Anyone else irked a bit at 0.2?

[NuclearCheetos15]

To start off, visually and gameplay wise, the game was great. The soundtrack was also excellent and really gave some parts of the game a very creepy vibe that I really liked. Boss battles were spectacular but I still think the models are a bit "meh", but oh well.

That being said, the story left a lot to be desired.

In a previous interview with Nomura, he said that during development he hardly knew what Aqua should be talking about. He loathed writing the dialogue and it really shows at times. It was only after she meets Mickey that he stated it "gave me a chance to write some dialogue, so I felt that relief too, albeit in a different way (laughs)"

what exactly "albeit in a different way" means I'm not sure, but from what he says here, it seems as though he was more focused on churning out dialogue than expounding on the lore of the story. For instance:

"I'm sorry, the darkness, it's getting to me.."
"oh, Hey you'll be okay."

Mickey acts borderline nonchalant at finding Aqua. Even though he hardly knew her aside from an apprentice and a prominent factor in stopping an apocalypse, you'd think he'd be a tad more thrilled.

"Gasp* Aqua, what were the boys names?"
"They were.. Sora and Riku"
"Oh hey guess what? They're helping me!"
"Really?? The same boys!?!?"

Whyyyy did they have to mention Sora and Riku. This undermines the emotional impact she has when she learns all about Soras exploits as a keyblade wielder. This and the conversation she has with Terra. Why would she think he and Ventus were out saving the worlds in Blank Points when she now knows terra is somehow still trapped in darkness and ventus is still asleep?

All in all, maybe Nomura could have done a better job at conveying the urgency of saving the worlds from darkness that, in the end, undermines Aqua. But that's just me, what do you guys think?

 

[VoidGear.]

Yeah, everything from Destiny Islands on kinda spits a bit in Blank Points' face which is kinda sad. I don't know why Aqua couldn't have been left behind a bit earlier instead of all this "I'M ATTACKING HEARTLESS RIGHT OVER RIKU'S HEAD BUT HE'LL NEVER KNOW WUUAAAAAAAAAAH" mumbo jumbo stuff. It felt a bit forced to me, all this "we have to bring all these characters together in these scenes even though it doesn't make sense".

 

[gosoxtim]

maybe aqua thought they somehow have escaped the darkness remember blank points after kh2 took after as for aqua crying it still emotinal because she still know that sora is still going strong and soon she will be save by him

 

[Grono]

I feel like the only way I can feel emotionally satisfied by Blank Points anymore is if i think about it this way: Aqua is upset and crying because she just went through all that shit, so she doesn't feel secure at the moment she's talking to Ansem. I feel like if we think of the dialogue in a more realistic way that Aqua was trying to create any sort of dialogue in between her and Ansem, and it certainly couldn't have hurt to check if they've been saved anyways. That being said... Destiny Islands does kind of ruin the impact for me, I can't disagree there.

Otherwise, I thought the visuals were great. I originally thought that Mickey looked like a bumpy dinner plate instead of a mouse with a real model, but the visuals warmed up to me after a while. I generally felt satisfied with what I played (I actually thought the Terra scene was easily one of the best Kingdom Hearts scenes I've seen in several games and only added to Blank Points), but I do admit that the dialogue is... bad. The stuff from the world within is kind of good, with the phantom Aqua constantly discouraging you, but overall, even when Mickey steps in, it's not the best. The ending near Kingdom Hearts didn't bother me as much when I was playing the game as when I was watching it online, since I finally accepted that Aqua's fate was of her own choosing after saving Riku's life, but, that being said, the thing with randomly finding the Kingdom Key D behind the door and just picking it up was really stupid, and the way they explained his clothes changing was kind of a cool tidbit but overall laughably handled in the story. Also, he says that, since Sora found his keyblade on the island, the dark keyblade must be on the dark part of that island... what? Is the Kingdom Key specific to Destiny Islands? Why would he come to that conclusion? Was he planning on this the whole time? Is Kingdom Key D the only dark keyblade? What the hell is this ending?! Make it stop!

Ugh, but aside from the keyblade part, it didn't really leave me unsatisfied. The worst part of the game for me was honestly Kairi's voice acting by Alyson Stoner, it was by far the worst choice of voice actor they could have made. Alyson Stoner is only good when she's trying to tone down her bright voice with an edgy personality, she was absolutely awful as Kairi and I hope we never have to hear her voice Kairi again, for the sake of the series. Her lines were just obnoxious (that scene where she yells "WHAT?!" makes my god damn ears bleed).

 

[Precursor Mar]

0.2's story (or lack thereof honestly) is in the same boat as Coded in terms of relevance.

Nothing of value happens until the end.

 

[Deleted member]

At least Coded didn't manage to ruin both Blank Points and the first Kingdom Hearts' ending

 

[Lnds500]

I heard the argument before that 0.2 "ruins" Blank Points and I don't get it. I think it fits perfectly well after watching it again.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

I also think the final part of 0.2 with Riku and the Door was a little... eh.
It was the classic "we're gonna show this pivotal moment again but with a convoluted bs ex machina to make everything fit or kinda".
Like I'm sure the Heartless attacked again in that moment, I'm sure nor Riku nor the other three heard/saw anything, I'm sure the fight immediately brought Aqua and the Heartless away from their sight.

