Forever burning in Kingdom Hearts hell...

Master of deadpan and hopelessly obsessed with Manga and Anime. Kingdom Hearts addict. Currently spending her time playing video games when she should be studying.

[merilly-chan]

Death Stranding currently holds zero appeal to me, to be honest and I was actually fairly interested in it in the beginning. But wbat I’ve seen in the trailers so far was either disappointing, full of cryptic bullshit as usual or didn’t tell you anything important about the game.

By no means does it mean that it will be a bad game in the end. But I honestly don’t understand the hype just because Kojima made it because the trailers were exceptionally terrible for a game. (For a movie they would have been decent.)

I’m not the kind who wants to know everything about a game before it comes out but Death Stranding does the opposite and tells you close to nothing, which honestly gives me no incentive to buy the game. The trailers make you think that you may as well be looking at a movie instead, which is not meant positively because I seek to play a game, not watch it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore great cutscenes and amazing stories but it should still be a game in the end and not an interactive movie.

It doesn’t look bad, but apart from knowing virtually nothing about the plot, which could be forgiven, what is really off-putting is the fact that gameplay information has been scarce to the point where you basically only know that you can walk and have to avoid enemies. Which is… well, let’s put it kindly and say it’s not exactly innovative and rather dull.

It could still be a good game despite that but the marketing is so terrible that I don’t even want to buy it. What I saw in the trailers was grey, grey and even more grey with huge areas to traverse but nothing to see. It’s not really exciting. And enemies that you can’t even see don’t really frighten me either.

The whole atmosphere has nothing creepy about it but seems more along the lines of weird at best, but not good weirdness. The stuff with the babies is an attempt to make it strange and maybe even disgusting but I find it to be neither and it’s something created more of a fuss than it should at this point.

All in all, I currently feel like I’m not missing out on anything. Knowing Kojima’s penchant for convoluted plot elements, it might just be cryptic nonsense hardly anyone will understand in the end and it will be celebrated as profound horror when this sort of inaccessibility to the story is just an example of being unable to write a plot properly. It doesn’t make someone sound profound and intelligent when 99% of the audience doesn’t understand what’s going on anymore. Things which possess depth and are still mostly understandable by the average person actually determine a better author in my opinion.

But back to the topic at hand, I won’t be buying Death Stranding but will watch others play it first before deciding on it. My desire to play it borders on zero currently because other games are much more appealing because their trailers managed to create the necessary balance of showing what the game is about without revealing too much. As I said, I don’t need to know everything but when a game makes me think it’s more a movie than anything else because of neglecting to showcase one of the most important aspects of every game - the gameplay -, it doesn’t exactly make me want to buy it.

I think the sole reason I’m even giving this a chance is because I was interested in the beginning and it might be completely different from my expectations. God of War was one such case and in the end it became a title which positively surprised me and which I have played more than once already even after originally thinking it might be as simple as its predecessors.

[merilly-chan]

My friend and I are talking a lot about Kingdom Hearts and naturally mostly about KH3 these past months since she is one of the few people I feel actually comfortable discussing the game with currently. I think it's no secret that the fandom is pretty divided, although it has quieted down a bit these past weeks, but it made me remove myself from all kinds of forums because I don't want to be part of factions quarreling. Either way, we were talking about Luxu and I brought up the thought that he could have even had children over the years for the purpose of creating his own vessels. Because if you think about it, it's easier to know most about who you're possessing when you raised them. In a realistic world, which it's not of course, it would also lower the risk of heriditary diseases or those the one doing the possessing might not be aware of when choosing the vessel. I'm also considering that Luxu might not actually enjoy body surfing as much and would be more inclined to choose a young body with a higher chance of living a long life. Sharing a bit of the previous DNA is also a plus and another matter to take into account would be that he would not have to search for a suitable vessel and no one would question a change in behavior, omitting the necessity to act or move locations. My friend called the idea of "home-growing" vessels disturbing but ever since she said home-growing I can't stop imagining Luxu growing his vessels in a flower pot or greenhouse, watering them and everything...

[merilly-chan]

