, which is why someone with a powerful will can become a Nobody, they're lacking a heart but the soul stays with the body.
While Guardian is a representation of Terra's heart, Lingering Will is just his soul, his will to stop Xehanort that clung onto his armor. This is directly pointed out when Terranort exclaims "Your body submits, your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist!?"
Lingering Will is literally remains of Terra's will, while Guardian is his heart being chained by Xehanort taking over his body.
@@TheLadysAtelier I respect your feelings on it, even though they differ from my own. Though I do think that you misunderstood what I meant by the Guardian undermining Lingering Will. It was that exact line that makes the sudden switch of the Guardian feel like it undermines the point of Lingering Will.
"Your body submits, your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist!?"
This line here gives Lingering Will weight. He's the last line of defense Terra had. And even then, it's just the lingering desire to fight whomever crosses his path believing it to be Xehanort. Upon being defeated, he recognizes the individual isn't Xehanort and returns to waiting for another chance.
So the Guardian twist of it being Terra and saving Aqua and Ven undermines that chance Lingering Will represents. His heart is supposed to be succumbed. The only thing left being Lingering Will. So using the Guardian as the twist of saving Aqua and Ven instead of just having Lingering Will come in and fight to free himself one final time (As he does once Sora reverts time) takes away the weight of the character and what he represents.
Of course, this is purely my opinion, personal and professional. It's just one of those things where if I had been the editor for the KH3 script where I would've underlined that part in my fun red pen and written on the side "Audience connection to this Guardian < Audience connection to Lingering Will. Advise rethinking how this goes for a more satisfying audience connection."
As for the Kairi stuff... I don't have the brain power to even think about where to salvage her character from KH3. As I stated in my original comment, it was painfully obvious that no one cared about Kairi. Not even the programmers, considering how jank her AI is. She's only given some semblance of care in Re:Mind. And that feels more like a backtrack of "Oh damn, we didn't realize people still cared about her." But still, her characterization is atrocious. And the problems all start with the frozen time bubble she and Axel are in. (Amusing how most problems all boil down to time shenanigans lol). But, personally, I feel the game (from a story perspective) would've heavily benefitted from Sora not being the main character. Instead, playing through Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Sora: Going through non-Princess Disney worlds. Riku: Going through the Realm of Darkness. Kairi: Going through the Princess Disney worlds. Kairi going to the Princess Disney worlds would bring out her role as a keyblade wielder and a Princess herself. Maybe a subplot of how she's conflicted about losing her "princess" titles with all these new ones popping up. Worried that she'll be replaced too, but also not wanting to be forced on the sidelines again. Her main party member being Axel, Sora being Donald and Goofy (Obviously), and Riku being Mickey.
Because really... Sora needs all this super hands-on training to learn the Power of Waking but Kairi gets stuffed into a time bubble? Why not stuff Sora in a time bubble and make him train until he learns it? Why doesn't Kairi need to know the Power of Waking? Just a bunch of problems that sprout from the sole desire to kick Kairi to the sidelines.
Seems to me that this was rushed so we can get to Versus 13 the real game he wanted to make.
It's literally unironically that. He wanted to get to the master of masters arc so this was an incredibly rushed trash heap as a result
And versus 13 was scrapped becoming something else in FFXV. Square Enix has clearly lost its management when it comes the games produced by themselves unfortunately
There’s something you should have mentioned about the 1000 heartless fight. The build up wasn’t the only memberal thing about that fight but also the reveal at the end that you SIGNIFICANTLY helped the organization with their plans. When you thought you had a major victory, they take it away from you…
KH2 was done in the Renissance disney era.
KH3 is the modern disney era...
Yup, makes sense it was so bland-
"It felt like Nomura only wrote this moment, because he knew thats what a lot of fans wanted." This is how I feel about the game as whole. It felt like one big check box, just so fans would stop asking for it.
"Master Xehanort did not get redeemed."
True
nor did he need to be. KH3 xehanort. does however contradict BBSand DDD xehaort, and. to an extent dark road Xehaort but that came after kh3 so isnt a sin
@@flygonkerel781 he didn't get either vindicated or vilified, he just sort of sat there menacingly the whole game until the end, and even then his motivations are awfully strange and his sudden "redemption" was stupid.
My problem with Master Xehanort being re-written in to a misguided protector of balance of light and darkness is the same issue I would have if Disney made Palpatine into a misguided defender of balance to the force; both characters have shown throughout their respective series that they revel in darkness and have shown no grief or regret of taking advantage of others and ruining countless lives(especially in DDD where he gloats about ruining the lives of Ven, Terra and Aqua while smiling as if he enjoyed doing it) or even a hint of doing any one thing for the greater good in the name of balance but instead out of their own self-interests and curiosity and no confusing character contradiction that are the 'xehanort reports' will change my mind on that fact because you can tell me all you want that, "xehanorts reports say his intentions are this', but if his actions throughout the series completely contradict what he says in those reports up until a certain point where his motivations and reasons suddenly change to fit what was originally in those reports than that can be summed up to lazy writing.
In the end, I feel like Disney had a hand in forcing Xehanort's backstory and motivations to be changed in order to make the ending more 'palatable' to a younger audience and it really shows how rushed the story was in not just in Xehanort and his motivations, but KH3's story as a whole.
Nomura doesn't care about Kairi, and I don't think he really ever has. He treats her like the princess peach of kingdom hearts, and it's just kinda sad. The female characters in the Kingdom Hearts series aren't treated very well in my opinion, but I guess that's just japanese writing. The few female characters in Kingdom Hearts ether die are villains or are damsels in distress and get captured by the bad guys. I thought Kairi was supposed to be a main character, but apparently not she's just a girl who gets captured or killed or to be a plot device. It's pretty sad for Kairi. I really love Kingdom Hearts, but I just wish that its characters were treated better.
I've seen people say this, and I have no idea why they do. Kairi is the only female character who's constantly sidelined. Larxene is a villain.....just like everyone else in Organization 13. Namine was an asset to the organization just like Roxas and Xion were. Aqua arguably did the most out of the Wayfinder trio, being the one in the group who passed the Mark of Mastery exam.
If being stripped of your agency qualifies as being a damsel in distress then most of the male cast were more or less the same way at some point or another.
Terra lost his body, Ventus had his Hearts shattered, Sora not only fell to darkness in the first game but also had to sit in a pod still his memories were fully restored, Riku needed help recovering after being manipulated into falling to darkness, Roxas wanted his own identity, etc
Most people in KH male or female had to be rescued at some point, and I don't see how you can have played the games and not realized that.
@@utopian4769 Kairi is the only female character that has very little to no agency in the games. If you look at characters like Aqua, Xion or Namine they're all story relevant and active in the plot for better or worse. It has nothing to do with Kairi needing to be saved and all about the fact that she literally does nothing for the plot other than act as a drive for Sora.
They even teased her as a real keyblade wielder at the end of DDD and throughout KH3 only for her to get completely sidelined.
Yeah she finally gets her moment in Remind after all the fan backlash.
@@yderga8707
Yeah I pretty much agree with you. I see people in the fanbase always saying KH mistreats its female characters when it's literally only Kairi who is given barely any screentime. Namine, Xion, and Aqua all have their own story arcs.
@utopian4769 in fact I'd go to say that the other female characters are some of the best written in the series.
39:23 Thanks for validating my not being crazy-- that's some really strong onee/shota energy, it nearly took me out
and the wildest part is that THIS is the most emotion-laden line uttered by Aqua's English VA.