About Blank Points, I still haven't examined the two this close, I just don't really care. I guess it showed for those who really care about Blank Points in the first place, I'm not amongst them.

 

[Grono]

I also think the final part of 0.2 with Riku and the Door was a little... eh.
It was the classic "we're gonna show this pivotal moment again but with a convoluted bs ex machina to make everything fit or kinda".
Like I'm sure the Heartless attacked again in that moment, I'm sure nor Riku nor the other three heard/saw anything, I'm sure the fight immediately brought Aqua and the Heartless away from their sight.

About Blank Points, I still haven't examined the two this close, I just don't really care. I guess it showed for those who really care about Blank Points in the first place, I'm not amongst them.

Consider yourself lucky, that was the one part of Birth by Sleep I enjoyed beginning to end and even that got ruined for me with this collection. God, Aqua deserves better games than the Birth by Sleep duo.

 

[Precursor Mar]

Let be honest.

If they didn't pull this shit then nobody would buy these games.

 

[Carnagewake]

First, obviously, SPOILERS!

I'll tell you one thing that became really obvious to me. I watched the Japanese play-through and all the cut-scenes and the VA and lip syncing is unnoticeable like it should be. I start playing in English and just wow. The localization must have been hella rushed. Aqua's character has never been that expressive, so I give her that, but even the ending cut scenes with Sora and Yen-Sid were hard to watch! I can't be the only one that noticed this?

EDIT: I'm also going to add in that moment at the end with Aqua and Mickey when she offers to close the door and Mickey says the job is taken, referring to Riku closing the door. That could be a HUGE plot hole. Like what? I'm about to go full 12 year old, but did Mickey just let 2 people get locked in the Realm of Darkness when one of them COULD HAVE ESCAPED? Aqua then gets dragged back to Destiny Island by the Tide of Darkness so she couldn't have left, but that was really unlike Nomura to leave that so vaguely explained.

I'm also not a fan of the "May your heart be your guiding key". Nomura said that was something writers added, because the show seemed to need a "May the force be with you" hook. It really didn't.

After having said all that; I am still playing the game and enjoying it immensely! Money well spent!

 

[Dandelion]

EDIT: I'm also going to add in that moment at the end with Aqua and Mickey when she offers to close the door and Mickey says the job is taken, referring to Riku closing the door. That could be a HUGE plot hole. Like what? I'm about to go full 12 year old, but did Mickey just let 2 people get locked in the Realm of Darkness when one of them COULD HAVE ESCAPED? Aqua then gets dragged back to Destiny Island by the Tide of Darkness so she couldn't have left, but that was really unlike Nomura to leave that so vaguely explained.

This has actually been explained since the first Kingdom Hearts, and Mickey states it again before the door's sealed: only Heartless can cross the door to Darkness, Mickey didn't let anybody get locked in.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Let be honest.

If they didn't pull this shit then nobody would buy these games.

In these situations, I seriously wonder if those who already know how the game goes see these results and what do they think.
55% of the people said they were interested in the story of a game that already showed 99% of itself in all the scans and trailers and whose story is definitely not its strongest suit.

 

[NuclearCheetos15]

It felt a bit forced to me, all this "we have to bring all these characters together in these scenes even though it doesn't make sense".

I completely agree here. You mean to tell me Riku didn't notice any of the commotion happening right behind him? You'd think he'd hear the echo of Aquas scream and turn around.

 

[NuclearCheetos15]

maybe aqua thought they somehow have escaped the darkness remember blank points after kh2 took after as for aqua crying it still emotinal because she still know that sora is still going strong and soon she will be save by him

I see. Recall that when she meets Mickey, he tells her that 10 years have passed since the last time she saw him. Notice how she responded so distantly? She seemed irked that that amount of time has actually passed. This scene takes place after she learns that Ventus is still alseep and Terra is somehow still tied to the darkness.

Dont get me wrong, maybe she did still cling to a sliver of hope and actually thought that Terra and Ven could be the ones who were saving the worlds in Blank Points. But now that she knows that it was Sora and Riku who were there to help save them in the first place, it would have made much more sense for her to conclude that it was Sora all along.

 

[The Dark Mamba]

Upon replaying 0.2 this week, I do think that its events do lessen the impact of blank points, which is easily my favorite scene of the whole series. The great thing about it was that we were under the impression that Aqua was alone for so long which made everything about that scene so great and it's impact so emotional. It's a fatal flaw in retrospective storytelling. I can get over with the thought in mind that they BBS first without any proper planning for 0.2.

I think it's impact on KH1 is largely minimal. I'd compare it to Rogue One in that you see the interesting behind the scenes of what happened in the series' first installment.

