Storywise, I think what I dislike about KH3 is that it removes all consequence. Everything that carried weight through the series, all the tragedies characters went through, it was all for naught because now "hey, person is dead" "okay, guess we gotta run the extra life machine to 3D print them a new body to possess". By the end of KH3, all mystique the series had was gone, all the potential horror and trauma is meaningless. Sora disappears? Whoop dee doo, we already know he's in KH4 and alive, it's just set up for the next wAcKy adventure. Already pre-loading the next game's reason for why you're level 1 yet again. It feels like whatever idea they started the series with is just long gone. They made KH3 to stop everyone's whining to get a conclusion already, and Nomura just doesn't know how to conclude anything.
@ragnaricstudios58889 күн бұрын
I’m playing the series on steam now, the ending to KH2 makes the entirety of 3 feel like a slap in the face, cause Sora basically lost all that he was fighting for throughout 15 years, I would have rather have a shorter game that ties up the rest of the loose ends, I’m skipping 3 and just watching the cutscenes
@Just_A_Nobody0612 күн бұрын
37:35 On the topic of flowmotion, DDD made it far to overpowered and KH3 made it underpowered and they both are bad in their own way. However, there is one easy fix, tie it to a gauge. That way it punishes spamming it by not letting you skip harder sections and rewards you for managing it by letting you skip a segment you're having trouble with, or use it to deal with enemies better.
@3xCharm14 күн бұрын
YOU NAILED IT. HOLY FUCK. The design, the story telling elements, the function, the strategy, and, screw it, the rule of COOL. All these things make up why reaction commands are a genius gameplay mechanic. Dare I say, it may be one the most well implemented gameplay mechanics ever created for an action RPG. The removal of them left a hole in KH that attractions, and team links just can't fill. The question is, can the team recapture their beauty in the upcoming title? I can't wait to find out, and this video only made me more excited to see it through. Amazing edits, awesome structure for breaking this down, and just the right amount of cheeky humor. Instant subscribe.
@Duncadinca14 күн бұрын
Thanks, hun
@OnionSoldier15 күн бұрын
The beginning looks like a teaser from a new game, brilliant, perfect, superb.
@Duncadinca15 күн бұрын
Thank ya
@MalakiaLaGattaNera15 күн бұрын
I know that this video is almost one month old, but I'd like to add my two cents as someone who had a tumultuous love-hate relationship with this series. I loved KH1-CoM-KH2 as much as everyone else, but was IMMEDIATELY turned off by Birth By Sleep. My reaction to the Wayfinder trio protagonists, the plot of that game and the way the story was delivered was equally as visceral and negative as the one a lot of people, Duncadinca included, have to the X/Union Cross stuff. I was one of those kids that watched the epic secret ending of KH2 featuring the 'keyblade knights' and not only assumed it to be a teaser for KH3 (as we all did at the time) but imagined this epic tale that would take us back to a remote time in which there was an order of keyblade knights, an entire keyblade wielding society even, with its mysteries and machinations, all leading to an unavoidable tragic battle that put an end to a golden age. Child me wanted the plot of X and Union Cross starring a brand new cast of characters, not a billion boring Xehanort clones upstaging charismatic villains like Ansem and the Organization that I loved so so dearly. What I am trying to say is that I don't think that 'the mobile stuff' is the problem. The problem is that, as Dunca aptly detailed in this video, what had been established and wrapped up with a nice bow at the end of KH2 has been slowly but inexorably watered down, undone and at worst made completely pointless. Am I a stupid gacha phone game apologist? Yes, I am :P. UX, and Back Cover in particular, is what got me back into the series after so many years spent looking at it from a safe distance while shaking my head at how they massacred my boy(s). I guess there's still time for the final character assassination of Demyx.. but once he's accounted for, we're FREE! And by free, I mean that they'll have to bring in new characters instead of redeeming and resurrecting old ones. (PS: I think the 'Luxu thing' worked well for Xigbar because of how different he is from his original younger self. Not everyone liked the reveal but I personally really enjoyed it. I guess I am a sucker for the extremely specific trope of the death-cheating body snatcher asshole who used to be a cinnamon roll but that's a trick you can't pull more than once. And I highly doubt it will have the same effect if they try to do it with Demyx.) Maybe the moral of the story is that when you're not enjoying how a franchise is being handled, taking a break from it and a step back like I did oh so many years ago when I first laid eyes on Birth by Sleep is the best thing to do. For a long time, the ending of KH2 was the REAL ending of KH for me. And it still was when I replayed all the games, including the dreaded BBS and the other titles I missed before the release of KH3 (DDD wasn't nearly as bad as people said it was, that was a relief). Going into KH3, I didn't care to see any of the previous games stories being 'resolved' because the KH2 ending already took care of all the characters I cared about. I was there for the same reason Nomura was there: getting it done once and for all, giving the fans all the sappy reunions they wanted so he could finally move onto the story he has been dying to tell us for decades which ironically requires one final, unexplained and probably unnecessary resurrection... that of Versus XIII. LET'S GO BABY!
@deathseekergibbsy22 күн бұрын
I will say and have happily said for the last 5 years that Kingdom Hearts should have ended at 2. 3's ending did not satisfyingly conclude and felt like a kick to the guts for fans that had been following since the beginning. I can't say I got too into the hype, because although I watched every trailer, having major story moments spoiled in each one of them kind of dulled the enjoyment.
