#nonsensical-rants

Alright. This might be a long take, just saying that now. But I know exactly where to start. This franchise. Is not as confusing as the entirety of the internet would like you to believe. It's mostly due to bad writing decisions here and there. I mean, yeah if you wanna have every single detail and definition ingrained into your brain. Then of course it can get complicated, but what franchise lasting as long as Kingdom Hearts isn't annoyingly convoluted? I can't think of one.

So my thoughts about  the series is that they're pretty good! Both as a story and as games, with some very big exceptions. I wanna say that you should definitely not try to 100% all of these games in chronological order in rapid succession. It will drain you. I can confirm this beyond a shadow of a doubt. After I beat KH2 it really start to hit me. Chain of Memories was fine, if not a bit tedious to get all the cards and Riku to level 100. But other than that I more than enjoyed my time with the game.

Heartless are born from the darkness in peoples hearts. Nobodies are created from the husk of a body left behind in the creation of a Heartless. While Unversed are born from supreme negative emotions that live inside us all. The stronger these feelings are/the person is, the stronger the heartless/unversed and nobody. Especially strong people can keep their identity when transformed into Nobodies. Thus explaining Organization 13. Only the keyblade can truly defeat these creatures. What's so hard about describing that to someone? It isn't that far fetched in terms of the fantasy genre.

Though personally. I have an enormous hatred from Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. Despite trying to keep an open mind about any and all forms of media I come across, I cannot ever get behind this title in the series because it is just too much and strays too far from what i consider to be "Kingdom Hearts". The gameplay was not fun for me personally, the story was iffy at best in comparison to the others and it really felt like the biggest amount of padding. If you have to do that to become a Keyblade Master, I think i'd rather stay as a rouge agent like Sora did for 99% of the series.

The dream eater system was probably the biggest factor here as for 100% completion you have to get every single dream eater, and every single skill that they can give you which means leveling a lot of them up to the point where they have points to buy said skills. Which takes forever. And then there's the Dream Eater tournaments, which I would have never gotten past without cheap strategies I found online. Usually I get everybody to max potential in these games and give the best items and accessories all around. But as soon as I got the platinum I ejected the disk and took a break. I felt like I needed it.

Alright, putting that behind us. The difference in fighting styles from game to game can get a bit jarring but in the PS4 re-releases it can usually be adjusted too in about half an hour to an hour's worth of gameplay. Chain of Memories was fun, but tedious like I mentioned. And Birth By Sleep was actually a fresh of breath air (until you get to the secret boss fights that is...) If it wasn't for my need to see that 100% bar next to the game title I would classify these games as something everybody should try out and enjoy. They are fantastic experiences. So lets go in order for a bit.

KH1 is a classic story, going through Disney worlds with a fine mix of Final Fantasy. Meeting the princesses and seeing they are "Princesses of Heart" that have strength beyond muscles. Able to use the power of Light and what not. There's a few hiccups here and there (like Cloud and Sephiroth not acting like how they are in FF7 but everyone's already mentioned that.) But aside from that and the bad platforming, its a genuinely fun game to 100% and I'd highly recommend it. Maybe even try to get cosmic arts for everyone so you can have 16-19 MP bars. It gets silly.

Chain of Memories i've already mentioned a lot so far. So I don't think I need to go that in depth. Fun to go through but wouldn't recommend 100%ing it because it takes far to long. The story is actually pretty decent and isn't that complicated. Sora and the gang lose their memories of KH1 because of the magic witch Namine, while we get our first look at Organization 13.

KH2. The golden child. Still played by many to this day and its obvious to see why. The game play is crisp and fantastic as I remember it from my youth. Traveling to Disney worlds again (and not card versions of them that have no people except for cut scenes, like CoM) and having a constant looming threat over your head while you try to have fun on your journey. Its great. I have yet to do a level 1 critical mode (as that's not required thankfully) but I did thoroughly enjoy my regular Critical play though. Story still isn't that bad yet. Organization 13 comes in full force, trying to get a new version of "Kingdom Hearts" so they can restore their humanity. I'd highly recommend 100%ing this one as well. Would also recommend maxing out your stats and putting on multiple Full Bloom+'s and Shadow Archieve+'s for the fun of it.

Birth By Sleep. Still not that bad honestly. It comes at a weird time though, and the story telling kind of requires you to have some outsider knowledge so that you're not thrown for a loop the entire time. So it feels weird to go back in the past, but also necessary for the story as a whole. Fun game to play minus the hundreds of mini games you need to do for all three main characters. If it wasn't for that I would recommend playing this game to completion. It's hard to reach higher levels though and as everyone's who played the game knows. Terra sucks at End Game compared to Aqua and Ven. I beat the Secret bosses by sheer luck and I would not go back for them. You do get to learn the origins of what makes most of the future events play out though and you even get to see younger versions of Organization 13. Back when they weren't evil!

