Neoshadow99

Hello everyone! I have been trying to figure out just how old Terra, Ventus and Aqua are, relative to their current situations. For the longest time, we assumed that Terra was the oldest of the group. Now, there is the major revelation that Ventus is in fact from the time of the Keyblade War/World of Light, and was somehow displaced into the future (BBS era). What I want to know is, did Nomura ever confirm the actual ages of TVA, or have they always been left open to interpretation? We know that none of these characters have naturally aged since the end of BBS, due to bodily possession, being in a comatose state, and being trapped in a realm where time does not flow in a usual manner. Also, is it true that the Keyblade War took place only a century before the start of BBS/KH1? I was under the impression that it had happened thousands of years ago. If that is true, than it could be estimated that Ventus is over 100 years old, but hasn't aged due to some form of time travel, and being comatose for a long time. Any help in clearing this up would be greatly appreciated! If need be, I will try to find any (older) interviews from Nomura that may answer my question directly, though the new story/lore addition with Ventus certainly changes some conceptions many of us likely had.

Hello everyone! I recently finished playing 0.2 BBS, and wow, it was an amazing experience, especially for a demo! I'm not sure if the spoiler policy is still active, so I made sure to note that in the thread title. Now, the questions I have may have already been answered, yet I could not find clear explanations in the topics from several pages back. So, here goes: 1. I originally had asked about 0.2's placement in the KH timeline. While the game did reveal that most of it is parallel to KH1, does 0.2 take place before or after the Secret Episode? We also know that Aqua would continue to wander during the events of COM and KH2, as well. I ask this (again) because Aqua and Mickey eventually make their way to what looks a lot like the area in the Secret Episode, called the Depths of Darkness in 0.2. This area then leads to what is left of the Destiny Islands in the ROD. I was under the impression that Aqua had been wandering a VERY long time once the Secret Episode begins, and thought she may have met Mickey AFTER her encounter with good old Red Eyes. Now, it would seem that 0.2 all takes place BEFORE the Secret Episode, with Aqua once again being transported to the Depths of Darkness after her last battle with the Demon Tide. I know this is a detailed question. I am just trying to make sense of all of this, as so much happened before and during KH1, more than we could have ever known when the series consisted of only KH1 :lol: 2. My other question is, just how long had Aqua already been wandering when she first makes her way to Castle Town (the Dark World), and then sees illusions of Terra and Ventus? Although time flow is totally different in the ROD, it did not take long to get through the three main sections of the Dark World, at least for us players. So, to sum up what I think is my understanding of the ROD timeline, it goes like this: Aqua's story in BBS ends Final Episode begins Final Episode ends, Aqua enters the ROD Aqua begins wandering ROD and is saved early on by T and V's Keyblades Secret Episode begins, wandering and fighting Heartless for a presumably long time Aqua defeats Red Eyes (Hunter of the Dark) She continues wandering and sees the Castle of Dreams in the distance 0.2 begins, revealing the existence of the Dark World Aqua makes her way through the Dark World, "seeing" Terra and Ventus She meets Mickey and follows him to the Depths of Darkness Aqua and Mickey find the Kingdom Key D at Destiny Islands just before it is restored to the ROL Aqua is separated from Mickey and is sent back to the Depths of Darkness while fighting the Demon Tide swarm She wanders even more for another 1-2 years She finally meets with Ansem the Wise (towards the end of KH2) Riku and Mickey better not screw up the rescue attempt - Aqua has been in the ROD long enough! Oh, they should probably save Ansem, too (maybe). This is the best possible understanding I have of the Aqua/ROD timeline. Thanks to Lealixx, I made some important changes to the summary, so everything should be in the right order now!

Yeah, that's right. A tiny bit of combat was shown outside the tower, from what I remember. Also, Yen Sid has become a very important character, especially as a mentor/instructor for Sora and Riku. I just hope that the world itself is expanded more, rather than just being a tall tower and a small grassy outside area.

That new KH3 image looks great. I guess this means that Mysterious Tower is confirmed as a returning world?