DUDE EXACTLY, She's usually so bland but she totally sounded so suggestive
I honestly think that Nomura wanted KH3 to have the storyline of the mobile game and foretellers but he had no idea how to work it into the narrative, so instead KH3 basically just was a teaser for the game he actually wanted to make.
Well, as Duncadinca stated, Tetsuya Nomura is not the only one in charge of the writing of the KH series, as he's still working under Square Enix and effectively Disney's control since Disney apparently owns the Kingdom Hearts series now.
@@Loner098 Disney has always owned the Kingdom Hearts series. I think they just didn't care about it until they realized they could use it as advertisement for their movies.
There are 5 Foretellers and there were 5 empty slots in Xehanort’s Real Organization 13 at the end of DDD… add to that Xehanort talking about the Lost Masters and the Keyblade War and Xigbar talking about his ancient Keyblade.
So some did speculate that Xehanort would summon the Lost Masters (maybe with the Book of Prophecies) to help him start the Second Keyblade War. Could have been cool.
Instead now the Foretellers will be roaming around downtown Tokyo, probably wearing modern fashion. How captivating…..
I think you're the only other person I've seen mention how Riku Replica's relationship with Namine is built on lies and gaslighting, which makes his sacrifice less heartwarming and more concerning. Even if you're meant to see him as making this choice of his own volition, Namine has never really cared about him at all, which makes any supposed bond between these characters tenuous at best. That said, the reason I imagine he doesn't take a body of his own is because he still has hang-ups about feeling like a copy of Riku, even if both of them are very distinct visually at this point given RR is (seemingly) KH1 Riku permanently.
Am I the only one that is extremely bothered by the fact that Lea and Ventus never talked except for that one brief moment? Like, in BBS, Lea says of Ventus that they're friends now, and then in a cut scene with Kairi, he implies that he is drawn to Roxas because he looked like Ventus, but no, let's have everyone go to their respective trio and just stay there.
If they spent even monicrum of effort or thought into the pacing of the story or the layout of events there would've been plenty of time for each character to get interactions in this game.
We spend so much time following Mickey and Riku in the dark realm doing and saying nothing of importance, and scenes of Xehanort doing absolutely nothing while the guardians of light conspire against him.
You mean to tell me there was *no* better way of re-introducing the plot than stuffing it all at the end? You mean to tell me it's absolutely necessary for Sora to aimlessly wander Disney worlds when he's supposed to be learning the power of waking? Something intangible of which 99% of the Disney cast could offer no help or relevancy in learning?
Funny that in the secret ending of kh1 Roxas appears with yellow eyes, but norting wasnt a thing so no one cared.
This was great. Broke down the whole game scene by scene.
I hate that Riku just threw away his Way to the Dawn Kayblade. It's HIS Keyblade, it represents his growth as a character and his overall journey. Then some Demon Tower snaps it in half and Riku just... tosses it. Oh don't worry he gets a much better Keyblade in Yen Sid's basement. What the hell was that about? Riku sees his Keyblade snapped in two and basically says "Welp, can't use this Keyblade anymore. Oh well." You can apparently just swap Keyblades no problem, kinda makes it feel like their relevance and sentience (Keyblades choose their wielders after all) is slowly fading away... Riku saying he'd miss Ansem just feels wrong considering all of the trauma that Riku suffered. Maybe if Riku said something like "It'll be strange not having to worry about you anymore. I look forward to finding out what that's like." A sentiment like that could be a way for Riku to look to the future and tie into Ansem's last word of "It's time to move on. There is more to seek so go forth now and seek it."
It's even weirder because he could still keep the WtD keychain even if Braveheart is the new default form.
The Keyblades seemingly losing sentience sucks as well, cause we know there used to be a lot more, and that originally darkness was a few sentient beings that turned into a massive force spread across the worlds, so they could have paralleled that with the Keyblades of light going from a massive population of wielders to only about a dozen chosen ones.
The ONLY way i could see the whole thing make sense is if WtD breaking somehow made it become not a Keyblade, and Yen Sid resummoned a Keyblade for Riku in the form of Braveheart, and even then that's just really convoluted.
And we still can't find his giant car.
I saw the sheer quality (And horniness) of the editing and I was Like "HOW DOES THIS BEAST DOES NOT HAVE MOR-" until I realized this is your first video. Let me say what a absolutely strong way to begin your RUclips career, I'm speechless the technical quality was on another level !!
This comment will keep me goin for a while. Big thanks.
Hilarious, insightful, heartfelt, compelling, the editing, the points made, the presentation of it all, the fact that the critiques made here come form a place of love and desire to see the story really shine, the way you were able to voice many of my hang-ups and frustrations with the series, love everything about the video and I'm honestly blown away, I can only imagine all the hard work of putting this beast together. Watched the whole thing in one go and I'm sure I'll be coming back to watch it again many times more. THOSE LAST THREE MINUTES THO! Incredible job, Instant new sub!
Comments like these keep me going, thanks. Glad those closing minutes hit.
1:41:39 Well, yes and no. Nomura couldn't decide whether to revive them or not. He had a Roxas-and Xion-less scenario in mind, but wasn't sure about implementing it. So, he turned to the fans to make up his mind. "There are parts of the story that I won't budge on, but when I'm having trouble, I will consider what everyone is saying." If Nomura were confident that he didn't want or need Roxas and Xion anymore, then he never would've cared about what the fans wanted.
I still find it hilarious how Nomura saw how much fans loved Roxas and wanted him back, then wrote in a character who's an exact copy of him, who fits into Roxas story narritively and would give a perfect excuse to bring Roxas back as a human, only to tell us he's not Roxas, and then immediately after sweat about how he's going to find a way to bring Roxas back in 3....
So now one puppet body, Nobodies growing hearts scenario later we have two of the same character model running around, lol.
The editing is fucking amazing, the jokes were great, and the delivery is fantastic(pls get into voice acting, you're good!)
Can't wait to see more!
Your pfp is pretty amazing. Thank ya for the kind words.
You pretty much summed up my thoughts on the finale, as much as I liked it. I loved the buildup, but the KH3 ending felt like a “To Be Continued…” rather than a proper finale to the story up to this point.
If they didn’t tease all the Union X-related stuff or just showed us what was in that stupid black box, I think the story would’ve been more cohesive. I could rant about the Limit Cut story stuff, but all I’ll say is you could not convince me it's been a year between then and KH3’s ending.
All the pieces were there for a grand finale, but they just weren’t put in the right place.
No offense, but you *do* realize that Nomura specifically stated that KH3 would only be the end of the Xehanort/Dark Seeker Saga, right?
This is so accurate! KH3 was boring nothingness on repeat, extremely back heavy and ultimately unsatisfying in its conclusion.
Not to mention the dialogue, they make Sora out to be the dumbest most unaware moron in the universe every time he opens his mouth.
I can't tell what's worse: Chrono Cross or KH3.
Addressing the paopu scene: I had already been a retired avid Sokai shipper and through Kairi's personality shift from BBS (blank points..?) wasn't expecting much. However, it did fucking blow. Not only that but because my friend had an early copy and hinted at it, I decided to see how many times Sora mentions Kairi throughout the entire game (particularly without her present, like it's done in kh2). It is zero. The first scene they are in together they do not acknowledge each other in the slightest (Yen Sid's tower). The paopu scene IS the first time he even speaks in anyway in reference to her in the game. That was around 26 hours of game he didn't even think about her (My file was 30 hours). It's literally so bad.
I do see more positivity towards it from Sokai fans and I can never bring myself to feel the same way as it's just not the same as it used to be nearly two decades ago.
but yea when I ignore the end of the game it's actually pretty fun. Similar feelings to where the series moves on from here, though I'm slightly hopeful that the next game will at least just be less setup and mostly story. We'll see how that goes...
