The 10th Hour 10.02.09: Top 10 Things I Want To See in Kingdom Hearts III

Posted by Derek Robbins on 10.02.2009

With Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days released this Tuesday, it seems about time to wonder about what kinds of things will be in Kingdom Hearts III. 411's Derek Robbins tells you what he would like to see in the latest edition of the 10th Hour.

Hello and welcome to the 10th Hour! It is my week to take care of business and I intend to do just that. Before we get the ball rolling, let's do a couple of tangents, shall we?

-I beat Final Fantasy VI for about the billionth time the other day. I really…don't think the ending is all too special. I was reading some reviews where people claim it is the greatest ending of all time, but maybe I don't see it. Am I not reading deeply enough into it? Really though, it just wasn't my thing.

-Anyone notice all the crazy over-the-top praise Uncharted 2 is getting? I mean, I hope the game is as good as everyone is saying, but Adam Sessler is saying it is the greatest single player experience he has ever had. Seriously, the greatest ever? You have played a lot of games, man. So, my expectations for the game are sky high. If Uncharted 2 is as good as they are letting on, I imagine it will be GotY for most publications.

-Super Street Fighter IV was announced. I was kind of hoping they would just release DLC for it, but I guess the new content was "too massive" to be DLC. Whatever. At least it isn't going to be full-priced. I hope they add some single player options this time around so it isn't so frighteningly dull playing through arcade mode over-and-over to unlock characters. I decry games like this all the time, but I am such a fucking hypocrite. I know I'll buy this. I feel like a bum for caring about Street Fighter canon.

Reader Feedback

The last time I wrote a 10th hour, it was over the top-10 Zelda items. What did you guys have to say about that?

Ryan Bates questioned my boomerang love:

Are you nuts? How can you not include his ever-present boomerang? Or HEART CONTAINERS, for god's sake? Link won't last two minutes if you don't get a few of those puppies hooked up.

Well, I like the boomerang. It's a handy little thing. I especially loved Twilight Princess's gale boomerang. I mean, it created tornadoes! I wish I had a weapon that could create natural disasters.

The boomerang has always been useful, I just…don't think it is one of my favorite items ever. Sorry mang.

I thought it was interesting that someone with the name of Nick said this:

Props for the Doug reference. I remember that episode too.

Good list overall though I don't like the masks at #1. I would have the bombs and power bracelet in there somewhere.

Well, I am glad that you remember that episode. I for one am always up for referencing Mr. Funny, though I rarely find the opportunity to do so.

As for bombs, I mean, I thought bomb arrows kind of eclipsed them. I mean bombs are great, but shooting bombs is even greater. The power bracelet was on the original list I made, but I actually forgot about the deku leaf and ended up bumping the bracelet off entirely. Hey, trust me, I love lifting up shit and throwing it as much as the next guy.

A guest questions whether I played early Zeldas:

Obviously this guy hasnt played the earliest zelda-games in the series.

I've played every Zelda that has been released in North America outside of the CDi game. I'm not trying to brag, but I mean, I have. I just think that as the series went on, the items got better. I mean, the older items are nice for nostalgia's sake, but it just gets better as time goes on. I actually thought the item that got most heavily dissed was the flame rod. Why didn't I put that on the list? Harumph. Guess I didn't play enough four swords!

Bubba may love the masks in Majora as much as I do.

I was getting worried as the list went on that you hadn't included any masks from Majora. Bravo for including them all in one. They fucking rock my FACE.

How could I possibly forget the masks? They are easily the best items in Zelda history. They not only shift how you play, but are also really fun! I just think it's a damn shame the only one implemented into the Smash Brothers series was the bunny hood. I think Young Link could have been an amazing character had he been given the ability to change shapes. Whatever though.

A different guest talks sense into me about Twilight Princess items.

I didn't really think you got too much use out of some of the items in TP. You only really use the spinner in the dungeon you get it in, and maybe once or twice in Hyrule field for heart pieces, same witht he ball and chain.

That is totally logical and I see where you are coming from, but I thought how fun the items were to use negated how little you actually use them. I thought it was a total blast bouncing from wall to wall. The boss where you get to use the spinner is actually really amazing. I mean, you didn't get to use the items a lot, you are right, but the times you did use them were fun. That is all you can ask for.



Top-10 things I want to see in Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was just released. It has been over three years since the last "numbered" Kingdom Hearts title, and with 358/2 and Birth by Sleep coming out within a relatively short time of each other, one can only dream of what Kingdom Hearts III will be like. Well, this list serves as a wish list of things I would like to see in the third Kingdom Hearts. Generally, these are changes that I would like to see from Kingdom Hearts II, though I do suggest adding a couple of new things.

