FadedSparkle

I was less disappointed that Riku didn't play a role and more disappointed that Terra mostly saved himself. There was a minor assist from Sora in there (especially without the Remind DLC factored in) but for the most part Terra really saved himself. It was pretty embarrassing to see how hard they over-complicated things for the sake of honoring Sora being the one who saved everyone instead of just letting certain plot threads reach their natural conclusions though. Aqua keeping her promise to Ven, Mickey and Riku actually having a proper role in Aqua's rescue (Sora didn't even necessarily not have to be there just make it a team effort and Dark Aqua a tougher boss) and involve Riku in saving Terra even if you keep Sora involved.

Well that's some disheartening news to say the least. My condolences to her loved ones and may she rest in peace.

I distinctly remember that in the Days video game when they send everyone out on missions with Roxas to essentially show him the ropes of the ins and outs of the Organizations daily dealings Larxene actually treats him alright when its her turn. She treats him almost like an older sister with a kid brother she's not necessarily happy to deal with but not unhappy to have to deal with either. Also the way that Axel kills Vexen especially in ReCoM is super brutal. I don't think there's that huge of a stretch to friend material between him and Larxene especially if they started to explore the Elrena side of Larxene's personality early in Days vs in Union Cross which I don't know nearly enough about given I could really care less about Union Cross but I doubt she was also a Sadist back then. Also a question about the replicas themselves. They look like store-bought mannequins in their vessel form and all we have to go off of for how they then become proper replicas is that they get data inserted into them that serves as the heart and that data allows them to take on the form of the person their source data came from. None of this sounds like it requires any kind of higher education or special degree. And I'm still banking on someone being able to do it better than Vexen without any so called experience in any special field just because of plot reasons because this is KH where plot contrivance is very very real.

Let me ask you something then, the character of Axel as we knew him in Chain of Memories did he make you think he was friend material for Roxas? He was pretty messed up too. The rest of what you said that mostly makes sense as laid out within unfolded canon. Although I don't buy into no-one other than Vexen being smart enough to figure the replica data out and consider it more of KH3's over abundant plot contrivance than anything else that only Vexen knew how to make them. And I'm actually waiting on KH to pull something just for plot's sake where another character randomly knows how to make replicas (likely even better than Vexen). At this point nothing will surprise me about this series.

Days definitely could've worked without Xion. Primarily because if what they wanted was to tell a story of another two boys and a girl trio they already had a female in the Organization to tell the story with in Larxene. Imagine how much depth the story could contain if they had to write Roxas coping with the death Larxene after the Castle Oblivion mission if she had been in Xion's place in the Seasalt trio instead of Xion. This would also have added more weight to Axel having to ensure the traitors to the organization didn't come back from the Castle Oblivion mission in that he'd be having to ensure that Larxene, now a friend wasn't coming back even if this would ultimately be helping another friend Saix/Isa out (as we now know from information revealed in KH3). On the front of keyblades after Vexen's death they would still have had Repliku's data available to mess with, essentially being able to make as many copies of him as they wanted. He could then wield a Kingdom Key for them en masse and even if he for some plot contriving reason couldn't wield that every time Soul Eater is used against a heartless it does the same thing a bonafide keyblade does releasing the captive heart so the organization could still have used him for collecting hearts for their artificial Kingdom Hearts.

I'm just gonna reiterate that feeling the need to make a separate thread drawing attention to a dark skinned/"colored" character is the exact opposite of taking pride and celebration in it. If it's really that great a thing you shouldn't feel the need to treat it like the elephant in the room otherwise full of cats. You should just be happy to let it exist and continue on with your life, not suddenly stop to acknowledge it like something revolutionary occurred. We are all human, all people. These are the kinds of life lessons your homeroom teachers are meant to have taught you in kindergarten or first grade for crying out loud. We all look different in some way or another, but we're all people in the end.