@deathseekergibbsy22 күн бұрын
The Sora Kairi moment did not hit at all. Like you say, it was about sharing 1 paupu fruit. Don't know why they had two other than to tie it into picture in the Secret Place
@aerrae560822 күн бұрын
We waited more than a decade for our conclusion but Nomura was worried we'd lose heart if we had to watch all our beloved characters maximize their screen time? JFC even Naruto Shippuden got this right with the war arc. It was cheesy. It was fan servicey, but it was satisfying! Nomura should play the Legend of Heroes Sky trilogy all the way to the Steel series... all of those feel AMAZING.
@7milesdavis24 күн бұрын
J.K. Rowling was way out of line. I would say rather than dementors, trans activists remind me of mandrakes.
@7milesdavis25 күн бұрын
I’ve only recently started the first game, as much as I’m enjoying it I have zero interest in any of the spinoff games or gatcha mobile games. It’s a really stupid move to make the series as convoluted as they have. It feels like “oh did you want to get into our series? Well you’re going to have to play fifteen more games with confusing titles and some terrible mobile games too.” Also I don’t understand why the Final Fantasy characters aren’t in KH3? As a huge FF fan they were the reason I finally gave KH a chance. I’m going to play the first and second games and call it quits after that I think. It’s pretty clear to me that Disney saw the game as an advertisement and Nomura just wants to do something else. I admire some of Nomura’s work as a character designer, as a writer though…not so much. Nomura took JJ Abraham’s mystery box theory and…made a literal mystery box. (Slow clap)
@billygabrielz25 күн бұрын
The part that hurt me the most is that the disney worlds all had stories that Sora was a big part of. And the themes of the story always linked back to Sora's own internal struggles or the adventure they had outaide the world. But in this game the worlds are just THERE and although Sora does have SOMETHING develop in there, it's usually just talking to the organizarion members and not fighting. I also hate that in the Frozen and Tangled world, Sora mostly WATCHES the story unfold, rather than take plare in it. If you were ti take Sora and an irganization member from bith those worlds, it would mostly stay unchanged. This game felt more like a playable Disney+ subscription than the finale if Kingdom Hearts
@JL0ndon28 күн бұрын
I feel like the end of the game should have just been that scene from se7en where brad pitt is screaming "whats in the box?!"
@mrthereddragon762229 күн бұрын
Amazing video again, sorry it took me so long for KZread to alert me to its existence. You're so spot on about Diz/Ansem the Wise, most slept on character in the series, top-tier writing of a calibre I fear this series will never see again. I felt him returning in DDD was almost too much, as KH2s send off for him was just already so perfectly wrapped up (his apology to Roxas inside Sora, which he knows is too little too late, is just icing on the tragedy cake), but his conversation with Aqua in Blank Points was wonderful, and he played a big part in completing Riku's arc, paving the way for big things to come in KH3, so it was totally fine ... then KH3 happened, and why the frig is he back again!? Also, he was originally voiced by Sir Christopher motherflippin' Lee, by jove we really were spoilt with KH2, as much as we adored it we still didn't know how just how great we had it. I'm gonna ride on that 2005 high and never come down!
@Duncadinca29 күн бұрын
Consider yourself forgiven
@MaxJansen-kw6qsАй бұрын
Well done. U crack me up
@DuncadincaАй бұрын
thx
@keybladewar22Ай бұрын
When I play KH2 with the RCs, I get so hyped just because seeing Sora use the enemies weapon against them is so badass. When KH3 removed the RCs, it was just boring. The fights felt less engaging. Mob fights would slap me around even with the use of magic for crowd-control because Sora can only get out at least 4 or five cast before the cool down on critical mode while in KH2 critical mode you can get 7 or more cast of magic before the cool down which didn't feel nerved. People who say the RCs made the game to easy probably were only focusing on the triangle button itself instead of looking at the cool animation that took place after pressing triangle. Something about KH2 Sora's animations during those RC felt so smooth. Not only that but the detail that goes into the RC was also impressive. Here are some I will list out here. Larxene Join RC has Sora jump towards the screen but what I like is Sora facial expression while rushing towards the screen. He is extremely pisses & he is like this with Marluxia's Aerial Strike RC as well. The cannon RC during the pirate medallion fight is an adorable one where Sora activates the cannon with his foot while holding the keyblade diaganially in the air. But what makes it adorable is the happy look on his face. Just like what you said about the story fitting with the Organization XIII RC, it also fit for Sora because he mention in one of the cut scenes in that world that he always wanted to be a pirate & he was living that moment during a threating fight which I thought was so cool to see. If you think reaction are to easy then try looking at the cool animation instead & you will see why KH2 RCs get soo much praise. It was never about them being to easy but was about what Sora was capable of doing to his enemy while also making it look as badass as possible. I really hope to see some major improvements with the RCs in KH4 & not make them only available for the boss fights scenario.
@michaelcrawford3663Ай бұрын
The like .2 second cuts to ah questionable material is like a mental flash bang to jolt you back awake and make sure you keep watching instead of just listening lol. Never change
@sonnychan5526Ай бұрын
The edits and the jokes are all made real smooth. Watching this video is just full of pleasant surprises tickling me. Command Deck, Attraction Flow offers so much benefits with its damage but you can spam it on everything Reaction command is mostly unique to each enemy / teammate / specific story progression, which makes each moment more impressive. But when it is shared, holy crap you blew my mind by 28:24 I overlooked it. It has way more depth than I first thought. Thankfully specific reaction command was not repeated (or a whole lot) because it would make subsequent reoccurrences less impactful.
@DuncadincaАй бұрын
Thank ya for the nice words
@keralindsay3553Ай бұрын
"It felt like Nomura only wrote this moment, because he knew thats what a lot of fans wanted." This is how I feel about the game as whole. It felt like one big check box, just so fans would stop asking for it.