Nothing eventful happens in Re:Coded.

Dream Drop Distance... Already talked about it. Let's move on before i'm forced to remember dream eaters and their annoyingly high pitched theme song.

Birth By Sleep 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage. Really good demo for KH3 in all honestly. I had a fun time with it and seeing Aqua's pain and journey through the realm of darkness for a whole 10 years was interesting.

And now we're at Kh3. The big game we waited so long for. And its... Alright. Nothing really spectacular. The graphics are certainly splendid and gameplay feels great! If not a bit too floaty. Thats a problem for some people, especially those who were avid fans of KH2. But I had no problem with it. I have yet to play it on critical but i've heard it makes things far more entertaining. As for story, its also alright. Not the grand ending I was expecting but it was really fun all things considered. Just another ride through more modern Disney worlds. But no Final Fantasy! I get that they feel KH can stand on its own legs now but you can't take out half the formula that people fell in love with originally. Then there's no battle arena or replayable boss fights. Doesn't have to be the Real Orginization 13. Just any replayable fights with end game gear would be enough.

As for my real problem with the games. Is the treatement of the third member of the original trio. Kairi. Oh, how this character has divided a good portion of the fan base just by existing. It feels like all the time that she is just a damsel for Sora/Riku to save and rescue. In the first game, thats fine. Whatever. She was unconcious the whole time and had her heart within Sora. Chain of Memories was a game about Sora losing his memories and Riku overcoming his darkness. Thats also fine. But in KH2. Really? She gets a keyblade and can't even handle a group of shadows? The lowest level of heartless? It's embarrassing. She's supposed to be a Princess of Heart. What's that even mean anymore? It doesn't even seem relevant.

KH2 should've been her moment to become a party member just like Riku did. I dont care that it means you could possibly not have Donald or Goofy. KH2 felt the most like the penultimate ending to the series than Kh3 did in my opinon. Having the choice between your KH1 buddies (Sora, Donald and Goofy) or the Island Trio (Sora, Riku and Kairi) would have added excellent variety and much needed development for Kairi as a person rather than leaving her as a one dimensional damsel in distress who has a Nobody with more internal conflict and character motivation. Moving past that... BBS is a prequel so nothing for the original trio except for meeting Aqua/Ven/Terra. And we come back to the dreaded DDD again.

If my vision for Kairi in KH2 couldn't have become a reality. Then why wasn't DDD Kairi's game? The set up was perfect. The heroes of light need to train to overcome almost double the amount of darkness agents. Kairi (and Axel) are practically beginners at wielding a Keyblade. It should've been their time to shine and get some love while occasionally helping Sora and Riku in their Mark of Mastery exam. Why did it have to be something you do alone? Well actually you're not alone you have the stupid Dream Eaters. Regardless it could have been the newbies learning how to get to Kh2 Sora's level while Sora goes beyond his limits.

As for KH3, it's just awful. Kairi's treatment is awful and everyone knows it. She said she was gonna help but hit one whole heartless in the finale. Better than KH2 i suppose. And as for the argument of her being "too weak" to try anything agaisnt Xemans. Really? She couldn't even like. Step on his foot? Pull agaisnt his grip or switch which hand the blade is in? Since the keyblade can teleport to your hands when you need it. I don't expect her to randomly become a Keyblade Master, but. I think we all would've prefer if she just did ANYTHING over what actually happened. It's sad. I hope KH4 will give Kairi the proper treatment and character development she deserves. But for all we know it might be another Sora/Riku dual protagonist game like CoM or DDD. What do you think?

Apologies for anyone who actually looks forward to these posts (as little as a group as that may be), but I have been playing an increasing selection of games to talk about in order to make up for that fact. Right now, i’m back on Dragon Ball Z and specifically the newest fighting game created by ArcSys. To be quite honest, it’s a mixed bag of feelings for me. Like everyone has said in the past it IS indeed one of the smoothest fighting games of the current generation and takes the 3v3 format of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (a game i love immensely) and adds Dragon Ball Z characters too it. Its such a vast and amazing world full of characters with different personalities and goals and fighting styles. However, the roster reflects only a small portion of this variety. And this is where my (and most likely other peoples) main problem with the game arises. 

