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Yes, there is a big focus on the Disney worlds, but at the same time, as we've seen from the trailers, a lot of the actual story also takes place in these worlds, it's not like previous games where the Disney worlds are mostly separate with their own stories, with just a little tie to the main story, it seems a lot more of the actual overall story will be contained in these worlds as well. Honestly, I just think people overhyped the game to the extent that they were expecting some sort of epic 100 hour masterpiece that solved every single problem/question in the entire series, and when you overhype a game like that, you're bound to be disappointed.

If you had to describe Kingdom Hearts in just a few words, what would those words be? “A JRPG with action gameplay” This is not wrong, but quite vague. “It’s a Square Enix game” while true, that’s really only the half of it. “It’s a Disney game!” eeehhhhhh, that doesn’t quite cut it. To this day, Kingdom Hearts as a whole is still described by the short sentence that was used to market it way back in 2002. “Kingdom Hearts is a Final Fantasy x Disney crossover” Upon hearing this you can immediately envision what the series probably looks like; spiky haired dudes running around with Mickey Mouse in amazing worlds as the backdrops to an unraveling, mysterious journey, probably combined with some light-hearted Disney magicTM. And you wouldn’t be wrong! With a magic system lifted straight out of the Final Fantasy games, nostalgic Disney characters taking the place of huge, hulking beasts as summons, and a fast-paced combat system to match, Kingdom Hearts is a perfect mixture of all things FF and Disney. Well, it was… Starting with 358/2 Days, a game beloved by many and hated by just under that, the Final Fantasy inclusion in KH games has been…… lacking, to say the least. Many fans understood that the sacrifice for Kingdom Hearts being on a handheld, and one as *relatively* powerless as the DS, would be apparent. Yet out of the whole series, it’s Days, the game released just after KH2, that has the lowest amount of Final Fantasy inclusion present, featuring one, lowly, Moogle. Of course, if ever there was a KH game that I could understand this lack of inclusion, it would be Days. A game that chartered the course for KH to become the insular mess it is now. It would create loopholes within loopholes if Roxas did interact with any FF characters in his game, as they would certainly recall that even if Sora’s memory was lost to them. So, its understandable, and not even regrettable in this instance. So that was 2009, the first time we had seen a new KH game since KH2 released three years ago. Even though Days started the downplayed FF trend, it by no means codified it. That honour goes to: Birth by Sleep The definition of broken base. This game kickstarted what I can see as two different sides of the community, the ones that defend this game, and subsequently all of the franchise, to the hilt, and the flipside, the side that found this game lacking, in gameplay mostly, but retroactively in plot. To use an example, here’s a quote from @Dio Brando (altered slightly for posterity’s sake) that highlights this split perfectly, and is from January 2017, when the split was becoming markedly more pronounced, and rapidly so: The most contentious point of BBS is it’s Command Deck, a format that was then used in the next two games, Re:coded and 3D. It might be hard to believe now, but for quite a while there was still a very vocal group of fans that wanted to see Command Deck be used in KH3. I’m glad we’re past that stage now. So glad. If ever there was a KH game that desperately needed to be made for a console, it is Birth by Sleep. A Kingdom Hearts 0 in all but name, having BBS on PS3 over PSP may have eliminated a lot of factors that people find unpalatable about it. For one, the only reason command deck was created as a system was to fit in with the limitations of the PSP. D-Links, as useful as they are broken and unbalanced, were used in place of summons, due to the limitations. And finally, Final Fantasy characters. We were supposed to see younger versions of Cloud, Leon, as well as Laguna in BBS. Supposed to. Due to limitations, however, all we got was Zack Fair. I say this like it’s a bad thing, but Zack was a joyous inclusion in BBS, and thinking of what could have been had this been a home console game, makes me rather annoyed. For one, whether people accept it or not, Birth by Sleep was *the* turning point for the franchise. Introducing the Big Bad of the series, and tying together the villains of the previous games, it created a narrative moving forward that future games had to adhere to. Where Days was insular and self-contained, BBS went to lengths to ensure that all games could now be tied into the sticky, tangly web that is Kingdom Hearts. If there was a lack of Final Fantasy in a game as important to the series as this, what hope would there be for future instalments? A whole lot apparently. Because of the information of the cut Final Fantasy, and the fact that there was still a tangible connection through Zack, fans on the whole, whilst understandably disappointed, still weren’t mad. There was just an expectation, that Kingdom Hearts 3, the ultimate unifier, would bring them back in all their glory. Take a look at this thread made around the time BBS released -->

I don’t believe rushed is the right word, I just think there is a chasm between what Nomura thinks that fans want and what the fans actually want. I also get the impression that the Disney worlds took up a lot more time, money and resources this time around. Honestly I also believe they’re gearing up to try and bring new fans into the series, when they don’t really realise a strong core of their fan base are cult diehards who risk being alienated, I mean look at the story, not accessible to newbies at all is it?

