How I fell out of the Kingdom Hearts series-a recap of my personal experience with the franchise

[Dio Brando 5,810]

DISCLAIMER:This thread reflects only the opinion of it's own writer,it's not a critique on why you like the series or why you shouldn't.You don't have to abide by what I say,get offended by what I say or act very defensive about it.I appreciate that you guys still enjoy the series and I hope you continue to enjoy it.This is just a recap of my personal experience with the series and what all the stuff that happened to the series mean to me.

 

 

With that out of the way,God help me,let's begin:

 

I have been a fan of the series for more than a decade now,the first time I discovered the series with Kingdom Hearts 2(the first game I played of the series back in 2005)I got hooked instantly,I felt like I've discovered something magical,something that I felt I would cherish for the rest of my life and will invest so much time into and sure enough I did.I put way more than 120 hours just into KH2 Final Mix alone(yes I imported it way back when) and got everything in it.Played KH1 Final Mix right after(which was given to me by my late cousin who died because of anemia)and loved it just as much and it had so much fun with it.I thought my love for the series would be everlasting and that nothing will ever shake it............unfortunately that was about to change,it was a very slow change but it happened eventually

 

Surprisingly 3582 Days didn't affect me negatively as most people had.Sure I now understand why they hate it but back then it didn't offend me much and even today I'm not too bothered by it's plot(the gameplay on the other hand....hoo boy that's another story)

 

 

It's Birth by Sleep that was the start of my questioning for the series's.And I don't mean in terms of theorizing cuz I was doing theories waaaaay before I heard about the announcement of the handheld entries.I do mean this when I found some aspects of the writing questionable which would cause Birth by Sleep to be my least favorite Kingdom Hearts game(until Unchained X*chi* anyway) at the time,still loved the game but not as much as the others.Then there was Re:Coded after that which sure I know it's a remake of Coded on mobile phones but I just couldn't help but feel that 95% of the game is absolutely pointless cuz everything that matters to the story of the series happens when Data-Sora reach Data-Castle Oblivion.....which at this point is 5% left of the game which could've been told in any matter within the series and no not even the poorly-collected remade cutscenes of it in 2.5 would make up for it for me.Still my love for the series wasn't shaken much but my questioning began to increase a little bit.

 

Then there is Dream Drop Distance(WARNING:SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

 

Oh boy here we go

 

 

 

I share a hatelove relationship with this game,on the positive side I did love the flow motion system,the boss battles were pretty fun and I love the character development Riku went through.On the other hand...................this was the point where the writing for the series started to make me angry especially since I followed the series religiously up to this point cuz I rewatched all cutscenes of the series multiple times,read all Ansem reports,all Xehanort reports,most of the interviews especially the ones in the Ultimania books.I've invested so much time researching almost every nook and cranny of the story and my knowledge of the previous games is what made me hate the plot of this game so much and how it hindered 50% of my enjoyment of the game.

 

"KH2:Nobodies don't have hearts"

 

"KH3D:HA HA Xemnas lied,they do have hearts after all"

 

KH Birth by Sleep:Xehanort Report Number VII:

 

 

 

Xehanort's Report VII
I have uncovered the Keyblade's ultimate mystery. You see, besides the three families of Keyblades, there is another "Key Blade." While it may sound the same when spoken, it is notated uniquely: "χ-blade." And make no mistake, while it resembles a normal Keyblade, it is something altogether different.
Keyblades are said to be man-made counterparts to Kingdom Hearts. The χ-blade, however, coexists with Kingdom Hearts.
It is only forged when two hearts of equal power intersect--one heart of pure darkness, one heart of pure light. At the time of its forging, Kingdom Hearts appears. It must be noted, though, that this Kingdom Hearts is special. Unlike the Kingdoms brought about forcibly and artificially through the collection of hearts, THIS Kingdom Hearts is a perfect and complete union of ALL the worlds' hearts. Surely it was over this that the ancient Keyblade War was fought.
If so, the walls that divide the worlds today are of little consequence. With the χ-blade, all their hearts could be instantly reunited--and the Keyblade War, refought.

