A couple of days ago, I looked at images of Axel, Roxas and Xion until I eventually snapped and started making SOUNDS OF HORRIBLE PAIN in my throat. MORE LIKE KINGDOM BREAKING MY HEART.
I am shocked and appalled that the HD remake of the 358/2 Days cutscenes cuts out the scene with Axel trying to explain love to Roxas on Day 171, i.e. the best conversation in the entire game.
( Axel and Roxas discuss love. )
It's an all-round lovely scene, and 'there aren't steps' is a sentiment I wouldn't mind seeing more often. And they cut it out! I tried to look the HD version up specifically to see this one scene! How could you do this to me, Square?
I've had Kingdom Hearts on my mind lately because I received Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD Remix for Christmas, meaning I'm now actually playing through Birth by Sleep for the first time (although I did watch all the cutscenes a couple of years ago). Everything is still horribly tragic. Aqua and Utena still need to meet (she would strike such awe into Utena's heart!). I'm still 'shipping Terra/Cinderella quite a lot more than I probably should.
Important gameplay note: in Birth by Sleep, you can collect sparkly stickers from different worlds and then put them in an album. This feature allows you to put a sparkly chipmunk on Ven's head. This feature should be included in every single game. (Obviously you can only put a chipmunk sticker on the image of Ven's head in the album, so it's not quite as great as the accessory system in Lightning Returns, which allows you to put a miniature Chocobo on Lightning's actual head.)
Second important gameplay note: as if Finny Fun weren't enough, this game features a rhythm-action minigame set to 'It's a Small World After All'.
We still don't really know any details about Kingdom Hearts III, but I'm getting increasingly excited about it. Here are some of the things I want to see:
- A Sora-Riku-Kairi party! This would be delightful. I don't want Donald and Goofy to be forgotten, but I really, really want Riku and Kairi to be my party members at some point.
- No solid establishment of Sora/Kairi as a romance. (Or Riku/Kairi, or indeed Sora/Riku, much though I love it, but I think Sora/Kairi is the biggest threat here.) I've always loved how Kingdom Hearts is first and foremost about friendship; there are no canonically established couples in the original cast, and I'd like it to stay that way. Although I'm a complete hypocrite, because I suspect I'd be fine with Sora/Riku/Kairi. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED HOW KINGDOM HEARTS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST ABOUT THREESOMES, APPARENTLY.
- Frozen and Tangled worlds! I think there's a good chance that we might actually get these.
- There is, on the other hand, next to no chance that we'll visit the Shibuya of The World Ends With You, but I still want it.
- We may well get some Final Fantasy XIII characters! Kingdom Hearts can do some odd things with the Final Fantasy characters it gets its hands on (SETZER IS NOTHING LIKE THAT), but I'd like to see a Kingdom Hearts interpretation of my favourite Final Fantasy cast anyway.
- WAIT. BALTHIER AND FRAN. I can't believe I forgot about these two! Can we have Balthier and Fran? This would be the best.
I am shocked and appalled that the HD remake of the 358/2 Days cutscenes cuts out the scene with Axel trying to explain love to Roxas on Day 171, i.e. the best conversation in the entire game.
( Axel and Roxas discuss love. )It's an all-round lovely scene, and 'there aren't steps' is a sentiment I wouldn't mind seeing more often. And they cut it out! I tried to look the HD version up specifically to see this one scene! How could you do this to me, Square?
I've had Kingdom Hearts on my mind lately because I received Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD Remix for Christmas, meaning I'm now actually playing through Birth by Sleep for the first time (although I did watch all the cutscenes a couple of years ago). Everything is still horribly tragic. Aqua and Utena still need to meet (she would strike such awe into Utena's heart!). I'm still 'shipping Terra/Cinderella quite a lot more than I probably should.
Important gameplay note: in Birth by Sleep, you can collect sparkly stickers from different worlds and then put them in an album. This feature allows you to put a sparkly chipmunk on Ven's head. This feature should be included in every single game. (Obviously you can only put a chipmunk sticker on the image of Ven's head in the album, so it's not quite as great as the accessory system in Lightning Returns, which allows you to put a miniature Chocobo on Lightning's actual head.)
Second important gameplay note: as if Finny Fun weren't enough, this game features a rhythm-action minigame set to 'It's a Small World After All'.
We still don't really know any details about Kingdom Hearts III, but I'm getting increasingly excited about it. Here are some of the things I want to see:
- A Sora-Riku-Kairi party! This would be delightful. I don't want Donald and Goofy to be forgotten, but I really, really want Riku and Kairi to be my party members at some point.
- No solid establishment of Sora/Kairi as a romance. (Or Riku/Kairi, or indeed Sora/Riku, much though I love it, but I think Sora/Kairi is the biggest threat here.) I've always loved how Kingdom Hearts is first and foremost about friendship; there are no canonically established couples in the original cast, and I'd like it to stay that way. Although I'm a complete hypocrite, because I suspect I'd be fine with Sora/Riku/Kairi. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED HOW KINGDOM HEARTS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST ABOUT THREESOMES, APPARENTLY.
- Frozen and Tangled worlds! I think there's a good chance that we might actually get these.
- There is, on the other hand, next to no chance that we'll visit the Shibuya of The World Ends With You, but I still want it.
- We may well get some Final Fantasy XIII characters! Kingdom Hearts can do some odd things with the Final Fantasy characters it gets its hands on (SETZER IS NOTHING LIKE THAT), but I'd like to see a Kingdom Hearts interpretation of my favourite Final Fantasy cast anyway.
- WAIT. BALTHIER AND FRAN. I can't believe I forgot about these two! Can we have Balthier and Fran? This would be the best.
