Neoshadow99

Thanks for the help! I believe I know what tripped me up about the placement in the timeline with both 0.2 and the Secret Episode -the reappearance of the Depths of Darkness towards the end of 0.2. I was under a (misleading) impression that the Secret Episode started almost immediately after 0.2, due to this part of the ROD showing up. I did not take into account that the ROD pretty much looks like the Depths of Darkness most of the time, and its appearance only changes when various worlds are consumed, hence the appearance of the Dark World. In other words, Aqua likely first entered the Depths of Darkness right after the Final Episode, wandered and fought Heartless for a while, and eventually discovered the Dark World, beginning the events of 0.2. The only thing we have to keep in mind is that she does not meet up with Ansem until the end of KH2, so she was likely wandering for another 1-2 years after she is separated from Mickey. I hope I have all of this straight this time! Oh, I made several changes to my original post, so no one is confused about the timeline being out of order. The summary is now correct, based on the information you gave me! One more thing I thought of: Aqua was likely wandering for most of the time gap between BBS and KH1 (around 9-10 years), and probably discovered the Dark World towards the end of that time span. This would line up with what you said about 0.2 beginning sometime during KH1 (maybe right before, since three of the worlds from BBS are already consumed).

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!

I remember struggling with the Final Battalion, as there are an unknown number of Invisibles and Angel Stars, two of the most difficult Heartless to defeat when you're a lower level. The Darkballs could do a lot of damage if they caught you off guard, too. None of this is a challenge when you're anywhere from LV 65-70 and onwards, at least in my experience.

Great theory on Vanitas! He is just too awesome of a character to be discarded. I personally hope that he and Sora will have a one-on-one fight, and that it will have a major impact on KH3's plot, however it progresses. Vanitas is definitely one of my favorite "villains" in the series up to this point (I like to think he's more of a "tragic villain" than a straight villain). Had Master Xehanort not forced him to use darkness in malicious, harmful ways, I think it's possible that Vanitas would not have been necessarily "evil" during the events of BBS. He probably still would have had an identity crisis upon learning about, and meeting with, Ventus for the first time, though.

I have to say, the experimentation in gameplay mechanics in DDD pleasantly surprised me. I remember when I first started watching a Let's Play of the game when it released, and just wasn't sure how to feel about it, especially the Dream Eaters. Now that I'm playing it myself, it no doubt has some of the best core gameplay in the series, with the Spirits link attack system and the Flowmotion. Never has a KH title been so fast-paced and varied with movement options! Well, except maybe BBS, which has a TON of options for combat and movement, but lacks Flowmotion.

Interesting video, though Drake appears to contradict himself when he says that Kingdom Hearts is one of his favorite series, only to follow that up with saying it's stupid. How does that even work? One of the strangest opinions I have heard for any game, ever. Other than that, I found myself in agreement with some of the things Drake mentioned, like the style over substance bit. I would even go as far to say that this began happening with the release of KH2, but is also something that I greatly enjoy about the series. I disagreed with him on how KH still has "basic" gameplay. How did he not see the evolution in combat and exploration mechanics in both BBS and DDD? I don't think those games are at all basic with their combat-oriented gameplay, quite the opposite, as they have depth that I haven't seen much of in other action rpgs, hack and slashes, etc. KH can get very flashy, very stylish, and yet still tell an incredible, thought-provoking, even touching, story that spans so many characters, worlds, and powerful themes. This balance is what makes KH one my absolute favorite series, and I don't say that lightly.

The Grid is a very interesting point in DDD. Though it can be considered an early part of the game, if you go by Battle Level alone, it's meant to be the third world, after Traverse Town and La Cites de Cloche. It's probably one of the more unique worlds in the game, given how un-Disney it looks compared to the "classic" Disney worlds. I have to say, the character artists did a fantastic job on making the Tron cast quite photo-realistic in a stylishly cartoon-ish game.