 

"KH3D's Master Xehanort:HA,fooled youuu,that Kingdom Hearts from 10 years ago is also fake and you need 7 Lights and 13 Darknesses to truly summon it"

 

 

Retcons up the butt,inserting time travel as a major plot point that did nothing but made things even more non-sensical and confusing and a plethora of plotholes on top of the plotholes we already had prior to this game.Due to this my love for the series has been shaken quite a bit,not enough to make me fall out of it just yet but enough to drop it from Number 1 status all the way down to number 9 or 10 on my top 10 franchises list.The worst thing a franchise can possibly do to me is to tell me that all the time I invested on it all those years was a complete waste of time,the Sonic franchise did that to me with 06 and Boom,the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy did that to me with Lightning Returns(Yes there was a point where I legitimately liked the XIII trilogy before I realized my hatred for the first game and my despise for the third one)And Kingdom Hearts just came a lot close do doing this with Dream Drop Distance but still not enough for me to give up on it completely or lose my excitement for Kingdom Hearts 3.....................................then,the straw that broke the camels back,happened to me..........................Unchained X(chi)

 

 

At first back when it was a browser game I payed it no mind cuz I thought it'd be a harmless non-canon game that KH fans can relax and enjoy on the side to deviate from the main series,but the more details I heard about it being actually canon the more bothered I got,the whole business about the foretellers,the lost masters,the book of prophecies and how basically everything that happens in that game is supposed to be the "epic" event that was the keyblade war which they've been teasing about ever since 2005 when KH2 had that hidden BBS teaser.Then E3  2015 trailer for KH3 happened(specifically the conversation between Eraqus and Xehanort) and the secret cutscene with Maleficent and Pete in 2.5 HD remix and on top of this sundae 2.8 HD Final Chapter prologue being announced, confirming that aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall of this nonsense was indeed 100% canon.This was the point where my patience and tolerance for the series reached it's max and was like:I'm done,I can't follow the series anymore.It's pretty much Nomura's way of giving me the middle finger and telling me that my decade long investment was a waste of time.All that passion I had,all the times I've been defending the series against all of the naysayers(to the point I was so obnoxious about it)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the time I spent playing and analyzing every game,was basically all for nothing

 

If you want to label me as a negative nancy or a hater who loves to hate on Square Enix and how I should leave this site cuz I know I'll be getting those comments anyway.But I'm gonna say that all of this anger that built up wasn't out of spite for the series,but was out of long ongoing passion I had for a franchise that used to mean a lot to me back then and out of the respect I used to have for Nomura and Square Enix before it faded away.Call me an old timer who keep saying *back in my day things were much better* but for me,nothing can top KH1 and KH2 for me and not because of nostalgia at all.But because they felt passionate,they felt sincere,they were so charming and they were very solid in almost every way and it seemed they had a clear direction of where they're going with the story.For the longest time I thought the series would continue this way but I can only take so much plot contrivenciesinconsistencies,retcons and plot holes before I say enough is enough cuz I grew up I began to understand more about plot structure,lore,character development,world building.....etc which I always thought are parts of every story-driven game and basics of storytellings in other forms of media in general like novels,comics,manga,anime,TV shows and movies......etc that choose to rely on the narrative for it's appeal.The way I see it(and that's just my subjective opinion and no one need to abide to it if they did not like it) is that it seems Nomura and most of the current writers at the Square part of Square Enix seems to continiously fail to understand.Nomura is like the M.Night Shyamalan of the RPG genre with a little sprinkle of George Lucas's thought process for the prequels.He refuses to grow and learn from his mistakes or even from what the competitors around him are doing and only few of his co-workers attempted to do such thing.Leading to a multitude of asspulls in the writing process everytime he's backed into a corner(especially with everything involving Organization XIII) and it's hard for me to keep supporting them the way they are now

 

 

I'm gonna repeat the disclaimer above once again:This is just a recap of my personal experience with the series,it's fine if you don't agree with what's being said above as long as there is mutual respect between us.I hope you continue to support Kingdom Hearts and keep on enjoying the series and be even more excited for Kingdom Hearts 3.But for me this is as far as I can go and it's time for me to officially bid my final farewell to the series.I will still remember the good times I had with it fondly for sure but I cannot for the life of me invest any more of my energy and passion and energy on it any more than what I already did.Sorry Kingdom Hearts,but I'm done

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

Wow, that's a cool story. What a mental journey through the series.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

Wow, that's a cool story. What a mental journey through the series.

