Okay, so I'm on a bit of a rush of KH content since I recently finished Kingdom Hearts III, started playing through Birth by Sleep character-by-character on a potential 100% run with each character on critical, and watched Blank Points.
My question for y'all is what game can hold claim to the best KH cutscene of ALL TIME? I'll nominate one cutscene from each KH game as its stand-in, but if you have a different cutscene from the game you think deserves the title anyways please be welcome to vote for the game in the poll and tell me which cutscene you think should be given some love in place of the one I chose!
Oh, and one more thing: since KHIII will take place in this poll, I will not label the cutscene in the poll and rather keep the cutscene listed in a spoiler tag in the thread. Still, spoilers ahead and ye have been warned.
Without further ado, let's go!
Kingdom Hearts: Riku-Ansem fights Sora/Sora's Sacrifice
KH's cutscene is pretty obvious, as it's the reason why so many of us are emotional about the games to this day. There is a lot of cutscenes that could make this (including a very close second for the scene where Kairi cries and draws the other Paopu fruit in the secret place), but Sora's interactions to protect Kairi are KH gold. His selflessness and bravery is admirable, him fending off Riku and saying "there's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" is Iconic, and his sacrifice is beautiful and tragic.
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: Riku Replica 4/Namine breaks Replica's mind
Not only is Riku Replica an absolute savage in this scene, but the scene when Namine breaks him is hard to watch and honestly so impactful. Three scenes that deserve a shout-out are the Replica's death, Vexen's death, and Lexaeus' killer sword move where he smashes Riku into the ceiling and says "DON'T MOCK ME!". All killer scenes and extremely tense.
Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas' Last Stand
Let's face it: the final mix made this scene so much better. Being the toughest of the org battles to this point along with Roxas' theme swelling in the background, this heartbreaking scene gets me every time. It's breathtaking to witness, and the ending is so satisfying to boot. Other scenes that are pretty great are Roxas' last moments in Twilight Town, Axel and Roxas' last talk before their re-completion, Axel's sacrifice, Sora and Riku's reuniting, and the ending.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Axel Confronts Xion
Yeah, a weird one and different from most answers probably. I have watched this scene so many times and it has honestly done even better on my list with every re-watch. Axel's frustration with Xion and Roxas potentially leaving him, Xion's reluctance to fight her friend, And Axel's final line where he shouts "go on, you just keep on running! But I'll always be there to bring you back!". It's all perfect KH for me. Of course, Xion's death is pretty good too. And so is Roxas' final moments in the game where he searches TWTNW and fights Riku.
Kingdom Hearts Coded: Donald and Goofy miss Sora
Okay, I'll be real with you all here. I don't remember many scenes from Coded, and the Castle Oblivion stuff that's usually praised annoys the hell out of me. Donald and Goofy have this line at some point, however, where they say that they travel with Data Sora because they miss the real one so much and just want to see their best friend again. Love that type of SDG content. No honorable mentions here, really. If y'all like Castle Oblivion in this game, good for you? Sorry I made you "hurt".
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: Blank Points
Easily Blank Points. Has to be the best scene in any KH game almost. Ansem's comforting, pillow-y presence, Aqua's defeated composure, and her optimism when she hears Sora's name. "all the pieces lie where they fell" indeed. Honorable mentions include the scene with Ventus and Vanitas on Destiny Islands, Eraqus' confrontation with Ventus and Terra, and pm the entirety of Aqua's final episode.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance: Xehanort's Plans Revealed
Yeah, don't know where to go with this one either. I guess that Xehanort's final scene was pretty good, although maybe a bit too narratively bloated and could have gone with a shorter and simpler explanation for time travel. Came with a cool boss battle, however! No honorable mentions, really. Symphony of Sorcery would have gotten a prize probably if it actually had any more than like 2 cutscenes.
Kingdom Hearts X: The Keyblade War
The original keyblade war scene was actually really impactful. You're forced to fight friend upon friend, people are dying left and right, and at the end of it all you just see five personalities clashing, trying to justify this huge loss of life. Right when you're sure that you'll be dead, with hearts escaping around you and rain beating down everywhere, your friend you've been searching for the whole game, Ephemer, finally appears, almost as if an angel, and breaks his rules to save his friend's life. Honestly, the original X story was pretty macabre, and with the reappearance of that aesthetic in the recent scene where Strelitzia seems to be stuck glitching in the data world I'm hoping that that will make a return.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Terra finds Aqua
This scene is great. Aqua has an honest conversation with Terra until she learns that he is, in fact, Xehanort! However, before he fully captures her, Terra comes up from behind, with his first good voice acting in the whole series, and chokes him as he unleashes Eraqus' chains and shouts "that is eNOUGH!". Great scene, 10/10.
Kingdom Hearts III: Xehanort's Guardian is actually Terra
Okay, so I can't find another scene I liked more at the time and I have only played it once, so take this with a grain of salt. Pretty good though, right?
