What if the Dark Seeker Saga gets the remake/reinterpretation treatment (like FF7)

[AegisXIII]

I have been playing kh1 recently on pc and I have been shocked to realize that it has aged a lot more than what I expected.

On the graphics side it's fine, more than fine and on the combat side, I still believe it is better than kh3.

But on the gameplay mechanics, it's problematic. I tried during my playthrough to put myself into the shoes of a newcomer and asked myself constantly the same question:
- where should I go next?
- why do I have to talk to Leon twice to progress the story?
- how do I know I have to find all the gorillas in every room?
- why do I need to grab the dolphin twice?
- why is the camera so slow

Getting lost and not knowing where to go make it hard to recommend this game for newcomers who want to start the series. I have friends who abandoned the game at the trickmaster boss (which I would probably too if I didn't know what comes next). And since every game is mandatory to understand the story, the series is facing the issue of being unattractive to newcomers who do not have the time to play all 10 past titles.

So then I was wondering: how would you feel about a Dark Seeker saga remake/reinterpretation like what they are doing for FF7?
Doing so would allow them to compress all the storylines of the spinoff titles into the numeric titles so that the dark seeker saga would be under a more compact format. Only three titles 1-3 properly containing all 10 titles in a less convoluted way.

Of course, I mean that if they had infinite resources and money. Because in practice it will probably never happen as they need to move the story forward. I just want to know how you would feel about it.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

I can see a Kingdom Hearts 1 remake that utilises the FF VII Remake formula to set up an alternate worldline.

The major change I can see is that instead of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness being the main antagonist, the Master of Masters or Darkness itself alters events to create an outcome where the Disney world adventures are more-or-less the same but things diverge drastically with the climax of the original story.

 

[Keybladeguy989]

I have been playing kh1 recently on pc and I have been shocked to realize that it has aged a lot more than what I expected.

On the graphics side it's fine, more than fine and on the combat side, I still believe it is better than kh3.

But on the gameplay mechanics, it's problematic. I tried during my playthrough to put myself into the shoes of a newcomer and asked myself constantly the same question:
- where should I go next?
- why do I have to talk to Leon twice to progress the story?
- how do I know I have to find all the gorillas in every room?
- why do I need to grab the dolphin twice?
- why is the camera so slow

Getting lost and not knowing where to go make it hard to recommend this game for newcomers who want to start the series. I have friends who abandoned the game at the trickmaster boss (which I would probably too if I didn't know what comes next). And since every game is mandatory to understand the story, the series is facing the issue of being unattractive to newcomers who do not have the time to play all 10 past titles.

So then I was wondering: how would you feel about a Dark Seeker saga remake/reinterpretation like what they are doing for FF7?
Doing so would allow them to compress all the storylines of the spinoff titles into the numeric titles so that the dark seeker saga would be under a more compact format. Only three titles 1-3 properly containing all 10 titles in a less convoluted way.

Of course, I mean that if they had infinite resources and money. Because in practice it will probably never happen as they need to move the story forward. I just want to know how you would feel about it.

Or or or they could make a NEW game with a new lead and everything new instead of making the same game over and re release the remake and all that dumb stuff

 

[AegisXIII]

I can see a Kingdom Hearts 1 remake that utilises the FF VII Remake formula to set up an alternate worldline.

The major change I can see is that instead of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness being the main antagonist, the Master of Masters or Darkness itself alters events to create an outcome where the Disney world adventures are more-or-less the same but things diverge drastically with the climax of the original story.

Haha, I see what you mean. And it scares me because it could happen. It did happened in ff7. XD

Or or or they could make a NEW game with a new lead and everything new instead of making the same game over and re release the remake and all that dumb stuff

Unfortunately this will never be the case for KH. A series that requires players to know EVERYTHING from past 10 titles to understand the next will always be forced to provide the same games over and over again. Remix or remakes, we will see some of these again. Otherwise they won't be able to attract new players and thus won't be able to have enough public to finance the next installments. These remakes are what keep the series popular in the heart of the players.
And that's precisely my point. The more the series grow, the less likely players are to experience it in its fullest. So maybe it might be time to reinvent the dark seeker saga in a more compact/accessible format.

 

[maleficentfan123]

Condensing KH1, COM, KH2, 358/2 Days, BBS, Coded, DDD, UX, KH3 and MOM into 2-3 games sounds like a great idea, and I could see it maybe happening someday...but I don't see it happening in the near future.