Huh. Racking my brain trying to think of moments where Sora mentions her pre-finale and you may just be right. Definitely keeping this fact in mind. Thanks for your input, that’s interesting.
This is DEFINITELY a video I will watch over and over again! Not only because I agree, but because of how creative the writing and editing is! I can’t wait to see more videos from you! 😂🤍
There's actually a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Sora barely talks about Kairi in KH3
@@NPVG2 which is
@@auriauri8872 he got reverted to a mental 5 year old in KH3 with the emotional depth of a pack of sardines.
Edit: I take that back, even 5 year old Sora understood Ventus heart was in pain.
You made an almost-three hour long video into S-tier content. I watched it in one sitting. Looking forward to you hopefully doing the rest of the series.
Thank you. One day
Those last 3 minutes of the video. Holy shit man, emotional. For me I think KH3 became more of a symbol or idea for me rather than a new game. I would imagine myself playing the game for a long time growing up, and finally seeing it become announced in my teenage years made it feel like it would close that early chapter of my own life. The game itself was fun enough and some story beats satisfying, I just don't think it could have ever reached the emotional and straight forward finality that some people (including myself) were looking for
I’m very proud of those last 3 minutes.
The New Seven Hearts is a weird concept. For starters, everyone except Kairi passed their powers on for no clear reason. But then there's the narrative reason they are brought up: Xehanort will use them in his plans if the heroes don't fight him. But that raises a lot of questions.
If Xehanort can just kill the opposing side and get the X-Blade (and he can, based on the fact that he does just that to Sora and Co. in the Zettaflare scene while saying that the X-Blade will form from this), why not use the Princesses as Plan A? They'd certainly go down quicker.
Why would Sora and Co. not playing ball even be a factor? Ansem and Xemnas have already shown what kind of destruction they can cause if left alone, so there's no way the heroes wouldn't show up. It feels like addressing a plot point with an explanation that doesn't need to be there.
Why doesn't the Organization grab some of the Princesses for leverage on the off chance that the heroes can't fill up their ranks in time for the Keyblade War? Rapunzel in particular is completely powerless at the end of her world.
But we don't really have time to dwell on any of these questions because KH3 is trying to pump out yet another cutscene to answer yet another question or resolve another plot thread from one of the previous several games, which also leads to other moments that don't get enough expansion on. Demyx and Pals being Keyblade Masters in the past, for example.
This also raises another question:
Why are the heroes going along with Goat Man's plan? Instead of trying to prevent it?
The entire point of the Keyblade War is to forge the X-Blade.
"Oh, but if they don't fight, Xehanort is going after the princesses!"
So why aren't they the MAIN target? The Plan A?
Hands down the best KH3 video I've ever seen.
My God, you've made a masterpiece.
I hate "May your heart be your guiding key" so much. It feels like a rip off of "May the Force be with you." and "Live long and prosper." Even my son like's "My friends are my power." better.
Funnily enough it could even be likened to Aleisteir Crowley's "Do as thou will..." and I think in that context it doesn't mean just flowers and wholesomeness.
@@Yurikon3"just follow your heart". What a rip with zehanort being baphomet at the end..
@@--Morpheus-- KH + Shin Megami Tensei when?
@@Yurikon3 xehanort morphs into a goat headed knight at the end. Seemed like a hat tip to Crowley and friends
@@--Morpheus-- There are some hilarious rewrites of some old Carl Barks' Donald Duck comic speech bubbles where they mumble some stuff relating to Black Metal and all that satanic jazz music scene.
So in regards to Terra-nort, there's actually a pretty decent explanation behind it. The game states in the dlc and the secret files that the only characters who have traveled through time are Ansem, Xemnas, Vanitas, Young Xehanort, and the dark replica Riku. In Terra-Xehanorts case, Terra was revived along with Xehanort after Ansem and Xemnas were killed. When Xehanort came too, he simply norted him and he became Terra-nort again. So he didn't time travel like the others.
but that doesnt make any sense
xehanort killed his own body, same as sora did in KH1 to release his heart to overtake terras body to have a new one and be young again. The old Xehanort shouldnt exist because he is terra in that moment when ansem and xemnas became one again. Xehanort either is just a wandering heart or a Nobody/heartless at that point and that would also mean there is another half of him just running around, because otherwise it wouldnt make any f sense
This feels funny to say because the game took so long to release, but I feel like it was rushed because a lot of detail was left out so instead of the creators making a part 1 and 2 of KH3 they just decided to squeeze it all into one.
This deserves so many more views!! I’ve been searching for KH3 takedowns that put my own thoughts into words and I think this is the best one. Well edited, funny, and accurate critiques all while still giving credit where credit is due.
Funny story, I was actually so disappointed in KH3 that I didn’t even finish Olympus and I abandoned the game, only finally coming back to it recently after 4 whole years. I was like hey, maybe it’s not as bad as I first thought, only to be disappointed again. But at least I got to see the sea salt trio in glorious updated graphics so ig that’s something
Anyway, absolutely amazing video, I can’t imagine how much work was put into it
You have the power to make those views appear my friend. Still, thank you very much.
You were disappointed that early on? What were you anticipating in the prologue? I feel like you would have been disappointed by anything if that's the case.
@@GogetaEiyuuYamcha A lot of it was the stilted voice acting and lack of clear motivation or mystery. Plus I had been hearing less than stellar reviews so it turned me off from playing. I wouldn’t have been disappointed by anything, and I went into the game again seriously giving it the benefit of the doubt. I am still interested in KH though, despite how lackluster a lot of KH3 was to me since I do care about the characters a lot
Well than you wo t like future games.nomura is proud of his Story and thinks its Well made. I aggree but you ar free to disagree and leave the series
@@GogetaEiyuuYamcha Bro I pretty much abandoned the game when I saw the first Instagram-like loading ads. To call Kh3 a huge disappointment is putting it lightly.
"I haven't even talked about the cut scene with darling Vani Vani yet". 😂❤ this was absolutely amazing man I follow alot KH channels and this is one of the most well thought out breakdown videos I have ever watched. Thank you so much will spread your channel in my area of Philly. Also Vanitas is my favorite character cause I think there's a ton more to his story and dark road showed that
Thank you very much. I don’t often get to say this in a non-sexual context, but your spreading is infinitely appreciated.
There surely must be more to Vanitas than "What I am is Darkness" in the KH Character Files, Vanitas state's plainly that he doesn't want to be used by the old geezer or any one for that matter! He doesn't want to be merged with Ventus either! He just wants to BE!! I think that if Sora were to convince Vanitas to be free, he would be. That would've been something I'd get behind! Then Vanitas wouldn't want to go back to the void only to be forgotten AGAIN He'd serve a much better purpose than that! And knowing Sora, he'd allow Vanitas to be free to be his OWN PERSON, not just some PUPPET who's strings are being pulled to NO END!!! I stan Vanitas as well I want him to have so much more than he unfairly given ❤😢 All this poor guy has been through, is ABUSE!!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH XEHANORT!!! STOP PUPPETEERING VANITAS, HE'S ONLY A BOY, MEANING HE'S STILL JUST A KID!!! SO LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! VANITAS STANS UNITE ❤❤❤
@@shalimarrobles-zq8wj if I could love this 100× I would this is 100% on point 😂❤
@@Duncadinca love that you're picking up subscribers man over 300 and hopefully many many more 🥳
Loved this video but my favorite part was how much you put into talking about the thousand heartless battles and specifically sora donald and goofys look at each other. That silent “we got this” will forever be my favorite moment in the entire franchise and solidify donald and goofy as more than just recognizable side kicks, but your badass partners who have have been with you on this massive journey. It’s wonderful and this video captures that perfectly along with everything else. Keep up the great work. Also every Xheanort round table discussion has me dying.
