Ah, Valentines day is here. I don't have a girlfriend, but I do have friends who are in relationships. Anyways, in this post I will talk about several romances and romantic moments in video games.
#1 Super Mario and Princess Peach (aka Princess Toadstool) - super mario bros series
Video of Mario rescuing Princess Peach once again in New Super Mario Bros Wii. Mario and Peach (aka Princess Toadstool) goes along ways ever since the 1980s. In case if you are not familiar with Super Mario Bros, it is a generally a series of video games (usually side scoller and platformer) where you play as either Mario or Luigi, where they set out on quests to defeat Bowser and his minions usually over a series of 8 different worlds and rescue the princess. Of course, in the sequel, the princess (somehow) always manages to kidnapped once again by Bowser (perhaps Bowser has a crush on Peach too) only to be rescued by Mario and / or Luigi once again. Both plumbers seem to like the princess so they often compete for her heart. Perhaps the most amusing Super Mario quest was the one in New Super Mario Bros wii where up to 4 players can team up and work together to get through the many levels in the game, which can get amusing to watch too as players tend to die alot, much to the frustrations of other gamers.
#2 Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Roses (Sonic the Hedgehog series)
(video or pic will be added later)
Amy Rose and Sonic goes all the way back to Sonic CD era of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, where Sonic rescues Amy from the clutches of (then) Doctor Robotnik's Mecha Sonic and saves the world from certain destruction. Since then, Amy gets a much bigger roll in Sonic Adventure era Sonic games. Perhaps my favorite was Amy Rose in Sonic Adventure. She hasn't seen Sonic in many years and is more than happy to see him once again in the adventure. Of course in Sonic Adventure, she is constantly pursued by another one of Dr Eggman's robots who wants to kidnap her and the bird she was watching over (it had been carrying a chaos emerald that Eggman wanted to feed to the monster he was trying to create in the game). She even had her own storyline you could play through too where she was wielding a special hammer that she could use to whack enemies and ultimately defeat the evil robot that was pursuing her in the game. In subsequent games, she often functions as a support character and assists Sonic when needed (like in Sonic 2006 when she stood up for him when Silver the Hedghog was trying to defeat Sonic after being tricked by the evil Methalees into thinking that Sonic was evil). In the most recent incarnation of the series (Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric), Sonic and his friends (Tails, Knucles, and a new character with boomerangs) set out on a quest to rescue her from the evil Lyric (he replaces Dr Eggman as being the primary antagonist) who kidnapps her at the beginning of the game. Amy definitely has a huge crush on Sonic and will stop at nothing to win his heart. Sonic tends to brush her off though, so it is not really clear if they are an item or not, but they definitely make a cute couple in the games.
#3 John Marston and Abigal (Red Dead Redemption)
Set in the early 1900's (though still has a wild west style feel), you assume the role of John Marston in a grand theft auto style adventure in this western action RPG. In the game, John Marston was a former gang member that abandoned his old ways and was "recruited" by corrupt government agents, to hunt down his former comrades and even get involved with a Mexican civil war after they take his wife, Abigail and his son Jack Martson (along with their family dog). Throughout the game, Marston remains loyal to Abigail in the midst of all challenges that would test his loyalty, such as getting close with a lady named Bonnie, resisting flirty saloon girls who vie for his attenting, and even does Edgar Ross's dirty work (such as hunting down a gangster named, Dutch) to ensure his wife's survival. At the end of the game, Ross decides to betray John Marston by setting up an ambush against the Marstons house and John was willing to sacrifice his own life to save his wife and kid so that they may live. If you play as Jack after the storyline ends, he gets a chance to avenge his father's death by engaging Edgar Ross in a gunfight in the game's epilogue. Interesting tidbit: did you know that in Grand Theft Auto 5 online it is possible to create a character under John Marston's lineage? I created a character like that in the Xbox One version which I dubbed, Uncle Steve (I don't have a picture of him yet, but I will post it later).
#4) Carl Johnson (aka CJ) and Denise in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
GTA San Andreas officially became the first game in the GTA series, where the game's protaganist can have a girlfriend. CJ saves Denise from the Ballas gang (a rival gang to the grove street gang, which CJ is a member of) and like any game or movie where a hero saves a woman (like Sonic and Amy or Mario and Peach), she automatically becomes a romance option for CJ at the end of the mission. She pretty much lives down the block from CJ (in the next street over if I remember correctly) and is probably the easiest girl to please in the game. CJ can win her heart by taking her to the local club, going out for fast food with her, drive her around the block, and even let her do some gangsta style drive by shooting. She will call CJ or a heart will appear at her house when she wants to date CJ.
By the way, given the twisted nature of the Grand Theft Auto series, Denise is not the only romance option for CJ, as there are several other girls that CJ can date as well, such as Helena in Blueberry, Millie in Las Venturas (she automatically becomes a romance option during the Las Venturas missions), a retired police officer named Barbara (which is an ironic relationship considering that CJ is a common criminal just like other members of his gang just as any other protaganist is in the series), a nurse named Katie (you meet her in San Fierro) as well as a driving instructor named Michelle, who likes to take CJ for a ride sometimes in the city of San Fierro). It is also possible for CJ to "cheat" on Denise by dating multiple girls, especially if you manage to obtain all of the hidden oysters (hidden under water) in the game, which pretty much gives CJ unlimited sex appeal and automatically makes him attractive to the other girls even if he doesn't meet their standards in appearances (normally, with the exception of Denise and Millie, you have to meet certain appearance requirements if you want to date Katie, Michelle or Helena). Apparently, there are versions of GTA San Andreas where a jealous Denise can chase after CJ in a car when dating the other girls, but that event doesn't seem to happen in the Xbox version of San Andreas (I tried it), though I have noticed that she can die suddenly if you take her to a rival girl's city (such as driving her to San Fierro if you are dating Katie or Michelle). Also, like real life relationships, Denise and CJ can break up (if your relationship level with her is low enough) and she can also be killed off too. Waring about Denise: be careful not to kill or break up with Denise unless if you don't care for her, or at least do not save the game should something like that happen since it is pretty much impossible for her to respawn or get her back should she die or break up with CJ (apparently some of the other girls respawn after a while if they break up or are killed off, but Denise and Millie do not respawn as far as I can tell if they die or break up).
By the way, GTA 4 has relationship options as well, but they are not quite the same as the ones in San Andreas. In Grand Theft Auto 4, for example, there is Michelle (Nikko dates her early on in the game) and later Katie McReary (who later replaces Michelle as Nikko's love interest), but both relationships are short lived. Michelle turns out to be an under cover FIB agent that is sent to spy on Nikko and Roman (which is understandable considering that Nikko often works for the crimnal element in Liberty City and even assasinates various targets too). Kate eventually replaces Michelle as Nikko's love interest, but you lose her during the course of the game's final missions (one scenario has her breaking up with Nikko and the other scenario has her getting killed off by Jimmy Pegorino, another kingpin who is in league with Demetri (the primary antagonist in the game) who Nikko gets entangled with during a drug deal gone wrong mission that Jimmy tries to force Nikko to do do. By the way, it is also possible to get a girlfriend via the internet in GTA 4, but I never tried it, so I don't know how that works or how they compare with Michelle and Katie.
In GTA 5, the girlfriend system gets done away with, Michael De Santa starts out as a married man in the game (married to Amanda) and has 2 kids (a son and a daughter), though he and Amanda temporarily seperate around the mid point in the game after a series of event, such as the jewelery store heist mission, FIB agents resurfacing in his life, parenting issues (like the mission where Michael forces his daughter off a party boat and gets pursued by her "friends", as well as the crazy Trevor Philips showing up at his doorstep not long after the Jewelery Store heist mission (happens shortly after the "Friends Reunited" mission (if you play as Trevor or Michael). As for Trevor, he doesn't really have a girlfriend or wife, though he does attraction for a lady that he and Michael kidnaps during one of the missions (though eventually he returns her to his husband), and later he becomes the owner at Vanilla Unicorn and can develop with some of the ladies he works with there, especially if you are going for the "booty call" achievement (towards the 100% completion). As for Franklin, technically had a girlfriend, named Tanisha at the beginning of the game (you never see her in person till the "Lamar Down mission", but she automatically breaks up with him early on in the game via a Dear John letter (via email), which is basically a "dreaded" (depending on how you look at it) letter or email that a boyfriend or girlfriend may send you that pretty much states that they want to break up and "just be friends" (much like what happens between Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart early on in the Power Rangers Zero series, where she sends him a "Dear John" letter during one of the episodes, effectively ending their relationship permanently ).
