if you could change anything about Kingdom Hearts (2024 edition)

[MATGSY]

Really? Damn, talk about missed potential.

The game in question was FF CC Echoes of time. They named the engine Pollox Engine after 1 of the game's characters.

It's such a weird curiosity, straight-up DS emulation (only new feature being masks based on your mii) released standalone on a disc but never any collections or releases later down the road.

 

[Perkilator]

You guys know how the 1982 Space Paranoids was supposed to be Sora's side of The Grid in Dream Drop Distance, while Riku's side would be the Tron Legacy version? Well, that gave me an inspiration for another thing I'd change: have Tron be a summon in KH2, but without the Space Paranoids world. Then, bring a proper Tron world to DDD, and split it like this: Sora exploring The Grid from Legacy, and Riku exploring the Space Paranoids from 1982.

 

[MATGSY]

1. Sora needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

2. Whenever Sora's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking "where's Sora?"

 

[KudoTsurugi]

1. Sora needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

2. Whenever Sora's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking "where's Sora?"

So you want him to be both Trunks and Goku

 

[Squood!]

You guys know how the 1982 Space Paranoids was supposed to be Sora's side of The Grid in Dream Drop Distance, while Riku's side would be the Tron Legacy version? Well, that gave me an inspiration for another thing I'd change: have Tron be a summon in KH2, but without the Space Paranoids world. Then, bring a proper Tron world to DDD, and split it like this: Sora exploring The Grid from Legacy, and Riku exploring the Space Paranoids from 1982.

That seems like a pointless change imo

 

[MATGSY]

You guys know how the 1982 Space Paranoids was supposed to be Sora's side of The Grid in Dream Drop Distance, while Riku's side would be the Tron Legacy version? Well, that gave me an inspiration for another thing I'd change: have Tron be a summon in KH2, but without the Space Paranoids world. Then, bring a proper Tron world to DDD, and split it like this: Sora exploring The Grid from Legacy, and Riku exploring the Space Paranoids from 1982.

That's not the reason we didn't get Tron 1 in DDD. I imagine it was more due to development resources/time. Which wouldn't be any different if no Tron in KH2.

 

[horto12485]

You guys know how the 1982 Space Paranoids was supposed to be Sora's side of The Grid in Dream Drop Distance, while Riku's side would be the Tron Legacy version? Well, that gave me an inspiration for another thing I'd change: have Tron be a summon in KH2, but without the Space Paranoids world. Then, bring a proper Tron world to DDD, and split it like this: Sora exploring The Grid from Legacy, and Riku exploring the Space Paranoids from 1982.

So Tron as a Summon for Kingdom Hearts 2 and then in Dream Drop Distance as a World?

 

[Perkilator]

Actually, speaking of KH console ports: the Wii U’s GamePad would’ve made Dream Drop Distance a good fit for the console.

I guess what I’m saying is, I would’ve released Dream Drop Distance on both the 3DS and Wii U back in 2012.

 

[keyblademaster42]

I think if I had to change anything, I think it would be the pace of the story telling in kh3. It felt weird and discombobulated. It was like you did disney worlds and they sprinkled a little bit and plot here and there and then once you finished the last one bam kh plot and exposition for the next few hours, it didn't feel like it flowed smoothly from a story telling perspective.

 

[Perkilator]

I guess it would also be beneficial to change most of the characters’ eye colors for the sake of more visual variety.

• Sora: Sky Blue
• Riku: Aqua Blue
• Kairi: Lavender (I’d also give her a few freckles)
• Roxas: Green-Blue
• Naminé: Grey
• Axel / Lea: Turquoise
• Xion: Black
• Terra: Brown
• Ventus: Grass Green
• Aqua: Royal Blue

 

[Zackarix]

I feel like the change that would have the biggest positive impact on Kingdom Hearts wouldn't be a change to Kingdom Hearts itself. It would be a change to Square Enix that could be summed up as "Don't get ahead of yourself going into the HD generation."

• Don't commit to doing a big ambitious project like Fabula Nova Crystallis before you've gotten a handle on developing for the new generation
• Don't use your mainstream titles as testbeds for your new experimental engine
• Don't take the Kingdom Hearts team off of Kingdom Hearts to develop a Final Fantasy spinoff, especially not at around the same time as deciding that Kingdom Hearts is the third major series of your company

These changes would hopefully be enough to keep Kingdom Hearts out of handheld purgatory and stop the Crystal Tools crisis.

 

[Perkilator]

Don't take the Kingdom Hearts team off of Kingdom Hearts to develop a Final Fantasy spinoff, especially not at around the same time as deciding that Kingdom Hearts is the third major series of your company

Actually, on that note: I think one way to do this is to have the Tokyo team be the de facto developers for the numbered KH titles and h.a.n.d. (alongside the Osaka team) be the de facto developers for the non-numbered titles.

 

[Perkilator]

Change when its timeskip happens: If the 1-year time skip in KH3 is an absolute-cannot-be-removed element of the plot and has to happen, I’d change when it happens in story. And honestly? What better time than after the Olympus visit.

