Re: Making This Thread Goes Against My Better Instincts
To be able to see it from another perspective is what i hoped to accomplish originally with the post. For that reason, I wanna particularly thank HeartSeams and Grass. It was presumptuous of me to assume that Nomura had the responsibility of every aspect of the game outside of the programming, and I'm sorry for that. Now, my previously misplaced angst can be directed towards some of the scenario writers, lol. Going back to Days and CoM for a sec, I still primarily feel the way I do, but I respect our difference of opinions. I think a lot of people misunderstood what I meant with what they could have done with CoM. I didn't mean for it all to happen in one additional cutscene. I just meant that the important segments of CoM could have served as the beginning of KH II, with the filler material of the worlds to be left out. However, I get the idea that those games were less plot-relevant and more character-relevant as you said. I can appreciate that. I always did notice it, and it definitely makes it fuller, but I guess one good thing has to be sacrificed for another. What I mean to say is that the relevancy of a branched game's contribution to the overall plot is lost within the focus on the character development. Considering the extreme to which they did it, I imagine that it's difficult to maintain the balance of both.
Next, I wanna talk about the motif you brought up about the memory conflicts that made themselves apparent in the Disney worlds of CoM and reflected the inner struggles of Sora. Yeah, I get those backbone ideas are where the true relevancy lies while the repetitive actions on the surface existed to cover that up, if that's what you were trying to say. This is why I feel that if the important events of CoM were instead integrated into the beginning of KHII that the Disney worlds shouldn't be completely skipped over. More so, these important encounters Sora has should've been filtered out from the fluff of the activities within the worlds. Let's not forget that the motif was brought up almost everytime if not everytime. In that sense, we have a whole new system of repetition. I think a cutscene between the floors would have sufficed, and the less important encounters could have been left out to make CoM into maybe a 3 hour thing. Onto Days, i really don't have a counterargument. It's more so the redundant secenarios that Roxas is placed into that annoyed me, and I don't think anyone at SE imagined it to be the best game. It's like an appetizer, something that they were gracious enough to make into a game to add to a fan's DS collection, as opposed to a novella or something. So, in terms of what Roxas was going around and doing, I'll give it a rest. But I wanna get to what you mentioned about what Days covered up. (Hang on a sec; I'll be editing this post with the quote instead of having to scroll up everytime I wanna bring up the next one.)
-What were the events leading to Roxas leaving the Organization?
-What was Roxas' time in the Organization like?
-What happened in that time between CoM and KH2?
-Why did it take so long for Nami to fix Sora's memories?
-Brought some additional context to what was happening in CoM
I agree to an extent with the first one, but I still don't see why the others are necessary. They're nice bonuses, but I never sat around and pondered on those mysteries. Actually, I had my own ideas about the first one, and I didn't feel the need to question it at the time. They implied in KH II that he found out about Sora. Unlike the other Org. members, Roxas' somebody was still around, and I just assumed he left to find him and distinguish himself as someone who was worthy a separate identity. Yes, this is just my interpretation, but I like that KH II left a lot to the imagination over that year. As for the rest, I guess it feels fuller knowing about Roxas' experiences in the Org. but I never complained about leaving them out. He was never the central focus. As for the year gap, I just assumed that the Org. used Roxas to collect hearts and continue their plans. Meanwhile, Riku and AtW stuck around and monitored Naminé's work on Sora. I really didn't put that much thought into it, because I assumed nothing of monumental importance happened until the week before Sora had awakened. Using a machine and mental abilities to return someone's scattered memories back into their mind (or heart in this case I guess) is nothing that is very often (if ever) conceived even in fictional writing. So, who's to judge how long the process should take? With that in mind, I never questioned that either. The last one is a good point, and the layer of depth involving the real goal of having half the Org. stationed at CO was a nice surprise. It's one of the few things about Days that I liked actually. But still, I don't think there would have been anything wrong with its inclusion in a future installment, whether it be III or whatever the hell else. And as much as I liked it, I think it alone doesn't really justify Days as a standalone title. But, still, it's an interesting topic of debate.
Getting to Grass's main point about the Disney Worlds of the first game, I have to say that I understand what you mean, but I still think they had an everlasting charm on the game that I was expecting to also grace KHII. Yeah, the villains had their own agendas, but their collective efforts showed them as the game's implied antagonists with Maleficent at the head. Only when she was bested did Ansem SoD pop out and reveal his intentions. However, I will counter my own argument with the next point (though I'm not sure if it backs up what you've said or what you had in mind.) I will admit that there's a bias in praising KH I's Disney world relevance simply for the fact that it was a clean slate. Sora was just some random kid who had never really experienced anything. If those worlds really did have significance, it was in his character development, and his maturity, which was already taken care of by KH II, so those worlds had less material to work with, so to speak. (That actually brings up another gripe I have about KHII involving a portrayal of Sora as someone who's even less mature than he was a year prior to it, which makes no sense to me, but that's another topic for discussion entirely.)
