So, I know this is outright blasphemy, because there seems to be this consensus amongst the Kingdom Hearts community that KH2 was the best game in the series in terms of its story, and nowhere has this point been brought up more than in discussions of how bad Kingdom Hearts III's story was in comparison. And upon recently playing through the games again, I came to question whether 2's story was really that much better and more cohesive than 3's was. Just here me out.
So, I think most of us can agree that the prologue in KH2 with Roxas was beautiful, and the midway point and the climax of the game were both glorious, some of the best moments in the series. But all the stuff that happens inbetween—I really wonder if KH3 did the Disney worlds so much worse than KH2, or even KH1, did.
One of the biggest criticisms of 3 was that the Disney worlds were filler and served no purpose in facilitating the climactic battle at the Keyblade Graveyard. But I thought, well, if we could go through the main games in the series and note each Disney world's importance to the overarching story, I wonder if we'd really find many more in KH2 that fit into the larger narrative better than the worlds in 3 did. So, here's a little list of the worlds in each game and what purpose they served outside of their own self-contained stories that could only be served by that particular world. So, for instance, even though KH1 had you going around locking Keyholes and protecting the worlds from the Heartless, and even though KH2 had you going around stopping Maleficent and the Organization, the specific worlds you visit may not have had any unique function.
So, for KH1:
Wonderland – Homeworld of Alice, one of the Princesses of Heart. Fairly important.
Olympus Coliseum – Sora learns how to be a hero. Mildly important, but not really.
Deep Jungle – Some good character dynamics between Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Okay. But not really anything that couldn't have been done in a different world.
Agrabah – Okay, another Princess of Heart (Jasmine). Check.
Monstro – Relevant for Jiminy Cricket, but mostly good for the Sora-Riku rivalry. Pretty important.
Atlantica – Ehr, not really anything important here (hell, you can skip the world and still beat the game, what does that tell you?)
Halloween Town – Also not very important story-wise.
Hundred Acre Wood – Yeah, not important at all.
Neverland – Some more Sora-Riku rivalry, plus Sora finds Kairi. Okay, pretty important.
So, overall, KH1 has a pretty good mix, and even the worlds that aren't important in and of themselves do still provide a good backdrop for the characters to grow and develop well. So, all around, probably like 80% of the worlds in that game were of any importance to the larger story. Very good.
Now, onto KH2:
Land of Dragons – Xigbar shows up later in the game, but doesn't do anything besides raise a Heartless dragon and then leave. Not important at all.
Beast's Castle – Xaldin up to a bunch of shit here. Otherwise, not terribly important either.
Olympus Coliseum – Demyx makes his first appearance, but then, he doesn't ever really do anything important in the game besides just being an Organization member. Pete's here trying to get some Heartless, but none of the other stuff really matters.
Disney Castle/Timeless River – There's the whole subplot with Maleficent and Pete trying gain a new domain. Meh.
Atlantica – Lol no.
Port Royal – Again, Luxord does some barely relevant shit here that could have been done just about anywhere else and it wouldn't make a difference. Otherwise, more of Pete gathering up Maleficent's Heartless army. Not that important.
Agrabah – Same old same old: Pete and some Organization people doing the bare minimum here to fulfill their goals. Next.
Halloween Town – Maleficent trying to steal Christmas? Wtf? Otherwise, literal nothing burger.
Pride Lands – Pete doing same stuff. Not important at all otherwise.
Space Paranoids – Now, this one actually works pretty well, because it directly ties into not only Hollow Bastion's story but the data relevant to uncovering the secrets of Ansem the Wise and Organization XIII. Finally, a legitimately important world!
Hundred Acre Wood – Nah.
So, wow, yeah. Almost none of the worlds in KH2 served any integral importance. Like, none. Maleficent's and the Organization's goals in that game were so non-targeted (just go out and gather Heartless for an army/hearts for Kingdom Hearts) that it really never mattered which worlds SDG went to. Like, only one out of all the Disney worlds in that game served a specific and unique function in the overarching story.
And now, let's look at 3:
Olympus – Well, Sora goes there to try and get his old strength back. It's a dead end of course, but at least there's a reason for Sora to be there.
Toy Box – Young Xehanort trying to figure out how hearts and inanimate objects connect, giving him a clue on how to put hearts inside replicas maybe? Arguably quite important, if clunkily handled.
Kingdom of Corona – Introduction to one of the new seven Princesses of Heart, which were vital as motivation for the Guardians to assemble as otherwise Xehanort would have gone after them once he'd found them all. So, yeah, actually pretty damn important.
Monstropolis – Allowed Vanitas to resurrect himself by collecting all the negative emotions from the factory to restore his heart. Again, really important.
Arrendelle – Not one, but TWO new Princesses of Heart! What??? Yeah, I hate Arrendelle as much as anyone, but there's no denying that level of importance in this setup.
The Caribbean – Alright, not so important. Luxord and Vexen search for the box, it's a dud. The end. Not that important.
San Fransokyo – Dark Riku up in here doing more research relevant to how Xehanort can create the replicas he needs for the final showdown. Check on this world.
And finally, Hundred Acre Wood – Still no.
Wait! Doth my eyes deceive me? According to this, it actually seems as if almost EVERY SINGLE DISNEY WORLD IN KH3 was more important than almost ANY of the Disney worlds in KH2!!!!!!
