Merilly

Couldn't agree more. I love Sora but it's a bit unfair that he is getting so many Bring Arts and PAKs while so many other characters have yet to receive even one decent figure. >_< I'm also still waiting on the Ven and Terra PAKs to go with my Aqua... I think KH is big enough to produce more characters, especially those who are popular. It might even be a good idea to give licenses to other good Japanese companies instead of having yet another shabby Diamond Select figure line. =_= Disney is so prone to do that somehow.

Not yet. Her facial features creep me out a bit because most of the other characters are our standard of normal. ^^' But I think I'll give it a try once it comes out on DVD. I'm usually not so fond of these adaptions because they often fail to capture the charme of their source material to a lack of understanding, but it can also be done right with enough innovation that honors the source as something equal to other genres. I always despised the idea of Pokemon getting a live-action movie or series, but I now think they may have chosen the right game to base it off on without trying to be too serious, too childish or too disrespectful. It seems they're treating this with care while still making it available to an older audience and not taking it too earnestly or as so much better than the source.

Detective Pikachu might actually become a case of a movie being so hilariously bad that it's good again. I think it's hard to take a live-action movie of Pokemon seriously, especially with how terrifying/weird some of them look. However, if they take that to their advantage and actually don't try to be serious about it, it can still be a great and fun movie. Movies like Sharknado were successful because they were so badly done you had to laugh. But that wasn't the only reason because there are many movies like that and they're just bad. The reason Sharknado was actually enjoyable to me was that you could feel that all parties involved did not take it seriously but rather just as it is: a bad movie with a ridiculous plot and fairly bad CGI. And that makes it good because the moment you feel that, it becomes a parody of itself without trying to be mean or being upset about the fact that it will never be a truly profound piece of art. If Detective Pikachu does it right, it can also do it like Deadpool. (And not because Ryan Reynolds is also Pikachu's voice actor. This different, a bit less child-friendly image of a caffeine addicted Pikachu is refreshing rather than trying to copy a game.) Let's be real. Live-action movies based on an anime or games with an anime-esque look have rarely ever worked out, apart from romance dramas perhaps. Having Pokemon, the epitome of child-friendly, translated into such a setting would likely be off-putting if they attempted that with a serious mindset. The best they can do to appeal to adults (which make up a considerable amount of Pokemon fans even if Nintendo tries to ignore that at times), is to be aware that some of this just looks ridiculous in a realistic style and act on that. And it seems like they actually did that so far. I think there's a reason Detective Pikachu was chosen and not one of the main games or even a movie/the anime series. It's a spin-off with arguably a less grand fanbase while still having a story to follow and the potential to make it adequate for both adults and children. I think I will actually watch it with the expectation that it will be a horrible movie but also with the potential to be a great horrible movie. And if not, I will at least have seen around an hour or so of a fluffy Pikachu with a Deadpool voice.

I'm happy for those who want it! I'm more interested in the story expansion myself but I can understand why people would want the challenge.

The concert in Cologne is already sold out... The tickets weren't nearly as swiftly gone the last two times. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few tickets left. I'm happy that it's that popular because the other concerts were already beautiful. >_< Ah, I'm so excited. I got my tickets today and can't wait to go with my friends!

Finally they started the regular sale of the tickets for the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World of Tres in Germany, 4 days after it was originally meant to take place. I unfortunately missed the pre-sale due to a hospital stay with zero internet connectivity and gosh, that was nerve-wrecking this time after it was sold out so fast the first time. First the seats I had selected were not available anymore and then there was allegedly an error with my credit card which caused me to have to do the whole thing again. Fortunately, it worked this time around and they accepted it. >_< So yeah, Cologne here my three friends and I come! I'm excited and thrilled to be able to go again.

