How did this thread from a decade ago come up? This thread'll probably close, so I'll put my insight in.
Much...has changed about my opinion in regards to Disney and Kingdom Hearts. On one hand, there's no subtracting Disney from the factor. If you get rid of them, you get rid of Kingdom Hearts in general.
On the other hand, Kingdom Hearts...doesn't really feel like a Disney game anymore. When KH1 first came in, it had this perfect balance between Disney and Final Fantasy. It felt like an actual Disney game, because you actually felt as if there were stakes in each world. The worlds actually felt as if they were apart of the KH story, and it felt nice to see Maleficent as an overall threat...before Xehanort took charge. KH1 felt like there was a sense of danger through the worlds, and there came the satisfaction of fighting all the Disney villains throughout Maleficent's little council, and even defeating Maleficent herself...with the Beast's help, no less.
KH2 there were moments where the Disney worlds had importance to the KH2 story. I still love Xaldin's interference, in using the Beast as a weapon, Luxord's utilization of the Aztec Curse, and no doubt the best worlds that showed the importance to the lore of the original words is Space Paranoids in Hollow Bastion. On top of this, Timeless River had a more calmer sense of time travel compared to the...mess we've been presented in DDD. The Disney aspect was there in KH2...but it just feels like...ever since the Organization came in, the importance of the Disney aspect of the journey began to dwindle.
Within each game after, the Disney worlds just didn't matter. Days, I'm not sure about, myself, and Re:Coded & COM is LITERALLY a copy and paste of the existing KH1 worlds. They're literally just doorways that had no significance to the story.
And then...there's DDD & KH3. I'll give DDD the benefit of the doubt because the worlds there were pretty...but...the chosen worlds seemed...unnecessary. Like...as someone said in another thread, where does Country of Musketeers even fall in to call apart of lore? The Disney worlds just felt like they were...there, and the Organization had no reason to pop up except to pass on their traditional gibberish. Maleficent & Pete were thrown in the game so we wouldn't forget they exist. It was nice...but it didn't feel needed. I mean...why did they need the datascape in the first place? And why is Maleficent so hellbent on taking their castle?
Finally, we have KH3. Most of them just felt like 'A rerun of your FAVORITE Disney movies (Starring Donald Duck, Goofy, and some spiky-haired kid...cause why not?) I'll give Monstropolis and Toy Box the benefit of the doubt, because I kinda like how Toy Box touched upon the heart-within toys thing, and how Vanitas could absorb fear through the screams collected through the factory. However, THOSE worlds had such missed potential, as well. Doors are LITERALLY Monsters Inc.'s forte, and doors are LITERALLY KH's forte as well. There's a lot they could've touched upon, like the door to darkness, the gateway to finding Aqua.
I don't even want to TOUCH upon Corona & ESPECIALLY Arendelle. Disney has done enough with THOSE two worlds.
The Caribbean also is a world that had potential. There could've been more to talk about in regards to the box, rather than pointing out that the Organization's...just looking for it. It could've been a long run because of how short it is, but honestly, they could've added aspects of Dead Man's Chest into the mix, rather than going through A FRACTION of At World's End.
And San Fransokyo? I'm...not quite sure what potential it could've had. It was...honestly my least favorite world of KH3.
In the end, it doesn't even feel like a true Disney game anymore. It just feels like Disney's trying to advertise their movies, despite them being released ages ago.
At this point, if Kingdom Hearts WERE to exclude Disney from the equation...nothing would change except the literal 6 of MANY Disney characters.
Even THAT'S a stretch because Maleficent & Pete's relevance in KH3 HAD no impact until the VERY end.
The PoH were reintroduced in 3, but all that happened at the end felt like they didn't even matter and the topic of the PoH was just thrown in for the lols.
Jiminy, who's been in the party since the beginning, has BARELY had ANY screentime to even matter if he's there or not. The only time he's actually made a shine was in COM & Re: Coded.
Even Mickey...The goddamn ICON of Disney barely has much of an impact on this game.
SO. A Kingdom Hearts without Disney? Impossible from a realistic standpoint. From an unrealistic standpoint? The story would LITERALLY go on without them. The only thing that'll be missed from this exclusion, would be Donald and Goofy.
That's another rant about this topic. If this thread is closed because of the date, then so be it. I just want to send this in before it does.