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General Gameplay Ideas You Want to See in Future Games?



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MATGSY

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We talk a lot about potential future & story developments, & there's an ongoing thread for hypothetical bosses, but what about the general gameplay? Does anyone have any ideas, concept, theories for the future of gameplay in this series? Lord knows I got a few to get things started.

Instant travel between worlds
The new generation of consoles brings near-instantaneous loading to the table, opening up possibilities for game design once thought impossible. Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart was the first game to really take the PS5's SSD drive out for a spin with levels where the whole environment changes in an instant.


The potential of what KH could do with this kind of tech is crazy. Imagine being in the Raya world, opening a dark portal, stepping through it, & you're immediately in Zootopia! There could be be puzzle solving applications, like 1 world having a massive ravine that can't be crossed so the player detours through another world until they find a portal that takes them to the other side of said ravine. The whole game could be turned into a massive Metroidvania!

& of course they could go nuts with bossfights, constantly changing the environment as these fights progress.

Mini-World Summons
This popped into my head last night & was what jump started this thread. Playing further on the above idea, what if summons evolve from simply summoning a single character to summoning a whole ass world? Case in point, the Casa Madrigal from Encanto. Instead of just getting, say, Luisa, Sora & all on field enemies are transported to the casita where different family members aid in fighting with their powers (Isabela going all Poison Ivy, Antonio summoning a tiger, etc.), the floors moving to send heartless into the walls, send them sliding down stairs, toss them into a furnace & so forth.

An upside to world summoning, is that Disney might actually be more ok with it compared to past summons, the player isn't bringing Encanto characters into a different Disney property, but rather temporarily entering Encanto's world. Guest party members will probably have to disappear for the duration, & perhaps the ability is locked out during Disney bosses, but hey, not like there's even gonna be any of those anymore! *laughs manically before bursting into tears*

As this concept is still new, I haven't really thought yet of what other world could get this sort of treatment. Monstro off the top of my head, based a lot around the Mirage Arena fight.

Lockshield & Keyblade Fusion
The companion to the keyblade from ancient times that had been forgotten over the ages until the game that features it, perhaps a gift from MoM who has 1 of his own. The lockshield resembles a flatten padlock with a keyhole on it front. Sort of like this but with the keyblade larger & centered:

61VexSKHVkL._AC_SS450_.jpg


The Lockshield offers enhanced blocking capabilities, such as parry/deflection with precise timing like in BotW. It offers defense based buffs to the player in contrast to the keyblade offensive buffs. The lockshield can change form much like the keyblade can & thus have different stats & abilities based on its form.

Because the keyblade & lockshield are intertwined, the lockshield's form is based on what keychain is attached to the keyblade. The 2 have to have matching forms. This is done for both lore & gameplay purposes. Lorewise because the lockshield is meant to be an extension of the keyblade & are connected. Gameplay wise because it might be a little too game breaking if the player could min-max combinations of the 2. Forcing matching pairs means requiring the player to consider pros & cons of each form. Example: The keychain from Halloween Town gives you Decive Pumpkin for the keyblade which has awesome attack stats & ability, but also a trick-or-treat bag themed lockshield with poor stats. On the flipside, the Avengers keychain gives ya a Captain America themed lockshield which is awesometastic but because Marvel got finicky about Sora getting Mjölnir the keyblade is some Falcon's wing shaped thing that kinda sucks. So do you go for the set with better offense or the set with better defense?

On top of that, the Lockshield has 1 final function, it's version of drive forms: Keyblade Fusion. See, I don't envision this thing in a game with a Sora/Donald/Goofy party but rather a Sora/Riku/Kairi party (or any 3 wielders really but let's go with these 3 for now). With a full fusion meter, the player can have either Riku or Kairi insert their keyblade into the lockshield's hole, at which point it disappears from their hands & Sora's keyblade becomes a cross hybrid of his & theirs, combining the stats of of both (see, this is where the minmaxing comes into play!). Like with drives & formchanges, Keyblade Fusion can only be used until the meter depletes, when it empties, the party member gets their keyblade back.