The month of January is finally here, my fellow Kingdom Hearts fans! The month's we've all been waiting for is finally in our reach. ANd with it, comes the ultimate prize: Kingdom Hearts III. A game every KH fan has been anticipating for more than 13 years. Tell em KH fans, how do you all feel about being in the month of KH3's release at long last after all this time? For me? I'm pretty excited and I honestly can't believe that we're in the month of KH3's release. This honestly feels like a dream to me lol. I feel like every time I wake up I expect to still be far away from the release of KH3. But nope, here we are...at long last. This is no longer a dream, but a reality now.

I will miss signatures, but what I would like the most is a Night Mode. All this white is hurting my eyes after a while.

I'm pretty torn on this. On one hand it doesn't bother me that much personality. On the other hand I see where everyone is coming from and it wouldn't hurt to have these cameos in Disney worlds like in the past. I can understand using less FF characters. I never thought they would have a big role in KHIII anyway. And with so many other FF based games where they teamup, that portion doesn't feel special anymore. The OG characters have basically taken over the reigns of Kingdom Hearts, as well they should. Nowadays when we get another 1000 Heartless battle, the iconic moments won't be Leon and Cloud side by side, but seeing characters like Aqua and Riku fighting side by side or Lea/Axel alongside Lingering Will/Terra fighting a swarm of Heartless. These are the new fantasies that fans are dreaming up now for KIngdom Hearts big battles now. Would any early Final Fantasy reveal top dark Aqua's Frozen trailer reveal? The Xion is norted debate that came up twice? Vanitas in the Land of Departure over Ventus and Aqua? Clues on how Roxas will be revived? The Seekers choices and why they are back? So yeah I can see why they are moving away from Final Fantasy characters and it doesn't bother me on a personal level all that much. That being said, Novayon's post above is a perfect example of a fan who associates the KH versions of the FF characters with the series and that is important to and should not be ignored. At least in the case of Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Cloud, and Sephiroth. They have their own stories too, and even though they have diminished over the long years, they are part of Sora's lives too. There is no excuse to bring back Disney worlds like Hercules, Pirates, and Pooh and give them conclusions and not at least show Leon's gang one last time and to see how Cloud's battle with Sephiroth went. Even though I'm bored with Sephiroth battles now, it still deserves a conclusion too. They might not be important to the Xehanort Finale, but they shouldn't be ignored. They should at least contact Sora and offer to help in anyway they can. Final Fantasy characters would also make for fun secret bosses. Gilgamesh is one I wanted for years. Again I'm torn. If they aren't in the game it won't effect my view of it, because I'm not playing for them. But they should appear because they are connected to Sora too.

I've mentioned this before, but from a personal perspective, the Final Fantasy characters in the game are Kingdom Hearts characters. When I played KH1 I had never played or even seen a Final Fantasy game. I only knew vaguely that some of the characters like Leon and Cloud were originally from something else. In the first game they are actually important to the plot, despite what some people say. They act as mentors for Sora on the journey. Leon tests his skills, Yuffie explains the situation, Cid introduces the gummi ship. Some people have said you could replace these characters and achieve the same result: To which I think "You could replace Xehanort with a different villain. Same result" Do people think Donald and Goofy are replaceable? No, they don't. Sure they're more important, but technically they could be "generic magic user" and "generic shield user" with spiky anime hair. But that would be taking away from a core aspect of KH - The Disney aspect. So does ignoring characters like Leon. (Sora met Leon and co before he met Donald & Goofy 🤔) I guess the point I'm making is, I have an attachment to these characters despite the fact I have never played FF and had no prior knowledge of them. Therefore my attachment is not based on FF Nostalgia. It seems like Square and Nomura have had their minds set of scrapping them for a while, despite people clearly wanting them. Obviously it's their game but I wonder how they came to this decision.

Xion, because many seem to hate her. Also probably 358/2 days in general. It's one of my favorites, including one of my favorite DS games.

Some people may disagree with this being a guilty pleasure, but i always keep a save file ready just before the 1000 Heartless battle so i can play through it whenever I want. A lot of people feel that segment is badly planned and repetitive (my boyfriend is one of them), but I find it so fun!

Just wanted to make this post to warn you guys that a large wave of copies are now in the wild so I would suggest you go cold turkey on social media for the next few days - a shame but as with all high demand game it is inevitable. I’ve been looking at the leaks and I’ll say one thing: Anything you may heard regarding overall opinions of the game - take them with a pinch of salt. WE ARE NEARLY THERE GUYS!

