Kingdom Hearts

MX would still want someone else over Demyx in his ORG.

I mean if we can think of a way to bring them back other than time travel, sure

it was still worth it. I listen to the xemnas scenes in 3 every day because his damn voice is so great

I mean, if you think Nomura would've ever brought them back in a way that wasn't a bunch of convoluted bullshit, I don't know what games you've been playing.

And also Young Xehanort is the only where the time bullshit is particularly complicated? Like the others are all just 'yeah, I got zapped from the past into a vacant body'.

Vacant bodies that weren't made until they re-hired Vexen, I must point out.

...

Unless you mean to tell me Vexen already had another [insert number here] blank replicas before he died, but then... why would he be re-hired?

he made like 20 before he died. but they werent perfect like xion and repliku had flaws.

The Secret Reports say that exactly that happened; Vexen apparently made ~20 Replicas total when he was with the Org the first time.

Xehanort blew through them pretty quickly and needed to hire him back to get more, mostly because he decided to dedicate 12 of them to a 'just in case' back-up plan that he didn't end up needing. Which is what the Mysterious Adversaries were.

Ah.

Thanks KH 3 for solving literally every plot-hole caused by 3D ignoring its own newly established time travel rules.

Kingdom Hearts III 1.04 and 1.05 Patch Details

11AM JST release.

1.04 -critical mode added, can use new abilities -some enemy behavior changed -you can check Frozen Slider minigame treasure/result at mobile portal -synthesis items you already synthesized will have check marks in mog shop -game help message added -various fixes

1.05 -when you start "new game", you can bring over stuff like keyblades from your clear save data -photo mode change, now you can store up to 200 photos -various fixes

https://support.jp.square-enix.com/news.php?id=7922&la=0&n=2&drt=1556010000&tag=2def4814c9c3775c55987ba6e8e6380ba8924340

Aw yeah.

Synthesis checks? Its everything I wanted.

So New Game+ confirmed?

Edit:Apparently just the upgrades carry over. Lame.

Edited by alekos23 on Apr 23rd 2019 at 2:10:40 PM

The extra photo storage is a nice bonus.

Is Xehanort cloning his Heart? I thought he was having Baby Nort pull in Nort Hearts from other points in time.

Like, the distinctive Norts are their own thing, of course. Xemnas. Fake Ansem. Terranort. They've got Hearts from that specific incarnation of Xehanort. But there's a near-infinite number of points in time that a Nort Heart can be plucked from for the others.

Like. Maybe Marluxia has "16-year-old Xehanort who didn't study for that test and now he's freaking out." And Luxord has "32-year-old Xehanort whose ex-wife just left him and now he's bitter." Etc. etc.

Xehanort is a very old man. He has lived through many individual moments in time that we never saw. If you took every second he has lived as a Nort Heart, you'd have an army to rival the Emblems.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 23rd 2019 at 8:01:48 AM

So Sora beats Xemnas's ass and then collapses, gasping for breath. Baby Nort pops in to be like, "Are you... are you winded? Can't fight back? Cool. Ahem. AHAHAHAHA I'VE WON AHAHAHAHA please don't hit me AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

He explains that the big f*ckoff X on Sora's chest is how the Norts have been tracking him all this time. For his entire journey, the Sigil allowed them to find him wherever he went. And they used the Sigil to show up over and over again, mildly trolling him and then leaving. THE ULTIMATE PLAN OF MINOR AGGRAVATION. HE NEVER SAW IT COMING.

Baby Nort explains that the end-goal was to hollow Sora's body out. They did all this to make him an empty vessel - somehow - so they could put a Nort inside him. Baby Nort then waxes poetic about how the time has come to return to his own time and lose his memories of the future as y'do while Sora tries vainly to bite his ankles. Sora fades into the Darkness and the last thing he hears is Baby Nort choking on his own hormones, which is just insult to injury, yo.

Sora sinks into a quagmire of Darkness and suddenly Ventus's Heart is there, shimmering with him and shielding him by conjuring his Keyblade Armor? I guess that's one way to do it?

