10,000 views! Holy Snickerdoodles!

Hello! I know it's been awhile since we posted anything. School and such are real time drainers. Anyway, recently we hit over 10,000 views! WOW! You guys rock! Thanks for being awesome! 

Also since there isn't much news in the world of Kingdom Hearts, I was wondering what kind of posts you'd like to see? Dream Drop Distance review? (It was awesome!) Other video game reviews? 

What do you want us to write about? Please leave your ideas in the comments below.
Thanks!

Should We Return to Agrabah?

Like father, like son

Out of all the Kingdom Hearts worlds, one I am most sick of is Agrabah. I mean, we’ve been through the same places in many of the games. It’s boring. But there is room for improvement. I’m talking about the final Aladdin movie, Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Think about it. This movie has much to offer for a Kingdom Hearts world. For example, Aladdin and Jasmine’s wedding would be a perfect place to start another adventure through this world. Another perfect thing would be the addition of the 40 Thieves as a main element.  And introducing Aladdin’s father Cassim, leader of the 40 Thieves, as possibly a partner character could be fun. 

Who wouldn't want to go here?

One place that would be awesome to have in Agrabah would be the Vanishing Isle on top of a giant turtle that appears at the end of the movie. That thing has the potential to be a fun video game area, with hidden traps and treasures. Similar to the Cave of Wonders, but different enough to have it's own atmosphere.

This movie also offers a perfect heartless contender. 

Sal’uk, the main villain, is filled with greed and darkness. Only looking out for himself.

Just look at him! Doesn't he just reek of evil? 

And since Jafar has a tendency to reappear, what if Sal’uk and Jafar were to team up? It wouldn’t be the first time Jafar has teamed up with another villain in a Disney project.

What do you think? Would another Agrabah adventure be fun? What other Disney films do you think could make a good KH world? Please comment with your ideas below. 

And if your on Twitter, you can follow me on twitter @Quick_fingers

Thanks for reading!

Dream Drop Distance!

At Jump Festa recently Square Enix showed the trailer for Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Which if you haven’t seen yet you’re in for a treat.

From what Yen Sid explained at the end of Re:coded, with Xehanort’s Nobody and Heartless both defeated, Xehanort will return. And from what I can gather from what Yen Sid says is that the worlds in this game have fallen into sleep and Heartless can’t get to them. So instead we get the Dream Eaters which are both friends and foes. That’s a fun twist that should bring some different strategies to the game.

I’m guessing that Sora and Riku’s mark of mastery exam has something to do with the plot.

There will be appearances by characters from The World Ends With You, which I regret to say I haven’t played yet but it is on my list.

I am glad to see that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is finally making its debut into the Kingdom Hearts universe. That film is one of my personal favorites. I hope we have a boss battle with Frollo. Maybe atop Notre Dame itself?

I like the idea of the Three Musketeers world but I am wondering if the Musketeer Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are the same ones from Disney Castle and the rest of the series.

There will be a world based of the Pinocchio film (not just Monstro, I’m getting sick of being inside that whale) Maybe we’ll see an appearance from Honest John, Gideon, and Stromboli as well as the Blue Fairy. I don’t think bouncing around inside Monstro has given the Pinocchio film enough room to be a fun world in our favorite series.

The most recent film to be included in the ever-growing list of worlds is Tron Legacy and Tron himself will return but as Rinzler who pretty much just purred in that movie. Maybe we’ll see an appearance by Clu?

Everyone’s favorite Axel/Lea has returned which makes me especially happy

(After 358/2 I think we all wanted more Axel) He doesn’t have the little tear drop thingys under his eyes so my guess is that since Axel died in KHII and his heartless (maybe the Dark Thorn from the first Beast’s Castle visit or the Volcanic Lord from Agrabah?) have been defeated that like Xehanort, Lea has returned. Some of the other Organization XIII members look like they have also returned but as their original selves. I hope we get to see Isa again.

What confuses me is that Xehanort’s heartless and Xemnas both make appearances but so does young Xehanort as well as Vanitas. 2 of them Sora and Riku have already defeated. And Aqua and Ven got rid of Vanitas. But then again Malificent has been defeated quite a few times and is still kicking around.

So far this game looks fantastic. And I can’t wait to play it.

Boss Strategies of Kingdom Hearts 1 ~ Clayton + Stealth Sneak

I just barely started a replay of the original Kingdom Hearts game, and I've got to say that after all these years of playing the game, I am still frustrated at the final boss fight of Deep Jungle. How is it that there is such an incredibly hard boss so early in the game? Clayton and the Stealth Sneak offer such a hard challenge that I usually give up and try again a day or two later. Not this time.

