In your opinion, did ReMind fix the game?

[May-Jor]

I didn't purchase Remind, but I did spoil myself. The new bosses and gameplay content look amazing so the DLC definitely improved the base game in that front. I've also indulged myself in all the data greeting memes people posted, so that's also a plus.

Plot-wise, err, not really. I know we shouldn't demand too much at once, but Square is awfully ungenerous when it comes to giving us story content for KH. The minimal focus on the original plot and characters was my biggest gripe with KH3 and I was kinda hoping that Remind would remedy that. It did explain some of the plot points in the base game, but aside from that, replaying the final act, and the incredibly ambiguous VR stuff, it didn't really offer anything new or interesting. Waiting for the UX story content to trickle like molasses isn't helping either.

 

[The Dark Mamba]

The DLC was a very satisfying experience but unfortunately the majority of my base game issues remain so.......NO.

In the base game the story is still wank, no coliseum, no true secondary playable character section (2 min boss battles don't count). And unfortunately the game is even more back heavy now in terms of all important stuff happening post- Disney worlds.

I loved Re Mind but I also wanted something to improve the base game like how KH2FM saved the original vanilla KH2.

 

[drew0512]

I loved Re Mind but I also wanted something to improve the base game like how KH2FM saved the original vanilla KH2.

KH2 was "saved" with the addition of Critical Mode, new abilities and superbosses, which were added in KH3 too (and this game too was "saved" by them). I don't see the difference here because both game's core issues outside of the combat still exists and some additions are just band-aid fixes.

 

[The Dark Mamba]

KH2 was "saved" with the addition of Critical Mode, new abilities and superbosses, which were added in KH3 too (and this game too was "saved" by them). I don't see the difference here because both game's core issues outside of the combat still exists and some additions are just band-aid fixes.

KH2FM did a lot to help KH2's story with more cutscenes to add more depth and context to the story. The org. meeting scenes, Riku's meeting with Axel n Namine, Xemnas n Aqua's Armor, Roxas n Axel saying goodbye. etc. Along with the gameplay, KH2FM fixed up OG KH2's story considerably. Unfortunately for me, it looks like KH3's base story issues n few other things won't ever be fixed.

 

[Enturax]

Data Battles and melee combat refreshment definitely made me like the game more, and the new plot elements made me like it slightly more due to the (still-somewhat-weird) explanations for the bullcrap we've witnessed in the base game.
However, replaying the exact same stuff right after finishing the base game's plot would tire me more than it did now as it's been a year since I played it the last time.

Anyway:

I still think our protagonists were losing too easily too often.
I still think the reunions were a bit too quick.
I still think the final Xehanort battle was disappointing. It didn't even feature a big boss battle like in every other numbered entry.
I still think that understanding so little about Xehanort after all the teasing regarding his backstory, killing him, and then calling it a day - is a very unsatisfying way to finish his arc.
I still think that copy and pasting a lot of scenes from prequels - for the sake of nostalgia - is cheap, boring, and brushes off the potential uniqueness of this game.
I still think that there were a couple of some serious suspension of disbelief moments, and the DLC content only has added more to the table.
I still think that the worlds made exclusively for KH were too small and didn't have much of a replay value.
I still think that they should've had added the classical Disney worlds as I don't care about the new ones, and neither did the game make me care about them.
I still think the potential of the Disney worlds hasn't been used anywhere near as fully as it could. I liked PotC world for its refreshing design, its free roaming capabilities and ship battles, but there was too little of all of that.
I still think that some of the new mechanics the Disney worlds have introduced to us, are forcing us to use them too often, such as swimming in PotC, or mechs in Toy Story.
I still think that having no Tournament mode like the one at the Coliseum in the previous games, is shockingly disappointing. Partly, because I'd love to fight against multiple bosses in a single run, and, maybe, their potential team ups for extra challenge (like FF characters did).
I still don't like having lower resolution than the Remasters had (on the base consoles at least) - it's ridiculous to have the previous games look cleaner than the newest one.