 

[kirabook]

The smallest tweak they could have done for the ending with Riku is have Riku way further away. Heck, they could have even had him glance back, but he only saw Mickey and the ever approaching danger before he turned around and ignored it to focus on the door (and that could have very well happened but never shown. In fact, I don't think they showed Riku or the SDG trio because Sora and Riku probably don't even look right yet. Terra looked pretty iffy all the up to release)

I've already explained that it doesn't impact Blank Points very much for me. It makes it a little more touching imo, and it just goes to show how little she knows of what's going on unless the occasional person falls into the dark realm to tell her. It's like snail mail to the extreme. For all she knew, another 10 years could have passed after she met up with Mickey. Maybe she even assumed Mickey was able to find and help Terra and Ven since she told him about them a little (not where Ven was, but she did accidentally tell Terranort/Terra, and if Mickey found him/helped him, it could have lead to Ven. Many assumptions being made by me)

At this point, I'm used to retcons. I entirely expect KH3 to be FULL of them. Why? Nomura plans ahead a LITTLE, but not by much. Everything we know about KH could be rewritten in the next game. Absolute facts in the series could be diminished and replaced by new facts. It's been that way since KH2, which is why I get slightly annoyed when people say Birth by Sleep was the start of the retcons. No, it was most definitely KH2. It just compounds on itself with every new game.

Unless it's absolutely ridiculous and I feel I could have come up with something better (why Mickey lost his shirt for example), I just come up with my own explanations on why X happened and how until the game contradicts me.

Why did Aqua cry in Blank Points? Because she got her hopes up about Terra and Ven only to be shut down, but come to find out Sora who saved the worlds the first time is still going and keeping the Realm of Light safe when she can't.

Would I have preferred she not learn their names from Mickey? Definitely. In fact, I can come up with a scenario to fix that part entirely.
Mickey only gets the chance to say "We're getting warm" and that there might be a keyblade of darkness nearby before the Demon Tide shows up and wrecks their day. They don't just find the KKD behind the door, the powerful Demon tide pushes them beyond the door and Mickey manages to grab it. Aqua and Mickey see the big ole Kingdom Hearts door in the distance and Riku running towards it. Mickey gets a little time to explain what the door is in the midst of battle before Aqua makes another sacrificial move to keep the Demon Tide distracted and out of the way of Mickey and Riku.

I mean, there was no way she, Mickey, or Riku were getting out of the door anyway. Only darkness can pass through. Her hope with Mickey was to find a way out with him but even that gets crushed. (Oh mai, can you imagine DiZ also helping Aqua out of the Dark Realm because she was with Mickey and she ends up right where she needs to be??? Castle Oblivion that is??? Man)

 

[alexis.anagram]

the thing with randomly finding the Kingdom Key D behind the door and just picking it up was really stupid, and the way they explained his clothes changing was kind of a cool tidbit but overall laughably handled in the story. Also, he says that, since Sora found his keyblade on the island, the dark keyblade must be on the dark part of that island... what? Is the Kingdom Key specific to Destiny Islands? Why would he come to that conclusion? Was he planning on this the whole time? Is Kingdom Key D the only dark keyblade?

I actually enjoyed this as a nice little parallel, I thought it was one of the more natural inclinations Nomura has entertained in recent years. The way it works in my mind is that the Kingdom Key was "born" on DI when Sora "stole" it from Riku, and its dark counterpart was brought into existence at that same point in time. It was summoned to the place behind the door because that's where the heart of the world resides, shrouded in darkness-- maybe it was even born from that darkness, in much the same way as the Kingdom Key came to Sora in a burst of light. There are any number of ways Mickey might have known or intuited this, but it's firmly in line with the other information he seems to have in the first game without any explanation: including the fact that "there's a boy with a key" and the significance of the stars disappearing.

One question that has been bugging me is: did SDG enter the Realm of Darkness at the end of KH1? And if not, how did Aqua and Mickey step from the Realm of Darkness onto the same part of Destiny Islands where SDG fight Ansem SoD after passing through the door in Final Rest? I always assumed that place was a fragment of Destiny Islands which formed a part of End of the World as with many of the observable pieces of other worlds, but isn't EotW nevertheless constrained to the Realm of Light? Obviously SDG are on the Light (In Between?) side of the DtD when they are pulled into the Endless Abyss, but after passing through DI Aqua and Mickey are still in the Realm of Darkness. wat.

 

[Absent]

The story was great until it tied to Kingdom Hearts 1. The story could've been better if Mickey never met Aqua.

 

[Infamita]

I honestly thought the storytelling in 0.2 was atrocious. Everytime Willa Holland said something I couldn't help but cringe. For me, Aqua's character was reduced to a whimsical, emo mess in 0.2. And even when Aqua encountered Terra and some proper dialogue finally ensued, it was still terrible. "Your heart is just painting the picture that it so wants to see. The real me is lost in shadow." Holy shit they couldn't sound more pathetic if they tried. I didn't mind Jason Dohring's voice acting in Birth By Sleep, but he managed to sound infinitely more mopey in 0.2.

Even the voice actors that I genuinely liked were ruined for me because of the garbage script. I really enjoyed 0.2 gameplay wise, but I honestly wish I could just forget everything that occurred plot wise.

And to top it off, I agree wholeheartedly with what NuclearCheetos15 said. It killed me inside to see Blank Points being trashed throughout every second of that game.