Hero of Light XIV

Yeah, but will it still give me 20+ AP and stat boosts? I've got my priorities. X)"

I'm willing to bet Sephiroth's inclusion means we'll be getting another return visit to Olympus Coliseum/Underworld. Cloud's arc doesn't seem to be entirely over.

I mean if these are legit leaks, they do make sense, those would be the most likely worlds to be featured in this game. But then again, maybe that believability is also what might mean they're fake, since they are the the safest bet of what worlds would be included. Fake or not tho, I do hope that these worlds are featured in the game, it would be very fitting.

I'd really LIKE for it to be real, but that HUD thing is a little concerning, not to mention the monster designs of everyone look funny when you aren't given a full front view. But I would love for the Unversed to come back in this engine, especially if it means Vanitas is returning. Hopefully this turns out true.

So what does that mean exactly? Like all the scenes are pre-rendered rather than taking place using the in-game models or what? I thought that was usually the case, there's always been a clear difference between the gameplay model (blah blah face) and the cutscene model (actual mouth and actual fingers, plus cleaner textures). Why is it a weird thing here if it's basically the same thing?

Super Mario Odyssey is the best Sonic game ever. X)"

Man that video was such a long time ago I'm pretty sure everybody has disproven MatPat 20 times over by now. And because he's MatPat, he completely ignores everybody's counter arguments, lol. Anyway, yeah I'm pretty sure most of the fan base agrees that Sonic is at least that fast. The flaw of MatPat's videos is that he's trying to use the video games' portrayal of Sonic's speed as a literal example and definition of how Sonic's speed works, completely ignoring that Sonic's speed is handled and portrayed differently in each game. Realistically, if Sonic was going 100% in any game, he would be killing every environment and creature he came across just by running past them. Sonic literally holds himself back from going all-out in every game he's in, it's just that in some games he lets loose a bit more from time to time, and not always to the same degree. So you have either brief incidents like what you just described where he shows at least a sample or fraction of what he's truly capable of, or whole games where he's intentionally using bigger or smaller cups of his potential depending on the tasks at hand and the fun he wants to have, like Unleashed. Another problem is that MatPat tends to mush game, show, and comic lore altogether to try and fit whatever narrative he's trying to give his hypothesis, but he's very selective in how he does this and doesn't appear to do that all the time. Like for instance he used both the games AND the Archie comics to try and find some sort of explanation about the Chaos Emeralds true nature, but in his video on Sonic's speed, he stuck purely to the games (and again, used them literally). If he was consistent and actually serious about what he was doing, he would have also used the Archie comics to analyze Sonic's speed, and as such probably would have noticed the infamous moment in the comics where he literally sprints all the way to the opposite coast of the continent, revs up, and blasts forward at full-throttle (or at least near-full-throttle) within very few seconds into Eggman's new mech of the week. Unfortunately that only served to dent the mech's shield and little else, but it served as both an example of what both Sonic and Eggman were truly capable of. But of course, in the world of MatPat everything only exists to conveniently prove his specific point only and consistency is only useful if no one calls him out for it. Yeah I'm a bit salty towards Game Theory in case that wasn't obvious.

Where's the "Everything and More" option, because most of that sounds pretty good to me. X)"

What about 2.8's soundtrack though, is that still happening? Shimomura hasn't said anything about it for a long time now and I really want to have an official list of all of those X, Unchained, Back Cover, and 0.2 tracks, I need my collection to feel truly complete!

Never hurts to use a road map, even if it's just for one or two things you can't quite remember.

Always Nightmare Before Christmas, but I'm trying to branch out with other classics lately, like Nightmare on Elmstreet (mostly because of how cheesy they are by today's standards). X)"

