With all the titles that have been released it is possible to get the information mixed up. So I would like to take the time to go through the information chronologically and throw some of my personal theories in here of what I think the future holds for new titles in the series. This will contain major spoilers for those who haven't played Birth By Sleep or Coded yet.
Lets start with Birth By Sleep, it is the beginning of everything. Here we have the main antagonist of the story Master Xehanort. We know from the games story and secret reports within the game, that Master Xehanort wants to recreate the worlds, not one in which Light and Darkness are separate but as one in which they go hand in hand. I have to look at this and say you cant have one without the other, and maybe, it is separating them that has caused these events to take place, as the game states, the more light that shines the bigger the shadows get. We also see that he does not fear Darkness but believes that he can control it. We learn that in order to accomplish his goal the X-Blade must be created by one of two ways, recreate the Keyblade Wars, or have the Purest Light and Purest Darkness meet in combat. By the time he discoverers these things, he is already an old man, and now feels he does not have the time or power to achieve these goals. So he attempts to do things the quick way, while at the same time, planning to reacquire his youth.
His Machinations are achieved by one: Removing the Darkness from Ven's heart and creating a being of Darkness, Vanitas. This plan almost backfired as Ventu's heart could not handle the procedure and was dying. Xehanort took Ven to his home (through secret reports we learn Xehanort is from Destiny Island's, which to me seems like an interesting revelation, as our main heroes Sora and Riku are also from here.) to die. But is then surprised for we see here that Ven's heart at this point is connected to Sora's, saving it from shattering. Now once again seeing his plan possible he knows that Ven will not grow stronger in the light training with him and Vanitas, so he takes him to his friend and fellow Master, Master Eraqus who is training two pupils of his own, Terra and Aqua. It is also at this point in which Xehanort can see the possibility of his second plan to achieve his youth, in the form of Terra, who by his desire for power holds darkness in his heart. Darkness Xehanort plans to manipulate.
An unknown span of time takes place and Eraqus invites Xehanort to witness the Mark of Mastery exams to be given to Terra and Aqua, Ven not yet ready for the MoM.
Xehanort feels now is the time to act, and agrees to witness. He also brings up the point that he has seen the darkness in Terra's heart and suggest that they use the more traditional exam.
The exam takes place, with the results of Aqua receiving the MoM, and Terra failing due to being unable to keep his darkness in check during his sparing session with Aqua.
And it is here that the plans are truly set in motion.
The Unversed are released upon the worlds and as Keyblade wielders it is there sworn duty to protect the worlds, more specifically as Eraqus mentions the Princesses of Heart. He grants this task to Terra as an opportunity to show the MoM, he is granted with the task of destroying the Unversed and locating Master Xehanort who has disappeared.
These events we learn are controlled by Vanitas and Xehanort, who is manipulating Terra, in oder to make his darkness stronger, and Ven to make his Light Stronger.
We see the game ends up with these results. Xehanort has possessed Terra, and I also think that Xehanort has chosen multiple hosts, he tells Terra that he may be one of many roads he may choose to take. I also think this can be shown as Braig, who we see consorting with Xehanort to manipulate Terra more, had brown eyes before the final battle and Yellow eyes (the same as Xehanorts) during the final battle.
Ven heart has gone to sleep with the destruction of the X-Blade by himself. We also learn his heart actually resides in Sora.
Aqua has been trapped in the world of Darkness after turning the Land of Departure, into Castle Oblivion, a technique taught to her by her late master, Eraqus by using his keyblade, we see she leaves Ven's body here as only she can properly navigate the castle, others will get lost and loose memories. As we see time passes a little differently in the world of Darkness, shes been wondering through and ends up on the beach in which we see Sora an Riku at the end of KHII, where she meets Ansem the Wise, who tells her about the trouble the worlds have experienced and the Boy who has saved them. Sora.
And this is where we leave off.
We also learn a few details from the secret reports and Xehanorts knowledge.
There are three types of Keyblades, the first two being Keyblades of Light and Darkness, he states that these Keyblades are man made manifestations or counterparts of Kingdom Hearts itself.
The third being an ultimate Keyblade, not being a link to Kingdom Hearts but an equal in power co-existing with Kingdom Hearts, the X-Blade, which can only be created by Two Powers of Light and Darkness colliding.
