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What would you change about the KHII story?



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magic713

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Now here is Part 3 of my posts. So, what major or minor changes, would you make to the story of Kingdom Hearts 2?

I didn't like how the story telling of the Disney Worlds changed. In KHI, they were just settings for Sora and co., the KHII stories are now a miniature plot of the films, at least during the first visits.

Instead of the characters Hayner, Pence, and Olette, I'd have the Twilight Town trio be Final Fantasy characters (speaking of which, give Setzer his more FF6 accurate personality).

Also, I'd probably have Luxord perish on Port Royal (maybe he was present during part one), instead of TWTNW. I feel like three members getting defeated on the same world is enough. Also, try an utilize his time abilities better than a simple countdown. Like maybe he plants cards that could effect Sora's speed, making him faster, slower, or stop completely, for a time (but that is more gameplay than story).

I'd keep Maleficent dead. She was great in KHI, but now with more original villains, her role in the game was significantly reduced. I'm fine if Pete works in this insignificant manner, as it fits his character, but not Maleficent who seems to be more aimless in her role of the game. [Plus I can't stand the fact that she helped Sora and the others. It felt very OOC]

Kairi should have been able to call a Keyblade, herself. Not be handed one by Riku, as if he had a spare weapon for her to borrow.
 
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Zettaflare

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I'd keep Maleficent dead as well. Just have Pete work by himself for the first half of the game and nothing really changes.

I'd probably cut a few Disney worlds too. Namely Halloween Town and Atlantica
 

Zackarix

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Make the Disney worlds contribute to the plot in meaningful ways. Beast's Castle and Space Paranoids do a great job of this, put the same care into all the worlds.

Don't do revisit, or at least do them on an as-needed basis instead of revisiting them all just because. I'm pretty sure that KH2 has the highest world count in the series, it didn't need revisits.
 

Grey Skies

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I would add foreshadowing of Xion's existence, and I would have Roxas regain his memories halfway through the prologue. I think Roxas's amnesia made things far too confusing to the players to the point that we had little idea of who he was or what life he lived. Having him remember at the end of the prologue felt cheap.

I would make Sora visit Kairi and the islands early on. He would take Kairi on the adventure from that point on. It was super awkward how he never visited her or the islands. Heartless were all over all the other worlds, so why would he not bother checking on the situation in his own home world? I would keep the Kairi kidnapping plot mostly the same, because it gave various characters a bit of character development.

I would make it clear in the prologue that Axel ran away instead of being defeated. Axel had little reason to fake his death, and he also would have dad little reason to actually fight to the death with Roxas. Xion had reasons to do so, but not Axel.

I think the Disney worlds would have been better if Sora gradually gained some of Roxas's memories while visiting these worlds and meeting the Organization. He'd also get vague glimpses of Xion. It would make the Organization plot line so much more meaningful, and it would make the Disney worlds more relevant.

I would have Sora consider the ramifications of liberating hearts for Xemnas's KH. As it was, he thought about it for like 10 seconds and never gave it another thought. I would give the player the option of either using a wooden sword, magic, and party members to avoid an additional stage in the final boss gauntlet, or proceed as usual and just have an additional boss fight near the end. I'd make sure it was spelled it out first to avoid player confusion.

I would give Red XIII a cameo in the Pride Lands.

I would have Sora explicitly wonder whether it was Riku on the mountain in the Land of Dragons, and I would add a quick Xigbar fight at the palace.

I wouldn't make Roxas seem at all happy about rejoining with Sora, and I would not have Naminé merge with Kairi. Instead I would send Naminé to the islands in the end. Roxas's merging with Sora was reasonably justified in the story, but Naminé had no good reason to merge with Kairi instead of joining SRK on the islands. Sure, her life wasn't very fulfilling, but it would have been if she were with SRK. Okay, maybe not so much with Riku, but Sora and Kairi would welcome her for sure.

I would make both Riku and Axel party members in TWTNW, but I think it would be fitting if Saix were the one to take Axel down instead of Axel dying from exhaustion. That would be much juicier.
 