Only thing I disagree with you on is that Sora didn't see Vanitas. That wasn't simply a visual nod for the audience only, it rarely ever is in this series, like how Terra received a premonition of the end of BBS from his own Darkness during his second conversation with Master Xehanort right before visiting Radiant Garden. Sure it worked as a narrative tease for us the audience, but Terra reacted to that, like Xehanort's speaking snapped him out of some deep thought. There's nothing else we can assume he was thinking about, that vision is already a visual cue of what he was thinking about. I bring it up because it's essentially the same thing happening with Sora in this particular scene in DDD. Vanitas standing there wasn't simply a visual tease to us as an audience, it WAS what Sora was seeing. Yes Vanitas' presence there was due to Ven's heart reacting within Sora, but that doesn't mean that Sora doesn't experience it. There have been multiple times where people within Sora show reactions and feelings through Sora. Sora cried when Ven could feel Terra and Aqua suffering in BBS, he saw Kairi speak to him multiple times while her heart was within his in KH, he cried Roxas' tears when he had to leave Twilight Town in KH2, and I don't think I need to point out all the obvious things that happened to him in Organization XIII's nightmare trap. He's already shown the ability to be directly affected by Ven and to see those who are directly connected to his heart, so why is it any less of a possibility that the same thing happened here, that Sora saw Vanitas just as Ven was? Like with Terra, it's not just a 4th wall-only moment, it's an actual indicator of what Sora is seeing, thus why he's so confused right before YX disappears. He's not just reacting to his statement, he would have just snapped back at him if he was, "What's that supposed to mean" and all that. He looked shaken by something, it would only make sense if it was seeing someone he'd never met or known before, but clearly felt something upon seeing him, a feeling that didn't belong to him. Like I said, it wouldn't be the first time. He likely only focused on what YX said because he probably brushed it off as a trick. If anything, YX was counting on something like that to happen, saying the right words to trigger him, in more ways than one, in order to make him more susceptible to further trappings down the line. This all comes to a head when the nightmare trap happens, meaning that the whole test was used as a way to temper both Sora and Riku for the plan Xehanort had for them, only Riku was able to make himself beyond his reach prior to the final execution. What I'm getting at here is that Vanitas' manifestation acted as one of several essential gears in Xehanort and YX's plan to lure Sora deeper into their clutches, and it wouldn't have been nearly as effective if Sora didn't feel those effects.Just having Ven react to something without Sora also experiencing said reaction is essentially the same as having two friends go to the same movie but one of the friends looked away for a second while the other witnessed a dramatic reveal in the movie, the impact is lost on one of them and they won't reach the final climax with the same level of investment. The plan works better if Sora did see Vanitas, was equally confused by his appearance as well as with YX's words, and with everything else he witnesses later. Yeah he doesn't recall back to that moment again later in the game, but then again Riku never brings up seeing his doppleganger in Pranksters' Paradise again later in the game either, so I'd just chalk it up to a minor lapse in writing (on that topic though I'm almost convinced that it was Riku Replica, seeing as how a past version of Riku wouldn't make any sense if present Riku is still untouchable and Xehanort can't just "conjure up" a fake dark Riku out of nowhere, and Riku doesn't have the same set of circumstances as Sora does in order to see people who aren't physically there...plus this Riku was able to physically interact with Pinocchio and could be seen by everyone, so yeah he's corporeal). Apart from that though, yeah I agree with you, Vanitas is likely coming back (why tease his appearance at all if they weren't gonna bring him back?), and the way you described might be a pretty accurate idea. Either way, I hope we do end up seeing him make a true return so that more can be done with his character, especially if there's also the chance that Riku Replica might come back as well, I really would love to see an evil Sora-Riku tag-team battle against OG Sora and Riku. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

It'd be funny if Sora had to go through the same training montage as Herc did in the movie, ridiculous obstacle course and everything. X)

Kingdom + Hearts = LIFE. X)

Whatever they put there, THEY BETTER GIVE ME MY DAMN SEA SALT ICE CREAM, I'VE WAITED TOO LONG FOR THAT!!! >3<

Armor of Eraqus, I love seeing all the different ways the battle can be spiced up against different characters. I really wish somebody would upload a video of all three characters fighting him in BBSFM at the same time just so I could see the variety it has. Of course, that's only possible in the PSP version unfortunately.

Still doesn't do anything to convince me, sorry. It's just too crazy of an idea with little to no connection to work with.

Cloud should bandage his sword at one point and ask Vincent if he can borrow his cape for a bit. X)"

I'm sorry but you just made the whole premise even more needlessly convoluted than it was already. Just because Nomura likes to subvert convention and throw twists at the audience like a boomerang, it doesn't mean he's going to pull some character's origin story out of some other character out of nowhere like that, not in a way that doesn't make any sense like what you described. You'd have a better chance of trying to convince people that Ephemer is an even younger Xehanort or something at this point (not a serious theory I have, I'm seriously making a joke here). You have to bend too many bones just to stretch that far for a theory like this to work, it just doesn't have any clout to it.

No. Just no. The names don't match up, the hair REALLY doesn't match up (never mind the style, THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COLORS!!), and the personalities just don't give anything away either. Nothing adds up here, it's just really naive to think that.

It's videos like this that makes me wish we had at least half as many great fan animators in our fandom as the Sonic fandom has in theirs. Still, awkward movements and rigging aside, the overall idea and energy put into it is still pretty good, it's just the execution that needs work. Like, it's sort of a beta, or in this case alpha, of what I would be looking for for such a concept. X)"