@keralindsay3553Ай бұрын
I simply can not fathom how you have so few subscribers. Your videos are well thought out, extremely well edited, you're absolutely hilarious, and you don't say the same thing five times in a row( a pet peeve of mine with newer channels). I know you only have 3 videos but they're all so incredibly well made. I'm definitely subscribing and I can't wait to see more from you.
@keralindsay3553Ай бұрын
Just found this video and Im only 6 minutes in. You are so funny and this deserves way more views.
@DuncadincaАй бұрын
You've the power to make them appear. Thanks.
@DrStrangefateАй бұрын
So i spat out my energy drink here at work the moment Nomura started crooning Katy Perry. Thanks for that 😂
@DuncadincaАй бұрын
Pleasure
@DrStrangefateАй бұрын
Criminally underviewed and undersubbed. Take my sub, young one. ❤
@DuncadincaАй бұрын
I’ll lube myself up and take it in it’s entirety
@DrStrangefateАй бұрын
@@Duncadinca 😍 Gladly given
@IPITYTHEFOOLZ2 ай бұрын
I ended up watching this after another series annoyed me because it has a similar problem of refusing to let go of characters. I just feel like a lot of Japanese stories in particular seem unwilling to have any kind of lasting consequence. Every character that dies comes back or they turn out to be a good guy. It's just boring. It's lifeless to me. What person wouldn't cry when they experience Xion's story? Then to find out that none of it mattered anyway because they have an infinite number of bodies they can just plop her into... what a slap in the face. To me, it's borderline insulting. You get wrapped up in these stories and invested and then you realize that none of it mattered. All of the 7 lights were vanquished at the keyblade graveyard, but then Sora used the power of waking to travel back in time and none of it mattered. What does that even mean? I have no idea. Was I supposed to feel something when that happened? Likewise did anyone care if he died at the end of 3? I've seen people not even realize what happened. The fake out deaths or whatever they are just make it feel like nothing matters. It's not just telling a bad story, but retroactively hurting the ones that came before. I never really felt like Kingdom Hearts had a story that made sense to me, but it didn't really matter because it had these emotional highs and lows that really made you feel something. I get loving these characters and wanting to see more of them from a fan perspective, but it ends up harming these same characters more than it helps. I've rarely seen a story told, where bringing back multiple dead characters has ever worked well. Anyway, I did enjoy the video. I thought you had some interesting ideas of how it could of gone or what options there were regarding who to bring back. I just wish that more artists or whatever you want to call them would be content to just end their stories with some finality. It just seems like in how you reference Final Fantasy VII, we can't have that because we need to make sequels or prequels. We need to bring back characters that people love or turn a bad guy into a good one so they can stick around. It just becomes so boring to me, and really just ruins any tension or emotion when you know that nothing matters anymore. The Final Fantasy VII remake is egregious in that way too, which I won't really go into because of off topic spoilers, but that also was very disappointing.
@avaliausd.2 ай бұрын
I always thought that everyone who complained about reaction commands were and are stupid. Reaction commands were the thing that made me look forward to every boss fight. I always loved seeing Sora do some crazy anime stuff midfight and it be my fault that it happened. It was the ultimate reward for paying attention during a fight.
@zephyr75522 ай бұрын
Hmm what do think about how KH has new writers with better track records on the team now? Does it give you a small bit of hope for the new arc or are you indifferent.
@Duncadinca2 ай бұрын
Citation pls
@Bri-by5xc2 ай бұрын
looool we all hated sanctuary back in the day because we heard passion first. anyway love your videos!
@padorak2 ай бұрын
50:44 so… there’s a little context for me here. I’ve never shipped Riku/Sora. Maybe other characters where it felt a little more on the nose. Roxas, Axel, and Xion are my favorite trio but there was no Xion at one point and you can see and hear that in KH2’s “no one would miss me” meme scene. Say what you want about the present themes of friendship but for young me it did set a precedent of what I hoped a healthy relationship would look like. Just genuine care for one another, nothing else I occasionally get that with Riku and Sora but Axel and Roxas were completely free of a third person for a long time. Either way… I digress. All of the extent characters that WERE shipped with Sora never landed with me at all so I really do like seeing where Sora and Kairi go with their development. The issue with this scene is what the entire story suffers from. I do like the scene a lot but they put so much of everything just before and so much of everything after this. Maybe if they shared one as a promise for when she’s done with training it’d have been more impactful. Idk man but I was so over stimulated by this game at the end I felt like I was just….literally the sea salt gang gets back together within hours of this cutscene. AQUA gets back together with Terra and Ven not long after that. Overstimulated. Why is Riku even here? Go talk to yourself in your room at… oh idk… your house on the mainland with your parents? (I’m being petty but regardless he takes away from the scene rather than adds to it imo) I cannot tell you HOW I wanted the scene for Kairi and Sora to share a fruit together. But I think it should have occurred elsewhere. Frankly I have a lot to say but I think just having its elsewhere in the story would have done a lot for it completely as it is.
@anonymoose23412 ай бұрын
I genuinely like the writing and content. But the voiceover is like Jimmy Carr and Lucius Malfoy had a baby with sinus issues and I'm having trouble with that
@PlayStation360Gamer2 ай бұрын
"in 2006, when the first trailer for the game released" bruh, that was a Birth By Sleep trailer.. this man got trolled almost 2 decades ago by a clickbait KZread title
@Duncadinca2 ай бұрын
hahahahahahahaahahaha
@Nowheart2 ай бұрын
I love the video. I think you did a genuienly good job here. It's heartfelt, sincere and overall just amazing. Thank you so much.