We learn that the Keyblade can be passed down from Master to student, by way of Terra performing the Transference of Power ceremony on Riku.
And lastly we learn that there are different versions of Kingdom Hearts, the man made version can be made by the collection of hearts, this is the Kingdom Hearts we see in I and II. And the real version which appears over the collision of two powers of Light and Darkness.
The next title in line would be Kingdom Hearts.
In this title it is revealed that, Sora is the new chosen wielder of the Keyblade. While this is the first title not much is really known, we learn that Riku was
"meant" to be the keyblade wielder, and was passed over for opening his heart to darkness. And that Meleficent is trying to find Kingdom Hearts (who from Birth By Sleep we know she learned of its existence from Master Xehanort.) We also learn that Ansem Seeker of Darkness is looking for Kingdom Hearts as well. At the end of the game we see Kairi is a Princess of Heart (along with the other princesses of Disney).
And the game ends with Sora and gang defeating Ansem Seeker of Darkness, Riku being free of his possession gets locked in the world of Darkness with King Mickey, as Mickey and Sora lock the door together.
The worlds return to there previous state with the walls protecting them. (The walls set up after the keyblade war.)
Sora and the gang not being done with there journey continue on.
leading us to the next title in the series:
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories.
While we don't learn much in the way of the main story line in this title, we do learn of the Organization. And the occurrences take place in the Castle Oblivion, we now know the late Land of Departure, created by Master Aqua.
When we leave off in this game Sora slumbers to regain the memories that Namine messed up, the members of the Organization having been defeated by him, the real Riku who suddenly appeared there from the world of Darkness, and the Riku Replica created with false memories , by Vexen.
Chronologically the next game is Kingdom hearts 358/2 Days:
Featuring Roxas as the main character, we also don't learn much in the light of this story as well. It was mainly made to give more insight to favored character Roxas.
Who we know is Sora's Nobody, which is why he can wield the Keyblade.
Leading us into Kingdom Hearts II, which starts with the player controlling Roxas as well.
Who as the game progresses DiZ, is working to recombine Roxas with his Somebody Sora, so that Sora may awaken and defeat Organization XIII for DiZ.
In this game we learn of the creation of Nobody's, Organization XIII and there man made Kingdom Hearts.
It is also revealed that Xehanort, (the Xehanort we now know has possesed Terra) was the apprentice of the real Ansem, Ansem the Wise (DiZ), who after banishing Ansem to the world of Darkness, Xehanort took his name and threw the worlds into Darkness creating a massive influx of heartless and finding the hearts of worlds and sending them to Darkness.
We learn he was capable of this by turning himself into a heartless (Ansem Seeker of Darkness), as he had such a strong heart was able to retain his self and knowledge. It was this Xehanort (Xehanorts heartless) that was defeated in Kingdom Hearts I. And as we now also know when a person of strong heart is turned into a heartless a Nobody is created too. Thus the creation of Xemna, Xehanorts Nobody whom we defeat in Kingdom Hearts II.
We are left with Sora and Riku, both now wielders of the Keyblade, returning home to Destiny Islands. As we see they will not get to rest long, as we see Kairi deliver a letter from King Mickey, this letter (from Re Coded and Birth By Sleep) we learn tells Sora the story of Terra, Aqua and Ven and that he is the only one who can save everyone and bring peace once more to the worlds as he is the key that connects everything.
Next in line is Re Coded, where we see lost memories deep within Sora's heart become revealed in Jimminy's Journal. It also reminds Mickey of the adventures he had within the story of Birth By Sleep, so that he could pass along the story to the real Sora.
And thus for now this is all the info collected for Kingdom Hearts, now here is some info from myself that is speculation and also, fact. I have been mostly right about my theories within Kingdom Hearts so far. I predicted when the information first began coming out for KH II after we learned of Nobodys that the Blond Hair Kid (Roxas) was Sora's shell or nobody. A lot of people disagreed with me on this saying, he wields a keyblade and you have to have a heart to wield a keyblade. Well I also now think I can piece together (with the release of BBS) why this is possible. And in the long run I was right! I also was right when I predicted that Xehanort would Possess Terra, which people told me I was wrong about too.