• Apart from anything else, I would imagine a full on remake series like you're suggesting would take YEARS...Nomura has made it pretty clear he wants to move on. My thought is that he will probably make the Dark Seeker saga, not irrelevant exactly but he will probably make the next saga easier for new players to come into somehow as their first KH game.
• In KH1's case, what of Deep Jungle? My understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, is that they CANNOT use anything from Tarzan that wasn't a thing in the original KH1. So they'd have to cut the world entirely, and replace it with a new world?
• There's also voice acting to consider...unless they replace the cast for these remakes, which how well would that go over? The current voice actors for the most part don't do a good job trying to replicate their younger selves at this point.
• And finally, there is the fact that we just got the remixes not that long ago. I think we have a good 5-10 years to go before they consider something else, beyond just releasing these remixes to newer consoles, etc.

 

[WaltK]

In this hypothetical scenario where a KH1 remake is made that alters events to take it into an alternate worldline, how would prequel games factor into it? Would the events of, say, BbS still be the same?

 

[Vulpes XIII]

It would be interesting if they remake Chain of Memories they removed the card combat mechanic and changed the combat to that of either KH 1,2 or 3 but each world would still be a card and to progress the plot in each world you would still need Key of Beginnings,Key of Guidance and Key of Truth and everything else in the story would still be the same. I’m not sure how well changing the game‘s combat would work in the end but I think it would be intriguing to say the least

 

[Somnus cealum]

i hope the series will get remade in unreal.

 

[AegisXIII]

In KH1's case, what of Deep Jungle? My understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, is that they CANNOT use anything from Tarzan that wasn't a thing in the original KH1. So they'd have to cut the world entirely, and replace it with a new world?

Use jungle book instead. XD

In this hypothetical scenario where a KH1 remake is made that alters events to take it into an alternate worldline, how would prequel games factor into it? Would the events of, say, BbS still be the same?

I honestly don't know for BBS. I was thinking that chain of memories could be the equivalent of the remind episode in kh1 (after the credits you get castle oblivion and no disney world in it -> straightforward). Then 358days could be seen as fragments of roxas memories you regain while doing some quests in kh2. For BBS, and re:coded it's trickier. I would say scrap re:coded for sure, haha.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

The way I see it, if the whole Dark Seeker Saga got the FF7R treatment, the plot would likely be the same up until KH3’s tail end.

There could be nods to Birth by Sleep brought up in dialogue in KH1, nods to Chain of Memories & 358/2 in KH2, and maybe some nods to X[Chi] in KH3, but the overall plot would stay the same until the Keyblade Graveyard. That’s the best place to start a new timeline in my eyes. Or at least a new ending.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

If they ever remade KH1 it most certainly would not be the same game. As said above they would be teasing so many elements that didn't exist before. Lores that were not established would be used right at the start. The story would probably even flow better since everything is set now. And when Sora starts doing something new that deviates from the set path, the ghosts of the Master of Masters can slap him back on track.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

I don't think it's necessary. The Seekers of Darkness Saga is a story that was told up until 2019/2020, unlike FFVII and its Compilation.

Maybe 10, 15 yers from now.

 

[AegisXIII]

I don't think it's necessary. The Seekers of Darkness Saga is a story that was told up until 2019/2020, unlike FFVII and its Compilation.

Maybe 10, 15 yers from now.

Yes but KH1 quite old now as well. You can feel its clunkiness at each playthrough.
My main concern when I ramble about this is: can it still attract new players?

 

[Elysium]

I don't think there's anything wrong with KH1 or its gameplay. My interest in a remake is just to play a new version of that game's worlds / plot where there are no limits on the size of the worlds or the graphics, not for there to be an "improved" version of KH1.* It's one of the only titles in this series that doesn't need much improving. I wouldn't mind if the whole series was re-made in three abbreviated installments as the OP suggests though!

* For example, an Atlantica or Halloween Town that's as huge as a KH3 world. And with Trinities and Dalmatians hidden all over those enormous levels. And with actual boss fights with the Disney villains. The classic looks / designs for Riku and Sora in regular scenes that look similar to opening / ending CG at all times. An (even bigger) Hollow Bastion where you can literally fly out from the top where the Castle Chapel is down to the Grand Hall without even one loading screen, for example. I'm salivating.

 

[Zettaflare]

I don't think it's necessary. The Seekers of Darkness Saga is a story that was told up until 2019/2020, unlike FFVII and its Compilation.

Maybe 10, 15 yers from now.

That's pretty much how I feel. I'd rather they remake KH1 or the first saga after Phase 2 finishes. I'm more interested newer projects than remakes of old games

 

[AdrianXXII]

I'd be down for them eventually doing a remake/reimagining. They could make it more cohesive now with hindsight and expand upon certain ideas, plus if like with FF7R they diverge a bit, they could actually add more depth to certain parts of the Saga. Personally I'd make it 4 games instead of your suggested 3.

