Honestly, Roxas should have been the main character of KH2. Why? Let me explain.

 

In KH1, Sora was fine in the first game, he has a purpose and goes off to save his friends and remove heartless to save worlds. The plot was excellent for the first title, and characters plots were fine.

 

Sora was a bit cheesy, but he's fine.

 

 

 

And then we get to KH2, we get a new main character, Roxas, much more realistic with his interaction with other characters. (So much, that I highly prefer the KH2 friend group than Sora-Riku-Kairi) Roxas then starts getting some weird memory experiences.

At this point, I started to think the game is going to be much different than the campy and cheesy feel of KH1, the plot felt more similar to a Final Fantasy game, using many of the same story telling techniques (the confusing one's, good or bad, are at least a step up from KH1). As you get to know Roxas more as well as the Organization XIII who keeps on following him, I actually develop an interest, a genuine interest that I never felt once with Sora. As we reach the climax of the virutal Twilight town scene, I was expecting Roxas to go out and explore the worlds, find out who he truly is, find Xemnas.. do something.

 

But the game trolls me, completely halting the plot at that moment and switching to Sora.

I was unhappy.

 

Roxas had a purpose in the plot, he had a motive to explore and they switch us to Sora, who now has no purpose or motive other than "kill more heartless and nobodies" which completely and utterly contradicts the first game and only lower's anything he did in the first game to mere uselessness.

 

So Nomura decided to exchange a good character with and interesting motive with great antagonist, with a purposeless rehash of the last game to make 70% of KH2 feel like empty prancing over disney worlds?

 

wtf

Interesting, never really thought about it... To be honest, Roxas had the chance to shine in Days but the plot wasted its potential (like KH2). Weakest stories of the series.

Well, he remembers who he is at the climax of the virtual Twilight Town plot, but you're right. Some more focus on Roxas would have been nice, considering Days was somewhat simple in regards to plot, compared to the rest of the series.

 But I loved Kingdom Hearts 2 just the way it was/is. I mean Roxas is already the leading protagonist in one of the most remembered and tear shedding games in Kingdom Hearts history. Perhaps he did deserve to be the star in kh2 but i honestly can't see that happening with pretty much all Kingdom Hearts fans expecting Sora not some guy they never knew before until later in the series/game (not trying to be rude i mean i love Roxas just look at my name!).

Sora very much had and still has a purpose. Roxas for all intents and purposes was never supposed to exist in the first place, He fulfilled his purpose the moment he rejoins with Sora. Sora's purpose in Kingdom Hearts II was to find Riku and have them both return to Destiny Islands where Kairi was left at the end of the first Kingdom Hearts. This purpose is the very reason he ended up in that sleeping pod in the first place. I loved Roxas as well but seeing you talk like this about Sora being essentially useless makes me wonder if you've even played Chain of memories. If you had played chain of memories there would be no way you could think Sora had no purpose in Kingdom Hearts II. I mean what was the poor guy to do stay in hyper sleep and remain incomplete while HALF of himself "Roxas" his nobody is left roaming around just as incomplete as Sora?. They Needed each other. Just like Naminé needed Kairi.

Edited October 30, 20159 yr by itsDON

Heh, well this was a very interesting read!  And although it would have been interesting to see how Roxas would have fared out had he been the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts II, I just really find that I couldn't picture him, since his purpose had been served when he awakened Sora!  Roxas only remained around because Sora's memory was being restored behind the scenes!  I'm not saying I don't like Roxas, because I just love the character, but his purpose was already served, and 358/2 Days did enough to tell his story, ya know?

It comes down to a matter of taste, of course, and not only do I personally prefer the upbeat tempo that Sora brings to any storyline, I would argue that the bait-and-switch of having Roxas be playable only to take him away is ultimately one of the things that made his character endearing. Half of what makes people cling to him is the tragic element surrounding him, and if we get to play as him, we get to like him more and more, which increases the sadness as we watch everything he cares about stripped away from him. If he were the main character, that finality would not only be necessarily removed, but I can't help but feel we'd wind up with a somewhat more broody storyline, which is the last thing I care for in Kingdom Hearts (speculation on the broody part, but given that Roxas' existence seems to demand that he constantly must have lousy things happen to him, it's a fair bet).

Personally, I wouldn't have minded if Roxas had indeed become KH2's main character. Of course, that's my bias talking, as well as my preference for KH1 Sora out of any of the series. But as much as I have my preferences, I wouldn't go so far as to say Roxas should have been the main character. I love the guy, but it's easy for me to say that because the direction Sora's character takes seems to shift from game to game, for no apparent reason. Roxas at least is consistent. Plus I don't necessarily need the plot to feel similar to a Final Fantasy game -- we already have Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts, while having similar infrastructure, is still its own series.

Okay so I want to start by saying that Roxas is by far my favorite character in the series. However, I don't really think he would have fit as the main character for KH2; assuming the end result of the protagonist's actions would have been the same no matter who it was. For me, the most gripping part in all of KH2 is how I perceive Roxas's never-ending struggle.  We all know the story by now, he tries and promptly fails at every turn because of forces that are so far beyond him.  And the truth is that it's just not fair, he never gets what he strives so hard to achieve.  In that sense, he's the most relate-able character in the entire series.

We all know failure, hardship, hating what we don't understand and envious of those who do.  That's why his story had to conclude the way it did on his final day - his genuine sorrow and grief is transmuted into Sora's light.  That all being said I do also want to mention that I think a full KH game with Roxas as the lead character on console would be the dopest thing in the universe.  Just not for KH2.

Roxas would have been a horrible choice to be the main character in KH2, I love Roxas but it wouldn't have worked in any way shape or form