As I was playing Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, I started thinking about fan responses to the extra titles of the series. Re:coded, the lowest critically rated title in the series, 358/2 Days, and Birth by Sleep are the extracurricular titles that Square Enix has released. Now SE has the mainstream Final Fantasy series where its games have virtually no connection to each other, and spinoffs and other non-numbered titles. Why do we love the extra Final Fantasies, and get antsy about Kingdom Hearts non-numbered games? Today, I began to think that Tetsuya Nomura has gone a little giddy about bonus games. In fact, he didn't want to make a midquel between Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 at first! Then he decided to make a story about Roxas which was generally well-recieved, a prequel to the series, which was praised for its innovative gameplay, and a true sequel to the second game, which fell below expectations. And even now we have not received the extremely-asked-for Kingdom Hearts III. However, he may have a purpose.
Kingdom Hearts started out as a little experiment: Will a video game combining family Disney and teen-to-adult Squaresoft be a success? It was and a sequel was inevitable. Two came, one receiving mixed reaction and the other being praised. Due to unanswered mysteries in the last game, Square Enix decided to make a game about the prologue's character ( the latter which was overly well-loved). 358/2 Days could, in a way, be counted as fan service as not much to the story is added-it's just a minuscule gap filler to decide what fanfiction writer was right. Then Square decided to get on the ball to reveal the true identity of the saga's main antagonist, Xehanort, to set the stage for Kingdom Hearts III and Dream Drop Distance. While it is a gap of time in the canon, it gets players excited of what's to come. Now Square could cut right into Kingdom Hearts III, right? A small question could be answered in the very beginning to make Kingdom Hearts III a direct sequel. Wrong. Instead of explaining plot holes in a conventional book or short film or interview, Square decided to make an episodic video game for phones that virtually no one used, then re-release it on the Nintendo DS (which, come to think of it, could have been less frustrating and had better plot presentation and execution). Now that one question was answered in 24 hours (a considerably short time to beat a video game, compared to the previous installments lengths of around 40-60 hours), we finally have what we have today.
Now with the semi-annoying voice acting of Bret Iwan voicing the greatest cartoon character on earth, and coming to the finish line with a lackluster entry, Square Enix has one last chance to prove whether their bonus entries should be played anymore with Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance on the new Nintendo 3DS portable console. From gameplay videos seen in January, there's so much potential for the 3D game. However, potential doesn't automatically equal great game as seen with Nintendo's 3D Steel Diver. In order for people to stop whining about Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix needs to make 3D have a killer story and lovable characters along with making it lengthy enough to keep people occupied. Right now, the concept is great and it seems like its going to be equal to, if not better, than Birth by Sleep. While old foes will return, as confirmed by the trailer, hopefully Square Enix will learn from their Re:coded mistakes and not Re:do them again with this new portable installment.
As for Kingdom Hearts III, since it will close a saga in the series, it will be a grand finale. At first, when they announce a new installment in this series that's not a redo, I imagine the boss battles and how epic they are going to be. But then I realized, even if you have epic bosses (speaking of which, I was initially excited about replaying bosses in the DS installments, but after Re:coded, I wish the game was better), you need a epic closer. Kingdom Hearts II did a rather fine job of potentially ending the series, but a breath still remained. Kingdom Hearts III should have great graphics. As a former PS2 lover and a Wii devotee, I originally wished that an installment for the Wii, but after seeing some of the mediocre Wii graphics, Kingdom Hearts III needs to be on the PS3. The voice acting in Re:coded bored me when watching the video replay, so Square Enix needs to be sure to have passionate voicing. Kingdom Hearts III has a weak skeleton right now as 3D hasn't been released yet, but what Square Enix should keep in mind is to have bone-tingling dialogue and heart-warming characters and an epic finale story. If they don't accomplish the latter, they'll have to bring back Xehanort for another battle and that would be pointless.
Well, that's my opinion. If any of you have anything to object or add or want to say anything, tell me and everyone else who reads this blog, put it in the comments box below!