Riku & Kairi are not defenseless however during fusion. Riku falls back on his Souleater while Kairi uses Princess of Light powers. This is why I suggest this particular trio, other wielders don't really have fallback options.

Cosplay Power

A cross between Drive forms & D-Links, the player character takes on an appearance based on a Disney character & have attacks based on such as well. For example Sora dressing up like Aladdin & having a magic carpet to fly around on.

That said, I mostly envision this as a Kairi specific ability for if the day ever comes that she gets her own game/scenario (so, never). & the characters she would cosplay are the other PoL. It's basically that 1 scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet turned into a game long mechanic.

Snow White=Poison apple throwing with woodland critters assisting her.
Cinderella= Kicking with glass slippers.
Aurora=The 3 Fairies assist her.
Jasmine=Aformentioned magic carpet & pet tiger.
Alice=Grow giant size & stomp enemies.
Belle=Attack with books Zexion style.
Elsa=Ice magic, lots & lots of ice magic.
Anna=Well Disney Infinity gave her a grappling hook, that's something.
Rapunzel=Frying pan of deathly doom & long hair.
Raya= Whipsword.
Vanellope=Glitching & items pick-ups.
Merida=Bow
Moana=Water attacks

I'm aware that's 1 too many, blame Disney for insisting Anna had to be 1.
 
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MATGSY

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Game Idea: Vanitas game with Disney party members

The next few ideas are all for a specific game concept so I'll go over the game first. Vanitas revives himself by his unversed using stolen scream canisters on the Vanitas Remnant absent silhouette (remember him?) & then themselves merging with it to recreate Vanitas in the present. Meanwhile Maleficent & Pete are shocked to find the heartless are no longer obeying their orders & now attacking them. Since this is all going down in the graveyard, the three cross paths & agree to a temporary alliance to get their shit together (it helps that Vanitas was the Darkness who aided Maleficent in UX [wasn't he?]). Thus the bulk of the game is a Vanitas/Maleficent/Pete party (acting as dark mirrors to SDG) fighting both heartless & heroes while recruiting more villains to their cause.

Souleater/keyblade swap, Forces of Light

After the tutorial in KBG, Maleficent bestows upon Vanitas a Souleater of his own (I am presuming she was the one that gave Riku his). With a quick tap of L1, the player can swap between Souleater & Void Gear keyblade. The reason for this is because the keyblade is the stronger of the 2 against heartless but Souleater does more damage against the forces of light. & much of the time there'll be both heartless & good guys in the same battles so being able to switch on the fly is important.

The Forces of Light is the catch-all term for world-specific enemies who are on the side of the world's heroes. Here's a rundown:
Radiant Garden=Radiant Garden SeeDs
Agrabah=Palace Guards
Neverland=Lost Boys
Olympus=Spartans
Land of Dragons=Chinese Army
Castle Wyvern=Wyvern Clan (there's a lot more of them in this universe)
Far Away Galaxy=Rebel Alliance
Asgard=Asgardian Army

Minion Summoning

As the game stars the bad guys this time around, gameplay should reflect the experience of being a movie/video game villain. The 1st way of doing this is giving them armies of henchmen to summon into battle. Minion summoning brings in the given party member's personal troop of lackeys, whom can be controlled with a few buttons deicated to giving basic orders like attacking the locked-on target. At first the player can only summon a few minions at a time, the number & diversity of them grows as the ability is levelled. I haven't figure out how exactly the leveling would work other than Tier 3 minions (Tier 2 for guest members) being unlocked after the heartless crisis is resolve end the end of the game. Minion sumoning works like situation commands in randomly popping up midbattle but will always rotate through each party member's troop.