I kind of figured out a little trick that I hadn't known about the last 10+ times that I've fought the Clayton and Stealth Sneak combo. Normally I go in, keyblade blazing, and just whacking the crap out of the Heartless until Clayton falls of, which actually makes the battle harder, because you have two targets instead of just one. So this time I was just goofing around and spamming blizzard like a madman on the Heartless, and to my surprise Clayton stayed on, instead of falling off like he normally does. This was surprising, because the Shadow Sneak's health was below half and I wasn't dying.

Eventually I completely ran out of magic and ethers so I had to rely on whacking the beast with the good ol' Kingdom Key. After a final combo hit, Clayton flew off and the Stealth Sneak was more than half-way dead. So I continued whittling down the Heartless's health until it was gone, which wasn't too difficult and then I focused entirely of Clayton, obviously. Without time for him to use one of his potions from his infinite stock because I was using Fire like a boss, and continuously smacking him around, the fight went by pretty quickly.

There you have it, I hope this was helpful and you might be able to use the information here to help rid Deep Jungle of those horrible creatures.


And by the way, Merry Christmas! I hope you got all the good stuff on your wish list.

Roxas-The Nobody with a Heart

Roxas is a key character in the ever-complicated story of Kingdom Hearts.

Roxas was created when Sora released his own heart to restore Kairi’s, making Sora become a heartless for a short while but long enough for Roxas to come into existence. Thus Roxas and Sora co-existed but Roxas lacked any memories. And Roxas being Sora’s nobody, he obtained the power to use the Keyblade, something Organization XIII needed to achieve their goal. Therefore Roxas became the 13^th member or Organization XIII.

Axel and Roxas and later Xion become best friends. But once Xion learns the truth about her origins she escapes the Organization and later forces Roxas to fight her. After the intense battle she dies in Roxas’s arms and vanishes becoming part of Roxas. This causes Roxas to be able to use 2 Keyblades. He then runs from the Organization where he encounters and battles Riku. Riku defeats Roxas after unleashing tthe darkness within his heart and taking the Appearance of Xehanort’s Heartless. This is where DiZ comes into play and places Roxas in the Virtual Twilight Town where Kingdom Hearts II begins.

DiZ’s goal is to unite Roxas and Sora so that Sora may regain all of his memories and strength after the events of Castle Oblivion. DiZ somehow changes Roxas’s memory so that he believes he lives a normal life in Twlight Town with his three best friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette. As Sora’s memories are restored by Naminé, Roxas begins to see flashes of these memories. Roxas encounters Naminé, Riku, and even has a connection with Kairi. The Organization sent Axel to find Roxas and bring him back. DiZ stops Axel from capturing Roxas and tells him to go to the Old Mansion. Here is when Roxas learns he must reunite with Sora to become whole. Naminé tells him that they will meet again even if they do not recognize each other. Axel tries to stop him, but Roxas, with regret, defeats him. Roxas then rejoins Sora to become his original self.

During most of KH II the Orgainzation members refer to Sora as if he is Roxas. This is confusing the first play through KH II but one a second play through it makes perfect sense. When Axel dies after saving Sora before entering The World that Never Was, it awakens Roxas. Roxas then attacks Sora, wondering why Axel sacrificed himself to save Sora. Roxas then realizes that Sora is who he is because of his friends. This is all takes place in Sora’s mind as a mental struggle between the two.

Roxas appears beside Naminé before Sora and Kairi before the final battle. They are all happy to meet again and become whole. As long as Sora and Kairi are together, Roxas and Naminé will be together.

Now why do Roxas and Ventus look so similar? Since Ventus’s heart resides inside Sora’s, when Roxas was created his appearance was influenced by Ventus’s heart. In fact Roxas’s 2^nd Keyblade is Ventus’s keyblade awakened after many years. Since Xion became part of Roxas, their keyblades became the same.

Roxas is a key character in the story and plays a big role throughout KH II.

Thanks for reading!

Axel: The Nobody with a Heart's Influence

Axel is a very popular character from the Organization. For most people, he's even their favorite member, and why not? He's funny, cool and has a pretty dominant role in three Kingdom Hearts games.

Lea in Birth by Sleep:
As we know, a Nobody is created when someone who has a very strong will succumbs to the darkness and becomes a Heartless. The body that is left behind becomes reanimated, but it doesn't have a heart, thus a Nobody is born.
Lea is the Somebody to Axel's Nobody. The only time we see Lea is during Ventus's story. Ven is feeling very down and thinking that he doesn't have any friends and is sitting around Radiant Garden when Lea and Isa (Isa being Saix's Somebody) come walking by and see him holding his makeshift Keyblade.
After a bit of talking Ven and Lea have a battle of sorts, which we don't actually get to witness, and Ventus appears to be the winner. The two talk a little bit longer and say that they are friends now.