 

[Face My Fears]

The DLC was a very satisfying experience but unfortunately the majority of my base game issues remain so.......NO.

In the base game the story is still wank, no coliseum, no true secondary playable character section (2 min boss battles don't count). And unfortunately the game is even more back heavy now in terms of all important stuff happening post- Disney worlds.

I loved Re Mind but I also wanted something to improve the base game like how KH2FM saved the original vanilla KH2.

I was viciously eaten alive for commenting that vanilla KH2's story was not as good as KH3's own. KH2FM salvaged KH2's story to have it make some degree of sense and not be completely vague. KH2 needed explanations to make the story better (or at least understandable). KH3 needs something that I don't think DLC could provide -- a midpoint story. Unless they were to drastically change things (like add some major main story event that occurs in Twilight Town after you finish Arendelle/Monstropolis), KH3 didn't really need anything else. ReMIND provides explanations for unanswered questions, but answering questions wouldn't help KH3 like it did KH2.

KH2's story has a much better structure than KH3's, but KH3's story makes more sense than KH2's. KH2's story -- up to this day -- I'm still wondering what exactly was the point. Even though there was a beginning, middle, and end -- it wasn't really building to anything and the logic along the way fell flat. At least KH3 we knew where we were going, it's just that (per good storytelling) we needed SOMETHING around Monstropolis/Arendelle to really kick us into caring more about the main plot -- some major event that would push us to want to keep advancing. So KH3 fell flat in that regard, but I personally prefer knowing the goal of the story/protagonist. That is what makes the climax. Sure the Xemnas battle is iconic and The World That Never Was was cool, but it didn't feel like a climax to me, it just felt like the end of a game because we killed all the other bosses, so there was nothing else to do but kill the last boss. Why did we go on that killing spree? No idea except for "Black Coat=Bad".

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

in my opinion, yes!!! I've had more fun playing KH3 now than any other KH game, thanks to ReMind. To more casual players who don't understand mechanics, the adjustments made in 1.09 and ReMind's boss design might be easy to overlook, but the level of intricate balance is actually staggering for Osaka team. This team made BBS and DDD. They made KH3. Balance and scaling was a complete unknown to them. Base KH3 STILL has horrid scaling issues when you play with EXP Zero.

But in ReMind/Limit Cut, you can play at Level 1 and still deal decent damage, with all the same fun and risk of playing at Level 1 in past games. I know a lot of you are grumpy that Limit Cut is so hard, but honestly, the prevailing sentiment should be a positive one-- These bosses are VERY well designed, fair, and rewarding. If the team only hears complaints, we could be right back to lazy, random boss fights that can break out of your combo at random and hard punish you for trying to learn. It is nothing short of a miracle that we got 14 incredibly intricate bosses in KH3RM, and I'm not ready to go back to mediocrity.

Facts. The Limit Cut forces you to "get good", and if you can't measure up to that... Get good. 🤷‍♂️ Superbosses are never supposed to be easy. If they were, what's the point in having them? Even at LV99 Proud, these bosses will body you with ease. You have to learn their patterns and basically improve on the spot while you're playing, it forces you to be a better player. Guard timing especially, because you can't just guard randomly and think it'll work, you have to really watch and pay attention when to guard and when you have to dodge (because there's things you can't guard against).

I personally never had that much of an issue with Base KH3, but the 1.09 update made the game play waaaaaay smoother. Add in the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades, and it's pure greatness. Osaka Team went in their bag with this update, and I truly do believe that it'll mean great things on the horizon if they don't get lazy.

KH2's story has a much better structure than KH3's, but KH3's story makes more sense than KH2's. KH2's story -- up to this day -- I'm still wondering what exactly was the point. Even though there was a beginning, middle, and end -- it wasn't really building to anything and the logic along the way fell flat.