So I stopped into EB Games (Canadian Gametop) to pick up my reserved copy of Bendy and the Ink Machine and found this beauty! They finally got one!

Say the Death Note doesn’t work outside his world, do you think he’d be just important to his world or seek out other worlds if he discovers them?

I know it feels like I ragged on BBS, but I do love the wayfinder trio. This post was honestly just a kind of history on how we got to where we are now, and unfortunately BBS did contribute to it but in a way that was out of its control. I do genuinely believe that once KH3 comes out people will love it, purely because we're feeling the disappointment of what has and hasn't been included now. I relate to this post quite strongly, in fact, I knew of Final Fantasy in better detail than I knew of Kingdom Hearts at first, despite not playing a game at that age except for Revenant Wings. I think this is the biggest sore point, that the FF inclusion in KH genuinely felt like OC Kingdom Hearts characters, and not including them when they still have stories to be told seems very dismissive at best, and cruel at worst. and thank you all for reading my giant wall of text XD

If I trawled through the KH13 archives I could find countless more examples from a multitude of threads, these are just some of the ones that I felt were more varied and accurately represented the time between 3D and E3 2016. The point here is, KH3 was seen as the end of the Xehanort Saga, and that meant tying up all the loose plot threads with it, including the FF sub-plots. Fans who accepted and understood the understated presence of FF were expecting it in KH3 because not only had we not been told otherwise, but we had been encouraged to believe that they would definitely appear. Take a look at this interview excerpt from E3 2013: -- Will we see any new FF characters? Will we get a chance to play as King Mickey? Nomura: The appearance of FF characters is pending. For a while, the previous titles didn’t have any FF characters, and I think it’s time to include some. I know everyone wants to play as King Mickey, so I will take that into consideration. Of course Sora will be the main character to play; it would be nice if other characters are playable as well. And take a look at this from E3 2018: When asked about Final Fantasy character appeaing in Kingdom Hearts III trailers Nomura: “I can’t really talk about any of the characters that have not been announced or shown yet, but just looking at Kingdom Hearts 1 compared to when that was released, there’s so many different titles with Final Fantasy characters or where all of these characters come together. I don’t feel that much of necessity of bringing these characters together like I did before. However, if you could look forward to information in the future, that would be great.” Also, when we first released Kingdom Hearts, there weren't that many other titles that brought together the Final Fantasy characters. I actually think that Kingdom Hearts may have been the first to do that. But nowadays, there are an abundance of titles that do that, so I don't see the value of having that kind of feature in the game anymore. But that doesn't mean that I'm saying that there won't be any Final Fantasy characters. Please look forward to future information." For five years, and indeed longer, nothing was done to temper these expectations. So to people out there who state that it was always obvious that there would be no Final Fantasy in Kingdom Hearts 3, I hope you realise that that is misinformation of the highest order, and if ever there was a story reason to be upset over, it would be this one.

I know everyone's generally hype for KH3, especially with that bombshell of a trailer, but of course, we all had our hopes and dreams for the game that have at this point been laid to rest. Of course if you're feeling upset or disappointed it's fine, don't let the people who're hopped on the hype tell you any different. That includes me lol SO VENT i guess. I'll start, it's not really the fact that the worlds I held a candle for didn't show up that gets me, it's more that we haven't had a single FF character in a trailer. I'm losing a lot of hope with that. It won't make the game unplayable for me, I am disappointed though. And the skateboards

Hmm. Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced at July 2013. So let's say they start early 2013 to 2018 which is 5 years, minus the 1 year delay because they switched to a new Engine (Although I don't believe that it really takes one whole year just to switch from engine ). So it was a full 4 years in development. Which should be enough time to create huge open-world games. Which KH3 is not, and that is of course not a bad thing! From the leaks, interview and trailers I get the vibe that Square Enix wanted to focus to get more people on board with the Kingdom Hearts franchise. and put the focus more on the Disney world rather then originals worlds. Which to me is a shame.

1. Take a full week of holiday 2. Pray for the disc to arrive on time 3. Walk slowly to admire every rock, every flower designed with love by the Nomura team 4. Occasionally eat 5. Occasionally shower 6. Finish the game with tears 7. Become officially an adult That's pretty much it.

Happy New Year from Mexico! I hope each and every one of you had a great time with all your friends and family I wish that this new year brings more positive things in your lives.

Well my friends, I wish you each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas for real this time. I hope you have a great time with your loved ones and enjoy the festivities.

Xehanort's new voice actor is doing a pretty good job. Maybe some people can't make the difference?

In my opinion, I wanted Kairi to be a playable character. Hopefully Nomura surprises me that we have more than two playable characters.

Let's make the site more boring like if the removing from the KH symbols wasn't good enough.