- Joined
- Nov 28, 2005
- Messages
- 6,783
- Awards
- 8
1.) We sure did see a lot of Xehanort in the latest trailers, didn't we? Ansem, Xenmas, Master Xehanort, Apprentice Xehanort & even what we're guessing to be teen Xehanort. The 1st thing that confuses me is MX, how can Sora & Riku be at the end battle of BBS? For that matter when did Mickey confront MX during that event? I originally concluded it was foreshadowing for a future event. But maybe it really is a flashback.
The next mystery is the AX flashback. Namely, where in the structure of the game's story does it occur? I mean you can't just randomly jump to a scene from the past, there has to be some sort of context to when it occurs in the game.
& the third mystery, why exactly are we running into Ansem & Xenmas again? I know they're dreams & not really back, but still why is Sora & Riku encountering them?
Given that its KH, obviously a bunch of mysteries surrounding the same character in the same game must be connected somehow, thus I came to realize my 1st theory: The Realm of Sleep is comprised entirely of Xehanort's memories. Sora & Riku are retracing the steps of Xehanort's own past. As such The flashback of AX attackng the other apprentices is something Sora or Riku will witness before their very eyes in the same way they'll witness the KBG battle 1st hand. XH, Xenmas & YX all appear because Xehanort obviously has memories of himself.
& the Disney worlds you may ask? He's been to all of them before. BBS painted him as a sort of nomad prior to the game's events, undoubtedly he's been to many worlds in that time. Heck, we already know he has a history with Space Paranoids as AX. The reason why these worlds are trapped in RoS is because of something he did to them during his travels.
The real clincher for this idea IMO is Yen Sid. He sent Sora & Riku to RoS to prepare them for the upcoming battle with Xehanort. Its quite fitting wouldn't you say, that this preparation involves them learning more about their enemy?
2.) The absolute lack of Kairi outside of the "recapping the series" CG is downright perplexing. She didn't play much of a role in KH2 but she still showed up in trailers long before that one came out. The main reason it sticks out to me is because DDD is developed by the same team that did BBS, yet DDD only seems to have 2 main characters as opposed to BBS's 3. I can't help but imagine the Osaka staff themselves thinking something's missing with just 2 characters.
Another thing I've been wondering is the alleged difference in Sora's & Riku's gameplay. Nomura once said he was thinking of making their gameplay distinct from each other, much like in CoM with R/R. But quite frankly, I'm not seeing it. One demo report even said they had the same reality shift ability in Country of Musketeers. Their gameplay just doesn't doesn't all that fundamentally different from each other. Some exclusive deck commands or command styles but largely identical.
So again I put 2 & 2 together & came up with my 2nd theory of the day: Kairi gets a scenario that's the equivalent of a Reverse/Rebirth bonus mode. Square hasn't shown anything of it yet simply because its an unlockable story after beating the main game. Basically it goes down like this:
Sora/Riku go to a world in RoS----->restore said world back to RoL-----> Yen Sid sends Kairi to the restored world in RoL to lock it down so it can't ever go back to RoS or RoD.
As such the same worlds are used but there are several ways in which Kairi's gameplay differs from the other 2:
A. No dream eaters. Heartless fill the role of fodder enemies.
B. No drop gauge, unless she's tag teaming with Mickey but I highly doubt that'll happen.
C. Kairi can't use freeflow movement. She gets a new game mechanic in its place as taught to her by Yen Sid (there'll be a period of time before S&R restore their 1st world for her to get some training done)
& D, she obviously doesn't get dream eater party members in RoL but I'm conflicted in what the alternative is. Having her go alone doesn't sound right, being the least experienced she's in more need of back-up than S&R. Then I thought of summon gems returning, that "pet" disney character like Dumbo, Stitch & Mushu would fill the dream eater void, but that's for a game with a 2 year development cycle I wonder if that's getting to be more than they can fit in. Maybe then a pair of permanent party ala D&G. Hayner/Pence/Olette might be possible but Hayner's the only 1 of the 3 with known fighting ability.
& then I saw this post:
The scene of Maleficent in the JF trailer could relate to a Kairi scenario, she is after 1 of the PoH spoken of. Maleficent may "haunt"Kairi in the same sense that XH & Xenmas are haunting S&R. Even with training by Yen Sid, party members & on the field experience fighting heartless it'll still be hard to believe she'd defeat Terranort or some other original villain so Maleficent may finally get the honor of final boss status. Or maybe it'll be Marluxia's somebody just to get him out of the picture. Kairi would be getting payback on Namine's behalf in that regard.
3.) In conclusion I find a symmetry in the 2 theories: Sora & Riku's stories tell the past while Kairi's tells the present. Combined they give the player the whole picture in preparation for KH3. Though I will admit that theory 2 isn't actually very likely to happen but I can dream, can't I?