Well, here we go. I hope you enjoy!

10-) Open Worlds - One of my biggest complaints with Kingdom Hearts 2 was that the worlds had very little in terms of exploration. The levels were pretty much A-to-B. Remember how in the original Kingdom Hearts how finding the pages to Pooh's notebook actually required a bit of effort? In the second game, you could find the pages just by playing through the game normally. Hell, most of the pages were right by save points and in huge cases that would require legal blindness to miss. This has got to change.

I'm not suggesting that Kingdom Hearts III tries to make each world Oblivion-esque in scale, but at least try to insert some variety! I don't want to be able to discover everything a world has in one visit. I want to be able to go back and explore. I want to be able to poke around places as Sora and go: "Well gosh, that's new!" I want that sense of adventure that one could associate with Disney.

Also, I am up for level diversity. I am in the complete minority, but I loved the Little Mermaid level. It broke up the pace of the pace of the game and served as kind of a break. Plus, Disney kind of has a hard on for musical numbers. So, having a non-traditional level or two would still be a pretty good idea. In those traditional levels though? Show me wide-open spaces!



9-) Intelligent AI - The biggest problem with the first two Kingdom Hearts titles is that your AI partners are just flat-out stupid. You need them to be able to get through the game because they have your back, but they just do not use any strategy. I always hesitated in giving Donald or Goofy items, I just kind of said "Well, okay, I'll deal with the potions." It should not have to be like that. I should be able to hand that anthromorphic duck a potion and he should know how to use it!

There is no longer an excuse for moronic partners, either. It has become a bit of a fad recently to have control over only one party member. FF XII, XIII and Persona 3 & 4 (though, you have the option to control the party in the latter) all emphasize one person control. Maybe if Kingdom Hearts III incorporates the ingenious Gambit system for your partners, the AI could be useful? I'm not sure. I just do not want them to be Star Ocean partner stupid any more. Is that too much to ask?

Well, it probably is too much to ask since most every action RPG in the history of action RPG features partners who really Shrute it…but a man can dream.

- if only Goofy wasn't so goofy!

8-)Pixar Worlds - The best movies under the Disney label these days are made by Pixar. I mean, I loved Wall-E a great deal and thought Up was impressive for making me want to cry like a baby after the first 10 or so minutes. Pixar is pretty much incapable of making a bad movie, and I think they should be rewarded for that with a level in Kingdom Hearts!

As to which movie would be the one to make the cut, I dunno, it is hard to say. Could they conceivably make a Toy Story world where Sora and company are transformed into toys? Could they make a Monster's Inc level where Sora attempts to scare children? How about the Incredibles!? I sure as hell would love to experience Sora with Super Powers. After all, my favorite part of the original Kingdom Hearts was when you learned how to fly in Neverland. It was just so…fun!

The movie I would personally go with is Wall-E. There aren't really any levels in the Kingdom Hearts Universe that take place in space – which is interesting, considering the franchise has interplanetary travel – and Wall-E could counter that. Plus, I think it'd be interesting to have a level with almost no dialogue. Where the actions of the characters speak for themselves. I think the generation is capable of pulling it off well.

Really though, whatever Pixar world they choose, I'm sure it would be a winner. Except for Cars. Nobody wants to see that.



7-) Final Fantasy worlds or Marvel worlds - I am going to go ahead and merge these two together. I guess I just don't want three different "world" entries on this list. The reasoning for a Marvel world should seem pretty obvious. I mean, Disney just bought the company and the Marvel Universe is one perfectly adaptable to video games. How cool would it be to have Sora swinging around with Spider Man or dealing with racism and fighting the power with the X-Men? A lot of people seem to worry about how Disney will handle Marvel, but allowing Square to use the brand in Kingdom Hearts would be really cool.

A Final Fantasy world seems pretty obvious to me. We have had four separate Kingdom Hearts games – not counting remakes or International remixes – and not a single Final Fantasy world. The closest we got was Radiant Guardian which sort of served as a hub for the current Final Fantasy characters, but there has been no world that comes from the Square universe. Kingdom Hearts III would be the perfect time to change that.

My suggestion for a Final Fantasy world is a pretty obvious one. This area is the lifeblood of the most popular Final Fantasy ever. Midgar is perfect for the Kingdom Hearts treatment. People have been clamoring for an FF VII remake, so why not throw them a bone and let them play in a new, beautiful Midgar? Imagine: Cloud and Goofy teaming up to bomb mako reactors. Awesome! Hell, throw in some chocobos and you would have an FF fan's dream.