(Picture taken from @Spindash54 on Twitter.) KHUx is my favorite gacha game to complain about and I know a lot of people share that sentiment because it doesn't have to be that way. There was a time I actually enjoyed playing this game. However, I want to address an issue concerning the complaints I've seen and hopefully encourage people to set their priorities straight. What I see below the KHUx official tweets are mostly problems that have little to no relevance. People are upset about VIP buyers getting mediocre medals and avatar/pet parts. They are mad we are not getting everything JP did (the picture above being posted below every single tweet). They are complaining about being done with event boards. I'm not saying they are invalid or shouldn't be addressed but it seems those fans are sweating the small stuff while completely overlooking issues which have been around for ages. I know people get tired of SE not addressing them but I cannot help but wonder why people have the stamina to always mention the stuff above again and again but won't talk about real issues. Let's talk business here from the standpoint of someone who plays both versions daily since the release of the Japanese version and who has even put quite a bit of money into this game. (Not whale standards, but still more than 300$.) ● The balance of the game has completely gone nuts. Quests are either so easy that there's no challenge anymore or so hard that even those buying the WJE cannot finish them. There's often no in-between anymore, no way to turtle your way through. You need the strongest and newest medals with the best traits to clear all objectives. ● Regarding the above, nearly all core mechanics are based on RNG (i.e. luck). I have nothing against the gacha aspect for medal pulls, but traits have become the most important factor and they are RNG and 70% are useless, with the useful ones being the rarest. That might not be so bad if the powercreep wasn't so drastic. You basically amass medals and finally get some good traits and poof - the medals are useless again. I have over 1000 medals which are basically just subslot fodder or there for collection purposes. And that's not even the worst aspect. If you do finally get one of the good medals outside their respective banners, you can't even be happy about them because they are essentially worthless without traits, except for lower tier PvP perhaps. ● The sheer amount of useless medals you get showered with. I'm not talking about medal draws but about Cids, Brooms, Fantasia Mickey Bs, Magic Mirrors, Blue Fairies, Tier 7 Dual Meow Wows and useless skills. I know, I know. Two years ago we were whining about being granted Brooms but ever since 7* medals have become a standard while pulling, all of the above medals have ceased functionality. And if that wasn't the worst of it, we still get them shoved down our throat at every turn. I never thought there would come a day where I'd prefer HDLs and Chip and Dale over Brooms. It isn't even a problem between JP and global anymore but something which affects both versions equally. Why the heck doesn't it get adjusted? The PVE/Coliseum boards still provide us the same useless skills as 3 years ago, there's a DAILY Cid quest and we still get them as rewards for events and quests and we get showered with Magic Mirrors and Brooms when 7* medals are the norm for new medals and every 7* medal is fully guilted by default. Do you know how many stacks of Magic Mirrors I have? 23! Over 2000 Magic Mirrors I can't use. I am selling Blue Fairy Stacks for Tier 1-4 because I have nothing to evolve anymore and my subslots don't even need another Tier 4 medal. I have two stacks of M&Bs and 3 Broom stacks and I'm starting to use them on irrelevant HSC and event medals from 2 years ago. I recently sold the equivalent of 3000 Cids because I have nothing to use them on! ● Events and the daily aspects have become repetitive and boring because the rewards are the ones mentioned above. People do not need another Cid. We don't want another broom. We need gems, HDLs, Chip & Dales and jewels. ● They haven't caught us up to the story even though everything else is. Issues get burried by short-term solutions which temporarily raise the overall mood (like a speed-up option or draw tickets) but nothing ever gets fixed for good. Instead we get another RNG option added, because why the heck not? The unlucky people who can't spend thousands of Dollars on a game which does nothing to return the investments can stay behind. (That even includes the weekly WJE buyers because it hardly makes a difference.) I am not complaining about VIP getting more than the rest. VIP buyers should feel they are getting their share for the atrocious price of 15$. But even VIP buyers cannot finish every event anymore because it doesn't improve their luck with necessary traits. The game has nothing to do with skill or strategy anymore. I am not expecting strategy levels of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, but 2-3 years ago we could actually work our way around enemies with different medals and setups. Nowadays you can only win when you slap the newest medals onto your Keyblades with the best traits (i.e. all of them needing ADD, GDD and EA) which is impossible if you didn't draw trait medals galore with them or pulled a medal which currently provides no possibility to obtain trait medals. And better medals come nearly monthly with all the rest becoming useless. Why are people whining about cosmetic stuff first instead of addressing the real problems? I am not saying I wouldn't want this accessory or that, but I want improvements first! What worth has a Nick & Judy medal in the age of Supernova+ medals, except for collection puposes? It's the reason I stopped investing real money months ago. But since it's rude just to complain without offering any methods, here are some ideas which would be simple to implement. ● Offer a quest for farming HDLs effectively. With how many we need, it really doesn't help anyone if not even VIP members get EXP medals. ● Update PVE rewards and remove the skills from the objectives of early quests. We are at the point of having ATK IX Max, so giving out an ATK V or VI Max monthly really shouldn't be an issue or would diminish board sales while helping newcomers out as well. ● Instead of Brooms, Blue Fairies Magic Mirrors and Cids, start developing new helpful support medals. A very good example: the creation of universal trait medals with a specific trait (mostly ADD, GDD and EA) attached. They don't have to be handed out like candy but it would aid so many people if we could use trait medals which are not bound to a specific medal and are not providing a useless trait in 80% of the time because you simply don't have that luck. With how quickly the current meta is replaced, it shouldn't be too much to ask. ● Offer more diverse and actually useful event rewards. Back in the day event medals were useful. Maybe not top tier, but you could manage to get through some events. You have no idea how much I used the HPO medal to turtle my way through tough events. This isn't possible anymore. We have to defeat everything in three turns at most to get all objectives. And we get trait medals as rewards for medals we need to purchase with jewels (like the Organization events which became useless too after the implementation of SN medals). It's not a big deal to stop being lazy and recycle the same things over and over. At a point where Keyblades can reach level 50 in 0.1 steps from 35 onward, it shouldn't be hard to reward more gems. I didn't manage to get a Keyblade past 38 yet because I level them evenly. Perhaps give more avatar parts too which aren't meant to be bought. Some people want a goal to work toward. But they aren't given one because they can't use the rewards they are given. I was a very active player who finished all events back then but nowadays I find it hard to even bother with lots of events because I don't need another Cid or another Magic Mirror. The stuff I need can mainly be bought or is so RNG-based that it takes me forever to get good stuff or it involves a lot of saving. I'm a veteran player. I won't tell people what to demand and what to wish for, but recently I see so many complaints about stuff which is purely cosmetic or merely serves to quench the symptoms instead of treating the disease. KHUx has ceased to provide something new. Which isn't necessarily thst bad if we can still use the things we provide. But most of us don't need the basic rewards. We don't care about PvP because we mainly need the Tier 9 stuff at most at this point. This is exactly what I predicted with the implementation of 7* medals. The medals themselves weren't the issue, the problem is that they make 90% of the rewards we get utterly senseless. And what is even worse is that SE fails to adjust to that accordingly. Just now, we got another event rewarding Cids. Thank you very much KHUx. Whatever will I do without another to add to my ten existing stacks? There is so much more to improve but KHUx currently seems to run down a path of self-destruction. KH3's hype has called back some players but at this point you don't need to be active to finish the 5-15 story quests per month. The important story aspects can be cut down to about a page of dialogue at most. It doesn't invite players to play more because they can be dealt with without the newest medals, too. Not to mention that it shouldn't be an issue to catch us up there. Translations by fans are up within a day or two, fully embedded into the cutscene text bubbles. They caught us up with everything else, but information such as this which is actually important for the understanding of KH3 and beyond gets neglected without an understandable reason. I don't play many gacha games but after I started with FFBE (which isn't known as the most generous game to grace this planet either), the issues KHUx has become all the more prominent. And there doesn't seem to be a desire to fix them. They just throw out the same stuff as always without noticing the mood deteriorating toward rock bottom. And only then do they do some small patches which do nothing to improve the game in the long run. But the fans also need to realize that. There's no use in complaining about small issues which barely scratch the surface at this point. I admire that stamina but it can be put to better use than complaining about purely cosmetic avatar parts. An addition to the unbalanced quest system. The current Shiva event rewards an actually useful gem for the most difficult quest. But I just barely managed to do it because I was hit with a temporary stroke of luck yesterday night. This was my setup and it only shows how ridiculous it is. (The condition for the last quest is that medals need to have one gauge cost or more.) Keyblade: Fairy Stars (level 37, all sub slots filled with tier 4 and above, providing a bonus of roughly x2.7) Pet level: 13 (Max) 1st Slot: SN+ Axel (This one just copies SN Kairi and doesn't deal damage.) (EA, ADD) 2nd Slot: SN Kairi (Useless since she cannot be activated.) (Second Chance.) 3rd Slot: SN+ Monster Sora (EA, GDD, ADD) (ATK VIII Max + Gauge 0.) 4th Slot: SN Pete (EA, GDD, ADD) (ATK VIII Max + Gauge 2) 5th Slot: SN Ven, Terra and Aqua (GDD, ADD, 1000 STR) (ATK VII Max + Gauge 0) Pet: SN+ Key Art 20 (EA, GDD, ADD, 1000 STR) (ATK IX Max + Gauge 0) Friend: SN+ Key Art 19 (EA, GDD, ADD, 1000 STR) (ATK IX Max + Gauge 0) As I said, I had unusual amount of luck with those traits (some of which required over 20 trait medals though which I accumulated over time.) If you look at my other SN medals, you will find loads of terribly traited medals. But such a setup isn't the norm and even with Titan I had to use tons of tries to have Combo I trigger (another RNG factor). This game is purely luck at this point. At first you are happy to finally get KA19 for example only to realize you have no traits to give it, making its uses limited in the tougher events. (And for the rest you won't even need such a strong medal.) SE doesn't need to cater to every need. Certainly not. But you can see people are angry and bored with the game. I don't even need to do much anymore to rank in the top 500 in the weekly rankings when it was real work two years ago. And it doesn't help a game when everyone except newcomers who aren't aware of the problems are ready to get their pitchforks. But hey, at least I can drown my sorrow in my pile of useless support medals.

