Allwil13

I'll certainly play it at some point. Unfortunately I've got a few other games on the go right now so I'd like to finish those first. I need to finish replaying the MAss Effect Trilogy and Spyro Reignited. I might play KH3 critical mode in between Mass Effect Trilogy and Mass Effect Andromeda, but we'll see. But I'll definitely pick it up sooner or later. Besides, I'd kind of like to wait until the story DLC is added and then do the updates all at once.

I worked this morning and now my boyfriend and I are sitting on the couch watching Harry Potter. Pretty normal day, really.

I agree completely. 100%. The thing about these two is that in many ways they are special form of Nobodies. Heck, even in 358/2 Days one of Vexen's journal entries points out that the replicas could be classified as a special form of nobody. The Riku Replica was brought to life as a result of data that Vexen extracted from Riku. As a result, when he died that data just returned to Riku, and so did Repliku. I imagine that we'll see him again and at some point he'll be able to obtain a vessel. I do love your theory that he absorbed some of Zexion's essence. As for Vanitas, like you said Light can't exist without Darkness, so there's no way for Vanitas to completely destroy Ventus and vice versa. I think that Vanitas lives on inside Ventus and he'll eventually resurface. I also love your theory that he'll merge with Data-Sora. I feel like Data- Sora will become relevant again at some point, either to bring back Sora or, like you said, to make Vanitas a whole being of both light and darkness.

If it's a general discussion thread, then necroposting is fine. Oof, I've got a bunch of games that I have yet to finish. Like you I haven't finished Radiant Historia; Perfect Chronology or either of the Cyber Sleuth games, but they're on my list of games to finish. Among dozens of others, lol. In terms of games that I'm actively playing at the moment, I recently replayed Tales of Graces F, and now I've started replaying the Mass Effect Triogy on PS3, after which I plan to pick up Mass Effect: Andromeda. I want to form my own opinions instead of just believing everyone else's. I've also been playing the Spyro Reignited Trilogy on PS4 when I'm in a more relaxed gaming mood. Oh, and I've been playing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days again. I haven't played it in years and the topic about the possibility of a remake got me wanting to play it again.

As long as it's affordable early on and runs well, I don't really care. PS1, PS2 and PS3 backwards compatibility would be amazing, though.

Oh, I think that's exactly what they did. And I think it's smart. It allows us to have this kind of conversation, to discuss what we feel their relationship is/isn't and what it should/shouldn't be.

I agree. To be clear, I'm not necessarily saying that Sora and Kairi's friendship has not/will not evolve into stronger feelings of love. It''s clearly intened to be inferred. But it hasn't been confirmed (at least not enough for me) for it to be a definite development. The reason why I got thinking about this subject is just because a lot of the criticisms relating to this were from people who felt that it was a definite thing, and I just don't think it is yet. But you're right; every hero needs a "light", something for them to fight for, and Sora's is most definitely Kairi's. Not arguing here. But there's nothing wrong with a "light" being purely platonic and nothing more. It's just that more often than not, it evolves into something more at some point. I just think it would be nice if we could have a light relationship like this that stays platonic.

I've kind of developed a dislike of romance in certain fictional properties. Reason being that I've seen franchises where the romance wasn't supposed to be the main focus and there were other more important things going on but then all the fans cared about was the characters' relationship with their love interest. And I was like "uh, guys? There are other more important things going on right now." The Hunger Games was the worst for that, I found. Then again, sometimes it fits really well and has a great balance with everything else. I think it depends on the characters and the writing. That's another reason why the idea of incorporating official romance into Kingdom Hearts' original characters makes me nervous. I just think the dynamic between the characters works better as a platonic connection rather than a romantic one.

I was actually going to mention that in the initial post but I don't really count the Disney characters because their worlds generally tend to follow the plot of the films. So it makes sense that there would be romance there.

OMG, it totally has! In KH1, Kairi was actually so interesting and had a genuine personality. She was really bubbly, sweet and playful. She was also pretty brave, shown when she shielded heartless Sora in the entrance hall of Hollow Bastion. Then in Kingdom Hearts 2 she was... just kinda there. It's such a shame. She was so fun in Kingdom hearts 1 and now she's just kind of...blah. Not good, not bad. Just... boring.

I agree. I mean, she's never really done much, and honestly I think she did more in KH3 than in the rest of the series combined. But like you, I wasn't really expecting much from her anyways. Honestly, the thing that does bug me about Kairi is that she just isn't very interesting. Unlike Sora and Riku, who have very clear character traits and personalities, Kairi is... nice and sweet. And... that's it. That's why I think the series needs an entry where she is the main playable character. Give the girl an adventure to go on, Nomura, and let us go with her! I want to get to know this girl. The only thing I really hated about Kairi was her voice actor in KH3. I imagine a lot of people will pounce on me for this but I just cannot stand Alyson Stoner. I think she's just terrible and when I learned she would be voicing Kairi in KH3 my heart sank. I know she voiced Kairi in a couple of other entries but that was only a collective 4 or 5 lines. Then again, this isn't hate for the character herself, just her voice. But I don't want to start a rant about that. I do agree with you that she does have a purpose, and it's an important one. I think people just wanted to see her become a strong fighter like the rest of the wielders of light.

