I understand the whole time thing, but why was Sora and Riku brought back as their younger selfs? I thought it was still in the same timeline...

The Mark of Mastery exam. 

As far as I know - and I am by no means an expert on DDD - is that, because they aren't so much 'going back in time' as they are revisiting sleeping worlds that are essentially 'stuck' in time, their physical forms revert to the way they were when they were there. This does not apply to the Organization members that use the dark corridors to artificially enter the sleeping worlds.

 

To make a comparison on something I'm not 100% on anyway, in the TV show Legend of Korra, Korra sends her consciousness to the Spirit World, so she can't use her elemental bending powers. Meanwhile, the bad guy comes in in a completely different way - that of a portal into the world. Because he used that mode of transportation, his physical body entered the realm and could use his powers, unlike her. 

 

That's just what I take from it, and I haven't played it yet. Someone feel free to correct me.

They aren't younger, this is based after KH2FM/Re:coded.

What I read is that it was Yen Sid's doing. They were meant to revert to their current appearances once they returned to his tower. Only their appearances were changed, though. Their ages were not decreased.

Edited November 13, 201311 yr by Varnish

Fool. That's how old Sora is mentally, so that's how he sees himself in his dream. 

 

 

Riku a little younger is probably how Sora remembers him best, so that's how Sora would see him in a dream.

 

 

Only a theory.

My answere is because they are in a dream world, so there characteristics will slightly change.

 

its like when you dream, you dont wear the same stuff in the real world. I guess?

My answere is because they are in a dream world, so there characteristics will slightly change.

 

its like when you dream, you dont wear the same stuff in the real world. I guess?

 

 

Fool. That's how old Sora is mentally, so that's how he sees himself in his dream. 

 

 

Riku a little younger is probably how Sora remembers him best, so that's how Sora would see him in a dream.

 

 

Only a theory.

Neither of them were inside of their own dreams at the beginning of the game.

Master Yen Sid wanted to put them in a fair exam which doesn't include any past experience from their adventure. As for the clothes, Young Master Xehanort mentioned that he gave Sora his clothe that include the X so they can know every move he does, and the spirit symbol in Riku's clothe explains that he is inside Sora's dream.Hope that helped.

Edited November 13, 201311 yr by Master Keeper

Because they learned the keyblade on their own without proper training, Yen Sid basically wanted them in their younger selves that hadn't learned anything yet and sent them through time to when DI fell to darkness so they could open the keyhole to sleep ( Worlds fall into sleep when they fall to darkness). When Yen Sid did this he also gave them new clothes but Xehanort altered the new clothes with sigils when he saw them in DI and followed them . Riku saw Ansem and became Sora's dream eater instead and that's why he has that symbol on his clothes.