[merilly-chan]

About Ven wielding Missing Ache

I've seen many people analyze the newest KHUx update and it seems like more and more people are jumping on the "Ven is the evil traitor" train. While I cannot prove this theory wrong and won't attempt to do so either since such an endeavor would be futile with Nomura and how far the story currently is in JP, I want to present a few interpretations on why they chose Missing Ache for Ven. ●Ventus' name obviously means 'wind' and an attribute associated with it that he displays is speed. He's faster than Aqua and Terra and his attacks are also swift and agile. Since the new union leaders all seem to wield Keyblades which are available to the player so far, it is only natural that Ven should wield a Keyblade befitting his name and fighting style. Not to mention that the image for the gems needed for leveling up the Keyblade is a wing, which is often a sign for wind and speed. That leaves us with three Keyblades that are solely speed-based: Sleeping Lion, Lady Luck and Missing Ache. Sleeping Lion is a Keyblade mostly associated with Leon, Lady Luck is a Keyblade which has a tight connection to Wonderland and Missing Ache originates from 358/2 Days and can be wielded by Roxas and Xion. ●As you can see, Sleeping Lion and Lady Luck aren't the most optimal choices for a speed attribute Keyblade for Ven out of the three we have since his connection to either Wonderland as a Disney world or Leon is rather weak. On the other hand, his bond with Roxas is inevitably fairly strong due to Sora and he's even the reason Roxas looks the way he does. (Duh.) His heart may have even stayed with him for a while if the Ultimania is to be trusted. So Missing Ache is the best choice from a standpoint which simply associates his name/trait and his connection to the characters and the Keyblades. But does it mean he's necessarily the traitor? No. ●Missing Ache may be a mostly reverse medal Keyblade in KHUx but the reason for that could be fairly simple. It's a Days Keyblade. Roxas was part of Organization XIII during that time it could be acquired and regardless of his own tendency, it is connected to the villains of the series. So it is no surprise that they would choose Missing Ache as a Keyblade which focuses on reverse medals. (Of course KHUx plays before Days but it still has its debut in Days which was released before KHUx.) Wielding that Keyblade has nothing to do with the wielder's innate darkness as far as we know at this point, considering many other Keyblades also use reverse slots. We also can't forget that Roxas's base element is light and he is not exactly an antagonist either. Yet, he can still wield Missing Ache just the same without being a vicious villain. I also want to address another theory because I feel like some are 100% certain Ven is actually evil and a traitor. ●There is the distinct possibility that there is no traitor at all. The only evidence there is one is a missing page of the Book of Prophecies which was written by the Master of Masters. People are taking the contents of that book as face value as though there is no possibility at all that the MoM could have lied. The reason would be fairly simple here, too. It creates doubt. The first time the traitor was mentioned was already within the Foretellers-arc and it was one of the main reasons they started distrusting one another and fought against each other. It was one of the reasons the war even happened. But was there actually a traitor among them? We cannot know for sure because the only evidence is that book written by a single person who could have instigated the whole thing to cause a war and follow his own agenda by doing so. The same could be said about the new union leaders. How can we be sure that Strelitzia was murdered by one of them? It could have been a whole other person who murdered her for the sake of either obtaining the book from her and/or in order to plant someone else into their ranks. Possibly without them even being aware that they are being made a pawn. I won't dive further into this because it's pure speculation at this point and we know too little to think about motives or intentions. ●If there is a traitor, they may not be the villain. First of all, the word 'traitor' sounds negative at first but even Axel was also called a traitor for defecting from Organization XIII and then helped Sora in the end. The same could be assumed for KHUx. If we consider the MoM the villain who provided a rulebook to follow, anyone who would diverge from that path could be labeled as a traitor without them having bad intentions toward anyone in particular but rather trying to help 'the good side'. One such example would be Brain. He essentially said he will become the virus which will destroy the system. Virus also sounds relatively bad because we often automatically link it to diseases and computer viruses which steal information or otherwise damage the computer and in consequence us users. But it's a matter of perspective. Let's take an example of an older movie. In Independence Day, the aliens were the aggressors threatening Earth and its populace, and in order to bypass an inpenetrable barrier, they implanted a virus into their system and hence saved the Earth by destroying the attackers. In that case, a virus was used to achieve something good for the heroes, ensuring their survival. As you can see, what sounds negative at first can actually become positive depending on how you look at it. Who's to say the system that was created for them isn't evil and won't lead to disaster? What if the so-called traitor decides to betray the rulebook and the rest because it would have disastrous consequences to follow it? We can already see that this rulebook isn't all sunshine and rainbows and already lead to a conflict whether to follow it. I am personally not too inclined to trust the Master of Masters yet and anyone labeled a traitor in the book he wrote may actually fight for keeping everyone safe. (Without taking this "Darkness" fellow into account just yet.) I know some people are desperate for dark, gloomy tropes because they believe in the one-sided mindset that everything is always better and more profound when it's tragic, twisted and grim dark. But I personally don't see a viable reason to turn a ten year-old into an evil, psychotic kid just to have something become twisted and for the sole purpose of a short-lived shock value. Especially because many assume he would be acting of his own free will and with evil intent instead of being used. Character development only makes sense if there is a necessity and overthrowing a character we've known for 9 years into a complete opposite is, in my opinion, just a cheap method to create a pseudo-depth to a character who was fine to begin with. Of course there are a lot of blank spaces and we know too little about Ven before his memory loss to say he was the cinnamon roll he is in BBS and beyond. Naturally, there is a possibility that he could have a much more sinister nature. As I said, I'm not denying the possibility that those theories are true. But some of these speculations and interpretations are just as vague as mine are. Mainly because they focus a whole lot on Vanitas as well. Once again, I can't say he won't play a role. But it's also possible that fans are overanalyzing it. Vanitas was born out of the darkness of Ven's heart. So of course his nature will encompass what the series has established as emotions nurturing said darkness. But there is no precedence and therefore it's hard to clearly say that just because Vanitas exists the way he does that Ven has been less pure in the past. We have nothing to compare it to. Maybe the same would happen for most other characters as well if they would have their hearts divided. After all, the Heartless are also highly dangerous and are hearts consumed by darkness. We know that darkness exists in every heart except for those of the Princesses of Heart, so Ven is no exception. A person which only has access to the darkness of the heart would likely still only have that negativity to feed on, regardless of how big its part in the original heart was. I'm not trying to claim what is right and what is wrong. Nomura makes some unpredictable decisions at times so it's hard to say what will happen. I just wish that people will not cling to their theories too much or I fear the same will happen as with KH3. Theories are immensely interesting to me and I enjoy other fans' interpretations but depending on how much they work on it, the harder it becomes for some to let go of it and accept a different development due to headcanons and the subjective opinion that this development is for the better. (Which we won't know because we don't know Nomura's plans.) I'm not saying that people were only disappointed because their headcanons weren't fulfilled, but we can't deny that they tend to fuel our expectations for what we perceive to be the ideal development. KH3 does have major flaws, but I dare presume that some overly negative opinions are also caused by overblown expectations because we had plenty of time to come up with all manner of intricate plans. (Which are by no means worse, but sometimes not better either just because they're very detailed.) It's best to remain open for the idea that Ven may just be a cinnamon roll or that his role as a traitor isn't due to a vile motivation but simply to save his friends. I won't discourage anyone from preferring the other options, I'm just saying it might not be as shocking and character changing as some believe. Wanting friends doesn't mean he'll kill everyone just to get some, to put it drastically. I think it's great that people love Vanitas and want to include him more, but I also have to remind people that the backstory in the novel still isn't canon. Books cannot throw around canon and non-canon, sometimes even flat out contradicting, content and pick out whatever aids their case. Fans might not like to hear it, but even if Nomura should have mentioned certain aspects are canon, it doesn't mean everything else is. The moment a novel based on another source contradicts what is established in the source, it cannot be canon anymore. (And I'm not talking about content which fills holes and could have possibly happened/expands the story, but about serious contradictions.) Which doesn't mean that it doesn't contain things that actually happened but overall, it cannot be declared as canon as a whole. All in all, I'd like to present possibilities which provide harmless explanations why certain things are designed the way they are. There doesn't always have to be a dark secret and not every cheerful character needs to be corrupted for the angst-loving part of the fanbase. If people wish for that it is up to them. I won't deny them that pleasure. I just don't want to see anyone attacking Nomura if he doesn't cater to that headcanon. I know most of the people theorizing about this are perfectly harmless and aware of this and are just eager to explore all manner of interesting possibilities. Which is an admirable passion I am not against seeing. I actually think it's great that there are theories like these because they provide interesting material for discussions. I am just more careful about setting on one theory above any other, simply because KHUx has mostly given us questions instead of answers so far. Everything is possible at this point, which is why I want to remain open for as much as possible. The points above are not meant to disprove anything the other theories are suggesting. They are merely a showcase how certain terms can also be interpreted and that there are alternative explanations.

