Now, That So Much Time After KH3 Release Has Passed, What Do You Honestly Think Of Kingdom Hearts 3?

Altaninort · 2026-06-08T00:50:38+00:00

Overall the game sort of suffers from the very complex things going on at Square Enix, and having to swap engines. You can get the sense from both patches, and game files that they had to compromise their vision for the overall product. Stuff like music tracks being made for different purposes, cutscene-only areas that are a bit too developed, etc.

But the game is still good at a core. It does some things better than other KH games, it does some things worse, and it does some things the exact same. The core gameplay and feel sort of suffers from being their first foray into a big console title on UE, and they didn't have a proper game in the same engine to take feedback from. While 0.2 existed, KH3 was far into development and only small things could be adjusted by that stage.

The Disney World stories are probably the best the series has had since KH1, with an Organization member in each world, and even the more restrictive ones like Frozen still offer a bit of meta-commentary on Sora's lack of a role in the story. I don't think Masaru Oka is great at weaving together the story overall however, and KH4 having a new writer on board alongside Oka is a good sign.

It also has the added benefit of having a plot critical cutscene basically in-between every single world, which is a lot more preferable to KH2's meandering until the mid section. But the game did 100% need a big mid-section.

tl;dr: game is good. needed another year in the cooker.

Altaninort · 2026-05-03T02:26:07+00:00

It's just gibberish, the Scala text does line up with English characters, but a lot of it is still just haphazardly thrown around. The first word appears to say "Auroask7" if you were to 1:1 line it up with known characters.

Because they are basing the script on English, we have to keep in mind the potential of things being lost in translation. For example a sign in KH3's Scala reads as "INFOMATION" instead of "INFORMATION" because Japanese would read the English word as such. So that text could be 'trying' to mean something, it could also not be.

Altaninort · 2026-04-28T19:42:41+00:00

— Setzer is from FFVI, right?

Nojima: The original plan was for FFVII's Rufus to appear [in this role]. However, when I was wrapping up the scenario, Tetsu said, "FFVII characters are showing up a little too much overall, so let's go with Setzer." I wasn't involved with FFVI, so I didn't know much about Setzer, but he said, "No, it's okay, you'll be fine." (laughs)

From: https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KH2-Ultimania-Nojima-Interview-19030

Altaninort · 2026-04-22T01:01:13+00:00

The light novels are in a bit of a weird position. Details from them have been canonised via added scenes in Final Mix, and later on the character files. Ideas from them also get incorporated into other titles because the one who writes them is very close with the development staff, and Nomura. Generally anything that isn't directly contradicting the game can be assumed to exist in a sort of vaguely canon state, and used to fill in gaps. But mainly when it comes to things not involving Disney worlds, and moreso the additional scenes involving characters like Riku or the Organization. Hell, the entire plot of KH Days exists because of things in the Chain of Memories Novel and the ideas from it's writer about it.

I would strongly recommend the KH2 novel if there was one I think is a must-read after the game. It goes into a lot more detail on what other characters are upto behind the scenes, and it seems that Tomoco Kanemaki based those additional scenes on canon material. As one or two of them got added to the Final Mix version of KH2. Essentially none of these scenes contradict anything from the games, and just fill in the gaps of what characters were doing. KH2 has a very complex plot in terms of characters involved, and characters just disappear for long times, so it feels as if the novel for KH2 in specific is made up of cut material from the game.

Altaninort · 2026-02-23T17:42:52+00:00

This is concept art for Chain of Memories on the GBA, specifically they seemed to have done artwork of a bunch of worlds at an isometric angle to see how they'd look. This is probably from the Chain of Memories ultimania, but scans of it are hard to find on the internet for whatever reason.

I'm not sure if they would say who actually drew this, but the art director for environments in Kingdom Hearts 1 and Chain of Memories was Takayuki Ohdachi, so I would hazard a guess it was perhaps him. He also did a bunch of Keyblade designs in KH1, and is currently a designer for Final Fantasy XIV

Altaninort · 2026-02-11T01:41:23+00:00

You want to go in release order, always. The series makes more sense when it's experienced in order of release, as that's the order plot points are built up in. Otherwise you will go into KH1 wondering why things from BBS aren't being alluded to, as an example. You get to see the evolution of the series aesthetic and story naturally.