@JustSomeUmbreonfromJohto2 ай бұрын
Commenting for the algorithm. This was great stuff.
@Nowheart2 ай бұрын
OH MY GOODNESS THE DUNCGOD HAS RETURNED!!!! Instant like, time to watch the most likely will disagree a bit but overall understandable take! :D
@JabamiLain2 ай бұрын
Clayton's right. Fooled or not fooled, they still have that blood.
@soraudagawa30222 ай бұрын
Yet another Duncadinca banger. Hope you keep making vids in the future
@soraudagawa30222 ай бұрын
Yet another Duncadinca banger. Hope to see more vids in the future
@InkyGhoul2 ай бұрын
My god man can you get to the sodding point? I'd like some syrup with all this WAFFLE.
@MarbleOceans2 ай бұрын
‘I’m Fa Mulan’ ‘No you ain’t’ made me die lmaooo
@AwkwardFellow2 ай бұрын
I remember a time when death was permanent, and I had to sit with whether my favorite character's death was written well or not and I don't enjoy it nearly as much as some do. (Gurren Lagann bothers me to this day.) I think I prefer the fake out deaths in media so long as they last long enough to feel the impact. In Kingdom Hearts especially it feels like a metaphorical death of who they once were and resurrection of something new for that character... Which is why I agree with you on a lot of this. I dislike Roxas' revival the most out of all of them simply because: What is his role now in the story? The Wayfinder Trio + Vanitas, Xigbar, Axel, Saix, Kairi, Riku, Keyblade Legacy Quad, Vexen, and Zexion... they ALL have something to work toward at this point in time. Roxas just... doesn't. He's here because popular but also everyone else is here. Dilan and Aeleus don't even talk most of the time and could disappear into the background, but Roxas and Xion really don't have anything at all I can think of to warrant them being back. Namine and Terra get a pass due to having something to do in KH3, and Namine has something beyond that to do as well with Kairi's heart (along with the Science Bros). As much as I don't really hate any characters in the series I can't bring myself to enjoy Roxas' return and Xion I feel less annoyed by due to her probably following the same rules as Maleficent in "remembering brings her back" ( I've seen a theory I like about MoM doing the reverse with how he specifically got to Quadratum but that's a whole thing), but I still don't like that she was returned for no purpose. I enjoy temporary deaths or ego deaths so long as: 1. there's a mystery around the death itself (do nobodies really die they had emotions in CoM so clearly they're wrong about a lot of things thanks to Xemnas, the Wayfinder Trio didn't really die, Riku Replica and Vanitas just faded into darkness) and 2. it's setup as a mechanic in the world (Disney and Kingdom Hearts itself). Some of the first "deaths" we see in Kingdom Hearts are ones by Heartless and those people were returned at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 so I think death in its truest sense was never in the cards for the series. Instead I think the series sets out to explore friendship dynamics, growing up and emotions as whole. I feel like the end of the series should have been Sora finally finding out what Kingdom Hearts is and getting a wish to return those connected to him back safely. (The characters I would choose not to come back for 3 are probably not the most exciting though...) I feel like that's in character and in line with the series, but now that every single person is safe I'm not sure where they could go with that aspect of the series. I would also like to say that I think that Nomura's had the over arcing story planned since BBS. He had planned Days around the time of 2/CoM which were worked on as soon as KH1 finished. Do I think that he planned every little thing? No. I think Axel was brought back due to popularity, but also due to him and Saix not having a third initially and giving them a reason to sneak into the castle so often. It's not a new way of writing as a lot of authors fill in the gaps as they go and I don't think Nomura does it poorly either. He setup Nobodies having emotions and Xemnas being a liar since CoM after all. I think it's just the fandom fills in the gaps with headcanons while they wait, and with how long the series is it's hard to remember what's canon and what was something we came up with the justify a mystery we didn't understand at the time.
@youngecujoh8552 ай бұрын
DON'T stop the intros, I loved it.
@tiramisu84832 ай бұрын
Who else best suited to critique kh3 than Emet Selch
@Lunar_Crescentfall2 ай бұрын
😂
@xenothekami8882 ай бұрын
13:10 remind shows you why
@DepressedMicaiahASMR2 ай бұрын
5:05
@sidorak262 ай бұрын
My only problem with the entire video personally is that in the beginning you said you don't understand or care to learn more about how Xion returned and later during her section you said it didn't make sense. All nobodies are established in 3D that were always growing hearts so even the faceless shapeshifting puppet, by the end of Days, had a fully grown heart with it's own memories that went back to Sora.That is shown in the ending of kh3D. In kh3 what the new organisation had with them was the "number i" data that vexen originally created and the clash with Sora and the remembering made her heart go from Sora to the new puppet (albeit with zero fanfare compared to Roxas doing the same thing). Other than that I agree 100% with everything in the video and while I don't hate how the characters ended up, the writing was definitely awful making it all feel so much cheaper in retrospect.
@Duncadinca2 ай бұрын
Your explanation pretty much highlights why it doesn't change a thing for me. I've done my reading on how she came back and I always forget the plot explanation, because it's just some overly complex nonsense as a result from writing yourself into a corner. The kind most players wouldn't clock into without reading up on it. Fair criticism though.
@rmunoz19942 ай бұрын
That was an awesome compilation at the end!
