I also feel like the Grid’s story was carried by its connection to Space Paranoids. I really didn’t care about Riku’s visit, but Sora’s hit me like a truck when he made Tron remember him, but then fall.
I've honestly felt that The Grid continues the story of Space Paranoids in the same way that Tron: Legacy itself continues the story of the original Tron. There's not gonna be anything else like the latter, but the former will still suffice.
@@aidanthegamer5 I'm bothered by Sora going out of his way to save Tron, turning him back to normal, and then hearing CLU say "Well, I'm going to reclaim him and reprogram him to be evil" five feet away... and he does nothing about it and just leaves.
Riku and Sora’s stories were very clearly meant to fill two different roles. Sora’s story was the sequel to Space Paranoids. Riku’s story was meant to adapt Tron: Legacy. They wanted to do both and this was a prime opportunity to do it.
In Sora’s side of The Grid he’s introduced in the arena as combatant 13, and the fate of Rinzler following the boss fight could be seen as foreshadowing of Sora at the end of the game.
I never liked nor understood why Terra is the "Recommended first". Story-wise, his whereabouts are unsolved mysteries in the other two's playthroughs, while *their* mysteries (well, Ventus') are practically spoiled by Terra's playthrough. The best Ven's experience only exists if you play him first, while Terra's is practically the same no matter the order (or gets even better later on due to the mysteries themselves). Aqua is a wild card tho, she just goes around fixing other people's messes and asking what the heck did their friends do, so her experience is vastly different depending on the order.
I also really dislike it. You can probably extrapolate that Terra isn't the monster that he's constantly misconstrued to be by the game/its characters, but Ven/Aqua's visits are void of any tension if you play Terra first.
I've always thought Ven was a good starting point too. Coincidentally, some of the Disney World Keyblades you get, the name only make sense with Ven's playthrough: "Treasure Trove", "Fairy Stars", "Hyperdrive". All the other Disney World Keyblades have them based more on the property itself and not specific things/locations one of them were involved in.
I played Aqua first because she’s a pretty blue lady, it’s been too long so I don’t remember much of my first playthrough though I do remember feeling like I was skipping ahead in the story, like starting a TV show on episode 5
To be fair, The Three Musketeers is one of the funniest animated Disney movies in general and for sure one of my favorites. I can’t really dislike the world for that reason
One thing I especially liked about Terra's visit to the Dwarf Woodlands was that much like Vexen in KH3 Caribbean, he gets confused by what "heart" the Disney characters are talking about. The Evil Queen asks Terra to kill Snow White and bring back her literal heart in a box, and Terra stands there with the box like, what????? Take her heart??? You're after hearts of light too????
While Roxas’ reoccurring world missions in Days can be a bit boring, each world do present something for Roxas to learn. For example: Agrabah is about the values of friendships(standard but necessary for Roxas). Beast’s Castle is about Beast’s fighting for his friends contrasts with Xemnas having others do his work which Roxas notes. And also learning about love. Aside from Neverland’s theme of believing, it has Roxas eventually learning follow his own actions instead of strictly following his order; foreshadowing him quitting the organization.
I think Olympus Coliseum at least deserves a mention, too - the biggest point of that being Roxas trying to understand the difference between "expectations" and "orders".
I feel like Symphony of Sorcery is in a class of it’s own as it’s not really trying to be a part of the game outside of the one YX scene, it’s just existing as a game level trying to capture the vibe and aesthetic of Fantasia, which is what makes it so good
I personally thought Riku’s side added a bit more though as it gives us a good moment with Mickey. That line “Gosh I’d love to be a part of the team someday. Trust me, you will.” really hits home. Especially considering Mickey did play a huge role in Riku’s development
Also I really love how thematic Notre Dame was so it'd probably be a lot higher for me. Vanitas wasn't randomly there imo, that whole scene was about how Ventus (and Roxas, and Xion and Vantias by extension) are either prisoners of Sora's heart or taking sanctuary in Sora's heart. Just like Notre Dame was supposed to be sanctuary for Quasimodo and Esmerelda but it became their prison. Especially Quasimodo. And that's why Quasimodo and Riku talking was so good, Riku was on an island paradise that felt like a prison to him too. (Any movie that parallels that gets points for me like Atlantica and Ariel in 1.) And the fact Notre Dame was a church goes really well with the religious imagery JRPGs like FF and even KH always use. (The first level in DDD has Joshua...who is literally an Angel for example.) Trapping Darkness (Vanitas) in people's hearts is a whole thing probably a big part of the next saga too. Also the embodiment of darkness was in a church with no fucks given what a badass.
I love seeing all the comments about play order in BBS. I finally played it right before KH3 came out and I had no idea there was a recommended order. I went Ventus, Terra, Aqua. I though Ventus would be the most familiar to play since he’d theoretically be mechanically similar to Sora/Roxas. Then similarly I figured Terra would be Riku-esque. That left Aqua as the one with potentially the most unique experience. Honestly I loved how it played out in that order and I think that makes way more sense seeing the world through Ven’s happy-go-lucky kid view, then Terra’s darker struggles, then Aqua trying to keep everything together and leading into the epilogue stuff.
That's how I played it too when I first went through it. I think the only real problem with playing Ventus first is that there's like no explanation of the unversed until the final visit to the Keyblade Graveyard when Vanitas explains that the unversed are a product of himself.
My first playthrough was Aqua, then Ven, then Terra. Honestly, it was kinda cool to see how Terra had 'caused' all these problems. But that was a long time ago.
that was my playthrough too and honestly, it just feels better. also, in terms of difficulty, ven is easiest and aqua is hardest. aqua dies so easily in the beginning and ven plays a lot like sora does, so its easier to get used to his controls.
For Days and Re:coded, I think Days has a WEIRD way of determining how interconnectivity works, but Re:coded's is a lot closer to the other games, since you finish a world in one go, wheras Days' consists of multiple visits.
Another double meaning in Riku’s monologue could also be the period Days and KH2 is set in, his overriding goal of restoring and protecting Sora while keeping to the shadows, only revealing his identity to Sora at Kairi’s request. It’s not long after this the last shred of Ansem is purged from him, letting him look to the future and seek closure over his past mistakes everyone but him has forgiven him for.
The Grid also throws in the wild and largely unexplained detail that The Girl is *not* a sleeping world, because data can't sleep, and that the org essentially yoinked him out of his quest before shoving him back in The whole 'data can't sleep' concept also wound up very important in the finale of KHux
The "rule-breaking" that incited the "lesson" wasn't even what it was trying to tell us it was. He ran out onto a beaten path to fight Unversed, having no idea that there was a race or that the Unversed were participating. Instead of responding to Chip and Dale's complaint with "sometimes you have to bend the rules", any normal person (including Terra as presented in any other world) would have said: "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize there was a race going on. I was just trying to stop the Unversed." It's like one of those episodes where the character (and audience) is supposed to learn a lesson, but the lesson's inciting incident is built on either out-of-character actions, Aesop Amnesia, or simple Informed Wrongness. "Riku's selling himself short in calling Sora his conscience." Well, when Riku's at his most evil and doesn't realize how in over his head he is, Sora's there with just the right words of encouragement: "You're stupid!" The Days world visits are very minor and for flavoring at best. The highest I'd rank a world is Beast's Castle, where Roxas and Xion learn about and discuss love, and where Xaldin's manipulations of Beast are set into motion. As for re:coded, the visits to Wonderland and Olympus Coliseum don't really matter much (microcosm, anyone?), but Agrabah is where plot happens (even though Maleficent and Pete turn out to be the Goldfish Poop Gang making a game attempt but ultimately not being related to the game's actual "plot").
Honestly I'd put CoM up with BBS and DDD in terms of importance to the story, or at the very least in its own tier above MoM and Days. I mean... you're introduced to some of the primary antagonists for literally the rest of the series, and Riku gets some awesome character development as well
I think what made Symphony of Sorcery work for the story was the end of it, where Sora's and Riku's Sound Ideas work together across the two different versions of the world - reinforcing their "best friends" status, basically.
I don't know why you think having Xehanort implanting Maleficent's head to the idea of the seven princesses of heart is a retcon since to me at least, it makes sense that she knows and understands the power of the princesses due to Xehanort telling her since it wasn't explained how Maleficent even got the idea on how those powers work and which princesses she's suppose to be targeting. All in all, this is a good video.