You mean aside from anyone having to point it out at all instead of just the character's existence being left to simply be a thing instead of him being treated like an elephant in the room. Because aside from it being pointed out here someone made an entire separate topic "The first African American KH Character" https://www.kh13.com/forums/topic/129544-1st-african-american-kh-character/?do=getNewComment or something to that effect. And all I could think is; Would you like fries with that virtue signal sandwich? I imagine that in times of segregation and more recently in the immediate aftermath of the events that led to the Black Lives Matter movement Blacks walking into establishments with mostly white people who just stared at them suspiciously must feel much like the fictional character in this game would feel if they were real and that topic was a literal sign not a forum topic on the internet (and vice versa for any whites who happened to be walking into establishments filled with mostly blacks it goes both ways). I hope you can see why I find this all just a little bit ridiculous of a talking point. The character's skin color is irrelevant. The fact that the character is a person is relevant. Representation for the sake of representation, or just to cover your bases (tick off all the boxes) is also just another form of the long time used in various ways thing known as tokenism, which is another thing to keep in mind. We don't know if this KH character is an example of this or not anymore than we know if the character is meant to actually be an African American, but considering what Disney's doing outside of KH right now it wouldn't surprise me. Truly people, do we want to go backwards instead of forwards. Do we want to keep putting emphasis on what makes us different instead of what makes us all the same human beings? I remember when zombies bled every color of the rainbow in video games instead of just red like real life humans. I remember when character skins in video games could be every color under the sun because your skin color was irrelevant. Now everything has to be hyper realistic and nothing can ever be fun for long because politics this, agendas that. Please no more.

I wasn't trying to make it out like African American representation would be something bad or something not to be celebrated, but I still don't know if the character is meant to be African American. Saying dark skin = African American would be like saying I should suddenly consider Mihoshi Kuramitsu from Tenchi Muyo an African American just because of her skin color. Since when in a Japanese IP does dark skin = African American representation is essentially the question I'm posing here. And while representation is important, making a big deal out of it only makes people come off as insecure. That doesn't even just apply to African American representation. Other cultures/minorities are the same way. It can get pretty cringey seeing people get ecstatic over devs addressing "diversity"

Wait, is that meant to be an African American character or is that just another deeply dark tanned character alla Ansem Seeker of Darkness who for all we knew back before he was revealed to be a heartless and not the real Ansem could've also been an African American due to his skin's shading/color selection? And why does it even matter at this point? Are people actually invested in something like racial diversity when it comes to KH that this is a talking point or is it just because it's 2021?

@JTD95 - Is it not Paul Saint Peter voicing Apprentice Xehanort here (KH2FM scene in Ansem the Wise's study) with a softer edged voice than the one he uses for Xemnas? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVZ4AWrxuE And I distinctly remember that in Birth By Sleep after everything goes down we get Richard Epcar and Terra's VA voicing the warring for control Terra and Ansem Seeker of Darkness that make up Terranort, then Paul Saint Peter voicing the "amnesiac" soon to become Apprentice Xehanort when he's found in Radiant Garden after Aqua opts to stay in the realm of darkness and send Terra back to the realm of light; these voice changes essentially marking the difference between Terranort and Apprentice Xehanort as more than just cosmetic.

If one connects all the dots available it is possible that Riku was being groomed by Ansem Seeker of Darkness for much longer than just the time he knew him in KH1. He knew that Riku was Terra's choice for a successor from having the memory of Terra bequeathing Riku. We learned from Coded/Re:Coded that while the Robed Figure Ansem was new to Sora in KH1 Riku was already long familiar with him due to the memory that showed up in the journal that originated from outside the journal according to Data Riku; a memory in which Riku smiles serenely while a dark portal opens up behind him to take him off Destiny Islands on the Night of Fate courtesy of Robed Figure Ansem, putting into question if Riku actually left the islands before or after Sora (and we can surmise that this is the incident being referred to when Robed Figure Ansem comments about Riku showing no fear when jumping right into the darkness, not the scene between him and Sora where Sora first gets the Keyblade, speaking of which, if Riku did leave before Sora was the Riku Sora saw during the Night of Fate in the scene he gets the Kingdom Key just an illusion?). If Riku was also using that stance as a kid while play fighting/sparring with Sora how long exactly had he been under Xehanort's thumb in some way or another before the events of KH1? It really is up in the clouds, but we can certainly surmise it had been going on for at least several years.