[merilly-chan]

I can't believe I missed this little ball of fluff. It's so adorable! (Probably based on one of Nomura's cats since he said in an interview that one would be part of KH3.)

[merilly-chan]

I am so done with a part of this fandom.

I’ve had it and I’m getting more frustrated by the second to the point where I simply stopped engaging in discussions.

First of all, before there are any misunderstandings, Kingdom Hearts 3 is far from perfect. I have quite a few gripes with it, especially with the pacing, and I am not denying anyone the right to voice their criticism in a civil manner.

But what is happening in a part of this fandom is not civil nor is it criticism, it is something I’d consider flaming. And worst of it all, it is so hypocritical that I want to smack my head repeatedly against a wall so I may forget I ever saw it.

Over the course of the last few days and weeks, I’ve continuously come across people saying that fans should not accept KH3’s faults and demand them to be addressed. Demand.

First of all, neither SE nor Disney owe us anything, no matter how much we wished for things to be different. We have no right to demand anything since they delivered a game that was not falsely advertising anything. Betrayed expectations are our problem alone and not theirs.

But what upsets me about all those entitled comments isn’t that they completely disregard the positive aspects of the game but that they completely neglect the circumstances of KH3’s development.

Some of the following is based on speculation but it’s a very good reason why some things are not satisfactory and why people are so hypocritical.

●To start it off, this game has been in development for a little more than 4 years after the engine was switched in 2014. Now some might argue that it’s a long time but it’s actually not. I’m not a game developer but some of this is just common sense.

The team working on KH3 had to deal with a completely new engine. They had to build everything from scratch when they’ve only worked with their in-house engines before. Previous KH games (except for KH1and perhaps the original CoM) had the luxury of being able to recycle a lot of assets and just polish it and change/add new components. With an engine they were familiar with. Now some might argue that other games also manage to be made in such a short amount of time but let’s face reality here: most of them are copy and pasting lots of their previous work and, once again, are already familiar with the engine they’re working with.

I think we all noticed how much they struggled with the new engine up to the final year where it finally started to stabilize a little. It’s impressive what they managed in that time where they had to focus on lots of different things. And it’s also the reason why some may think the combat isn’t as smooth as in KH2FM.

●Disney/Pixar were much more involved in KH3 than in any other title. This may just be an assumption but judging by the interviews regarding their work together, they weren’t easy to please and hung up on the details more than the overall integrity or the original plot. Disney seemed to care more about its own properties (although KH technically also is) than the original plot which was written by someone else. But since they own the franchise, they decide where the focus is and I dare assume the developers didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to add more original content and the stuff die-hard fans actually wanted.

It stands to reason that a certain song we’re all way too familiar with likely wouldn’t have made its way into the game in the quality that it had without Disney demanding it. (Because they actually have the right to demand stuff.) All that nit-picking and the focus on ridiculous details may be pleasing in the end but not anymore when something else has to suffer in return.

●There is only so much you can add if you take all these factors into account with the team they had at their disposal. KH3 doesn’t actually have that big of a development team compared to other game franchises. They can only do so much in 4 years while still adjusting to new technology and trying to keep gameplay, story and graphics somehow balanced.

Of course that doesn’t excuse every mistake or every decision they’ve made. (I certainly could have done without all those mini games for example.) But let’s be realistic here. If we take all “demands” from all the fans into account, add to that the demands of SE and Disney/Pixar, the game simply couldn’t become all that with the time/money/developers they had at their disposal.

Please get real, people. Not everything is SE’s/Nomura’s fault.

Which is where the hypocrisy comes in and I want to call some of the fanbase out on that.

People demanded this game the moment it was announced. Demanded a release date without them daring to delay the game, regardless of whether the game was even in a state to plan a set release date, and the prevalent emotion in a lot of comment sections beneath official statements/accounts was “finally release the damn game” and “what’s taking you so long?”.

Those very same people are now demanding that the game should have been everything they desired and much more than it actually could manage in 4 years. Some even claim now that they shouls have taken more time. A lot of them are in the faction that views that game extremely negatively due to exaggerated expectations. It doesn’t work that way. You cannot complain about a lack of content while demanding that they should hurry up before its release.

And this frustrates me. This utter sense of entitlement that SE should be thankful to them and their overblown demands. But sure, that is legitimate. Because they want the game, they want it perfect and within a year of its announcement. Who cares about how many people they would actually need for that and how much money that would consume? Because all companies who want to make money are evil!

I’ve got news for those folks: We can’t have everything. It’s impossible. If everything is so terrible, try creating your perfect KH3 in 4 years with limited resources and demands all over from those actually owning the franchise and the fans without wanting to lift a finger themselves. Kingdom Hearts may have become a fairly big franchise, but it can’t compare to extremely large franchises (yet) and the financial situation likely didn’t allow for more money to be spent.

Jeez, I’m so annoyed by a large faction of this fandom right now. It’s not even about legitimate criticism but rather that it’s the only thing you see from some without them even looking past the product. The gameplay should be perfect, the graphics better than ever, the story should be everything they ever desired and more (who cares what other people think as long as my own are fulfilled, right?), bigger worlds, more to do, livelier worlds, more endgame content, more riddles, more cutscenes (and less for others), more of this character, more playable characters in general, more worlds, etc. Do people even register the things they demand and whether that’s all possible in 4 years with a completely new engine and Disney meddling as well?

Seriously. So many fans only know how to demand things nowadays without actually sparing a thought on the people working on these games. But sure, let’s continue thinking all of them owe us for spending 70$ on their game and that we can demand them to cater to all our individual needs. That’s so much easier than actually show at least a little appreciation toward what the developers managed to achieve.

I’m not saying to glorify everything with a fanfare, chanting how perfect it is. It’s far from that actually. But you can critcize a game without coming across as an entitled fan who did nothing more than buy and play the game and suddenly thinks that their headcanons and their believes are all that matter. There’s more to see than the final product, even if it comes down to that in the end.

The game isn’t all negative. If someone really thinks that then there’s no helping them.

[true-intha-blu]

Thank you! I have been trying to explain this to everyone. I get the game has flaws but I was happy. It made me happy. I apparently have low standards according to every salty person.

[merilly-chan]

Everyone has different standards and that's fine as long as people are aware of them and don't react like a bunch of ignorant, spoiled children when something just can't be as good as their imagination (which is more or less limitless and doesn't have to watch out for all these factors I mentioned above.)