Not to mention it was already revealed in KH1 that Ansem was just using Malicifent. It’s not illogical to assume he could have been using it far before even that point
A lot of people got confused about Xehanort after KH2 actually retconned his name. Beyond the name swap shenanigans, Nomura has actually been pretty amazing at not needing to do retcons he just fills in plotholes we may or may not have noticed prior. Even the heartless/nobody thing was actually present in kh1 with Clayton being the first Nobody we fight in the series. “No heart, no see friends; no heart, no friends” -tarzan.
@@sh4d0wfl4re I think it’s more that he intentionally leaves unanswered and later answers them in a future game. The whole thing Axel and Saix were doing in 358 and BBS for example
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE the ultimanias have confirmed this. Further they mention that he purposefully leaves plot holes vague enough that he can fit 2 or 3 different story arcs in them, as he never knows which stories will be approved in advance. KH3's sora-death scene was originally going to be a KH1 plot, which instead got replaced with his time as a willful shadow. Modular/swappable story arcs are very much something Nomura relies upon.
I feel like the term “retcon” gets a bad rep by default, and people normally think of it as “something the writer did that contradicts something else”, meaning retcons are inherently bad. However, the actual meaning of “retcon” is a little different. TV Tropes defines retcons as something that “reframes past events to serve a current plot needed”. Basically, anything that recontextualizes or “soft rewrites” something that came before is a retcon, so Maleficent knowing about other worlds and the Princesses of Heart thanks to Xehanort is indeed a retcon, as that information hadn’t been established previously. Kingdom Hearts as a whole is full of retcons, due to it being a continuing story that’s not entirely planned in advance, and pretty much all stories like this, like Dragon Ball and Naruto for two famous examples, also have tons of retcons, and that isn’t inherently bad.
One of the biggest things that really got me about BBS was that in the games we've got a huge series of thematic parallels between the disney protags and the main character of whatever game we're in. We're supposed to align a character with their parallel in the story, and in almost all the BBS princess worlds, Aqua gets to be the princely character- rescuing Snow White from the woods, helping Cinderella and fighitng alongside prince phillip. I was a teenage girl when I played BBS for the first time and damn if it didn't awaken something in me. Especially with how passive kairi is in the game, and the fact that namine, for as powerful as she is, was unplayable, and xion ended up dying in her game, there was something very fun about that thematic role in aqua.
I'm just happy that Hunchback made it into the Kingdom Hearts games as "fine, but not great" the world is, simply because that's my favorite Disney movie. It was pleasing to visit that world, but nothing to write home about.
DDD's Country of the Musketeers gets bonus points for nearly drowning Michael Mouse. Not that this has anything to do with the overall KH plot, but. You know.
I have been waiting for this video! You are always so eloquent with how you script your video essays! This is one of your best!! For me, I think BBS overall does so well with Disney integration in terms of matching the themes of the characters, especially the first three worlds. In contrast, DDD uses Disney worlds (as you stated) as backdrops instead of integrated throughout the story. Also, I gotta say, I knew you were somehow going to shoehorn Treasure Planet into this. You go king👏
i'd argue the riku segment of country of the musketeers is about his bond with sora (kind of like most of his side of the game really), since he manages to save him from the sidelines, foreshadowing the end of the game
Can you talk about the ‘Unsolvable maze’ in KH1 Hollow bastion? The one in the Waterway where some switches cannot be accessed, its kinda weird that no one is talking about it or even confused just as i was
@@KaimArgonarEyyyy honestly i can’t say for sure even tho i tried solving it for several hours + searched the internet and no luck but its still interesting and there is always the possibility of someone discovering it after 20 years, its KH1 after all
@@sh4d0wfl4re TheYozora was talking about one specific wall mounted button in the Waterway Puzzle that looks like it should have a route towards but doesn't.
I mentally organize them as: . The ps2 trilogy (KH1, ReCom, Kh2) . The handheld trio (Days, BBS, 3D) . The climax and extra material (Framentary, KH3, ReMind, Union)
Although unlikely, I do hope you decide to explore the 358/2 Days Disney worlds. Despite the game's awkward method of structuring visits to the Disney worlds, they hold a surprising amount of importance to the development of Roxas and Xion, as they each introduce and explore a new emotion unfamiliar to the duo. The growth in their behavior and the way they interact with one another is so gradual that the little changes the Disney worlds have on them can go unnoticed, but the start and end of their personalities is completely night and day and it's largely due to their visits to the worlds. One scene in particular that always sticks with me as one of my favorite moments in the Kingdom Hearts series is the scene prior to Roxas facing off against Xigbar in Olympus Coliseum. After having completed the matches leading up to the finale, Phil gives Roxas a little pep talk, telling him how he's expecting Roxas to take home first place, to which Roxas asks "You're ordering me to win?" Phil corrects him saying how he simply has faith in him, to which Roxas just stares blankly and mutters the worth "faith" to himself. It's a cute little moment, but it also works to highlight simply how toxic Roxas' relationship is with both Saix and Xemnas. The game only furthers adds on to this moment, with Roxas growing increasingly more frustrated with his treatment in the Organization, until he finally explodes during the "Plant the Devices" mission, fully committing to betraying the Organization after being left in the dark for so long. That incredibly crucial moment in the story is influenced heavily by that fact that he never once receives the same type of sincere support from Saix or Xemnas that Phil gives him, or that he sees from Aladdin and Genie, or the type care and concern that Belle and Beast show for one another, etc. Despite being such a small thing, it hints at major future progressions in Roxas' character arc, and it goes a long way in making Roxas' eventual betrayal in the Organization feel properly built up to and satisfying. Moments like this, as well as the game's original humor (Roxas... that's a stick.) is why I desperately want a remake of Days since the HD Movie omitted so many noteworthy moments and borderline just reads off a wiki summary. ... Whoa that ended up longer than I intended. Sorry lol, I just really adore Days' story.
Having never had the chance to play Days, and having only seen the Cliffnotes Edition that they stuffed onto the collections? Thank you for telling me about that scene.
@@TwistedChungus Yeah, the Disney worlds is Days are arguably more important than they are in any other KH game since they are so vital to the growth of Roxas and Xion as characters. Outside the trio (Roxas, Xion, Axel), Roxas and Xion have basically no positive relationships with anyone else, basically by design from Xemnas. Xemnas doesn't want any of the Nobodies to form connections/bonds that might jeopardize his plan, and by using the rule he established of not interacting with the inhabitants (ostensibly to prevent information leaks) he basically constructs an echo chamber to make sure all the Organization members keep feeling empty and believing creating Kingdom Hearts is their only method of salvation from the void and longing inside themselves. This is also why Roxas and Xion being amnesiac is so important. Unlike the others they don't have memories to know what they are missing, so instead of focusing on what they don't have anymore they can see clearly what they do have. For them, gaining hearts and emotions is some vague, hard to imagine goal, whereas their own experiences are right in front of them. By observing from, and in some cases interacting with, the various inhabitants of the Disney worlds (and Twilight Town), Roxas and Xion learn more about life and relationships than they would otherwise. Axel inadvertently planted the seed, but since he himself is conflicted he wouldn't have been able to give the other two a complete picture on relationships and emotions. He has a hard time explaining stuff like friendship even, defaulting to saying it's "eating ice cream with each other" at the beginning. However, Roxas and Xion aren't dumb, they are just blank slates lacking in any memories to use as context/comparison, and so by observing others who have more normal relationships they can see and learn what they are missing, desire those kinds of emotions/relationships themselves, and eventually recognize those same feelings and bonds in themselves, even if they have a hard time explaining or defining them. Sure, technically none of this needs to occur in Disney worlds, but from the beginning Kingdom Hearts didn't really need the Disney stuff to tell its story. That doesn't mean it can't use Disney stuff to elevate it's own story and use the characters/worlds as shorthand without needing to establish all these characters' backgrounds and the like, allowing it to jump straight to its themes and own main characters' development.
Great video. Yeah I've got to agree with most of that. BBS's worlds were mostly good fun with maybe a little integration, but DDDs worlds were really not that important and could have just been any worlds. It started out strong in Traverse town with the idea of two versions of the same dreaming world but then really didn't do anything with it after. It would have been cool if things you did as Sora effected Riku's world and vice versa. Maybe have it so that the only way you can progress is have Sora and Riku work together across the worlds to progress (kind of like kid and adult Link in Ocarina of Time, but parallel worlds instead of past and future). This would have made the drop mechanic more useful too, instead of just playing until the last possible second as each character before dropping
Can you PLEASE do DR and UX? Or maybe wait until that long-awaited story update comes for DR, but UX is finished and ready for this list! And a lot of the worlds would probably make it pretty high; I could see the Cy-Bug Sector or Candy Kingdom making it into the top tier, and I think most of the worlds qualify for at least the Could You Try a Little Harder tier. Possibly barring Beast's Castle and Dwarf Woodlands.