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Well, that's all of them! Vote up above and comment down below if you disagree (especially since there are bound to be many different answers for KHIII)!
My question for y'all is what game can hold claim to the best KH cutscene of ALL TIME? I'll nominate one cutscene from each KH game as its stand-in, but if you have a different cutscene from the game you think deserves the title anyways please be welcome to vote for the game in the poll and tell me which cutscene you think should be given some love in place of the one I chose!
Oh, and one more thing: since KHIII will take place in this poll, I will not label the cutscene in the poll and rather keep the cutscene listed in a spoiler tag in the thread. Still, spoilers ahead and ye have been warned.
Without further ado, let's go!
Kingdom Hearts: Riku-Ansem fights Sora/Sora's Sacrifice
KH's cutscene is pretty obvious, as it's the reason why so many of us are emotional about the games to this day. There is a lot of cutscenes that could make this (including a very close second for the scene where Kairi cries and draws the other Paopu fruit in the secret place), but Sora's interactions to protect Kairi are KH gold. His selflessness and bravery is admirable, him fending off Riku and saying "there's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" is Iconic, and his sacrifice is beautiful and tragic.
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: Riku Replica 4/Namine breaks Replica's mind
Not only is Riku Replica an absolute savage in this scene, but the scene when Namine breaks him is hard to watch and honestly so impactful. Three scenes that deserve a shout-out are the Replica's death, Vexen's death, and Lexaeus' killer sword move where he smashes Riku into the ceiling and says "DON'T MOCK ME!". All killer scenes and extremely tense.
Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas' Last Stand
Let's face it: the final mix made this scene so much better. Being the toughest of the org battles to this point along with Roxas' theme swelling in the background, this heartbreaking scene gets me every time. It's breathtaking to witness, and the ending is so satisfying to boot. Other scenes that are pretty great are Roxas' last moments in Twilight Town, Axel and Roxas' last talk before their re-completion, Axel's sacrifice, Sora and Riku's reuniting, and the ending.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Axel Confronts Xion
Yeah, a weird one and different from most answers probably. I have watched this scene so many times and it has honestly done even better on my list with every re-watch. Axel's frustration with Xion and Roxas potentially leaving him, Xion's reluctance to fight her friend, And Axel's final line where he shouts "go on, you just keep on running! But I'll always be there to bring you back!". It's all perfect KH for me. Of course, Xion's death is pretty good too. And so is Roxas' final moments in the game where he searches TWTNW and fights Riku.
Kingdom Hearts Coded: Donald and Goofy miss Sora
Okay, I'll be real with you all here. I don't remember many scenes from Coded, and the Castle Oblivion stuff that's usually praised annoys the hell out of me. Donald and Goofy have this line at some point, however, where they say that they travel with Data Sora because they miss the real one so much and just want to see their best friend again. Love that type of SDG content. No honorable mentions here, really. If y'all like Castle Oblivion in this game, good for you? Sorry I made you "hurt".
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: Blank Points
Easily Blank Points. Has to be the best scene in any KH game almost. Ansem's comforting, pillow-y presence, Aqua's defeated composure, and her optimism when she hears Sora's name. "all the pieces lie where they fell" indeed. Honorable mentions include the scene with Ventus and Vanitas on Destiny Islands, Eraqus' confrontation with Ventus and Terra, and pm the entirety of Aqua's final episode.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance: Xehanort's Plans Revealed
Yeah, don't know where to go with this one either. I guess that Xehanort's final scene was pretty good, although maybe a bit too narratively bloated and could have gone with a shorter and simpler explanation for time travel. Came with a cool boss battle, however! No honorable mentions, really. Symphony of Sorcery would have gotten a prize probably if it actually had any more than like 2 cutscenes.
Kingdom Hearts X: The Keyblade War
The original keyblade war scene was actually really impactful. You're forced to fight friend upon friend, people are dying left and right, and at the end of it all you just see five personalities clashing, trying to justify this huge loss of life. Right when you're sure that you'll be dead, with hearts escaping around you and rain beating down everywhere, your friend you've been searching for the whole game, Ephemer, finally appears, almost as if an angel, and breaks his rules to save his friend's life. Honestly, the original X story was pretty macabre, and with the reappearance of that aesthetic in the recent scene where Strelitzia seems to be stuck glitching in the data world I'm hoping that that will make a return.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Terra finds Aqua
This scene is great. Aqua has an honest conversation with Terra until she learns that he is, in fact, Xehanort! However, before he fully captures her, Terra comes up from behind, with his first good voice acting in the whole series, and chokes him as he unleashes Eraqus' chains and shouts "that is eNOUGH!". Great scene, 10/10.
Kingdom Hearts III: Xehanort's Guardian is actually Terra
Okay, so I can't find another scene I liked more at the time and I have only played it once, so take this with a grain of salt. Pretty good though, right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's all of them! Vote up above and comment down below if you disagree (especially since there are bound to be many different answers for KHIII)!