@Duncadinca2 ай бұрын
Yes, yes it was
@pastelnightmares2 ай бұрын
I was literally just scrolling through KZread the other day looking for new KH content and thought about your channel and wondered where you’d been. I was really happy to see this video pop up today. Your dry sense of humor coupled with something as overzealously optimistic as KH is such a fun combination. I’ve always really appreciated your content. “So basically the popularity of Akuroku f*cked up the entire storyline of Kingdom Hearts” made me LAUGH. I was most definitely part of the problem back in 2009 writing silly little fanfics on Quizilla for these two 😅 I agree with nearly every point you made here though. Nomura has taken away so much suspense by lowering the stakes to virtually nothing. There’s no consequence for any character’s mistakes. I love Roxas so much but his entire arc was to be Sora’s opposite. His shadow. The feelings that Sora predominantly shoved away. His sacrifice made such a huge impact on not only his character but the story overall. I know KH isn’t known for taking itself too seriously but having the plot mixed with darker elements like we see in COM could’ve been done again in KH3 instead of EVERYONE coming back and EVERYONE being okay. Sometimes being hit with a bit of painful reality when you’re least expecting it is WAY more impactful than a forced happy ending. I’ll play every game in this series until it’s finally over, but I find myself getting progressively more nervous with each new title that comes out lol Thank you for your hard work on these vids 🌸
Пікірлер
Storywise, I think what I dislike about KH3 is that it removes all consequence. Everything that carried weight through the series, all the tragedies characters went through, it was all for naught because now "hey, person is dead" "okay, guess we gotta run the extra life machine to 3D print them a new body to possess". By the end of KH3, all mystique the series had was gone, all the potential horror and trauma is meaningless. Sora disappears? Whoop dee doo, we already know he's in KH4 and alive, it's just set up for the next wAcKy adventure. Already pre-loading the next game's reason for why you're level 1 yet again. It feels like whatever idea they started the series with is just long gone. They made KH3 to stop everyone's whining to get a conclusion already, and Nomura just doesn't know how to conclude anything.
I’m playing the series on steam now, the ending to KH2 makes the entirety of 3 feel like a slap in the face, cause Sora basically lost all that he was fighting for throughout 15 years, I would have rather have a shorter game that ties up the rest of the loose ends, I’m skipping 3 and just watching the cutscenes
37:35 On the topic of flowmotion, DDD made it far to overpowered and KH3 made it underpowered and they both are bad in their own way. However, there is one easy fix, tie it to a gauge. That way it punishes spamming it by not letting you skip harder sections and rewards you for managing it by letting you skip a segment you're having trouble with, or use it to deal with enemies better.
YOU NAILED IT. HOLY FUCK. The design, the story telling elements, the function, the strategy, and, screw it, the rule of COOL. All these things make up why reaction commands are a genius gameplay mechanic. Dare I say, it may be one the most well implemented gameplay mechanics ever created for an action RPG. The removal of them left a hole in KH that attractions, and team links just can't fill. The question is, can the team recapture their beauty in the upcoming title? I can't wait to find out, and this video only made me more excited to see it through. Amazing edits, awesome structure for breaking this down, and just the right amount of cheeky humor. Instant subscribe.
Thanks, hun
The beginning looks like a teaser from a new game, brilliant, perfect, superb.
Thank ya
I know that this video is almost one month old, but I'd like to add my two cents as someone who had a tumultuous love-hate relationship with this series. I loved KH1-CoM-KH2 as much as everyone else, but was IMMEDIATELY turned off by Birth By Sleep. My reaction to the Wayfinder trio protagonists, the plot of that game and the way the story was delivered was equally as visceral and negative as the one a lot of people, Duncadinca included, have to the X/Union Cross stuff. I was one of those kids that watched the epic secret ending of KH2 featuring the 'keyblade knights' and not only assumed it to be a teaser for KH3 (as we all did at the time) but imagined this epic tale that would take us back to a remote time in which there was an order of keyblade knights, an entire keyblade wielding society even, with its mysteries and machinations, all leading to an unavoidable tragic battle that put an end to a golden age. Child me wanted the plot of X and Union Cross starring a brand new cast of characters, not a billion boring Xehanort clones upstaging charismatic villains like Ansem and the Organization that I loved so so dearly. What I am trying to say is that I don't think that 'the mobile stuff' is the problem. The problem is that, as Dunca aptly detailed in this video, what had been established and wrapped up with a nice bow at the end of KH2 has been slowly but inexorably watered down, undone and at worst made completely pointless. Am I a stupid gacha phone game apologist? Yes, I am :P. UX, and Back Cover in particular, is what got me back into the series after so many years spent looking at it from a safe distance while shaking my head at how they massacred my boy(s). I guess there's still time for the final character assassination of Demyx.. but once he's accounted for, we're FREE! And by free, I mean that they'll have to bring in new characters instead of redeeming and resurrecting old ones. (PS: I think the 'Luxu thing' worked well for Xigbar because of how different he is from his original younger self. Not everyone liked the reveal but I personally really enjoyed it. I guess I am a sucker for the extremely specific trope of the death-cheating body snatcher asshole who used to be a cinnamon roll but that's a trick you can't pull more than once. And I highly doubt it will have the same effect if they try to do it with Demyx.) Maybe the moral of the story is that when you're not enjoying how a franchise is being handled, taking a break from it and a step back like I did oh so many years ago when I first laid eyes on Birth by Sleep is the best thing to do. For a long time, the ending of KH2 was the REAL ending of KH for me. And it still was when I replayed all the games, including the dreaded BBS and the other titles I missed before the release of KH3 (DDD wasn't nearly as bad as people said it was, that was a relief). Going into KH3, I didn't care to see any of the previous games stories being 'resolved' because the KH2 ending already took care of all the characters I cared about. I was there for the same reason Nomura was there: getting it done once and for all, giving the fans all the sappy reunions they wanted so he could finally move onto the story he has been dying to tell us for decades which ironically requires one final, unexplained and probably unnecessary resurrection... that of Versus XIII. LET'S GO BABY!