#5 Romance options in Mass Effect series
Above is a video where Shepard gets a picture of Tali "unmasked", which is only unlockable if you romance her in Mass Effects 2 and 3. BTW, I originally wanted to show the romance video between Shepard and Ashely, but I figured it might be too much for some people, but if you want to see it, you can find it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DtASoSShA.
Science fiction style romance anyone (such as Padme and Anakin or Han and Leia in Star Wars)? In the Mass Effect series players assume the role of, Commander Shepard (which can be a male or female captain depending on your preferences) and make various choices that can affect the main storyline in all 3 games, and Shepard can also take on a wide variety of romance interests. If you are a male shepard, Ashley (assuming she survives the events of Mass Effect 1, meaning you save her over Kaiden during the Virmire Missions) and later Miranda (from Mass Effect 2) are very tempting options for Shepard (probably the best looking female characters in my opinion). Of course, Shepard can also opt to date other crew members if he chooses, including Liara (an alien Asari), Tali (the masked alien lady) or even Jack (she is a "firey" lady that you can rescue from a prison ship in Mass Effect 2). He can also romance Samara's "sister" Morinth assuming he saves Morinth over Samara, but she literally kills him if Shepard decides to romance her (kissing her leads to the game over scene) as a result of a condition she has where people trying to romance her get killed in the process. Female Shepards can also date people like Kaiden (assuming he survives the events Mass Effect 1), Garrus, Jacob, Thane, and others. Same sex relationships are also possible too (such as female shepard and Diana or female shepard and Liara) if you want to make Shepard "gay" (not sure how else to put it. It is also possible to date more than one person at a time during the series (such as Ashely and Miranda considering that Ashely has much lesser role in ME 2 compared to the other 2 installments in the series), leading to love triangles that Shepard must resolve during the course of the game. In my playthrough, I actually killed off Ashely during Mass Effect one and ended up dating Tali. As female shepard, I thought it would be funny to have her date Diane, so she did. What romance option you go for is up to you.
Notes about romance options:
- Miranda, Jack and Tali: these relationships must be started in Mass Effect 2 in order to work in Mass Effect 3. In addition, they must be loyal (by completing their loyalty missions successfully as well as siding with them when getting feuds with other crew members, such as Jack vs Miranda or Tali vs Legion) and they must survive the game's climatic suicide mission at the end of the game too (which is very doale in my opinon).
- Ashley: relationship can be started in Mass Effect 1 or 3. A relationship with her assumes she assumes the events of Mass Effect 1 (either she or Kaiden will have been killed off during the course of the first game). In addition, Shepard must regain Ashely's trust too, which is inevitably shaken during the events of Mass Effect 2, where Shepard finds himself working for Cerberus while trying to defeat a diabolical alien race known as the collectors that want to kidnap humans and want to harvest their dna for the reapers, and later during the Mars mission on Mass Effect 3 when the Illusive Man and Cerberus start to show their true colors and attack the base, even almost killing Ashley in the process..
- Tali. A relationship must being with her in Mass Effect 2 and requires you to complete her loyalty mission successfully (the one where she is falsely accused of treason by her fellow aliens). Interestingly, she has a mask during most of the series and you can't really see what is behind the mask, so she is a mysterious woman. I like to think that Tali is a beautiful woman behind the mask, but her face is not revealed tills Mass Effect 3 and assumes you are in a relationship with her. Note: she must survive the events of Mass Effect 2 with her loyalty in tact for a relationship to work. Warning about Tali: she commits suicide in Mass Effect 3 should you save the geth over the Quarians during that leg of the game (Legion tries to upload a program that would cause the geth to turn on the Quarians, but Shepard can stop him and either bring peace to the 2 races or let one race destroy the other). If you want her in Mass Effect 3, you will have to stop Legion from uploading the program or bring a truce between the 2 races.
Other notes:
- Jack is definitely an interesting character and is often suspicious of Shepard and Cerberus. Interestingly, she seems to have a guy's name too (unless if her name is short for Jacky). She is also a fiery type too that has a short temper too. Date with caution. dating her requires you to do her loyalty mission in ME 2 as well as siding with her during a dispute she has with Miranda).
- Liara. She is a classic alien type that Shepard can date. If you are in to alien types, she is right up Shepard's ally. She also becomes the shadow broker after the events of Mass Effect 2 (there is a DLC mission that if you are willing to spend the extra money where Shepard can take part in the mission where he can help her take down the existing shadow broker on Illium). She can date either a male or female shepard.
- Diana and Samantha Traynor - if you are into lesbian style relationships, it is possible for fem Shepard to romance those 2.
- Some relationships can prove to be dead end relationships (which automatically ends), as is the case of Jacob in Mass Effect 3 or Ashley / Kaiden during the course of Mass Effect 2 since they don't take kindly to Shepard working for Cerberus during the events of Mass Effect 2 (not that the player really has a choice in the matter since Shepard's tenure with Cerberus is pretty much scripted during the course of that game and can't be chanced as far as I can tell), though those relationships can be rekindled in ME3.
For more information about romance options in Mass Effect 3, you can read the article on romance options at Wikipedia: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Romance.
That is all for now. Stay tuned for part 2.
Other ones includes:
- Scott and Ramona in Scott Pilgrim vs the World (btw I have finally seen the movie recently)
- Princesses you can rescue in Castle Crashers
- Fable relationships
- and mroe
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
Officially started my second playthrough on Grand Theft Auto 5, this time on the Xbox One
The game is on. I already beat the main story and even got 100% completion on Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox 360 and after upgrading to the Xbox One, I traded in the 360 version at Gamestop and got the Xbox One version in its place. Just got to the point where you play as Trevor for the first time, shortly after the Jewelry store heist mission.
Things I like about the Xbox One version so far:
- better graphics
- cell phones have a new look. By the way, I like how Trevor's phone is cracked
- New dog breeds, many of which were not seen in the 360 version. In addition to labs and rotweilers, there are also siberian huskies, golden retrievers, saint bernards, pugs, and poodles that you might encounter as well. There is also at least one confirmed dog park that you can take Chop to as Franklin adding more interactivity between Franklin and Chop. By the way, Chop can attack people on command (usually if you aim at someone), though be warned, sicing Chop on random people can net you wanted stars.
- New Peyote plants. These are hidden all across the map and whenver you come across one, you can eat the plant and it turns your guy into an animal that you can control temporarily. Kind of funny.
- New first person shooter mode. If you get tired of playing 3rd person shooter mode, you can always switch to first person. Personally, I like 3rd person more, but first person can be useful to use sometimes, especially during shoot outs.
- xbox one can record random video shots as you play the game, such as doing stunts in cars, shooting things with sniper rifles, as well as getting mauled by animals (one time Michael got wasted by a siberian husky once, which was pretty funny).
Other than those, it is pretty similar to the original game in many ways, and the story line is almost identical too. By the way, I will be starting over in the GTA Online version too, creating a new character that I dubbed as "Uncle Steve" (was trying to be creative with names).
Will post more infor about the game as I get more experience with it.
Things I like about the Xbox One version so far:
- better graphics
- cell phones have a new look. By the way, I like how Trevor's phone is cracked
- New dog breeds, many of which were not seen in the 360 version. In addition to labs and rotweilers, there are also siberian huskies, golden retrievers, saint bernards, pugs, and poodles that you might encounter as well. There is also at least one confirmed dog park that you can take Chop to as Franklin adding more interactivity between Franklin and Chop. By the way, Chop can attack people on command (usually if you aim at someone), though be warned, sicing Chop on random people can net you wanted stars.
