So, for the second part of my previous post, I'll be tackling the second aforementioned game or technically game series. Kingdom Hearts.
Now, if you just want to know which characters from Kingdom Hearts or Disney I'm specifically hoping for asks for, I'll put it here as I did in my last post. This way, you don't need to read through my entire post if you don't wish to.
So I'm truly hoping for asks involving Sora and Aqua, first and foremost. The other women from the KH series I would really like to see are Larxene, Olette, Xion, Namine, Yuffie, Tifa, Mulan, Elsa, Alice, Megara, and I know she isn't in the games but Violet Parr.
Other Disney women wouldn't be ones I'm opposed to, but those are my biggest wants. Especially Aqua and Sora, because I love the idea of them as a couple.
Finally, onto gushing about the game series. So is the overall plot convulted? Fuck yeah it is, and honestly it has it's lows. The gameplay of Re:Chain of Memories, or literally everything but world design (except Frozen, fuck the Frozen world) in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Birth by Sleep is my personal favourite, a solid number 5 in my favourite games ever behind FFX at 4, Shadow of War at number 3, Monster Hunter World at number 2 and Danganrona Trigger Happy Havoc at number 1. This isn't about those other games though.
We'll start with KH1, a fun game that has its jankiness from being an older game, but it also carries all of the charm. Despite the lingering jankiness it carries, the gameplay is addicting, the story isn't that hard to follow, and exploring and interacting with Disney and Final Fantasy characters is amazing. It's an iconic experience that's hard to talk negatively about. Sora is a compelling protagonist you want to root for, who can be childish (because he is so young) but also manages to be wise and responsible beyond his age.
His dedication to saving Kairi, stopping Ansem, and redeeming/saving/stopping Riku is also comendable. Kairi is a non character for a good portion of the game, more so a goal than a character, and Riku is a compelling rival and antagonist for the game. Donald and Goofy have great chemistry with Sora and were a perfect pick to be the other two main team members for Sora. Though I sometimes wish we had an original character, a disney mainstay, and a final fantasy character as the trio.
Then you move on, and have Chain of Memories, it's story is important and it isn't bad, without it we wouldn't have an explanation for the organization, some of the best original characters like Larxene and Namine, but god fuck the gameplay. Yes it's a side game, and an attempt at a new style but it fucking sucked. I always forgive it because I adore the story and characters of the game, but truthfully, it is exceedingly bad and the story carries that game on it's back.
KH2 is next, the best the game ever was, regardless if it wasn't my personal favourite from the series. The worlds are excellent, the soundtrack is amazing, the characters are all so well done, the boss fights, and secret boss fights are phenomenal, and the story is so so damn good. The new magic is a welcome addition, the forms are such a nice change and god-damn the enemy selection and reaction commands are so perfectly designed.
Opening with Roxas was a great move for both a tutorial and for the story, Hayner, Pence and Olette truly make you love their presence despite such a short opening stay, and when you switch back to Sora you're ready for the experience. To make it even better, Mulan is in the game, the best disney movie, and I will die on that hill. There is a good amount of side content. Difficulty in critical mode can feel overwhelming, but the moment it clicks, you feel so damn good.
The disney characters get their proper love, and the final fantasy characters get to shine like the should. Though I'll be damned if Radiant Garden didn't make me wish Yuffie or Tifa were permanent party members. So many disney ips get love, and it feels like the perfect blend of Disney and Final Fantasy.
Then you have 365/2 Days, a game I care very little about other than the fact Axel and Xion are amazing, and their friendship with Roxas is great. The story it has isn't the greatest, but it's not going to ever be the weakest in the series because two other games are literally sitting their fighting over that.
Moving on because 365/2 Days is so middle of the pack, we have Birth By Sleep. God damn, my favourite in the series. I love the command melding system, for a spin-off its so damn good, I love Aqua so fucking much, Shot-locks feel great, the worlds are unique for each character and the bosses still hold up as amazing. Terra and Ventus are definitely weaker than Aqua, but they are both good in their own right, and it's story is actually really compelling even if I don't particularly like the ending with Terranort. The reason that Roxas appears as he does is great, being that he isn't Sora's nobody but instead Ventus'. If I would have one complaint other than Terranort, its that fighting Vanitas as often as you do really makes him feel like a pushover, until you get to his final fight in crit and he kicks your teeth in.
Then you have Dream Drop Distance, and it adds in a new batch of crossover characters, but gods above that game is still trash to me. I don't care enough about the new people, nor does the gameplay hold my attention at all. Then you get to the story, gods, the story hurts my soul. Riku being worthy of being a keyblade master despite the fact he damn near destroyed every possible world is ridiculous, and the idea that Sora starts to fall to darkness and therefore fails is absurd. It then introduces a deus ex machina for Kindom Hearts 3, and all of it feels like a slap in the face of Sora and his progression. He's been growing game after game, as not only a keyblade wielder but as a person growing out of his childhood and into a young man with just a hint of childishness, a more mature and wise mindset, yet a playfulness and optimistism unrivaled by anyone around him. This game throws most of if it away and I loathe it for that.