I will say and have happily said for the last 5 years that Kingdom Hearts should have ended at 2. 3's ending did not satisfyingly conclude and felt like a kick to the guts for fans that had been following since the beginning. I can't say I got too into the hype, because although I watched every trailer, having major story moments spoiled in each one of them kind of dulled the enjoyment.
The Sora Kairi moment did not hit at all. Like you say, it was about sharing 1 paupu fruit. Don't know why they had two other than to tie it into picture in the Secret Place
We waited more than a decade for our conclusion but Nomura was worried we'd lose heart if we had to watch all our beloved characters maximize their screen time? JFC even Naruto Shippuden got this right with the war arc. It was cheesy. It was fan servicey, but it was satisfying! Nomura should play the Legend of Heroes Sky trilogy all the way to the Steel series... all of those feel AMAZING.
J.K. Rowling was way out of line. I would say rather than dementors, trans activists remind me of mandrakes.
I’ve only recently started the first game, as much as I’m enjoying it I have zero interest in any of the spinoff games or gatcha mobile games. It’s a really stupid move to make the series as convoluted as they have. It feels like “oh did you want to get into our series? Well you’re going to have to play fifteen more games with confusing titles and some terrible mobile games too.” Also I don’t understand why the Final Fantasy characters aren’t in KH3? As a huge FF fan they were the reason I finally gave KH a chance. I’m going to play the first and second games and call it quits after that I think. It’s pretty clear to me that Disney saw the game as an advertisement and Nomura just wants to do something else. I admire some of Nomura’s work as a character designer, as a writer though…not so much. Nomura took JJ Abraham’s mystery box theory and…made a literal mystery box. (Slow clap)
The part that hurt me the most is that the disney worlds all had stories that Sora was a big part of. And the themes of the story always linked back to Sora's own internal struggles or the adventure they had outaide the world. But in this game the worlds are just THERE and although Sora does have SOMETHING develop in there, it's usually just talking to the organizarion members and not fighting. I also hate that in the Frozen and Tangled world, Sora mostly WATCHES the story unfold, rather than take plare in it. If you were ti take Sora and an irganization member from bith those worlds, it would mostly stay unchanged. This game felt more like a playable Disney+ subscription than the finale if Kingdom Hearts
I feel like the end of the game should have just been that scene from se7en where brad pitt is screaming "whats in the box?!"
Amazing video again, sorry it took me so long for KZread to alert me to its existence. You're so spot on about Diz/Ansem the Wise, most slept on character in the series, top-tier writing of a calibre I fear this series will never see again. I felt him returning in DDD was almost too much, as KH2s send off for him was just already so perfectly wrapped up (his apology to Roxas inside Sora, which he knows is too little too late, is just icing on the tragedy cake), but his conversation with Aqua in Blank Points was wonderful, and he played a big part in completing Riku's arc, paving the way for big things to come in KH3, so it was totally fine ... then KH3 happened, and why the frig is he back again!? Also, he was originally voiced by Sir Christopher motherflippin' Lee, by jove we really were spoilt with KH2, as much as we adored it we still didn't know how just how great we had it. I'm gonna ride on that 2005 high and never come down!
Consider yourself forgiven
Well done. U crack me up
thx
When I play KH2 with the RCs, I get so hyped just because seeing Sora use the enemies weapon against them is so badass. When KH3 removed the RCs, it was just boring. The fights felt less engaging. Mob fights would slap me around even with the use of magic for crowd-control because Sora can only get out at least 4 or five cast before the cool down on critical mode while in KH2 critical mode you can get 7 or more cast of magic before the cool down which didn't feel nerved. People who say the RCs made the game to easy probably were only focusing on the triangle button itself instead of looking at the cool animation that took place after pressing triangle. Something about KH2 Sora's animations during those RC felt so smooth. Not only that but the detail that goes into the RC was also impressive. Here are some I will list out here. Larxene Join RC has Sora jump towards the screen but what I like is Sora facial expression while rushing towards the screen. He is extremely pisses & he is like this with Marluxia's Aerial Strike RC as well. The cannon RC during the pirate medallion fight is an adorable one where Sora activates the cannon with his foot while holding the keyblade diaganially in the air. But what makes it adorable is the happy look on his face. Just like what you said about the story fitting with the Organization XIII RC, it also fit for Sora because he mention in one of the cut scenes in that world that he always wanted to be a pirate & he was living that moment during a threating fight which I thought was so cool to see. If you think reaction are to easy then try looking at the cool animation instead & you will see why KH2 RCs get soo much praise. It was never about them being to easy but was about what Sora was capable of doing to his enemy while also making it look as badass as possible. I really hope to see some major improvements with the RCs in KH4 & not make them only available for the boss fights scenario.
The like .2 second cuts to ah questionable material is like a mental flash bang to jolt you back awake and make sure you keep watching instead of just listening lol. Never change
The edits and the jokes are all made real smooth. Watching this video is just full of pleasant surprises tickling me. Command Deck, Attraction Flow offers so much benefits with its damage but you can spam it on everything Reaction command is mostly unique to each enemy / teammate / specific story progression, which makes each moment more impressive. But when it is shared, holy crap you blew my mind by 28:24 I overlooked it. It has way more depth than I first thought. Thankfully specific reaction command was not repeated (or a whole lot) because it would make subsequent reoccurrences less impactful.