Please tell me this isn't a sarcastic insult,cuz it feels like it is

[Sora96 17,256]

I hope you realize this, but it's actually zero coincidence your opinion started and eventually changed when it did.

 

Your love for the series started to go down when Nomura got more involved with the story, Nojima was long gone and Watanabe's involvement went down until Watanabe had zero involvement.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

I hope you realize this, but it's actually zero coincidence your opinion started and eventually changed when it did.

 

Your love for the series started to go down when Nomura got more involved with the story, Nojima was long gone and Watanabe's involvement went down until Watanabe had zero involvement.

Looking back at it I kinda realize it now,despite being in the same franchise,the difference in the writing style of KH1,2( and even Chain of Memories to an extent) and the later entries is night and day for me

[Sora96 17,256]

Looking back at it I kinda realize it now,despite being in the same franchise,the difference in the writing style of KH1,2( and even Chain of Memories to an extent) and the later entries is night and day for me

 

Exactly.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazushige_Nojima

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisuke_Watanabe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Nomura

[HarLea Quinn 26,501]

 Some fanboys don't understand that you can have some criticisms and still be a fan. You do not have to love every little thing and overlook and gloss over mistakes made by the series. However, a fan like myself will be willing to look past some of the aspects I disliked and still find enjoyment. As long as I am finding that enjoyment I will stick with the series.

 

I didn't like them adding Time Travel.

 

I did not like what Chi brought to the series - it's unneeded and unnecessary and watered down the plot even more.

 

I hate how Xehanort is presented like some almighty genius when really he's failed in every incarnation so far. He's just persistant - I'll give him that.

 

Most of the retcons I can deal with but others like the Xblade retcon annoyed me.

 

The nobodies have hearts retcon did not bother me bc really it's always been hinted from the very beginning that anything can grow a heart so it can work.

 

I feel bad for the fans who don't have the access to things like translated interviews bc so many vital plot points are explained in interviews, reports, and such and they miss a lot of important knowledge. IMHO this kind of info should always be presented well in game.

 

KH3 is coming and hopefully it will resolve some plot issues and answer our burning questions.

[Elast0 147]

I agree a lot with what you said here, especially the things you said about DDD. For me Kingdom Hearts was at it's best back in 2007 before all the side games started rolling in and making the plot more complicated than it needed to be.

 

I totally understand why you've decided to drop the series but aren't you at least curious to see how KH3 will wrap things up before you leave the franchise? I'm asking this because you said you have invested so much time on the plot.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

 Some fanboys don't understand that you can have some criticisms and still be a fan. You do not have to love every little thing and overlook and gloss over mistakes made by the series. However, a fan like myself will be willing to look past some of the aspects I disliked and still find enjoyment. As long as I am finding that enjoyment I will stick with the series.

 

I didn't like them adding Time Travel.

 

I did not like what Chi brought to the series - it's unneeded and unnecessary and watered down the plot even more.

 

I hate how Xehanort is presented like some almighty genius when really he's failed in every incarnation so far. He's just persistant - I'll give him that.

 

Most of the retcons I can deal with but others like the Xblade retcon annoyed me.

 

The nobodies have hearts retcon did not bother me bc really it's always been hinted from the very beginning that anything can grow a heart so it can work.

 

I feel bad for the fans who don't have the access to things like translated interviews bc so many vital plot points are explained in interviews, reports, and such and they miss a lot of important knowledge. IMHO this kind of info should always be presented well in game.

 

KH3 is coming and hopefully it will resolve some plot issues and answer our burning questions.

Despite what I said above,I'm still gonna buy and play KH3 cuz I have to see things through to the end.Hopefully KH3 might bring me back but I don't have much hope

[Exiblade7 1,917]

I respect your opinion, but for some reason, the plot for the kh games didn't really annoy me until I tried to think what happened in all of the games including DDD all at once. I try not to think hard about the plot because I'll only get frustrated. Not saying I hate the plot in kingdom hearts though. The storyline in the kingdom hearts games encouraged me to look for more lore throughout the gaming series by playing the handheld games. I was able to understand the plot for 358/2 days well. For recoded I understood it even better when 2.5 came out because they turned recoded into a movie. For DDD, I actually had a kind hard time understanding the plot in that game because of the recons and the unexpecteding plot twists in the game. The beginning of the game was quite easy to understand, but near the end of the game, I had trouble figuring out what was happening. 