As much as I love KH2, a good percentage of it in the beginning was looking for Riku so they could both go home, and MAYBE Organization XIII if they decided to do anything... Which some of them did when they showed up, if it wasn't just laughing at Sora for whatever reason. But a lot of it was looking for Riku at first, and then half-way in the game, that's when a lot of the story really ramps up. After that, the goal now is less about finding Riku, (even though it's still important) and more about stopping Organization XIII from making their own Kingdom Hearts.

I still think it's weird how Mickey was unnecessarily cryptic about Riku's status to Sora. He was making it seem like Riku died or something, when he could've at least confirmed that the guy was okay but leave it at that. I get that Riku looking like Ansem and searching for atonement was his character arc, but Mickey could've divulged WAY more than he actually did.

As much as people might have issues with DDD, that game really made Riku the great Keyblade wielding hero he was always meant to be. He needed that the most, and if we never got that, KH3 probably would've still had a brooding unsure Riku that possibly could've sacrificed himself in the name of atonement. I'm glad we never got that.

 

[Kirankrt]

they could have at least tone down on the length of certain cutscenes. I didn’t wanna rewatch all ten minutes of each one but I didn’t exactly have a choice; I was driven to watch them in catch something new happened.

 

[Absent]

I just wanna Re:Mind people that a lot people didn't think 2’s story is better than 3’s. It’s just that 3 dropped the ball hard for many. How do you rationalize dropping all the plot at the end of the game with no time for the player to process things?

 

[Launchpad]

I just wanna Re:Mind people that a lot people didn't think 2’s story is better than 3’s. It’s just that 3 dropped the ball hard for many. How do you rationalize dropping all the plot at the end of the game with no time for the player to process things?

I fall into a weird camp on this one, where, I've been pretty disillusioned since BBS, the first game that really started dropping some stupid-bombs on us. I don't have it in me to get angry about the Kingdom Hearts storyline, I'm just waiting around for cool moments or unintentionally funny moments like Riku and Mickey's horrid dialogue in the RoD. BUT that doesn't exempt KH3 from having the worst pacing of the main three games, and ReMind doesn't change that even a little bit.

We're now at a point where an argument could be made that KH3RM offers the best original content the series has to offer, but it's ALL after you slog through (fun but irrelevant) Disney worlds. KH2FM still has much better pacing than 3RM.

 

[SuperNova]

Did KH3RM fix some of my issues with balancing and gameplay? Yes. Oblivion and Oathkeeper are great keyblades to have and the new free abilities really make Sora feel less floaty.

Did KH3RM fix the pacing issues of KH3? No. Definitely not. While I believe KH3 had a better story than KH2, I have to agree that the pacing is even worse. At least KH2 had the build-up and Radiant Garden event in the middle so we could have a clear midway point. Aqua and Ven really should have been saved by the midway point instead of bum-rushing us into the climax.

 

[kitethehero205]

Hey all! Haven’t been on the forums since the theorizing of kh2 before launch! Great to see the forums even livelier than ever! i personally was already satisfied with vanilla KH3, but ReMind made the game 10X better for me! I haven’t felt that inspirered to “get gud’ at a game in a very long time! All 14 dlc bosses were incredible and the most challenging battles I’ve done in a video game. Definitely excited for the future of the series!

 

[AegisXIII]

Hey all! Haven’t been on the forums since the theorizing of kh2 before launch! Great to see the forums even livelier than ever! i personally was already satisfied with vanilla KH3, but ReMind made the game 10X better for me! I haven’t felt that inspirered to “get gud’ at a game in a very long time! All 14 dlc bosses were incredible and the most challenging battles I’ve done in a video game. Definitely excited for the future of the series!

Same as me, haha. I've been silent on forums for a decade. When Ven started sleeping actually. 😂

 

[drew0512]

KH2's story has a much better structure than KH3's, but KH3's story makes more sense than KH2's. KH2's story -- up to this day -- I'm still wondering what exactly was the point. Even though there was a beginning, middle, and end -- it wasn't really building to anything and the logic along the way fell flat. At least KH3 we knew where we were going, it's just that (per good storytelling) we needed SOMETHING around Monstropolis/Arendelle to really kick us into caring more about the main plot -- some major event that would push us to want to keep advancing. So KH3 fell flat in that regard, but I personally prefer knowing the goal of the story/protagonist. That is what makes the climax. Sure the Xemnas battle is iconic and The World That Never Was was cool, but it didn't feel like a climax to me, it just felt like the end of a game because we killed all the other bosses, so there was nothing else to do but kill the last boss. Why did we go on that killing spree? No idea except for "Black Coat=Bad".