I do find you a little harsh on country of the musketeers, I really like this world. Okay true, I get why you put it that low in the whole list, and considering Mickey tease us her knows about the keyblade and all, they could have done way more with it... But at the same time, I have the idea that this world show us, not really the start of SDG, but more the first adventure between Mickey, Donald and Goofy, which works well since it's followed by Symphony whichs shows us Mickey training with Yen Sid... Basically giving us an idea on what their lives were before Birth by Sleep, and how they grow to become who they are now. Which... Makes sens considering the whole idea of time travel being implemented in this game.
I have to disagree on the DDD worlds not being plot relevant, or at least not including narrative parallels in the scoring metrics. Prankster's Paradise for example parallels Sora's arrogance/overconfidence and naivity with Pinocchio in his original story, who ends up not taking Jiminy's warnings seriously and as a consequence is captured by the puppet master who wants to chain him up and use him for his shows. This foreshadows what Xehanort does to Sora near the end of the game. The location you meet YX and Xemnas in is even inside a giant cage within the circus. And I know it was mostly a joke, but Riku's line about Sora being his conscience was more generally about how good friends keep each other in check, as Sora in his KH1 Monstro visit tried to persuade Riku that what he was doing to Pinocchio was wrong, while Riku at that time was rationalizing his actions by saying it was needed to save Kairi. La Cité des Cloches works really well narratively too. For Sora, the idea that his heart which has been a sanctuary for many has also become a prison, just like the church was for Quasimodo. For Riku, the line to Quasi about how the real prison was the walls he had built around his own heart, not Frollo's rules, perfectly parallels Riku taking responsibility for his own actions and feelings instead of blaming Ansem SOD or Maleficent, as well as highlighting his introverted tendency to push others away. And his dialogue with Esmeralda later strongly implies that he still has a lot of negative feelings he hasn't been brave enough to voice yet for fear of rejection by others (specifically, being seen as a Monster). The fact that Quasi is an outcast in his society, and Esmeralda (the Queen of the outcasts) is the one comforting and reassuring him, is definitely an intentional choice. The Fantasia world is all about how Sora and Riku's hearts are finally in tune again, representing musically two "opposite" forces coming together into a balance. This fits well into KH's expanding theme of light and darkness needing to be in balance with each other. While the Org XIII members don't always play a huge role the worlds, these worlds were still intentionally chosen for specific reasons and many couldn't easily be replaced to serve the same function in the story.
Curious to see how you'd rank the Days worlds. I remember them all having unique storylines and lessons since they are all either post-KH1 or pre-KH2, on top of the fact that Roxas and Xion are less than a year old and picking up lessons and behaviors they apply to their own lives
I like that each Birth by Sleep world contains characters that Sora will meet later on his adventures. That’s pretty neat. Like, it’s nice that we get to go to the worlds of Disney’s first three princesses. For Dream Drop Distance, I’m not so sure each world is thematically cohesive. The Country of the Musketeers and Symphony of Sorcery open up at the same time, and in both of those worlds you meet a younger Michael, so, I guess that’s something? I understand why The Grid is a Sleeping World, but I don’t really understand most of the others. And the fact that there are two France themed worlds feels weird. (I don’t hate DDD though, this was actually my first KH game because I had a 3DS and 1.5 hadn’t come out yet). 7:27 I like to think Y.X. says this to himself each time he drops in on the heroes to say something cryptic.
Having recently played through DDD again, I think there's good reason why the worlds don't integrate that much with the major plot. Considering the context of why Sora and Riku go to the sleeping worlds, there wasn't supposed to be some major plot connecting them. Their goal was get in, wake the world, move on to the next world. The organization visits really just exist to hint at something being wrong with the test and let that feeling nag at the back of your head while you continue on with whatever is happening in that world. So while the Disney worlds of DDD don't integrate much with the overall plot, I don't think the lack of Major Plot Content TM is a bad thing.
I feel like Mattpatt has wonderfully integrated the lore of the Mattpatt hat into the casual world of wearing a hoodie by wearing the hood over the top of the hat. I’d place it just below Space Paranoids.
I actually really like the Mousketeer world because we never really got to see Mickey Mouse just being more like Mickey Mouse, you know what I mean? In most game's he's a mysterious king or something. Plus we know in books in Yen Sids tower in 2 and a few other things like the paintings in 1 that Mickey has been through spme mischievous adventures. I love how it explains where Goofy learned the phrase 1 for all and all for 1 in KH1. I guess it's how Mickey and Minnie met before they got married too lol. Its not my favourite though but I appreciate it.
this was posted 2 years ago but honestly despite the fact the three musketeers world is pretty bad in terms of story the battle theme goes insanely hard
Every time you always outdo yourself bro! Great job man!!! Lots of great picks for your favorite worlds from BBS and DDD! Keep up the awesome content bro. 💯💪🏼
Tron remembering Sora in the Grid never really made sense to me, since the Tron he knows is an unrelated copy. That’s like befriending Naminé and expecting Kairi to automatically continue that friendship
Hey pat, if these ideas is not already in the works you should do top overall companions and or summons and your favorite keyblades in the franchise. Either way keep up the good content!
i think an analysis of the disney worlds in Days might be interesting, since that game has a rather unique portrayal of the disney worlds. you're not there when any of the cool action stuff is happening, nothing from the movies these worlds come from are happening because they already happened (or in beast's case have yet to). you're there after the fact, there to do your job and go eat ice cream once you're done. it paints an interesting narrative picture of how these worlds and their inhabitants function without sora going around being a silly guy, and you get to see a sort of daily life of some of the worlds. agrabah is stuck in a perpetual loop of reconstruction, captain hook's off looking for treasure, et cetera. kind of scattered but i feel like that could make for an interesting talking point in a future video. also more Days content is always a good thing in my book :D
You Go Girl, Give Us Nothing! Hundred Acre Wood KH1 Hundred Acre Wood KH2 Agrabah KH2 Olympus Coliseum KH1 Atlantica KH2 Pride Lands Disney Town Country of the Musketeers Could You Try A Little Harder? KH3 Hundred Acre Wood Castle of Dreams Disney Castle Timeless River Halloween Town (both games) Land of Dragons Le City de Bells KH3 Olympus KH2 Olympus BBS Olympus Port Royal Prankster's Paradice San Fransokyo Symphony of Sorcery Clever Little Sneak! KH1 Agrabah Arendelle KH1 Atlantica Beast's Castle The Carribean Deep Jungle Deep Space Dwarf Woodlands Enchanted Dominion The Grid Kingdom of Corona BBS Neverland Toy Box Wonderland Master Class: Monstropolis Monstro KH1 Neverland Space Paranoids.
The problem with Pranksters Paradise is that it chronologically happens before The Grid but the developers fucked up and unintentionally spoils you on Xemnas's return
I actually think BBS does a lot better tha at least KHII in mixing the Disney stuff with the KH original stuff not just with the fact that characters remember other members of the trio from their visits, but also with how each member only really works for their specific visit. Kind of as an opposition to "You can switch this organization member and the plot still works." With BBS you have things that only that specific trio member works for in most worlds. Like how in most worlds only Terra would have the interaction he does with the villains or how only Aqua could be the one to buy Cinderella time because she's a female or do we even talk about how well the Neverland trips only work if you have it with Terra getting their and doing what he does first, Ventus doing what he does second and Aqua doing what she does third??? There are some spots like Terra and Vens Cinderella visits where I honestly feel like you could sub the characters visits and it still mostly works fine with some slight plot changes that don't actually change the overarching narrative, but for the most part I do feel like most of the visits and how they happen only work with that character and because of who showed up before them if they weren't the first one there.
Another great video pat, kh is at its best when the disney stuff and the kh stuff are mixing well and you actually have a reason to go to those disney worlds and real changes happen to the story in those worlds. Thats when Kingdom Hearts is at its best. So thats precisely the reason why KH1 is the best game in the series hands down. Nothing else in the series comes close to kh1, but if had to pick. I'd say Birth by Sleep is the second best game in the series. Love you Patrick.
