Basically, this is a list of points that I feel could have made BBS' plot clearer, more logical, or more enjoyable

Feel free to add your own, or contest any of my points

 

1- Flashbacks

There a startlingly few scenes of TAV together. I feel like this is any important one.

I think some extra scenes of them together would have driven the tragedy home more. Scenes showing the characters when they were younger. Terra and Aqua first meeting, for example. Things that tell us more about the characters, why they care about eachother, and more importantly, why the VIEWER should care. As it stands, they essentially say, 'Terra, Aqua and Ventus? Yeah, they're basically Riku, Kairi and Sora. Just pretend they have THEIR caharacter development, okay?'

Some more scenes with Eraqus would have made his final moments more meaningful, as well. If they had shown that he was something like their father figure, shown just how HARD it must have been to fight Terra and Ventus, it could have been protrayed much better.

 

2- Make Xehanort less overt

Leonard Nimoy delivers his lines convincingly enough that, had they come from somebody else, they would have been at least slightly convincing. As it stands, the game takes every opportunity to remind us he is evil. Because he is so overt, it makes any character interacting with him seem exceedingly stupid. Now, I know that they were already stuck with his design because of KH2's secret ending, but I think a simple solution would have been some formal wear, something he wears at first, somewhat like Chancellor Palpatine. Some new clothes combined with some tones down mannerisms would have made the character more of a mystery to both the player and the characters.

 

3- Change Eraqus and Xehanort's dynamic

Stop and look at this. Xehanort rants about starting a new keyblade war, and talks of darkness and the like. Eraqus fights him, and is scarred by him. Xehanort also gave him a boy with a heart of pure light. Later, after no contact for a long time, he shows and and insists Eraqus test them for the mark of mastery. His pupil fails, showing signs of darkness. When his friend who used the darkness to scar him shows up. Not suspicious. The Xehanort goes missing immediately after, and suddenly monster start attacking worlds.

That's their relationship

Personally, I think a better take would have been having them make up, at some point. And to have the argument be more two sided and academic. The scarring could still occur, but it could be more ambiguous, in such as way that Eraqus would have a reason to doubt he was up to anything.

 

4- Aqua needs to be more consistent

In the first three worlds Aqua visits, she finds evidence of Terra. In only ONE of them does she find evidence he did anything wrong, and she PERSONALLY sticks up for him in that situation. In fact, she ends every world with a quote about how she thinks he'll be fine

Yet when they meet at Radiant Garden, she tells Terra that she saw the things he had done, and basically says she has no confidence in him.

One of two things should have happened; Aqua should have ACTUALLY seen Terra do something morally ambiguous, making Aqua's claims more valid, or she should have said something else at the garden. Something that still showed she was concerned for him, but also something that wasn't a blatant lie. This could be effective, as Terra could still react the same way he does in the game as is, which would show a degree of irrationality in him

 

5- Ventus needs motivation

WHY does Ventus go to the second batch of world? He has no reasoning or motivation. At the very least, it should have led to some character development. Maybe those aforementioned flashbacks? But yeah, he needs a reason to go to these worlds.

 

6- Terra needs to brush with the darkness properly

EVERY world Terra visits revolves around him OVERCOMING the darkness. He always successfully finds the light. There should have been more moments like the Castle of Dreams section, especially around the end. He should have gradually fallen into the darkness, instead, he has three points on the scale; firing darkness bolts at Braig in order to save Xehanort and himself (ooh! How evil)

Getting angry that his master was trying to kill his friend (Again, evilness incarnate, right here) and then getting angry again when Xehanort hurts his friends (He's practically Satan now)

The things he does are not overly different from Sora. And that's a flaw, in my opinion

 

7- Explain why everybody is so tight lipped

Nobody tells anybody anything in this game. At least tell us why that is. Why doesn't Terra tell Aqua he found Xehanort? Why are there so many questions just like that?

 

I dunno, there are more, but I got bored, so I'm publishing now.

I'm always up for seeing what could make a story better. I'm nerdy enough to find this topic incredibly interesting because as a writer, the way plots are structured have always been a fascinating thing to me.

I'm always up for seeing what could make a story better. I'm nerdy enough to find this topic incredibly interesting because as a writer, the way plots are structured have always been a fascinating thing to me.

 

Agree.

 

 

1- Flashbacks

There a startlingly few scenes of TAV together. I feel like this is any important one.

I think some extra scenes of them together would have driven the tragedy home more. Scenes showing the characters when they were younger. Terra and Aqua first meeting, for example. Things that tell us more about the characters, why they care about eachother, and more importantly, why the VIEWER should care. As it stands, they essentially say, 'Terra, Aqua and Ventus? Yeah, they're basically Riku, Kairi and Sora. Just pretend they have THEIR caharacter development, okay?'

Some more scenes with Eraqus would have made his final moments more meaningful, as well. If they had shown that he was something like their father figure, shown just how HARD it must have been to fight Terra and Ventus, it could have been protrayed much better.

I agree with this one a lot. I mean it would be way better if this happened in the game.

#7. Nuff said.

