Merilly

There's also always the possibility to use a proxy service, though I believe this book will be sold by other sellers too once it comes out. At least this was the case for all the other Ultimania books. It never remained exclusive to one retailer. The price surprised me a bit. It's not really more expensive than the other Ultimanias, though they're probably inclined to keep the page count as low as possible because the others already have hundreds of pages. Even if KH3 ends up larger than any other game before, it likely won't receive a bigger volume, unless they decide to split it in two. Even the larger size probably can't make up for that. I'll definitely get this one, too. I already own most of the others even if I don't understand Japanese. I really wish they would publish them in English.... I would also like it if 0.2 is included in this volume since it probably won't receive a proper one by itself and it is the prologue which was initially intended to be part of the game. It would only be suitable if it would be included in this Ultimania.

I honestly don't know, considering we don't know how long it will really be in the end. For the older games, it usually took me a couple of days per game, but if KH3 really is ~40 hours for the main story for an average playthrough (not taking higher difficulties and off the track stuff into account), I'd say a week or two at the most for that part. If it takes longer, I can't really change that either but I'll be doing my best to get through it quickly without neglecting to appreciate it. The main reason I want to get through it as quickly as possible is because I want to avoid spoilers at all costs if that's doable. I can't stay off the internet for prolonged periods of time and I want to know how the story ends after such a long wait since its announcement, too. I took time off for my first playthrough as well for that. It's easier to avoid spoilers if people aren't invested in the franchise but KH3 already pops up egerywhere in my feeds as recommended. Of course I can't wait either since I'm the type who wants to know the story as quickly as possible, but my main reason would still be potential spoilers. In terms of finishing what comes after... I don't egen want to contemplate since I likely won't complete the game with 100%. I'm not a fan of minigames and getting paticular scores so I'll just do that as it comes.

I feel like Europe is getting neglected again. Not even Amazon offers a pre-order bonus yet for us and the only store which offers something would be GameStop. (And the digital versions of course.) It's not like I'm expecting much but it's a bit disappointing that we don't really get to choose and one of the biggest online stores doesn't even offer the same thing they do for the US/Canada.

I still find them creepy for the same reason I consider Funko's scary. Those soul devouring voids they call eyes. But admittedly, the Soldier and Shadow Heartless are adorable.

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?

I saw someone write that the quality of the KH3 opening is lower than in the 0.2 opening. I don't know if it's due to the darker tones and the haziness lingering over the scenes, but it does seem a little more similar to some of the pre-rendered cutscenes rather than the 0.2 opening. Which I wouldn't mind. Maybe it does lose some details but on the other hand, it's closer to what we see throughout the game. A good example would be the eyes. They look a little flat in comparison to 0.2's opening, where they were more glossy and had more depth and detail overall. Especially the iris looks drawn on and the eyeball not really embedded into the skull. Of course that isn't so obvious in this shot but in others more. Still, you can see Sora's aren't as glossy, not as detailed and look flat in comparison. It's not that bad but noticeable in my opinion and I wonder where the change comes from since it looked subjectively more expressive before.

That's true. I've also seen lots of opinions before it's even out. Since I didn't know much about him, I looker him up but to be honest, that didn't really change my neutral stance of having to wait for the final product. I'm not the type to stick to one or two bands or artists in particular and deem everything they do good or bad. It's a song to song thing. Some I think of as not so great, others are fantastic. I could like 10 songs of one artist and detest the 11th or the other way around. That's why I don't think it's fair to judge before hearing it. But you are right that a considerable number of people are opposed to western influences in Japanese media for no real reason. I don't get why Utada gets celebrated for the song as if her part was great withtout realizing that Skrillex also took part in that arrangement. (Maybe not in the lyrics since I'm not sure if Skrillex knows Japanese but the rest also counts. It's not like he was only responsible for the part where it becomes really EDM). And we also don't know if it would have been better without him or someone else. Subjectively better, that is. I wouldn't even mind it that much if it weren't for my condition. It may not have been my favorite song ever, but that's not something I expect. I may not like the direction where Ariana Grande has gone, but she undebiably has a great voice and actual talent in that regard in comparison to other artists. Katy Perry too, I guess. It's not my style but it's something I can understand a lot of people liking since it caters to what's popular at the moment. To be honest, even if I'm not interested in the units, I can't really say it bothers me. I'll have a good laugh about it and since she's not part of the story, I couldn't care less. I think it would be a different matter if she suddenly had been written into the canon but since that's not the case I don't understand the turmoil. I also want different units but that's always the case. Sometimes we get things we don't care about, sometimes we get stuff we want. SE really tried hard to implement them and also make their music more appealing to those who do not like it. And neither Perry nor Grande are people where I deem it terrible since they're not that... self-centered? I dunno, they're not bad choices for people to look up to. I could imagine idols which would be terrible icons. You're also right that people should look more at the music itself than the artist. Some people are solely hating on things which are "mainstream" and won't even give it a chance because they want to remain special snowflakes who only like the non-popular stuff. Which isn't to say that people can't genuinely dislike or love something, but it's important to keep an open mind and judge things individually. As I said, songs from the same artist can be completely different. There's nothing to say against peaceful discussions. I value your opinion on the song just as much as I do mine and you have the right to love the song and consider it the best opening theme in the series. I don't see a reason to criticize that and vice versa. I also wish that people wouldn't be so fast to jump on certain bandwagons which are rather elitist. I've seen so many comments of those calling the other extreme names becauee they don't realize how great or terrible the song is. Because those which are against western influence are opposed by those who blindly worship everything KH-related as well and neither view is without consequences and problems. As you said, there's nothing against a peaceful discussion but at the end of the day, those that can't come to terms with music being subjective shouldn't fight about something they won't be able to change. I can't make anyone dislike the song and neither can you make anyone like the song by fighting about it. Still, it's interesting to hear different opinions on the matter if they're formulated like yours, even if we don't have the same sentiment toward the song.

