Your Top 3 Favorite KH original worlds? (With images)

[Foxycian]

There are 14 original worlds in KH.

{Scala Ad Caelum}


{Daybreak Town}


{Keyblade Graveyard}


{Destiny Islands}


{Twilight Town}


{Land of Departure} & {Castle Oblivion}


{Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion}


{The World That Never Was}


{Traverse Town}


{Quadratum} & {Realm of Darkness} & {The End Of The World} & {The Final World}


P.s. I know the realm of darkness is not a world, but a realm like the realm of light. But I just felt like including it

 

[AR829038]

1. End of the World—I know most people love HB from the first game, but EotW just gives me the hardest feels for some reason, best atmosphere.
2. Hollow Bastion (KH1) – Best puzzles, some of the best atmosphere, music, and narrative grandeur in the series. One of the most iconic locations in the entire franchise. But I was never crazy about the KH2 version or the Radiant Garden incarnations.
3. Twilight Town – Gives me probably the warmest feeling of any world in the KH series. I'll never forget being in 5th grade and playing the prologue of KH2 for the first time. To this day, I remember those first 3 hours as one of the most engrossing and narratively spellbinding section in the series, even if most people don't care that much for it.
4. Destiny Islands – This place gives me that same hard nostalgic fuzzy feeling as Twilight Town, but there's so much less to do there sadly. They really make the little space they give you count in the first game, but it's a shame it was never really playable in any later entry except as a memory or data world.
5. Traverse Town – Again, nostalgia plays a big part here. But also because the world has so many different locales, and I just love the concept for the world as a place that only appears for people who need it. It's such a mysterious world, and I don't think enough attention has been paid to exactly how this magical place came to be or what the lore behind it is.
6. Scala ad Caelum – One of the most visually stunning worlds in the KH series. I would put it higher just for sheer awe value, but I'll have to wait until we actually see more of it. To be specific, I'm only counting the KH3 version, both because we haven't seen much of the Missing-Link version and also because what we have seen of it in the mobile game trailer actually looks kinda ugly to be honest.
7. The World that Never Was – Somewhere between the grandiose design of Scala and the endgame dramatic feel of KH1 Hollow Bastion lies this world. Again, dripping with atmosphere, and SO MUCH happens in this world at the end of KH2, it's hard not to give it props just for the feel and the scale of it.
8. The Realm of Darkness (but only from 0.2!) – I really love how surreal they made this place in 0.2. I also liked it in the BBS Secret Episode, but it wasn't nearly as imaginative there. I count everything in the RoD in 0.2 as being part of it, so it's got a lot going for it. Really hoping we get to explore that place more in the coming saga. It makes me think of the Lands of Always Winter in Game of Thrones—just this vast, uncharted landscape that people have no idea what kinds of things and places actually lurk deep within.
9. The Final World – I give this place points mostly for its calming atmosphere and for the emotional nature of that place (the stars you talk with there I think were some of the best written dialogue in the entire series). Not a lot to do there, though. Not that there should be, but it does take a lot of the enjoyment factor out.
10. Daybreak Town – This one gets an A for layout and design, but not much else. It's a fine world and charming in its own way, but it's really hard for me to connect to a world that I've only played on the godawful mobile phone games. I'd really love to explore that place in 3D in a proper title someday.
11. Radiant Garden – Gonna be really honest here. I was never much of a fan of the BBS/KH2 Radiant Garden location. It's alright, but nowhere near as palpably atmospheric or cool as the KH1 Hollow Bastion. BBS doesn't really give you THAT much to do there, and I think a lot of the construction sites in KH2 kinda made it ugly. I still have fond memories of it, but that's about it.
12. Land of Departure – All the same complaints as Radiant Garden with none of the positive. You have to understand, any game that I played from Birth by Sleep onward did not instill the same level of nostalgia as games prior to BBS. I'd gotten older by that point, so LoD doesn't give me the same warm and fuzzy feeling that TT or DI does. Plus, honestly, it was a boring world. Not anything to really do. It was more of a narrative set piece than anything else.
13. Keyblade Graveyard – I've honestly NEVER liked this world. Like, at all. I didn't like it in BBS, and I didn't like it in KH3. I liked some of the THINGS that HAPPENED in it. I liked the story beats it contained. But as a world, how do you get worse than an empty desert with nothing in it, except an artificial labyrinth conjured seemingly out of nowhere? Points for atmosphere, I guess? Idk. Going off of End of the World in KH1 and The World that Never Was in KH2, the KG in BBS just felt like such a sorry follow up, and it wasn't much better in KH3.
14. Castle Oblivion – Worst world. Literally just a big white hallway over and over again. And all of the interesting things there are to see in it are just recreations of other worlds, so those don't count. Now, I think it works for the story of CoM, and I love the story of CoM. But as a world on its own, nah, this ain't it. I'd probably go as far as to say that it's not only the worst and most boring world in this list, but in all of KH.