The Ven, Sora, and Roxas connection:
We start with Ven, who connects his heart to Sora's, a special gift that many state Sora has. It is obviously special as he was just born when he connected his heart to Ven's. Then Ven's heart leaves his body putting him in a slumber, his heart needing somewhere to go, resides within Sora who he has shared a connection with. It is my theory that this in its self caused the transference of power that granted Sora his keyblade. I do believe that the keyblade Sora wields is different from the keyblade that Riku was meant to wield, and Riku was just not strong enough to wield it till he could get his darkness equal with his light. Now when Sora released his heart in Kingdom Hearts one, to save and return Kairi's heart to her, was when Roxas was created. Now here is my theory, through the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II, and more so in 358/2 days the question of does Roxas actually have a heart arises. The reason being is he acts differently than other Nobody's, actually showing capability of feelings. Also, the normal Nobody's remember things from there past life and Roxas doesn't. Here is my theory. When Sora's Nobody was created, a portion or all of Ven's heart was taken with the "shell" of Sora's body, which is why Roxas looks exactly like Ven. This trauma causing the memory loss and the ability of Roxas to wield Sora's keyblade. Notice he did not wield Ven's, I think Ven's heart is no longer strong enough to wield his blade. But this also raises the question, Xemnas, the nobody of Xehanort a Keyblade master does not wield, either his keyblade or Terra's? I believe that Sora's blade is also special, after the reveal of the X-Blade we see it is made up of two identical keyblades criss-crossing. These keyblades look just like Sora's, the reason being I think is, when the X-Blade shattered the two blades actually separated. I believe that Sora, received one half while the other resides in Ven's heart.
My theory for the future:
It is my belief that in KH III a few things will happen. I think first that Sora and Riku will find the lost Master Aqua, as she is needed to correctly navigate Castle Oblivion. While at the same time protecting the worlds from Darkness once more. Then, I believe that we will in the long run face many different forms of Master Xehanort. This coming from the idea that he stated to Terra in BBS secret movie, that he maybe one of many paths he may choose to take. Also Master Yen Sid, states that he fears with the destruction of Heartless Xehanort and Nobody Xehanort, that the true Xehanort will return and Sora will not have to face one but many of him, my example being Braig from BbS, who had yellow eyes matching Xehanorts at the end of the game. Resulting in defeat of Master Xehanort, and the freeing of Terra from his control. After this is done it is my belief that Aqua will then take you to Castle Oblivion to free Ven.
Nomura has stated that Kingdom Hearts III will be the end of what he has dubbed the Xehanort Saga, but the story will not end there. He also states that Kingdom Hearts will forever remain Sora's story, so we will never have another main hero other than him.
This has led me to believe that Xehanort was not alone in his actions, it also brings up a question of the possibility of Vanitas not truly being defeated?
But one thing is for sure Sora is special, his keyblade is special and has been told by an unknown voice that he will be the one to open the door to light...
Monday, September 19, 2011
New and Hinted at upcoming titles for Kingdom Hearts
While many fans cry out for Kingdom Hearts III, it seems our cries are falling on deaf ears. Since Kingdom Hearts II was out in 2005 no news of production on Kingdom Hearts III has ever been stated. Nomura the director of the games stated that he has stories that he would like to get out before III is released. He states that these stories are meant to give much needed answers to questions left over from previous titles, in order to give Kingdom Hearts III the story and game play it deserves. And yet it has been stated by many a fan, they don't care about side stories, a majority of them don't play them.
Another fact to take into consideration is that Nomura has many projects going on at once right now, and the team that is set for working on Kingdom Hearts III is currently working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
My personal opinion, while they may not be numbered titles in the main game. They are important to the main story line. I personally don't mind a break from the main titles, but I would also at least like to know that its being worked on so I have something to look forward to in the future. There was a five year span from KH I release and KH II. Its now been six years since KH II and no knowledge of KH III even being in the works, its possible we could see the next title 3 to 4 years from now!!! And I do believe that if you make fans wait long enough, only satiating and teasing there hunger for more, with side stories your going to loose some of your fan base.
With that being said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel of awaiting to hear information on KH III. One Final Fantasy Versus XIII has entered full production and should be released within the next year. That being said Nomura has stated that team will be working on KH III.
Two, in reading an Interview with him, he has stated that there a two Kingdom Hearts titles that will be released before KH III.