Edited November 26, 2015 by Luke Fon Fabre

[Dio Brando 5,810]

I agree a lot with what you said here, especially the things you said about DDD. For me Kingdom Hearts was at it's best back in 2007 before all the side games started rolling in and making the plot more complicated than it needed to be.

 

I totally understand why you've decided to drop the series but aren't you at least curious to see how KH3 will wrap things up before you leave the franchise? I'm asking this because you said you have invested so much time on the plot.

I'll pick up KH3 cuz after all I have to see this through to the end ^_^

[KHUndertaleFan25 2,858]

Honestly, I love Kingdom Hearts and its complicated plot. You have your opinion, I have mine.

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

Please tell me this isn't a sarcastic insult,cuz it feels like it is

Oh no, I actually admire this story. No need to be suspicious. This really is some story.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

Honestly, I love Kingdom Hearts and its complicated plot. You have your opinion, I have mine.

It's not the matter of it being complicated cuz if you know me,I love complex stories like the Metal Gear series,Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Shin Megami Tensei franchise(including Persona)

 

I'm more talking about my gripes with the writing not me hating complicated plots

[DemyxIsBest 367]

I salute you sir, when I tried making a thread like this I had a fair bit of abuse hurled at me.

I fully agree with everything you state.

[Trece the Xam ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀) 3,859]

Smash Mega Koopa, we've had an argument about FFXIII in the past, but this time I completely agree with you. My story is very similar to yours, honestly, the only difference is that my hype started with Days (although I played KH1 before it, but I didn't like it because I was too young) and ended with 2.8.

 

If you want me to be completely honest, what happened to you with FFXIII could have happened to me, but I left no time gap between the games, so I didn't grow impatient or speculate from one to another, so I didn't find it bad at all, unlike KH, wereas I made endless theories, much, much before joining the site, and were crushed with DDD (not right after playing, but rather a year after, thinking about the whole plot ).

 

Anyways, as people have said, KH had its years, back in 2007, with KH2FM+, although I absolutely love Days, the game that introduced me into the series, and just like you, plot-wise I like it (I actually consider it magnificent), but gameplay-wise...

 

 

I completely agree with your opinion (and DemyxIsBest's rant too )!

Edited November 26, 2015 by Xamtehwt MC (Trece)

[Headphone Jack 1,147]

I agree with you on pretty much all of what you said. Recently my view of the series as a whole has dropped a lot thanks to the newest games. I'd say if the original series had been KH1, CoM and KH2 that would have been a pretty solid trilogy. But no, the other games had to come out. 

 

Days - was fairly harmless to the story, but pretty pointless considering Nomura had to come up with a plot device (Xion) to justify the games existence.

 

BBS - had potential to bring the story back full circle with the origin story of Apprentice Xehanort, previously mentioned in KH2 so it's not as if he would have come out of nowhere and we see (in that scene from Hollow Bastion from KH2) that Sora does feel anger towards him for harming him and his friends so there's a seed for the motivation to grow as well. Apprentice Xehanort could have been built up as the main villain for KH3, thus keeping with the theme of Apprentice Xehanort being the antagonist throughout the series in some way (i.e. Ansem in KH1, Xemnas in KH2, Apprentice Xehanort in KH3)

 

Re:Coded - This game wasn't damaging to the story, but wow it was pretty meh. It just meandered around and it never seemed to end. It could have been a better game if it had either been Mickey's own game or featured the real Sora. The Re:Coded movie actually showed some genuine interaction between Data Sora and his friends, something we don't see too often outside of the typical "My friends are my power" speeches, which is just a blanket statement with little value, now that it's seemingly become Sora's battle cry. These scenes loose value when you remember "Oh right this isn't even the real Sora. It's just data." Then to top it all off, when we actually learn what Mickey wrote in his letter we see that it's just a poor attempt to reaffirm that BBS totally doesn't stick out of the series like a sore thumb and it was obviously the real climax of the overall series. "Everything in your journey has been leading to this!" Right, Mickey. Nice shoehorning. 