I've been playing DDD and am very close to the end. The "big reveal" with Young Xehanort and what he has been doing all this time was really cool, but incredibly confusing to me. I think I mostly understand how time travel works in the KH universe, but don't understand how "Xehanort the floating heart" was able to relay all that he did to YX in the past, especially some future events could not be predicted/foreseen. Even YX confirmed to Sora that not everything had been made known in advance, so how would he and the other Norts have known about Sora and Riku's MOM, and how to sabotage it? My other question is, at what point did Older Xehanort send his heart back in time to tell YX everything he knew? If I were to guess, it would be at the exact moment that Xehanort sacrificed his heart to the darkness, and split into Ansem SOD and Xemnas.

Man, I hope Quinton Flynn and Richard Epcar reprise their roles. Their voices are so iconic, and so fitting, for the characters they portray. Just to be clear, was Ansem SOD the only character that Richard Epcar voiced?

To be exact, Master Eraqus' body was more or less destroyed when he was struck down by Master Xehanort. However, his heart "survived" and is taking refuge within Terra's heart, as heavily hinted at in that "heart to heart" dialogue between Terra and MX, sometime after Terra lost control of his body. That was in the "Fragmentary Passage" secret ending for BBSFM, and is shown just before Aqua's Secret Episode. Does the existence of ME's heart mean he will return to his original form in KH3? Possibly, but nothing has been confirmed about who will be saved, and especially how they will be saved, by presumably Sora. The Keyblade to Return People's Hearts is all we really have to go at this point. This special Keyblade may be used to restore ME, but we really don't know how it will work. So much mystery, so much speculation.

It's great to know that Sonic Blade returns in this game. I have yet to find/unlock it for my Command Deck. One of the most memorable multi-stage attacks in the whole series, without a doubt. Everglow has uploaded awesome videos over the years. I remember one of his combo finisher videos showing Anti-form Sora vs. Data Marluxia, from the original Japanese version of KH2FM. It was simply incredible how one mod could so radically change the pacing of that battle, and Everglow outright destroyed Data Marluxia effortlessly. It was glorious :lol: In fact, I've never defeated the Data version of Marluxia, only the Absent Silhouette, and I really struggled with that one.

Congratulations! This game must be fairly difficult to platinum, especially with all of those link portals scattered throughout each world. I've only completed a handful of them, and have steered clear of most of the 4 or 5 star ones :tongue: The one higher difficulty portal that I did attempt, and struggled to finish, was the one right outside Mysterious Tower in Symphony of Sorcery. Those Pegasus and Unicorn wannabes are no joke, truly. Anyway, I'm at the point where Riku is making his way through the alternate version of The World That Never Was. The Nightmares there are no joke, either. I don't expect to platinum the game, only finish the main story and possibly defeat Julius (eventually, massive backlog of games :tongue:). Oh, and congrats on getting platinum on 1.5 and 2.5, as those are no easy feats. I don't expect to ever platinum those collections, too.

Dang, I really hoped to have a clear understanding of DDD's plot while playing through it myself. This is the one game in the series that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and I can see that I'm not the only one having trouble. Then again, there's a good chance that KH3 will have an explanation for the Seekers of Darkness from the past to return once more to the present, even if it's through YX again. There must be a way for YX to go through his sequence of determined events again to gather the vessels for MX's master plan. Otherwise, DDD wouldn't really matter much to KH3's plot, would it? I remember some on here were saying years ago that DDD kind of retconned some of the series' main plot points, though I don't know how much would have been retconned. We can all hope that KH3 will address as many questions as possible, but it just might give us a few more, too.

Hey there, I'm still on my first playthrough of this game, and it has been truly great. When it comes to a Kingdom Hearts title, you haven't really experienced it until you've actually played it yourself. This is the lesson I have learned going through DDD for the first time. Way back when the game first released on 3DS, I did watch a Let's Play with commentary. While it was enjoyable, and was perhaps the best way for me to learn about the story at the time, watching someone else play is just never the same as playing yourself. This game has in-depth mechanics that take time to familiarize yourself with, and to ultimately master. Out of all the KH titles that I've played, this one was the most unique from a gameplay standpoint, though it does borrow heavily from BBS (not a bad thing, as that game might be my absolute favorite in the series). I have had some rough moments, though, especially with certain Dream Eater bosses, even some unique bosses. Overall, it didn't take me too long to beat any of them, once I had a sound strategy worked out. I'm fairly far into the game, on Riku's side of the third-last Sleeping World. Definitely looking forward to picking up at that point, likely tonight.