And we leave Armored Sora and cut back to Riku. Riku lands in The World That Sucks and has the same "WHAT. WHY." freakout that Sora had. I'm pretty sure he's also in the dream-world version of TWTNW and not the real one; Luxu pointed out that Sora's clothes prove he's still in the Realm of Sleep, and Riku's wardrobe is also his journeying one, QED.

Riku finds Sora shrouded by Darkness being hollowed out and converted into a Nort and he's like, "NOPE. None of this shit." But then a Nightmare monster made of a black cloak appears? KAY. I assume that's "Something something Sora something Nightmare something something".

After beating that thing's ass, whatever that was, Riku tries to reach out to Sora but as we already know, his appeals fall on deaf ears. Fake Ansem pulls Riku deeper into Sleep so they can have a chat. Ansem explains the logic chain for what's being done to Sora:

• Memories are held in dreams.
• Dreams are held in sleep.
• Sleep is held in Darkness.

Erego, since the Sleep Bubble is in the Realm of Darkness and Sora's trapped in Sleep, that means the Darkness has his Heart! It's a roundabout way to get there and also kinda confusing since we've firmly established that the Sleep Bubble is insulated from Darkness - at least, the Darkness that Fake Ansem's talking about - but sure, whatever.

Also what about people who sleep with a night light?

Ansem goes on to explain why Sora and Riku have been in two separate versions of each world. See, Sora's been exploring the dream of each Sleeping World he came across, but Riku's been exploring Sora's dreams of the worlds he was exploring. Sora has been awakening Sleeping Worlds while being jerked around by the Norts, and Riku has been uselessly f*cking off in sleepy-time land.

Remember that time in the Datascape where Sora had to put himself in Riku to purify him from the viruses he'd caught? Here in the dream-world, the actual Riku returned the favor, so to speak. When he saw Fake Ansem at Destiny Islands, he knew something was up so he reflexively entered Sora!

That's why their dreamscapes were connected but separate; Riku was exploring Sora's dreams of exploring the Sleeping Worlds' dreams. I knew there was some kind of weird shit going on!

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 23rd 2019 at 9:09:54 AM

Alright, so. Since we're nearing towards 3d's end. Do you plan on doing that with kh3 too, Tobias, or stop there? Asking to know if I start working on the v2 of the pdf right now or if you plan to keep going.

That'll depend on if I can find a cutscene movie. I'd like to. I had a very low opinion of KHIII's story the first time 'round, but one thing I've learned from this experience is that I've forgotten like 80% of the plot. So I'd like to see what KHIII is like through the lens of actually knowing what everyone's f*cking talking about and then re-examine my opinion of its story.

But if I can't find one, then I probably won't get to it until my actual game-replay gets there. In the game play, I'm currently at KHII, just leaving Hollow Bastion and setting out for Land of Dragons for the first time.

Also, before we continue, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that the only reason they're doing this Sleeping Worlds dive is for Riku's benefit. When Yen Sid was like, "You need to take the Mark of Mastery exam," Sora was all, "No, you need to blow me, old man."

Riku was the one who acquiesced because he lacked confidence in himself after his experiences falling into Darkness. This entire excursion was for his benefit. This was really his test; Sora just begrudgingly came along for the ride 'cause Riku's his friend.

The test in question was to unlock the Sleeping Keyholes. That was it. Which, as Fake Ansem just established, was done 100% by Sora, the one who didn't want to be here. Riku spent his entire adventure uselessly imitating Sora's adventure while Sora was out there actually doing all of the work.

Something to think about when Riku gets his Mark of Mastery and Sora's made to f*ck off to the Junior Keybladers Table. Kid gets no respect.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 23rd 2019 at 10:07:43 AM

When did Sora express any reluctance to take the Mark of Mastery exam?

To be fair, Riku saved Sora's life and ultimately did achieve the rank Yen Sid set out for him to do.

I do think it's bogus that Sora failed, but if only one of them could pass then it'd be Riku based on their respective results.

• Yen Sid: Both of you are self-taught Keyblade wielders—an impressive feat. However, the time has come for you to let go of preconceived notions, forget what you know about the Keyblade, and begin your training again with a clean slate.
• Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey: (shocked) Huh?!
• Sora: But that's a formality, right?! I already proved myself! Me and the king and Riku, we can take on anything. Right, Riku?
• Riku: I don't know.