To put it simply, the game is a damn Goku fest. Everyone knows it. SSJ, SSJB, Goku Black, Vegito, Base Goku, Bardock (i realize he’s a different character, but aesthetically hes just Goku with armor, a scar, and a headband), and even cell if you wanna argue over that 10.78% of his DNA. While that last one may be a bit of a stretch, there are still to many variations of this character for some people’s liking. But some people are still requesting more versions of him! Kid Goku, Ultra Instinct Goku, SSJ4 Goku, etc. What happened to this extended universe with hundreds of unique characters shown across the series?

A couple of my personal selections would be Roshi, Videl, Raditz, Cooler, Zarbon, Tapion, Hercule, Dabura, Gero/Android 19, Toppo, Cabba/Kale, Uub, Pikkon, Omega Shenron, Janemba, Bojack, and Android 13 to name a few. Not all of them are possible/realistic but I mainly just wanted to point out the diversity that this franchise has, instead of rehashing the nostalgia of growing up with Goku. But, regardless of what I say all of the characters that are added to the game will have unique move sets and play styles that are able to differentiate them from the rest of the roster. I enjoy playing and watching people play this fast paced fighting game full of characters they cherish and appreciate. But i didn’t grow up with DBZ so i am a little more critical of what I see in this as a game and as a product.

No but for real, add my boy Raditz to the game and i’ll be on there everyday.

The persona series is one of the biggest influences to me and who I am within recent memory. I’ve played every game and anticipate the idea of exploring every nook and cranny the game has to offer, across hundreds of hours. Both three and four were games that I cherish and the same can be said with five. But just like with any game I've played there are some gripes that get to me whenever i think about them for too long. This is my personal opinion but i do like hearing different viewpoints since it will always add insight to a discussion. I am prone to rambling and sometimes getting of topic but i shall do my best. Spoilers ahead for anyone who has yet to beat/see the game in its entirety.

During the “anticipation” for the games release, I didn’t really look up a lot about the game because i wanted everything to be a surprise. Aside from some trailers that hooked me in with an amazing story about Phantom Thieves who steal peoples hearts and jump out of Casinos, everything would be a surprise for me. So when i started up the game and reached Kamoshida’s Palace. I was having a grand time with all the mechanics, the music, and the different characters that were being presented too me. Personally, Morgana is one hell of a upgrade in comparison to Teddy. Both as a character, and as a mascot.

During the game play, I was always looking forward to what would come next and how it would be done. Hanging out with Ryuji and seeing Mishima change as a person were some early game highlights. Of course i went through the dungeon as fast as possible because i wanted to know the characters as much as possible. Ryuji filled a good role as a partner and as comic relief, but I felt towards the later end of the game he could’ve had another spark to get him excited (other than being pissed at corrupt adults). And no. The confrontation between Morgana and Ryuji does not count. I felt like that could have been so much better of a scene, but it was executed poorly with Morgana basically getting away for his constant belittling of “Skull”. Everyone just laughs it off, except for me because its actually just unwarranted and unnecessary rivalry between characters who just started off on the wrong foot. Morgana is a know it-all and Ryuji may need a second explanation sometimes but he has more heart that anyone in the gang.

But, i’m getting ahead of myself. The original four were interesting characters who had good traits to bounce off one another whether it be through bickering or bonding. And as the story progressed, i really found myself hating Kamoshida because of how much of an asshole he truly was behind his public mask (haha). Shiho’s involvement only strengthened that belief. As sudden as her introduction was, it still meant something to me. So taking him down, and seeing him crying while confessing everything was great satisfaction.

But this is where something started occurring to me that would constantly present itself to me throughout the course of the game and it was bothersome. Climbing up the confidant ranks of Ann, and later Makoto made me ask a question to myself over and over again. Why am i not learning more about THESE characters, but instead about Chiho and some random girl from Makoto’s class. I understand that they are being used as catalysts to show traits and ideas about their personality, but i would rather observe those traits for myself while also learning more about them. I found myself to be learning more about these characters during story cut scenes (in-game or otherwise) then i did in the confidants. And that’s a problem in my eyes. 

It almost felt like they were flattening themselves like Persona Q did for the casts’ of three and four. Ann is a female model who loves sweets, cares deeply/respects herself and her friends, and can stand up for others but not so much for herself. I could’ve learned this through different scenes in the game like with different encounters of Kamoshida, the Shido cruise, and just how she carries herself. And Makoto is a whole other basket case with how shes supposed to be this “badass” who only reveals herself when she is pushed too far but she is also motherly and wants to protect what is right in her eyes. Those are the only defining traits i can think of when i think of Makoto and they are mostly shown in her Awakening scene. Maybe also when she defies her sister to download the case files and slaps her friend. Other than that, she felt very robotic to me, wanting to help this nameless individual.