I agree with your post except for the very first part (and funnily enough, the reason of my disagreement is what you wrote after that). KH2's plot has no focus and is incosequential. FM makes it a bit better, but its core issues still remains (and the same is true for KH3 and RM).

The premises of your adventure are already blurred at best. You have to search for Riku (again) although the player already knows he's not lost to begin with (CoM). You also have to travel through worlds because, you know, heartless and stuff. Too bad you are not even locking keyholes in this chapter so what you do is pretty irrelevant.
After hours of Disney content, you reach the midpoint, which is an epic one. It raises the stakes and makes you feel like the plot is about to finally happen... Except it doesn't. You are given a photo of TT and instead of going there, you go to Disney worlds again. For no real reason. Your focus now shifts to "I gotta save Kairi" (Riku who?). Filler content happens again and after some hours the game tells you you are allowed to go to TT now. You land there and the characters do not know why they landed there, which mirrors how the player feels because they surely forgot about the picture after hours of Disney content. Something something, you reach TWTNW, most of the plot happens (something that KH2 shares with the whole series): you meet Kairi, Riku, Ansem, Naminé, Roxas, you meet and kill Xigbar, Luxord, Saix, you meet and kill Xemnas. Deus ex machina, game ends.

I didn't even mention Radiant Garden's second arc because... it's optional. Why? Because. The game builds up to it and then just gives up, after a while you are worthy to go to TT and see the end of the game. You get to see the restoration of RG and everything connected to it only if you actively wish to do so (which is a great counterargument when people say they are still relevant to the main plot - they stopped being relevant during KH2).

KH2 is the perfect example of how a midpoint doesn't necessarily make a story good (in this case, it actually highlights how wonky the overall structure is). KH3 is many things, but unfocused/inconsequential is not one of them. It would have benefited from a midpoint because the way the story is structured asked for it, not because you always need one. There are many ways to structure a story.

 

[Absent]

^ You’re absolutely right. I wanna just emphasize that I am not trying to give 2 a pass. However 3 needed something to pace itself. This is the culmination of years of Kingdom Hearts games, and what we have to show for it seems sloppy.

 

[Face My Fears]

Facts. The Limit Cut forces you to "get good", and if you can't measure up to that... Get good. 🤷‍♂️ Superbosses are never supposed to be easy. If they were, what's the point in having them? Even at LV99 Proud, these bosses will body you with ease. You have to learn their patterns and basically improve on the spot while you're playing, it forces you to be a better player. Guard timing especially, because you can't just guard randomly and think it'll work, you have to really watch and pay attention when to guard and when you have to dodge (because there's things you can't guard against).

I personally never had that much of an issue with Base KH3, but the 1.09 update made the game play waaaaaay smoother. Add in the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades, and it's pure greatness. Osaka Team went in their bag with this update, and I truly do believe that it'll mean great things on the horizon if they don't get lazy.



As much as I love KH2, a good percentage of it in the beginning was looking for Riku so they could both go home, and MAYBE Organization XIII if they decided to do anything... Which some of them did when they showed up, if it wasn't just laughing at Sora for whatever reason. But a lot of it was looking for Riku at first, and then half-way in the game, that's when a lot of the story really ramps up. After that, the goal now is less about finding Riku, (even though it's still important) and more about stopping Organization XIII from making their own Kingdom Hearts.

I still think it's weird how Mickey was unnecessarily cryptic about Riku's status to Sora. He was making it seem like Riku died or something, when he could've at least confirmed that the guy was okay but leave it at that. I get that Riku looking like Ansem and searching for atonement was his character arc, but Mickey could've divulged WAY more than he actually did.