This won't contain any spoilers, but after finishing KH3, I really don't know what all this negative fuss was about. I was expecting them to do something horrendous which would tear apart our entire conception of Kingdom Hearts but got nothing that bad. KH3 has flaws. Tons of them, just like every other game. There are quite a few things I personally would have done differently, paced in a different manner or excluded in favor of more story (like minigames), but for me, it was not nearly as atrocious as some people claim it to be. Of course people can continue to believe that. It's their opinion after all and I can't tell anyone how to experience a game or how to deal with their expectations. We had a long time to envision how the perfect game would be for us. And KH3 doesn't come close to what I imagined. But it is still Kingdom Hearts in every way by doing that. It's not much different than any of the other titles in that regard. Even KH2 had tons of complaints when it came out. The prologue, people complaining about mashing triangle too much and beating enemies without actually doing something, having so many cutscenes that you sometimes couldn't take one step, the Disney worlds being too detached from the overall plot way too often, etc. People tend to forget that they complained a lot about KH2 too when it came out. Despite not having a lot of expectations. KH3 could have never lived up to the hype without being 200 hours long. And even then it wouldn't have been perfect for all of us because we all wanted different things and focused on different aspects of a game, be it gameplay, story, graphics, etc. KH3 isn't what I wanted and I can't glorify my gripes to make it such. Certain aspects bug me and others were just downright not explainable. However, it also had a lot of good things. I laughed so much. More like in any other KH title. I still got some things I wanted. What was shown was good, even if it could have been more. In some aspects it was even more than I could have asked for. All in all, it just falls in line with the rest of the franchise as not making it more dramatic than KH actually ever was. And for that, I am actually glad. More than anything, I am sad to see this saga go. It isn't as bad as a final goodbye to a franchise since it was confirmed to continue way before its release, but it's close. It has been 5 1/2 years since its announcement. Times where this site blew up from every little bit of information given. That time was wrought with so many emotions. For now, we have to bid this farewell. Maybe until the next DLC or the next game. Maybe the wait won't be as long next time now that they somewhat have the engine under control. But I'll look forward to doing it again all over with all of the excitement, worries, happiness and fears.

I don't think this is a spoiler, but I recommend watching/reading the two most recent story updates from the Japanese KHUx. A dialogue in the prologue makes much more sense when you've seen it. It's not absolutely vital for the understanding but I can imagine that any question less is welcomed and you won't have to guess anything. If that's a spoiler, I'm sorry. >_<

Exactly. Stores all over Europe are allowed to and usually we aren't exactly the favored part of the world in terms of games. From what the employee told me, the permit came from Square Enix Europe themselves, so I don't see an issue to make that a worldwide thing.

While I am happy I got my copy today (or yesterday here), I don't really get why they don't just greenlight it for all retailers. GameStop Germany received permission and it's a part of an international chain, I don't really see what's so problematic. It can't be marketing as initially assumed since they wouldn't have allowed it to be sold then... At this point they should just get it over with...

Just got the call from my GameStop that they're allowed to sell KH3 from today onward so I can pick up my pre-order. So if anyone lives in Germany and doesn't want to wait: They have the game.

More and more leaks... I'm just going to browse incognito from now on. I don't think I've gotten too spoiled since it was one sentence out of context where I'm not even sure it's from the game or just some video title so it's still good. Clearing the watch history didn't work out for me, probably because I've subscribed to content creators which post KH stuff even when I haven't watched a video in weeks and clicked a lot of cat videos and the like. And I don't want to remove my subscriptions for that. But incognito mode works fairly well. I have to turn it on again from time to time but it does work. One more week. Come one, time, run faster. =_=

I'm suffering with you... The last days are stretching on like chewing gum but eventually, we'll also be done with that. 8 more days, a little more than a week. It's not worth it to ruin the experience for that for sure. Though we have to be careful with the leakers trying to compete against each other for a fleeting moment of attention and with more and more people getting the game early.

If critical is even available from the start... But that's not a difficulty I'll start with. I like my first experience to be a balanced one without too much frustration, especially because the game appears a little more difficult than usual if I take the demo into account. I want to have a relaxed and fun time, so standard all the way for the first playthrough. Though you are free to choose your own of course. There's nothing wrong with wanting a challenge right of the bat, I just prefer to experience the story first without too many interruptions to that.

Stay strong! 9 more days to go. Always remember that we waited years so 9 days are nothing in comparison.

Seems like more and more people are getting their copies early, which is why I'm probably avoiding Twitter, Youtube and the like earlier than originally planned. To be honest, I could probably get it through connections as well but I don't see a point in this case. I want to finish the game when the epilogue is already out and not before and then having to wait a few more days to complete the experience. It would feel lacking without the epilogue included and not really satisfying. When I start on the 29th (or maybe a day earlier), I likely won't be finished by the 30th (if I am, then the game is too short ) so that's fine but if I were to start now, it's possible for me to get to the ending before.

I just saw a KH3 commercial on TV for the first time. It feels so real now and so close...