Thank ya for the nice words
"It felt like Nomura only wrote this moment, because he knew thats what a lot of fans wanted." This is how I feel about the game as whole. It felt like one big check box, just so fans would stop asking for it.
I simply can not fathom how you have so few subscribers. Your videos are well thought out, extremely well edited, you're absolutely hilarious, and you don't say the same thing five times in a row( a pet peeve of mine with newer channels). I know you only have 3 videos but they're all so incredibly well made. I'm definitely subscribing and I can't wait to see more from you.
Just found this video and Im only 6 minutes in. You are so funny and this deserves way more views.
You've the power to make them appear. Thanks.
So i spat out my energy drink here at work the moment Nomura started crooning Katy Perry. Thanks for that 😂
Pleasure
Criminally underviewed and undersubbed. Take my sub, young one. ❤
I’ll lube myself up and take it in it’s entirety
@@Duncadinca 😍 Gladly given
I ended up watching this after another series annoyed me because it has a similar problem of refusing to let go of characters. I just feel like a lot of Japanese stories in particular seem unwilling to have any kind of lasting consequence. Every character that dies comes back or they turn out to be a good guy. It's just boring. It's lifeless to me. What person wouldn't cry when they experience Xion's story? Then to find out that none of it mattered anyway because they have an infinite number of bodies they can just plop her into... what a slap in the face. To me, it's borderline insulting. You get wrapped up in these stories and invested and then you realize that none of it mattered. All of the 7 lights were vanquished at the keyblade graveyard, but then Sora used the power of waking to travel back in time and none of it mattered. What does that even mean? I have no idea. Was I supposed to feel something when that happened? Likewise did anyone care if he died at the end of 3? I've seen people not even realize what happened. The fake out deaths or whatever they are just make it feel like nothing matters. It's not just telling a bad story, but retroactively hurting the ones that came before. I never really felt like Kingdom Hearts had a story that made sense to me, but it didn't really matter because it had these emotional highs and lows that really made you feel something. I get loving these characters and wanting to see more of them from a fan perspective, but it ends up harming these same characters more than it helps. I've rarely seen a story told, where bringing back multiple dead characters has ever worked well. Anyway, I did enjoy the video. I thought you had some interesting ideas of how it could of gone or what options there were regarding who to bring back. I just wish that more artists or whatever you want to call them would be content to just end their stories with some finality. It just seems like in how you reference Final Fantasy VII, we can't have that because we need to make sequels or prequels. We need to bring back characters that people love or turn a bad guy into a good one so they can stick around. It just becomes so boring to me, and really just ruins any tension or emotion when you know that nothing matters anymore. The Final Fantasy VII remake is egregious in that way too, which I won't really go into because of off topic spoilers, but that also was very disappointing.
I always thought that everyone who complained about reaction commands were and are stupid. Reaction commands were the thing that made me look forward to every boss fight. I always loved seeing Sora do some crazy anime stuff midfight and it be my fault that it happened. It was the ultimate reward for paying attention during a fight.
Hmm what do think about how KH has new writers with better track records on the team now? Does it give you a small bit of hope for the new arc or are you indifferent.
Citation pls
looool we all hated sanctuary back in the day because we heard passion first. anyway love your videos!
50:44 so… there’s a little context for me here. I’ve never shipped Riku/Sora. Maybe other characters where it felt a little more on the nose. Roxas, Axel, and Xion are my favorite trio but there was no Xion at one point and you can see and hear that in KH2’s “no one would miss me” meme scene. Say what you want about the present themes of friendship but for young me it did set a precedent of what I hoped a healthy relationship would look like. Just genuine care for one another, nothing else I occasionally get that with Riku and Sora but Axel and Roxas were completely free of a third person for a long time. Either way… I digress. All of the extent characters that WERE shipped with Sora never landed with me at all so I really do like seeing where Sora and Kairi go with their development. The issue with this scene is what the entire story suffers from. I do like the scene a lot but they put so much of everything just before and so much of everything after this. Maybe if they shared one as a promise for when she’s done with training it’d have been more impactful. Idk man but I was so over stimulated by this game at the end I felt like I was just….literally the sea salt gang gets back together within hours of this cutscene. AQUA gets back together with Terra and Ven not long after that. Overstimulated. Why is Riku even here? Go talk to yourself in your room at… oh idk… your house on the mainland with your parents? (I’m being petty but regardless he takes away from the scene rather than adds to it imo) I cannot tell you HOW I wanted the scene for Kairi and Sora to share a fruit together. But I think it should have occurred elsewhere. Frankly I have a lot to say but I think just having its elsewhere in the story would have done a lot for it completely as it is.
I genuinely like the writing and content. But the voiceover is like Jimmy Carr and Lucius Malfoy had a baby with sinus issues and I'm having trouble with that
"in 2006, when the first trailer for the game released" bruh, that was a Birth By Sleep trailer.. this man got trolled almost 2 decades ago by a clickbait KZread title
hahahahahahahaahahaha
I love the video. I think you did a genuienly good job here. It's heartfelt, sincere and overall just amazing. Thank you so much.
Commenting for the algorithm. This was great stuff.
OH MY GOODNESS THE DUNCGOD HAS RETURNED!!!! Instant like, time to watch the most likely will disagree a bit but overall understandable take! :D
Clayton's right. Fooled or not fooled, they still have that blood.