One of those titles has already been confirmed and is set for the Spring of 2012 in Japan.
With the release of the Nintendo 3DS, Nomura really wanted a title to be released for this system, and with the Tokyo Game Show occurring this last weekend we have learned quite of bit of info from this title.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (also known as Kingdom Hearts 3D) is the next known title.
This game features Sora and Riku, as Yen Sid (as we have learned in Birth By Sleep was once a Keyblade Master) will be giving Sora and Riku there Mark of Mastery exams, fearing (as we learned from the secret movie in Re Coded), that Sora and Riku will face not one but many Master Xehanort's.
What we know of this game so far, Sora and Riku will travel to the world of sleep to earn there Mark of Mastery (MoM). And while they are in the world of sleep we have a new enemy for them to face. The Dream Eaters.
This game is also said to lead up directly to Kingdom Hearts III.
Not much else is known at this time, we know you can play as Sora and Riku, and that the story will fluctuate between the two. It will also feature a character from another Square title for the Nintendo DS called The World Ends with You, in Japan known as Its a Wonderful World. KH 3D will feature that games main character Neku.
Sora and Riku will have new duds, and also will be fighting alongside dream monsters.
Here are some images from this title:
Another fact to take into consideration is that Nomura has many projects going on at once right now, and the team that is set for working on Kingdom Hearts III is currently working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
My personal opinion, while they may not be numbered titles in the main game. They are important to the main story line. I personally don't mind a break from the main titles, but I would also at least like to know that its being worked on so I have something to look forward to in the future. There was a five year span from KH I release and KH II. Its now been six years since KH II and no knowledge of KH III even being in the works, its possible we could see the next title 3 to 4 years from now!!! And I do believe that if you make fans wait long enough, only satiating and teasing there hunger for more, with side stories your going to loose some of your fan base.
With that being said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel of awaiting to hear information on KH III. One Final Fantasy Versus XIII has entered full production and should be released within the next year. That being said Nomura has stated that team will be working on KH III.
Two, in reading an Interview with him, he has stated that there a two Kingdom Hearts titles that will be released before KH III.
One of those titles has already been confirmed and is set for the Spring of 2012 in Japan.
With the release of the Nintendo 3DS, Nomura really wanted a title to be released for this system, and with the Tokyo Game Show occurring this last weekend we have learned quite of bit of info from this title.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (also known as Kingdom Hearts 3D) is the next known title.
This game features Sora and Riku, as Yen Sid (as we have learned in Birth By Sleep was once a Keyblade Master) will be giving Sora and Riku there Mark of Mastery exams, fearing (as we learned from the secret movie in Re Coded), that Sora and Riku will face not one but many Master Xehanort's.
What we know of this game so far, Sora and Riku will travel to the world of sleep to earn there Mark of Mastery (MoM). And while they are in the world of sleep we have a new enemy for them to face. The Dream Eaters.
This game is also said to lead up directly to Kingdom Hearts III.
Not much else is known at this time, we know you can play as Sora and Riku, and that the story will fluctuate between the two. It will also feature a character from another Square title for the Nintendo DS called The World Ends with You, in Japan known as Its a Wonderful World. KH 3D will feature that games main character Neku.
Sora and Riku will have new duds, and also will be fighting alongside dream monsters.
Here are some images from this title:
An image released featuring Sora and Riku in there new duds, and a couple of the Dream monsters that will fight alongside you in the world of sleep. My question being, if they are older at the end of Kingdom Hearts II and are taking there MoM at this time, why in the world do they look younger!!!! I have to say that i do enjoy Riku's hair being short instead of the girlie long that he had before.
A promotional poster featuring Nomura artwork for Kingdom Hearts 3D.
So there is one of the two new titles. While the other has not been announced yet, we do have an idea of what this game maybe. With the release of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix, in the extended secret movie it is revealed that Birth By Sleep was numbered 0.5. Nomura when the game first came out stated that Birth By Sleep should be considered a numbered title in the series, it would be titled Kingdom Hearts Zero, as it is the beginning of everything (somewhat disappointing fans who would like to see what occurred during the Keyblade Wars thousands of years previous). Birth By Sleep Final Mix hinted at the fact that there may be a sequel to this awesome title, at the end even showing a title of Birth By Sleep Volume Two!