So, we all know the whole goose chase about the power of waking was a complete bust. The overarching reasons for going to different Disney worlds was definitely much better in the first two main games. But when it comes to how much the worlds actually contribute to the story, well, it turns out 3 did it WAY better than 2!
What do the rest of you guys think about this?
So, I think most of us can agree that the prologue in KH2 with Roxas was beautiful, and the midway point and the climax of the game were both glorious, some of the best moments in the series. But all the stuff that happens inbetween—I really wonder if KH3 did the Disney worlds so much worse than KH2, or even KH1, did.
One of the biggest criticisms of 3 was that the Disney worlds were filler and served no purpose in facilitating the climactic battle at the Keyblade Graveyard. But I thought, well, if we could go through the main games in the series and note each Disney world's importance to the overarching story, I wonder if we'd really find many more in KH2 that fit into the larger narrative better than the worlds in 3 did. So, here's a little list of the worlds in each game and what purpose they served outside of their own self-contained stories that could only be served by that particular world. So, for instance, even though KH1 had you going around locking Keyholes and protecting the worlds from the Heartless, and even though KH2 had you going around stopping Maleficent and the Organization, the specific worlds you visit may not have had any unique function.
So, for KH1:
Wonderland – Homeworld of Alice, one of the Princesses of Heart. Fairly important.
Olympus Coliseum – Sora learns how to be a hero. Mildly important, but not really.
Deep Jungle – Some good character dynamics between Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Okay. But not really anything that couldn't have been done in a different world.
Agrabah – Okay, another Princess of Heart (Jasmine). Check.
Monstro – Relevant for Jiminy Cricket, but mostly good for the Sora-Riku rivalry. Pretty important.
Atlantica – Ehr, not really anything important here (hell, you can skip the world and still beat the game, what does that tell you?)
Halloween Town – Also not very important story-wise.
Hundred Acre Wood – Yeah, not important at all.
Neverland – Some more Sora-Riku rivalry, plus Sora finds Kairi. Okay, pretty important.
So, overall, KH1 has a pretty good mix, and even the worlds that aren't important in and of themselves do still provide a good backdrop for the characters to grow and develop well. So, all around, probably like 80% of the worlds in that game were of any importance to the larger story. Very good.
Now, onto KH2:
Land of Dragons – Xigbar shows up later in the game, but doesn't do anything besides raise a Heartless dragon and then leave. Not important at all.
Beast's Castle – Xaldin up to a bunch of shit here. Otherwise, not terribly important either.
Olympus Coliseum – Demyx makes his first appearance, but then, he doesn't ever really do anything important in the game besides just being an Organization member. Pete's here trying to get some Heartless, but none of the other stuff really matters.
Disney Castle/Timeless River – There's the whole subplot with Maleficent and Pete trying gain a new domain. Meh.
Atlantica – Lol no.
Port Royal – Again, Luxord does some barely relevant shit here that could have been done just about anywhere else and it wouldn't make a difference. Otherwise, more of Pete gathering up Maleficent's Heartless army. Not that important.
Agrabah – Same old same old: Pete and some Organization people doing the bare minimum here to fulfill their goals. Next.
Halloween Town – Maleficent trying to steal Christmas? Wtf? Otherwise, literal nothing burger.
Pride Lands – Pete doing same stuff. Not important at all otherwise.
Space Paranoids – Now, this one actually works pretty well, because it directly ties into not only Hollow Bastion's story but the data relevant to uncovering the secrets of Ansem the Wise and Organization XIII. Finally, a legitimately important world!
Hundred Acre Wood – Nah.
So, wow, yeah. Almost none of the worlds in KH2 served any integral importance. Like, none. Maleficent's and the Organization's goals in that game were so non-targeted (just go out and gather Heartless for an army/hearts for Kingdom Hearts) that it really never mattered which worlds SDG went to. Like, only one out of all the Disney worlds in that game served a specific and unique function in the overarching story.
And now, let's look at 3:
Olympus – Well, Sora goes there to try and get his old strength back. It's a dead end of course, but at least there's a reason for Sora to be there.
Toy Box – Young Xehanort trying to figure out how hearts and inanimate objects connect, giving him a clue on how to put hearts inside replicas maybe? Arguably quite important, if clunkily handled.
Kingdom of Corona – Introduction to one of the new seven Princesses of Heart, which were vital as motivation for the Guardians to assemble as otherwise Xehanort would have gone after them once he'd found them all. So, yeah, actually pretty damn important.
Monstropolis – Allowed Vanitas to resurrect himself by collecting all the negative emotions from the factory to restore his heart. Again, really important.
Arrendelle – Not one, but TWO new Princesses of Heart! What??? Yeah, I hate Arrendelle as much as anyone, but there's no denying that level of importance in this setup.
The Caribbean – Alright, not so important. Luxord and Vexen search for the box, it's a dud. The end. Not that important.
San Fransokyo – Dark Riku up in here doing more research relevant to how Xehanort can create the replicas he needs for the final showdown. Check on this world.
And finally, Hundred Acre Wood – Still no.
Wait! Doth my eyes deceive me? According to this, it actually seems as if almost EVERY SINGLE DISNEY WORLD IN KH3 was more important than almost ANY of the Disney worlds in KH2!!!!!!
So, we all know the whole goose chase about the power of waking was a complete bust. The overarching reasons for going to different Disney worlds was definitely much better in the first two main games. But when it comes to how much the worlds actually contribute to the story, well, it turns out 3 did it WAY better than 2!
What do the rest of you guys think about this?