As cool as this is, I can't say I'm not disappointed. I was really hoping that Union Cross would wind to a close soon so that they could port it to consoles already.

Just realized I didn't state my level, lol. I'm 348.

I was somewhere in the early 100's until I discovered the Union Cross quests. Then my level skyrocketed in no time flat.

I don't like coffee, but I love me a cappuccino! When I'm craving one, I go to good ole' Tim Hortons up here in Canada, or "Timmy Ho's" as my sister calls it. Every now and again I go to Starbucks, but that's pretty rare.

Terra and Kefka is the other one I've been praying for. Kefka is arguably one of the greatest FF villains of all time (IMO, anyway). Having him in KH would be amaaaaazing! Cecil and Golbez could be interesting too.

That's what I've been saying! Cloud and Sephiroth's story arc seems to be finished, judging from how the both vanished in KHII! Why not replace them with Zidane and Kuja?

This sounds awesome! This is one of my faourite entries in the Final Fantasy series!

I don't necessarily think fan service is a bad thing, but you need to know how to balance what the fans want and what you as a developer want. The problem is that fans are rarely satisfied. I've seen several instances wherein a piece of media provided something that fans had been itching for. The fans appreciated it, but then they started shouting "well why didn't you do THIS too? Or THIS?" They always find something new to ask for. I've also found that attempts to pander to fans often backfire. I know J.K Rowling fell into this trap when people started pointing out that her books didn't have any diversity and all that stuff. Now her clarifications and additions to the lore are starting to really irk some people. There was also the whole disaster with Hannibal's creator stating on twitter that non-canonical fan theories were in fact canonical. Of course, these examples are from television and movies, so I guess it's not really the same as video games. Of course, sometimes fanservice can work great if done properly. Spyro Reignited clearly had a ton of thought and TLC put into it, and Toys for Bob actually listened to the fans and made adjustments accordingly. This is a good example of knowing how to balance things, like I said earlier. Myself, I think I would just do my own thing. I think fan service models can turn into a minefield that no one should risk entering.

Ooooohhhh, you might have something there! I guess Xion's hair colour must have come from somewhere, and not a lot of Kingdom hearts characters have black hair. Then again the black hair may have come from Eraqus as well, since Ventus loved Eraqus too. It would be much better if the black hair came from Skuld, though.

Huh, that's an interesting point. I never thought about that before, but you may be on to something there. Now that all the keyblade wielding trios have been reunited (minus Sora, but he won't be down for the count for long) there are already more than seven wielders of light. So I could very well see them intending for this to be relevant in some way. Elrena/Larxene and Lauriam/Marluxia may also join the ranks. I don't know for sure, since Larxene didn't seem interested in repenting for her actions when she faded away, but Marluxia seemed to be admitting that he was feeling some kind of emotion, and I got the distinct sense that he was feeling guilt for his actions. There's also Luxord, who seemed to be somewhat repentant. And we all know that Demyx switched sides with Even. And we can only assume that Demyx and Luxord were keyblade wielders during the age of fairy tales, but who knows for sure at this point? Anyways, I like this detail. You very well may be onto something.

Mine are as follows: 1. Xion and Saix The way Axel was able to finally make up with Saix/Isa was really well done, as was Xion's return to the side of light. I found that the interaction with Isa here did a great job of humanizing him and making him much more sympathetic. Plus being able to have Roxas and Xion in your party was an awesome bonus. 2. Terranort and Vanitas This one comes in a very close second. It gave us some amazing closure to the whole idea of the Wayfinder Trio reuniting and the whole scene with Terra managing to seize control of the Guardian was just perfect. Vanitas also became a little more sympathetic, which I liked. 3. Xigbar and Dark Riku This one was good, I guess. It was nice to see Repliku truly redeem himself, although I'm hoping we'll be seeing him again. Xigbar's always a lot of fun to watch, too. 4. Luxord, Larxene and Marluxia This one was nice because it gave us a bit of insight into Larxene and Marluxia's characters. I also liked that it hinted towards the depth of their relationship (I'm assuming the person with whom Larxene was along for the ride was in fact Marluxia). I also liked the final conversation between Sora and Luxord. 5. Ansem, Xemnas and Young Xehanort This one was actually pretty forgettable, which is such a shame because it was supposed to be the final clash before the game's big bad. Honestly, I don't really remember much of what was said aside from Young Xehanort repeating his warning that Sora won't survive the battle.

I'm so glad that the english version finally reached the reveal of Elrena. It's about time!

Man, those look sweet! I might actually consider getting one of those. I love the seasalt one.

This was a tough one. I was wrestling between Roxas and Terra for a while before finally settling on Terra. Roxas did have a great return, don't get me wrong, but Terra's just felt more epic. The return of the Lingering Will was awesome, and then after the battle with Terranort when Terra's heart was revealed to have been inside the Guardian all along, I was absolutely floored!