I love that "Characters from different worlds mingle or interact" idea. I really think that they should not be so contained, especially if the setting is after the Xehanort Saga.
I also kind of like Memory Master's idea that there's a limited number of wielders in a generation, however, the fabled Keyblade War had more than four wielders participate (as there was a large graveyard full of keyblades). If we want a set limit per generation, then we'll have to explain the Keyblade Graveyard.
I think the Realm of Darkness should be explored further. As Birth by Sleep Version 2 is coming out, I think the canon series will finally get a chance to do that, but we cannot really be sure until BbSV2 finally gets out.
I like the idea of a villain who uses light as a means to an end, however, I don't think it would be properly executed in a religious zealot trying to help people. It just goes from "Light is Not Good" to "Helping too much is a bad thing"/"Too much of a good thing..."
To get to those prompts that've been proposed:
+ What kind of a story do you want to tell? Do you prefer games that are cliche but written well at the expense of depth or games that are more convoluted and require more reading between the lines at the expense of confusion? If you want both, please elaborate.
I actually prefer a more convoluted story with a lot of back story. Why? Because my philosophy on people is that we all have a backstory; we all have a background. I try to emphasize that in my novels, and with any story that has a lot of characters, it is possible to show such a thing. Yes, that would be another proposal for a theme, but I still think that a theme to shoot for for a Kingdom Hearts game is one under the Emotions motif.
I'm not saying that we should expand the game's backstory by leaning heavily on the plots of the Disney films or by relying on pseudo-reports, though the pseudo-reports should be used appropriately if at all. And yes, I am against having the sub-plots in the worlds relying heavily on the plots of their respected films. The Kingdom Hearts original characters are not the same as those found within the films, so the game's plots and sub-plots should stray away from the expected.
If I wanted to experience the plot of
Bambi or
The Nightmare Before Christmas, I would have just watched the films.
+ What themes do you feel this new Kingdom Hearts game should explore that we haven't seen in the series before? (ex: good triumps over evil, the bonds of friendship)
Firstly, I just want to say that a motif is a phrase (and not the message of the story) while a theme is a sentence with a subject and a verb (and
is the/a message of the story). "Good triumphs over evil" is a theme, but "The bonds of friendship" is a motif (and there are many possible themes under that motif). At least, that's my understanding of it (now that I've spoken with a bunch of people on the subject).
I think the motif of bonds should be dropped. The Xehanort Saga has that motif, and it was so poorly executed that I believe that the Kingdom Hearts series won't be able to ever properly touch upon it. In other words, too many clones, which were used because of the motif of bonds and connections.
That being said, I believe a decent motif for this new game/saga could be Emotions, as in how emotions affect/effect people, places, and things. "Hatred corrupts the best of us," is a possible theme under this motif, as is "Love is the strongest force" (and, conversely, "Love is the weakest force"). One would think that Kingdom Hearts has already touched upon this motif, but so far the only significant emotions that are made a point are the love of friends, apathy (in the Nobodies and nowhere else), and blind ambition for power. I like what someone already said in this thread concerning emotions (to paraphrase): I want to see what happens to the heart when it is left to be apathetic; does it become a second mind? does it become cold and mechanical?
We could utilize the emotional state of apathy for the first game by having a main character be themselves apathetic to what is going on around them (though not completely), i.e., the main antagonist's actions and the main protagonist's quest to stop them. And the game itself could go into the theme of "Hatred corrupts the best of us" by having the main protagonist being at first a loveable character (being similar to KH1-Sora) and quickly or eventually becoming filled with hatred for the main antagonist and what they are doing to the Realm of Light (or what -have-you). Or alternatively, we could have the main antagonist's backstory be "Hatred corrupts the best of us," in that they were once highly respected by many.
Another corruption theme: "Forgiveness heals all wounds" or "Forgiveness means death," in which the theme appears to be "
x corrupts the best of us" but then takes a quick turn to the main antagonist asking if the main protagonist could ever forgive them for what they have done and the main protagonist replies something along the lines of "While you still breathe, no." Though that, too, can be seen as the main protagonist being corrupted (or an anti-hero).
+ How can the concepts established in the original Kingdom Hearts series work with your ideas? If not, why?
Firstly, I love the sentiments, hollowed bodies formed when a heart of a wielder is stolen. It's nicely poetic, and really sad. I would love for a main character to be one of the sentiments. Such could be utilized to show that more is happening than the main protagonist first realized.
But how could the canonical concepts be utilized for what I've already proposed? We've seen light harm before. And I'm not just talking about Roxas and keyblades of light. I'm also talking about the reflect spell. Yes, it was basically a defensive spell, but that would also imply that wind/air element can't harm anyone either. In
Kingdom Hearts 1, we had a wind spell, which was mostly used to lessen damage to Sora, but in
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, the wind element's spell became more violent. One can argue that such happened in
Days out of necessity (such as why water element finally became its own thing), but the wind element's spell continues to be more violent in
RE:coded.
What I am trying to say is that if wind element spells can be expanded upon in the series, then so can light element spells, thereby allowing a character to utilize light spells (and The Light) to do whatever they please (and be used to show that the light is not pure and "good"). We can look at the Final Mix fights between Sora and Roxas for other light element spells.