I'm willing to bet it's either Strelitzia or her Nobody. It's a bit of a stretch, but I can't help but feel like her character was underutilized and delt with way too soon. The only reason it would make sense to kill a character off as soon as you introduce them like that is if you were going to have their presence/absence leave an impact on the story. Sure, Lauriam supposedly killing her off and taking her spot does set up some potential conflict and drama, but I feel it has to go deeper than that otherwise she was just a tool of the plot (not to mention it would be a pretty cheap bait-and-switch tactic, even by Nomura's twist standards). If she somehow came back, as a Nobody or otherwise, it might allow for some interesting developments in the story. I mean, the Keyblade War already happened by this time, whatever happens next is hard to tell, if they are even foreshadowing it at all yet. At this point anything is a possibility, even lost characters coming back. But aside from personal misgivings about how her character was underutilized, I do have some visual information to kind of back up my suspicion, though it really depends on how you interpret it. If you look at the 2nd anniversary art, pay attention to where Lauriam and the hooded figure are placed in the image. Both are positioned on opposite sides of the composition and both have something in common, they're both holding some form of plant. Lauriam is holding a dandelion while the figure is holding a white rose. Now what is bizarre about this is the supposed backwardsness of the things they're holding. Marluxia, Lauriam's future Nobody, is well known for his rose motif, in the manga he is almost always seen holding a rose and most of his weapons are named after various flowers as well, not to mention that most of the 13th floor of Castle Oblivion (where you face him) is littered with flower imagery (I realize that BBS's ending shows that the Org didn't exactly have control over the appearance of the castle but it's still worth pointing out). And yet instead of holding the rose like we would expect him to, he's instead holding a dandelion, which can clearly be likened to it's use throughout the rest of the story as symbolic of the Dandelions themselves, as well as Ava's desire to have them be free of the conflict. Now not much is known about Lauriam's character at this time yet, but based on his future self, it seems a bit hard to believe that he just happened to share the same peace-loving sentimentality that Ava had. This gives the impression that the dandelion, as well as the peaceful symbolism behind it, feels misplaced in regards as to who's holding it. Thus, if we consider the rose, the plant that arguably would have been much more fitting for Lauriam to be holding, and who's holding it, it's mismatched placement may give a clue as to who the figure is. Someone who aught to be holding the dandelion, someone who by misfortune or sinister design got their role stolen from them. Someone like Strelitzia, who had her destiny and role as the fifth Union leader stolen by Lauriam (supposedly anyway, but it's a pretty good indication so far). Not only that, but consider the symbolism of the white rose. It can mean several things, but it is most commonly associated with innocence, purity, and sympathy. Strelitzia was an innocent who fell at the hands of somebody's scheme, she displayed a pure sincerity in the moments we saw her, and her sympathy showed in how she tried to make sure that the player character learned of their fate so that they may be safe later. To further compound this, the figure itself looks as if they were drawn not only more feminine than previous hooded figures, but also with a faint sense of purity about them. These aren't direct confirmation that Strelitzia or some form of her is the hooded figure in this image, but they are at the very least strong signs that point towards that possibility. Plus, Nomura waited until all the Union Leaders were revealed before he showed off this artwork, the most significant characters in this new unfolding chapter. And yet while we haven't seen a new hooded figure yet, we HAVE seen Strelitzia, and she's the only character from this story who hasn't been fully illustrated as we've seen her so far. It's not too far fetched to believe that if she really is this hooded figure, that her role in the story might not be done quite yet. Nomura made a point for everyone to pay attention to the characters' placements, so I feel that this isn't just for the sake of making a nice-looking composition, it rarely ever is. On an unrelated note, I want to point out Ephemer's expression in this piece. Unlike everyone else surrounding him in the bottom half of the image, his expression doesn't look as calm or confident. If anything, it looks like it's filled with doubt or uncertainty. I wonder if this is suggesting that he might be facing something later on down the line that will throw his confidence or feelings into question. As always, he's going to be the character to watch as this chapter unfolds.

Kind of hard to remember something when only about 200 people or so can actually see the trailer it was featured in. People tend to fixate more on things they've actually witnessed themselves, so naturally everybody is going to be talking about stuff that they actually saw in the publicly released trailers more as opposed to something featured in a trailer that only a few other people got to see and tell other people about. Nobody else even knows what it would look like, nobody made any conceptual recreations like they did with that chess board, how is anyone else supposed to remember it? The fact is that the crew tends to focus on different aspects of the game each time they release a trailer, otherwise people would get bored with a lack of new relevant info. What IS important is that the crew themselves haven't forgotten about it, because if anything Cable Town will be reintroduced later in a future trailer where the game is refined even more. By that point it won't matter which fans remembered it and which didn't, it was a thing that was only meant to be seen by a few select people in the first place, but a new trailer would be something made to be seen by everyone. Cable Town will be relevant again when Nomura and the crew want to show it off again, but for now there's little point in giving a lot of thought to something you don't even know that many details about.

Except reading Sonic Megadrive parts 1 and 2 remind me that the final part is cancelled and makes me sad. T3T"

Kinda depends, but I usually like anything sweet or fruity. Cider, cocktails, sweeter wine, as long as it isn't super bitter or super heavy tasting I'm fine with it. Pina Colada is one of my favorites. X3