We could of had a scene where Sae is worrying about her sister and wants to see one of her friends, and thinking you are the best option. She invites you (the leader of the phantom thieves) to come over. More interaction with Sae, more personal depictions of Makoto, rather than seeing the problems of someone we aren’t invested in. Or hell maybe even Akechi could show up during a confidant session. This is my first pet peeve with Persona 5. In comparison to the previous games, we learn so much more about the characters personality and problems through hangouts. Junpei isn’t a social link/confidant but we learn about his experience with Chidori and feel for him during a later confrontation (He’s a social link in Persona 3 Portable i know but im refering to three and FES). Or Kanji being a “delinquent”. We see others belittling him for his appearance and what they perceive to be his personality, but we know better as his friend. We learn about his mother and his desires through the rank ups. Moving on though.

Yusuke has one of my more favorite social links as he is overflowing with personality and (in my opinion) humor. Even if accidental, all the posing, painting and quirkyness from Yusuke is what i expected from everyone. After Madarame is taken down he goes from being defensively aggressive to shaken up and finally angry at the man he once cherished. We learn more about him both in and out of confidants, like how he doesnt have much money so he rarely gets to eat, and also didnt have a place to stay for a while (even though that was brief. I would’ve loved seeing Daytime scenes with him). He has almost a brother like relationship with Futaba Sakura, who i believe to be a well executed hermit character. For me, her backstory was very developed and believable for someone to shut themselves inside when they dont have all of the answers to a problem/life event that has become essentially the bane of their existence. Her social link developed her bond with Sojiro and shows of traits of herself through another person in a way that didnt completely focus on them instead of the person im hanging out with (*cough* Makoto *cough*)

Seriously though, I think all the characters were written well for the most part with only a few exceptions. Atlas really knows how to write their characters. Haru is actually one of my top picks for a favorite character because of how she was portrayed in having to deal with stress and how we kind of lead to the demise of her father. Though that was completely unavoidable as most things are in a supernatural franchise such as this. One last thing that urked me about the game was Akechi and how blatantly obvious the whole traitor aspect of his character was depicted. Atlas had it right with Adachi, making him one of my favorite characters in general and showing off a hopelessly Nihilistic perspective of the world when we as a player are seeing the world as happy and carefree. He didnt have a social link (until Golden), while Akechi did. The difference is that Akechi’s was progressed through story events while Adachi’s was an optional relationship that led you to learning more of his quirks earlier in the story. He could have been so much more but was thrown aside for a nameless “big bad” who we (as a player. Not the protagonist) have no relation too. I’ve seen discussions saying how Akechi could have been the one to have the River’s in the Desert battle, with a shadow realm showing his perspective of the world as a kingdom with him as the hero who protected everyone. He is the best in his own eyes and could not be defeated.

If there is one thing i hate in story telling, it is wasted potential. And Pancake Boy has a lot of that to spare. From the moment he blackmailed the Phantom Thieves to show them Nijima’s Palace (also with just how GOOD his moveset was), it made it so much more obvious he wouldn’t be a mainstay.

So i’ve been recently playing more indie titles on steam whenever I get a moment of spare time. They’re generally cheap, have great music and in cases like this, can have stories and characters that are better written than some of the bigger names on the market. I see next to no one talking about the video games that I love within their respective tags (ala One Shot, 2064, and Dead Cells) And with 15 hours invested into this game from start to finish, even without seeing alternate routes based on in-game decisions. I know that this is one of my current favorites that I would recommend to anyone.

2064: Read Only Memories, is a cyberpunk point and click adventure game where you control a no name journalist (literally, you name them) in world filled with cybernetically enhanced people and robots! Also people who are called Hybrids who by definition are more cybernetic than human. The whole game plays with the idea of what it means to be human, and what future developments in technology could mean for us as a people. How it would split people apart, and how some could be saved by this technology but then never be accepted by people or culture.

Insert Turing, your Non-Binary robotic partner! (Art from: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=841681406) Turing is the the first Artificial Intelligence who is able to think beyond binary code and processing just like a human being. They have passions, hobbies, and emotions about how you act during the story. Since Turing is the mascot of the game, and the one you will spend the most time with, they will probably be the first (of many) characters you fall in love with. I know i did.

I did say that Bardock was a different character from Goku, but he looks exactly the same. Hair and facial features (minus the scar). I haven’t kept up with the actual show so I don’t know everything about Goku Black, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact i’ve seen various threads where people are seriously requesting at least 3 more versions of goku. Also completely forgot Fused Zamasu was in the game lmao.