True. Three half pints will always be better than a whole pint.
This video as well as you, are criminally underrated:(
Truth to that!
Easily the best Kingdom Hearts video on RUclips, don't think I have words to express how perfect this encapsulates my and the community's thoughts and love for this series.
I’m pretty sure the Terranort we see in KH3 was not one who time traveled. Remind tells us that when Xehanort was reconstructed, Terra’s empty body was as well, and he simply re-Norted him to fill his ranks. That’s why his heart returning restores him.
I'mma be honest, I wasn't even a huge KH fan before playing 3. I had seen videos about the story and stuff but I wasn't too invested in it. Was excited to play KH3 and it was my first KH game that I played to completion
And even I, going in with no expectations, was disappointed in the ending. Felt like such a cop-out. While I hadn't played any of the games much, I knew the story and this was just such a slap in the face. I knew when I finished it fans were not going to be happy
Hey! I just got to the part of the video where you said you have no idea how Xion came back (great vid so far!). On the small off-chance you see this comment:
The Organisation relearned about Xion when they found research data logs on her creation and progress on their systems. Xehanort wanted to explore the idea of bringing her back as a vessel because of her ability to wield a keyblade, and her links to Sora.
He sent Young Xehanort to Toy Box to find out whether or not a so-called "puppet" could have a heart in the first place. He saw the toys as "puppets" of sorts, and split the world into two so he could try driving a wedge between their relationships. If he could witness them falling to darkness, he'd know they have hearts. His plan ultimately failed, but his goal was still achieved: The fact they were able to use light to defeat him at all was proof enough. He even remarked: "So even empty puppets can have strong hearts. I'll have to remember that".
Xehanort also sent Replica-Riku to San Fransokyo to find out if the foundations of a heart can be created using data. He retrieved the defunct Baymax, and used viruses to try and create said heart within him. Again, this venture ended with relative success.
With the information they needed, the Organisation set to work bringing back Xion to introduce her to their ranks. They succeeded, and made a somewhat primitive heart for her with tweaks so she may obey them. However Saix (being a traitor to the Organisation) made his own tweaks to try and return her to the light. Not only did he ensure he was paired with her during the final battle, but during cutscenes he also made conscious efforts and glances toward her while saying the names of her friends out loud in ear-shot. He was trying to get her "blank" heart to remember. As she did, Xion's independent memories locked within Sora started to bleed over to her. Eventually she regained all of her memories in one final pull, which also restored the "chain of memories" linking her to everyone else's memories.
I see every comment.
Post-Remind, I pretty much understand, but I wanted this vid to be mostly ReMind exclusionary. I still have all the problems with how cheap her return is, but I've clarified that already. I'm glad you're enjoying the vid, thanks.
What I always found funny how Xehanort gets his good ending with Erequs not even half an hour after having killed Kairi in cold blood. And Sora‘s just standing there all gucci. I know Xion told him that Kairi would be alright. He still just saw the love of his life die in front of his eyes due to this old man. Now said man goes to literal heaven right in front of his eyes. And he has absolutely 0 qualms with it. Fascinating. Truly a human reaction.
You had said EVERYTHING I’ve been thinking about! And so beautifully played out as well! The way kingdom hearts has moved me since I was a kid keeps me coming back, and I will never stop indulging in the games even if they are bad, but I just wish with all my hearts to see a new updated game of KH that made me feel like I was playing KH2 again. I know that will most likely never happen but I still hope. Thank you for all of the time you put into this and showing that KH fans do need to have a bit of a standard.
Agree strongly. Could wax poetic but in short, KH2's strong pathos allowed you to forgive the handful of missteps. KH3 didn't execute its story well enough to get you the pathos you needed to overlook flaws, and then on top of that, its flaws were far stronger and more numerous. You covered the details well and I agree with the vast majority of the video.
Bravo!! Bravo!! 👏👏
So many great points that point out all the issues with the KH3 ending.
And I love the video's ending showing why we were soo freaking hyped for this game's release for all these years!
I think the main point of the "backup lights" was to explain why the guardians had to go fight xehanort instead of ignoring him to prevent making the x-blade. Like "if you don't show up we'll just kill the princesses instead and it will still work so you better show up lol"
Why they decided fighting the guardians was the easier option, idk
That still doesn't make much sense though.
Everyone (or, *almost* everyone) was there to hear about or _witness firsthand_ what kind of damage Ansem and Xemnas alone can do to all the worlds with their control over the Heartless and Nobodies respectively if they are just left to do whatever they want. And now they have Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort himself among them.
Remember how the Heartless in the first game were genuinely threatening, were actively killing people/turning them into Heartless, and the worlds were being entirely plunged into darkness which Sora spent a lot the game trying to prevent from happening to the other worlds by defeating the Heartless and sealing the keyholes to keep them from returning? Why would Sora and everybody else *not* expect something like that to happen again when the Heartless are back (and seemingly stronger than before) as well as the Nobodies *and* the Unversed, who are all running around spreading everywhere and causing all kinds of trouble with no end in sight for pretty much as long as Xehanort lives. Why would they choose to just kick back and relax and *not* go stop that?
In hindsight, the thought of the guardians considering doing that is even dumber when you see that the entire group ended up initially being killed off by *basic Heartless shadows alone* when they joined together and turned into that giant cyclone in the Keyblade Graveyard. They _all_ got smoked by a tornado of Kingdom Heart's Goombas...
They have no room to be cocky and act as if they could simply deal with the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed at any time with no problem.
Looks like Nomura got a few too many notes from the "Steven Universe School of How To Make All of your Villains Reedeemable"
idk why, but I have weird memories of Larxene doing fucked up psychological torture shit to Sora in CoM, but can't stand that game enough to go through and check.
I love this video with it fair share of positive and criticism it done very well, and there are also huge props for even showing the past years of fan made video to covers of Kh3. Those were nice to see again
This video loves you too
I'm not sure I'd consider myself a SoKai shipper because like... I don't hate? it? at least in theory? and I was just idk, waiting to see anywhere of where it went. But where it went was idk, right into the garbage, it felt. Like, idk I don't remember every bit from every game over the years because it's bee far too long but like, I felt like the ship never really got to go anywhere because Kairi has unfortunately just felt like a giant plot device rather than a character of her own and it sucks because like, i want to like her. I have spent years convincing myself that I liked her cos like, the design is good n all. She just... never felt like a properly character and KH3 made it even more noticeable than before and I guess it's just frustrating cos its like when I listen to video essays like this it just reminds me of how poorly she got treated as a character like RIP Kairi (2002-2019) - She Was Just Standing There and That's Really All She Did.
The funniest shit (in a bad way) is that they brought Xion back because they found the research notes. lmao
[Edit: We've passed the scene I was hopeful of, and even though it got a bit more commentary than I've seen before, it still wasn't the in depth look I'm searching for. Still very much loving the video though! Your jokes make me laugh really hard and I have yelled my agreement with your points many a time.]
Loving the video so far (just about half an hour in) and I am truly hoping you address something I yelled at my TV for when I played - I have never once understood Sora's reaction to the heartless tower taking everyone but him and Riku. His reaction actually made me laugh until I realized he was serious and then I started raging. There has literally been no point in this series when someone was "gone forever", so his reaction felt so melodramatic and out of left field and I have never understood it, and I haven't been able to find a review that talks about this point yet. This coming from someone who loves the KH series, but personally only played the numbered games while watching reviews/recaps/playthroughs of the spinoffs.