- New Peyote plants. These are hidden all across the map and whenver you come across one, you can eat the plant and it turns your guy into an animal that you can control temporarily. Kind of funny.
- New first person shooter mode. If you get tired of playing 3rd person shooter mode, you can always switch to first person. Personally, I like 3rd person more, but first person can be useful to use sometimes, especially during shoot outs.
- xbox one can record random video shots as you play the game, such as doing stunts in cars, shooting things with sniper rifles, as well as getting mauled by animals (one time Michael got wasted by a siberian husky once, which was pretty funny).
Other than those, it is pretty similar to the original game in many ways, and the story line is almost identical too. By the way, I will be starting over in the GTA Online version too, creating a new character that I dubbed as "Uncle Steve" (was trying to be creative with names).
Will post more infor about the game as I get more experience with it.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Project Spark First Impressions
I was finally able to start playing Project Spark on the Xbox One. Had some troubles playing it earlier this month due to connectivity issues on Xbox Live. Anyways I now have played it a few times and have some first impressions of the game. Have you ever dreamed of creating your own video game? How about go on an epic adventure where you can choose he elements, quests, enemies you fight and even the end boss for a level? Project Spark explores these concepts. There is a main quest you can start, though you can also play games other players create, go on a "crossroads" adventrue where you on an Action RPG quest where you can help influence the storyline, enemies you fight, what the villages look like, what you encounter in the field, and even what people say. In addition, if you are feeling creative and inspired, you can always create your own world and game using the elements the game offers. Today, I even created a "cheesy" adventure game I dubbed as Squirrel Hunter, where you play as this ranger and go up against hostile and rabid squirrels, bandits, and even goblins.
Things I like so far about the game
- Open ended style game.
- It does have some educational value to it considering that the game teaches you how to create your own worlds or even modify existing ones too. There is even an in game tutorial that teaches you the basics of creating a game
- If you have ever thought of video game design, Project Spark can be a good way to learn without having to go to college and getting a computer science and related degrees.
- In game codes are done for you. You con't have to know c+ or similar programming languages to create words and games. Though it can help to have some familiarity with programming (for example, modifying the behavior, or "brain" of animals in the world, what happens if the hero dies, how to finish a level, etc).
- I also like how you can play games other players create. Lets you see what others are making and get some inspiration for your own games.
- I also loved the crossroads adventure. Made a few funny ones too.
Things I did not like about the game so far:
- The game requires Xbox live and valid internet connection to work properly. If Xbox live is down or you don't have an Xbox live gold accunt, the game will not work properly.
- There do seem to be some bait and switch things going on in the game considering that you have to unlock certain elements or even accessing new levels in the main adventure and that may require you to pay money out of pocket. I wish they made it easier to unlock things without having to spend alot of money.
- The game can be confusing at first, especially when it comes to creating levels
I will post more information about Project Spark as I get more experience in the game.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Interesting new addition to Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox One - Peyote plants
In case if you don't know, I have traded in the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto 5 at Gamestop and got Xbox One version instead. Sure I will have to start over in the game, but I think it is worth trying out the newer version of the game. Xbox One version definitely has several changes, including better graphics, a new first person mode (much like how it is in games like Skyrim, where you can switch off between 3rd person and 1st person modes). They also have new dog breeds in the game too (though Franklin's dog remains the same), including poodles, golden retrievers, pugs, saint bernards and even siberian huskies. Aside from all of the changes, I have come across what is called, Peyote plants. Much like the letter scraps and space ship parts, the peyote plants are scattered across all San Andreas and you have to explore to find them (though alternatively there are strategy guides online that list the map locations).
There are many videos like the one above. For more peyote plant videos, look them up on Youtube.
Stay tuned for more updates on GTA 5, Xbox One.
 |
| One Peyote plant turned Franklin into a coyote near Los Santos (though it can also turn you into other animals too such as a cougar). |
 |
| In the middle of the great Sonora Desert (near Sandy Shores), another Peyote plant Turned Franklin into a siberian husky. Had some fun playing as the husky as he treked across the desert and entered Sandy Shores, but he was a naughty husky (you can attack people as huskies, though it will also cause your wanted level to go up) and got put down by the cops in Sandy Shores. |
The Peyote plant can be a fun new addition to the game (by the ways I don't remember seeing the peyote plants in the Xbox 360 version of GTA 5). Whenever you eat them, your guy (such as Franklin) will have this wierd hallucination where he literally turns into a random animal that you can control and roam around the map, get into mischief, or even try to find hidden areas in the game. The animal you turn into is randomized (even when eating the same plant more than once, which you can do by saving before eating the plant and reloading), so you never really know what you will control. In my experience as Franklin, he has turned into a cougar near Los Santos (can't you imagine a wild cougar roaming the streets of Los Angeles in real life, an actual scenario from the "Los Angeles" in GTA 5 with the peyote plants). I have also controlled a poodle, coyote (see picture above) and even a siberian husky once (huskies do exist in GTA 5 for Xbox one by the way, though I do not remember seeing them in the Xbox 360 version so they are new). My favorites so far were controlling a siberian husky in the middle of the Sonora Desert (area near Sandy Shores), treking across the desert and even making it to Sandy shores, though he ended up getting "put down" by Sandy Shores police after getting into some mischief in town (such as attacking people, which you can do when controlling animals which does raise your wanted level, especially if you attack multiple people in the game). The coyote was pretty fun to control too near Los Santos, though coyotes are weak (I though the husky had stronger attacks) and people try to kill coyotes in the game. I also liked playing as a cougar in Los Santos, though he died after "jumping" into a pool (apparently animals can't swim in the game, so entering a pool kills your animal instantly). The change lasts till either the animal dies or if you exit out of that mode by holding right on the dpad and when you change back sometimes you can be back at the location where the peyote plant was or other times, you can end up in a different place (such as where the animal plant dies). Definitely a wierd and yet fun addition to the game.
By the way, there are some Youtube videos about Peyote plants. Check them out here:
There are many videos like the one above. For more peyote plant videos, look them up on Youtube.
Stay tuned for more updates on GTA 5, Xbox One.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Top 5 Kingdom Hearts 3 Secret Bosses
Kingdom Hearts 3 is supposed to be released almost a year from now here in America (not sure when it is supposed to be released in Japan) and I have been checking out some of the videos for that game. What secret bosses would you like to see in the game? Here are some ideas the poster below has?
Thursday, January 15, 2015
What worlds would you want to see in Kingdom Hearts 3 and future KH games?
Official Trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3
Hey everyone. In this post I thought I would talk about the upcomming Kingdom Hearts 3 game that is supposed to come out later this year (which is supposed to be released to both the Xbox One and the Playstation 4). I have recently completed a replay through Kingdom Hearts 2 (the third time I have played through the game since I got it for Christmas a few years ago) on Playstation 2. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the official sequel to Kingdom Hearts 2 (besides Re: coded and Dream Drop Distance) and will be the first console version of Kingdom hearts since Kingdom Hearts 2, considering that Birth By Sleep, 365/2, Coded, and Dream Drop distance were all on the handheld game systems (DS, 3DS and PSP respectively). I think the new game is supposed to mark the return of the evil Xenohort and Ansem Seeker of Darkness (the main villian from the first game) in an addition to other familiar elements and characters. Note that I don't really know the full story so right now, I can only speculate what the story will be about. By the way, Kingdom Hearts 3 will assume you have played through the previous installments of the series. In case if you are not familiar with the series, basically the series combines elements from the Final Fantasy Universe (particularly Final Fantasy 7 and 10 style games) and Disney universe and follows Sora as the primary protaganist from Destiny Islands who teams up with Goofy and Donald in his heroic quest to save the the universe from the hands of various Disney Villans (like Malificent along with others like Hades, Jafar, Oogie Boogie, Scar, Pete, and others) along the forces of darkness, called heartless and nobodies lead by various antagonists including Ansem seeker of Darkness (basically an evil counterfeit version of Ansem the Wise), Organization 13, and others.