I myself would be super excited for a sequel to this title, as it has become my favorite title (followed closely in second by KH II). And with the events as they took place in BbS, it can only feature so many characters, Aqua for sure (my new fave character) and more than likely King Mickey.
While this has not been confirmed as the other title (although the other title was supposed to be announced at Tokyo Game Show this year, which if I can say, TGS was totally lacking in information this year, usually its awesome and they give tons of info on there upcoming projects and what not. This year was totally lame!) I myself don't see any other possibility, if KH3D leads right up to KH III, and there is one more title to come out before KH III, and BbS vol 2 is the only one that has been hinted at...
Well as its not a confirmed title , there are no images to be had sorry.
So next up an analysis of KH as it stands so far...
Picture Time! Images from ReCoded
A in game screen of Data Riku (the Journal)
The cover of Re Coded.
In game graphics, as you can see, the game play graphics for the DS are really no where near where they should be and I believe dont acuratly capture teh beatuy of this game.
In game screen of Data Sora as he enters the Library in Disney Castle to save Mickey and the others from the Heartless.
There are not to many images to be shared from this game, alot of what was used was recycled from previous titles.
Next up New and Hinted Titles.
Latest title Released Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded
Originally released for cell phones in Japan only, American fans were surprised to learn that Kingdom Hearts: Coded would be coming to the states in the form of Kingdom Hearts ReCoded, for the Nintendo DS.
This game takes place right where KHII left off, but from King Mickeys point of view.
Characters
Like previous Kingdom Hearts titles, Recoded features numerous Disney characters. Some characters include King Mickey, Pluto, Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Goofy, and the Heartless. Sora does not appear as we know him, the game focus is on a digitalized reality of Jimminy Crickets Journal, there for Sora that players controll is not actually him but a digitalized version of him. As such its is also from Jimminy's Journal from the first game, and the duplicate one that was erased (Chain of Memories) with only thank Namine in it.
Riku, also appears as a digital apparition.
Plot
In the aftermath of Kingdom Hearts II, Jiminy Cricket is organizing his journals and is still curious of the "Thank Naminé" line, finding another strange line which he didn't remember retrieving. To investigate this second message, King Mickey has Chip and Dale digitize the contents of the journal, only to find the datascape filled with "bugs", which take the form of red and black blox. To deal with the bugs, Mickey has a virtual Sora deal with the bugs and the digitized Heartless as he traverses to other worlds to return them to normal. But a mysterious cloaked figure appears in the infected worlds, prompting Sora to follow him upon orders from King Mickey as Heartless suddenly appear in Disney Castle with him, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy trapped in the room.
To their surprise, they are saved by Data Sora as the cloaked figure reveals himself to a virtual Riku who became the vessel to the uncorrupted data of Jiminy's journal, thus becoming the Journal itself, explaining how he imported Mickey and the others into datascape, unable to send them back to their world as hacking occurred. Sora sets off to give Mickey's group the means to return to their world, only to encounter Pete who also got digitized while spying on Mickey under orders from Maleficent who also arrives to make use of the datascape. Maleficent destroys Data Sora's Keyblade and summons Heartless to attack him as Mickey and the Journal save him before Maleficent spirits the latter away. Sora makes his way through Hollow Bastion, aided by Donald and Goofy. They encounter Pete, who traps the two before Sora, having evolved to more than just data, conjures the Keyblade. After defeating Pete, Sora faces the bug-infected Journal and manages to defeat him as he goes unconscious until the bugs are removed from him.
Mickey arrives and informs Sora that unless the bugs are destroyed, the Journal will never awaken. Sora decides to find a way to awaken the Journal, and enters Riku's datascape, losing his abilities in the process. The two visit various worlds from the Data Riku's memory and manage to eliminate the bugs before Sora finds his way back to Hollow Bastion and defeats Maleficent. After being returned to their world, Mickey discovers that once the Journal is restored, Data Sora's memories would be reset as if nothing had ever happened. However, Sora requests to save Pete and Maleficent, who are still in the data world. Sora finds them fighting a Darkside that seemingly erased them. Identified by the Journal to be a digitized version of Sora's Heartless, that evolved from feeding on the bugs and Heartless to the point that it now desires to enter the real world. Sora defeats his Heartless with Mickey's help, and finds out that Pete and Maleficent were rescued by the Journal through a "rift in the data". The villains and Mickey are then taken out of the datascape before it resets, with the Journal finding a new door to a new world. Mickey, realizing that this quest may be too dangerous for Data Sora as he has no memory of it, requests to be taken into the datascape once again.