A heartless tower still means nothing to me - we saw it multiple times in the game and nothing bad happened. And multiple times people have been taken to the realm of darkness or wherever and they DID NOT die or were even considered lost forever (Aqua, Sora when he became a heartless, Riku, Mickey, the list really just goes on). If anyone can explain Sora's reaction to me in a way that is comprehensive lore wise I would be most grateful, but I really think this was just bad writing/voice acting. Nothing leading up to that moment made it feel like it was even REMOTELY a possibility of being true so Sora's reaction was just a total joke in my opinion.
I will be keeping my fingers crossed you bring this up in some capacity but you still get my like and sub regardless because your editing and jokes are top tier!
I know it doesn't do any good fixating on what could have been but I'm going to do it anyway.
What I imagined kh3 was going to be before it came out was a journey of the protagonists to slowly release the various lost keyblade wielders until they had enough to face Xehanort. Many people talk about how aqua being freed should have happened halfway through and I'm inclined to agree.
Is there any reason why the clashing of light and dark had to happen at the keyblade graveyard all within about an hour? Maybe but it could have just not been written and then you could have had the organization actually go after the heroes throughout the story.
The fact that we had the entire demo as aqua and yet, in kh3 you only get to lay as her once and never in battle is absurd. The DLC allows you to play as all the characters people wanted to but still only in specific battles during a boss gauntlet. I think they should have spread out the rescue of aqua and ven and given them to us as playable characters as new warriors of light are assembled.
They should have removed the hyperbolic time chamber since it didn't mean squat and just said that Kairi and Lea were training and unlocked them as playable characters after a few disney worlds.
PLEASE LMFAO the singing part killed me, and your sarcastic everything, great
extreme agree kh3 to me felt horribly rushed and left me unfulfilled, relying on idk emotional manipulation in certain aspects across the game which feels.....cheap?
Fantastic video, KH3 was bloated way down by too many characters. I have a feeling that it wasn't supposed to drag on that long, but Square kept pulling Nomura away to work on other things, while Osaka team made endless sub-stories to keep the Brand(tm) alive. After KH2, the series shifted more to focus on world building instead of plot it feels like. I hope the writers can start fresh in this new "world of fiction" in KH4 and keep things manageable.
I agree. I expected the side characters appearances to be sprinkled more evenly throughout. Like Riku waiting for Sora to talk to Hercules, then be a party member on the first trip to save Aqua. Or introducing a minigame with Lea and Kairi after Sora finds where they are training. Imagine collecting each member of the seven as a way to measure progress.
Just a game, just have fun, americans... Yozora best boss fight ever
@mesutozil33 So what you're trying to say is that people should just blindly praise a game even though there are very evident inconsistencies with its mechanics or story?
Tbf, for Xemnas feeling loneliness, he did say that for as long as he could remember, keyword being "remember", it was his first durge of emotions.
And him saying what he said in DDD actually makes his feeling of loneliness more valid, 'cause he knew firsthand that his heart was replaced the first chance the body got.
This showed up in my recommended and I’m glad it did. The longer it’s been since this game came out I just get more and more bitter about how it ended. Hopefully kh4 will take notes from the faults of this game but we will see. Great job on the video, hope you are doing well!
I’m glad to hear the algorithm’s helping me out. Thank you very much.
@Duncadinca I know this is a bit random, but I'm surprised you didn't mention Ventus telling Sora to "just believe" was basically meaning that the Disney Worlds were completely irrelevant to the plot, because Sora was *TRYING TO FIND THE POWER OF WAKING!* Not only that, but there also shouldn't have been anything stopping us from saving Ventus.
this is the second time i’ve listened to your video, it plays in the background while i (somewhat) do my job. i cannot put into words the utter hole kingdom hearts 3 left gaping after spending over a decade starved for this release, but you do it so perfectly - and hilariously! knowing there are people that genuinely enjoyed this game, after experiencing both one and the MASTERFULLY done two, it’s something i can’t comprehend. nor do i think i ever will. these characters mean everything to me, my childhood love come back from the war. i can tell this series meant the utter world to you as well and that the very least, i take comfort in knowing more people who had dedicated so much to this saga was left gutted by the final installment. thank you for making this ❤
also! sokai shipper here! i’ve been waiting for this budding romance since i was eight, watching sora promise kairi in a glorified sewer system that he’d bring back her lucky charm in one piece. this felt like i was observing two completely different characters wearing their faces, trying to act like the slow burn couple i spent literal years cheering for 😤 i don’t think sora even talks directly to her until the paopu scene, you could very easily convince me sora doesn’t even like her after having proceeded these events. almost gave me whiplash after witnessing sora be reminded of her any time a disney couple came together in the second game. i’m actually embarrassed by their progression in kh3, like someone throwing a toy at me and telling me to shut up about wanting things. i’d almost rather their romance never be touched on again.
Well good news for you, it probably won't be touched on again. Thank you for the perspective and the compliments.
So are you done with the series then?
So, fun fact, the scenes that are universally seen by fans to be the best in the game are actually the ones that caused me actual irl emotional turmoil and existential dread
I'm an OSDD 1b system, in other words, I have Dissociative Identity Disorder with no memory loss. It can be a tough condition at points, but it's something we've managed to live with, and to some extent have managed to be proud of. Stories like KH2, with Roxas coming to grips with needing to share his existence with Sora, helped us cope a lot with the condition!
In fact, we thought it was very cool how in KH universe, splintering people or getting hearts out of one's body is a process that typically requires heavy sacrifice (Kairi KH1, Roxas and Xion, Ventus and Vanitas, Xehanort losing og body, etc.)
KH3 came out a single week before our official diagnosis appointment and the replica plot has no sacrifice to it
I hope this isn't traumadumping, but we think it's important to acknowledge that seeing our childhood series, the one that included the first video game we ever owned, casually declaring the obvious logical happy ending to everyone in the series is to have their own body... MIGHT have distressed us on the trip to our "Determine if you're multiple people stuck in one body for the rest of your life" appointment
Because of this the entire replica plot feels so... unnuanced, compared to KH2 before it. It's such a shame. The sea salt trio and wayfinder trio reuniting does genuinely nothing for us, there's this overwhelming sense of stomping over what was established earlier to justify it happening.
We're not even opposed to most getting bodies back, just, when you realize how sea salt ice cream represented Roxas and Sora initially (Salty, but Sweet!), did EVERY single entity have to separate? It feels like the nuance was strategically taken out. In the DLC Vanitas even rejects coming back with Ventus, isn't the point of his character that his existence is terrible and he desperately wants to rejoin?
To us, Kingdom Hearts will always be that page from the KH2 manga, where Sora and Roxas sit together on the Twilight clocktower, eating ice cream together in their shared mental space. Hearts as close as close can be, but still existing as themselves nonetheless
The manga sucks ass
The problem (as someone who loved the game) i realize looking back is that it feels like half of it should have been in-between games, and not part of a main series one.
It’s plus ask your uncles video will forever be my go to for a playlist of very long video documentaries I can just drop entire evenings on and not be sad at all. I am one of the many one’s disappointed by this and you 2 creators really helps put my feelings into coherent context so thank you
not the door segment making me actually subscribe lol
If you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic, all your dreams can come true
Since you are adamant on avoiding the mobile game, I'll give a spoilrer;
Dream Eaters are dead kids. Their theme is associated to death, which is likely why they used it in the Final World scene.