Main Characters:
Protaganists and allies:
1. Sora -
He is the main protaganist in the series. Sora starts out on Destiny Island along with Riku and Kairi and ends up in Tranverse town after the darkness takes the island. Soon after, he meets up with Donald and Goofy (who become his primary side kicks) and sets out on a quest to defeat the heartless, Disney villians, and later Ansem Seeker of Darkness and eventually Organization 13. He also searches for Kairi (Sora seems to have a crush on Kairi, which is especially evident in KH 2) and Riku after they get separated. He is also the primary hero that stands in the way of the various villians he encounters on the different worlds he visits and often foils their plans no matter how diabolical or heinious. Sora also becomes a thorn in the side of Organization 13 along with Pete and Malificent as he often stands in the way of their plans.
2. Donald - Sora's side kick. He specializes in magic attacks and is great a support character too (such as healing when needed). He also has a temper and can get into mischief sometimes too.
3. Goofey - another side kick of Sora. He specializes in strength and melee attacks. He is probably the wisest in the trio and often brings common sense into things. Sometimes he is good at explaining otherwise hard to understand dialogues, such as the time in KH 2 where the trio learns about Ansem the Wise from Miki
4 Riku - Sora's friend from Destiny Island. He acts as Sora's "elder brother" and they do tend to be rivals at times. In the first game, he become jealous of Sora (in part due to him being the keyblade bearer) and even sides with Malificent and other villians, eventually becoming posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness, though he seems to change his ways at the end of the game, though not before getting trapped in the darkness at the end of the game. In KH 2, he takes on the forom of Ansem Seeker of Darkness after the events of Chain of Memories and 365/2 and has a role in the game's prologue. He also seems to make an appearance in the Land of the Dragons world during Sora's second visit to the world as a cloaked figure (though the sword the cloaked figure has definitely belonged to Riku), though he and Sora don't officially reunite till towards the end of the game. He also helps Sora take on Xemnas during the final boss fight at the end of the game.
5. Kairi - another friend of Sora from Destiny Island and is one of the few ladies on the island. She gets separated from Sora after the darkness over takes the island and Sora sets out looking for her. At the end of KH 1, they get separated again and don't reunite again till the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 (after getting kidnapped and imprisoned in the World that Never Was by Organization 13). She and Sora seem to be crushing on each other.
6. King Mickey - Mikey Mouse makes an appearance in the series as a king type figure and often helps Sora in his journeys. He also helps Sora take on Organization 13 during Kingdom Hearts 2.
7. Hercules - from Disney's Hercules. He is the son of Zeus and lost his immortality after Hades had him kidnapped and makes him drink a potion that strips him of his immortality (though ironically, he fails to take his superhuman strength away). Hades hates Hercules and plots ways to kill Hercules and take him to the underworld. He makes a powerful ally for Sora and his gang.
8. Simba from Lion King, along with Nala, Pumba, and Timba - from the Lion King. Much like in the movie, Simba was destined to become king of the pride lands, but his evil uncle, Scar usurps the throne after murdering Simba's father and framing Simba for his death. It is up to Sora to help Simba to challenge Scar and take his father's place as king of the Pridelands.
9. Aladdin - Based on the Aladdin trillogy, Aladdin starts out as a common thief and begger (aka street rat) in Agrabah and gets his life radically changed after meeting Genie from a lamp he gets at the cave of wonders, especially after turning Aladdin into a prince to try and win Jasmine's heart). Sora comes and helps Aladdin foil Jafar's plans to take over Agrabah and help Malificent conquer the universe.
10. Various characters from the final fantasy series, particularly Leon, Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith. Characters from some of the final Fantasy series make do make apparences in the game, often as allies. They have a bigger role in Kingdom Hearts 2 as they work on restoring Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Garden) after the events of Kingdom Hearts 1 (being a former stronghold for Malificent). In the Olympus Collesium, Sora does engage them in duels on various occasions (with the craziest one being when he has to take on Leon, Tifa, Cloud, and Yuffie in the Hades Cup towarrds the end of KH II).
11. Roxas - he is the nobody of Sora after he temporarily becomes a heartless towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 (he "sacrificed" himself to save Kairi after she gets kidnapped by a posessed Riku, who was under the influnce of the evil Ansem and tries to use a special keyblade to try and steal her heart). Much of Roxas' story is explained in Kingdom Hearts 365/2 and he even appears in Kindom Hearts 2's prologue before the game shifts over to Sora. He was originally a part of Organization 13 but later betrays the organization and eventually helps Sora during the course of KH 2.
12. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast -
Based on the movie, Beauty and the Beast, he was once a prince that gets turned into a beast with a temper out on a quest to find true love before time runs out and remains a Beast for life. In Kingdom Hearts 1, he is an ally of Sora in Hollow Bastion and in KH 2 he has a much more bigger role as Sora travels to Beast's Castle and aims to foil Xaldin's plans to turn the Beast into a heartless.
13. Peter Pan -
Based on the movie Peter Pan, he is an ally of Sora (who helps Peter defeat Captain Hook during the first game) and later becomes a summonable ally in KH 2.
14. Pinnocio -
Based on the movie, Pinnocio, he is a puppet that comes to life with aspirations of becoming a true human and in Kingdom Hearts 1, he gets kidnapped by Riku (who was under the influence of Malificent and later the evil Ansem) and literally gets trapped inside Monstro the whale (who was flying in space and even swallows Sora, Goofy and Donald up when venturing around in their gummy ships), and it is up to Sora to rescue him. He doesn't make any appearences in KH 2 as far as I can tell.
15. Jimminy Cricket. From Pinnocio, Jimminy keeps records from Sora's journeys, including missions, people of interest, Ansem's reports, information on heartless and nobodies, as well as any side missions to complete or treasures to find.
and many other disney characters.
Antagonists:
- Ansem Seeker of Darkness. Primary villian in the first game
- Malificent. Evil sorceresses from Sleeping Beauty (not to be confused the Angelina Jolie version of Malificent by the way). She wants to take over the universe and even commands her own variety of heartless. In the first game in the series, she is really just a pawn of a much bigger plot set by Ansem Seeker of Darkness (aka Xenohort's heartless if you have played KH2).
- Hades (from Hercules). He is the the villian from Disney's Hercules and even has his own underword. Like Satan in being the arch nemesis of God in real life, Hades is the arch nemesis of Zeus (he is jealous of Zeus) and if you have seen Disney's Hercules, he basically wants to send Hercules to the under world and to do so, he wants to rig the gladiator style games that Hercules competes in so that Hercules inevitably loses and dies. The only people standin in his way are Sora, Donald, Goofey, Meg and Hercules.
- Jafar. Villian from Disney's Aladdin. He wants to take over Agrabah and kill off Aladdin. Interestingly, he seems to have a crush on Princess Jasmine and wants to make here his queen.
- Other disney villians, including Oogie Boogie (from Nightmare before Christmas), Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (from Peter Pan), Scar (from Lion King) and others
- Pete (the villianous version). He is Mickey's arch nemesis (ever since Steamboat Willie) and becomes a cronie of Malificent in Kingdom Hearts 2, though perhaps not as intelligent as Malificent.
- Organization 13. It is a villianous organization in Kingdom Hearts 2, lead by Xemnas (created by Ansem seeker of Darkness when he became a heartless) that pretty much want to take over the universe and plunge all of the worlds into darkness. Of course, Sora and his friends are more than happy to become a thorn in their sides.
- Riku (at least during KH 1). In the first installment, after getting seperated from Sora, he finds himself under the influce by Malificent and becomes jealous of Sora and even helps the villians in their plans. It is not till after he is posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness when he realizes the error of his ways. Eventually he does get redeemed at the end of KH 2.
Other recurring characters:
- Ansem the Wise. Not to be confused with the "Ansem" at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1. Basically the good version of Ansem. He was a scientist who studies hearts and helps King Mickey. In KH 2 he aims to help reunite Roxas with Sora and later help foil the schemes of Organization 13, even sacrificing himself in the process.