It's only topped by fucking Kingdom Hearts 3, what a god damn travesty and disappointment. This game backwalks all of Sora's growth and makes him a naive idiot, who acts like an idiotic child. It relies on a deus ex machina, illogical revival of the organization members, including multiple versions of Xehanort and multiple people who already betrayed him. Riku, the one 'worthy' of being a Keyblade master fails at his only goal until Sora steps in an does it instead, and Sora is still mocked and treated like he's weaker or a failure.
Did you like having Final Fantasy characters in this Disney x Final Fantasy crossover game? Well, they're gone now, so sucks to be you if you did. Did you like the fluid and fun gameplay of KH2? Well, it's gone now and replaced by mind-numbingly simple combat with disgustingly overpowered magic that trivializes every fight. Did you like the way Sora, Donald, and Goofy (exclusively in that order) interacted with disney world and characters and had an impact on their stories? Too bad, now you can sit here and watch the exact plot of Frozen play out without Sora doing shit, including Let it Go in all of its trashy glory.
It's such a downgrade from the previous games and an incredible disappointment for the series. It's meant to be the great end to the saga, but instead, it just set up the next storyline instead, while trashing its characters in the process and expecting you to applaud it for finally existing.
Despite the flaws at the end of the current games (I will not bring up Melody of Memory, I haven't played and will not play it) I still love the vast Majority of the series and that's because of the characters for the most part.
Donald and Goofy are, as you'd expect, funny, and the way the pair play off of Sora is welcome and a great way to add levity and somehow, sincerity to the games. They feel like they were never meant for anything else, and that's amazing.
Riku sometimes sucks and sometimes is great. He's hit or miss depending on the game, and honestly, he makes such an interesting case of a character that could be loved or despised, and I would perfectly understand either side. He clearly cares about his friends, but you know, he did also nearly destroy them all. He does make very good transformation bait, wink wink.
Kairi is a nothing character which is wild because her NOBODY is a far better character than her in every conceivable way. She's a plot device in the first game, but they never really gave her much depth, she's just bland in every game and they always seem to forget about her but people still kept rooting for her to end up with Sora. Not me, I know Sora deserves better, and has more chemistry with so many other characters.
Xion is awesome and adorable in equal measure, but unfortunately, she really doesn't get much to show for her great personality because the games liked to forget about her or leave her in the background outside of 365/2 Days. However, she is cute, kind, and eager to learn about and explore the world.
Roxas is probably my least favourite of the protagonists, solely because I find him ungodly bland. He's not awful as a character, just never appealed to me. I always found his supporting casts outshining him in all of his appearances, so he just never felt like a character I could care about.
Axel is fucking hilarious, and that's a point in his favour. Plus, his fight is dope as hell, his design is neat, and his voice is great. His desire to save Roxas and Xion is so pure, and he genuinely is a character that is so easy to empathize with. You get why he's fighting so hard, and you want to help him get them back.
Ventus is kind of the same, but I adore his relationship with Terra and Aqua, and he is more like Sora than Roxas was. He's just an outgoing teen ready to explore and desperately trying to keep his friend from abandoning him or giving up on himself. That's enough for him to work, but he's just not on the level of others.
Terra is bleh, I like him less than Aqua or Ventus, but more than Roxas or Kairi. He's just so middle of the road I couldn't care too much about him, so I'll just leave it as he's fine as he is.
Aqua is fucking amazing. She's a motherly or sisterly figure to Terra and Ventus, a completely kind-hearted soul, who is also completely prepared to throw the fuck down with anyone to defend the innocent. She's also hot, and honestly, I will never lose my love for the concept of her and Sora as a pair. Their personalities perfectly fit together and the fact he is the one to save not only her, but help her save Terra, and to save Ventus is such a thing that would make her fall for him.
Fuck Mickey. Fuck the mascot of Disney, Oswald was better, and Mickey sucks both in and out of Kingdom Hearts. That is all that the mouse deserves from me.
Namine, the nobody of Kairi. Another great character, one who somehow manages to be the better character than the one she was derived from. She cares so much for others and their plights and desperately wants to help despite what and where she is. A guiding figure and yet another character I could see being in love with Sora. She deserves so much more screen time.
Finally, for the heroes, we have Sora. What a great fucking protagonist (except in KH3, I can't emphasize enough, fuck KH3). Extreme depth, childishness he begins to outgrow. His failures weigh on him, but he doesn't give up. He's willing to do anything for his friends, sacrificing himself in a heartbeat (heh) for Kairi, for Riku, and for everyone else. He's a genuinely nice person who wants the best for everyone and hopes to do the best for them. He deserves all the love because of what he does, who he is, and how much he grows. He saved the worlds multiple times, and he earned all of his achievements.
I would go into the villains, but that's a long long list of characters and truthfully, most of them are very one not. Marluxia, Xigbar, Luxord, and Larxene are stand outs in that department, and Xehanort overstays his welcome when he has 1000 different forms. He's not an awful villain (when he's not in Dream Drop Distance or Kingdom Hearts 3), but he's also not that amazing either.