7- Explain why everybody is so tight lipped

Nobody tells anybody anything in this game. At least tell us why that is. Why doesn't Terra tell Aqua he found Xehanort? Why are there so many questions just like that?

 

Let's face it, BBS is basically a game about bad decisions. Not telling stuff is just one of them.

1. Yeah. That was something I really missed in that game.

They were pretty lazy about that (oh, hello, Ven (first time) - I am Aqua and that is Terra... we will look exactly the same in 4 years!)

It felt more like that Ven and Terra had a strong brotherly bond while Aqua was just kind of... there.

I guess, their "youth" would have make a better tutorial and then a time skip.

 

2. This depends. We know that he is evil and that he looks like a cliché on legs.

If the characters would judge him for just that, it would be kind of ridiculous. But I see what you mean.

 

3. That is a bit... strange, yeah

However, I see some kind of logic here.

Let's just think about Sora and Riku. Riku pretty much destroyed their home and did some other thingies.

And now look at Eraqus and Xehanort:

It has been years since he (MX) planned to do his darkness stuff. However, I have to say that I don't really remember the Ven-thingie.

Wasn't it more like "Yeah, ol' friend, this little fella is kinda... weak and I cannot take care of him, do whatever you want to do with him." - I have to see that scene again

 

4. Right. It felt a bit forced. I wonder what they first planned. Trailers and pictures show us some other ideas.

 

5. He just loves to do... things

and searching for his friends

 

6. I understood it more like this:

Terras actions were not "evil" but his heart was already weakend so that his not-so-evil-actions (and RAAAAAAAAAAGE!) made if easer for the darkness to come out.

 

7. That no one is talking to each other does make sense if you see it like this:

 

Terra would have a reason after hearing that Xehanort believes in him (lol) while Aqua makes it pretty clear that she doesn't (kinda...)

So, it would have made sense if they, as you said, showed us/Aqua something 'evil' Terra did, so that he and Aqua felt like they cannot speak normally to each other.

Edited August 8, 201213 yr by Henne

You managed to make this topic right in the midst of my writing an essay on the subject of Birth By Sleep's plot. Good timing.

 

I'm just going to leave my opening arguments here for now. Enjoy

~

 

When looking at the story of “Birth By Sleep”, it pays to ask yourself the question: what, exactly, is the main plot? The quick response is, of course, that there are three different plots, but that is incorrect. There is one main plot, and three separate views of it. And that plot is: Master Xehanort wishes to first transfer his consciousness into a more youthful body, forge the X-blade, and presumably gain Kingdom Hearts. Everything that happens in the game stems from this center.

 

And right there, you have the problem. The main character of this game is Xehanort. He is the one trying to accomplish something. He is the reason anything happens in the plot. He is the one with a purpose and something to achieve through playing the game.

 

Already, I can hear the outcries to this. “Well, RPG’s always rely on the villains for motivation.” Motivation, perhaps, but that doesn’t mean the game has to center around them. A villain’s goals should provide motivation to the heroes, whose quest to stop the evil plan becomes the central plot. The difference is that the heroes are trying to accomplish something in this regard, pushing the plot forward as a result of their actions, rather than passively sitting back and letting the villain dictate what is going to happen next and putting them in a state of reaction. The former has the heroes in the driver’s seat, and thus in turn gives a sense of purpose to the player. The latter gives full control to the villain, and the playable characters, and therefore the player, become little more than pawns who are being pushed around as per someone else’s plans.

 

With “Birth By Sleep,” Master Xehanort calls every shot from beginning to the end. He wants the X-Blade, which must be crafted by having pure Light fight pure Dark, so he crafts Vanitas out of Ven, and looks to have them battle. He wants a new body, so he toys with Terra so that he might corrupt his heart and take over (more on why that doesn’t even work later). He wants Eraquas out of the picture, and so he brings that about. The plot is coming about because Master Xehanort is the only one doing anything to make it so. The three main characters of Terra, Aqua, and Ven do nothing to advance the plot whatsoever, and are in a constant state of passive reaction. The response to this is, “Of course they’re being forced to react. Xehanort’s playing them like a deck of cards, as per his master plan!” Yes, it is all part of the plan, rather than necessarily coming from weakness of character, but it doesn’t change the fact that the supposed protagonists are doing very little. In fact, by emphasizing the idea that Xehanort’s playing them, it only emphasizes that he is the one who is making this game happen, more so than anyone else. This isn’t so much the fault of the characters in the game so much as it is the writers and developers for not putting the characters in a position where their actions mattered and led to something constructive. It should also be made clear that it is not impossible to have the characters of a game play into the villain’s hands and still be proactive while doing so. In “Final Fantasy VII,” there are more than a few occasions where Cloud and friends do exactly what Sephiroth wants, but this is occurring while the main plot, that of trying to actively stop Sephiroth, is going on. In “Birth By Sleep,” there is very little active about the protagonists’ roles in the plot, as they are only doing what Xehanort is making them do with no goals or ideas of their own. There’s no motivation or desire for them to do half the things they wind up doing other than the fact that the plot is railroading them along.

Very astute Hatok .I agree.