Pat, I love KH since I was a kid, and I love your videos. PLEASE I want to collab with you SOMEHOW!! I don't care how. I admire your videos and your views as I share a lot of the same opinions on the franchise. Anyways, keep on making killer content!!
When Ventus summons his keyblade, it's in reverse grip. Anyone ever wonder if that is intentional? Like, does he will it into being backwards, or did he just get screwed and the keyblade that chose to apparate for him just happens to do so in the other orientation and Ven had to learn to live with it...? The important questions.
7:27, did you just do a lip sync? That's not easy, and you just casually put it in there? haha, new tier of quality videos right there man. It was so out of nowhere that I just had to stop and rewatch.
I wonder what Kingdom Hearts would be like if it was pure Disney, but the crossover caused everything to be edgy because of the villains conquering everything, with resistance movements trying to fight back. I kind of wished we went the Marvel Ultimate Alliance path for KH, the story post KH1 just started to go in a downward spiral, Dream Drop Distance was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
I am incredibly sad to see Country of the Musketeers in bottom tier but I get your point. It's the only Disney world to date in the KH series that's gotten me to watch the source material after I was done, but I totally get what you mean when you say there's nothing substantial. Nothing... really happens, it could have easily been replaced with a ton of other Disney worlds and had a similar plot or concept with different characters. What I've always loved in KH is moments where the Disney and KH worlds intertwine super well like the Triton moment in KH1. I don't think KH games should be Disney nostalgia trips purely, like you said the Disney worlds should be a backdrop for the main plot.
I think the biggest issue KH3s worlds --for me-- was how long and large they each were. I feel people have a fondness for KH2's worlds because each episode took the right amount of time to do and didn't overstay its welcome; if you were bored with one you knew it wouldn't be too long before something new came along. This in turn allowed for more worlds to be included since each was not meant to be terribly long, especially considering there so much variation in the order that the worlds are visited. KH3s worlds were just too big, IMO. I'd have cut most of them cleanly in half to make room for some additional worlds. I agree that KH1 likely strikes this balance the best. The world visits tend to be longer than the average KH2 one, but there are slightly fewer and the overall story is better paced through them than in any other games (save for maybe BBS).
While I don't expect it any time soon, I await the day you do this for Days. While I agree the gameplay is the worst in the series, the story I actually put as one of the best. And part of it is the game's mission-based structure making it so certain stories are taken to multiple worlds. If I had to guess, either Beast's Castle or Agrabah will be the best world while something like Halloween Town will be worst, due to the only worthwhile thing happening in HT is when Roxas and Xion are tricked into killing each other, only for Axel to stop them.
Interesting analysis, though I must admit even with the flaws of DDD's disney usage, I'd still much prefer that over KH2. Like you said there is some effort and I think for me with at least how the Org. is more involved somewhat compared to KH2's puts it higher for me for one reason there.
I argue the V.A.T. play order is the superior play order for BBS. if you want the characters to slowly get easier as you go maybe do T.A.V. order. If you are just doing the bonus content V.T.A. so that you already were playing aqua and used to her move set for the bonus content. Either way thematically its weird to do terras first. Mechanically hes also the hardest to play.
Dude if we got Sword in the Stone instead of Musketeers world it would have been Atlest 50% better. The fact that we never got that world and got a direct to DVD world instead is so dumb.
For the purposes of this exercise, KH2 and Dream Drop both share a similar problem to me... there's really no reason to care about most of the organization visits. Most of the time they're not even involved with the happenings in the world, they just pop in to taunt sora and/or riku for a couple minutes and then leave. KH3 on the other hand does get bogged up in doing the movie plot on multiple occasions but even while doing that there's an outside force acting to shake things up just a bit and I think it works more often than not. I'll also just add that I find KH2 to be particularly frustrating in this regard as its highest points are among some of my favorite things in gaming and then the rest is middling at best and just straight up nothing at worst.
"Terra did nothing wrong" meme is wrong. Terra did one thing extremely wrong, and that was 'nothing wrong'. By which I mean a major thematic through-line of BBS is Terra's fall to darkness, so the fact that Terra /doesn't/ actually do anything wrong makes the overall story of BBS much weaker than it should be.
I think Repliktwo could have been used better and it would have been so great and all it would would take is 1 simple change that actually makes the game as a whole even more amazing than it already is. Switch Luxord and Repliktwos fight areas as well as Riku and Mickeys. Luxord and Xigbar together would have been an amazing thing to hint at the Luxord and Xigbar thing in Re:Mind and both Riku and Repliktwo have more interaction with Marluxia and Larxene than Xigbar either way and at least Luxord and Xigbar have the connection of having been in Organization XIII together before, and honestly had some similar usage in KHII to boot. This simple change along with some banter on both fronts would add sooooo much more to the Repliktwo and Luxord/Xigbar stories and honestly would just make the game better as a whole. Edit: You'd probably have to move Ansem and Xemnsd as well, but tbh that one also feels like it makes more sense as well really. Xemnas obviously has closer connections to Xigbar than almost any other OG Organization member and Marluxia and Larxene betrayed him before so him being with Xigbar makes more sense than Ansem being there and Ansem has at least been in the same general location as Marluxia and Larxene before so that one also works. In addition to this, Mickey also makes more sense to be with Xigbar to an extent as he's at least seen the man before DDD while Riku has not. These are more stretchy things in the idea, but I felt like they should be mentioned nonetheless.
While Terra is my favourite character, I do feel like BBS really harms him by suggesting him as the starting character, both because gameplay wise, he's a bit of a large step outside of regular Sora, and both story wise as I feel like a lot of great tension is built in the other characters stories, seeing the hints towards Terra falling to darkness and then getting to see what really happened in his story and deciding for yourself if his more direct dark actions are truly justified.
I’d say 358/2 is more worthy of being a game that exists in this canon because of it being the origin story of Roxas, Axel, & Xion. Re:Coded however? It could simply not exist and it wouldn’t change anything.
“Darksplaining” is my new favorite term.
That Xemnas "what the fuck" was pure gold.
I also feel like the Grid’s story was carried by its connection to Space Paranoids. I really didn’t care about Riku’s visit, but Sora’s hit me like a truck when he made Tron remember him, but then fall.
I've honestly felt that The Grid continues the story of Space Paranoids in the same way that Tron: Legacy itself continues the story of the original Tron. There's not gonna be anything else like the latter, but the former will still suffice.
@@aidanthegamer5 Yeah even in Tron Legacy, Tron was a copy of the Tron from the Grid 1.0 like how Hallow Bastion Tron was a copy of Grid 1.0 Tron.
When Sora tried to grab his hand it reminded me of Sora grabbing Aqua's hand in 0.2s opening movie. Same composition.
@@aidanthegamer5 I'm bothered by Sora going out of his way to save Tron, turning him back to normal, and then hearing CLU say "Well, I'm going to reclaim him and reprogram him to be evil" five feet away... and he does nothing about it and just leaves.
Riku and Sora’s stories were very clearly meant to fill two different roles.
Sora’s story was the sequel to Space Paranoids. Riku’s story was meant to adapt Tron: Legacy. They wanted to do both and this was a prime opportunity to do it.
In Sora’s side of The Grid he’s introduced in the arena as combatant 13, and the fate of Rinzler following the boss fight could be seen as foreshadowing of Sora at the end of the game.
I never liked nor understood why Terra is the "Recommended first".
Story-wise, his whereabouts are unsolved mysteries in the other two's playthroughs, while *their* mysteries (well, Ventus') are practically spoiled by Terra's playthrough. The best Ven's experience only exists if you play him first, while Terra's is practically the same no matter the order (or gets even better later on due to the mysteries themselves).
Aqua is a wild card tho, she just goes around fixing other people's messes and asking what the heck did their friends do, so her experience is vastly different depending on the order.
I also really dislike it. You can probably extrapolate that Terra isn't the monster that he's constantly misconstrued to be by the game/its characters, but Ven/Aqua's visits are void of any tension if you play Terra first.
My recommendation is 1. Ventus 2. Terra 3. Aqua
I've always thought Ven was a good starting point too. Coincidentally, some of the Disney World Keyblades you get, the name only make sense with Ven's playthrough: "Treasure Trove", "Fairy Stars", "Hyperdrive". All the other Disney World Keyblades have them based more on the property itself and not specific things/locations one of them were involved in.
I played Aqua first which is an experience. It made Terra's a lot more interesting but I was very bewildered.