If you're happy with it, it doesn't necessarily mean you have low standards. It just means that the game managed to appeal to your values of what makes a good game and you shouldn't be rebuked for it.

It's not like I'm personally denying anyone the right to criticize the game either. I do too. If someone says it felt soulless to them but generally keeps it civil, with the awareness that it's an opinion and that other issues are playing into the final product as well and not a single person's perceived incompetence, I can't and won't tell them to think otherwise. It's a feeling after all. Nothing I could say would change that emotion since you sometimes don't even know why you have it in the first place.

But at the same time I expect people to respect if people were happy with this game and won't try to ruin it for others just because they failed to enjoy it.

We are entitled to our own opinions but some of the reviews I've seen are so narrow-minded and so quick to blame Nomura as the source for every single flaw that I'm just sick of it.

Game development isn't something that's done with a snap of their fingers, especially when you have an investor/owner of a franchise who's not taking part in the actual development but rather only tells you what to do. It's important to realize what's realistic to achieve and what's just wishful thinking because they can't focus on everything or ignore one thing over the other. Our imagination works a lot faster than any development could.

If they had unlimited resources, the game certainly wouldn't have felt lacking in certain aspects. But I still think they created an impressive game if all these limitations are considered, despite its shortcomings. And I wish others would at least look at those factors too before they are so quick to attack others. So many people only ever see the end product. Of course that does matter the most, but knowing the circumstances did help me to keep my expectations in check.

KH2 is a terrible comparison in particular. That game could recycle assets from an engine they're used to. There weren't as many possibilities as there today. Disney wasn't nearly as involved because it was a niche franchise back then. They could focus much more on the story than having to worry about the visuals as much or the gameplay because a lot of it was already there or at least easier to create with the knowledge they possessed.

I'd also like people to look at games like God of War (2018). That game was roughly 30-35 hours to complete at 100%. It had a fairly good, albeit simple, story, gorgeous visuals and nice, basic gameplay. It was in development for roughly the same amount of time I'd say. Now look at how long the credits are in comparison to KH.

How should KH3 achieve everything people wanted from it?

[merilly-chan]

I am so done with a part of this fandom.

I’ve had it and I’m getting more frustrated by the second to the point where I simply stopped engaging in discussions.

First of all, before there are any misunderstandings, Kingdom Hearts 3 is far from perfect. I have quite a few gripes with it, especially with the pacing, and I am not denying anyone the right to voice their criticism in a civil manner.

But what is happening in a part of this fandom is not civil nor is it criticism, it is something I’d consider flaming. And worst of it all, it is so hypocritical that I want to smack my head repeatedly against a wall so I may forget I ever saw it.

Over the course of the last few days and weeks, I’ve continuously come across people saying that fans should not accept KH3’s faults and demand them to be addressed. Demand.

First of all, neither SE nor Disney owe us anything, no matter how much we wished for things to be different. We have no right to demand anything since they delivered a game that was not falsely advertising anything. Betrayed expectations are our problem alone and not theirs.

But what upsets me about all those entitled comments isn’t that they completely disregard the positive aspects of the game but that they completely neglect the circumstances of KH3’s development.

Some of the following is based on speculation but it’s a very good reason why some things are not satisfactory and why people are so hypocritical.

●To start it off, this game has been in development for a little more than 4 years after the engine was switched in 2014. Now some might argue that it’s a long time but it’s actually not. I’m not a game developer but some of this is just common sense.

The team working on KH3 had to deal with a completely new engine. They had to build everything from scratch when they’ve only worked with their in-house engines before. Previous KH games (except for KH1and perhaps the original CoM) had the luxury of being able to recycle a lot of assets and just polish it and change/add new components. With an engine they were familiar with. Now some might say that other games also manage to be made in such a short amount of time but let’s face reality here: most of them are copy and pasting lots of their previous work and, once again, are already familiar with the engine they’re working with.

I think we all noticed how much they struggled with the new engine up to the final year where it finally started to stabilize a little. It’s impressive what they managed in that time where they had to focus on lots of different things. And it’s also the reason why some may think the combat isn’t as smooth as in KH2FM.

●Disney/Pixar were much more involved in KH3 than in any other title. This may just be an assumption but judging by the interviews regarding their work together, they weren’t easy to please and hung up on the details more than the overall integrity or the original plot. Disney seemed to care more about its own properties (although KH technically also is) than the original plot which was written by someone else. But since they own the franchise, they decide where the focus is and I dare assume the developers didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to add more original content and the stuff die-hard fans actually wanted.

It stands to reason that a certain song we’re all way too familiar with likely wouldn’t have made its way into the game in the quality that it had without Disney demanding it. (Because they actually have the right to demand stuff.) All that nit-picking and the focus on ridiculous details may be pleasing in the end but not anymore when something else has to suffer in return.

●There is only so much you can add if you take all these factors into account with the team they had at their disposal. KH3 doesn’t actually have that big of a development team compared to other game franchises. They can only do so much in 4 years while still adjusting to new technology and trying to keep gameplay, story and graphics somehow balanced.

Of course that doesn’t excuse every mistake or every decision they’ve made. (I certainly could have done without all those mini games for example.) But let’s be realistic here. If we take all “demands” from all the fans into account, add to that the demands of SE and Disney/Pixar, the game simply couldn’t become all that with the time/money/developers they had at their disposal.

Please get real, people. Not everything is SE’s/Nomura’s fault.

Which is where the hypocrisy comes in and I want to call some of the fanbase out on that.

People demanded this game the moment it was announced. Demanded a release date without them daring to delay the game, regardless of whether the game was even in a state to plan a set release date, and the prevalent emotion in a lot of comment sections beneath official statements/accounts was “finally release the damn game” and “what’s taking you so long?”.

Those very same people are now demanding that the game should have been everything they desired and much more than it actually could manage in 4 years. Some even claim now that they should have taken more time. A lot of them are in the faction that views that game extremely negatively due to exaggerated expectations. It doesn’t work that way. You cannot complain about a lack of content while demanding that they should hurry up before its release.

And this frustrates me. This utter sense of entitlement that SE should be thankful to them and their overblown demands. But sure, that is legitimate. Because they want the game, they want it perfect and within a year of its announcement. Who cares about how many people they would actually need for that and how much money that would consume? Because all companies who want to make money are evil!

I’ve got news for those folks: We can’t have everything. It’s impossible. If everything is so terrible, try creating your perfect KH3 in 4 years with limited resources and demands all over from those actually owning the franchise and the fans without wanting to lift a finger themselves. Kingdom Hearts may have become a fairly big franchise, but it can’t compare to extremely large franchises (yet) and the financial situation likely didn’t allow for more money to be spent.

Jeez, I’m so annoyed by a large faction of this fandom right now. It’s not even about legitimate criticism but rather that it’s the only thing you see from some without them even looking past the product. The gameplay should be perfect, the graphics better than ever, the story should be everything they ever desired and more (who cares what other people think as long as my own are fulfilled, right?), bigger worlds, more to do, livelier worlds, more endgame content, more riddles, more cutscenes (and less for others), more of this character, more playable characters in general, more worlds, etc. Do people even register the things they demand and whether that’s all possible in 4 years with a completely new engine and Disney meddling as well?

Seriously. So many fans only know how to demand things nowadays without actually sparing a thought on the people working on these games. But sure, let’s continue thinking all of them owe us for spending 70$ on their game and that we can demand them to cater to all our individual needs. That’s so much easier than actually showing at least a little appreciation toward what the developers managed to achieve.