Finding Data Sora in Traverse Town, Mickey takes him to Castle Oblivion where Data Sora is confronted by a young man wearing a black coat. He tells Sora that if he wants to know the truth, he must move forward on his own through the previous worlds he visited destroying bugs, losing his memory of his time there the moment he leave the floor. During this time, Data Sora realizes that even if he doesn't remember someone he's met, there's still the sadness of having forgotten them which the figure attempts to warn not to let it consume him. Sora disregards this message, as the pain is the only ties to those he has forgotten, and fights the figure, revealed to be a data incarnation of Roxas assigned to test Sora's worth. After losing to Sora and accepting the hurt, Roxas gives him a card and fades into the boy before Mickey appears. Sora opens the next door to find a data-based Naminé, revealing the bugs to have been an unintentional side effect of the real Naminé finding a mysterious set of memories during her restoration of Sora's memories. She then reveals Sora's nature as the "key that connects everything" through his ties with herself, Roxas, Xion, and Axel. Furthermore, as she would soon cease to be upon fulfilling her objective, Data Naminé tells Data Sora about three other figures (Terra, Aqua and Ven) also tied to Sora's heart who need his help. Mickey bids farewell to Data Sora and promises Data Naminé that he will inform the real Sora of this. In the final scene, he does it by sending Sora a bottled letter, containing the message found after the end-credits in Kingdom Hearts II.
In a secret ending exclusive to Re:coded, Mickey meets with Yen Sid to discuss their ongoing search for Terra, having a good idea where Ventus and Aqua are located. However, Yen Sid also presents a shocking revelation that the destruction of "Ansem" and Xemnas has restored Xehanort, and not just "a single one of him", which will also inevitably lead to the return of Master Xehanort. Fearing that one Keyblade Master alone will not be enough to counter the threat, Yen Sid orders Mickey to summon Sora and Riku to him, intending to put them through the Mark of Mastery exam to make them full-fledged Keyblade Masters in order to properly combat Master Xehanort.
This game was long and taxing, but fun and a nice filler to wait for other games. While I personally feel, that its is time to move forward with the series, I am a little over side stories that feature Sora in his KHI garb. And in that same aspect, KHIII is long past overdue.
Next up Picture Time, Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded. Followed by a review of new and hinted at titles within the series. Then I will analyze the continuing story of Kingdom Hearts.
This game takes place right where KHII left off, but from King Mickeys point of view.
Characters
Like previous Kingdom Hearts titles, Recoded features numerous Disney characters. Some characters include King Mickey, Pluto, Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Goofy, and the Heartless. Sora does not appear as we know him, the game focus is on a digitalized reality of Jimminy Crickets Journal, there for Sora that players controll is not actually him but a digitalized version of him. As such its is also from Jimminy's Journal from the first game, and the duplicate one that was erased (Chain of Memories) with only thank Namine in it.
Riku, also appears as a digital apparition.
Plot
In the aftermath of Kingdom Hearts II, Jiminy Cricket is organizing his journals and is still curious of the "Thank Naminé" line, finding another strange line which he didn't remember retrieving. To investigate this second message, King Mickey has Chip and Dale digitize the contents of the journal, only to find the datascape filled with "bugs", which take the form of red and black blox. To deal with the bugs, Mickey has a virtual Sora deal with the bugs and the digitized Heartless as he traverses to other worlds to return them to normal. But a mysterious cloaked figure appears in the infected worlds, prompting Sora to follow him upon orders from King Mickey as Heartless suddenly appear in Disney Castle with him, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy trapped in the room.
To their surprise, they are saved by Data Sora as the cloaked figure reveals himself to a virtual Riku who became the vessel to the uncorrupted data of Jiminy's journal, thus becoming the Journal itself, explaining how he imported Mickey and the others into datascape, unable to send them back to their world as hacking occurred. Sora sets off to give Mickey's group the means to return to their world, only to encounter Pete who also got digitized while spying on Mickey under orders from Maleficent who also arrives to make use of the datascape. Maleficent destroys Data Sora's Keyblade and summons Heartless to attack him as Mickey and the Journal save him before Maleficent spirits the latter away. Sora makes his way through Hollow Bastion, aided by Donald and Goofy. They encounter Pete, who traps the two before Sora, having evolved to more than just data, conjures the Keyblade. After defeating Pete, Sora faces the bug-infected Journal and manages to defeat him as he goes unconscious until the bugs are removed from him.