- Final Fantasy characters, especially Cloud, Yuffie, Tiffa and other final fantasy 7 characters.
- Sephiroth. He is the main villian from Final Fantasy 7 and returns as an optional boss character you can fight both in the Colliseum in Kingdom Hearts 1 and later at Radiant Garden towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 2. He is arguably the toughest boss fight in both games given his huge health bar, dueling techniques and attacks that can easily kill Sora within a few hits (most notably the infamous "Descend Heartless Angel" attack which drains almost all of Sora's health bar when executed uninterrupted).
- Summoned characters, such as Genie from Aladdin, Mushu from Mulan and others.
- Moogles. These are bird like creatures from the Final Fantasy series and are used to save the game or leave worlds. They can also synthesize materials Sora and his gang find into useful things, such as potions, power ups, and even weapons (like the Ultima weapon Sora can get).
For a full list of characters and more information about them, visit http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Kingdom_Hearts_characters.
I won't get into all of the details about previous games in the series, for for the full story so far, you can read it at the Kingdom Hearts wikipedia at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series)
Anyways, with the new game in the works, my question to you is, what worlds do you want to see featured in the new game. Obvously more Disney shows, cartoons and movies have been made since the last game. such as Disney's Up, Malificent (basically an alternate version of Sleeping Beauty with more of an anti-hero version of Malificent, not quite as evil as the original version), Finding Nemo, newer Pirates of the Carribean movies (in KH2 they featured Barbosa as the primary villian in the Port Royale level on the game, but there was also Davy Jones, who was a bigger villain in the original 3 movie), Wreck it Ralph, and many others. Disney has also acquired various movies from Marvel (most notably the Avengers series) and now they have acquired Star Wars too, with Star Wars Episode 7 scheduled for release towards the end of this year (2015), so there are lots of possibilities. They can also do worlds based on the Final Fantasy series too considering that there are some recurring characters from the final fantasy series too. Final Fantasy 7 could definitely be a good world to do in KH3 if they wanted to.
Here are the worlds I have seen so far from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Note I have not played handheld sequels and prequels in the series yet so I am not familiar with the worlds in those games, though a full list of worlds that have been done so far, you can check them out on the wiki page at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series):
Kingdom Hearts 1:
- Tarzan
- Tranverse Town (home of the 101 Dalmations by the way along with Donald and Goofey)
- Destiny Islands (appears in the game's prologue and disappears after Sora is teleported to Tranverse Town)
- Pinnocio's world (literally takes place inside Monstro the Whale, with the main boss fight taking place right in the whale's stomach)
- Halloween Town (Nightmare before Christmas version)
- Hercules
- Peter Pan (yes Hook is a boss character you fight
- Hollow Bastion (Malificent's stronghold)
- Agrabah (Aladdina)
- Atlantica (little mermaid's world)
- Alice in Wonderland
- 1000 Acre woods (yes Winnie the Pooh does make appearances in the series)
Kingdom Hearts 2:
- Returning worlds includes: Halloween Town (even has a christmas version), Hercules (even has Hades' underworld, which was not in the first game), Agrabah (the end boss is a giant genie version of Jafar), Atlantica (this time around, it mainly follows the storyline of Little Mermaid featuring Eric as Ariel's love interest), and Hollow Bastion (a completely different version of the world though)
- Pridelands from Lion King (Sora even "becomes a lion cub" in that world)
- 1980s style Tron (with Sark and the MCP as the primary villians). By the way, events on Tron seem to have an effect on Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Gardent too) such as the incident later in the game where the town's security system (aimed at stopping the heartless) gets corrupted and gets aimed at Sora, Donald and Goofy as well as Sark's attempt to have Sora and his friends arrested and derezzed after a mishap occured when Donald was messing around with the main computer.
- Twilight Town (replaces Tranverse town). By the way, Xaldin from Organization 13 shows up and tries to sabatoge Beast's effort to break the spell that turned him into a beast the first place (probably in an effort to turn him into a heartless).
- Beast's Castle (based on Beauty and The beast)
- Timeless River (basically 1930's style disney, and based on Steamboat Willie). Interestingly there are 2 Petes that make appearances (past Pete and Present Pete, with the latter serving as the primary boss for that leg in the game).
- The World that Never Was (this is where the final boss fights are too)
- Disney's Mulan (pretty much follows the storyline of Mulan, where she disguises herself as a "man" and joins the chinese army and is eventually found out by the leader of the army). Sora actually encounters Riku for the first time here during his second visit. He comes as one of 2 cloaked figures and was disguised as Ansem seeker of Darkness (which is the case till the end of the game). You actually don't see Riku's face but the weapon the mysterious man belonged to Riku. Note Xigbar (from Organization 13) also makes an appearance there too.
- Port Royale. Based on the events of Pirates of the Carribean, Curse of the Black Pearl (the first movie in the series) with Barbosa being the main villian (along with Pete).
- 1000 acre woods (again). This time around, Pooh has a case of amnesia and forgets everything (after an incident involving heartless stealing pages from the Adventures of the Winnie the Pooh book), including everyones' names and it is up to Sora to help him regain his memories.
So those are all of the worlds I have seen so far. Some possible worlds I can think of in the game includes:
Note: these are some worlds that would be cool to see, but unlikely to happen (hey I have no control over what the creators do of course).
1. Pirates of the Carribean (again).
This time based on the 2nd and 3rd movie in the series. Remember there were several other movies made in the franchise and more possibilities are there. Personally, I think Davey Jones would make an awesome villian (more so than Barbosa) in the series. Of course there would have to be more ship sailings than in Kingdom Hearts 2.
2. Halloween Town (the version with Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly Brown, etc).
We have seen the Nightmare Before Christmas' version of Halloween Town in both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Since then I have seen all 4 moives in the other Halloween Town franchise and think the first 2 movies (especially the first one) would make an awesome setting for a version in Kingdom Hearts. Sora could team up with Marnie and her siblings as they take on the evil Kalabar. Pete or Malificent could make good allies for Kalabar too. The world could probably follow along the timeline of the first movie. I am not sure if the original actors or actresses would reprise their roles for the Kingdom Hearts version should that happen (especially considering that all of the actors and actresses are older and may or may not be interested in doing another Halloweentown installmend), but it would definitely cool to see. By the way, a Kalabar and Malificent team up would be cool to see considering that they are both evil magicians.
3. Wreck It Ralph.
In case if you are not familiar with the movie, it was a filmed release about 2 years ago about this video game villian named, Ralph that wants to give up his villianous ways and sets out on humorous and daring adventure visiting other video game worlds and even ends up meddling in a racing game and taking on an evil king too.
4. Marvel Universe.
Lots of possibilities here, including Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider Man, X-men, etc. Even if Kingdom Hearts did not do a movie version of Avengers, they also have Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Avengers Assemble, and Ultimate Spiderman they can do too. Villians could include: Doctor Doom, Loki, Red Skull, Modoc, Venom, Green Goblin, or others. If Organization 13 wanted to get involved, they could even exploit the Civil War storyline too (trying to tear the super hero community apart by inciting them to be at each others' throats).
5. Disney's Up.
Definitely a classic. It is about an old man and a boy scout who turns a house into a hot air balloon goes on an adventure to a foreign country (Australia?) and encounter an evil hunter. The villian on the movie would be awesome to have in the Kingdom Hearts Series.
6. Kim Possible
Kim is basically Disney's version of James Bond. She is a high school cheerleaderthat takes on various villians and criminals much like what you would see in say, James Bond, Austin Powers, Perfect Dark Zero (btw I wouldn't be suprised if the shows were inspired by the PDZ series given the similarities to the 2 series). Sheego would make an awesome ally of Malificent (for example), while Drakken would make a cool ally for Pete. Organization 13 could probably shake things up in the world too.
