Dave

"Darker" does not equal "Mature."

There's always the slight chance that maybe the game actually had issues, and a negative reaction might be justified after applying critical thinking, and that "just enjoy it" mentalities lends itself to nothing but blind consumerism. Or, you know, haters gonna hate. Whichever you prefer.

Hey, everyone, just a friendly reminder to give this thread a re-read; there's been a lot of posts that people have not been using spoiler tags on the particulars of plot info. While it might not seem like a big deal, keep in mind that if a user clicks on the Social tab, they can see the contents of your posts regardless of whether they planned on clicking on the actual topic link. So please remember to keep it clean, and take the time to consider others.

Just going to throw out there that Coded was actually not that bad of a game.

*Adjusts glasses* ACK-tually, the city is Minas Tirith. Gondor is the country that it is the capital city of.

The fact that Sora can call in an armada of help and is under no moral obligation to follow the "13 vs 7" rules is one of the many reasons Xehanort's plan is dumb.

Hey, remember how Sora totes can't be a Master because he "fell to Darkness?" Glad to see that barometer of success is totally a thing that's universal.

Trick question, because of these it would be Ansem, but before he was a "Xehanort." (IE, before his background got changed from what it was in KH1)

The guy who killed Uncle Ben.

I love Dracula, but only from the book. I don't think I've seen a movie rendition that quite does it the same justice.

I will never be surprised by the internet's thirst for new waifu material.

But he's never succeeded at any plan. Like, ever. The fact that he has to keep falling back on backup plans kind of emphasizes that. Just because his strategies account for possible failure doesn't make them any less a failure. There's no reason to assume at this point that any attempt he makes will be any different from the last ten or so shots.

Motivation is key for me. It doesn't necessarily need to be a sympathetic motivation, but it needs to be compelling enough that it makes the villain care about succeeding, and want to see their plans through. The more characters care about the outcome of a story, the more I care as an audience member. Also, personality. Give the villain something that makes them different from some other Joe Schmo in the street. That isn't to say make them exaggerated, or eccentric, or too over-the-top, but give them something that is their own, and helps them own whatever scene they are in. These two reasons are also why I think Xehanort is a bad villain, incidentally.

Considering that every "master strategy" that he has used has resulted in consistent failure, no.

Friendly reminder to stay on topic to all members.

Literally just a set of house keys that you awkwardly shiv enemies with.

I have wanted K. Rool in Smash since Melee. Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite games growing up, and seeing it repped makes me more excited for a Smash game than I have been in years.

Sora and Pooh is the best option.

The original characters are why Disney is the only thing garnering my interest in the series.

Disney is literally the only thing that still garners my interest in the series.

Smacking down people with Smough's Hammer in Dark Souls is one of my favorite past times.

The Matrix is my least favorite movie of all time.

I'd be lying if I said I'm as excited for KH3 as I'd like to be. In between being drained from the wait, frustrated with Square, and kind of hating a good chunk of what the story has become, I'm not feeling the buzz like I'd thought I'd be. But there's something about Kingdom Hearts that I've always loved, and keeps bringing me back each time I hear that opening violin sting to Hikari. And while it's a bit hard to put into words, a lot of it has to do with Sora. My favorite memories of KH include Sora just being excited to see Santa, or hanging around with Winnie the Pooh with as much ease as he hangs around Leon and Cloud. There's a kind of child-like simplicity that cuts through the bloated plot line and encyclopedia of trivia that the series totes. I've said in the past that I thought the first game was so good because it was almost directly a representation of what a kid's dream would be, getting to travel to Disney worlds and fighting alongside your favorite video game characters. It's about going on that adventure you thought you were having when you ran around your backward wielding a stick and wearing a towel as a cape. Fast forward however many years .to jaded, grumpy ol' me, watching the trailers as they come out for KH3 with something of a passing interest, until the trailer revealing the Pirates of the Carribean. Considering I didn't much care for At World's End, I didn't think anything here of all things would grab me. But then we see Sora, decked out in pirate gear, sailing on a raft, and being jazzed that he gets to be a pirate again. And lo and behold, that right there filled that gaping hole of excitement for me. Because that's what I loved about the series: at its heart, it's about finding that fun sense of adventure. Forget the X-Blade and the Darknesses and all that other paraphernalia. All I want is to run around Disney worlds and meet these great characters, and Sora always manages to provide that. If Sora is excited to be a pirate, I'm even more excited to get right on that raft with him and see what horizons are out there.

I think that every incarnation of Xehanort has anticipated the other Xehanorts' every move, and will ultimately destroy one another underneath a tonnage of contingency plans.