Kingdom Thoughts

Did you know that when Disney purchased Fox, they got more than just the rights to Fantastic Four and X-Men and Star Wars: A New Hope? Look, I’m just saying if M-rated characters like Solid Snake and Bayonetta can make it into Smash Bros., then an R-rated icon can* show up as a secret Kingdom Hearts superboss.

This fight will be starkly different than most Kingdom Hearts boss battles. First off, it’s not set in the open arenas the series bosses typically take place in, instead being in a labyrinth of connected corridors not dissimilar to The Skein of Severance from KH3. Except with a ceiling. Secondly, you wouldn’t actually know you’re in a fight until you’re getting ambushed by the Xenomorph suddenly rushing you, getting a few hits in and then retreating.

The Xenomorph is constantly disappearing into vents, scaling walls and ceilings, and attacking from unexpected angles. It rarely commits to long strings, preferring quick hit-and-run ambushes that keep you guessing and make every moment feel tense. You won’t be able to maintain lock-on, so you’ll need to listen for audio cues, footsteps, and environmental movement instead of simply following the camera. This is not a fight you can easily win on mute.

Occasionally, you'll get a counter that will knock it into a more open KH style boss arena, where you can get a few hits in while it tries to escape. This is the main opportunity to deal significant damage before you loop back to the hide and seek part of the fight.

Next up: Nobody Special

Thanos has the completed Infinity Gauntlet on one hand and that double-ended glaive from Endgame in the other. One minute you’re dodging melee attacks that hit like a truck, and the next dodging cosmic power that dynamically changes the rules of the fight. The whole battle revolves around whichever Infinity Gem he’s chosen to empower at that moment, so the encounter is constantly asking you to solve a different problem every few minutes instead of repeating the same one over and over.

Each Gem changes the fight in its own way, and after a while you start recognizing exactly what kind of trouble you’re about to be in. The Soul Gem slowly steals HP while healing Thanos at the same time. The Time Gem speeds him up until attacks you were comfortably dodging a few moments ago suddenly become much harder to deal with. The Power Gem is exactly as subtle as you’d expect. The Reality Gem fills the arena with projectile pressure, the Space Gem lets him instantly reposition whenever he feels like it, and the Mind Gem starts messing with your controls just enough to throw you off. None of the Gems are overwhelming by themselves. The problem is that Thanos is constantly swapping between them, so the fight never stays the same long enough for you to get comfortable.

When Thanos starts channeling one of the Gems for a major attack, you get a brief window that lets you smack the glove hard enough to knock that particular Gem loose. Each Gem has a specific move from your kit needed to dislodge it: one requires a block then counter, another requires a dodge and reprisal, one need magic to dislodge, and yet another needs you to Shotlock it. You won’t be Reaction Commanding your way through this fight. Each Gem glows in a specific color so you know what effect is coming and eventually learn how to counter it. Gems don’t stay gone forever either: with either the Space Gem (teleportation) or the Time Gem (super speed), Thanos will recover it. Still, those brief moments where one of his abilities is missing give you just enough breathing room to turn the fight back in your favor.

Naturally, the biggest threat comes at end. Once the final phase begins, Thanos decides he’s done playing around and starts channeling energy for the Snap. It’s an instant game over if he does it, so the fight suddenly becomes a desperate race to disable the Gems before he’s ready. Instead of just surviving one giant desperation attack, you have to remember everything you’ve learned and trigger the right attacks in the correct order. You just have to pull everything you’ve learned together before Thanos gets the chance to Snap his fingers to finish the fight and you along with it.

What makes Darth Vader unique as a superboss is how he's not interested in overwhelming you with speed. Instead he's all about controlling the fight and making you play by his terms. Between Force Choke, Force Push, and Force Lightning (I know, don't @ me, Rule of Cool), he's constantly messing with your positioning, screwing with your recovery attempts, and making those moments where you think “okay, lemme Curaga right quick” disappear almost immediately. You stay on the back-foot and generally are struggling to get back in the fight instead of controlling it which is exactly how Vader wants it.

His lightsaber attacks follow the same concept. They're slow, heavy, and have awkward timing that make you panic dodge just too early. You get impatient? Vader makes you pay. You overcommit? Vader makes you pay. And it's not in some Mysterious Figure style infini-combo. Nope, he hits you clean a few times and you're in Second Chance territory. The fight is methodical with little mistakes quickly becoming massive. Miss one too many dodges, mistime one too many attacks, heal at the wrong moment, and suddenly you’re at a screen asking if you want to retry.

No button mashing and no cheesing it. Playing impatiently is exactly what Vader is hoping you’ll do because he’ll punish it almost every time. The safest way to beat him is to stay disciplined, wait for him to commit first, and take advantage of the handful of real openings he leaves behind. It's not a fight. It's a duel. Let Vader dictate the pace until you finally get your chance to turn the tables.

If Union X is based on the premise of Ava choosing 5 *dandelions* to become the leaders of new unions, then that right there is the split from the [chi] browser game. In [chi], you never join the dandelions, you stay behind and fights in the War. So you being a union leader and part of the dandelions is a big change from the previous story.

November 2 to December 1 – Receive 3,000 Jewels as a bonus for logging in.

November 1 to November 6 – Daily present quests to receive items such as the “Broom Servants,” “Skip Tickets,” etc.

November 1 to December 1 – Receive a “Mickey TR Version” exclusive medal as a weekly log-in bonus. If you log-in every week during the campaign period, you’ll receive a total of five.

Disney Princess Month – November is Disney Princess Month. Disney Princess Avatar Boards will appear weekly in November. The first princess is Cinderella, followed by Ariel, Jasmine, and Bell.