So... here's my problem with this game's existence...
I know many fans have been asking for a rhythm game (apparently... this is honestly the first I'm hearing about it) but I also know many that weren't or not at all asking for anything remotely like this. I know series like Persona and FF are famous for these types of games breaks but the difference being is that most of those games aren't always canon material meant to love a long-going story forward and I feel like have way more lore specifics and leverage to get away with that kind of stuff. I feel like KH is a bit different, espeicelly when almost all of the KH games never had a game in the series that didn't focus on some way, shape, or form on combat and exploration. From the discussions on forums I've read and other communities around KH om different websites, a rhythm game wasn't really on most fans mindset unlike a Verum Rex, a Kairi focused game, Union Cross Remake, BBS sequel and obviously, KH4. Regardless, I think most fans definately wanted something else and more to that point, a lot of fans definitely wanted a Kairi focused game that's not booged down by anything else and payoff the potential to be a great character a lot of us fans know Kairi can be. Her gameplay was one of the biggest highlights of Re: Mind and made a lot of people excited for what's next for her. Fans who wanted some traditional gameplay for the next game instead three different games where that type of gameplay style that the series is known for is completely removed. Again, maybe it's just the difference between hardcore fans and casual fans but I consider myself somewhat hardcore and I don't want this at all, which makes it even more strange to me why certain fans are really at the bat for this and being totally fine with a main character's backstory being treated in this particularly way. I don't know about you but if 358/2 days was a game that only focused on rhythm game music or some other mini game and that was it, there would be a lot of pissed Roxas fans. But that's the thing, I dont really even have a problem a rhythm based KH game, I just wish it wasn't done in this way with this particular character in the way they are presenting her story. But to be fair, none of us have played the game, so what we get might be okay in the long run but... I don't know, I have an tensely bad feeling about this for a multitude of reasons.
I know Chain of Memories is dragged through the mud alot but honestly, the gameplay wasnt really that different from KH1, it was just a different method of attacking and defending and the overall feeling of progression and exploration was still present in its design. I know rhythm games are fairly different in design (I mean, obviously) so you would have no choice but make it different besides just the look of combat (because that's all that it is, the look of combat) but then I ask, what's the point of this then?
If you just wanted a gameplay mode that celebrated the music of the series, you could've just made it a seperate thing entirely. Have the Kairi story of the game be the main focus while the rhythm stuff is more like the Drop levels from DDD. They are part of the story but don't take away from the core gameplay we all like.
Maybe its just me having a different mindset then most fans (which is kind of always the case, it seems) but I don't come to this series for rhythm game content or, to be honest, any of the mini game stuff throughout the series and that what this feels like. It feels like taking one of the obscure mini games from any of the previous games and making it the entire gameplay focus of the story. And I'm not sure how it'll make this game stand out in the long run other then just being a largely forgettable rhythm game showing content and music you've heard about a thousand times at this point that might serve as a prologue to the game most fans actually wanted.
And don't get me wrong, I LOVE KH music but we've already celebrated it before with multiple live concerts and soundtracks. Why would need a rhythm game to make it us like the music more then we already do anyway?
Honestly, this wouldnt be much of a problem if the rhythm game aspect wasnt the main part of this game. If the game was solely focus on the Kairi aspect with everything included like exploring disney worlds, collectibles, new movements, and all of that and rhythm game stuff was just a way for Kairi to get to those worlds? I would have been all for that and I have no doubt most fans would have prefer that too. But instead we got this.
And it leads to me to a final point that really gets on my nerves... what is Noruma's REAL problem with Kairi? Like, I'm being serious... what is going on here? Because the way he treats this character in this series is just pure comedy at this point. Like, I mean this with no exaggeration but Kairi is probably one of the most disrespected main female characters that I have ever witnessed in gaming fiction. Now, that's bold to say because there are far worse female characters in gaming fiction but with... Kairi... I really don't understand what the problem is. Like, I know what the problem is but I'm trying understand Noruma's mindset. Like, either Noruma is just simply isn't interested in this character, which I don't think is true otherwise she would've been logically written out of the series a LONG time ago or he simply doesn't know how to write a female character, which might be true in some areas but again, Xion, Namine, and Aqua are perfectly fine female characters in the games they were introduced in, so I dont think Noruma is completely devoid of writing talent. And I also don't think it's because he's doing it out obligation for the fans who love Kairi because he's shown a long time ago that he doesn't give a sh*t what fans think or want; not to say he doesn't care at all but more like he doesn't let fan desires dictated story decisions.
So... I dont know anymore but regardless, Noruma almost constantly gives Kairi the short straw. All the time. Without fail. And I really, really don't know why.
Like, I dont actually get mad at certain things that happen in the series or how fans feel about certain things or characters. For example, I love Xion, I love her story, and I love 358/2 days as a whole, game and all. A lot of hardcore fans do not but as much as I love KH, its fiction and at the end of the day, I dont get mad at people's opinion, even if I disagree with them. But the whole Kairi situation blows my mind. Because a lot of hardcore fans think the problem with Kairi is Kairi herself. That's she's always been this boring, uneventful character and the quickest solution is to just boot her out of the games entirely. Firstly, as far as being an uninteresting character, that's simply not true. In fact, she's one of the biggest draws as to why people are very interested in this story. Before anyone else, Kairi was one of the first characters to have fairly interesting backstory with some mystery to it. Also also, her personality in KH1 and KH2 is perfect. It gets downgraded a little KH2 and almost completely removed as the series goes on but the spunky, head strong, know-it all, caring, brave, ready to say what's on her mind personality is what drew a lot of people to her character and it was nice contrast to have that character next to Sora and Riku, who are very very different characters from Kairi as far as their own personalities. But it works because there personalities play off each other well and presents a real friendship, even if the dialogue is a little hokey. So to say Kairi has nothing to her at all is pretty disingenuous to say as if Noruma had no role in making her the way she is now and how that role could be fairly easily improved. Like, so easy that you'd really only need one game to redeemed Kairi as a character, it's not that hard at this point. And just booting her out of the series isn't healthy solution to the problem either because what her problem is
.. haha is almost exactly the reason why even though I get angry at fans when they blatantly diss Kairi and want her out of the series for reasons that don't make sense to me, I cant completely blame their mindset because that literally is the problem:
KAIRI DOESN'T DO ANYTHING AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM. I've never seen a character's potential for greatness be so played around with like this.
