All Our ______, Gone?

[rionaleonhart]

In taking breaks from revision for the overly-weighted Literature exam that looms like a great terrifying monster in front of the summer holidays (all these lectures on postmodernism and I swear I still don't know what it means), I have started a new game of Kingdom Hearts II. Here are some thoughts on replaying the ridiculously long introduction!


KINGDOM HEARTS II: WHAT DID YOU DO TO SETZER? I don't remember the 'Setzer is a stereotypical vain dishonourable silver-haired villain' part of Final Fantasy VI! I have no idea why I didn't complain about his portrayal the first time I played the game!

(I do have a certain fondness for Hip Young Seifer and his posse, though. The Seifer of Final Fantasy VIII would probably run the Kingdom Hearts development team through if he knew how he'd been portrayed, but he is just so ridiculous that I can't dislike him. And he keeps his Final Fantasy VIII battle stance! Also, Young Fujin is terribly cute.

Something to ponder: in the Kingdom Hearts universe, where did Leon and Hip Young Seifer's scars come from?)


Hip Young Seifer: Why does looking at you always tick me off?
Roxas: I don't know. Maybe it's destiny?

Roxas, are you - are you flirting with Hip Young Seifer? Because I think Hip Young Seifer has made it fairly clear that he would not be interested in a relationship with you.

Actually, I'm quite interested in the relationship between Team Roxas and Team Hip Young Seifer. They insult each other and grumble about each other and fight, and yet the two groups seem to have an odd sort of friendship, or at least a potential friendship. Perhaps it's just the way Seifer keeps turning up to say HEY, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU GUYS but I just came over to say hi.

('That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers' is still one of my favourite videogame lines ever. Oh, Hip Young Seifer.)



I am so, so charmed by the friendship between Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette. THEY ARE SO CUTE. They share everything! They fight and Roxas is upset and then they speak before the Struggle and Roxas realises that Hayner still loves him! Hayner catches Roxas' wrist to keep him from running onto the train tracks and says 'Um, you'll get hurt' and it is so adorable and so sad and oh, Roxas and his friends and my heart.


The introduction of Kingdom Hearts II takes even longer than I remembered, and I remember it taking a really freaking long time.

It is also much, much sadder than I remembered. Oh, Roxas! Roxas and his friends, who love him and whom he loves and who were never truly a part of his life! Roxas slowly losing his mind and his identity! It is so tragic!

And then, as if that's not enough, there's the story of Axel and Roxas. ROXAS IS ALREADY LOSING ONE SET OF FRIENDS, BUT DON'T THINK SQUARE IS GOING TO STOP THERE. And then there's the little 'Nobody would miss me.' 'That's not true. I would' flashback scene, and oh. Who says Nobodies can't feel emotions?

(I could barely cope when Sora woke up and saw Donald and Goofy and started happily gambolling around with them. SORA. A GUY JUST LOST HIS FRIENDS AND HIS IDENTITY AND HIS ENTIRE LIFE TO WAKE YOU UP. I KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW THAT, BUT YOU SHOULDN'T BE SKIPPING HAPPILY AROUND.)


Something I didn't notice on my first playthrough: when you're running around in the white mansion room, the floor is so highly polished that everything in the room is reflected in it.

Except Roxas.

STOP BREAKING MY HEART, ROXAS.

Comments

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

"all these lectures on postmodernism and I swear I still don't know what it means"

Ugh, postmodernism. Give me books with an actual plot any day of the week! Postmodernism with its stream of consciousness and characters who sit around thinking and talking about stuff can go away a lot.

"Perhaps it's just the way Seifer keeps turning up to say HEY, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU GUYS but I just came over to say hi."

Y'mean like he does with Squall? And then goes on about destiny and stuff? I think that might just be Seifer's way of flirting with people.

Also, I have beaten the Elite Four and Gary in Pokemon Red! I feel very accomplished.