Other worlds that might be cool includes:
1. Expanding on the 101 Dalmations
2. Worlds from Final Fantasy series (FF7 would be awesome to do considering that many of the recurring FF characters in Kingdom Hearts come from that particular game).
3. Frozen (haven't seen the movie yet though)
4. Brave
5. Shrek (the first movie would probably be best to do)
6. Hook (the sequel to Peter pan featuring Robin Williams an older Peter pan who sets out on a quest to save his kids after they are kidnapped by Hook). Sora and his friends could try and help Peter Pan regain his memories and defeat Hook once again
7. Bringing back Twilight Town and World that never was
8. Transverse town. It would be interesting to see how that town changes after the events of KH 1.
And many others.
Worlds I don't really care for in the new games:
- Atlantica (can get redundant after a while, unless if they do on based on Little Mermaid 2)
- Agrabah (unless they do one based on the 3rd movie)
- 100 acre woods (Winnie the Pooh can get redundant after a while)
Well, that is all for now. I will add to this list as I can think of more. At this point, I will turn this post over to you all. Are there worlds you want to see in the new game? Are there worlds you don't care to see again? How about recurring characters?
On a side note: What do you think about the idea of doing Star Wars as a world in Kingdom Hearts 3? I like the idea though it seems like that could almost be its own spin off (much like Lego Star Wars) considering that the movies are 6 movies long (will be 9 movies long by the time the new trilogy is done) and there are so many storylines that the creators can based the game on as well as worlds they can explore too. Could they follow the prequel era of Star Wars (such as the Clone Wars)? How about the original trilogy. Sequel trilogy? Expanded Universe? I have no idea.
Important disclaimer: The worlds I came up are based on pure speculation from other disney shows and movies I have seen and may or may not end up in Kingdom Hearts 3 or future installments. I don't work for Disney or the Kingdom Hearts 3 developers, so I have no idea what the final installment will look like. Of course, I will share updates whenever I come across them.
Further reading: http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/The_Keyhole
Want to catch up in previous games in the series? Here is a widget from Amazon you can use to get the games you want. Note that KH 3 will assume you have played through Kingdom Hearts 2, Re:Coded and Dream Drop Distance, so it might not hurt to get those ones if you can to see the whole story up to KH 3.
Hey everyone. In this post I thought I would talk about the upcomming Kingdom Hearts 3 game that is supposed to come out later this year (which is supposed to be released to both the Xbox One and the Playstation 4). I have recently completed a replay through Kingdom Hearts 2 (the third time I have played through the game since I got it for Christmas a few years ago) on Playstation 2. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the official sequel to Kingdom Hearts 2 (besides Re: coded and Dream Drop Distance) and will be the first console version of Kingdom hearts since Kingdom Hearts 2, considering that Birth By Sleep, 365/2, Coded, and Dream Drop distance were all on the handheld game systems (DS, 3DS and PSP respectively). I think the new game is supposed to mark the return of the evil Xenohort and Ansem Seeker of Darkness (the main villian from the first game) in an addition to other familiar elements and characters. Note that I don't really know the full story so right now, I can only speculate what the story will be about. By the way, Kingdom Hearts 3 will assume you have played through the previous installments of the series. In case if you are not familiar with the series, basically the series combines elements from the Final Fantasy Universe (particularly Final Fantasy 7 and 10 style games) and Disney universe and follows Sora as the primary protaganist from Destiny Islands who teams up with Goofy and Donald in his heroic quest to save the the universe from the hands of various Disney Villans (like Malificent along with others like Hades, Jafar, Oogie Boogie, Scar, Pete, and others) along the forces of darkness, called heartless and nobodies lead by various antagonists including Ansem seeker of Darkness (basically an evil counterfeit version of Ansem the Wise), Organization 13, and others.
Main Characters:
Protaganists and allies:
1. Sora -
He is the main protaganist in the series. Sora starts out on Destiny Island along with Riku and Kairi and ends up in Tranverse town after the darkness takes the island. Soon after, he meets up with Donald and Goofy (who become his primary side kicks) and sets out on a quest to defeat the heartless, Disney villians, and later Ansem Seeker of Darkness and eventually Organization 13. He also searches for Kairi (Sora seems to have a crush on Kairi, which is especially evident in KH 2) and Riku after they get separated. He is also the primary hero that stands in the way of the various villians he encounters on the different worlds he visits and often foils their plans no matter how diabolical or heinious. Sora also becomes a thorn in the side of Organization 13 along with Pete and Malificent as he often stands in the way of their plans.
2. Donald - Sora's side kick. He specializes in magic attacks and is great a support character too (such as healing when needed). He also has a temper and can get into mischief sometimes too.
3. Goofey - another side kick of Sora. He specializes in strength and melee attacks. He is probably the wisest in the trio and often brings common sense into things. Sometimes he is good at explaining otherwise hard to understand dialogues, such as the time in KH 2 where the trio learns about Ansem the Wise from Miki
4 Riku - Sora's friend from Destiny Island. He acts as Sora's "elder brother" and they do tend to be rivals at times. In the first game, he become jealous of Sora (in part due to him being the keyblade bearer) and even sides with Malificent and other villians, eventually becoming posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness, though he seems to change his ways at the end of the game, though not before getting trapped in the darkness at the end of the game. In KH 2, he takes on the forom of Ansem Seeker of Darkness after the events of Chain of Memories and 365/2 and has a role in the game's prologue. He also seems to make an appearance in the Land of the Dragons world during Sora's second visit to the world as a cloaked figure (though the sword the cloaked figure has definitely belonged to Riku), though he and Sora don't officially reunite till towards the end of the game. He also helps Sora take on Xemnas during the final boss fight at the end of the game.
5. Kairi - another friend of Sora from Destiny Island and is one of the few ladies on the island. She gets separated from Sora after the darkness over takes the island and Sora sets out looking for her. At the end of KH 1, they get separated again and don't reunite again till the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 (after getting kidnapped and imprisoned in the World that Never Was by Organization 13). She and Sora seem to be crushing on each other.
6. King Mickey - Mikey Mouse makes an appearance in the series as a king type figure and often helps Sora in his journeys. He also helps Sora take on Organization 13 during Kingdom Hearts 2.
7. Hercules - from Disney's Hercules. He is the son of Zeus and lost his immortality after Hades had him kidnapped and makes him drink a potion that strips him of his immortality (though ironically, he fails to take his superhuman strength away). Hades hates Hercules and plots ways to kill Hercules and take him to the underworld. He makes a powerful ally for Sora and his gang.
8. Simba from Lion King, along with Nala, Pumba, and Timba - from the Lion King. Much like in the movie, Simba was destined to become king of the pride lands, but his evil uncle, Scar usurps the throne after murdering Simba's father and framing Simba for his death. It is up to Sora to help Simba to challenge Scar and take his father's place as king of the Pridelands.
9. Aladdin - Based on the Aladdin trillogy, Aladdin starts out as a common thief and begger (aka street rat) in Agrabah and gets his life radically changed after meeting Genie from a lamp he gets at the cave of wonders, especially after turning Aladdin into a prince to try and win Jasmine's heart). Sora comes and helps Aladdin foil Jafar's plans to take over Agrabah and help Malificent conquer the universe.
10. Various characters from the final fantasy series, particularly Leon, Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith. Characters from some of the final Fantasy series make do make apparences in the game, often as allies. They have a bigger role in Kingdom Hearts 2 as they work on restoring Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Garden) after the events of Kingdom Hearts 1 (being a former stronghold for Malificent). In the Olympus Collesium, Sora does engage them in duels on various occasions (with the craziest one being when he has to take on Leon, Tifa, Cloud, and Yuffie in the Hades Cup towarrds the end of KH II).
11. Roxas - he is the nobody of Sora after he temporarily becomes a heartless towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 (he "sacrificed" himself to save Kairi after she gets kidnapped by a posessed Riku, who was under the influnce of the evil Ansem and tries to use a special keyblade to try and steal her heart). Much of Roxas' story is explained in Kingdom Hearts 365/2 and he even appears in Kindom Hearts 2's prologue before the game shifts over to Sora. He was originally a part of Organization 13 but later betrays the organization and eventually helps Sora during the course of KH 2.
12. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast -
Based on the movie, Beauty and the Beast, he was once a prince that gets turned into a beast with a temper out on a quest to find true love before time runs out and remains a Beast for life. In Kingdom Hearts 1, he is an ally of Sora in Hollow Bastion and in KH 2 he has a much more bigger role as Sora travels to Beast's Castle and aims to foil Xaldin's plans to turn the Beast into a heartless.
13. Peter Pan -
Based on the movie Peter Pan, he is an ally of Sora (who helps Peter defeat Captain Hook during the first game) and later becomes a summonable ally in KH 2.
14. Pinnocio -
Based on the movie, Pinnocio, he is a puppet that comes to life with aspirations of becoming a true human and in Kingdom Hearts 1, he gets kidnapped by Riku (who was under the influence of Malificent and later the evil Ansem) and literally gets trapped inside Monstro the whale (who was flying in space and even swallows Sora, Goofy and Donald up when venturing around in their gummy ships), and it is up to Sora to rescue him. He doesn't make any appearences in KH 2 as far as I can tell.
15. Jimminy Cricket. From Pinnocio, Jimminy keeps records from Sora's journeys, including missions, people of interest, Ansem's reports, information on heartless and nobodies, as well as any side missions to complete or treasures to find.
and many other disney characters.
Antagonists:
- Ansem Seeker of Darkness. Primary villian in the first game
- Malificent. Evil sorceresses from Sleeping Beauty (not to be confused the Angelina Jolie version of Malificent by the way). She wants to take over the universe and even commands her own variety of heartless. In the first game in the series, she is really just a pawn of a much bigger plot set by Ansem Seeker of Darkness (aka Xenohort's heartless if you have played KH2).
- Hades (from Hercules). He is the the villian from Disney's Hercules and even has his own underword. Like Satan in being the arch nemesis of God in real life, Hades is the arch nemesis of Zeus (he is jealous of Zeus) and if you have seen Disney's Hercules, he basically wants to send Hercules to the under world and to do so, he wants to rig the gladiator style games that Hercules competes in so that Hercules inevitably loses and dies. The only people standin in his way are Sora, Donald, Goofey, Meg and Hercules.
- Jafar. Villian from Disney's Aladdin. He wants to take over Agrabah and kill off Aladdin. Interestingly, he seems to have a crush on Princess Jasmine and wants to make here his queen.
- Other disney villians, including Oogie Boogie (from Nightmare before Christmas), Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (from Peter Pan), Scar (from Lion King) and others
- Pete (the villianous version). He is Mickey's arch nemesis (ever since Steamboat Willie) and becomes a cronie of Malificent in Kingdom Hearts 2, though perhaps not as intelligent as Malificent.
- Organization 13. It is a villianous organization in Kingdom Hearts 2, lead by Xemnas (created by Ansem seeker of Darkness when he became a heartless) that pretty much want to take over the universe and plunge all of the worlds into darkness. Of course, Sora and his friends are more than happy to become a thorn in their sides.
- Riku (at least during KH 1). In the first installment, after getting seperated from Sora, he finds himself under the influce by Malificent and becomes jealous of Sora and even helps the villians in their plans. It is not till after he is posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness when he realizes the error of his ways. Eventually he does get redeemed at the end of KH 2.
Other recurring characters:
- Ansem the Wise. Not to be confused with the "Ansem" at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1. Basically the good version of Ansem. He was a scientist who studies hearts and helps King Mickey. In KH 2 he aims to help reunite Roxas with Sora and later help foil the schemes of Organization 13, even sacrificing himself in the process.
- Final Fantasy characters, especially Cloud, Yuffie, Tiffa and other final fantasy 7 characters.
- Sephiroth. He is the main villian from Final Fantasy 7 and returns as an optional boss character you can fight both in the Colliseum in Kingdom Hearts 1 and later at Radiant Garden towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 2. He is arguably the toughest boss fight in both games given his huge health bar, dueling techniques and attacks that can easily kill Sora within a few hits (most notably the infamous "Descend Heartless Angel" attack which drains almost all of Sora's health bar when executed uninterrupted).
- Summoned characters, such as Genie from Aladdin, Mushu from Mulan and others.
- Moogles. These are bird like creatures from the Final Fantasy series and are used to save the game or leave worlds. They can also synthesize materials Sora and his gang find into useful things, such as potions, power ups, and even weapons (like the Ultima weapon Sora can get).
For a full list of characters and more information about them, visit http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Kingdom_Hearts_characters.
I won't get into all of the details about previous games in the series, for for the full story so far, you can read it at the Kingdom Hearts wikipedia at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series)
Anyways, with the new game in the works, my question to you is, what worlds do you want to see featured in the new game. Obvously more Disney shows, cartoons and movies have been made since the last game. such as Disney's Up, Malificent (basically an alternate version of Sleeping Beauty with more of an anti-hero version of Malificent, not quite as evil as the original version), Finding Nemo, newer Pirates of the Carribean movies (in KH2 they featured Barbosa as the primary villian in the Port Royale level on the game, but there was also Davy Jones, who was a bigger villain in the original 3 movie), Wreck it Ralph, and many others. Disney has also acquired various movies from Marvel (most notably the Avengers series) and now they have acquired Star Wars too, with Star Wars Episode 7 scheduled for release towards the end of this year (2015), so there are lots of possibilities. They can also do worlds based on the Final Fantasy series too considering that there are some recurring characters from the final fantasy series too. Final Fantasy 7 could definitely be a good world to do in KH3 if they wanted to.
Here are the worlds I have seen so far from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Note I have not played handheld sequels and prequels in the series yet so I am not familiar with the worlds in those games, though a full list of worlds that have been done so far, you can check them out on the wiki page at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series):
Kingdom Hearts 1:
- Tarzan
- Tranverse Town (home of the 101 Dalmations by the way along with Donald and Goofey)
- Destiny Islands (appears in the game's prologue and disappears after Sora is teleported to Tranverse Town)
- Pinnocio's world (literally takes place inside Monstro the Whale, with the main boss fight taking place right in the whale's stomach)
- Halloween Town (Nightmare before Christmas version)
- Hercules
- Peter Pan (yes Hook is a boss character you fight
- Hollow Bastion (Malificent's stronghold)
- Agrabah (Aladdina)
- Atlantica (little mermaid's world)
- Alice in Wonderland
- 1000 Acre woods (yes Winnie the Pooh does make appearances in the series)
Kingdom Hearts 2:
- Returning worlds includes: Halloween Town (even has a christmas version), Hercules (even has Hades' underworld, which was not in the first game), Agrabah (the end boss is a giant genie version of Jafar), Atlantica (this time around, it mainly follows the storyline of Little Mermaid featuring Eric as Ariel's love interest), and Hollow Bastion (a completely different version of the world though)
- Pridelands from Lion King (Sora even "becomes a lion cub" in that world)
- 1980s style Tron (with Sark and the MCP as the primary villians). By the way, events on Tron seem to have an effect on Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Gardent too) such as the incident later in the game where the town's security system (aimed at stopping the heartless) gets corrupted and gets aimed at Sora, Donald and Goofy as well as Sark's attempt to have Sora and his friends arrested and derezzed after a mishap occured when Donald was messing around with the main computer.
- Twilight Town (replaces Tranverse town). By the way, Xaldin from Organization 13 shows up and tries to sabatoge Beast's effort to break the spell that turned him into a beast the first place (probably in an effort to turn him into a heartless).
- Beast's Castle (based on Beauty and The beast)
- Timeless River (basically 1930's style disney, and based on Steamboat Willie). Interestingly there are 2 Petes that make appearances (past Pete and Present Pete, with the latter serving as the primary boss for that leg in the game).