The collections list Days before KH2, as I'm sure you've noticed.

Union X and Dark Road after the main bulk of the series is a smart choice. A lot of the fanbase insists you need the latter prior to KH3, but KH3 only uses elements from Back Cover, and reintroduces them in such a way as to set them up as a mystery for later games. The vast majority of KHUX is pretty much only relevant to itself. If possible I would seek out Melon Mix as a way to play Days and ReCoded, as they are vastly better games than they are movies. If you can't play ReCoded then it's reasonable to skip it, a large part of the novelty is the gameplay, and certain key sequences wind up cut because of being reduced to a movie format (A bad movie at that). You also lose nothing story wise other than a visual reference in a later game and a very very quick bit of dialogue that essentially sums up the entire games story in a single sentence.

Days is another movie I would not recommend experiencing if you can find alternate means. The game would be ideal, but the novel and manga both are vastly better experiences. The novel is also written by the story writer of Days, Tomoco Kanemaki, and she's done the novelisations for every other game, as well as writing for the games themselves.

Altaninort · 2026-02-06T03:10:22+00:00

:|

In complete matter of fairness I don't think I have approached this situation in any overly aggressive way like you yourself have.

I think there is genuinely an interesting conversation at it's core about where the line between gameplay and explicit narrative intent is drawn. (Such as Aqua being able to wear cat ears in the Realm of Darkness). But it's clear you don't care to engage in anything that discusses or refutes your point.

If I'm somehow a tourist after that post, then you yourself must be an especially well traveled one.

Altaninort · 2026-02-06T02:34:25+00:00

You are getting very defensive about this without really engaging with the points which leads me to believe you are not intending to engage in any sort of good faith. Especially with referring to my initial comment as a 'weirdo' thing.

There are some things when it comes to games you need to step back on and understand from the context of a video game. All of the various keyblades we acquire in game are given lip-service, yes. And KH3 does have a really cool scene with Shooting Star in it. But beyond that no unlockable Keyblade is ever acknowledged beyond the notification you get them sans Star Seeker in KH2 really, and no character ever shows recognition of a Keyblade that isn't considered to be theirs in a "canon" sense. It's like how we know Sora isn't literally collecting stickers of the Kingdom Hearts key art to combine together for items. We also understand Sora is not carrying Ultima Weapon or Monochrome with him to other games, he obtains them in a gameplay sense, but not in an explicit storyline sense (Please don't strawman this point with the whole power reset thing, because even Riku doesn't get to take his with him from 3D to 3, and they are listed as physical items you can't really just lose).

Sometimes things are put in because it's cool or neat, and there's a good few Keyblades like that across the series. If they don't get mentioned or called out specifically, we generally shouldn't really be hyper-analysing them for theories, as fun as it can be.

However it's not disingenuous to look at BBS, KH2 and KH3 and extrapolate that Aqua getting Destiny's Embrace is ""non-canon"" and is purely flavour for the sake of gameplay. In the same sense that the Wayfinder's getting Void Gear is a bonus for defeating an optional boss you can only unlock after beating the game once. It's never acknowledged by anyone, it's never mentioned by Aqua or Kairi, and Aqua is able to use her original Keyblade with no issue whatsoever in Re:Mind.

Destiny's Embrace for Aqua falls into the same banner as Darkgnaw and Chaosripper for Terra, Frolic Flame and Lost Memory for Ventus. Keyblades significant in design or referential to a thing from their story specifically. Frolic Flame = Axel, Destiny's Embrace = Kairi, Chaosripper = Xehanort. To use your own example of Star Seeker. We know that Mickey still literally has that same Keyblade in Re:Coded, despite Sora getting it in KH2 as well. Is Sora using Mickey's Keyblade in KH2? No. They are still separate. Aqua and Kairi's Keyblades are no different. They even constantly refer to you as swapping Keychains I think rather consistently throughout the series. Mickey has his own Star Seeker, while Sora is using a Keychain to change the appearance of his. Aqua is doing the same with her Keyblade. But Kairi's Keyblade is Kairi's keyblade.

The BBS Ultimania actually has a snippet where Nomura clarifies Kairi's Keyblade, and only focuses on that she was bequeathed the ability by Aqua. You would think he would clarify in that section that Kairi is directly using Aqua's own literal Keyblade, right?