Sora had zero interest in taking the test and was kinda offended that it was even suggested. He only went along with it because Riku doubted himself and felt he needed it. Sora's really just here for Riku.

They probably wouldn't be doing this Sleeping Worlds dive at all if Riku'd had his back and been like, "Yeah, we're fine. What he said."

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 23rd 2019 at 10:46:51 AM

Also, kind of a random thought again, what happened to 0.2 ? don't remember seeing you talk about it. Planning to do it after DDD ?

Edited by Yumil on Apr 23rd 2019 at 6:47:38 PM

So Fake Ansem continues to explain that Riku, over the course of his journey, became a Dream Eater to fend off the Nightmares that were attacking Sora. Which Sora was already doing for himself, but whatever. Point is, Sora unlocked the Sleeping Keyholes and Riku was nearby.

Fake Ansem then encourages Riku to use the Darkness to save Sora. But Riku's just like, "Bro, listen. I came on this trip 'cause I thought that the Darkness corrupted my Heart and made me unfit to wield a Keyblade. You're telling me to be more like you but, I mean, how does that help? You used to be a Keyblade Master, and it's not like you're fit to wield a Keyblade. If I'm wrong, manifest yours right now."

And Fake Ansem's like, "I, uh, I left it in my other bottomless void."

And Riku's all, "Thought so. While you're here, did you know that you look a lot like that Terra guy from when I was a kid? I never noticed that before."

And he's just like, "Uhh, yeah, I get that a lot. Don't look too deeply into that."

But Riku shrugs and is like, "Maybe that's why I liked you so much. But it turns out that you actually suck and I think we're done here. Wow! Man, that felt good to finally just say out loud!"

So Riku renounces his old "Twilight road to dawn" idea, instead boasting a new philosophy: "Consume the Darkness, return it to Light." He used to believe in that old Light/Darkness equal measure stuff but he just needed this talk to give him that last push in recognizing that the Darkness has nothing of value to offer. Now he is firmly on the side of Light. He's made a Job Change from Dark Knight to Paladin.

Riku battles Ansem, shouting at him, "You're a part of my Heart now! You belong to the Light!" In effect, Riku's flipping the table on Ansem. Ansem's been telling him, "Give in to Darkness. You belong to Darkness. All things are Darkness. Be here with me in Darkness."

But Riku's turned it on its head. Consume the Darkness, return it to Light. This is Fake Ansem's final fate. Terranort's Not-Exactly-Heartless tried to control Riku from within, and Riku consumed him. Imprisoned him in his Heart. And now he's returned him to the Light whence all things came.

What Riku's telling Ansem is that this is his future. He can rant and rave about the absolute perfection of Darkness but this is where he ends: purified by the cauldron of Riku's Heart. His Darkness is fated to be purged by Riku's Light.

"In your future and my past, I killed you." That's kind of the ultimate badass Shut Up, Hannibal! moment. Stone cold.

Ansem reacts violently to this, but it's nothing more than the wild, desperate flailing of a doomed soul. Riku doesn't need him anymore, a statement punctuated by his Keyblade.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 23rd 2019 at 11:09:16 AM

Our little boy's finally reached the end of the road.

Also, am I wrong or does Xehanort seek those with similar clothing tastes? Because those straps on Riku's shirt, are they also there on Terra's shirt and on Xehanort's?

Not a big fan of ditching the Dark/Light theme personally. It ruins Riku's fashion.

Personal interpretation and all, but I interpret that line as Riku still using the darkness, but recognizing the inherent danger involved in it and always making it a focus to use it only when he needs to, and immediately covering himself back up with light.

Kind of like if he had a fight similar to Roxas, and he did the Ansem darkness thing to beat that threat, and then upon winning surged the light through him as quickly as possible to protect himself.

Bold of you to assume any woman is worthy to stand by MX side as an equal Tobias.

Also that dialogue is in line with Dream Eaters. They consume bad darkness so people can live safely in the light. So that just reinforces Riku as Soras Dream Eater.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Apr 23rd 2019 at 10:51:56 AM