Vanitas
Tier 1=Flood & Scrappers
Tier 2=Bruisers & the spell casting pot guys
Tier 3=Tank Topplers & Jellyshade swarm

Maleficent
T1=Melee goons
T2=Ranged goons
T3=Armored Knight & Wizard heartless

Pete
T1=Beagle Boys
T2=Weasel soldiers from Prince & the Pauper
T3=Soldier & Large Body heartless

Kuja (RG guest party member)
T1=Black mages
T2=Wyvern & Morning Star heartless

Jafar
T1=Mamluks (former minions of Mozenrath)
T2=Bandit & Fortuneteller heartless

Captain Hook
T1=Pirates (human ones)
T2=Pirate (the heartless ones) & Battleship heartless

Hades
T1=Undead soldiers
T2=Satyr & Rock Troll heartless (just 1 Rock Troll)

Shan Yu
T1=Huns
T2=Rapid Thruster & Assault Rider heartless (Rapidthrusters being the most numerous of all minions)

Xanatos
T1=Steel Clan
T2=Gargoyle & Gear Golem heartless

Darth Vader
T1=Stormtroopers
T2=Heartless that are unique to his world(s)

Dr. Doom
T1=Doombots
T2=Heartless unique to his world

Boss Forms

The other way of playing up the bad guy experience is true tried & true "final boss form". The villain version of Drive/limit break where they can transform when the meter is filled out from taking enough damage. During this, the rest of the party goes away & the player has direct control over the transformed member. They stay in this form until either their HP is depleted or the battle ends. Because of how much space the larger forms can take up, the party member & present enemies are transported to an arena space designed for that form, complete with a change of music. Everyone has 2 tiers, with the 2nd being unlocked during key moments in the story.

Vanitas
T1=Dual wielding (wields Void Gear & Souleater in each hand & has faster attacks). Enter The Darkness
T2=Chimera (merges with his unversed into a massive hybrid of them). Unforgettable

Maleficent
T1=Dragon. Destiny's Force
T2=Hybrid of dragon & witch forms with flight, fire breath, & magic at her disposal. Plus a halberd made from a Souleater attached to her staff (that's 3 souleaters if you're counting). The Deep End

Pete
T1=Steamboat Willie, which fires fireballs from its smokestacks. Rowdy Rumble
T2=Julius (it'll be revealed earlier in the game his full name is Captain Julius Pete). The Encounter.

Kuja
T1=Ride Silver Dragon. Battle 2
T2=Trance. Dark Messanger

Jafar
T1=Giant snake
T2=Genie

Captain Hook
T1=Power of flight (Tinkerbell's been in that glass lantern 3 times in KH continuity, there's a lot of loose pixidust in it)
T2=Flying Jolly Roger

Hades
T1=Red flames
T2=Paradox Hades, joins with the well of souls giving himself green flames & spirits circling him.

Shan Yu
T1=Horseback
T2=Darkness Infusion (akin to what happened to him in KH2)

Xanatos
T1=Battle Armor
T2=Team up with Fox

Darth Vader
T1=TIE Advanced Fighter
T2=Force Unleashed, puts away his lightsaber & taps deeper into the Force to unleash the full might of the dark side.

Dr. Doom
T1=Dark Magic
T2=Power of Odin (The Asgard world mostly is a retelling of the plot to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 where Doom steals Odin's powers)

Note 1: All guest party members besides Kuja get either Squirming Evil for Tier 1 music & Eye of the Storm for Tier 2.

Note 2: If you're wondering how exactly Xanatos fights when not using the battle armor, he's got a keyblade. Xehanort's apprenticeship keyblade in fact. The 2 met before & Xanatos has a bigger role than just a 1-off party member.

Note 3: I've held back on how the villains lose & later regain control of the heartless & what the last worlds of the Vanitas game are. So here it is. The Horned King from The Black Cauldron took them over by using the magic of the titular cauldron. His world is the penultimate Disney world of the game.

World: Prydain
Party member: Sora (as the heroes want to take Horned King down too)
Sora's Minions: Spirit Dream Eaters
Sora Boss form: Ultimate form
Native enemies: Horned King's men
Boss: Horned King

Defeating Horned King is the point of no return as the game is on auto-pilot from here on out. With both the heartless & an army of allies at her disposal, Maleficent launches a full-on invasion on Disney Castle to finally take it over.