 

DDD - The black sheep of the series, imo. The story is bonkers. The majority of things in it just feel forced or out of place. Why do Sora and Riku need to take the Mark of Mastery when they have proven themselves skilled fighters on numerous occasions? Why is time travel a thing? Why is Sora penalized in the end because he fell into a trap that was placed in a test given to him by Yen Sid? Why does this even happen considering it'll be remedied by the beginning of KH3? Why does Lea get a keyblade? Why is Lea still here? Why is Sora suddenly more of an idiot than usual? Why are Dream Eaters a thing? Why does Riku still mope about falling to the darkness when it was implied he had gotten over in by the end of KH2? Why do Roxas and Namie suddenly deserve to be their own selves? Wasn't Sora ok with them merging back into him and Kairi at the end of KH2? I guess you could say he had a change of.....heart? Bottom line, DDD is where the story just collapses under it's own weight and one can only imagine how Nomura expects to clean up the mess in KH3 without hitting the reset button and retconing everything else.

 

Chi - At first I let it slide, thinking it was a harmless online browser game with no relevance to the story, but oh no. Nomura, in his neverending quest to connect every KH game together, began to add in plot devices like the Foretellers and the Tomb of Prophecy just to set up more plot points in KH3. It all feels so far removed from anything the original KH trilogy dealt with and now we just have to accept that it's a part of the series now. 

 

That's my rant of the series so far. I'll be playing KH3 just to get some closure on all this nonsense and after that who knows. I may stick around to see if he actually decides to plan the story out this time rather than writing it as he goes. If not, I'll just pretend the only cannon games are KH, CoM and KH2 and replay those to infinity.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

I agree with you on pretty much all of what you said. Recently my view of the series as a whole has dropped a lot thanks to the newest games. I'd say if the original series had been KH1, CoM and KH2 that would have been a pretty solid trilogy. But no, the other games had to come out. 

 

Days - was fairly harmless to the story, but pretty pointless considering Nomura had to come up with a plot device (Xion) to justify the games existence.

 

BBS - had potential to bring the story back full circle with the origin story of Apprentice Xehanort, previously mentioned in KH2 so it's not as if he would have come out of nowhere and we see (in that scene from Hollow Bastion from KH2) that Sora does feel anger towards him for harming him and his friends so there's a seed for the motivation to grow as well. Apprentice Xehanort could have been built up as the main villain for KH3, thus keeping with the theme of Apprentice Xehanort being the antagonist throughout the series in some way (i.e. Ansem in KH1, Xemnas in KH2, Apprentice Xehanort in KH3)

 

Re:Coded - This game wasn't damaging to the story, but wow it was pretty meh. It just meandered around and it never seemed to end. It could have been a better game if it had either been Mickey's own game or featured the real Sora. The Re:Coded movie actually showed some genuine interaction between Data Sora and his friends, something we don't see too often outside of the typical "My friends are my power" speeches, which is just a blanket statement with little value, now that it's seemingly become Sora's battle cry. These scenes loose value when you remember "Oh right this isn't even the real Sora. It's just data." Then to top it all off, when we actually learn what Mickey wrote in his letter we see that it's just a poor attempt to reaffirm that BBS totally doesn't stick out of the series like a sore thumb and it was obviously the real climax of the overall series. "Everything in your journey has been leading to this!" Right, Mickey. Nice shoehorning. 

 

DDD - The black sheep of the series, imo. The story is bonkers. The majority of things in it just feel forced or out of place. Why do Sora and Riku need to take the Mark of Mastery when they have proven themselves skilled fighters on numerous occasions? Why is time travel a thing? Why is Sora penalized in the end because he fell into a trap that was placed in a test given to him by Yen Sid? Why does this even happen considering it'll be remedied by the beginning of KH3? Why does Lea get a keyblade? Why is Lea still here? Why is Sora suddenly more of an idiot than usual? Why are Dream Eaters a thing? Why does Riku still mope about falling to the darkness when it was implied he had gotten over in by the end of KH2? Why do Roxas and Namie suddenly deserve to be their own selves? Wasn't Sora ok with them merging back into him and Kairi at the end of KH2? I guess you could say he had a change of.....heart? Bottom line, DDD is where the story just collapses under it's own weight and one can only imagine how Nomura expects to clean up the mess in KH3 without hitting the reset button and retconing everything else.

