And then I didnt like it at all how kairi and sora were like pushed to become this love story which based on prior games I would have believed it if it came right after kh1 but how they handled kairi and sora in kh2
Sora seemed more concerned with Riku. And the following spin off games were always riku and sora. With kairi doing nothing because Nomura has some vendetta against her.
Sora and Kairi were never pushed, they were always in love.
Sora was more concerned with Riku because for the first half he knew Kairi was safe, and even when she was kidnapped people always specified she was a prisoner, meaning hers was certainly a dire situation but not in immediate peril, especially since the bad guys pretty much admitted openly she was bait for Sora so it was in their interests to keep her alive.
Meanwhile, from the very beginning Riku was always in the dark. Both Mickey and Saix kept silent about him and only gave vague implications that something tragic might've happened to him.
If I see a man disappearing in a house on fire while my wife is by my side I will be more concerned about the man, that doesn't mean I love him more than my wife.
KH1 was pretty blatant about Sora and Kairi and how romantic the Paopu was.
CoM was a gigantic "Kairi is the number one person in Sora's heart and nothing could rewrite this."
In KH II Sora sees Jack and Sally dancing romantically and with his mind's eye he replaces them with himself and Kairi, just after him regretting never giving Kairi presents and Donald and Goofy reinforcing how Kairi would love any present as long as it's from Sora.
In the prologue Roxas talks to Kairi and straight up says "You're that girl he likes", lol.
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Then there's Coded and especially DDD which are Sora and Riku-centric because it's indeed true Kairi is hated and/or ignored by the writing team, but I don't feel like they overwrite what was previously established. Like, I don't need anymore hints after it was explicitly said they like each other.
And even if... coincidentally, even this morning I saw someone else talking about how this Paopu scene in KH III wasn't an ultimate proof, they were unsure how to put it and such.
I'd treat that as I treat the BbS version where the Paopu fruit symbolizes friendship: another needless retcon that disrespects what was originally established.
Nomura was able to change Xehanort's character and motivations on the fly and made it so now Keyblades, important items deeply tied to their master, can be broken and effortlessly replaced with different ones with a shrug and a laugh, so if he fumbles with that he can also fumble with other areas.
I think in the final battle it would have been great to team up with her and riku or ventus and aqua and terra. Have the trio who started the franchise finally fight together and protect one another and finish the arc once and for all or if we could have teamed up with diff trios during the different tiers of the last boss fight. Or maybe have sora team up with each of them individually during the different sections of the boss fight. Let the other guardians have their part in the end of this arc as they have their own agency in it. Geez.
It didn't even need JUST the guardians, but ALSO the guardians. I have no problems with Sora Donald and Goofy taking on Xehanort in the final battle, but them being the only ones to do so was bad.
The fact that Terra doesn't do anything at all when he comes back is baffling, it's like removing the part where Darth Vader kills the Emperor in Episode VI.
My ideal team would've had Terra and Riku or Ventus joining in, but from a videogame point of view I'd just make all of the guardians selectable at the player's will.
I mean, the way they treated the guardians in general was just plain ridicolous, for reasons you've also stated.