• KH1 with a truncated streamlined version of CoM as DLC becoming KH1
• KHII with a streamlined version of Days as DLC becoming KH2
• BBS, 0.2 with a mix of DDD and Coded as DLC becoming KH0
• KHIII + Remind adding Melody of Memories's ending as Limit Cut: Episode Kairi or something.

I'd love to see KH3 sized version and style takes of the worlds in previous games, especially KH2's worlds could use a face lift. While they're at it they could also include more puzzle solving elements like in KH1 and 0.2, I've been missing that quite a bit over the years.

Personally I feel out of all the games BBS could probably benefit the most from a remake seeing it never quite lived up to it's potential as an unofficial numbered game. Having party members, more polish and perhaps more time to develop the story and backstory would benefit the game.

Unfortunately this will never be the case for KH. A series that requires players to know EVERYTHING from past 10 titles to understand the next will always be forced to provide the same games over and over again. Remix or remakes, we will see some of these again. Otherwise they won't be able to attract new players and thus won't be able to have enough public to finance the next installments. These remakes are what keep the series popular in the heart of the players.
And that's precisely my point. The more the series grow, the less likely players are to experience it in its fullest. So maybe it might be time to reinvent the dark seeker saga in a more compact/accessible format.

Technically they could also just create a new entry point game, one that reintroduces the cast and concepts and gives you all you need to know without having to have played the previous games. In away Melody of Memory could have served that purpose, had it not been a rhythm game that breaks from the norm.

Or alternatively the stories could return to smaller more self-contained entries. Personally I feel BBS and Days both kind of work even, if you don't know previous games, even if you don't get all the information. You get enough to be able to follow the main story, but also learn enough about a wider story that could catch your attention and get you interested to learn more.

 

[Willow A113]

• BBS, 0.2 with a mix of DDD and Coded as DLC becoming KH0

I was thinking that. BBS is too important to just be a dlc.

 

[maleficentfan123]

Use jungle book instead. XD

Hmmmm...so, new voice acting? Meaning, new voice actors?

 

[Barrett]

For some reason, I can see them going towards this route where they "remake" or "reboot" KH1's story and have it start out the same at the beginning with Sora, Riku, and Kairi getting separated and Donald and Goofy having to find King Mickey, but by the time they travel to the other Disney worlds besides Disney Castle, mostly everything is completely different already, examples being different Disney worlds and Square cameos. And then by the end of the game, it's pretty clear that this "reboot" is actually a stealth sequel to everything before, even going so far as to make it clear that this isn't even an alternate timeline to the entire series.

It's not what people exactly want from a "reboot" of KH1, but I can totally see them pulling this off if they wanted to.

 

[AegisXIII]

I'd be down for them eventually doing a remake/reimagining. They could make it more cohesive now with hindsight and expand upon certain ideas, plus if like with FF7R they diverge a bit, they could actually add more depth to certain parts of the Saga. Personally I'd make it 4 games instead of your suggested 3.

• KH1 with a truncated streamlined version of CoM as DLC becoming KH1
• KHII with a streamlined version of Days as DLC becoming KH2
• BBS, 0.2 with a mix of DDD and Coded as DLC becoming KH0
• KHIII + Remind adding Melody of Memories's ending as Limit Cut: Episode Kairi or something.

I'd love to see KH3 sized version and style takes of the worlds in previous games, especially KH2's worlds could use a face lift. While they're at it they could also include more puzzle solving elements like in KH1 and 0.2, I've been missing that quite a bit over the years.

Personally I feel out of all the games BBS could probably benefit the most from a remake seeing it never quite lived up to it's potential as an unofficial numbered game. Having party members, more polish and perhaps more time to develop the story and backstory would benefit the game.


Technically they could also just create a new entry point game, one that reintroduces the cast and concepts and gives you all you need to know without having to have played the previous games. In away Melody of Memory could have served that purpose, had it not been a rhythm game that breaks from the norm.

Or alternatively the stories could return to smaller more self-contained entries. Personally I feel BBS and Days both kind of work even, if you don't know previous games, even if you don't get all the information. You get enough to be able to follow the main story, but also learn enough about a wider story that could catch your attention and get you interested to learn more.

I like your theory, although I would merge 0.2 and kh3 instead as one is the prologue of the other. The whole kh3 journey is to find where Aqua is (mostly). Showing her struggle in the same game would make the reunion much more impactful.