6-) Ability to permanently change party members - I love palling around with Goofy and Donald. I think they are perfect sidekicks for Sora, but at the same time I found myself wishing I could take some of the party members from other worlds and drag them around with me. Yes, it may be "muddling" as Goofy would put it, but you could make a rather large cast of characters this way! Chrono Cross would be green with envy!

I would be fine with forcing you to use world specific characters as your partners through that world. I mean, if Aladdin has a problem in Agrabah, he should be the one to slog through it. But, what if I want Aladdin to team up with Mulan? That should be an option! This way I can roam around the final level, whatever they will call it, with any character I want.

I also would kind of like it if they offered more than one character per level and even had secret friends that you could tag along. I mean, playing with a movie's lead is cool and everything, but sometimes the sub characters are far more interesting. For instance, in Lion King, wouldn't it have been interesting if you could use Timon and Pumba as joke-characters or something? Sure, they may not be as fearsome as the lead characters, but it adds a little flavor.

I think mixing up the parties could be fun!

- Who wouldn't want to look horribly out of place in Lion King world of Lion Jack Skellington?

5-) Make magic useful - It is a myth that magic was useful in the original Kingdom Hearts. People seem to decry magic in Kingdom Hearts 2 as useless, but they seem to forget that in the original it did not really have a use either. There were only two times in each game that I used magic at all, and this is on proud mode. It was to either heal myself, or when facing Sephiroth in the original game I would use aero to cushion some blows. That's it. I NEVER found much of a use in game for fire, ice or lightning spells. Sad, but true.

In this game, I would love it if they gave magic some strength. The reason you see mages in the final fantasy world is because they make magic strong! If Sora casts firaga, I think it should have a lot of strength! It shouldn't just be an inconvenient way of attacking when simply flailing your keyblade is more effective. I figure they would have to revamp the magic system if they wanted to make it more of a reckoning force (namely, make magic harder to recover and throw in some enemies that require magic, such as flans), but if they played their cards right…they could have a winner on their hands.

Also, as far as summon spells go, there has only been one useful one the entire series. Peter Pan is, without a doubt, a Godly summon. It is so useful in the Netherworld coliseum. I would be for more summons like this, but try not to make them broken, where people will just lean on the spells. A perfect balance would work, err, perfectly!



4-) Enough of "Ansem" - You killed Ansem in the original Kingdom Hearts. That should have been the end of it, but no, instead of thinking of a new enemy for Kingdom Hearts II, they just made sure the man we thought was Ansem had a nobody. Turns out "Ansem's" real name was Xehanort, but it doesn't change the fact that I am just tired of the character Ansem. He is done and bringing back his influence was a cheap way to create a plot for the second game.

So here's what to do with number III. Maleficent suffered from "Revolver Ocelot" syndrome in Kingdom Hearts II. You see, throughout the whole game, you were under the impression that you would go into a showdown with Maleficent. After all, she is the leader of the heartless. Revolver Ocelot was much the same way in MGS 2. The desire to kill him carried all the way over into the 4th game when you finally got another crack at him.

It seems clear that the only way to end the heartless scourge is to end Maleficent. So, power her up and make her seem relevant. Give her supreme control over all the Disney worlds. It may seem like a rehash of the first game's plot, so maybe try to mix it up a little. Maybe make her a "surprise" villain. You know, you're working against one entity, but it's revealed that Maleficent is the true mastermind halfway through? I don't know.

Whatever they decide to do with the main villain of Kingdom Hearts III, please do not make them some form of Ansem. If I see a new form of villain named a "Somebody" (I guess they would have two hearts?) and it's ANOTHER form of Ansem as the ring leader, I will flip out and lose my will to live.



3-) A Disney inspired ultimate villain - Sephiroth has been the ultimate bad guy for the two main Kingdom Hearts games. I mean, I suppose it is fitting. Sephiroth is probably the most popular Final Fantasy villain ever, and in a game that is all about fan service, he SHOULD be the most powerful. But…why is it that Square gets the "Ruby/Emerald" weapon equivelant and not Disney? And don't even try to say the Ice Titan is on the same level as Sephiroth, because he just isn't.