 

Chi - At first I let it slide, thinking it was a harmless online browser game with no relevance to the story, but oh no. Nomura, in his neverending quest to connect every KH game together, began to add in plot devices like the Foretellers and the Tomb of Prophecy just to set up more plot points in KH3. It all feels so far removed from anything the original KH trilogy dealt with and now we just have to accept that it's a part of the series now. 

 

That's my rant of the series so far. I'll be playing KH3 just to get some closure on all this nonsense and after that who knows. I may stick around to see if he actually decides to plan the story out this time rather than writing it as he goes. If not, I'll just pretend the only cannon games are KH, CoM and KH2 and replay those to infinity.

The handheld games are like the Star Wars prequels in a way ironically in that regard

Edited November 26, 2015 by Smash Mega Koopa

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

You raise a few good points here, Smash, and wow, I have to say, you've had quite the experience with the Kingdom Hearts series, huh?  I like how you detailed everything about your experience, it really gave me insight into how you perceived the games as you played them!

 

Honestly, in my opinion, the only thing I'm really bothered with is the retcon of how the X-Blade is forged.  In Birth By Sleep, it's stated that it takes one heart of pure light and one heart of pure darkness to forge the X-Blade and bring about Kingdom Hearts, but KH3D suggests that the true way to go about this is gathering seven lights and thirteen darknesses to forge the X-Blade!  If Xehanort had stated that there were two methods of forging the X-Blade instead of one, then this wouldn't be a problem, ya know?

 

But yeah, I love the Kingdom Hearts series, warts and all.  It'll always be a beloved series to me, and it will always be my favorite video game series of all time!

[Dio Brando 5,810]

You raise a few good points here, Smash, and wow, I have to say, you've had quite the experience with the Kingdom Hearts series, huh?  I like how you detailed everything about your experience, it really gave me insight into how you perceived the games as you played them!

 

Honestly, in my opinion, the only thing I'm really bothered with is the retcon of how the X-Blade is forged.  In Birth By Sleep, it's stated that it takes one heart of pure light and one heart of pure darkness to forge the X-Blade and bring about Kingdom Hearts, but KH3D suggests that the true way to go about this is gathering seven lights and thirteen darknesses to forge the X-Blade!  If Xehanort had stated that there were two methods of forging the X-Blade instead of one, then this wouldn't be a problem, ya know?

 

But yeah, I love the Kingdom Hearts series, warts and all.  It'll always be a beloved series to me, and it will always be my favorite video game series of all time!

That's fine and dandy......like cotton candy ^_^

 

In fact I need to clarify something,sure I fell out of the series as of right now,but I still love and adore KH1 and KH2 to death.Those two are still on my top 10 favorite games and I still replay them a lot,sure I still love games like Persona 3 and Persona 4 waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than them but still doesn't change the fact that I still love them a lot

[Sendou Aichi 2,356]

Yeah, I agree with you(and with plenty of people here, as well, especially Jack)

Also, Chi having a story always seems to me like a poor attempt of drawing players to play a crappy browser game.

[AwesomeKHfan 1,250]

Let's not forget... All the doors and Kingdom Hearts that appeared. KH1, KH2 and BBS

 

BBS: A special Kingdom Hearts... :dry: Seriously

 

I don't want to complain realy about the Kingdom Hearts itself and yes KH3 will have the real Kingdom Hearts but I kinda hoped we got to see the true Kingdom Hearts long ago

Edited November 27, 2015 by AwesomeKHfan

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

That's fine and dandy......like cotton candy ^_^

 

In fact I need to clarify something,sure I fell out of the series as of right now,but I still love and adore KH1 and KH2 to death.Those two are still on my top 10 favorite games and I still replay them a lot,sure I still love games like Persona 3 and Persona 4 waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than them but still doesn't change the fact that I still love them a lot

Yeah, I get what you mean.  Just like everyone else, you have your favorite KH installments, and that's just fine! Let's see if Kingdom Hearts III ends up being another favorite to add to your list! (And off topic, I've wanted to play the Persona games, because I've heard from many people here and read on many different occasions that the games are beast!)

[Smithee 326]

DDD was my last straw as well.

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

I agree with everything you said. BBS kinda made me facepalm a little, but DDD's 100% "Nope, all that BS no longer stands, we're doing this thing over here now" was completely aggrivating.

That, and literally trying to piece the story as a whole together. It falls apart after DAYS.