Ðari

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If it wasn't for the mobile game basically saying Maleficent time traveled after she'd been defeated in KH1 (which to me was...idk, totally unnecessary but I didn't write script lmao.) I'd of taken her and pete out of the script, but thats just me. If it was a set up for how they explained time travel in later games...STILL.
 

KudoTsurugi

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While I wouldn’t change the main story, I’d probably add three things.

1: Have both Riku AND Kairi as party members for TWTNW. She wields a Keyblade now, how could you NOT take advantage of this?!

2: Do what the manga did and expand on Kairi’s time in Twilight Town, maybe even make her playable for a bit and take part in some Struggle matches to foreshadow her mettle as a fighter and ability to wield a Keyblade.

3: Once the Island trio is reunited, have them be able to travel alongside Sora to different worlds in post-game. Heck, for worlds you haven’t visited already it could make things more interesting.

But if I had to change one world’s story, it’s Atlantica. You could keep the rhythm games if you want(just give the original songs that aren’t Ursula’s Revenge better English lyrics, please), just change up the story so Ariel doesn’t forget the events of the first game. Like give her a different reason to sign that contract to turn human, because we already had her naively trust Ursula in the first game, it doesn’t work a second time.
 
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disney233

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I think we're all in agreement that most of the revisits and 2nd visits barley had any fucking meaning. So, I say MERGE the 2 visits the same as what the manga did. Have some teamups with the Disney villains & the Organization, like Shan Yu & Xigbar, or Xaldin & Gaston, BETTER YET, how about having Maleficent & the Org just...make a fucking alliance so she wouldn't be seen as a fucking waste of space throughout the entire series.
 

MATGSY

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Everything? There's so much I dislike I don't really know where to start. Filler Disney worlds, overwrought plot, "Ansem is not Ansem", "Nobodies don't exist", the beginning of the end for Kairi's development, the nonsense just keeps going on & on.

Gameplay was fun though. I swear, if we could have a game with the writing of KH1, the combat of KH2(FM), & the scale of worlds from KH3 it'd be the greatest video game ever.
 

Ðari

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With how the development cycle has been for all three of those games, if we the teams that worked on all three games sit down and make whatever the next installment, you'd easily see more fair and less stressed criticisms of the franchise to begin with.

II overall was fun to play, they spent more time on the gameplay, but the "mood", narrarration, and world building was just...beyond half-baked. I understand the OP is effectively asking one of the most basic questions here, but man...a mess is being mild. Sora and Kairi's interactions just didn't have the same soul as in KH1, but Sora and Riku's interaction even in 2021 replaying that, it's a redeemer for me personally.
 

Elysium

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Oh, Lord... I don't even know where to start. Seems sort of like one of those missteps that can't be wholly corrected story-wise no matter what you do.