Hey everyone, it's your totally-not-vicious neighborhood Neoshadow! As some of you may have seen in other threads, I have been meaning to finish as much as 2.5 as I can before 2.8 releases. I am currently playing Aqua's story (first playthrough on PS3), and I must say, I am enjoying this playthrough far more than I did on PSP. My reasons for this are a better understanding of the gameplay mechanics the second time around, as well as a greater appreciation for Aqua's journey, and yes, her character. I know that Aqua has drawn a lot of criticism from the fanbase, but has also become a well-liked character, at the same time. When I first started my PS3 playthrough of her, I had hoped I would be able to overlook the harsher criticisms of her character, and perhaps her personality. As it turns out, I really like both of these attributes for her. As the story has progressed, I have definitely seen a change in her character, and it became quite clear just how much she cares about her friends. It may have made more sense for her to bring Ventus back to the Master Eraqus once she found him, but there are hints that she is conflicted about what to do. I was able to tell that she was internally conflicted between choosing to obey her master's (questionable) orders, or doing right by her friends and letting them decide what they wanted to do for themselves, allowing them to choose their own paths. I have come to further appreciate Aqua's role in the KH story, as well. Were it not for her actions, and best intentions, the KH storyline would not have progressed the way it did. Future characters would not have daunting obstacles to overcome (Ansem SOD, Organization XIII, Castle Oblivion, etc.), obstacles that ultimately proved how strong in heart and determination they would be. Of course, some may argue that Aqua's actions only lead to others' suffering, and that may be so. However, it is important to remember that she did not intentionally create hardships for Sora and his friends. Castle Oblivion was originally designed to prevent darkness from overtaking the Realm of Twilight (realm between Light and Darkness, if I have that right), and especially protect Ventus while he sleeps. As for her attempts to save Terra from his unfortunate fate, she fought valiantly to free him from Xehanort's control. She even sacrificed her very small chance to escape the Realm of Darkness and instead gave Terra(nort) her armor so he could fly to safety. Aqua did not have any way of knowing what exactly would happen to Terra, or just how strong Xehanort's influence was over him. This is what makes Aqua's ending and fate so tragic, that despite her best intentions to save her good friend, she unknowingly unleashed a great evil into the Realm of Light. To sum it up, I would have to call Aqua a tragic hero, a flawed but caring friend. Wow, this went a little deeper than I first expected it to, but this is how I currently feel about Aqua's portion of BBS. Oh, if anyone was wondering, BBS is indeed one of my absolute favorite games in the series. It offered so much for being a mere "side game". If it would have originally been released on PS2 instead, it may have been just as long as KH1, for all we know. I will post more thoughts related to BBS if anyone is interested. I was really hoping to discuss BBS a bit more right before 2.8 releases worldwide. I know some of you may be/are already playing 2.8, but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the fine points of BBS' plot, and how they have shaped the KH story so far. For quite some time, BBS was the "true" beginning of the series, then (Unchained) Chi came along and really made things interesting story-wise. Oh, another thought regarding BBS: I am so thrilled that the Shotlock system is carrying over from this game to KH3. I know this is old news, but I'm still excited nonetheless. It really didn't look like much of BBS' gameplay mechanics would be used in other games, as it seemed to be somewhat experimental with its approach. In other words, mechanics like Shotlocks, Command Styles, and Dimension Links all seemed so specific to BBS. It's great to see one of these possibly revolutionary features (in the context of the KH series) return in a future title. Edit: I finally finished Aqua's main story, the Final Episode, and the Secret Episode! This was my first time playing the Secret Episode, and it was a great, and fairly challenging, experience. Now I'm really excited to start 0.2, but will likely begin DDD tonight.

Hello everyone, it's been a really long time since I last posted! Something has been confusing me lately, and that is trying to figure out when exactly Aqua's story in BBS 0.2 takes place. As we know, she has been in the Realm of Darkness for an incredibly long time, at least 10 years (though time in the ROD flows differently, so who really knows?). We were able to first see her journey in the ROD in BBS' Secret Episode, which I still have not been able to play through yet, regrettably. My question is, when do the events of 0.2 take place, exactly, relative to the events of the Secret Episode? Or, are these events not directly connected to each other? I'm not even sure that the Secret Episode was actually the start of Aqua's journey in the ROD, or towards the end of it. Any help with clearing up this confusion would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone, I have been thinking about the re-appearance of the Castle of Dreams, and what it could mean. From what I remember, this castle (along with the rest of the world) was saved from the Unversed in BBS. As we know, once "Ansem" went further with his experiments of the heart, Emblem Heartless were born and, together with the Purebloods, invaded and devoured many worlds. My confusion comes from not remembering what exactly happened to Cinderella's world. Was it already destroyed by the time the events of KH1 occurred? If so, how did the Castle of Dreams end up in the Realm of Darkness intact? Or, is this an entirely different castle? Something tells me that a good chunk of the plot from what would have been Birth By Sleep, Vol. 2 was repurposed for BBS 0.2. If I remember correctly, the original story somehow involved the Castle of Dreams, but not much more about it is really known, since that project didn't come together. Any clarification about what is currently known about 0.2's plot would be much appreciated. I admit that I haven't been paying that close of attention to KH lately, since my focus has been on other games. I've mainly just followed (and watched) new trailers, as well as reading some news articles. At any rate, I am very excited for KH 2.8, not just because of BBS 0.2 but also because of Dream Drop Distance, a game I was never able to play!

Hey everyone, I just updated my latest post in the "Question Regarding the Soundtrack" thread in Re: CoM. I answered my own question and clarified why I though there was a "new" version of Forgotten Challenge in 1.5.