31:00 this is so cathartic to hear since nobody seem to remember that, that is true, they did do all those things, some even before they turned into nobodies so their redemption makes no sense.
Btw funny you bring up that Xemnas scene, because at the end of the end of that speech he said "through weakness of body, weakness of will, or weakness of *trust* most of the members chosen for the org were inadequate" which kh3 completely retcons by making most of the "new" members are old ones, including Larxene and Marluxia even tho he said trust was an issue lmao.
Thanks. I'll remember that point for future videos.
@@Duncadinca No problem, I'm looking forward to it. So far I'm really enjoying your video so I might check out more of your stuff lol
do the entire mobile story next, this was extremely entertaining
Exept the mobile Story is very good
@@indedgames4359 no it not
@@ZaiDrizzleDropyeah it is. Pacing in game is terrible be cause it's a GaaS told over 5 years, but reading it all at once definitely shows more care than the Sora arc.
Thank you for calling out the bad writing of Isa/Saix. That was not a good "redemption" arc. I still love the series but this aspect has become my least favorite part of KH3.
I thought the whole “new princesses of heart” plot bit was to fill in a plot hole. The bad guys need the good guys to fight them to forge the chi-blade, but what if they just don’t fight? Then they’ll just kill these princesses to forge it anyway.
When Sora went to Olympus as the first world, i thought *for sure* it was a ruse, and that Xehanort was going to show up and plunge the world in darkness.
Think about how powerful it would be to return to a beloved world, one that is one of the most recurring and consistent worlds in the series, and have Sora absolutely powerless to save it. Not only would it scale Xehanort as this insanely powerful threat that towers over the Guardians amd singlehandedly turning Herc into a heartless, but it would set the tone for the rest of the game.
I would also say that having that world by blocked off and Xehanort using the destroyed remains as a hub for his villainy would put more salt in the wound.
I think Sora experiencing that type of loss and powerless-ness for the first time would really put his character into a new predicament and challenge his role as a savior. You could have Soras excuse goofing off in consequent Disney Worlds as a means of him running away from his problems and responsibilities out of fear that he cant save those he loves. You could have Donald and Goofy question his intentions and going along anyway.
It wouldve made for a satisfying end game moment where Sora uses his power of waking to bring Olympus and Herc back from the brinks of darkness and finally earning the title of "true hero" just before his final battle in the keyblade graveyard.
Superb!
Love to see you rightfully rip apart this lukewarm entry in our beloved series
hope to see more Perhaps a video on the mobile prequel?
since the servers shut down sqex uploded a gachaless version so you can just wach the cutscenes, no mobile penny pinching anymore
I don't think you needed to do the expectations point at the end, I saw the writing on the wall for kh3 and I knew years before it's release that it was gonna be disapointing, so I HEAVILY tempered my expectations for it, and even still I was surprised at how god awful the pacing and writing is in the game, almost NOTHING works, it feels kinda souless, as if they we're just making checkmarks on what should happen and just going trhu the motions. And keep in mind that I am also a lifetime fan, I grew up with this series.
Also I have to touch on the characters assassinations, it feels more like aliens wearing the shells of the characters doing their best to pretend and be them while lacking a fundamental notion of what makes them tick, this is true for almost every character in the game.
Look I was never much for ships, or anything relating to romance and drama for that matter but you know, Sora and Kairi were very obviously meant to be a couple from the start, I mean Riku at the start of the series already knew that and tried to help a little on that front. What i'm trying to say is that they're a very cute and romantic couple and in kh3 it's like they're barely acquaintances, and this is just one example of whiplash from character assassination, there are MANY more, like their infatuation with redempion for the villains for example. Not to mention the 20 hours of filler you have to sit thru just to have that excuse of a finale for the series.
I find it impossible to have any semblance of immersion playing kh3 and I envy the ppl who can enjoy this, they're 100% injecting the purest form of copium cooked up by Heisenberg himself.
Yes. I know. Its an unbearably lazy and uninspired ending
I have hopes for KH4
The story ended at 2 for me. Idc if by some miracle 4 revived the series, canonically in my mind, 1, CoM, Days, and 2 is all that the series will ever be. That letter at the end of 2 is just a birthday party invitation from Mickey.
The number of people conviced they had to be going into the mid-game at the end says a lot about how empty the rest of the "story" is
22:21- 24:00 felt like you just pulled those sentences right out of my brain
Who says I didn’t? :)
@@Duncadinca you made a data copy of the part of my brain devoted to riku? Does this count as Xion-Riku? Can we expect a spin off mobile gotcha game cameo?
@@holleighgram You sure can. Working on the name, but ‘Return to Agrabah’ is a likely contender.
@@Duncadinca oh boy. I can't wait to repeat every single world beat for beat TWICE at a much worse quality 🤩
I've watched sooo many of these videos but this. THIS hands down is my exact thought process, but the back and forth fan battles kept my mouth shut 😒 13 ironic years we waited, lol. This is FANTASTIC. Please begging for more. 👏🎉
You sound hot so your opinion is instantly more relevant than any other kh3 essay
Also, knowing how much the square enix translators Demyx time is definitely on purpose
41:37 Oh god it’s so painful. Nomura says he dropped Final Fantasy characters to focus on the original characters, yet so many of those characters barely acknowledge one they have long plot lines with. If we’re lucky we get a few sentences.
That’s the main issue with backloading the plot.
I am so glad someone else appreciates the sarcastic venom dripping off of Aqua's "good for you!" towards Mickey.
Then. Now. Forever. Fuck that mouse.
What an absolutely incredible video. If the mysterious unopened door doesn’t return in your future content, I’ll be writing a two hour long take down on this channel that I’ve newly subscribed to
I’ll have to keep that in mind. Thank ya.
It’s going to be super easy barely an inconvenience damn it you showed the guy and all damn it. Honestly kh2 was peak I don’t mind three but this ending was more spectacle than anything
Please keep making videos, your channel is amazing. Oh and 10/10 video btw.
I'll consider it. And thx
Didn't think I would see a Kingdom hearts analysis video voiced by Frieza
Damn. I'm just as gender confused too. It's all adding up :(
@@Duncadinca GREAT video nonetheless! Well done!
0:11 through 0:57 - Goddamn man. Watching all these people be excited for this game is just.......heartbreaking. Knowing now that Nomura just rushed through this game just so he could get to the revival of his failed Final Fantasy Versus 13 project _(i.e. KH4),_ these are the people he betrayed by putting out this terrible half baked game.
0:57 through 1:25 - And in the meantime, Nomura released Dream Drop Distance.......which was such a slap to the face that it ended up sobering me up to just how badly written and played by ear thos series actually was since Chain of Memories. It was with that game that I stopped being a Kingdom Hearts fan, stopped being another one of Nomura's battered wives letting him walk all over me and take my money without question. Dream Drop Distance was the point where I finally had enough.
2:47 - KH2 huh? That's a funny way of saying DMC5 XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
3:38 through 4:08 - so then.....you're gonna be covering the 30 dollar scam that was Re:Mind?
4:48 - Cause lord knows there has to be some amount of percentage to justify 60 goddamn USD.
5:43 - Even residential dead beat Goku is looking at this spikey haired nitwit with a look of disbelief going _"Brah"._
6:50 through 7:52 & 13:28 - Getting Batman V Superman flashbacks here! XD
8:22 - Nomura has as much _"love and respect"_ towards Disney characters as Toei and Toriyama have for Tien Shinhan.
8:43 - Pretty impressive _(in a completely fucked up way)_ how this game manages to make a worse version of a movie that everyone hates. Can't wait to see how KH4 does an even worse version of Rise of Skywalker...........don't lie, you know that's exactly what the Star Wars world is going to be a about.