- Sora and co. would still lock Keyholes in every world as a "precaution" to prevent a scenario like KH1 ever happening again. None of the opening lanes of light nonsense or whatever that was. If they were going to break the rule that people could still travel between worlds, they should've just said Squall and Ansem SoD's reports were wrong and that Gummi ships still worked regardless of the worlds being restored.
- Cut Pete altogether or at least make him much less relevant--only operating as a guard dog by Maleficent at most and a means for the Disney Castle takeover attempt. Maleficent goes from ally to ally to see if she can gain a foothold again. Atlantica is a battle world and Ursula was revived by her just like Oogie. Of the new worlds, I think it would've been interesting to see her interact with Barbossa (or Davy Jones for that matter) and Shan-Yu. Pride Lands could function the same without Pete there (and, no, I wouldn't want a "lion version" of Maleficent either. *shudder*) Since this change for me is about retaining Maleficent more as a serious villain than the bumbler they turned her into in 2, I think it would make more sense for Maleficent's attempts to be with Hades, Ursula, and Jafar rather than...Oogie. He was the weakest link in the council, why bother with him? That ties into another thing -->
- Involve the Organization members in the worlds a little more. Saix, for example, could've been the villain on the first visit to Halloween Town rather than Oogie. A boss battle at Moonlit Hill with him (rather than Lock, Shock, and Barrel) would make sense considering how prominent the moon is there. I agree with the idea of Luxord dying in Port Royal and having a brief battle with Xigbar in Land of Dragons.
- Have Namine involved somewhat in some of the Disney worlds in minor ways (and Riku involved more than he was) instead of simply disappearing after Twilight Town until the very end. Perhaps in Halloween Town in particular, since the first visit revolves around Sora's memory with Riku about Santa and the experiment in the second visit is a metaphor for the Nobodies. Or Timeless River where Donald & Goofy are in their past.
- Along with the above, have a few moments in the Disney worlds where Sora feels deja vu or emotion because of Roxas relating to what's happen. For example, when Sparrow kills former friend, Barbossa (like how Roxas thinks he killed Axel). Or when you have to "wake up" Beast because he's been deluded by Xaldin's lies, similar to Roxas wakening to the Organization's lies.
- On the point of Atlantica being a battle world with Maleficent involved, I think the world would've been best if you were largely on land. The reason it became a mini-game world in the first place was the huge fan criticism (wahwah) over the swimming controls in the first game. They could've still used the world properly while minimizing the swimming since most of the action took place on land this time anyway.
- Superficial change, but whatever: Radiant Garden's story should've taken place inside the Hollow Bastion castle--they were restoring the castle. They could've still had a town area and the rising falls, but Ansem's lab should've been in the castle anyway. The way the world looked little like what it did in KH1 was so weird.
- On the subject of potential FF characters, I think Red XIII in Pride Lands is perfect. Another I probably would've included would be Quistis in Radiant Garden (she would've been the one working on the computer, not Cid). Also, remove YRP or at least move them to Agrabah instead. You could've competed with them to get a treasure from the Cave of Wonders in the first visit--as a mini-game even?
- Not so much a story change as a tone shift: Like with Maleficent, I would've kept Donald and Goofy more serious like in KH1. Although Sora is the leader of the group, often Donald seemed more like the one directing things than Sora in KH1; you could feel the age difference between D&G and Sora then. They were concerned about things like world order in the first game, but KH2 onwards, D&G pretty much act as comic relief only, like they're on vacation when exploring worlds or something.
- Riku and Kairi DO NOT get Keyblades!!! Riku keeps Soul Eater and Kairi uses her PoH powers to fight.
 
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magic713

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- Sora and co. would still lock Keyholes in every world as a "precaution" to prevent a scenario like KH1 ever happening again. None of the opening lanes of light nonsense or whatever that was.
I did miss the creative appearances of Keyholes from KH1. (Mouth of the doorknob, glowing butterflies and roots, formed by water, formed by moonlight, etc.)


I would give Red XIII a cameo in the Pride Lands.
That would have been a fun and unique install of an FF character into a Disney world
 
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I preferred Roxas to Sora so I'd be down for a Roxas centered KH2.

An easier pitch would be Roxas as a regular nobody who joins the Organization in the beginning of 2. He was a keyblade apprentice who died fighting the Heartless during 1. He comes back as a nobody and has to grapple with what that means.

Someone named him "Arashi" in a "What If Namine and Roxas were switched" thread. So I'd keep it as his Somebody name.

He does become a good guy at the end but he has to be misguided in the beginning for that to work. The Disney villians could work as a phase 1 threat.

He defects at the halfway point and the second trip around the Disney worlds is a redemption tour. He tries to make amends for what he did in the first half. Unfortunately that involves fighting the other members of the Organization. Who we spent the first half of the game getting to know.

It's a riskier plot to what we got but I would've been fine with it. It's like the Force Unleashed but with Disney Anime ;).

On the flipside, I'm not against Sora have a nobody. I would've just had Roxas look and sound like Sora. It would've kept the mystery box going and would've used the fact that he lost a year of his life better. You could have the Disney characters mistake Sora for Roxas. Which gives him more to do as a character than rehash the first game.
 
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Elysium

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I did miss the creative appearances of Keyholes from KH1. (Mouth of the doorknob, glowing butterflies and roots, formed by water, formed by moonlight, etc.)
Wondering where the Keyhole would be for different movies was one of the more fun aspects post-KH1. Who could've known back then that the series would never address the subject of Keyholes again. A shame.
 