I played Aqua first because she’s a pretty blue lady, it’s been too long so I don’t remember much of my first playthrough though I do remember feeling like I was skipping ahead in the story, like starting a TV show on episode 5
To be fair, The Three Musketeers is one of the funniest animated Disney movies in general and for sure one of my favorites. I can’t really dislike the world for that reason
On top of that I have a nostalgic connection to that movie too so it's probably my favorite world in Dream Drop because I'm...wrong and dumb 😔
One thing I especially liked about Terra's visit to the Dwarf Woodlands was that much like Vexen in KH3 Caribbean, he gets confused by what "heart" the Disney characters are talking about. The Evil Queen asks Terra to kill Snow White and bring back her literal heart in a box, and Terra stands there with the box like, what????? Take her heart??? You're after hearts of light too????
You having google translate read out “la cité des cloches” got me for some reason 😂
While Roxas’ reoccurring world missions in Days can be a bit boring, each world do present something for Roxas to learn. For example:
Agrabah is about the values of friendships(standard but necessary for Roxas).
Beast’s Castle is about Beast’s fighting for his friends contrasts with Xemnas having others do his work which Roxas notes. And also learning about love.
Aside from Neverland’s theme of believing, it has Roxas eventually learning follow his own actions instead of strictly following his order; foreshadowing him quitting the organization.
I think Olympus Coliseum at least deserves a mention, too - the biggest point of that being Roxas trying to understand the difference between "expectations" and "orders".
I feel like Symphony of Sorcery is in a class of it’s own as it’s not really trying to be a part of the game outside of the one YX scene, it’s just existing as a game level trying to capture the vibe and aesthetic of Fantasia, which is what makes it so good
I personally thought Riku’s side added a bit more though as it gives us a good moment with Mickey. That line “Gosh I’d love to be a part of the team someday. Trust me, you will.” really hits home. Especially considering Mickey did play a huge role in Riku’s development
Chernobog is a nice tie in to KH1 and a good thematic boss for Riku since he always struggled with Darkness and Chernobog is a big satan guy.
Also I really love how thematic Notre Dame was so it'd probably be a lot higher for me. Vanitas wasn't randomly there imo, that whole scene was about how Ventus (and Roxas, and Xion and Vantias by extension) are either prisoners of Sora's heart or taking sanctuary in Sora's heart. Just like Notre Dame was supposed to be sanctuary for Quasimodo and Esmerelda but it became their prison. Especially Quasimodo. And that's why Quasimodo and Riku talking was so good, Riku was on an island paradise that felt like a prison to him too. (Any movie that parallels that gets points for me like Atlantica and Ariel in 1.) And the fact Notre Dame was a church goes really well with the religious imagery JRPGs like FF and even KH always use. (The first level in DDD has Joshua...who is literally an Angel for example.)
Trapping Darkness (Vanitas) in people's hearts is a whole thing probably a big part of the next saga too. Also the embodiment of darkness was in a church with no fucks given what a badass.
"This island is a prison surrounded by water"
I love seeing all the comments about play order in BBS. I finally played it right before KH3 came out and I had no idea there was a recommended order. I went Ventus, Terra, Aqua.
I though Ventus would be the most familiar to play since he’d theoretically be mechanically similar to Sora/Roxas. Then similarly I figured Terra would be Riku-esque. That left Aqua as the one with potentially the most unique experience.
Honestly I loved how it played out in that order and I think that makes way more sense seeing the world through Ven’s happy-go-lucky kid view, then Terra’s darker struggles, then Aqua trying to keep everything together and leading into the epilogue stuff.
That's how I played it too when I first went through it. I think the only real problem with playing Ventus first is that there's like no explanation of the unversed until the final visit to the Keyblade Graveyard when Vanitas explains that the unversed are a product of himself.
My first playthrough was Aqua, then Ven, then Terra. Honestly, it was kinda cool to see how Terra had 'caused' all these problems. But that was a long time ago.
that was my playthrough too and honestly, it just feels better. also, in terms of difficulty, ven is easiest and aqua is hardest. aqua dies so easily in the beginning and ven plays a lot like sora does, so its easier to get used to his controls.
For Days and Re:coded, I think Days has a WEIRD way of determining how interconnectivity works, but Re:coded's is a lot closer to the other games, since you finish a world in one go, wheras Days' consists of multiple visits.
Another double meaning in Riku’s monologue could also be the period Days and KH2 is set in, his overriding goal of restoring and protecting Sora while keeping to the shadows, only revealing his identity to Sora at Kairi’s request. It’s not long after this the last shred of Ansem is purged from him, letting him look to the future and seek closure over his past mistakes everyone but him has forgiven him for.
The Grid also throws in the wild and largely unexplained detail that The Girl is *not* a sleeping world, because data can't sleep, and that the org essentially yoinked him out of his quest before shoving him back in
The whole 'data can't sleep' concept also wound up very important in the finale of KHux
Wait so if isn't a sleeping world, how are the dream eaters able to exist there? Aren't they tied to worlds in sleep?
@@OriginalGameteer The dream eaters also appeared in the World That Never Was and literally anywhere in KH3 thanks to Sora's summon.
The "rule-breaking" that incited the "lesson" wasn't even what it was trying to tell us it was. He ran out onto a beaten path to fight Unversed, having no idea that there was a race or that the Unversed were participating. Instead of responding to Chip and Dale's complaint with "sometimes you have to bend the rules", any normal person (including Terra as presented in any other world) would have said: "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize there was a race going on. I was just trying to stop the Unversed." It's like one of those episodes where the character (and audience) is supposed to learn a lesson, but the lesson's inciting incident is built on either out-of-character actions, Aesop Amnesia, or simple Informed Wrongness.
"Riku's selling himself short in calling Sora his conscience." Well, when Riku's at his most evil and doesn't realize how in over his head he is, Sora's there with just the right words of encouragement: "You're stupid!"
The Days world visits are very minor and for flavoring at best. The highest I'd rank a world is Beast's Castle, where Roxas and Xion learn about and discuss love, and where Xaldin's manipulations of Beast are set into motion.
As for re:coded, the visits to Wonderland and Olympus Coliseum don't really matter much (microcosm, anyone?), but Agrabah is where plot happens (even though Maleficent and Pete turn out to be the Goldfish Poop Gang making a game attempt but ultimately not being related to the game's actual "plot").
Honestly I'd put CoM up with BBS and DDD in terms of importance to the story, or at the very least in its own tier above MoM and Days. I mean... you're introduced to some of the primary antagonists for literally the rest of the series, and Riku gets some awesome character development as well
"Dream Drop Sora, the dumbest of the Sora's"
Damn. (Sora's or Soras?)
no apostrophe, because it wasn't a possessive
I think what made Symphony of Sorcery work for the story was the end of it, where Sora's and Riku's Sound Ideas work together across the two different versions of the world - reinforcing their "best friends" status, basically.
I love Pat's Xemnas impression so much, literally any time he does it it gets a laugh out of me
I don't know why you think having Xehanort implanting Maleficent's head to the idea of the seven princesses of heart is a retcon since to me at least, it makes sense that she knows and understands the power of the princesses due to Xehanort telling her since it wasn't explained how Maleficent even got the idea on how those powers work and which princesses she's suppose to be targeting.
All in all, this is a good video.
Not to mention it was already revealed in KH1 that Ansem was just using Malicifent. It’s not illogical to assume he could have been using it far before even that point
A lot of people got confused about Xehanort after KH2 actually retconned his name. Beyond the name swap shenanigans, Nomura has actually been pretty amazing at not needing to do retcons he just fills in plotholes we may or may not have noticed prior. Even the heartless/nobody thing was actually present in kh1 with Clayton being the first Nobody we fight in the series. “No heart, no see friends; no heart, no friends” -tarzan.
@@sh4d0wfl4re I think it’s more that he intentionally leaves unanswered and later answers them in a future game. The whole thing Axel and Saix were doing in 358 and BBS for example
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE the ultimanias have confirmed this. Further they mention that he purposefully leaves plot holes vague enough that he can fit 2 or 3 different story arcs in them, as he never knows which stories will be approved in advance. KH3's sora-death scene was originally going to be a KH1 plot, which instead got replaced with his time as a willful shadow. Modular/swappable story arcs are very much something Nomura relies upon.