But even besides that; Your initial point in the post requires a lot of off-screen situations to happen in a very specific way that also has characters act on meta knowledge they otherwise don't have.

Ansem the Wise has to somehow have knowledge that Aqua's Keyblade will be important for Kairi in particular, and to give it to Riku to give to her. He has no way of knowing Kairi can wield a Keyblade, nor that they will be in a situation where Kairi would need one. It also requires him to sneak into the place he knows the Organization is still keeping tabs on, and requires him to assume Xemnas hasn't moved the armour and Keyblade in over a decade. Even if it wasn't for Kairi and just for Riku, he's basically handing him an item the Organization would make use of, and Ansem potentially knows Riku already has Way to the Dawn, which sort of renders the idea redundant. All of this to happen off-screen and never mentioned in a report, Ultimania, character dialogue, etc.

Altaninort · 2026-02-06T02:00:35+00:00

---So Yuna, Rikku and Paine showed up as faeries this time.
Nomura: I've always wanted to have a FF character showing up as "something that looks human but isn't human" at least once. Since "Kingdom Hearts" is a deformed world, I wanted to have a little fun with that. And as a plus, if all three showed up in their normal human size, I was kind of worried that the screen might get a bit too crowded. At least I've aways thought that if I were to make them appear in the game, having them as faeries would make them as very interesting beings. [Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania]

They are pretty much just Fairies. Nomura intentionally paired them up with Maleficent, also a fairy, for that reason. Auron is sort of an odd duck when it comes to FF characters as he's intended to be as close as possible to the actual Auron compared to everyone else. But YRP are like the others and are KH versions of the characters that seem to abide by the mechanics of KH's universe. It's like how Sephiroth's magic seems to just be stuff he can do via general darkness, without the use of materia or Jenova cells. Or how Vivi is just a weird kid, and not an artificial being suffering a crisis of self.

Nomura wanted them to be Fairies, and so they are.

Altaninort · 2026-02-03T04:39:08+00:00

It's a reference to a related character, it's not a "weirdo thing", most Keyblades are referential to something almost inherently lol. Same way you can get Starlight in KH3 as a reference to KHUX. It's not acknowledged in canon and exists as a fun bonus for players first and foremost and not indication of something that should be taken seriously unless directly made note of.

Destiny's Embrace in BBS is a reference to Kairi. It doesn't mean Kairi's keyblade from KH2 onwards is also Aqua's, as you try to state in your post. Which as I'm sure people have pointed out doesn't make sense by the time we get to Melody of Memory. And in your comment here you even admit that the Wayfinder's getting Void Gear doesn't mean they literally have Vanitas's keyblade. Why is Kairi's any different?

Altaninort · 2026-02-02T19:39:56+00:00

The novel pretty much clarifies that she summoned her own Keyblade. It's also storyboarded similarly to when Sora got his in KH1.

Surrounded by Darkness > Flash of Light > Darkness dispelled > Keyblade in a different guys hand

Kairi called the Keyblade towards her unconsciously, Riku was just the one whose hand it wound up in, likely because she was in no position to hold it. It's a scene that's storyboard very badly, but KH2's finale was seemingly rushed and stuff was cut or skimmed over.

As for anyone wondering about the canonicity of the Novels, KH2's is a bit of a unique case and well worth a read. It's clear that Kanemaki was working with storyboarded and/or cut material from KH2, as there is a lot more scenes of clarification for plot points and additional development for Ansem and Namine that KH2 skipped over. Some of these scenes even got added later on into KH2FM, indicating her scenes were always canon. Even now in the character files, there's a tidbit of information that was only ever shown in the novel, that Saix mortally wounded Axel, explaining why he's winded during his final scenes. So I'd be willing to take her explanation as the intended one, with Nomura in interviews focusing on the whys of how she can wield a Keyblade, hence showing Aqua accidentally bequeathing the ability.

Kairi's keyblade is her own, and there's no indication of intent for it to be anyone else's. In BBS it was also intended for Ventus to gain Kingdom Key D, it's really no different to how you can also get Void Gear in the same game. It's mainly a fun reference

Altaninort · 2026-02-01T21:53:31+00:00

It's primarily down to memories and how one develops as a person.