I’m not saying to glorify everything with a fanfare, chanting how perfect it is. It’s far from that actually. But you can criticize a game without coming across as an entitled fan who did nothing more than buy and play the game and suddenly thinks that their headcanons and their believes are all that matter. There’s more to see than the final product, even if it comes down to that in the end.

The game isn’t all negative. If someone really thinks that then there’s no helping them.

[merilly-chan]

I know a lot of negative opinions and feelings regarding Kingdom Hearts 3 are floating around and I won't deny anyone the right to have those thoughts. We all like and dislike different things, a lot of the criticism is certainly legitimate beyond a subjective level toward a more objective view, but I also know that those opinions, without providing spoilers, scared a lot of those who have yet to play it. That's why I want to say some positive things KH3 has left me with so far without mentioning the gripes I have with it or indulging in any flaws yet. Just some raw, positive impressions without spoiling the game. -No other KH game has made me laugh nearly as much as this one did and I'm not exactly easy to get a laugh out of. The conversations are often silly, yes, but that's what makes it a true Kingdom Hearts game in the end and absolutely charming. -The visuals are stunning. While they aren't always consistent and you can critcize something here and there, I've loved the worlds so far, even those I wasn't really fond of in the beginning. -There is salt absolutely everywhere and it's hilarious. If I would put a bucket beneath my TV to collect all the salt, I'd be set for a lifetime. -It's wrought with so many emotions that you sometimes can't help but feel with them. Even small actions can be absolutely adorable and I'd also look at those small, overall insignificant for the greater plot, moments and cherish them. Watch Sora smile and interact with all kinds of characters, see him get frustrated and so much more and just take that in. Not only the main plot is important, even if this game is about resolutions. -You can jump from immensely high places at times and it's just fun. I don't care if I have to climb back up, I still jumped three times in a row because I love it. -Try things out. In some worlds you can get some additional scenes by straying from the path a little. They're not necessary, not even substantial, but I personally think they're worth every extra minute. Even if you often can't stray too far, it's still enjoyable to try tricking the game (which I recently did because I still haven't found the actual path to that chest), roam a little, try to find some ridiculously hidden Lucky Emblems with a guide, talk to characters again and revisit worlds, etc. -The lovely reactions to the environment and characters. They're small, sometimes not that noticeable, but the characters tend to interact with their surrounding. -The details are astounding. There can always be more and more, but it's sometimes a moderate amount which leaves a lasting impression. Have a look at the water, the flowers, the way grass gets whirled up as you slide across. Just observe at times. There are things which are missed by just rushing through. Maybe it's not on the level of big open world titles, but even the areas perceived as fairly empty have some charming aspects. -Take a moment to accomodate to the game. When I first started it didn't feel like Kingdom Hearts to me because the experience to actually play the full game somehow was so surreal that I felt strangely detached from it for a moment, like it didn't belong in the franchise I was used to. (Despite having done nothing to warrant such a reaction.) It took me a short while to get into a completely new game, with a new engine, that wasn't a demo or one of the games in the style we're used to. It felt foreign to me in the beginning, even if I can't tell why. If you feel the same, don't let this affect you negatively but give yourself some time without interpreting it as the game being bad. It got better relatively quickly and made me a lot less skeptic and nervous. -And so on and so forth. All I'm saying is to give the game a fair chance. We've all had expectations of some kind. Things we absolutely wanted to see and won't get. The game has been in development for a long while and even before, each game was leading more toward the conclusion. It's only natural that a lot of fans will be underwhelmed because we had so much time to think of all the things we want without actually having to move a muscle to make them a reality and consider all surrounding problems. I'm not saying to deem it perfect or ignore every flaw, but at least give it the opportunity to impress and defy your expectations. Even if there are also tons of things which could be disappointing and which may even annoy or enrage you, please also see the good in it because I can't really support the opinions stating this is the worst KH game to date and absolutely terrible. It isn't if you lower your expectations a little and realize not everything can be done in this game. Our own expectations would most likely amount to a 100, 200, 300+ hour game to include everything we ever wished for and it would only be perfect for us alone. The game has a lot of brilliance if you're willing to accept the fact that not everything will please you. Feel free to hate aspects of it, maybe even the entire game, but please don't omit the things which were fun because I doubt everything was utterly loathsome even to the harshest critics. And for those who have yet to play it I can only reccomend to catch up on KHUx JP (there are tons of translations out there) and try the game for yourselves with an open mind. It's hard to throw away every hope and expectation, but it's easier to find things you like if you don't think a game absolutely has to cater to your every need to be good. There are different ways to reach an ending and diverge from what was expected and still make it enjoyable. I can only implore you to realize that this game won't be 100% what you wanted. Maybe not even 60%. But that's impossible and the hype for this game will likely backlash due to the sheer amount of time this franchise has set up the story up to this point. It has given us time to speculate and form so many theories and headcanons that it's becoming hard to see the distinction between what could be done in terms of possibilities, what should be done, what's reality and what's wishful thinking. And if you have to compare it to KH1 or KH2, please don't forget that they also had issues. They are not perfect either. I've seen lots of people critcize things in KH3 while stating in the same sentence that it wasn't like this in its prequels even though it ovjectively was just typical for KH. Which doesn't make less of a flaw but a problem can't be called out in one game and ignored in the other. While I was also anxious, I also realize that we all like different things. I enjoyed movies a majority of those I know didn't and vice versa. You can only try it for yourself, so don't rely too much on what reviews say, be they good or bad. Create your own impression and don't feel obligated to agree or disagree with either faction. Every game has flaws, plot holes and other issues. Don't let nostalgia, years of hype, predictions and expectations blind you from also seeing the good in a new game. It's there for most of us fans if you give it a chance, I promise.

[merilly-chan]

It’s sooo beautiful but my crappy phone doesn’t do its beauty justice….

But that’s all you see or hear from me since I won’t ruin it for those who don’t have it yet.

I’m glad the regular case is included. The steelbook is okay but it’s plain in comparison to the magnificent cover artwork.

[merilly-chan]

I’m as annoyed about the KH3 leaks as everyone else is but I wish some people would tone down their anger a bit.

There’s nothing wrong in blocking the leakers and spreading the account names of those who do to warn others. That is actually helpful for those who do not wish to be spoiled while still being respectful. It’s also okay to voice that frustration to a certain degree.

However, it is not the least bit recommendable to post threats. No matter how jokingly it’s meant, and I can imagine 99% of those are actually harmless, it is still illegal to threaten and insult people. Just because this is the internet and someone else did something illegal does not justify stooping down to that level.

While most people do not take legal action against those insulting and threatening others online, they still could if they so desired. No threats, not even those meant as a joke, are supportable because it is hard to determine how much truth is in those words and pictures.

Please do not forget that legal action can be taken against you if you post something along the lines of “we will get those leakers” with a picture of Sora holding a gun attached. I’ve seen that more than once today and it is not funny. It is a threat to someone’s life, even if you do not actually mean it. Death threats are no joke.

I know people are angry and disappointed. I am too. But there are other ways to handle that than to resort to threats and insults. Just because those have become more or less common practice doesn’t make them legal. Many victims just don’t inform the police if they are harrassed by those comments. And please remember that once something is posted, you cannot take it back that easily. We’ve seen it with those leaks. Once deleted, other accounts surface because it’s hard to truly delete something.