I just thought of something: What if the Country of Musketeers is only a dream of another Sleeping World? The only problem with this is, what world would that be? Certainly not Disney Castle, as that world is currently awake in the Realm of Light. And, Timeless River is just DC in the past, before the it was built. Sora and Riku both travel to worlds that are known to be in a state of sleep, and know that the dreams they enter are based on actual worlds. Could there be another world that has yet to be revealed, and the Country of Musketeers doesn't exist outside of a dream? If I am mistaken with anything about this theory, do let me know. I actually haven't visited CoM yet (still at The Grid), though I did watch a playthrough of this game 3-4 years ago.

KH Dream Drop Distance does run at 60 FPS in-game, but is at a stable 30 FPS for cutscenes, like CriticalAssension said. However, I do have a minor issue while playing DDD. Sometimes, my character (Sora or Riku) will not run, even when my left stick is tilted all the way. Instead, there is a glitchy walking animation that looks like it's trying to transition into the running animation. That's honestly the best way I can describe it. I hope you won't have this same issue, as it can be really annoying, although it's relatively minor. Other than that, the game has run beautifully for me, with no noticeable or consistent frame drops.

There's no way that Marluxia can't be involved somehow in KH3's overall plot, especially if his lesser Nobodies are confirmed to be in at least one world. To be honest, he is one of my absolute favorite OG Organization members, mainly due to his charisma and his motives for betraying his leader. Plus, he's really powerful, especially since he can cast illusions of himself AND summon that Angel of Death than binds with him at the end of Re:CoM.

Imagine that each of those stars is a different world. Now imagine being able to visit ALL of them. KH3 would have to be the longest game, ever!

Is it just me, or does Sora's new Keyblade look a bit different from what was originally shown? I remember seeing a cloth that either hung or wrapped around this star-themed Keyblade when the early development images were first revealed. Either way, this new Keyblade looks awesome, almost a fusion of Brightcrest and Star Seeker.

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?

Thanks for the clarification. You can tell me what happens if you want to, as I probably will not get around to playing TWEWY any time soon. I already have a large enough backlog of games as it is, on PS4 and PS3, even a single game on PS2 :lol: I did watch a Let's Play (with commentary) of KH3D when it first released, and the overall story sort of made sense, minus certain details. It was just so different from the other games' plots that it took me by surprise.

Huh, I must have forgotten about Traverse Town's "special ability", if you will, to appear anywhere it is needed. I knew it acted as a refuge for those who lost their home worlds, as explained in KH1. But, in this case, TT is a creation of Joshua, who seems to be an otherworldy being, with his wings and foreknowledge. I will try to find out if I can, but what exactly happened to Joshua and everyone else? I mean, were their hearts (excluding Joshua's) separated from them and subsequently put in a state of endless sleep, similar to Ventus? I ask this because Joshua specifically mentions giving his friends a "second chance" in his artificial Traverse Town, implying that something must have happened to them before they entered the Realm of Sleep. I never did get a chance to play The World Ends With You, so this may be where most of my confusion is coming from.

It's great to see that all four games in the collection will actually run at 60 FPS on the standard PS4! Dream Drop Distance has been a very smooth experience, so far, minus some glitchy movement controls (it may be the left stick on my controller, not really sure). Either way, I'm definitely excited to play the re-re-releases on PS4, as I do not plan to get a Pro anytime soon.

I have yet to play BBS 0.2, but definitely appreciate the given tips and advice for its gameplay. It looks great, especially since I'm coming off of a BBS marathon. If 0.2 is really like a merger of KH2 and BBS gameplay, I bet it will handle quite well overall. I hope to start playing this week, mainly depending on how far I get in DDD, as I originally wanted to finish that first.