And even if we didn't have options, those are just two songs. We will hear thoee at the end and the beginning but that's likely it. It's not like the rest of the OST will be like that, it's not even something we'll have to listen to throughout. I'm not sure they hated on Skrillex because it's Skrillex or because his main genre is EDM. Some people don't want to see that KH openings always had EDM components, albeit a bit more subdued. Since I don't like that genre, I didn't even know him and I'm not sure that all people who hate the song do so because of him in particular. I guess it's more along the lines of the other argument you presented. That people are opposed to a western artist participating in that. Otherwise I don't see a reason to hate on Skrillex in particular, though I admit that I know next to nothing about him. Still, venting their frustration on him is wrong. Everyone is allowed to hate the song but they can't act like Skrillex is solely responsible for the parts they don't like. He's done the entire song together with Utada and the song was approved. In regard to FFBE, I must say that I dislike the incorporation of Ariana Grande and Katy Perry. Not because I dislike them as a person but rather that they have little to do with Final Fantasy. The collabs so far were at least from video games, most, if not all, of them SE properties but both of these idols have never done anything for the game and there are still so many other characters they could make a unit of. I guess that's what most people are ridiculing about this. It doesn't deserve an outrage, but it's a questionable marketing procedure to lure in a different demographic. Many people who play FFBE don't really care about that type of music or if they do, it's not to a degree that they would like units of real people in the game. It's a fantasy game after all and both of them don't really fit into it. It has little to do with their voices or their songs in my opinion, despite disliking the direction Ariana Grande went even though she has such a good voice, but rather with this being useless in a game that uses a fantasy setting and for no real reason other than promotion. Yeah, they've done great arrangements, but it's still questionable why there are units of those two but not of other game characters instead. Personally, I don't care about them and would not even attempt to draw those units if they weren't free. As I said, it doesn't deserve hate. I just feel no excitement for them because I don't worship idols and the persona they create for the public. Their music isn't exactly my favorite either, regardless of their vocal talent. I know less about them than about a regular NPC, so I don't really feel inclined to spare a shred of sympathy for them, considering that a lot of fictional characters moved me more than either of them did. I guess that's why most aren't exactly thrilled. They chose artists which might not appeal to a majority of the game's regular gamers so it's no wonder they won't receive applause for that decision. It seems more like a poor marketing decision based on what is currently popular on the western market without looking at what's popular among those playing the game. I'm not saying no one likes the two of them but quite a number of gamers and Final Fantasy addicts don't listen to what's considered popular but rather to other genres. To them it probably seems like a misjudged understanding of what the people like and not asking for what they actually want. Even though those two are widely known and popular by mainstream standards, that might not hold true for another part of popular culture.