Be angry, be frustrated, block whoever needs to be blocked, contact Disney/SE but stay civil, folks. There’s no need to get down on that level. I also love Kingdom Hearts but seeing people post threats does not help anyone and let’s not forget that this is ultimately still just a game, no matter how much it means to us. I cherish this franchise deeply but going as far as this is simply blowing this way out of proportion.

[merilly-chan]

Naturally, I’ve been thinking about the new trailer a lot and after a discussion with a friend of mine, I can’t hell but think that this battle against the thousands of different enemies is actually not close to the end at all but more settled at the 50-70% mark.

Now this is only a theory and it will probably be different in the end, but what if everyone but Sora is really removed from the battle? Not permanently of course but for a while.

I’ve been thinking about the absence of Aqua, Ventus and Terra as well as other characters such as Naminé, Roxas and so on and quite frankly, this could be the reason why. I recall Nomura mentioning in an interview that the members of the Seekers of Darkness and Guardians of Light may change during the game.

So, I’ve been imagining a scenario similar to the following. Everyone is separated from Sora in that huge battle and he is left alone. Maybe he even gets send to the Realm of Darkness due to that. With no choice but to somehow get them back (because we all know he will get back on his feet eventually), he tries to find the other Keyblade wielders and encounters Aqua.

I think that Riku and Mickey have failed for one reason or another and that fight of Sora vs Aqua takes place much later than their quest to find her. He is fighting her alone, so a reason for that could be the aftermath of the battle we’ve seen in the recent trailer.

From then on, he gathers other characters and with their help, he managed to get everyone else back.

The main reason I would like something similar to this would be that it’s immensely difficult to fit that many characters into one game and still give them the screentime they deserve. Having them all clash together one after another may end up in a huge mess where characters only get very short reunions with their friends because everything is hectic and there are just too many people all over the place with too many plot lines crashing into a convoluted ball of unsatisfactory resolutions.

Like this, there would be fewer characters for a while and they can balance it out a little and actually give them some time to resolve some of their issues.

It’s a bit similar to how Infinity War was for me. Having so many characters come together who all have been the main character of their own movies (or games in this matter) can be stifling and it’s hard to get past pointless interactions or too rushed meetings and farewells. It's just hard to focus on the individual in settings like these without neglecting everyone else in the process.

Like this, we can get some room to breathe and allow Sora to actually get to know the people he’s been linked with. I have a feeling that would be harder with all these other characters around.

I believe we all want the characters to get a fair share of screentime without feeling like they’ve been thrown in carelessly and have been degraded to side characters with a line or two here and there.

Of course that’s only my take on the matter and it will likely end up completely different to that but in this battle, we’ve only seen a great deal of the main characters of DDD (+Kairi) so far and for a game that’s said to be about resolutions, that’s really strange for them to be missing out on such a huge battle. And they can’t all be vessels… Unless they haven’t been saved at that point, so I doubt those scenes are close to the final battle.

It seems rather close to KH2’s 1000 Heartless battle, which took place around the middle of the game.

That’s basically the gist of my thoughts. They’re more detailed but I broke it down a lot and it still got so long…

[keybladewielder]

I can’t handle tihs

[merilly-chan]

I remember when those who complained about the models were often rebuked for it back in 2015, claiming the models were great and there's nothing to bitch about. But seeing the difference now, I still believe all that complaining did help, too. (Of course we never know with a work in development, but considering the developers acknowledged the issue it is pretty likely they put in even more effort.)

It's really come a long way and it's a lot prettier to look at now.

[merilly-chan]

With all the hype being thrown around in the light of most recent trailers and with criticism getting swallowed as though nothing is wrong, I kinda want to sit down and talk about my 4 biggest concerns for KH3. Those are subjective so not everyone may think like this and they are all based on the trailers we’ve seen, so I can be proven wrong once the game comes out.

-The glowing walls. One of my worst fears is that the glowing walls which indicate you can run up on a flat surface will stay and cannot be turned off in the settings.

Apart from the fact that this constant flashing aggravates my migraines, I find it utterly useless. This game is rated ESRB10+, meaning that it’s for people above 10 years of age.

I don’t need a game telling me I can run up at least 95% of the flat walls/buildings/etc. more than once. I’m not 5 anymore, I was capable of using Flow Motion perfectly fine without the game showing me everything I can use it on. This excessive hand-holding is not only unnecessary, it’s immensely disturbing for the beautiful aesthetic of the environments. It’s especially disruptive in places which have many flat surfaces, like Toy Story and BH6, possibly Monstropolis too. I played the demo and I was literally surrounded by 3 glowing walls in Andy’s Room to the point where more glowing filled the space of the screen than anything else.

It would have been fine if this was only for the tutorial and/or the demos and it will be okay if it can be turned off but I currently don’t see that happening and no one is talking about it anymore. I mainly think that since it’s still present in trailers of later worlds and if I wanted to show off a world, I would turn it off. Yeah, you won’t see it from miles away but it’s still unnecessary.

As I said, it feels like unnecessary hand-holding. Games nowadays apparently don’t like people racking their brains a little to figure out a problem but rather present the solution right off the bat. Just that in this case, I think people get that they can run up walls. Sora almost does it by himself. It has zero value for me to have a distracting and aesthetically disruptive feature. I’d rather run against walls a thousand time on my own to try if they work than have that abomination invading my screen.

I’m not stupid and I think neither are the people who play this. It might be a new mechanic but it will naturally come to people after a while.

-Sora’s expressionless face. Now, I want to believe that this is really just unfortunate editing of the trailers for the most part, but in a lot of shots, Sora has few expressions except neutral or slightly surprised in cutscenes even though the voice suggests something else.

Square has always done great work with facial expressions, despite some fish faces. They were alive because even the minuscule movements of eyes, eyelids, brows and mouth could be seen, even when their expressions did not change much during a scene. Many people don’t notice that consciously, some don’t at all, but it becomes noticeable when they’re missing and you somehow feel the face is static and moving between emotions too abruptly, the blinking being almost robotic, etc.. That’s currently the case for some of these shots. And no, it’s not because Sora is more mature. How should he be in a matter of months? They’re also not more subtle but simply not there at all which becomes all the more apparent when you look at the other characters who mostly look fine. (A few discrepancies can always be accepted, considering no one’s perfect and they’re working with a new engine on top.)

Now, I do want to believe it won’t be the same in the final product. To be fair, it was not as bad when I played the Toy Box demo, which is also why I’m not completely on the verge of despair there. And it’s not that bad for other characters either so there’s still the realistic possibility that it’s simply due to unfortunate cuts.

-I’m worried about Disney’s increased involvement with the franchise. Nomura already mentioned before that there are a lot more restrictions now than there were for all other games. Restrictions don’t always have to be bad but in this case, it might not be helpful. It’s great to have the help of the original creators for some of the worlds but it can be both a blessing and a curse. The thing is that they might not be as open to creative freedom in terms of story-telling and I’m afraid this will end up like in KH2 where the original cast was not really part of the stpey but felt added in as some outside extra. It doesn’t help that Nomura said the gameplay worlds are mainly for gameplay progression.

It’s hard to tell how far Disney’s influence reaches but the ones who read the rating description might think so too that the “off-screen” part might be due to them. Since Disney owns the franchise, they can do what they want with it and after they suddenly found out it’s popular and got invested in it, it might change a lot and not always in the positive sense. Of course Nomura has also evolved over the years, but KH3 in terms of Disney does feel like they pushed the polishing of content directly connected to them first before focusing on original characters.