[rionaleonhart]

I thought the stream of consciousness was just modernism, rather than postmodernism. OH, I DON'T KNOW. I hate whatever git decided to name the movements 'modernism' and 'postmodernism'. FIRSTLY: THEY ARE STUPID NAMES, BECAUSE THE AGE IN WHICH THESE MOVEMENTS TOOK PLACE IS NOT ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE MODERN AGE. ALSO, YOU'VE BASICALLY LOCKED YOURSELF INTO CALLING ALL FUTURE MOVEMENTS 'POSTPOSTMODERNISM' AND 'POSTPOSTPOSTMODERNISM'. SECONDLY: THE NAMES ARE SO SIMILAR THAT I GET THEM CONFUSED ALL THE TIME.

Y'mean like he does with Squall? And then goes on about destiny and stuff? I think that might just be Seifer's way of flirting with people.

Ahahaha, quite possibly! (I may actually have found myself 'shipping Seifer/Hayner a little, with their weird 'I VIOLENTLY DISLIKE YOU, LET'S HANG OUT' dynamic. There is a part of me that wants to write it. That's another to add to the list of Things I Really Shouldn't Be Doing Until My Exams Are Over.)

Congratulations! You are now a Pokémon master! (It always annoyed me that nobody but Professor Oak ever congratulated you on it. You'd think your mum would mention it, at least.)

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

I know a guy who does his PhD on postmodernism and Oscar Wilde, and I think he's trying to prove you can't use postmodern analysis on Oscar Wilde, or something. I don't know, I lost interest when postmodernism got involved, and then I go and read prose written before 1900 (it had a plot! Things actually happen!). And yeah, what will the age after postmodernism be called? Supermodernism? Hypermodernism?

"You'd think your mum would mention it, at least."

She's probably a lot like Ash's mum from the anime, who was all 'you won a trophy! Excellent, I shall use it as a weight when I exercise!' I'm not surprised Ash left home.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Also, I have found the perfect Pokemon for Richard Hammond:

Taillow (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Taillow_(Pokémon)).

"Much like other small bird Pokémon like Pidgey, Spearow and Starly, they congregate in big flocks looking for food to eat. Unlike the more docile Pidgey, they are very brave for such small Pokémon, and will even stand up to much larger Pokémon. However, they tend to balk when they are hungry and they dislike cold climates. So they tend to migrate to look for food and warm weather."

It even has a special ability called Guts, which means its Attack goes up if it has a status ailment. It becomes fightier when weakened! It's Richard in Pokemon form!

[rionaleonhart]

My goodness, that is the perfect Hammond Pokémon! I'm quite fond of Taillow, too; I had a Swellow in my Sapphire team, before the cartridge decided that it didn't want to save any more (STOP DOING THAT, POKÉMON CARTRIDGES).

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

I quite like Zigzagoon, its attacks are good AND it picks up random things! I also like the Wingull, because that way I have a Water Gun along with my Torchic, and with Ralts you get a Psychic Pokemon, and Pokemon that can do Confusion are always win. Always.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

Aw, it's tiny and fighty! It's got wings configured for speed and maneuverability! It only eats three things!

"What I lack in size, I make up with guts!"

It just needs a suspiciously shiny beak and well-groomed feathers, and it's perfect!

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Well, there do exist shiny Pokemon (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shiny_pokemon).

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

That explains it.

Also, the next evolution up is apparently very proud of their plumage, and prone to incessant preening. Which means Richard's obviously a shiny version of a Taillow, pretending to be a Swellow by preening so people will think he's bigger than he is.

(Or possibly not a Pokemon at all, but that would be boring, and is therefore obviously untrue.)

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

You know, the similarities just keep piling up like this, I'm almost thinking the Pokemon creators are sneaky Top Gear fans.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

One would hope. Everyone needs to be a Top Gear fan. (Except my mother, who doesn't like it for some reason.)

[rionaleonhart]

I just noticed 'Although it is small, it is very courageous. It will take on a larger Skarmory on an equal footing.'

Were Hammond a tiny bird, he would totally fight a Skarmory.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Were Hammond a tiny bird, he would fight anything, including a Snorlax or an Onix, or both at the same time.