As much as people might have issues with DDD, that game really made Riku the great Keyblade wielding hero he was always meant to be. He needed that the most, and if we never got that, KH3 probably would've still had a brooding unsure Riku that possibly could've sacrificed himself in the name of atonement. I'm glad we never got that.

I knew it was about searching for Riku and maybe killing the Organization, but that just felt... empty. After the first few worlds where Riku was clearly absent and it was repeatedly "have you seen Riku or Mickey", "no", "OK what's going on here completely unrelated to main plot?" KH2 wasn't like KH1 where you were actually rewarded with searching for Riku/Kairi by actually finding them in the Disney worlds (making you feel like there was a chance in the next world for more). That feeling/build made it OK for non-main story worlds like Atlantica and Halloween Town because you at least had hope something could happen there. In KH2 it became abundantly clear that nothing relevant will happen in Disney worlds and it's all reserved for Hollow Bastion/Twilight Town/The World That Never Was.

Even with KH3's issues, at least the Organization appearances gave hints at what they were planning or what was to come (even if they were incredibly vague). But still, it kept you eager to see what could happen or who may pop up and where. KH2 was devoid of that feeling in the Disney worlds, meaning that there are only 3 worlds that have cutscenes that matter.

DDD helped complete Riku's character arc, but I kind of wonder if that was a little too early. It's good because that meant that there wasn't anything to do for closure for his character in KH3, but then it's bad because... there wasn't anything that needed to be done with his character in KH3.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

I knew it was about searching for Riku and maybe killing the Organization, but that just felt... empty. After the first few worlds where Riku was clearly absent and it was repeatedly "have you seen Riku or Mickey", "no", "OK what's going on here completely unrelated to main plot?" KH2 wasn't like KH1 where you were actually rewarded with searching for Riku/Kairi by actually finding them in the Disney worlds (making you feel like there was a chance in the next world for more). That feeling/build made it OK for non-main story worlds like Atlantica and Halloween Town because you at least had hope something could happen there. In KH2 it became abundantly clear that nothing relevant will happen in Disney worlds and it's all reserved for Hollow Bastion/Twilight Town/The World That Never Was.

Even with KH3's issues, at least the Organization appearances gave hints at what they were planning or what was to come (even if they were incredibly vague). But still, it kept you eager to see what could happen or who may pop up and where. KH2 was devoid of that feeling in the Disney worlds, meaning that there are only 3 worlds that have cutscenes that matter.

DDD helped complete Riku's character arc, but I kind of wonder if that was a little too early. It's good because that meant that there wasn't anything to do for closure for his character in KH3, but then it's bad because... there wasn't anything that needed to be done with his character in KH3.

What they could have done in KH2 is have Sora actually find both Riku and Mickey around the Hollow Bastion halfway point solving the "Find Riku and Mickey" objective and then get a new objective when finding them which would be "Team up to defeat Organization XIII" Hopefully that would have cut back the needless Disney filler. It's not uncommon for video games to clear their first objective and get a second or third one as the game progresses to flesh out the story. KH's big brother series Final Fantasy almost always has a different objective by the end of their game, giving the first objective the first half of the game, fleshing out the cast along the way before a bigger crisis triggers the second objective. Kingdom Hearts could possibly benefit from this type of storytelling.

I also agree Riku's arc has kinda concluded with DDD. In KH3 he really did not stand out at all. And now that we have so many characters back from the grave/RoD/someone else's heart, I'm fine with him taking more of a backseat support at the moment and develop those who really need it now. They can always get back to him later.

 

[Face My Fears]

What they could have done in KH2 is have Sora actually find both Riku and Mickey around the Hollow Bastion halfway point solving the "Find Riku and Mickey" objective and then get a new objective when finding them which would be "Team up to defeat Organization XIII" Hopefully that would have cut back the needless Disney filler. It's not uncommon for video games to clear their first objective and get a second or third one as the game progresses to flesh out the story. KH's big brother series Final Fantasy almost always has a different objective by the end of their game, giving the first objective the first half of the game, fleshing out the cast along the way before a bigger crisis triggers the second objective. Kingdom Hearts could possibly benefit from this type of storytelling.