12:56 - Yeah speaking of Tien Shinhan..........
14:03 through 14:59 - Yeah buckle up kiddies, we're going full Naruto Steven Universe up in this bitch! HALF ASSED UNDESERVED VILLAIN REDEMPTIONS AWAY!
22:18 through 23:22 - Getting Goku and Naruto flashbacks here! XD
24:04 - Oh yes, this flaccid wet fart that was even more anticlimactic than Junketsu Wearing Ryuko.
29:09 through 30:40 - Just when you thought the utter raping of death as a concept didn't get any worse than seven magical orbs that summon a wish granting dragon.......there's the bullshit that happened in FF7 Remake. This is a close neck and neck second, and from the same fucking director no less.
35:17 - Meh, I've seen better........Metroplex from Fall of Cybertron.......Metal Madness from Sonic Heroes........Baal Zebul from Bayonetta 3..........Michael Jackson in Moonwalker.......Mega Maid from Space Balls.....any given Megazord from Power Rangers/Super Sentai.....
37:34 - ruclips.net/video/pqLvFfwcqfw/видео.html
_(Fucking character limits.)_
44:24 through 47:01 - Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Sasuke Uchiha.
48:59 - That's alright, neither did Nomura. In fact I'm calling it now Sora ends up having a deeper relationship with, err, hold on... _(one google search later)_ that one chick Strelitzia in KH4 than he ever does with Kairi.
52:17 & 1:16:12 - If only Nomura's character writing was as intentionally funny and enjoyable as this....and yes, I'm lumping FF7 Remake into this jab at the idiot.
55:02 through 55:16 - Apathetic. Not only was Kingdom Hearts my first real exposure to these characters but the second game barely gave me reason to even care about their return.
56:46 & 1:13:48 - You hear that sound? That is the sound of every complaint about character frame lag lobbied at any given Nintendo Switch game going right into the shredder >:3
58:15 - YES!! FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT!! Goddamn!! So many fucking sheep praise the upcoming shout out to the fanbase as this grand pivotal moment in the franchise, glossing over the fact that it's being wasted on these fucking KH Goombas!
1:00:09 through 1:01:02 - Someone I actually admired made a joke about how it was now understandable how Donald wasn't very good at healing since his magic was actually better suited for combat. It was not funny, it was stupid. The idea that Donald was secretly this powerful the whole time and was able to kill Terra Xehanort is as stupid as the idea of Bulma being able to defeat Frieza. _Which form of Frieza specifically?_ Yes.
1:03:36 - Eh, I'll do you one better - ruclips.net/video/F9FXdLcrkss/видео.html
1:05:45 - ruclips.net/video/7Chf3Ob63SI/видео.html
1:08:22 - Simple, it's an overglorified tech demo. _"Look how many KH Goombas we can render on screen at the same time! Truly this is the next evolution of graphical horse power for this franchise!"_
1:08:46 through 1:11:03 - And on top of all that, again, literally a bunch of proverbial Goombas piled on top of each other.
1:21:28 through 1:22:25 - Don't worry about it just pay 30 goddamn USD and you can have proper Org XIII bosses like the good ol' days...
1:23:54 - Because the first game was just that fun and charming _(especially if you were a Disney fan)_ that you couldn't help but love it?
1:26:37 - AND THEN THERE'S THIS ASSHOLE! >8O
1:34:29 - Ths it begins, Nomura callously shoving Kairi into the refrigerator.
1:42:44 - I dunno man, maybe it's just me but I don't feel it's that difficult to explain or understand this series;
--- The first Kingdom Hearts game made bank.
--- The second Kingdom Hearts game made even more bank.
--- Nomura wanted to use Toy Story in the next game after KH2, Pixar said no, so he got pouty about it and stretched this series out with spin off after spin off until Pixar finally said yes.
1:43:41 - Ah, someone else who agrees that Blue is an absolute cunt. Fist bump.
1:43:58 - ruclips.net/video/tXm6F-K6Ffo/видео.html
1:49:53 - And there you have it, Kairi has been fridged.
1:50:24 - See if this was the first game where the other writers were allowed to ring in Nomura if he got out of line I'd buy that point. Hell if he was even willing to step down as director and allow someone else to direct any of the games after 2 let alone direct 3 we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation. But given how much creative control he got with this series? How much pull he gained in the company after the first game became a hit? After the second game became an even bigger hit? I find it hard to believe these other writers were even allowed any say in the story.
1:55:23 - Vergil from Devil May Cry 3 and 5? _No they're talking about Xemnas from KH2._ Oh, okay then......
1:59:01 - Yeah more accurately he got a full pardon for all his war crimes by the idiotic state.
2:04:42 - Not to mention basically _"Bowman Killing Smaug"_ the plot so hard it ends up being Ansem that stops Xemnas' ultimate plan and save the day, not Sora.
2:05:53 - And then this guy was put in charge of FF7 Remake.....there is no joke here it's just depressing......
2:06:13 - Oh look this game thinks it's Avengers Endgame, that's just precious. _Didn't this game come out first?_ Allowing that movie to pretty much steal all of this game's thunder by being a better proverbial KH3 than the actual KH3 yes.
2:09:36 - Yeeeeah, guys? You might wanna curb your enthusiasm....and have a drink....
2:12:01 through 2:13:12 - 30 goddamn USD ladies and gentlemen. 30 goddamn dollars.
2:17:47 through 2:21:24 - Yeah this game's reputation as Duke Nukem Forever 2.0 pretty much speaks for itself doesn't it? XD
This was probably the best unintended recap video I ever seen. reallyed enjoy the 2 hours long video. tho I kinda would love to see a video of the games of the KH series now. this was god tier comedy in this video I haven't laugh this much in years.
Terra-Xenahort was the recompleted version of Xenahort mentioned in the RE:Coded secret ending. Lingering Will is more akin to a Fantasia Broom servant buth with imprinted Terra emotions from the BBS climax rather than a sentient creature. Yes, this isn't explained in game well.
@@d.saunders2506 If memory serves the lingering will stuff was mentioned in the lore bibles that clarify bits of world building. The "nobody have a heart bud" retcon stuff in DDD was actually first established in the 2 tie-in book if memory serves so these books are in fact canon. Like I said poorly conveyed but the answers are technically there.
I will say my favorite part of doing the Saix fight either the first or second time was watching Roxas shred him while Xion would run up, do a few hits, get hit and then run over to Sora. I'd toss a potion on her and watch her run back to the fight. It was fucking adorable
My severe disappointment in KH3 is only matched by videos criticizing it. This was extremely entertaining.
Thank ya
I would happily watch you snark about any game I've played. If you ever want to go back and just joke around about the cutscenes of earlier KH games, please share here! I'll come running to watch. Thank you so much for making this. There was never a dull moment and that's impressive for such a long vid.
I simply can not fathom how you have so few subscribers. Your videos are well thought out, extremely well edited, you're absolutely hilarious, and you don't say the same thing five times in a row( a pet peeve of mine with newer channels). I know you only have 3 videos but they're all so incredibly well made. I'm definitely subscribing and I can't wait to see more from you.
1:03:40 me in 2019: "well that was some weird whiplash"
Me in 2023 after the mobile game ended and seeing this clip again: "Nomuraaaaaaa!!!!"
Being a kingdom hearts fan is indeed frustrating. I didn't even know about the concert lore.