Mickey arrives and informs Sora that unless the bugs are destroyed, the Journal will never awaken. Sora decides to find a way to awaken the Journal, and enters Riku's datascape, losing his abilities in the process. The two visit various worlds from the Data Riku's memory and manage to eliminate the bugs before Sora finds his way back to Hollow Bastion and defeats Maleficent. After being returned to their world, Mickey discovers that once the Journal is restored, Data Sora's memories would be reset as if nothing had ever happened. However, Sora requests to save Pete and Maleficent, who are still in the data world. Sora finds them fighting a Darkside that seemingly erased them. Identified by the Journal to be a digitized version of Sora's Heartless, that evolved from feeding on the bugs and Heartless to the point that it now desires to enter the real world. Sora defeats his Heartless with Mickey's help, and finds out that Pete and Maleficent were rescued by the Journal through a "rift in the data". The villains and Mickey are then taken out of the datascape before it resets, with the Journal finding a new door to a new world. Mickey, realizing that this quest may be too dangerous for Data Sora as he has no memory of it, requests to be taken into the datascape once again.
Finding Data Sora in Traverse Town, Mickey takes him to Castle Oblivion where Data Sora is confronted by a young man wearing a black coat. He tells Sora that if he wants to know the truth, he must move forward on his own through the previous worlds he visited destroying bugs, losing his memory of his time there the moment he leave the floor. During this time, Data Sora realizes that even if he doesn't remember someone he's met, there's still the sadness of having forgotten them which the figure attempts to warn not to let it consume him. Sora disregards this message, as the pain is the only ties to those he has forgotten, and fights the figure, revealed to be a data incarnation of Roxas assigned to test Sora's worth. After losing to Sora and accepting the hurt, Roxas gives him a card and fades into the boy before Mickey appears. Sora opens the next door to find a data-based Naminé, revealing the bugs to have been an unintentional side effect of the real Naminé finding a mysterious set of memories during her restoration of Sora's memories. She then reveals Sora's nature as the "key that connects everything" through his ties with herself, Roxas, Xion, and Axel. Furthermore, as she would soon cease to be upon fulfilling her objective, Data Naminé tells Data Sora about three other figures (Terra, Aqua and Ven) also tied to Sora's heart who need his help. Mickey bids farewell to Data Sora and promises Data Naminé that he will inform the real Sora of this. In the final scene, he does it by sending Sora a bottled letter, containing the message found after the end-credits in Kingdom Hearts II.
In a secret ending exclusive to Re:coded, Mickey meets with Yen Sid to discuss their ongoing search for Terra, having a good idea where Ventus and Aqua are located. However, Yen Sid also presents a shocking revelation that the destruction of "Ansem" and Xemnas has restored Xehanort, and not just "a single one of him", which will also inevitably lead to the return of Master Xehanort. Fearing that one Keyblade Master alone will not be enough to counter the threat, Yen Sid orders Mickey to summon Sora and Riku to him, intending to put them through the Mark of Mastery exam to make them full-fledged Keyblade Masters in order to properly combat Master Xehanort.
This game was long and taxing, but fun and a nice filler to wait for other games. While I personally feel, that its is time to move forward with the series, I am a little over side stories that feature Sora in his KHI garb. And in that same aspect, KHIII is long past overdue.
Next up Picture Time, Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded. Followed by a review of new and hinted at titles within the series. Then I will analyze the continuing story of Kingdom Hearts.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Picture Time! Images from Birth By Sleep
CG promo art of our trio, features Terra, Aqua and Ven in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Character render of Terra, was designed to look similar to Xehanort that we came to know as the villain of the first two titles.
Terra with his Keyblade.
Artwork of Terra, design Nomura.
Original Character concept of Terra.
Terra's Keyblade. Earth Shaker.
Terra's Keyblade Glider (the main mode of transportation for the heroes in BBS)
Terra's protective armor, keeps him safe from the darkness in space while traveling between the worlds.