I feel like the term “retcon” gets a bad rep by default, and people normally think of it as “something the writer did that contradicts something else”, meaning retcons are inherently bad. However, the actual meaning of “retcon” is a little different. TV Tropes defines retcons as something that “reframes past events to serve a current plot needed”. Basically, anything that recontextualizes or “soft rewrites” something that came before is a retcon, so Maleficent knowing about other worlds and the Princesses of Heart thanks to Xehanort is indeed a retcon, as that information hadn’t been established previously. Kingdom Hearts as a whole is full of retcons, due to it being a continuing story that’s not entirely planned in advance, and pretty much all stories like this, like Dragon Ball and Naruto for two famous examples, also have tons of retcons, and that isn’t inherently bad.
One of the biggest things that really got me about BBS was that in the games we've got a huge series of thematic parallels between the disney protags and the main character of whatever game we're in. We're supposed to align a character with their parallel in the story, and in almost all the BBS princess worlds, Aqua gets to be the princely character- rescuing Snow White from the woods, helping Cinderella and fighitng alongside prince phillip. I was a teenage girl when I played BBS for the first time and damn if it didn't awaken something in me. Especially with how passive kairi is in the game, and the fact that namine, for as powerful as she is, was unplayable, and xion ended up dying in her game, there was something very fun about that thematic role in aqua.
I'm just happy that Hunchback made it into the Kingdom Hearts games as "fine, but not great" the world is, simply because that's my favorite Disney movie. It was pleasing to visit that world, but nothing to write home about.
My thoughts exactly!!
DDD's Country of the Musketeers gets bonus points for nearly drowning Michael Mouse. Not that this has anything to do with the overall KH plot, but. You know.
I have been waiting for this video! You are always so eloquent with how you script your video essays! This is one of your best!! For me, I think BBS overall does so well with Disney integration in terms of matching the themes of the characters, especially the first three worlds. In contrast, DDD uses Disney worlds (as you stated) as backdrops instead of integrated throughout the story. Also, I gotta say, I knew you were somehow going to shoehorn Treasure Planet into this. You go king👏
i'd argue the riku segment of country of the musketeers is about his bond with sora (kind of like most of his side of the game really), since he manages to save him from the sidelines, foreshadowing the end of the game
Ironically, I just rewatched your first video on the Disney world today and wanted more
Dude, same. I live for that serendipity
10:49 "He said at the 10 minute mark," he said at almost the 11 minute mark.
Can you talk about the ‘Unsolvable maze’ in KH1 Hollow bastion?
The one in the Waterway where some switches cannot be accessed, its kinda weird that no one is talking about it or even confused just as i was
It's literally unsolvable? I thought I was just being a lazy dumbfuck for not putting enough time to actually do it.
@@KaimArgonarEyyyy honestly i can’t say for sure even tho i tried solving it for several hours + searched the internet and no luck
but its still interesting and there is always the possibility of someone discovering it after 20 years, its KH1 after all
Do you mean the sections that get unlocked via trinity..? Impossible during your first visit, but definitely possible by the latter ones
@@sh4d0wfl4re TheYozora was talking about one specific wall mounted button in the Waterway Puzzle that looks like it should have a route towards but doesn't.
3 minutes in, i hear BbS criticism that isn't repeated and actually accurate, have a like
I mentally organize them as:
. The ps2 trilogy (KH1, ReCom, Kh2)
. The handheld trio (Days, BBS, 3D)
. The climax and extra material (Framentary, KH3, ReMind, Union)
Coded?
@@Maks243 I mean... I don't want to xD
@@Soynereh Yeah makes sense lol
Although unlikely, I do hope you decide to explore the 358/2 Days Disney worlds. Despite the game's awkward method of structuring visits to the Disney worlds, they hold a surprising amount of importance to the development of Roxas and Xion, as they each introduce and explore a new emotion unfamiliar to the duo. The growth in their behavior and the way they interact with one another is so gradual that the little changes the Disney worlds have on them can go unnoticed, but the start and end of their personalities is completely night and day and it's largely due to their visits to the worlds.
One scene in particular that always sticks with me as one of my favorite moments in the Kingdom Hearts series is the scene prior to Roxas facing off against Xigbar in Olympus Coliseum. After having completed the matches leading up to the finale, Phil gives Roxas a little pep talk, telling him how he's expecting Roxas to take home first place, to which Roxas asks "You're ordering me to win?" Phil corrects him saying how he simply has faith in him, to which Roxas just stares blankly and mutters the worth "faith" to himself. It's a cute little moment, but it also works to highlight simply how toxic Roxas' relationship is with both Saix and Xemnas. The game only furthers adds on to this moment, with Roxas growing increasingly more frustrated with his treatment in the Organization, until he finally explodes during the "Plant the Devices" mission, fully committing to betraying the Organization after being left in the dark for so long. That incredibly crucial moment in the story is influenced heavily by that fact that he never once receives the same type of sincere support from Saix or Xemnas that Phil gives him, or that he sees from Aladdin and Genie, or the type care and concern that Belle and Beast show for one another, etc. Despite being such a small thing, it hints at major future progressions in Roxas' character arc, and it goes a long way in making Roxas' eventual betrayal in the Organization feel properly built up to and satisfying.
Moments like this, as well as the game's original humor (Roxas... that's a stick.) is why I desperately want a remake of Days since the HD Movie omitted so many noteworthy moments and borderline just reads off a wiki summary.
...
Whoa that ended up longer than I intended. Sorry lol, I just really adore Days' story.
Having never had the chance to play Days, and having only seen the Cliffnotes Edition that they stuffed onto the collections? Thank you for telling me about that scene.
@@TwistedChungus Yeah, the Disney worlds is Days are arguably more important than they are in any other KH game since they are so vital to the growth of Roxas and Xion as characters. Outside the trio (Roxas, Xion, Axel), Roxas and Xion have basically no positive relationships with anyone else, basically by design from Xemnas.
Xemnas doesn't want any of the Nobodies to form connections/bonds that might jeopardize his plan, and by using the rule he established of not interacting with the inhabitants (ostensibly to prevent information leaks) he basically constructs an echo chamber to make sure all the Organization members keep feeling empty and believing creating Kingdom Hearts is their only method of salvation from the void and longing inside themselves.
This is also why Roxas and Xion being amnesiac is so important. Unlike the others they don't have memories to know what they are missing, so instead of focusing on what they don't have anymore they can see clearly what they do have. For them, gaining hearts and emotions is some vague, hard to imagine goal, whereas their own experiences are right in front of them.
By observing from, and in some cases interacting with, the various inhabitants of the Disney worlds (and Twilight Town), Roxas and Xion learn more about life and relationships than they would otherwise. Axel inadvertently planted the seed, but since he himself is conflicted he wouldn't have been able to give the other two a complete picture on relationships and emotions. He has a hard time explaining stuff like friendship even, defaulting to saying it's "eating ice cream with each other" at the beginning.
However, Roxas and Xion aren't dumb, they are just blank slates lacking in any memories to use as context/comparison, and so by observing others who have more normal relationships they can see and learn what they are missing, desire those kinds of emotions/relationships themselves, and eventually recognize those same feelings and bonds in themselves, even if they have a hard time explaining or defining them.
Sure, technically none of this needs to occur in Disney worlds, but from the beginning Kingdom Hearts didn't really need the Disney stuff to tell its story. That doesn't mean it can't use Disney stuff to elevate it's own story and use the characters/worlds as shorthand without needing to establish all these characters' backgrounds and the like, allowing it to jump straight to its themes and own main characters' development.
Great video. Yeah I've got to agree with most of that. BBS's worlds were mostly good fun with maybe a little integration, but DDDs worlds were really not that important and could have just been any worlds. It started out strong in Traverse town with the idea of two versions of the same dreaming world but then really didn't do anything with it after. It would have been cool if things you did as Sora effected Riku's world and vice versa. Maybe have it so that the only way you can progress is have Sora and Riku work together across the worlds to progress (kind of like kid and adult Link in Ocarina of Time, but parallel worlds instead of past and future). This would have made the drop mechanic more useful too, instead of just playing until the last possible second as each character before dropping
Can you PLEASE do DR and UX? Or maybe wait until that long-awaited story update comes for DR, but UX is finished and ready for this list! And a lot of the worlds would probably make it pretty high; I could see the Cy-Bug Sector or Candy Kingdom making it into the top tier, and I think most of the worlds qualify for at least the Could You Try a Little Harder tier. Possibly barring Beast's Castle and Dwarf Woodlands.
I do find you a little harsh on country of the musketeers, I really like this world. Okay true, I get why you put it that low in the whole list, and considering Mickey tease us her knows about the keyblade and all, they could have done way more with it...