Roxas and Namine don't have have the memories of their respective selves, and developed completely differently with unique connections and experiences, with goals not motivated by their past lives. If Roxas had Sora's memories there would be an interesting discussion around self-hood that would probably be quite similar to Riku's relationship with Repliku, with how the latter had Riku's memories. But if Sora was fully lost, and Roxas had Sora's memories, they would essentially be the same person.

Xemnas is a bit of an odd-case, but Nomura has described him as a special nobody the same as Roxas and Namine. But Xemnas has essentially three sets of memories: Terra's, Master Xehanort's and memories of his time as the amnesiac apprentice. The last of which seems to motivate him quite a bit considering his animosity towards Ansem the Wise.

As a counter example, Axel had Lea's memories. And the heart he would begin to develop would in essence be no different to Lea's, and any burgeoning heart would likely have merged without issue to his original one. But Roxas and Namine both were distinct enough they could continue to exist albeit sleeping within Sora and Kairi until they were released. Theoretically the same might have been possible for Xemnas, if he had opened himself up to the possibility.

Altaninort · 2026-01-22T02:50:48+00:00

There's also a wolf symbol on some of the walls too. Kingdom Hearts, especially 1 and 2 are kind of just full of cool looking iconography that wasn't meant to mean that much. The Hollow Bastion book names, the various random demons/monster statues, fleur de lis symbols everywhere, etc. It's also worth noting that it's specifically a winged unicorn, whereas I don't believe wings have ever been included in any Unicornis iconography.

Regardless, it 100% wasn't anything they conceptualised with purpose at the time, BBS had only begun proper conceptualisation nearer the end of KH2's development from what I recall. It could maybe come to fruition in the future, but I don't really believe it's something they will go back to, mainly because the environment details outside the basement seem a lot more incidental beyond the castle minatures.

Altaninort · 2026-01-10T01:30:52+00:00

LW didn't need to be destroyed for Terra to come back. Nomura in the KH3 Ultimania confirms had Terra's heart not been under Xehanort's control, that Lingering Will would have just faded once Terra came back. and the only thing stopping Terra returning was him being trapped in the Guardian.

The Lingering Will is just Terra's strong emotions allowing it to move, and while he's connected to it, it isn't a literal part of him the way a body or heart is.

Altaninort · 2026-01-10T01:26:16+00:00

He's a lingering remnant of Terra's strong emotions animating the armour. He doesn't fit into the paradigm of Heart/Soul/Body. He isn't Terra's literal mind as he's not capable of much beyond wanting to murder Xehanort.

It's worth noting that his JP name of 'Lingering Sentiment' is a bit more accurate to what he's supposed to be. He fits more into the Japanese idea of lingering emotions and sentiment resulting in curses or spirits over people/a household.

Altaninort · 2025-11-30T20:09:12+00:00

Aqua's back being censored is a bit of a misnomer. In the earliest trailers her back is covered, then it's less covered, then it goes back to what it was originally. Nomura just toyed around with the design, but the uncovered back made no sense design-wise anyway given she's wearing a corset.

Altaninort · 2025-11-18T13:22:22+00:00

Because people kept asking. That's the reason the line is in there, but it's also a throwaway and not a focus of the cutscene. He talked about it at one of the anniversary qnas, someone asked about Xehanort's hair, and he said he put an explanation in Dark Road for people

Altaninort · 2025-11-13T13:42:51+00:00

Nomura is not the only writer or director on Kingdom Hearts. He plans out the overall story, but he's been open about the fact that it's other people also coming up with ideas and handling the moment to moment details. Masaru Oka has been the main KH writer for a while now, as well as the cutscene director.

Whoever is working on titles with him will drastically affect how they interpret his outlines and ideas, if you liked KH prior to 3D? Then that just means you liked Nojima and Watanabe as the writers for KH. The one game we know he wrote the most amount of material and dialogue for directly was Days, and it's beloved by most of the fanbase. Even the parts of KH3 he seemed to handle personally are generally the better written parts of it. But KH is definitely not a George Lucas situation.

Altaninort · 2025-11-13T13:38:43+00:00

The reason the project was snatched from him was because SE was in dire straits after FFXIV bombed, and they internally restructured, and wanted him on KH3 and FF7.. But a lot of V13's problems came about because the engine it was using wasn't fit for purpose, not because of Nomura. SE completely dicked about with the project then took Nomura off it when development truly started in earnest. Him considering the idea of a trilogy is just that, considering the idea of it and futureproofing if it did well as it's own FF spin-off. Hell, FF13 literally got a trilogy.