I think that's fine. People just enjoy different things and even if you don't like a particular genre, there could still be a song or two you can enjoy despite that. I see no reason to degrade the quality of the song just because it doesn't suit my fancy. And I'm also glad I'm not being rebuked for not liking it either like I've seen happen over on tumblr for example where people claimed that if it wouldn't be Skrillex then people would love it (which makes no sense because I didn't even know who he was before the announcement and I dare say a lot of people have no idea as well). Where have the times gone when you could just dislike something without others saying you're a weeb? Why is it that it's suddenly wrong in some people's eyes to love it because they claim everyone is blinded by the franchise? Music is so subjective and we are unable to even explain ehy we dislike it at times. It's sad that people can't come to the agreement that there's no objectively "bad" or "good" music? I really appreciate your understanding of my issues and I still enjoy the opening by itself. I'll just have to turn down the volume quite a bit but that won't diminish my enioyment by a huge margin. And even if it doesn't change your mind, that would be fine too. Of course it's always a shame to find the franchise you love using a theme not to your liking but there's no obligation to celebrate it just because it has a connection to KH. I see those two factions arguing against each other when the solution is quite simple. Either they like the song, they're neutral about it or they just don't quite come to enjoy it. We won't change anyone's mind by insisting the song is great when in reality, we can't determine that on a universal level which holds true for everyone. I do agree that it would be a terrible choice for the narrative to suddenly diminish his role to that of a puppet. I wouldn't want that because they can simply create a new antagonist for the next installments and just have Xehanort be a villain because he wanted to be. Not because he was turned into a puppet or is overthrown. I believe that would make everything that happened so far inconsequential. It already felt like this with KH2 but at least they had some sort of explanation why Ansem SoD wasn't the ultimate evil. However, it might not be the case so I won't jump to conclusions just yet. A very simple theory would be that it's just a symptom of prolonged exposure to large amounts of darkness or accepting this darkness. It might not mean being possessed but that this person just accepted the darkness or that the dark part in the heart became larger than normal. I'm also grasping at straws because we have no other characters with those traits yet who are not a vessel and confirmed not to be one. However, since the Heartless also have yellow eyes, despite different ones, I would consider it a possibility.

Haha, true. The last few weeks and days are always the longest. Though we've been blessed with a lot of information in comparison to other games. It doesn't make the wait much shorter but it's still great. Yeah, they were. Maybe a different type of EDM but EDM nonetheless. Though admittedly, I did not particularly enjoy either opening. But most were at least somewhat bearable but the part starting from around the minute mark in Face my Fears really makes my ears hurt. Not figuratively speaking, they literally hurt because the sound is jarring. But I have hyperacusis and I'm extremely sensitive to frequencies in that spectrum due to that so I can't really say it's bad just because I can't stand it and won't be able to get used to it. I guess I'm not too good with EDM as a whole, that's why I don't think Skrillex has done anything to make me dislike it. I just never found it appealing since it's made so people can dance to it, too and doesn't focus too much on lyrics. Though from a lyrical standpoint, it's rather good and fitting from what we could hear so far. Simple and Clean, Sanctuary and Don't Think Twice all sounded rather odd for KH because you really had to squint to make out the tiniest of connections. If they were even there. But I don't think it's bad to like it. Especially if you like EDM or this type of music, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I understand that tastes are really different after all, which is why I don't get that there are seriously arguments about whether this song is good or not as if there are objective criteria to determine the quality of music...

There is none coming tomorrow. The 10th referred to was in Japanese time, so that was basically the video that was announced.

To be honest, I don't think Skrillex deserves the complaints. I don't like EDM as a whole, but it wouldn't have made a difference if they had chosen someone else. It would still have been EDM because that's apparently the direction SE/Disney wanted to go with this. Which isn't to my liking but not everything has to be. This genre is just what Skrillex does. Of course there's a large variety within the realms of that genre, but that was to be expected. And it's not like he's to blame for doing what he does. I listened to his music before to get a sample of what to expect and while it's a little more subdued than some of his other works, this opening song fits into what he usually creates. It's not what I enjoy listening to, but if I were a fan of EDM, I wouldn't consider what he did a bad job. He's been involved in the entire song and even if he hadn't, there's no telling if it would have turned into another Chikai, which wasn't my cup of tea either. I think it's okay to say they don't like it. You can't really argue about taste after all and EDM isn't to everyone's liking. That won't change with stunning visuals either. But I also think it's a little unfair to blame Skrillex and claim he ruined the song. Which we can hardly determine since we don't know how it would have sounded without him. I don't think I will ever come to like it, but I do think it fits the genre they were trying to achieve. It's not exactly what I hoped for but then again, most opening songs weren't all that fitting in terms of lyrics for example. The problem in this isn't Skrillex in my opinion but rather the decision to go with EDM. Which is only an issue on an entirely subjective level since others obviously like it.