That’s just my opinion though. The game looks better now than ever before despite a few issues here and there regarding the models. But if looks pleasing and my concerns in that regard were mostly put to rest over the years, despite hoping they will not overhaul the lighting last minute again like in 0.2 and end up making it worse in the process. Yes, lighting can also be overdone. Less is not always more but too much is just as bad as too little. (Tone down that orange skin a little for example.)

-The mini games. Up front: I absolutely loathe mini games with a passion. Nothing can be done about it. But when I see how many there are in KH3, I kinda wanna hide or burn them all.

I’m not saying they won’t be enjoyable. I just question if story content had to be cut to make space since it was mentioned in an interview that they were running out of space.

I guess I just would have liked more character bonding instead. I know we don’t know how much of that will be done but in terms of KH, it’s always possible to do more with so many characters being present now. For example the exchange two of the vessels had (won’t spoil who) in the most recent trailer. Loved it. Made me want to see more between different characters and not just between those who already know each other.

I also hoped for more of a quest/side story mission system to balance them out instead. Yeah, the game is much longer apparently, but it feels like 1/3 of the addition comes from mini games.

Just to name some of the known ones: There’s an entire world dedicated to them. So we can expect at least 5 there. There’s the Classic Kingdom ones with over 20. Then almost every world seems to have at least one from what we can tell. The extended Gumi Ship portion could also be considered one since it has little relevance to the plot. (Though admittedly, that one waa outsourced and could only be problematic in terms of space.)

I just wished for a more diverse offer of things to get side-tracked on which feel a bit more rewarding than cheap little mini games.

That was mostly it. The most pressing issues for me are the walls and Sora’s expressions though. Sora is so alive and expressive too in the other games.

Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely pleased with the development and how far it has come in these past few years. Those two would really dampen the experience for me though.

[kingdomsaurushearts]

Be reading anything and the word “Indeed” pops up. The tone shifts just for that word.

[merilly-chan]

First impression: the faces and character models of the original characters look really flat and expressionless.

Just to highlight what I mean, look at the pictures above. The first is from the 2015 trailer, the second from the most recent pre-TGS 2018 one. While it doesn’t look horrific, it showcases exactly what is bothering me about the character models.

First of all, before 2015, the character models looked a lot simpler. Not always better in-game, but due to the simple lighting, the big eyes, and the details being kept to a minimum in terms of shadows, skin and hair, you can see the faces much more clearly. The expressions also seem more organic and lively and you can see the eye movement, the miniscule changes of the face, especially around the eyes and lips and overall, the image is balanced and nice to look at. The skin has a soft texture, the eyes are not so full of different shades of color and are glossy, vibrant and subjectively more alive because they are unobstructed by unnecessary details.

Current trailers seem to focus too much on lighting, to the point where it is inconsistent and overdone, and half the time, the skin looks shiny and/or orange, bloated and not soft at all. We often see Sora as rather subdued and expressionless, the faces look flat and unmoving, as though they are painted on.

Needless to say, I would much prefer a simpler lighting if thsy focused mode on faces and expressions instead. Emotion in animation, be it in Western or Japanese styled format, works so well because of scarce lighting on the faces. You can see ths emotions better because they have to work with simple changes to showcase what a character is feeling. Wrinkles and other things are hard fo implement at times without looking weird. That’s why the overlighted characters bother me. Yes, they fit in with the abundance of details of their surroundings but it is exactly because of that that they have to make sure the expressions stick out in a game focusing on characters and story. If emotions cannot be delivered, the story fails to touch people.

Now, I heard a lot that it can still change and all and while that may be true, let’s please face reality here. The game is releasing in 4 months and it is the first time I have seen a game that has not finalized their character models this close to release to such a degree.

Another thing which is annoying me is that the Disney characters mostly look fine. And I cannot help but feel that Disney/Pixar working more closely together with SE has not been working out for the better but rather the former pushing their own interests in making their own characters look good first before the original ones. Otherwise I cannot explain the sometimes drastic differences in quality and consistency.

I don’t want to nag too much since there are a lot of things I like but at the same time, the thing I always loved about the games were how lively and visible the characters’ facial movements were. We don’t see that as much anymore.

In the end I wouldn’t have minded if they had kept the style a lot simpler in favor of reaching a good balance between good environmental graphics and character models. Right now, the lighting just sticks out too much and sometimes overshadows what is important to see. The eyes are often too small and the irises too detailed to see the minor movements of eyebrows, eyes and eyelids. Eyelashes are also not as prominent as before. Of course that is not always the case but the fact that it is inconsistent doesn’t make it better but worse. Sometimes it’s just better to go for simplicity and not try too hard, especially with mangasque styles. In animated movies, you often don’t see too many details in terms of lighting on characters, unless for dramatic effect, because it shows feelings in a straight and open manner without distracting the viewer with too many layers of different colors and shades.

Eraqus looked much better with softer, not so glossy skin and more volume to his hair which doesn’t reflect the light too excessively. The lighter colors were also better because it feels like almost every world is tinted in a deep orange. Yes, I know the sunset does make skin appear a little differently but it doesn’t make skin glow like plastic.

I’m worried of losing what made KH so special to me. All these emotions which were achieved by minor movements of muscles, sometimes unnoticeable at first glance but all the more realistic, and hair made it seem much more alive and that is often missing in these trailers. Even the blinking seems overly static. It reminds me of some of the static scenes in the other games, but happening much more frequently, which it obviously shouldn’t in a newer game with more technical opportunities.

That was one of the issues that subdued my hype for the trailer. It isn’t always terrible and not to be compared with early 0.2 scenes, but it’s still far from what I would like to see and it just feels like they are focusing on the less important aspects more than necessary. An easy solution would be to make shadows softer and use lighting sparingly for characters, at least in cutscenes. Just as they can add too little lighting, it can also become too much. (Like in Destiny Islanss where it looks like a super nova is shining down on them and in the chess scene, where everything is suddenly evening with dark orange colors instead of a light afternoon sun or what it was before. The evning sun does not necessarily have to tint everything red/orange.)

[merilly-chan]

The finished version of Destiny’s Embrace. The spray paint didn’t want to stick at all and was really blotchy so I had to use acrylic paint. I suck at this type so I will likely redo it some time in the future, perhaps with foam or PVC this time instead of wood. (Although I like wood better.)

I don’t know why wood is often regarded as so much worse than PVC. Both hurt and my scythe splintered despite being made of PVC.

Well, it turned out alright for my first ever prop. It's roughly 90cm tall.

Materials: Wood, Plastiform (A type of air-drying modeling paste), Fimo, Artifical flowers and leaves, Cord, Acrylic Paint, Spray Paint, Primer, Finisher (matte), Hot glue

Overall cost: 80$

[merilly-chan]

The rough form is done! (IOnlyHaveFourMoreDaysPleaseBuryMeNow) I'm currently building Destiny's Embrace and the paintjob will kill me. I hate liquid colors. Usually my friend does all the weapon building for me but he's in Scotland for a year and I suck badly. I applied the primer already and a layer of gold spray paint. The shade is not 100% to my liking but they only had this really bright trophy one and the bronze-gold (or antique-gold as they call it) I am using. As per usual, nothing has been working out the way I have envisioned it. Neither the cosplay nor the weapon. xD