I also agree Riku's arc has kinda concluded with DDD. In KH3 he really did not stand out at all. And now that we have so many characters back from the grave/RoD/someone else's heart, I'm fine with him taking more of a backseat support at the moment and develop those who really need it now. They can always get back to him later.

In storytelling it's typical to move from plot point A to plot point B etc. when there was an initial objective that kicked off the story. What normally happens is that all the plot points relate back to the main objective, so that the climax is as effective and powerful as possible.

Just off the top of my head, I would have done the following with KH2 (starting from leaving Hollow Bastion for the first time):
Land of Dragons - No sign of Riku/Mickey, but a familiar face in Mushu, he asks for Sora's help because he owes him for working with him against the heartless in KH1. As the world's story unfolds, we find an Organization member helping Shan Yu summon the horde of heartless on the mountain (this will be consistent with their plan to be revealed at the mid-point and somewhat replicate an iconic Disney scene). We can even have the Organization member be very stern that Shan Yu must ensure Sora -- no one else -- kills the heartless, this will also add intrigue/mystery.

Beast's Castle - The story unfolds like normal and Sora ends up in the dungeon. While he's in the dungeon, Riku visits the world (this visit can be explained off through Days, as Riku senses Sora's "lost memories" IE Xion and feels like that may help restore his appearance). The Beast and Riku talk about appearance (Beast remembers Ansem) and how it's about who you are underneath it all, but then Xaldin interrupts. Riku leaves because he doesn't want the Organization on his trail. When Sora gets out of the dungeon, Beast tells him that Riku was there and that Riku helped him and was OK.

Olympus - I would leave Olympus as it was and maybe have Demyx play up the "Roxas" thing more. This world does a good job developing Sora/Donald/Goofy's characters.

Something like that would have happened, I'm not going to go further because I don't want to derail the thread and go off topic.

Back on topic, as much as I love ReMIND I was hoping for additional scenes during the main game. I didn't watch any other trailers besides the first two and didn't read spoilers or details of what was confirmed to be coming in the game, so I thought it was going to be like KH2FM with added scenes throughout the game. I don't have a problem with everything being post-game, but it would have been nice for scenes like Xigar/Luxord in Olympus getting added to the main game. They could have added scenes like Larxene/Marluxia monitoring Elsa and talking about their plans for the PoH (maybe even reveal that they came up with that ruse to distract Xehanort from their own goals -- even through in a joke like how Xehanort loves rehashing plans). Now that I typed that, it would have been cool to have a tiny plot with Larxene/Marluxia between Corona and Arendelle. Larxene could check up on Marluxia in Corona and say something witty about how he "always had a thing for blondes" and in Arendelle Marluxia could say that Larxene is "colder than Elsa's powers".

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

I knew it was about searching for Riku and maybe killing the Organization, but that just felt... empty. After the first few worlds where Riku was clearly absent and it was repeatedly "have you seen Riku or Mickey", "no", "OK what's going on here completely unrelated to main plot?" KH2 wasn't like KH1 where you were actually rewarded with searching for Riku/Kairi by actually finding them in the Disney worlds (making you feel like there was a chance in the next world for more). That feeling/build made it OK for non-main story worlds like Atlantica and Halloween Town because you at least had hope something could happen there. In KH2 it became abundantly clear that nothing relevant will happen in Disney worlds and it's all reserved for Hollow Bastion/Twilight Town/The World That Never Was.

Even with KH3's issues, at least the Organization appearances gave hints at what they were planning or what was to come (even if they were incredibly vague). But still, it kept you eager to see what could happen or who may pop up and where. KH2 was devoid of that feeling in the Disney worlds, meaning that there are only 3 worlds that have cutscenes that matter.