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In my Kh1 rewrite, Kairi would've stayed with Leon and the others instead of returning to Destiny Islands. So Sora would meet up with her in Hollow Bastion. She spent the year there so she's a bit different. They catch up and she goes with Sora to find Riku.

This allows the player to get more invested in Sora and Kairi’s relationship. So when she gets kidnapped at the midpoint, you're more likely to care.

She also learned how to fight so she becomes a member of party. She's a magic fighter with a staff. Other ideas are welcome.

I don't need Kairi to become a keyblade wielder but I'm not against it. She's more likely to start out with a keyblade. Or she could learn how to summon it over the course of the game. Riku tossing her one felt odd-maybe he tosses her a Keychain instead? If she isn't a keyblade wielder, than he could toss her an ultimate weapon...idk.

You could have her join Sora and Riku for the Xemnas final fight. They'll just get back to the realm of light another way.

Within my CoM rewrite, I proposed a version where Kairi was present. That ended with Kairi merging with Namine. So she'd just fill Namine's role currently.

The Thank Namine plot thread is fine in theory. Having Sora forget what happened in CoM and have to find out is a good way to bring people who haven't played CoM up to speed. The main issue he doesn't find Namine till the end. Nor does his time in CoM play a significant role in the game's narrative. So I'd resolve both in the first visit to the worlds.
 
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Zackarix

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Here's a hot take: Namine never should have been Kairi's Nobody in the first place. The crux of her story in CoM is that Namine isn't Kairi and trying to take her place caused a huge amount of damage. Then KH2 went back and said "just kidding, she's an extension of Kairi after all." Then further games in the series did massive backpedaling and now all the clone characters are their own people who deserve to live their own lives (except Repliku.)

It also causes a lot of confusion in the Nobody creation process. If multiple hearts exiting a body leads to multiple Nobodies there are quite a few very important Nobodies that are missing.
 

magic713

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Nobodies, in general, are so confusing. They don't have emotions, yet display emotion? They exist in neither light or dark, but they have or use darkness? The concept is fine but so inconsistent
 
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Zackarix

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Nobodies, in general, are so confusing. They don't have emotions, yet display emotion? They exist in neither light or dark, but they have or use darkness? The concept is fine but so inconsistent
As the franchise has gone on Nobodies have lost a lot their original identity. When they were introduced they were tragic, but it was also firmly established that they weren't supposed to exist. It would be one thing if it was just DiZ saying this, but trustworthy characters like Yen Sid back him up. With the exception of Roxas and Namine (already special Nobodies) and Axel (through his connection to Roxas) Nobodies had no emotions to emphasize the hollowness of their lives. They merely pretended to have emotions to fill that hole (and also because writing an organization of Vulcans is difficult.) Nobodies not having hearts was a big enough problem for them that they were willing to unleash Heartless across the universe to create Kingdom Hearts to fix it, and because they lacked a spiritual center they were unable to care about how wrong it was.

And then Days came along and portrayed Nobodies as being able to have fulfilling lives in spite of everything in KH2. Eventually it was revealed that Nobodies can regrow hearts, and not even just under special circumstance, it's a completely natural process (that was somehow hidden from an organization founded by scientists who study the heart.) But if that's not quick enough don't worry, if a Nobodies dies they'll be reunited with their heart after their Heartless is purified! And if Axel/Lea is any indication there's no worries about these processes interfering with each other.

As a result of these developments Nobodies have gotten a lot weaker as a concept. Where's the downside now? If you become one you'll get a new heart as long as you hang out with your friends and you get a second chance if you die. Just avoid joining any cults and it'll be fine. This change in tone could probably be avoided if there was more focus on the lesser Nobodies, but they've only become less relevant to the story.
 
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KingdomKurdistan

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I honestly think that one more draft of the script by a semi-decent novelist or a weighty touch-up by a literary editor and this game could have been perfect.

But, like all KH sequels apart from A Fragmentary Passage, no one seems to have the guts to stay "ehm, this is a rough draft, right?"
 

Perkilator

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Only two things:
  • Have the Disney world serve more of a purpose in the story (similar to what KH3 did)
  • Go to Dwarf Woodlands instead of wouldn't you think they cut off my feet Atlantica
 
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