As mentioned before, the translations of the interviews seem to be fairly different depending on who did them. The one that HMK also linked in his video from KHInsider did not confirm that at all but remained vague throughout about her fate. That's why I remain skeptical until the game is out. I've read a plethora of interviews and most of them were worded in an unfortunate manner or were so cryptic that there was no 100% certainty possible. I can't really judge who is more accurate in their translations since I don't speak Japanese. I just see that it fluctuates quite a bit and this is why I consider it unconfirmed until we have a clear explanation. I'm not claiming it's impossible she's a vessel, I'm just careful with interviews and translations because sometimes, things are said which are taken the wrong way or are mistranslated because Japanese is really difficult. I just don't want to go into the game with possibly wrong conceptions.

The possibility is there since it was very similar to KH2's fight between them. It could be like in past openings where they simply did a recap of a lot of events from past games without being 100% accurate. Apart from that, I'm not a fan of the song. I don't blame that on Skrillex and neither on Utada, and I wouldn't go as far as saying either of them ruined it, it's simply not my cup of tea. The high pitch and the jarring sounds mixing together are grating on my ears, especially because I'm really sensitive to sound. But that's not their fault, it's simply a different genre and I'll just deal with it in the same way I'll deal with Chikai. Both will only be there for around 4 minutes and the rest will be different. Otherwise, the opening is noticeably darker in regard to colors, which is probably fitting the premise of the final battle theme. But it still looks stunning and I do enjoy the different style in CGI ever since 0.2. It feels more native to KH while all previous openings leaned more toward Final Fantasy in my opinion. It's also interesting that Young Xehanort seems to have a different eye color and I doubt it's a mistake this time. Ever since Terranort had brown eyes in BBS, I wondered if Xehanort actually had a different look altogether before becoming more interested in darkness. Of course it could possibly be the influence of Eraqus or colors mixing, but Terra has blue eyes so it always struck me as odd why he would have brown eyes as Terranort. All in all, I'm happy that this part of the trailer doesn't spoil much, if anything at all. It looks more like previous openings which were more or less a compilation of events from the past and it would be suitable if the full opening retains that. We don't really need the opening to spoil anything like the secret ending of KH2 and opening of BBS did for that game.

I do trust Famitsu's credibility but the wording of that quote is extremely strange in my opinion, coming from the director of the series. "We couldn't feel"? They're the ones who created the story. Why would that be a feeling and not a fact? That quote somehow sounds like it was said by an outsider, not a developer. After all, yellow eyes do not prove being a vessel at all... Otherwise all Heartless would be vessels, which they're not. Either this is worded really unfortunately or that wasn't all he said. To be honest, I'm still skeptical she is a vessel until the game comes out. It's not the first time something played out differently in the end because of a mistranslation or the interviewers misunderstanding something. As I said, I'm not undermining the possibility but that quote is somehow really unconvincing in the way it was written. Famitsu is usually a very credible magazine but it just sounds very odd for Nomura in comparison to the other interviews he, or anyone else, has given. Still, thanks for linking the video. I appreciate it despite my skepticism. Edit: That passage was from the same interview with the translation from khinsider. It doesn't sound like a confirmation at all but really, really vague.

Nothing against HMK and the rest, but those were just theories. They can't know for sure since they know about as much about the game as we do. (Perhaps a tiny bit more due to the demos but that info wasn't extremely important.) And it was never confirmed that she was a vessel by an official source. Even when the Guardian grabbed her, she did not change yet. So there is no confirmation she has become a vessel. For all we know, she could just as well be on the verge of becoming some sort of Darkling due to her color scheme. I'm not saying it's impossible, it just wasn't confirmed. I looked through the interviews and Nomura never explicitly said she was a vessel but rather dodged the subject. People were extremely fast to jump on the vessel theory because of the yellow eyes and white/silver hair but that might not be a trait exclusive to Xehanort but possibly a hint toward an influence of darkness as well. Or something completely different.

In 3 hours if nothing changes.

At this point I would be glad if they would just provide both languages. The game is done. There's no reason to hide voice actors or their work anymore and they announced it on both the Japanese and the international KH Twitter accounts. Commercials are one thing, especially with the voice-over, but there's no good reason to do it for trailers anymore in my opinion. Of course it needs a bit more effort to rip footage from each version, but there should be enough time for that.

Where did he confirm that she is under the influence of Xehanort? As far as I'm aware, he's been vague as to what has happened to her exactly. She could have been corrupted by darkness too and not be a vessel.

That would be absolutely fine by me. 60 FPS aren't really important to me as long as the game runs smoothly most of the time. Since I play on consoles a lot, 30 FPS is more common on the older ones anyway. Some frame drops are to be expected but that's neglectable in my opinion. Btw, Happy Birthday since it's already the 9th here.