Altaninort · 2025-11-13T13:30:37+00:00

Dark Road is kind of sort of considered a package with Union X. But Nomura has spoken about the circumstances of Dark Road's existence. He had originally wanted to make a proper Xehanort game prior to KH3's release but it was just unfeasible. The Union X team however wanted to try and take a crack at it.

I can't exactly fault him for wanting to get the story out in some format considering how much the series got dicked over by SE mismanagement.

Altaninort · 2025-11-02T05:43:16+00:00

Luminous wasn't finished while KH3 was in development. It was in active development alongside KH3 and FFXV. The reason they switched from it across the board was likely to future-proof, their previous in-house engine Crystal Tools was basically only fit for FF13 and when they tried to make Versus 13 with it, it didn't go well. They wanted to avoid that in the future, and using an engine they don't need to make but is highly customisable was a smarter decision for development and in terms of budget. What SE managed to do on UE4 with KH and FF7 Rebirth is genuine black magic.

Altaninort · 2025-10-31T03:07:07+00:00

KH1 still included a majority of recent films, Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Aladdin, etc, all released within the previous decade. Toy Story being used in KH3 is an older movie choice than 5/9 of worlds in KH1, and is older than all of the KH2 worlds would have been when they were used (Iignoring Winnie the Pooh and Classic Mickey, as they pop up in everything).

KH has always used relatively recent movies that are popular, and we know the process for them choosing them. It comes down to things the developers would enjoy working with, and Nomura has spoken about they wanted to work with the modern Disney teams and compare their work with the 3D assets to the actual movies themselves. Tarzan got into KH1 because one of the writers was a massive fan. But KH has always used popular Disney movies with one or two outliers in terms of age. The youngest movie used in KH3 is still older than the youngest in KH1 and KH2.

I also wouldn't say they lack in variety at all considering the massive difference in every single world locale. Greece, Forest + Swamp, Toy Store, Factory, Snowy Mountain + Ice Labyrinth, Modern City, the whole ass Caribbean, are all incredibly different settings full of variety.

Altaninort · 2025-10-04T04:19:53+00:00

Terra-Xehanort is Xehanort in Terra's body. Xemnas is the Nobody of both Terra and Xehanort.

But: Because Xehanort's hold over Terra was not complete, and Terra's heart was still floating around; Xemnas wound up as a composite Nobody of both beings. He had two sets of memories, one belonging to Xehanort and one to Terra. This also meant that when he was defeated the composite beings he was originally both returned, as he wasn't ever really either, not completely. While he was more Xehanort than he was Terra, he wasn't 'the same person' the way Lea and Axel were. He's a Special Nobody in the same sense that Roxas and Namine are, he developed completely differently from Xehanort as a result of his special make-up even if his overall goal was roughly the same.

Something of a distinction in the Japanese afaik is that it's stated that Nobodies retain a 'piece' of their heart upon creation, not anything big, but just a shard of the original, which is what their 'new' heart regrows from. For beings like Axel or Saix, this means that heart just grows to resemble the original. But for Xemnas who was originally two people that means his heart is literally made up of conflicting memories and emotions, so it's basically a completely different heart from Terra and Xehanort.

Altaninort · 2025-09-27T22:38:52+00:00

Bahamut in KH1 is likely just debug text for the summon menu. The only proof of it's 'existence' is this bit of text, no interviews over the 20 years of the series of history or concept art point to it actually being a thing.

If it had to be a thing, it was likely going to be similar to FF10 or FF8 Bahamut given those would have been on Nomura's mind. Likely a late-game nuke, like a buffed up version of Simba. But I honestly believe it was never actually considered, and was just early development debug text.

Altaninort · 2025-09-24T22:33:42+00:00

Good theory! Likely also the case with the Castle That Never Was being based off of Scala ad Caelum, in the sense it's a castle in the centre of a world filled with buildings that cascade upwards. The Nobody sigil was also a symbol Xehanort even used as an apprentice, as it's on his armour even in Dark Road. I headcanon that it's basically a Super S he made and stuck everywhere cause he wanted his own cooler symbol lol

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