& I have no idea how the dream eaters fit into Theory 1.
The next mystery is the AX flashback. Namely, where in the structure of the game's story does it occur? I mean you can't just randomly jump to a scene from the past, there has to be some sort of context to when it occurs in the game.
& the third mystery, why exactly are we running into Ansem & Xenmas again? I know they're dreams & not really back, but still why is Sora & Riku encountering them?
Given that its KH, obviously a bunch of mysteries surrounding the same character in the same game must be connected somehow, thus I came to realize my 1st theory: The Realm of Sleep is comprised entirely of Xehanort's memories. Sora & Riku are retracing the steps of Xehanort's own past. As such The flashback of AX attackng the other apprentices is something Sora or Riku will witness before their very eyes in the same way they'll witness the KBG battle 1st hand. XH, Xenmas & YX all appear because Xehanort obviously has memories of himself.
& the Disney worlds you may ask? He's been to all of them before. BBS painted him as a sort of nomad prior to the game's events, undoubtedly he's been to many worlds in that time. Heck, we already know he has a history with Space Paranoids as AX. The reason why these worlds are trapped in RoS is because of something he did to them during his travels.
The real clincher for this idea IMO is Yen Sid. He sent Sora & Riku to RoS to prepare them for the upcoming battle with Xehanort. Its quite fitting wouldn't you say, that this preparation involves them learning more about their enemy?
2.) The absolute lack of Kairi outside of the "recapping the series" CG is downright perplexing. She didn't play much of a role in KH2 but she still showed up in trailers long before that one came out. The main reason it sticks out to me is because DDD is developed by the same team that did BBS, yet DDD only seems to have 2 main characters as opposed to BBS's 3. I can't help but imagine the Osaka staff themselves thinking something's missing with just 2 characters.
Another thing I've been wondering is the alleged difference in Sora's & Riku's gameplay. Nomura once said he was thinking of making their gameplay distinct from each other, much like in CoM with R/R. But quite frankly, I'm not seeing it. One demo report even said they had the same reality shift ability in Country of Musketeers. Their gameplay just doesn't doesn't all that fundamentally different from each other. Some exclusive deck commands or command styles but largely identical.
So again I put 2 & 2 together & came up with my 2nd theory of the day: Kairi gets a scenario that's the equivalent of a Reverse/Rebirth bonus mode. Square hasn't shown anything of it yet simply because its an unlockable story after beating the main game. Basically it goes down like this:
Sora/Riku go to a world in RoS----->restore said world back to RoL-----> Yen Sid sends Kairi to the restored world in RoL to lock it down so it can't ever go back to RoS or RoD.
As such the same worlds are used but there are several ways in which Kairi's gameplay differs from the other 2:
A. No dream eaters. Heartless fill the role of fodder enemies.
B. No drop gauge, unless she's tag teaming with Mickey but I highly doubt that'll happen.
C. Kairi can't use freeflow movement. She gets a new game mechanic in its place as taught to her by Yen Sid (there'll be a period of time before S&R restore their 1st world for her to get some training done)
& D, she obviously doesn't get dream eater party members in RoL but I'm conflicted in what the alternative is. Having her go alone doesn't sound right, being the least experienced she's in more need of back-up than S&R. Then I thought of summon gems returning, that "pet" disney character like Dumbo, Stitch & Mushu would fill the dream eater void, but that's for a game with a 2 year development cycle I wonder if that's getting to be more than they can fit in. Maybe then a pair of permanent party ala D&G. Hayner/Pence/Olette might be possible but Hayner's the only 1 of the 3 with known fighting ability.
& then I saw this post:
Hm, come of think of it this makes some sense. Isn't "trust" the theme of this game? So far I haven't seen it pop up much. But Axel & Saix had kidnapped Kairi before, so imagine the trust issues that would come up if she were force to party with Lea & Isa! But if they can fit in the Disney summons, I totally prefer that option.Or for fan reasons let's say that Lea will protect her in time of need.
The scene of Maleficent in the JF trailer could relate to a Kairi scenario, she is after 1 of the PoH spoken of. Maleficent may "haunt"Kairi in the same sense that XH & Xenmas are haunting S&R. Even with training by Yen Sid, party members & on the field experience fighting heartless it'll still be hard to believe she'd defeat Terranort or some other original villain so Maleficent may finally get the honor of final boss status. Or maybe it'll be Marluxia's somebody just to get him out of the picture. Kairi would be getting payback on Namine's behalf in that regard.
3.) In conclusion I find a symmetry in the 2 theories: Sora & Riku's stories tell the past while Kairi's tells the present. Combined they give the player the whole picture in preparation for KH3. Though I will admit that theory 2 isn't actually very likely to happen but I can dream, can't I?
& I have no idea how the dream eaters fit into Theory 1.