Ansem Seeker of Darkness - Richard Epcar, Billy Zane Terranort - Richard Epcar Xemnas and Apprentice Xehanort - Paul Saint Peter Young Xehanort - Benjamin Diskin Master Xehanort - Lenard Nemoy, Rutger Hauer, Christopher Lloyd It takes a little observation but they have the respective changes in voice to show you who is who. In essence the first body to give Ansem Seeker of Darkness form was Terra in the form of Terranort. Terra's heart ended up scattering into multiple vessels though. Into his armor turning into Lingering Will, merging with Xehanort's released heart into what became known as Terranort eventually being power struggled out into the Guardian or the Boy in the Back (Ushiro no Shounen) as it is known in Japan, as well as into Apprentice Xehanort aka Xemnas.

In the case of bloodybizkitz isn't their main criticism towards Birth By Sleep that it's super easy to cheese it even on critical mode due to just being able to put multiple of the same over powered ability into the command deck and spamming it? If that's solid evidence for BBS being bad I hate to be the one to break it to you @yamibakura but Chain of Memories can be cheesed just as easily. Easier even since you don't have to grind as much for the over powered commands. In Sora's case the moment you have the Sonic Blade sleight everything can be defeated easily by spamming it even if you're not playing on Beginner or Standard. In Riku's case just spam the sleights with Mickey where he and Riku dance around the battle field shooting balls of light and darkness at enemies against the mobs when you're grinding levels out in the worlds and switch over to not even bothering to think about what cards you'll use when you duel once you've managed to start one just spam cards till you've won the duel because the timer runs out way too quick if you take the time to think. If you think the dueling system is broken then fine ignore that, but there is no way around getting put into dark mode; even if you're not trying you'll take enough damage to end up that way at least once in every boss battle before you get killed, and then all you have to do is spam Dark Firaga, or use the bosses like they're the foundation for your keyblade that is suddenly a pogo stick (Dark Break). Boing Boing Boing Boing Boing. Pressing triangle sure is fun...and hard, yes; definitely hard.

Comments below were taken from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQi_dW0XP1A (Part 41 of YouTuber Relle's KH3 Abridged) "Fun Fact KH3 fixed Xemnas's character. KH2: I don't care that what I'm doing is wrong I just can't stand the pain of not having a heart. Dream Drop Distance: Lol I had a heart all along and I'm evil because I'm evil. KH3: A Heart is nothing but pain. Also you're right about Nomura." - Horrible Mistake [@Horrible Mistake - It's not really correct to say that KH3 fixed him. He was essentially going through an arc over those three games much like how Ansem Seeker of Darkness went through one with Riku. In Xemnas' case it was essentially an arc of discovering that just because he was Xehanort's Nobody it didn't mean he wasn't his own person. An exceedingly important and often forgotten piece of dialogue from Xemnas comes from KH2. When Mickey calls him Xehanort in Radiant Garden and he responds with "How long has it been since I abandoned that name?" that is the first hint that Xemnas wants to be acknowledged as his own person and it becomes apparent through subtle nuances in the writing for him in The World that Never Was in both KH2 and Dream Drop Distance that it isn't just in the eyes of others that he wants to be acknowledged as his own person, he himself wants to reach that point. Then KH3 he seems so solemn in his goodbye because he realizes his mistake was seeking that individuality in such a detached and cold manner. If he had been honest with the rest of the Organization members about the nature of the experiments that led to them being nobodies he would have probably found his answer to existence as his own person much sooner and easier. PS: It's misleading to say he had a heart all along. Like all the nobodies he needed to regrow a heart. In his case he was created when Old Man Xehanort as Apprentice Xehanort split himself into his Heartless and Nobody creating Xemnas and Ansem Seeker of Darkness so at the very least much like the rest of the organization Xemnas was lacking a heart until Dream Drop Distance. He even has a very good line to show it off in the game "The heart will try to reconstitute itself the first chance it gets." - Sylvia Delaney]

Is there really more detail to the worlds in Re:COM? Also to be honest BBS's gameplay is something you need to learn to understand. Yes you level up your abilities, but maxing them out is not enough. You also need to learn the attack patterns of the bosses you encounter and take advantage of their openings to fell them. BBS is one of the few games in the series where mash x to win just doesn't work out. Especially so if you don't just pick a lower difficulty. Beyond that the capabilities of the PSP were not exactly any lesser than the PS2's, in fact being somewhere above that of the PS2 and bellow that of the PS3. And lastly 99 is the max level in almost every RPG, but the maximum level you should need to be for most RPGs regardless in order to 100% them is Level 50. BBS falls well into that range.