I have to say going into Kingdom Hearts 3 I had checked in on what was happening with the mobile game and mostly watched back cover and already knew that this game was going to be disappointing because Nomura had already started to write the next ark and clearly didn't give a shit about this one anymore. All of my friends said I was crazy but after we all beat the game and started discussing it they realized I was right and as the mobile game ends I'm sitting here incredibly pissed that I was 100% right. It especially doesn't help that with the events of the mobile game, Xehanort loses so much agency as a character. It's why I've jumped ship and stopped caring about the series. They couldn't even finish the arc that they had been building up for well over a decade before starting the new one and only put out Kingdom Hearts 3 to sloppily wrap this arc up so they can move on to the next one
You’re not even at least gonna give the next one a chance?
@@MesserMusic honestly? Probably not.
@@IosLocarth damn. What about the old ones?
@@MesserMusic I mean KH2 is still one of the best action games there is so I'll replay it for that. 1 still has some charm and I might get around to playing Re:CoM eventually.
At the end of the day though it's gonna only be checking them out for the gameplay alone which would be the only reason I even look at any future games. At least 3 showed that they can finally make a decent game finally
i just found this video in my recommended and i love your editing. KH3 for me was eh, 2 will always be the goat. hopefully 4 will release in my lifetime and not 10 years later along with another 6-7 spin off games. i genuinely hate that the most important story elements and the most interesting to a degree are in fucking MOBILE GAMES. i think theres already one in the making rn called missing link. i love kh but this one felt hollow, i hate DDD but this one is a close second.
Might make a video one day about why I actually kinda vibe with DDD's story. That'll be a surprise to my new audience. Thank you for the compliments.
So I'm one hour in so far, I don't know if you'll adress it later in the video, but just wanted to say that you forgot to mention one last thing that made the 1000 Heartless fight in Kingdom Hearts II so great; the consequences. As you said, it was that one epic fight that shook the entirety of Radiant Garden and gave us an amazing middle half act to Kingdom Hearts II (alongside the exploration of Tron's world, the reveal of Xehanort/Ansem/Xemnas, the fight against Demyx, meeting Sephiroth and fighting alonside Cloud, Leon, Tifa and Yuffie), however at the end of it all, Sora is confronted with the horrific truth: Saix reveals to him the the Organization is using him to kill heartless so that their hearts can join their artificial Kingdom Hearts made out of people's hearts, in contrast to Ansem's Kingdom Hearts made out of Worlds hearts. And oopsy! You just destroyed 1000 emblem heartless as Sora! And thus released AT LEAST 1000 hearts to be fed to the organization! This is what really puts this huge sequence as something amazing in my opinion: intense buildup, amazing and epic moment and tragic conclusion that contrasts every feeling you had prior to it!
I considered mentioning that, but I felt I made the point clear enough and when a script is this long, you’ve gotta cut a corner or two so the length doesn’t become unreasonable. As much as some would argue it already is.
Well said. The KH2 moment is a feeling of empowerment that switches to a moment of realization that you played into the hands of the villains. The KH3 moment is just a moment that has no bearing on anything. If anything, it's a waste of time on Xehanort's part since it prevents him from getting to the X-Blade faster.
@@Duncadinca Oh I guess that’s fair indeed. Ended up finishing the video and really liked it! A shame that lot of KH fans like us aren’t open to criticism so they likely won’t watch your video, but still you made a really interesting work! I don’t agree with everything, but most of what you said is good points. As someone who’s favorite game of all time is also Kingdom Hearts II, I really do think that KH 1 through BBS was the golden age of the series, the Re:Coded and DDD came and… yeah, then III was better than them but still felt disappointing. Now with KH IV taking on the Yozora plot points and making reaction commands back, I’m really expecting IV to be better!
@@TheAzulmagia yeah… I guess it was a sympathetic fan service moment without too much to it, which is a shame when we think about the symbolism that II had
The biggest bothering thing for me is when sora is like "I'll be the one to face xehanort, you guys keep kingdom hearts shut" they decide to give us the nostalgic trip of sora donald and goofy following each other into the depths of hell, in the very same manner as we started way back in traverse town, they go down to put their hands together, and they say "all for one and one for all" wrong! They said "three half pints together again" like what? The fuck? I'm so mad. Like what the fuck, I love the game pretty much otherwise, and remind makes it a bit better, but this part, this dialogue, I get the three half pints came in the kh3 game, they should make a call to it, but they need to make a call back to the original line that brought them together.
I'm a huge Sokai shipper and the paopu fruit scene was pretty disappointing. It felt awkward and like square didn't want to fully commit to the ship despite the series intending it to be a thing (whether or not one reads it as the otp depends because even I can't ignore everything with Sora and Riku). I also thought they'd share a single paopu fruit. In fact, basically all the Sokai interactions in 3 (with the exception of ReMind and I will fight everyone on that) feel forced and shoehorned in to give Kairi a purpose to be in the game. However, that could be a whole ass video essay of my own so I won't get into it here.
On another note, I like to joke that Mickey is a misogynist specifically because of this game.
Boy I sure love how you edited the fight between Aqua and Vanitas, making her appear weaker than she actually is, even though Vanitas was on the back foot near the end and had to resort to cowardly tactics by targeting Ventus 😑
Don't get me wrong, I still think the result of that fight scene doesn't make much sense; knowing what she's capable of, Aqua had plenty of ways to prevent things from ending that badly, yet the writers apparently don't know shit about power scaling and just want Sora to yet again steal the spotlight.
This was superbly made. The editing was top notch, and I laughed a lot throughout.
I imagine OP being dressed as an English nobleman from the Regency era. Wig and hankerchief included.
Pretty good review of the final act. I'm pretty sure every fan could agree the writing could've been better (I have a rewrite on the whole game myself, might even do it for the whole series as a writing project.) I only watched the first four trailers and had a blast with the game despite its flaws.
Even though I enjoy the concert only cutscene readings and interviews. They were referenced in the game- but not having the Kairi letter to Sora, the Namine/Terra interaction, and the interview where it was said that once you aquire Master status you can upgrade to a master level keyblade. The last bit is very very important to not explain in game.
I agree with your rebuttle about may your heart be your guiding key replacing my friends are my power. I love the key quote, it was on my graduation cap. But it should have stayed said by characters like Chirithy and the characters of the past. But thank you for your dedication to edit this long video
I will say and have happily said for the last 5 years that Kingdom Hearts should have ended at 2. 3's ending did not satisfyingly conclude and felt like a kick to the guts for fans that had been following since the beginning.
I can't say I got too into the hype, because although I watched every trailer, having major story moments spoiled in each one of them kind of dulled the enjoyment.
Kh3 is definitely not a fantastic game with a bad ending. It’s a bad game with a bad ending. Everything besides the finale was meaningless jumping around in disney worlds. And the ending was just bad too. They had a shot for shot recreation of let it go. Like wtf is this shit? A giant disney advertisement?
There are Disney World in every game so I don’t know what you’re trying to say. It could be argued that they’re just as useless in the other games.
@@MesserMusic hell no, the way they went about it in this game was completely different. The worlds in the old games had specific tie ins that tied in with the plot, and the kh stuff that happened in the world had relevance. In KH3 they literally just added in worlds from popular movies and no one in the organization had any rhyme or reason behind their actions in those worlds, they literally were just waiting for the war the whole time it was a very bad game. Explain to me why a shot for shot recreation of let it go was in there?
You’re blinded by nostalgia man.
@@s3raphhI think you lost just by saying “nostalgia” if you can’t argue back and think by saying “nostalgia” you win I think u just gotta accept this game was really bad game and nomura just wanted the money and didn’t put effort on this game funny how fan wanted this game so bad and square alright let’s make this a check list game
@@s3raphh I think you need to go back and play the games again like I did if you think that