World: Disney Town & Castle
Party Members: Maleficent, Pete, Kuja, Jafar, Hook, Hades, Shan Yu, Xanatos, Darth Vader, Dr. Doom. Each of them is attacking a different part of town or area of the castle
Forces of Light: Musketeers, Broomsticks, Gummidrones
Bosses: Pretty much all of the Guardians of Light, each fighting a different party member

After the main trio destroy the Orb of Light & the GoL get the townsfolk evacuated into various gummiships, the heartless swarm into take the hearts of all of the minions. Hey, those guys outlived their usefulness. The Disney World population takes refuge in traverse Town, giving reason to return to that world in future games. After this is the final world of the game where Vanitas' own story concludes but I never had any ideas what that actually is so I'm stopping here.
 

HakaishinChampa

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I want to be able to call characters on the Gummi-Phone and have side-quests with the different KH characters.

Maybe characters that don't get that much development in phase 2, you can still visit or talk to on the Gummi-Phone. Like hayner, pence & olette - you can still talk to them but they won't be important to the story.
 

Chie

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^ The vast majority of games would be improved by the addition of the codec.

You can even make it text only, Nomura!! Screw the gamers, take any chance you can to fit more text in there!!
 

horto12485

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Gameplay Ideas...

  • Instant Travel Between Worlds (Inspiried by Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart's Gameplay where you travel between Worlds not just the Original Worlds but DIsney Worlds (Classic, Pixar and Modern)
  • Call Certain Characters on the Gummi-Phone and Side Quests.
 

Sakuraba Neku

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Besides the instant travel between worlds, whenever we have other KH characters as party members I want to be able to choose who I want to play with anytime, like FF7 Remake.

They already explored this concept a little in KH3 Remind Keyblade Graveyard battles. Now take it further.
 

Face My Fears

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  • Combat/strategies that are more focused on the RPG element. Certain worlds require you to be more magic focused (like Atlantica in KH1) while others require you to be more attack oriented. Actually make use take time to strategize what items we equip and how the party members fight.
  • Make the party members matter. KH1 was probably the only game in the series to make them matter (besides CoM where they were a free card during battle). I swapped out Donald for Tarzan in Deep Jungle because Tarzan could heal. I got rid of Goofy for Ariel because I needed more magic use. KH1 made the party members really feel present. The only time party members feel present in future KH games is when you do the limit move with them and get a cutscene.
  • Have side-quests. I really cannot believe that KH3 didn't include this. Maybe Nomura wanted to have it voiced, but I don't really care if the side-quests are given to us in text from characters. San Fransokyo could have had us doing things to help people around the city (kill heartless, then put out a fire with water magic), like feel like a mini-superhero game. The Caribbean could have had us go on a "treasure hunt" and get pieces of a mysterious ship on different islands, then on the last island we unlock a secret boss fight with Balthier/Fran and the pieces we were collecting were for the Strahl.
  • Post-game unlocks the ability to play as any party member (with their limitations) and you can replace world specific party members with non-DISNEY party members. I wouldn't care if the cutscenes swap back to Sora or even during the gameplay Sora talks while using Riku or Donald/Goofy say the same lines they would to Riku or whoever. Or maybe they can just cut those lines if the game detects that you're using anyone besides Sora.
  • Gummi-phone conversations: As much as I hate it in cutscenes, I feel like it would be cool to have different text-based stories that you can unlock with the Gummi-Phone depending on your responses. For example, you text Riku and he replies and you're given 3 options, once you pick one of them, this save file is locked to go down that conversation path.
  • Make summons matter. Tinker Bell was an amazing addition in KH1. In future KH games, I never felt like the summons did anything. The only time I ever really used a summon out of necessity was against Yozora to become invincible for a while.
 

Soldier

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Souleater/keyblade swap, Forces of Light

After the tutorial in KBG, Maleficent bestows upon Vanitas a Souleater of his own (I am presuming she was the one that gave Riku his). With a quick tap of L1, the player can swap between Souleater & Void Gear keyblade. The reason for this is because the keyblade is the stronger of the 2 against heartless but Souleater does more damage against the forces of light. & much of the time there'll be both heartless & good guys in the same battles so being able to switch on the fly is important.
Question: why not have the Soul Eater merely do more damage the more Vanitas uses dark-based attacks? It's apparently how Riku's used to work.
COM's description for the attack card states:
"Reacts to dark power. Riku's strength is higher when he wields darkness in battle."
And that's something that's clearly demonstrated as he ascends the basement floors.
 

