Not to mention, the saving plotline was established long before Xehanort's True Organization. I can't believe people aren't pitching more of a fit over having to fight ANOTHER group of 13 cloaked villains.
While that is true as well, the second major plot point being the final defeat of Xehanort was also introduced early and there where also hints at an ominuous "secret true goal" of the Organisation XIII way back in the supplementary material to KH 2. So some basic ground framework was already there, although I admit that there being a second Organisation, the introduction of another method to forge the X-blade as well as the time-travel shenanigans were only introduced recently.
I think the question though isn't so much if these things have been established well enough so much than if these things should have been major plot points in the first place. Saving those in torment has been established for the longest time, but some simply feel that the current direction the series is taking isn't a good one or could have been handled better. Which I can sympathise with. A lot of us are aware that the writing staff leaves much to be desired and after playing BbS and Days and reevaluating KH2 I can't help but feel that the purpose of a lot of the tragedy is to give Sora something to do. That is to say, since Sora is the main character and needs some sort of conflict and by the end of KH2 most, if not all, of the major plot points were wrapped up so they had to expand the rest of the universe outside of Sora in order to keep the story going. Having pathos based characters in itself isn't a bad thing, but I have a hard time sympathizing with a lot of the characters introduced post-KH2 because most of them blatantly exist to suffer so Sora can save them. On top of that, I can't help feel it's all a bit emotionally manipulative because the bases of all the tragedies are "bad things happen to good people because Xehanort is just a big meanie-face". Which got trite after a while.
TL;DR: Yes, it has been established for a while now that characters are going to be saved, but the overall process could have been done better. Because of subpar writing I simply cannot bring myself to care about a good chunk of the character, and by extension, the plot points that relate to them.
It's no secret that the majority of the writers working on KH's scenarios are mediocre and that Nomura, as good as his ideas may be, constantly underachieves in how to present them properly.
This ties into the issue with the mediocre writers as well because in the end it's
Nomura who has to approve of a proposed scenario, so if a proposal is not well thought out enough he could (and should) reject it and demand an improved one.
How much one is willing to look past the flaws in the writing (or not) is certainly an issue that should be taken into consideration, however I do not think that one should decry the whole plot after KH 2 as unneccessary or beyond salvation just because he/she doesn't like the way it is moving and some writing flaws.
On the other side of the spectrum there are also many fans who like the "new characters" introduced (yes, that includes Xion despite the widespread hate she gets) and want to see more of them because these characters have more potential to explore.
That these characters simply exist to suffer so Sora can save them is actually a valid point, I can see where that one comes from, but that too
could be remedied if these characters can get roles that go beyond "suffering so Sora can save them". However, the way the story is build so far is already set in stone, so any chance for these characters to get some more merit is
after the whole "Sora saves them"-schtick is done and over with. The whole possibility goes completely down the drain though if they aren't saved at all and remain those one-shot characters that got introduced just to disappear/be offed/gone in the same game they were introduced.
The issue of "all is Xehanort's fault" may have to do with the whole first saga being a villain based saga, as while Sora is the "main protagonist" and it primarily revolves around "his" story and those connected to him, the actual driving force behind everything is Xehanort, and frankly, not counting Riku and Lea/Axel, Xehanort may have had most of the spotlight/character exposition so far befitting a saga based on him.
If they want to shake things up, maybe in the next saga they should not base it around one overaching villain, but introduce a different overaching element that ties all together in one saga.
Maybe they can even forego introducing one main arch-villain at all and work with different sets of villains (which may have the same goal) instead.
I felt similarly at first to a degree, but I realized that it's a better alternative to what I feared. I started to wonder if Nomura was going to continue to introduce characters only to rip apart their lives and then never mention them again. Roxas and Xion to be introduced at all ultimately felt really futile because you knew what was going to happen to them. Terra, Aqua, and Ven felt similarly, but to me there was enough mystery in the resolution of their stories that I didn't mind. I did fear them just getting their fifteen minutes and then never really getting anything other than their lives sucked because Xehalol.
Which is why I think the turning point of the series was Blank Points, it caught me really off guard that maybe not everything was so hopeless. Is that good writing? No, but the series isn't over yet and having the choice between keeping them misterable and having hope I choose to have hope (becauseit'sgoingtohappenanyway)
That is also a very good point. The reason why quite a number of fans want many (or all) of the suffering characters back and see more of them is because starting with KH 2 Nomura really has/had a knack to introduce new, potentially interesting characters only to break them apart and have them disappear either the same game they are introduced or the next game after that.
I can emphasize with this very well because that's also something that greatly bothers me personally, although it also goes hand in hand with Ruran's claim of the characters being "introduced just for the tragedy/suffering", because that's exactly how it played out for any main character that isn't named Sora, Riku and Kairi.
The main difference is indeed how one's stance towards remedying the current situation is, and I am certainly also all for the more hopeful outlook
despite all mediocre writing that's making the way bumpy.
Son Gokū;6114192 said:
I have a feeling that only 1 or 2 characters will be "saved" in KH3. They'll probably spread it out even more. ALSO I bet KH3 will NOT be the end of Xehanort. Just trigger the BEGINNING of the next Keyblade War. (Given several more games for the 7 lights to come together and get the full training they each need.)
Your feeling goes against
several instances that have claimed and hinted otherwise though, and that KH III will be the end of Xehanort as a main villain
and his schemes has been flat out said by Nomura more than once already.