Noruma refuses to give her the spotlight to allow to do something that'll put her on the same level as Sora and Riku and when he does, its only for a brief amount or its has to be tied to a rhythm game that has nothing to do with her previous gameplay. Roxas, Aqua, Ventus, Terra, and Riku are able to have there own traditional campaigns but Kairi? Again, the short stick. Many think it isn't but it reeks of it to me.
All of this blow my mind because by the logic of this world, she should be the strongest keyblade wielder out of all three of them at this point if they gave her even a fraction of focus that Sora and Riku get. But she's constantly sidelined for no reason, given the worst dialogue, her personality that was present in the first game or two is completely gone, and whenever the series tries to give her a moment to shine, it's at the very end where she still doesn't do anything or she's a jobber that solely exists to make Sora and Riku look good with her POH powers, which should way more explored at this point in the series then it is, used as dues ex machina.
Like, I can kind of forgive KH1 and even KH2 because in my head, I thought it was presenting a story of natural evolution for Kairi. From being this mysterious girl with incredible power she doesnt quite understand but is constantly protected by her friends not just from love and some obvious masculine pride but because of who she is. But overtime, she becomes tired of being a damsel and decided "waiting isn't good enough* becomes a keyblade weilder (the only princess of heart to do so) and learns more about her role and her past and what that means for her and her friends whatever future storyline. A little Generic but engaging and hopefully a direction they take now but given the previous saga, they've taken every opportunity to shaft her and write around her abilities so she is forced to be saved or cut out of a story.
Why didn't Kairi join Sora and Riku in DDD? It would've been a nice parallel to BBS and would've got to play as Kairi sooner and she would've trained up already by KH3 (I mean, the series is so in love with the kind of sh*t anyway). And people make the excuse that even know they started at level 1, they still had combat training and she wouldn't survive but by that logic, then Sora and Riku should've been dead in KH1.
Why wasn't Kairi's data present in coded? She was one of the biggest motivators for Sora's story in KH1. Hell, he even said as much in KH3, word for word. So why did they just not include her at all? Its incredibly strange.
Why did Kairi (and Axel for that matter) trained all that time in the Hyperbolic time chamber only to get own so hard and so fast without even just a little amount of effort. Like, it's not even a problem she dies but how she ended up dying. What was even the point of training in a place where time doesnt move if none of that even matter in the end?
Why didn't KH3 give Kairi her more to do? She barely interact with Riku and Sora. The entire ending is about Sora sacrificing himself to save her life and yet we don't get any screentime with together besides the paopu fruit scene and when they travel to the present again. But it speaks to a larger problem with KH3 is that the relationship between Sora and Kairi is the focus of the game... or at least, it tried to be. The game tries to make a point of Sora learning about what true love is and what it means to sacrifice yourself for that person and how even after that, you'll return to each other again. I like that. Sora even has a brief monologue about that at the beginning of the game and during his time with Kairi, he gets flashes of sacrifices he witnessed throughout the game and it influences his final act in the whole game. So clearly this theme is important to Sora's character and game but we spend most of our time seperated from Kairi, so all the messaging you were doing rings hollow when you barely give the other character some backstory and screentime with the main character.
And finally, why is it that game that is finally focusing on Kairi, something fans have been asking for a while now for, is rhythm game, of all things? Roxas gets his own traditional game, Aqua get her own traditional game, Riku gets two technically traditional games... why is Kairi stuck with this? And I get it, fans want a rhythm game but be honest with yourself, if you had a choice between a rhythm game that reuses assets from the PS2 era with music that's already been heard and celebrated around the world or an actual Kingdom Hearts game with JRPG combat and exploration focusing on a main character we've been waiting for years to get the spotlight and final go a step futher into reaching her fullest potential? I know some fans with say the former but I bet almost most fans would definately, without question prefer the latter. So why in God's name is this the next installment? Why is a backstory that we've waited years to find out about is nothing but side content to get excited for an actual KH game in the future? Speculation that we might not get one boss fight with Kairi out of this, something I already do in Re: mind anyway? Like, I honestly think Noruma legit trolling when it comes to this character because I can't wrap my mind around his decisions with this MAIN CHARACTER.
The problem isnt character herself but who is writing her. That's always been problem and everyone knows that. And I'm sure even Noruma knows that, so it blow my mind that he made this decision. That if we are going to get a Kairi game, it has to have this rhythm game to justify its exists and it makes truly that Noruma is either clueless at the potential of his own character or is just trolling.
That, or he just has this pathological need to make every KH related thing canon and important to the story. Could be that. Honestly, it could be both.
I don't know man, I just wish the show thing turned out different but who knows... maybe it'll work out in the end. We just have to wait and see but I'm too fond of the decisions KH has been making lately.
Spoiler Show