MATGSY

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Question: why not have the Soul Eater merely do more damage the more Vanitas uses dark-based attacks? It's apparently how Riku's used to work.
COM's description for the attack card states:
"Reacts to dark power. Riku's strength is higher when he wields darkness in battle."
And that's something that's clearly demonstrated as he ascends the basement floors.
The point was to make a gameplay thing out of using different weapons against different enemy types. Souleater was a convenient go to alternative weapon to a keyblade.
 

Face My Fears

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The point was to make a gameplay thing out of using different weapons against different enemy types. Souleater was a convenient go to alternative weapon to a keyblade.
Well don't they already have that with the different keyblades?

I could swear the fire magic ones were strong against ice heartless? Or was that in CoM or KH1?

I think it could be interesting to add elemental/attribute advantage to the weapons. But wouldn't that take away from the incentive to use magic in those situations?

Your idea can be fleshed out more I think. For characters that only just started to wield keyblades, you can have them able to swap between the two weapons. For example, Axel can swap between his keyblade and the chakrams - although I read somewhere that his chakrams are now his keyblade transformation and not the actual chakrams anymore.

It would be hilarious if Roxas could swap between keyblades and a stick lol.
 

Soldier

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Well don't they already have that with the different keyblades?

I could swear the fire magic ones were strong against ice heartless? Or was that in CoM or KH1?

I think it could be interesting to add elemental/attribute advantage to the weapons. But wouldn't that take away from the incentive to use magic in those situations?

Your idea can be fleshed out more I think. For characters that only just started to wield keyblades, you can have them able to swap between the two weapons. For example, Axel can swap between his keyblade and the chakrams - although I read somewhere that his chakrams are now his keyblade transformation and not the actual chakrams anymore.

It would be hilarious if Roxas could swap between keyblades and a stick lol.
You're not wrong, KH has always had an elemental system in play, though not as focused as say, World of Final Fantasy. Fire magic is good against ice heartless, and the opposite is true (ice magic is good against fire heartless), and Demyx is weak to fire despite using water as his attribute (because water was classified as ice magic in that game, go figure).

Axel still uses his chakrams if need be, as he uses them in Re:Mind if Roxas is chosen as the playable character during a specific fight.
 

Face My Fears

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You're not wrong, KH has always had an elemental system in play, though not as focused as say, World of Final Fantasy. Fire magic is good against ice heartless, and the opposite is true (ice magic is good against fire heartless), and Demyx is weak to fire despite using water as his attribute (because water was classified as ice magic in that game, go figure).

Axel still uses his chakrams if need be, as he uses them in Re:Mind if Roxas is chosen as the playable character during a specific fight.
I guess they could try to emphasize using different keyblades for different worlds. With the current keyblade system, it would encourage you to level up other keyblades and not just stick with one.

I read that Axel using the chakrams after getting his keyblade was his keyblade transformation and the chakrams no longer exist on their own. I don't know how reliable that is.
 

AdrianXXII

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Different Keyblade types. Some examples, a double bladed Keyblade (think Darth Maul's lightsaber), a spear Keyblade, a greataxe Keyblade etc.
Were you thinking as Keyblade transformations or as new types of Keyblade weaponry? I'd definitely hope to see new forms of Keyblade Transformations in future entries.
 

AdrianXXII

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I was thinking of new Keyblade types, but Keyblade transformations would work as well.
Honestly with the introduction of keyblade transformations i would like to see the different wielders establish secondary perfered transformations. Like Axel still using his chakrams has his perfered keyblade transformation.
I could see Aqua having a Bow preference, Kairi a bow staff or crossbow preference, Riku an axe, Roxas twin daggers, Ven a spear, Terra a whip and and I'm drawing a blank for Xion, maybe battle yo-yos?
 
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