Axel in (Re:)Chain of Memories:
Appearing in quite a few different key moments within the game, Axel has a major role within these games. The first "boss battle" in the game for Sora is fighting Axel.
As seen in 358/2 Days Axel and the rest of the Organization that goes there, are sent to capture the keyblade wielder. But during their time there, Marluxia is trying to gather some dissenters in the Organization and take over the rest of the Organization. Axel, being a double agent, helps put a stop to Marluxia and in the end Sora is able to deafeat the pink-haired member because of it.
A cool side note, Axel is the only Organization member to appear in both Sora's story and Riku's.

Axel in 358/2 Days:
This is probably Axel's biggest role within the series. In KH2 we are able to glean that Axel and Roxas are best friends, but how come and why, we weren't actually able to discern. So with the installment of 358/2 Days we saw everything that transpired between them. Literally every day (except those at the very beginning and when Axel was at C.O. and lost) Axel went to the top of Twilight Clock Tower and had ice cream with Roxas, and eventually Xion as well.
There is a lot of character development that goes on in these short conversations between Axel and his friends. But one of the biggest revelations from the game is that Axel appears to have feelings, but not only that a heart. No official reason behind this exists, but it is to be believed that a major reason Axel acts the way he does is because he's so close to Roxas, who in fact does have a heart, so he's "borrowing" the feelings from Roxas, when he can't do it himself.


Axel in Kingdom Hearts II:
In the beginning of the game when you're still playing as Roxas, Axel is very predominant. When this game came out, nobody knew who Roxas was, or what Axel had to do with him, so it was really confusing. Having this dude chase you and tell you things like, "I'm your best friend," was strange. But you couldn't help but like the guy.
Within the first couple of hours as Roxas you are actually forced to fight Axel two different times, and the second time is pretty amazing. It reveals the power Axel really has and that, yeah, he really is cool.
After the intro with Roxas, Axel kind of disappears for a while. There are a couple of cut scenes with Pluto running around through Destiny Islands and The World that Never Was, finding Axel and taking him to Kairi, but beyond that we don't really see much.
The end of the KH2 is where Axel is probably the coolest character you've ever seen. Sora is trapped in a room with thousands of Dusk Nobodies and you have Axel fighting with you to defeat all of them. Eventually Axel goes all out and uses an amazingly powerful attack and destroys the rest of the Dusks. This pushes Axel to the limits and causes him to exhaust himself enough that he actually dies.

The Music of Kingdom Hearts Part 1

One thing that makes Kingdom Hearts so magical is the music, composed by Yoko Shimomura. It sets the atmosphere and mood for the entire game. In this article I will analyze the top 10 songs that I think are the best for background music.

10~Hallow Bastion/Radiant Garden From
Kingdom Hearts I/II
Hallow Bastion is a dark evil castle, and the score gives it an unsure atmosphere. But once it becomes once again to Radiant Garden, the atmosphere changes to a re birthing atmosphere.
The scores are both similar but they change to set different moods.

9~Monstrous Monstro from Kingdom Hearts I
Monstro is an odd world. So therefore the score has to be odd. Monstrous Monstro does just that. With the atmosphere from Pinocchio and a kinda bouncy tune, Monstrous Monstro lets you kinda feel what inside an angry whale might be like.

8~The Keyblade Graveyard from Birth by Sleep
Where many Keyblade wielders have fallen. The score for the Keyblade Graveyard is a sorrowful and banished atmosphere. The score captures this perfectly and makes you almost feel nervous for whats upcoming.


7~Space Paranoids from Kingdom Hearts II
When your in Space Paranoids, you feel crunched, or at least I did. The score switches mid way from a calm tone to an upbeat bit. It fits being in a computer perfectly.

6~Castle Oblivion from Chain of Memories
The score on the 13th floor in Castle Oblivion is just mystic. As you travel through the mixed up rooms, the score gives you a feel that your coming to a difficult point.

5~Neverland from 358/2 days
The score from Neverland in 358 is a mellow but fun score that sets the more curious side of the Neverland we've visited again and again. It gives the feel of limitless when you fly around with Tink's magic pixie dust. I think that Neverland is one of the funnest worlds in the entire series.


4~Waltz of the Damned from Beasts Castle
We all know the Story of Beauty and the Beast. The waltz-y mix with a quick flow gives off the unfortunate atmosphere the inhabitants of the Castle have been cursed too.

3~End of the World from Kingdom Hearts 1
The score for End of the World gives the emptiness atmosphere End of the World needs. With the End of the World your trying to make your way through nothingness and fighting heartless.
The choir chorus of the dreary death be a coming gives you the feeling, I'm near end!

2~ Sacred Moon from The World that Never Was.
Using a similar but different choir chorus as End of the World, Sacred Moon show the sorrow of the nobodies. It fits the mood of midnight with the Kingdom Hearts moon shining down on the city.

1~ Lazy Afternoons from Twilight Town
My favorite score from the entire series. Lazy Afternoons gives the summer vacation, no worries small town atmosphere. It fits in perfectly with the end of Roxas's story with a hint of sunset.

What do you think? Is there a different score that deserves a place on my list?
Let me know what you think!