The Sentiments are another thing that need talking about. It is my understanding that they are created when a keyblade master has their heart stolen (literally having it taken out). The Sentiments seem to be created of the master's armor and their soul. As far as I know, the Sentiments are not sentient or sapient, but we could explore and/or expand them into something beyond "the mindless," though I doubt it, as the mind seems to belong with the heart (e.g. "zombie" Roxas in Days; Sora-Heartless; Sora wandering around as a Shadow; Ansem, Seeker of Darkness).
+ How balanced is the game's narrative? The Kingdom Hearts series traditionally has had it's narrative gravitated towards the bookends, but would you opt for a more balanced way of story-telling or do you think it is effective as is? Also, tell us how you would create a balanced (or imbalanced) narrative by expanding on how the story evolves over the course of the game.
I'm not completely sure what you mean here, but I'll try to say what I believe it is, then say what I think on the topic of this prompt.
What you mean by "balanced" and "imbalanced" is heavy gameplay versus heavy narration/dialogue?
I think the current pattern is undesired. In
Kingdom Hearts 1, Mickey was the silent text in the beginning of the game (we're told), yet not once is it brought up afterwards during the game. Even at the end when Sora & Co. have defeated Ansem, SoD and Mickey finally has a line, it isn't mentioned nor hinted at. They could have had Mickey voiceless for the scene, implying that the beginning voiceless character was also the ending voiceless character. What I'm trying to say is that I think the narrative is too far apart and imbalanced (with more gameplay than narrative)
So I'm opting for a balance. I've already said above that I think each of the worlds' plots should differ from their respective films, which means that players will need more imput to understand what's going on exactly. I'm all for something similar to Jiminy's journals (just sayin'), but I think the chronicler should speak more often. In
Chain of Memories, Jiminy did just that, and I for one was never lost on the happenings because of him and Goofy. I'm not saying that the narrative should be formulaic; I'm very against something so tedious. However, I think that if we have a few characters that discuss what is going on from time to time, the player/the audience will not be so confused by the complexity of the story.
+ At what point does the main theme of the game become apparent? Is your theme something that is present without, or does it surface over the course of the story? Good versus evil is a good example of the former and a love story is a good example of the latter.
The Author is Dead and all that, and the theme we hope for should not be shoved into the audience's face. That would make the game more "See what I did thar" and less fantastic. If the story is complex, then there are going to be many themes that are present all throughout. However, I think that if we purposely place one or two for the main antagonist and the main protagonist, then the theme will be there for the audience to see when they look for it. A good story isn't necessarily one that makes you cry the first time through; it's a story that makes you cry and
want to come back to the story time and time again.
I believe gamers call it "re-playability of a game."
To be blunt, I think the main theme (i.e. the theme we purposely place in the story) should surface subtly over the course of the story.
+ How do you think people will generally respond to the themes you've created for your story? Do you want to make people laugh or cry? Do you want them to be intrigued or entertained?
I prefer to make stories that are capable of making the audience cry (tear jerkers) and be intrigued. And with a Kingdom Hearts game, I think that that is possible. I mean, the Xehanort Saga is not only filled with intriguing, ingenious concepts, but it's also a very depressing one, too.
And I'm not really sure how people would respond to the themes and motifs that I've proposed.
+ How would you handle contrasting events and themes? If your story is about the bonds of friendship, how would you illustrate the feeling of seperation and how prevalent should it be?
Contrasting events and themes should be used as foils. In other words, contrasting themes can be utilized to make each other seem more of itself. (For example, there's a decently intelligent, very knowledgeable student in class, and the person sitting next to them is considered one of the "druggie kids" and doesn't easily comprehend the coursework. One makes the other look more intelligent, while the other makes the "druggie kid" seem more stupid.)
Basically, I would welcome contrasting themes in drafts, and try to position them to foil each other within the story. If they cannot work, then one or the other will have to be scrapped.
The same can be said of contrasting events. Let's say that Kairi forced a promise out of Sora, but then allowed Riku to make a similar promise for himself. This would show that she feels differently about Sora than she does about Riku, and does not leave the audience guessing.
Yay foils!
+ Do you set up your story for a sequel(s)? How do you establish things in your original game's story that carry into the next story and help bridge them effectively?
I prefer to set things up to have a sequel, as then I do not have to worry about getting everything that I want in in. Though if we do set this up for a sequel, I propose that we plot out what will happen in the first game and the second game before we, in this hypothetical situation, create the first game. It will make the seams cleaner and crisp, and one would be hard-pressed to find inaccuracies.
+ Do you want to tell a story from one character's perspective or several? If it's one character, how would you let the player get into the character's head? Is the player character someone who is very reliable that the player can replace with their own persona or does the character have a defined personality that we eventually come to understand?
We've seen in
Birth by Sleep that it is possible to show one journey in multiple POVs. As I have said above, my philosophy is that we all have a backstory; we all have a background. Multiple perspectives will give us a few chances to show the main character's personalities and flesh out more characters than is possible with only one POV.
I think that each of the characters should have defined personalities that come to light as the audience plays the game. I think that there should not be any instances where a character randomly says some things about themselves, but I do believe that the characters should eventually trust one another and open up to each other; otherwise it would be mostly inner dialogue.
Now that I think about it, the only characters that I cannot see opening up would be a character that's like a Sentiment.
Did you mean "who is very relatable"? (My computer is now telling me that relatable is not a word... :/ okay then...)