Yet another Duncadinca banger. Hope you keep making vids in the future
Yet another Duncadinca banger. Hope to see more vids in the future
My god man can you get to the sodding point? I'd like some syrup with all this WAFFLE.
‘I’m Fa Mulan’ ‘No you ain’t’ made me die lmaooo
I remember a time when death was permanent, and I had to sit with whether my favorite character's death was written well or not and I don't enjoy it nearly as much as some do. (Gurren Lagann bothers me to this day.) I think I prefer the fake out deaths in media so long as they last long enough to feel the impact. In Kingdom Hearts especially it feels like a metaphorical death of who they once were and resurrection of something new for that character... Which is why I agree with you on a lot of this. I dislike Roxas' revival the most out of all of them simply because: What is his role now in the story? The Wayfinder Trio + Vanitas, Xigbar, Axel, Saix, Kairi, Riku, Keyblade Legacy Quad, Vexen, and Zexion... they ALL have something to work toward at this point in time. Roxas just... doesn't. He's here because popular but also everyone else is here. Dilan and Aeleus don't even talk most of the time and could disappear into the background, but Roxas and Xion really don't have anything at all I can think of to warrant them being back. Namine and Terra get a pass due to having something to do in KH3, and Namine has something beyond that to do as well with Kairi's heart (along with the Science Bros). As much as I don't really hate any characters in the series I can't bring myself to enjoy Roxas' return and Xion I feel less annoyed by due to her probably following the same rules as Maleficent in "remembering brings her back" ( I've seen a theory I like about MoM doing the reverse with how he specifically got to Quadratum but that's a whole thing), but I still don't like that she was returned for no purpose. I enjoy temporary deaths or ego deaths so long as: 1. there's a mystery around the death itself (do nobodies really die they had emotions in CoM so clearly they're wrong about a lot of things thanks to Xemnas, the Wayfinder Trio didn't really die, Riku Replica and Vanitas just faded into darkness) and 2. it's setup as a mechanic in the world (Disney and Kingdom Hearts itself). Some of the first "deaths" we see in Kingdom Hearts are ones by Heartless and those people were returned at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 so I think death in its truest sense was never in the cards for the series. Instead I think the series sets out to explore friendship dynamics, growing up and emotions as whole. I feel like the end of the series should have been Sora finally finding out what Kingdom Hearts is and getting a wish to return those connected to him back safely. (The characters I would choose not to come back for 3 are probably not the most exciting though...) I feel like that's in character and in line with the series, but now that every single person is safe I'm not sure where they could go with that aspect of the series. I would also like to say that I think that Nomura's had the over arcing story planned since BBS. He had planned Days around the time of 2/CoM which were worked on as soon as KH1 finished. Do I think that he planned every little thing? No. I think Axel was brought back due to popularity, but also due to him and Saix not having a third initially and giving them a reason to sneak into the castle so often. It's not a new way of writing as a lot of authors fill in the gaps as they go and I don't think Nomura does it poorly either. He setup Nobodies having emotions and Xemnas being a liar since CoM after all. I think it's just the fandom fills in the gaps with headcanons while they wait, and with how long the series is it's hard to remember what's canon and what was something we came up with the justify a mystery we didn't understand at the time.
DON'T stop the intros, I loved it.
Who else best suited to critique kh3 than Emet Selch
😂
13:10 remind shows you why
5:05
My only problem with the entire video personally is that in the beginning you said you don't understand or care to learn more about how Xion returned and later during her section you said it didn't make sense. All nobodies are established in 3D that were always growing hearts so even the faceless shapeshifting puppet, by the end of Days, had a fully grown heart with it's own memories that went back to Sora.That is shown in the ending of kh3D. In kh3 what the new organisation had with them was the "number i" data that vexen originally created and the clash with Sora and the remembering made her heart go from Sora to the new puppet (albeit with zero fanfare compared to Roxas doing the same thing). Other than that I agree 100% with everything in the video and while I don't hate how the characters ended up, the writing was definitely awful making it all feel so much cheaper in retrospect.
Your explanation pretty much highlights why it doesn't change a thing for me. I've done my reading on how she came back and I always forget the plot explanation, because it's just some overly complex nonsense as a result from writing yourself into a corner. The kind most players wouldn't clock into without reading up on it. Fair criticism though.
That was an awesome compilation at the end!
Yes, yes it was
I was literally just scrolling through KZread the other day looking for new KH content and thought about your channel and wondered where you’d been. I was really happy to see this video pop up today. Your dry sense of humor coupled with something as overzealously optimistic as KH is such a fun combination. I’ve always really appreciated your content. “So basically the popularity of Akuroku f*cked up the entire storyline of Kingdom Hearts” made me LAUGH. I was most definitely part of the problem back in 2009 writing silly little fanfics on Quizilla for these two 😅 I agree with nearly every point you made here though. Nomura has taken away so much suspense by lowering the stakes to virtually nothing. There’s no consequence for any character’s mistakes. I love Roxas so much but his entire arc was to be Sora’s opposite. His shadow. The feelings that Sora predominantly shoved away. His sacrifice made such a huge impact on not only his character but the story overall. I know KH isn’t known for taking itself too seriously but having the plot mixed with darker elements like we see in COM could’ve been done again in KH3 instead of EVERYONE coming back and EVERYONE being okay. Sometimes being hit with a bit of painful reality when you’re least expecting it is WAY more impactful than a forced happy ending. I’ll play every game in this series until it’s finally over, but I find myself getting progressively more nervous with each new title that comes out lol Thank you for your hard work on these vids 🌸
Big thanks. I didn’t forget you either, gal.