Everyone is free to decide to watch these leaks, indulge in discussion, etc over them. I couldn't care less if they do that in their own little corner. Of course there's no denying that the way the copies were received is not acceptable but it's true that people are overreacting to this in particular when people buy stolen goods all the time, sometimes without even knowing it, and there's no huge blow-up over that if it's not KH. It is still illegal and I'm not condoning whatsoever but in terms of leaks in general, no matter the source, I'd be fine if only people were fair enough to stay in their spoiler corner and maybe not post it on Youtube before release. Of course they aren't and that's why it's problematic. There's no reason to share it on Youtube with diliberately spoiling thumbnails and titles. As you said, I'm kinda sick about this whole debate of who is a true KH fan and what makes them true. There is no true or false fan since by a most simplistic definition a fan is someone who likes the series, regardless how he acts toward other fans. No one can strip anyone off the title of fan because of them doing something that person deems unworthy of a fan by their own established standards. Quite frankly, what they believe makes a true fan doesn't matter and this elitist thinking is terrible, especially when they alleviate themselves above others by giving themselves the right to determine who's worthy of being called a true fan. It's deplorable to force spoilers on those who do not wish to see them. Not gonna justify that. But I also believe that witchhunt some people keep doing with threats to a leaker's life, joke or not, are just as illegal, if not more, and not funny. Legal action could be taken against anyone commencing to hunt people down, insult them or post death threats. Just because this is the internet doesn't mean everything can be said without consequences and attaching an edited photo with Sora holding a gun, while fairly harmless on its own, becomes a death threat by law if it's below a caption addressing a person. Sorry for derailing your status like this, Zeldablade. You did absolutely nothing wrong and I support your helpful advice to keep the fanbase safe. I'm glad you weren't exposed too much to leaks and could avoid them in time and also warned others about them again since they've begun flooding the internet excessively now.

I feel you... It's really getting worse by the day. I've never considered myself endangered to be exposed to leaks to such a degree since I'm not even the most active and did a lot of precautionary measurements, but seeing that it even happens to those who've not done much to invite it makes me nervous... I don't want to go dark this early to be honest. I can't really afford it right now but staying on the subscription page is probably the best option for Youtube.

Today was the first time Youtube recommended me leaks. And not one but many despite a lot of security measurements being taken on my part to prevent it. Some of them were just recently posted but luckily, I don't feel like I have been spoiled since I didn't see much before removing it from my feed. I didn't even search anything KH-related recently. It just came out of the blue, without a warning because the title was creatively working around my filters. Stay safe, folks. It seems like the next few weeks will be hard. But I guess we all knew that. Though I still feel I'm not prepared.

I think that would be good, especially with how he's been built up in the last two years, especially through Back Cover. Also, Nomura stated in an intergiew that he won't appear in KH3. That was oddly specific to just limit it to KH3, considering we already know KH will continue. Though I'd also enjoy a version where he's not exactly evil but something in-between and the main antagonist is actually extremely focused on the supremancy of light. That could also result in interesting interactions since light was often depicted as the good side and it might put a different perspective on it while also creating some conflict between those who had closer ties to darkness than others.

Sure it is and I'm not saying the next title will have fewer surprises. It's just that people tend to be a little more excited for the final of a saga, be it a book, TV/movie series, games, etc. because it's the conclusion and what everything so far leads to. I'm sure the next games will still have the excitement of a KH title but subjectively, it feels like games such as DDD and 0.2 did not have the same amount of hype. Which doesn't mean they'll be worse games, I'm just talking about the visible excitement of the fans as a whole. Another factor is that the sequel will probably already focus on something else and we don't have the same built-up and knowledge as we have prior to KH3. Which likely adds to the excitement.

KH3 releases in one month in Japan... Kinda crazy to see how fast time flies. Only a week left until the new year and then we only need to get through January. It will also be a tough time for a lot of us. At least I imagine so, considering there might be more leaks to avoid and spoilers from early received copies revolving around the internet to block as well since each day closer to release makes it more likely. Not to forget those 4 days in-between the Japanese and global release date. It's always strange how the last few weeks are perceived to be the longest and time still flies by so fast, as if December is over before it even began. I will miss this hype after KH3. It will probably be a while until a new game will be announced and even then it might not generate the same excitement as Kingdom Hearts 3 did. Which is why I want to cherish this last bit as much as I can, even if the wait will become more and more painful. In that regard, a Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and to those who don't I also wish you the best for the last week of 2018.

I don't think it's impossible either. 2 worlds are less likely but 1 is still within reason. They could potentially show more than 1 too in a really long trailer, but I'd be fine if it's just one more. I mean, it's just wishful thinking at this point but as you said, it's not entirely out of the question either. But I consider it good that people's expectation have decreased a little and that they've started to accept the possibility that this might be it. I kinda wanna see something from the hand-drawn era and not another Pixar movie though. Nothing against Pixar but there's no need to use up all the suitable movies in one game. A returning world would also be fine as long as it has another color scheme.

It's not something which completely upsets me but it is kinda noticeable, especially in close-ups and I preferred how the eyes had more plasticity in the 0.2 opening. It's not a deal breaker at all but subjectively, they put a little less attention on the fine details. The eyes are especially important to me since they carry emotion and especially Sora's eyes look exceptionally flat in some shots, probably due to too little reflections, lighting and the iris being too prominently encircled by a black border. They're also a little too round from this side view. Yeah, it's not terrible but I wonder why they decided on that. It's a subjective thing but the eyes looked much more expressive in 0.2 and a lot more focus was put on them since they are important to get emotion across. They just appeared to be more alive?