DDD helped complete Riku's character arc, but I kind of wonder if that was a little too early. It's good because that meant that there wasn't anything to do for closure for his character in KH3, but then it's bad because... there wasn't anything that needed to be done with his character in KH3.

Right, and that's why when people call KH3's worlds "filler", I don't take it seriously. Because for one thing, they weren't, and another thing is that if we're gonna do the KH2 vs. KH3 comparison... KH2 wasn't spectacular in this area. The reason why we went to every world twice is because the story took like 30 minutes each trip in order to finish. Imagine how short KH2 would've been if you only went once.

KH3 in terms of the Organization explaining their plans was vague, and I like how it's even touched on in such a meta way.

I don't think it was too soon, because if they had bounced that to KH3, that's even less time to handle what's going on. Timeline-wise, Riku literally just became a Master going into KH3. Riku constantly fighting with the darkness at this point would've been redundant, because it's just been happening for so long now that you just want to move on. KH2 was him being ashamed, and if he didn't face it in DDD, he could've very well cost the Guardians of Light their victory. Instead, he was basically the leader. Aqua certainly wasn't, Mickey wasn't either, and Sora absolutely wasn't the leader. Riku doesn't need the focus because he's faced what he needed to face. He found the strength to protect what matters.

And think about it. Everyone else in the Keyblade Graveyard gave up. He was the only one that went down fighting. There's great Riku moments in KH3, they're just not that often because now that Riku is able to stand on his own feet, Sora needs to focus more on the people who can't.

 

[Twilight Lumiair]

Timeline-wise, Riku literally just became a Master going into KH3. Riku constantly fighting with the darkness at this point would've been redundant, because it's just been happening for so long now that you just want to move on. KH2 was him being ashamed, and if he didn't face it in DDD, he could've very well cost the Guardians of Light their victory.

I honestly doubt many people were expecting Riku to still be struggling with the darkness after DDD. But as a newly named Keyblade Master and someone who walked the "Road to Dawn," Riku really should have (in my opinion) been shown imparting wisdom and knowledge to those who were going through a similar struggles to his own. Such as giving Terra a new perspective on the darkness like he did for Mickey, or... helping Aqua overcome her fear of it (like he himself did back in Reverse Rebirth). It could've provided some important and profound moments for the character, while accentuating his growth and prior struggles. Also, let him actually accomplish something important (because, similar to Aqua, Riku didn't resolve the conflicts he was set up to resolve in this game).

You don't need to back track on his development, or even give him that much more screentime in order for Riku to have a stronger and more fulfilling presence.

Instead, he was basically the leader. Aqua certainly wasn't, Mickey wasn't either, and Sora absolutely wasn't the leader. Riku doesn't need the focus because he's faced what he needed to face. He found the strength to protect what matters.

Hm? At what point did Riku direct, organize, encourage, or strategize for the GoL (as a unit) in such a notable way? Certainly not enough to be considered the leader, from what I recall.

The GoL pretty much went into the fight without an actual plan or strategy, and different people were giving orders and suggestions at different points. No one, aside from maybe Yen Sid, was shown consistently being framed as the organizer of the group. Or am I missing something?

And think about it. Everyone else in the Keyblade Graveyard gave up. He was the only one that went down fighting.

That's.. not a moment people appreciated (or one that we needed to be forced to watch again), lol.

There's great Riku moments in KH3, they're just not that often because now that Riku is able to stand on his own feet, Sora needs to focus more on the people who can't.

I mean... KH3 tried that, and Sora's focus as a character was all over the damn place.

First he's trying to regain his lost powers, then he's trying to find a way to bring Roxas back, then he's told to drop that and start looking for Terra, then he's suddenly worried more about Aqua (despite Riku and Mickey already taking care of that), only to find out that he had the PoW all along, and just needed to "call out to it" (because I guess he never bothered to check if he could earlier). It's incredibly disjointed. Almost like the writers want him to focus on everything, and it just doesn't flow well at all. He's better off having a single, more streamlined goal (like he did back in KH1).