But at the same time, I have the idea that this world show us, not really the start of SDG, but more the first adventure between Mickey, Donald and Goofy, which works well since it's followed by Symphony whichs shows us Mickey training with Yen Sid... Basically giving us an idea on what their lives were before Birth by Sleep, and how they grow to become who they are now.
Which... Makes sens considering the whole idea of time travel being implemented in this game.
I swear you had 1k subs a few months ago and now you have 20x that keep it up man you deserve it so my favourite RUclips atm
Thank you!
I have to disagree on the DDD worlds not being plot relevant, or at least not including narrative parallels in the scoring metrics. Prankster's Paradise for example parallels Sora's arrogance/overconfidence and naivity with Pinocchio in his original story, who ends up not taking Jiminy's warnings seriously and as a consequence is captured by the puppet master who wants to chain him up and use him for his shows. This foreshadows what Xehanort does to Sora near the end of the game. The location you meet YX and Xemnas in is even inside a giant cage within the circus. And I know it was mostly a joke, but Riku's line about Sora being his conscience was more generally about how good friends keep each other in check, as Sora in his KH1 Monstro visit tried to persuade Riku that what he was doing to Pinocchio was wrong, while Riku at that time was rationalizing his actions by saying it was needed to save Kairi.
La Cité des Cloches works really well narratively too. For Sora, the idea that his heart which has been a sanctuary for many has also become a prison, just like the church was for Quasimodo. For Riku, the line to Quasi about how the real prison was the walls he had built around his own heart, not Frollo's rules, perfectly parallels Riku taking responsibility for his own actions and feelings instead of blaming Ansem SOD or Maleficent, as well as highlighting his introverted tendency to push others away. And his dialogue with Esmeralda later strongly implies that he still has a lot of negative feelings he hasn't been brave enough to voice yet for fear of rejection by others (specifically, being seen as a Monster). The fact that Quasi is an outcast in his society, and Esmeralda (the Queen of the outcasts) is the one comforting and reassuring him, is definitely an intentional choice.
The Fantasia world is all about how Sora and Riku's hearts are finally in tune again, representing musically two "opposite" forces coming together into a balance. This fits well into KH's expanding theme of light and darkness needing to be in balance with each other.
While the Org XIII members don't always play a huge role the worlds, these worlds were still intentionally chosen for specific reasons and many couldn't easily be replaced to serve the same function in the story.
The biggest lore drop in the country of the musketeers is that Michael married into royalty.
Pat, once again this rules. I think this makes me wanna do some Personal World Rankings™️ in a video or somethin'
AND some more fanart in a Pat video, I continue my reign of terror 😤😤😤
Curious to see how you'd rank the Days worlds. I remember them all having unique storylines and lessons since they are all either post-KH1 or pre-KH2, on top of the fact that Roxas and Xion are less than a year old and picking up lessons and behaviors they apply to their own lives
I like that each Birth by Sleep world contains characters that Sora will meet later on his adventures. That’s pretty neat. Like, it’s nice that we get to go to the worlds of Disney’s first three princesses.
For Dream Drop Distance, I’m not so sure each world is thematically cohesive. The Country of the Musketeers and Symphony of Sorcery open up at the same time, and in both of those worlds you meet a younger Michael, so, I guess that’s something? I understand why The Grid is a Sleeping World, but I don’t really understand most of the others. And the fact that there are two France themed worlds feels weird. (I don’t hate DDD though, this was actually my first KH game because I had a 3DS and 1.5 hadn’t come out yet).
7:27 I like to think Y.X. says this to himself each time he drops in on the heroes to say something cryptic.
My day is complete now that Pat has released a video
I forgot this series was a thing but I am glad it came
Having recently played through DDD again, I think there's good reason why the worlds don't integrate that much with the major plot. Considering the context of why Sora and Riku go to the sleeping worlds, there wasn't supposed to be some major plot connecting them. Their goal was get in, wake the world, move on to the next world. The organization visits really just exist to hint at something being wrong with the test and let that feeling nag at the back of your head while you continue on with whatever is happening in that world. So while the Disney worlds of DDD don't integrate much with the overall plot, I don't think the lack of Major Plot Content TM is a bad thing.
I feel like Mattpatt has wonderfully integrated the lore of the Mattpatt hat into the casual world of wearing a hoodie by wearing the hood over the top of the hat. I’d place it just below Space Paranoids.
this comment is terrible and makes no sense. that being said i will thumbs up
@@RegularPat how would you rank my comment based on how well I’ve integrated the comment into the overall lore of the Mattpatt channel?
Pat is becoming a regular rasputin with that beard of his. Also, it’s good to get some hoodie lore confirmation.
I actually really like the Mousketeer world because we never really got to see Mickey Mouse just being more like Mickey Mouse, you know what I mean? In most game's he's a mysterious king or something. Plus we know in books in Yen Sids tower in 2 and a few other things like the paintings in 1 that Mickey has been through spme mischievous adventures. I love how it explains where Goofy learned the phrase 1 for all and all for 1 in KH1. I guess it's how Mickey and Minnie met before they got married too lol. Its not my favourite though but I appreciate it.
Yessss I've been waitingggg
Riku meeting Dark Riku in Monstro is huge KHIII Foreshadowing
this was posted 2 years ago but honestly despite the fact the three musketeers world is pretty bad in terms of story the battle theme goes insanely hard
Every time you always outdo yourself bro! Great job man!!! Lots of great picks for your favorite worlds from BBS and DDD! Keep up the awesome content bro. 💯💪🏼
Tron remembering Sora in the Grid never really made sense to me, since the Tron he knows is an unrelated copy. That’s like befriending Naminé and expecting Kairi to automatically continue that friendship
Finally have a job, so now I’m able to be a patron - love everything you do!
Hey pat, if these ideas is not already in the works you should do top overall companions and or summons and your favorite keyblades in the franchise. Either way keep up the good content!
You really cubed this down…
You did great!
i think an analysis of the disney worlds in Days might be interesting, since that game has a rather unique portrayal of the disney worlds. you're not there when any of the cool action stuff is happening, nothing from the movies these worlds come from are happening because they already happened (or in beast's case have yet to). you're there after the fact, there to do your job and go eat ice cream once you're done. it paints an interesting narrative picture of how these worlds and their inhabitants function without sora going around being a silly guy, and you get to see a sort of daily life of some of the worlds. agrabah is stuck in a perpetual loop of reconstruction, captain hook's off looking for treasure, et cetera.
kind of scattered but i feel like that could make for an interesting talking point in a future video. also more Days content is always a good thing in my book :D
You Go Girl, Give Us Nothing!
Hundred Acre Wood KH1
Hundred Acre Wood KH2
Agrabah KH2
Olympus Coliseum KH1
Atlantica KH2
Pride Lands
Disney Town
Country of the Musketeers
Could You Try A Little Harder?
KH3 Hundred Acre Wood
Castle of Dreams
Disney Castle
Timeless River
Halloween Town (both games)
Land of Dragons
Le City de Bells
KH3 Olympus
KH2 Olympus
BBS Olympus
Port Royal
Prankster's Paradice
San Fransokyo
Symphony of Sorcery
Clever Little Sneak!
KH1 Agrabah
Arendelle
KH1 Atlantica
Beast's Castle
The Carribean
Deep Jungle
Deep Space
Dwarf Woodlands
Enchanted Dominion
The Grid
Kingdom of Corona
BBS Neverland
Toy Box
Wonderland
Master Class:
Monstropolis
Monstro
KH1 Neverland
Space Paranoids.
New Pat video 🥰🥰🥰
Everytime you refer to the mouse as michael i crack up, love the vids man
The problem with Pranksters Paradise is that it chronologically happens before The Grid but the developers fucked up and unintentionally spoils you on Xemnas's return
I actually think BBS does a lot better tha at least KHII in mixing the Disney stuff with the KH original stuff not just with the fact that characters remember other members of the trio from their visits, but also with how each member only really works for their specific visit. Kind of as an opposition to "You can switch this organization member and the plot still works." With BBS you have things that only that specific trio member works for in most worlds. Like how in most worlds only Terra would have the interaction he does with the villains or how only Aqua could be the one to buy Cinderella time because she's a female or do we even talk about how well the Neverland trips only work if you have it with Terra getting their and doing what he does first, Ventus doing what he does second and Aqua doing what she does third??? There are some spots like Terra and Vens Cinderella visits where I honestly feel like you could sub the characters visits and it still mostly works fine with some slight plot changes that don't actually change the overarching narrative, but for the most part I do feel like most of the visits and how they happen only work with that character and because of who showed up before them if they weren't the first one there.