It's not like everything from today is bad. It's just that Disney only cares about its own products. Yes, KH and its original characters belong to Disney but I can't help but think they care less about the original characters than their own because they weren't involved in their design or story. The interviews suggested that Disney isn't quite as open anymore with KH as opposed to the beginning and their involvement probably doesn't imply only improvements. Otherwise I couldn't explain why most Disney characters looked fine and the original characters still required so much more work and could even use some here and there now. My problem is that people are all too eager to jump on the idea. But that's it. They like their own idea of how it should look like. I do too. But the reality will likely be far from it if Disney handles it. And I'm 90% sure it won't be in the pleasantly surprised way but rather the 'how could they mutilate KH?' way. Because it probably won't have the style of either the manga or classic Disney movies or even Avatar The Last Airbender. Its story won't be canon unless they work with Nomura and the storyboards looked flat. Like Disney giving licenses to to compabies who make those cheap figures. I've taken a look at the comments and most are down for it, but a lot also say they want an anime rather than a western cartoon. They want people like those who did Castlevania to do it because it seems like the studio cares for quality and tries to honor the source. They don't want Disney or Kearsley in particular. I doubt Disney denied the pitch solely for popularity reasons. It could be that they're well aware that if they don't do it 'right', they will garner a lot of hate, which isn't good if you want to sell more in the future. Yes, it could attract newcomers to the series, but might also give them a completely wrong picture of the franchise and what to expect. Disney can create series' which are great. But only when the people working on them know what they're doing. There are plenty good or at least decent series which came out in the past years. You can argue about style and story but not all were aimed at small children. But Kearsley doesn't seem to know Kingdom Hearts all that well. There's just a different connection to a series if you've been part of the development process from the ground up rather than just being tasked of making a copy of existing material. Especially if you're not passionate about the franchise. For example, I'd be more inclined to trust someone who has at least played all the games. Not like Kearsley who claimed he would only do that if the series has a future. That tells me he couldn't care less about KH and didn't enjoy the first game all that much. And I wouldn't be angry if he doesn't like it. He hasn't been part of the development, didn't design anything or worked on anything which is part of KH. If he couldn't connct with it, then that's fine. But I also think that he might not be the best choice to lead such a project then because it's bound to fail if there's a fundamental dislike. Be it games, movies, etc.; they are all art and in order to get feeling across, people need to be passionate or at least invested in their work. Admittedly, I'm not from the US so I don't know about the Disney Channel problems but from what you say I can tell it's not exactly what people might want...

Yeah. I understand the desire for an animated series, I just don't think Kearsley can deliver and medt the expectations long-time fans have. If they made such a series, I would prefer it if a group of people would be chosen who could keep a certain style and who have contact to scenario writers of the franchise. It doesn't need to be a 1:1 adaptation from the games, both the manga and the novels aren't either, but it would be good if they're familiar with the source material and have some passion to do this. Money matters. I'm not expecting anyone to do it out of the goodness of their heart or because they love the series. But I see Disney's increased involvement critical, especially if they should decide on an animated series on their own. The manga and the novels are a good example of valuing the source material while still providing new perspectives. They're bot the greatest works of all time but enjoyable in their own right. KH is my favorite franchise and while I didnnot like everything about the novels and the manga, there were a lot of things I also would have liked to see in the games, especially in terms of characterization since they gave more insight on motivation, habits and quirks. It was both funny and adding more to their personality without changing everything, even though they also sometimes contradict what was said in the games and aren't canon. What we saw from the storyboards carried little value for me. What they wanted to do with it sounded generic and not like they really looked at the material. I'm not expecting anyone to become a fan of the series but if I had to work on a project I would look at the franchise as a whole to get a feel for it and not only the first game just because my plot never ventures further. I just have little sympathy for Kearsley ever since he gave that interview regarding the KH series he had planned and everything he did after only served to support that notion that he is the wrong person for an animated series.

Agreed... I wish everyone did that and wouldn't make their beliefs sound like confirmed facts (i.e. continuously stating there are exactly two Disney worlds left as if that was confirmed). A few fans are prone to only read what they want to see, regardless of confirmation or not. The problem is when they throw a tantrum because of it. Just like with the Starlight Keyblade. Not only did people not read, no, they had to be mean about it. Even though it makes zero sense to be able to download it beforehand. What would they even do with it now? How would it help them? Instead of panicking, it's wise to read it again and then contact them if something isn't clear. They shouldn't need to make a tweet about it just because people are overzealous.

I hope so too but you're right, it would be no big deal if they had to postpone it.

On mine too. Though it is still a tentative schedule, so they could potentially change it last minute.