Before I get into the next world I'd like to talk about two things regarding Traverse Town.
1. When you transition between areas in a world you have a little fade out that shows a symbol relating to that world which slowly shrinks until the screen is entirely black. Traverse Town uses this
◊ as its symbol in this game. That skull is from TWEWY and is on a pin that marks individuals as contestants in the Game.
2. The keyblade you get, Skull Noise, is also a TWEWY homage. Here's a picture.
◊ As you can see the teeth are the same as the skull symbol I mentioned before. The handle and blade also resemble the tattoos that a lot of enemies in that game sported. Finally the name is a reference both to the skull symbol and the Noise, the mooks of that game. I don't know what the keychain is but it's two objects linked together which probably symbolizes how each contestant in the Game has a partner.
Okay, now that that's out of the way it's time to explore the second world.
We start with a beautiful city skyline. It appears to be a few centuries old based on the architecture. The world name suddenly pops up and we see a chiming bell with the words "La Cite Des Cloches" under it. That is apparently French for "The City of Bells". For those of you who haven't already figured it out this is the world based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was the first Disney world confirmed for this game. I would like to note that because the name is long and annoying I will refer to this world as Notre Dame from here on.
Anyway after the world name pops up the camera moves down to street level and we see Sora walking through the empty (?) city streets. A man walks passed him wearing...honestly the only description I can come up with is pimp attire. The man glares menacingly at Sora and turns to look after him. He says he's never seen Sora before (Really? You know every single person in this entire city? Business must be particularly good.) and asks who he is. The man says to Sora, "Such disgusting attire" and says he knows exactly what Sora is. A man in yellow(?) armor runs up and calls the man Frollo. Frollo tells him to stop bothering him, he's interrogating this gypsy. Captain Phoebus says monsters are attacking the square which prompts Sora to run off because he realizes they're Dream Eaters. Phoebus runs after Sora leaving Frollo by himself in the street. Frollo is surrounded by a dark aura and monologues about how he must eradicate all the lawbreakers in this city.
Okay before I continue I want to explain the title of this installment. I recall watching this movie as a kid and I found it simply okay. Because of that I have not seen it in...I have no clue how long but it was probably at least 8 or 9 years. As a result of this I don't remember a single thing about this movie (okay, I remember one thing). How bad is my memory of this movie you ask? Until I came upon this scene I forgot that Captain Phoebus existed and what Frollo's motivation was for being such an asshole. I also have no memory of the movies the next three worlds are based on so my commentary probably won't reference the movie's plots that much. I apologize for this.
Anyway back to what Sora's doing. I run into the square and come upon a man sitting atop a giant rainbow elephant with a bunch of bats and flowers floating around him. There's a crowd cheering but I don't see them anywhere (this is a common problem with KH). Sora yells that this dude needs to run but he says he can't since he's been called the King of Fools and is a part of the festival now (again, what festival? There are two people visible and about five Dream Eaters). One of the bats flies off and Phoebus slashes it with a sword which somehow kills it. Frollo yells at Quasimodo (the man on the elephant) that he needs to leave now. A gypsy woman named Esmeralda appears and says she can lead Quasi to safety while Sora kills the Dream Eaters.
I deal with the Dream Eaters and Sora starts to worry about whether or not Quasi is okay. I enter the cathedral nearby and begin searching for him. While there I find a ton of chests and start to play around with the new reality shift for this world. It's called Faithline. What happens is you walk up to a glowing white orb. When you activate the reality shift you can make a path along a trail of these orbs that Sora can glide upon. Any enemy he hits will take damage. I finally find the entrance to the upper part of the cathedral which is located next to where I came in so now I'm going to drop soon and I barely made any progress in this world...
Anyway I get up to the upper level and enter a room. I enter to find Quasi showing Esmeralda around. Sora is happy that the two are safe and starts talking to some animated gargoyles that are friends of Quasi...
Wait, what?
Turns out I forgot these gargoyles existed too! Sora is understandably freaked out. Meanwhile Quasi offers to let Esmeralda stay in the cathedral forever so she's safe but she refuses. Quasi helps her escape by leaping from the top of the cathedral and grabbing a bunch of platforms to slow his fall. The gargoyles explain Quasi's plight which gives me the Flashback: Frollo Cautions Quasi. The gargoyles bicker and lament that Quasi is forbidden from leaving the cathedral. I watch the flashback but there's nothing too noteworthy. Frollo says Quasi is ugly and that he's the only one that will accept him.
Well I'm about to drop so I save and transition over to Riku.
While I'm diving I get something new, a boss fight. It's not terribly difficult but I get a B anyway. We open with Frollo and Phoebus chasing Esmeralda. She runs past Riku who is immediately asked by Phoebus if he saw a gypsy pass by. Riku, nice guy that he is, says no. Phoebus thanks him and runs off without even bothering to ask if Riku's a gypsy as well. Esmeralda walks over to Riku and thanks him for protecting her. Riku says he doesn't know what a gypsy is. Riku feels Frollo might be possessed by the darkness so he decides to investigate him.
I enter Notre Dame and meet Quasi. He tells Riku that Frollo has business at the city outskirts right now. Quasi tells Riku that Frollo protects him from the outside world and Riku tells him that Frollo shouldn't call him a monster. He tells Quasi to ignore what Frollo says and to go make some friends that like him for who he is. While I'm exploring inside the cathedral I come upon this weird frog with a sword and shield. It asks if I accept its challenge. I have no clue what it means so I say yes. I then realize that it has a massive HP bar and I begin attacking it like mad. It summons these little minions to attack me but I ignore them and keep hammering at the frog. After a while it blows me a kiss and vanishes.
I leave the cathedral and enter a bridge leading to the outskirts of town when I giant gargoyle Dream Eater attacks. It spits fireballs at me as I dash to the opposite side of the bridge. Other Dream Eaters attack but I ignore them. I escape the Dream Eater and come upon Phoebus and Frollo having a standoff in front of a windmill. Frollo says this family has been harboring gypsies and Phoebus says that's not a crime. The gargoyle Dream Eater appears and makes it clear it serves Frollo. I get the Flashback: Dark Obsession and Riku appears and calls Frollo a fallen man. Frollo says he's a fool and that he will destroy all the gypsies. Phoebus is hurt and Riku says that he should leave Frollo to him. I now have to dash back to the cathedral to stop Frollo. The flashback is short. It just shows Frollo and Phoebus talking. Frollo says the gypsies must have a safe haven if they haven't been completely eradicated but Phoebus has misgivings.
I get sonic impact and sliding crescent (two action commands) and drop on my way back to the cathedral.
Comments