Hey Pat I found your channel recently and I’m really enjoying the content. 👍
Another great video pat, kh is at its best when the disney stuff and the kh stuff are mixing well and you actually have a reason to go to those disney worlds and real changes happen to the story in those worlds. Thats when Kingdom Hearts is at its best. So thats precisely the reason why KH1 is the best game in the series hands down. Nothing else in the series comes close to kh1, but if had to pick. I'd say Birth by Sleep is the second best game in the series. Love you Patrick.
Every time I watch a vid about BBS I’m reminded of my mistake in playing the game Ven, then Aqua, then Terra
Pat, I love KH since I was a kid, and I love your videos. PLEASE I want to collab with you SOMEHOW!! I don't care how. I admire your videos and your views as I share a lot of the same opinions on the franchise.
Anyways, keep on making killer content!!
My brain is cooked, I heard "Rinzler" and immediately thought "Heh, Rizzler"
I think BBS is my second favorite largely because of how everything feels important on some level.
It would have been funny if Vanitas said "I'm burning!!?" while standing inside the cathedral.
When Ventus summons his keyblade, it's in reverse grip. Anyone ever wonder if that is intentional? Like, does he will it into being backwards, or did he just get screwed and the keyblade that chose to apparate for him just happens to do so in the other orientation and Ven had to learn to live with it...? The important questions.
Disney town also explains Pete's shield from kh2 with the mini game in the sewer
7:27, did you just do a lip sync? That's not easy, and you just casually put it in there? haha, new tier of quality videos right there man.
It was so out of nowhere that I just had to stop and rewatch.
I actually just read the line and then get incredibly lucky with the YX clip that I picked
@@RegularPat 🤣Nice, well done Pat
I wonder what Kingdom Hearts would be like if it was pure Disney, but the crossover caused everything to be edgy because of the villains conquering everything, with resistance movements trying to fight back. I kind of wished we went the Marvel Ultimate Alliance path for KH, the story post KH1 just started to go in a downward spiral, Dream Drop Distance was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
Amazing video as always! I loved these two videos you made on the Disney worlds and their impact on the story. Can’t wait to see the next video!
I am incredibly sad to see Country of the Musketeers in bottom tier but I get your point. It's the only Disney world to date in the KH series that's gotten me to watch the source material after I was done, but I totally get what you mean when you say there's nothing substantial. Nothing... really happens, it could have easily been replaced with a ton of other Disney worlds and had a similar plot or concept with different characters.
What I've always loved in KH is moments where the Disney and KH worlds intertwine super well like the Triton moment in KH1. I don't think KH games should be Disney nostalgia trips purely, like you said the Disney worlds should be a backdrop for the main plot.
You've really improved in your French pronunciation!
Chapeau!
I love this RUclips channel ❤️
I thought that Dream Drop’s worlds were-
*drop meter runs out*
Now we have to wait for the other guy to catch up to where I’m at.
Not having Treasure Planet, Emperor's New Groove and Dinosaur as worlds is a massive waste of potential.
I'm glad DDD being poopy is practically the consensus
I think the biggest issue KH3s worlds --for me-- was how long and large they each were. I feel people have a fondness for KH2's worlds because each episode took the right amount of time to do and didn't overstay its welcome; if you were bored with one you knew it wouldn't be too long before something new came along. This in turn allowed for more worlds to be included since each was not meant to be terribly long, especially considering there so much variation in the order that the worlds are visited.
KH3s worlds were just too big, IMO. I'd have cut most of them cleanly in half to make room for some additional worlds.
I agree that KH1 likely strikes this balance the best. The world visits tend to be longer than the average KH2 one, but there are slightly fewer and the overall story is better paced through them than in any other games (save for maybe BBS).
While I don't expect it any time soon, I await the day you do this for Days. While I agree the gameplay is the worst in the series, the story I actually put as one of the best. And part of it is the game's mission-based structure making it so certain stories are taken to multiple worlds. If I had to guess, either Beast's Castle or Agrabah will be the best world while something like Halloween Town will be worst, due to the only worthwhile thing happening in HT is when Roxas and Xion are tricked into killing each other, only for Axel to stop them.
Remake Days! Do it Square, ya cowards I dare ya!
Interesting analysis, though I must admit even with the flaws of DDD's disney usage, I'd still much prefer that over KH2. Like you said there is some effort and I think for me with at least how the Org. is more involved somewhat compared to KH2's puts it higher for me for one reason there.
PAT DID YOU SEE THE SAKURAI PRESENTS???
So good.
I really messed myself up playing Aqua's campaign first when I played BBS
I see BBS in thumbnail, I click. I can't help it. If I could have 1 thing from this franchise, it would be a BBS 2
I argue the V.A.T. play order is the superior play order for BBS. if you want the characters to slowly get easier as you go maybe do T.A.V. order. If you are just doing the bonus content V.T.A. so that you already were playing aqua and used to her move set for the bonus content. Either way thematically its weird to do terras first. Mechanically hes also the hardest to play.
Dude if we got Sword in the Stone instead of Musketeers world it would have been Atlest 50% better. The fact that we never got that world and got a direct to DVD world instead is so dumb.
You missed the most important... Mirage Arena!!
Anyway, I love how you narrate your thoughts and reasons, thanks for the video!
For the purposes of this exercise, KH2 and Dream Drop both share a similar problem to me... there's really no reason to care about most of the organization visits. Most of the time they're not even involved with the happenings in the world, they just pop in to taunt sora and/or riku for a couple minutes and then leave. KH3 on the other hand does get bogged up in doing the movie plot on multiple occasions but even while doing that there's an outside force acting to shake things up just a bit and I think it works more often than not.
I'll also just add that I find KH2 to be particularly frustrating in this regard as its highest points are among some of my favorite things in gaming and then the rest is middling at best and just straight up nothing at worst.
"Terra did nothing wrong" meme is wrong. Terra did one thing extremely wrong, and that was 'nothing wrong'. By which I mean a major thematic through-line of BBS is Terra's fall to darkness, so the fact that Terra /doesn't/ actually do anything wrong makes the overall story of BBS much weaker than it should be.
Loving both of these videos
I think Repliktwo could have been used better and it would have been so great and all it would would take is 1 simple change that actually makes the game as a whole even more amazing than it already is.
Switch Luxord and Repliktwos fight areas as well as Riku and Mickeys. Luxord and Xigbar together would have been an amazing thing to hint at the Luxord and Xigbar thing in Re:Mind and both Riku and Repliktwo have more interaction with Marluxia and Larxene than Xigbar either way and at least Luxord and Xigbar have the connection of having been in Organization XIII together before, and honestly had some similar usage in KHII to boot.
This simple change along with some banter on both fronts would add sooooo much more to the Repliktwo and Luxord/Xigbar stories and honestly would just make the game better as a whole.
Edit: You'd probably have to move Ansem and Xemnsd as well, but tbh that one also feels like it makes more sense as well really. Xemnas obviously has closer connections to Xigbar than almost any other OG Organization member and Marluxia and Larxene betrayed him before so him being with Xigbar makes more sense than Ansem being there and Ansem has at least been in the same general location as Marluxia and Larxene before so that one also works.
In addition to this, Mickey also makes more sense to be with Xigbar to an extent as he's at least seen the man before DDD while Riku has not.
These are more stretchy things in the idea, but I felt like they should be mentioned nonetheless.
You HAVE TO comment the Smash Bros Reveal lol
In my mind the play order will always be Ventus, Aqua, Terra
Holy crap xemnas saying what the fuck is the funniest shhit ever
I’m a simple man. I see a regular Pat video, and I click
Days would be great. It's my favorite game in the series.
While Terra is my favourite character, I do feel like BBS really harms him by suggesting him as the starting character, both because gameplay wise, he's a bit of a large step outside of regular Sora, and both story wise as I feel like a lot of great tension is built in the other characters stories, seeing the hints towards Terra falling to darkness and then getting to see what really happened in his story and deciding for yourself if his more direct dark actions are truly justified.
I still think you should have covered Days because of the interactions between Roxas, Xion, Axel and the Disney characters.
I’d say 358/2 is more worthy of being a game that exists in this canon because of it being the origin story of Roxas, Axel, & Xion.
Re:Coded however? It could simply not exist and it wouldn’t change anything.