I won't rate Quadratum 'cause we haven't seen it yet.

 

[Elysium]

I assume we're ranking them based on level design and the way they look rather than what happens there. If so:

1. Hollow Bastion ~ As it appears in KH1--a castle world, I love it.
2. End of the World
3. Traverse Town (both the KH1 and 3D versions are amazing)
4. Castle Oblivion
5. The World That Never Was ~ I always felt like on paper this one should look better than it does. The inside of the castle is pretty disappointing to look at. I think the only room I do like is the sort of stairwell (the one just before you fight Xigbar).
6. The Realm of Darkness ~ It's similar to EotW, but EotW uses color more than the RoD does, which makes it more fun.
7. Destiny Islands
8. Scala Ad Caelum ~ This one always made me think of a slightly improved LoD world.
9. Twilight Town
10. Daybreak Town ~ I've never played the games this features in, but going by those pictures, it has a nice look to it. It actually makes me think of Alexandria in Final Fantasy IX to a degree, only more colorful (and a--cathedral?--instead of a castle in the distance).
11. Radiant Garden (as in KH2 / BbS) ~ I like that it's a garden world, I just think the re-design of the castle (that we never visit again) is very poor. It looks a great deal like Castle Oblivion. Even if we assume the castle we see in 1 has been destroyed a great deal, that's a totally different look than what it was (the original being almost steampunk in a way), they don't feel like the same world at all. If anything, the castle pre-Maleficent should've been even bigger... I can imagine sort of giant trees (think Sequoia) around the castle that look similar to the pipes at the top of the KH1 castle that sort of twist like roots.
12. Keyblade Graveyard ~ I mean, it's desert. I don't even mind that it's small in KH3 because it would've been boring if it was massive and everything looks the same.
13. The Land of Departure ~ I remember thinking it was an ugly world back when I played BbS the first time, so the Oblivion reveal took me by surprise. I kind of wish it could've stayed Oblivion even after Ventus woke up, because it was much nicer-looking that way.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

1: Traverse Town. I've always loved the feel of Traverse Town, the home away from home world. Love everything about it.

2: Twilight Town. Of course I rank it high. RAX live there and a majority of their story takes place on their iconic clock tower.

3: World That Never Was. A creepy city in the middle of nowhere with a eerie feel, strong enemies and overall a menacing yet unique design.

Those are my top 3. For the others...
4: Hollow Bastion KH1. Like @Elysium said above, the KH1 version that is the castle is the best one. I kind of miss KH1 Hollow Bastion.

5: Destiny Islands. It's simple but a lovely intro level for learning.

6: Scala Ad Caelum. Just missed my top 5 but honestly it might make it in the future. It's design, theme, and overall presentation makes me excited to see it return in a future game for more exploring.

7: Radiant Garden KH2/BBS. Does have a royal city like vibe as it gets restored.

8: Daybreak Town. I never played it but it looks so beautiful in Backcover. I would love to play in it.

9: Land of Departure. Kind of a underrated world, I do like the music for it, it's just not that memorable of a world.

10: Castle Oblivion. Despite being more iconic then my number 9 spot, I've never been too crazy for this one. Excellent themes play here though, and it's very clean.

11: The Final World. Not much to say about it. Nice atmosphere.

12: Keyblade Graveyard. Despite all the iconic things that happen here, It's just 'ok' for me.

13: Realm of Darkness. I think I would rank this higher when I finally play 0.2 already.

14: End of the World. Meh?

I'm not ranking Quadratum yet because not much is known about it.

 

[Keyblade Knight 1st Class]

For now I'll do my top 3, might rank the rest later.

1: Destiny Islands. The nostalgia is strong with this one. It's where it all began and probably where it will end. Impossible not to love.

2: Twilight Town. Again with the nostalgia. Bonus points for having such a peaceful World Theme.

3: Keyblade Graveyard. Love the oppressive, apocalyptic atmosphere. The haunting and melancholic World Theme accentuates it perfectly.

 

[Foxycian]

My top 3 worlds:

-Traverse Town

-Scala Ad Caelum

-Destiny Islands

Honorable Mentions: Daybreak Town, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, Land of Departure.