I am not sure who they could bring in to serve as this villain. I would have suggested the devil from Fantasia, but he was already a boss in the original game! Perhaps we are looking at it the wrong way, what if the ultimate bad guy isn't a bad guy at all, but a hero looking for a good challenge? Why not have a secret showdown with King Mickey. You know, to determine who the mightiest keyblade wielder is? They could conceivably make him a bitch to beat because, well, the story has portrayed him as one of the strongest creatures in the universe. So, it would not be too far-fetched at least.

An alternate suggestion for the ultimate Disney "opponent could be Genie. Yeah, it sounds lame even as I type it, but Genie is apparently immortal and is probably one of the strongest characters in the Disney Universe. Who cares if his original voice actor has more body hair than Goofy, Genie could be someone they want to boost to "ultimate" status.

Or, uh, I guess they could just stick with Final Fantasy and throw in Jecht or something. YOU CRYIN', SORA?

- I think a duel with the king would be fantastic.

2-) Return of the Square Button - Probably the biggest complaint about Kingdom Hearts 2 was that it was too mash happy. While I do think that the original Kingdom Hearts didn't involve too much more than jamming on the X button, it did at least mix things up every once in a while. In the second game, I mean, you occasionally had to press the triangle button, but for the most part the game could likely be played with a moderate amount of success blindfolded.

I know that Kingdom Hearts 2 featured the guard technique with the square button, but it was not horribly useful. Again, the only time I used it was in the fight with Sephiroth. In the original Kingdom Hearts, one ability seemed to add a lot of "depth" to the fighting. The dodge roll at least made battles seem different, and maybe Square learned how much people missed the ability because it is back in Kingdom Hearts 358/2.

My main desire with them bringing back the square button is to give Sora more unique abilities in combat. Why not give him an arsenal of moves that make you actually have to think when you fight? I enjoy pounding the x-button over and over again as much as the next guy, but it gets to a point where you want to fight villains with some variety.

The game can keep the triangle reaction commands. Honestly, I liked those. There were a few enemies you could fight where the triggers actually felt unique. Unfortunately, most of those same enemies could be killed by mashing the X-button with very little thought. If Square could get away from that, I think that Kingdom Hearts III could be remembered as something more than a button masher.

I haven't played a whole lot of 358/2, but I can tell that I am going to enjoy the limit break system. Not only does it not last as long as the drive system, but it also feels less broken. You can't just whip it out at any time, you have to use it when Sora is in dire straights. I think this works better than Drive, because when driving I always felt like: "Gosh, Sora has two keyblades, that's cool. All I am doing is pressing X-though." Limit breaks work like that, but do not last near as long. I want that.

- Shouldn't be too hard to remember, it's in their name.

1-) Keep it Simple - Kingdom Hearts II really tried to do too much with its story. It tried to be too dark and edgy. While I like it when a story tries to go off and be impactful, everything Kingdom Hearts II did to try and do that felt…shallow. From a story standpoint, I found my favorite part of the game to be the tutorial. Yes, it is a drag to play through and arguably the most plodding part of the game, but it doesn't try to do too much. It's not overwhelmingly dark, and when Roxas says "It looks like my summer vacation is over" it creates a real emotional impact.

It's a problem if the best part of a 20+ hour game's story is in the first couple of hours. If Kingdom Hearts III tried to keep it simple, perhaps this would not be a problem. I know that the original Kingdom Hearts broke up the story frequently with marching through the Disney worlds, but when it got to Sora, Riku and Kairi's story…everything was rather sweet. It didn't try to overwhelm us with morality on beings without hearts, it just told a simple story.

That was awesome. When it got to the story-heavy levels in the original game, it was amazing. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot in the world that never was in the second game. In the original? My absolute favorite level in the game is Neverland. From a gameplay and story standpoint, that level is absolutely amazing. It gets the story going and really lets you learn about Sora's two friends.

The ending of the original Kingdom Hearts was also awesome. When Sora says: "I'll come back to you, I promise" and Kairi responds with: "I know you will!" that creates an emotional response. No, it isn't tear jerking or anything, but it makes you want to play the next game. It is significantly better than the mess of an ending that Kingdom Hearts 2 was. Sora and Riku are in the twilight realm and all of a sudden they aren't? Okay.

To put it simply, KH 2 tried to do too much. It tried to make its story too deep. Kingdom Hearts won't win any awards for quality story writing, but I thought it was entertaining throughout. I want KH III to be the same way. I do not want to roll my eyes the whole time, I want to be enveloped in the world.

- KH 1 Sora = Simple.

Well, that's it for this week. If you wanted to comment on anything you may do so below or send me an e-mail at [e-mail]. Either/or. Other than that, I'll see you in two weeks!

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