- The World that Never Was (this is where the final boss fights are too)
- Disney's Mulan (pretty much follows the storyline of Mulan, where she disguises herself as a "man" and joins the chinese army and is eventually found out by the leader of the army). Sora actually encounters Riku for the first time here during his second visit. He comes as one of 2 cloaked figures and was disguised as Ansem seeker of Darkness (which is the case till the end of the game). You actually don't see Riku's face but the weapon the mysterious man belonged to Riku. Note Xigbar (from Organization 13) also makes an appearance there too.
- Port Royale. Based on the events of Pirates of the Carribean, Curse of the Black Pearl (the first movie in the series) with Barbosa being the main villian (along with Pete).
- 1000 acre woods (again). This time around, Pooh has a case of amnesia and forgets everything (after an incident involving heartless stealing pages from the Adventures of the Winnie the Pooh book), including everyones' names and it is up to Sora to help him regain his memories.
So those are all of the worlds I have seen so far. Some possible worlds I can think of in the game includes:
Note: these are some worlds that would be cool to see, but unlikely to happen (hey I have no control over what the creators do of course).
1. Pirates of the Carribean (again).
This time based on the 2nd and 3rd movie in the series. Remember there were several other movies made in the franchise and more possibilities are there. Personally, I think Davey Jones would make an awesome villian (more so than Barbosa) in the series. Of course there would have to be more ship sailings than in Kingdom Hearts 2.
2. Halloween Town (the version with Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly Brown, etc).
We have seen the Nightmare Before Christmas' version of Halloween Town in both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Since then I have seen all 4 moives in the other Halloween Town franchise and think the first 2 movies (especially the first one) would make an awesome setting for a version in Kingdom Hearts. Sora could team up with Marnie and her siblings as they take on the evil Kalabar. Pete or Malificent could make good allies for Kalabar too. The world could probably follow along the timeline of the first movie. I am not sure if the original actors or actresses would reprise their roles for the Kingdom Hearts version should that happen (especially considering that all of the actors and actresses are older and may or may not be interested in doing another Halloweentown installmend), but it would definitely cool to see. By the way, a Kalabar and Malificent team up would be cool to see considering that they are both evil magicians.
3. Wreck It Ralph.
In case if you are not familiar with the movie, it was a filmed release about 2 years ago about this video game villian named, Ralph that wants to give up his villianous ways and sets out on humorous and daring adventure visiting other video game worlds and even ends up meddling in a racing game and taking on an evil king too.
4. Marvel Universe.
Lots of possibilities here, including Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider Man, X-men, etc. Even if Kingdom Hearts did not do a movie version of Avengers, they also have Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Avengers Assemble, and Ultimate Spiderman they can do too. Villians could include: Doctor Doom, Loki, Red Skull, Modoc, Venom, Green Goblin, or others. If Organization 13 wanted to get involved, they could even exploit the Civil War storyline too (trying to tear the super hero community apart by inciting them to be at each others' throats).
5. Disney's Up.
Definitely a classic. It is about an old man and a boy scout who turns a house into a hot air balloon goes on an adventure to a foreign country (Australia?) and encounter an evil hunter. The villian on the movie would be awesome to have in the Kingdom Hearts Series.
6. Kim Possible
Kim is basically Disney's version of James Bond. She is a high school cheerleaderthat takes on various villians and criminals much like what you would see in say, James Bond, Austin Powers, Perfect Dark Zero (btw I wouldn't be suprised if the shows were inspired by the PDZ series given the similarities to the 2 series). Sheego would make an awesome ally of Malificent (for example), while Drakken would make a cool ally for Pete. Organization 13 could probably shake things up in the world too.
Other worlds that might be cool includes:
1. Expanding on the 101 Dalmations
2. Worlds from Final Fantasy series (FF7 would be awesome to do considering that many of the recurring FF characters in Kingdom Hearts come from that particular game).
3. Frozen (haven't seen the movie yet though)
4. Brave
5. Shrek (the first movie would probably be best to do)
6. Hook (the sequel to Peter pan featuring Robin Williams an older Peter pan who sets out on a quest to save his kids after they are kidnapped by Hook). Sora and his friends could try and help Peter Pan regain his memories and defeat Hook once again
7. Bringing back Twilight Town and World that never was
8. Transverse town. It would be interesting to see how that town changes after the events of KH 1.
And many others.
Worlds I don't really care for in the new games:
- Atlantica (can get redundant after a while, unless if they do on based on Little Mermaid 2)
- Agrabah (unless they do one based on the 3rd movie)
- 100 acre woods (Winnie the Pooh can get redundant after a while)
Well, that is all for now. I will add to this list as I can think of more. At this point, I will turn this post over to you all. Are there worlds you want to see in the new game? Are there worlds you don't care to see again? How about recurring characters?
On a side note: What do you think about the idea of doing Star Wars as a world in Kingdom Hearts 3? I like the idea though it seems like that could almost be its own spin off (much like Lego Star Wars) considering that the movies are 6 movies long (will be 9 movies long by the time the new trilogy is done) and there are so many storylines that the creators can based the game on as well as worlds they can explore too. Could they follow the prequel era of Star Wars (such as the Clone Wars)? How about the original trilogy. Sequel trilogy? Expanded Universe? I have no idea.
Important disclaimer: The worlds I came up are based on pure speculation from other disney shows and movies I have seen and may or may not end up in Kingdom Hearts 3 or future installments. I don't work for Disney or the Kingdom Hearts 3 developers, so I have no idea what the final installment will look like. Of course, I will share updates whenever I come across them.
Further reading: http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/The_Keyhole
Want to catch up in previous games in the series? Here is a widget from Amazon you can use to get the games you want. Note that KH 3 will assume you have played through Kingdom Hearts 2, Re:Coded and Dream Drop Distance, so it might not hurt to get those ones if you can to see the whole story up to KH 3.
Xbox One first impressions - system needs work
For Christmas, I got an Xbox One and have been able to try it out and familiarize myself with it. While I am impressed by the graphics and games the system offers, I feel like the Xbox One needs work, especially when it comes to Xbox Live connectivity. I put away the Xbox 360 I have (may rehook it up again someday) and hooked up the Xbox One in its place.
Games I have for the Xbox One:
- Spark. It is a fantasy game where you can design your own video game worlds. Note: the game requires Xbox live connectivity to work properly. My system has wifi issues and doesn't always seem to connect to Xbox Live properly so I haven't really been able to try out the game yet (also, it appears you need a license to be able to play the game which should come automatically with a Xbox live gold account).
- Lego Movie game. Definitely one of my favorites so far
- Assassins Creed: Unity. Haven't played it yet, though I think I have to download it from Xbox Live
- Lego Marvel Super heroes: haven't played that game yet
- Grand Theft Auto 5. Traded in the Xbox 360 version at gamestop last week and bought the Xbox One version instead. GTA 5 is probably my favorite in the bunch despite not being to access the online mode yet, though the only other thing I didn't like about GTA 5 is that I encoundered the
Things I like about the Xbox One so far:
- Better graphics
- New wireless controllers. They run on AA batteries, but they do last quite a while before expiring
- Internet connectivity
- Ability to record videos when playing games (I've encountered this several times when playing Grand Theft Auto 5)
Drawbacks of Xbox One:
- Poor Xbox Live connectivity. Interstingly on the same day I got the Xbox One, the Xbox Live network was suffering from the hack attack that was reported on the news. Since then, connectivity to Xbox live has been hit and miss. At one moment, it works, and at another moment it does not work. Some games don't work properly without Xbox Live, such as Spark, haven't really been able to try it out because I can't get a license to play it (which should come with Xbox live). May have trade in Spark for a new game if the problem is not fixed. Also, while I have been able to play the single player mode on GTA 5, I haven't been able to access the online mode yet due to the connectivity issues. Hopefully they will be resolved at some point and I am not sure if it is just my system or not that is having those issues, but it is worth mentioning.
- Cloud storage is good, but sometimes connecting to cloud can be tricky too
- The Video capturing system could be expanded more too.
Well, those are all of my first impressions for now. Will offer a more thorough review of the Xbox One at a later date when I have more experience with it (probably before summer at the latest).
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