Character render Aqua, the only known female Keyblade Master.
Original art of Aqua, Nomura designed her outfit to be backless originally, but Disney had an issue with showing to much back? I know right :P So he changed it.
Original CG model of Aquas head.
Aquas armor for traveling in space.
Artwork of Aqua with Keyblade Rainfell.
Aqua's Keyblade Glider for travel.
CG image of Aqua from opening movie.
Character render of Ventus, as you see Roxas is identical to him. I will be doing a completely separate post for the Ven, Sora and Roxas connection.
Original artwork of Ventus design by Nomura.
Artwork of Ventus for the Station of Awakening.
Ven's Keyblade Glider for travel.
Ven's armor for travel in space.
The top of the tower in the Station of Awakening where Ven and Vanitas Fight.
The Land of Departure.
Character render of Master Eraqus, who is actually voiced by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, and Joker for the animated Batman's).
Original concept art of Master Eraqus.
Master Eraqus' armor they added as a boss fight in BBS Final Mix.
In game cut scene of Master Eraqus, remembering that Xehanort gave him the scars on his face.
Character render of Master Xehanort, voiced by Leonard Nemoy (Spock, the original Star Trek series). As you can see much older than the villains faced in KH and KH II.
CG image of Xehanort from opening movie.
Xehanorts Keyblade if you notice holds the same "eye" that was on Riku's Soul Eater and Way to Dawn Keyblades.
Vanitas, wanting to keep what he looked like a secret till the end, he was designed with a helmet. Notice the outfit is very similar to the one Riku wore when possessed by Ansem in KH. I think the connection is it may be an outfit that Xehanort passes along to his "dark" apprentices.
After a big reveal we see Sora's face on Vanitas! This was explained as Vanitas looked like Ven, until Sora connected his heart to Ven's then he looked like Sora. If Ven had connected his heart to Riku, Vanitas would have looked like Riku.
Soldier of Radiant Garden, this is Braig, the man who worked with Xehanort.
Braigs Nobody, Xigbar.
Guard of the Castle, Aeleus from Radiant Garden.
Lexaeus, Nobody of Aeleus.
Second guard of the Castle, Dilan of Radient Garden.
Dilan's Nobody, Xaldin.
Apprentice scientist of Ansem, Even.
Even's Nobody Vexen.
Apprentice to Ansem, and youngest member Ienzo of Radiant Garden.
Original Concept art of Ienzo.
Ienzo's Nobody, Zexion.
Citizen of Radiant Garden, Isa. Best friend to Lea.
Isa original concept art.
Isa's Nobody, Saix.
Citizen of Radiant Garden, Lea. Best friends with Isa, and makes friends with Ven as well.
Lea's Nobody, Axel.
King Mickey, appears in his KHII outfit but with no color. Also show wielding a different Keyblade. This Keyblade was bestowed upon Mickey by Yen Sid.
Master Eraqus' Keyblade, later belongs to Aqua.
Young Sora.
Young Riku.
Young Kairi.
Transference of Power ritual performed by Terra on Riku. As you see it appears it is simply done by allowing someone to hold the Keyblade, (if this is true Sora has let quite a few people hold his, maybe his is special?).
CG of the Keyblade Graveyard.
Young Kairi seen here touching Aqua's Keyblade, allowing her to wield the one she wields in KH II?
The sought after X-Blade, as you can see it is made up of two cris-crossing Keyblades identical to Sora's. After it shattered did these two split? Sora holding one and the other belonging to Ven? (a theory I have).
A boss battle added to BBS Final Mix, it is assumed that this is what Xehanorts armor looked like. The Boss is titled No Heart.
Promotional artwork featuring, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Xehanort and Vanitas.
The image seen in the beginning of the game of Young Xehanort on Destiny Island.
Sora, accepting Ven's heart to reside within him.
A strange monster believed to be by some important to the whole story, that Aqua faces in a special episode added in Final Mix.
In game shot of Master Armor boss fight in Final Mix.
Wow, long picture time, well hope y'all enjoyed. If you haven't played Birth By Sleep yet cause your "tired of KH side stories" pick it up it will fulfill your need for a KH game for a while.
Next up Kingdom Hearts ReCoded.
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