I was only thinking about this recently, but this would tie into something else I’d change about KH3: having the main party be Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, with the ability to switch between SRK as the three main playable characters. Not only for the interactions between the five, but because it would also have the benefit of giving Riku and Kairi some leeway if the 1-year were to happen after Sora’s visit to Olympus (between Riku delving into the Dark World and Kairi’s training).

It probably wouldn’t be practical development-wise, but I wanted to at least entertain the idea.

 

[Zackarix]

Actually, on that note: I think one way to do this is to have the Tokyo team be the de facto developers for the numbered KH titles and h.a.n.d. (alongside the Osaka team) be the de facto developers for the non-numbered titles.

Keep in mind that in this scenario there'd be a lot less emphasis on the non-numbered games because the main series would be in active development. But I guess that some of them would still exist because most of the non-numbered seem to have started with the desire to have a Kingdom Hearts game for a specific console.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Recompletion. I find it hilarious that people nowadays shit on how Roxas and Xion were brought back by replicas, but they are fine with this one. Recompletion is one of the laziest concepts introduced in the series and just a quick and easy way to revive every Organization XIII member after they were killed off. Not only did they make the Organization unkillable thanks to this, but the concept of becoming a Nobody has now lost all meaning because now all you have to do is kill yourself and poof you're back to normal. No need to build a "fake" Kingdom Hearts moon. Yen Sid tells Sora to destroy Xemnas but fails to alert him that doing so will bring back the even bigger threat of old man Xehanort. Recompletion either needs to be a super rare thing that is complicated to pull off or retcon it out of existence.

Roxas's two Keyblades. So anyone who plays the game will see after the Xion fight Roxas gains two Kingdom Keys that become Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Naturally you'd think 'Oh, he has Xion's power to wield her replica Keyblade. That's where the extra one from KH2 came from.' This is one of the few things the games, manga, and novel all kind imply on something that's not 100% clear. But nope, Nomura said that damn Keyblade is Ventus's. Never you mind it was a Kingdom key before transforming. Why did they insert Ventus into something that had nothing to do with him and works perfectly fine without his inclusion? This just opens up a whole can of worms of the whole 'Ventus was in Sora's heart since the start of the series' just making the Sora/Roxas connection more complicated then it needed to be. I'd retcon this!

Sheesh, it feels like all my posts now are just mega rants. Have I really become the grumpy old Kingdom Hearts fan who yells at heart-shaped moons? Regardless I'll probably have more coming.

 

[Launchpad]

Recompletion. I find it hilarious that people nowadays shit on how Roxas and Xion were brought back by replicas, but they are fine with this one. Recompletion is one of the laziest concepts introduced in the series and just a quick and easy way to revive every Organization XIII member after they were killed off. Not only did they make the Organization unkillable thanks to this, but the concept of becoming a Nobody has now lost all meaning because now all you have to do is kill yourself and poof you're back to normal. No need to build a "fake" Kingdom Hearts moon. Yen Sid tells Sora to destroy Xemnas but fails to alert him that doing so will bring back the even bigger threat of old man Xehanort. Recompletion either needs to be a super rare thing that is complicated to pull off or retcon it out of existence.

Roxas's two Keyblades. So anyone who plays the game will see after the Xion fight Roxas gains two Kingdom Keys that become Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Naturally you'd think 'Oh, he has Xion's power to wield her replica Keyblade. That's where the extra one from KH2 came from.' This is one of the few things the games, manga, and novel all kind imply on something that's not 100% clear. But nope, Nomura said that damn Keyblade is Ventus's. Never you mind it was a Kingdom key before transforming. Why did they insert Ventus into something that had nothing to do with him and works perfectly fine without his inclusion? This just opens up a whole can of worms of the whole 'Ventus was in Sora's heart since the start of the series' just making the Sora/Roxas connection more complicated then it needed to be. I'd retcon this!

Sheesh, it feels like all my posts now are just mega rants. Have I really become the grumpy old Kingdom Hearts fan who yells at heart-shaped moons? Regardless I'll probably have more coming.

Nah, I'm totally with you on this-- it should have always been replicas. In the case of Xehanort's new organization, the replicas should have been hard-coded to follow his will as well, which would make the fights against Saix and Luxord in particular feel less confusing, as I don't feel as though those two REALLY wanted to fight.

Recompletion via replica could have also been more interesting if the memories were fuzzy. Vexen and Zexion aren't sure WHY they're making replicas anymore, as the memories of their time in Org XIII are a bit of a blur.. so they decide to defect in secret, no longer having sinister motivations.. etc.

KH in general is really lacking in stakes so I tend to just focus more on the journey

 

[Megavoltage]

I was so certain The Keyblade of Heart from KH1 would be conjured again so Sora can help several of the suffering people in 3; that’s the sort of tool you need if you want to move hearts around and free them. I bet Power of Waking could easily be written out and just use the Keyblade of Heart instead.

 

[Squood!]

I was so certain The Keyblade of Heart from KH1 would be conjured again so Sora can help several of the suffering people in 3; that’s the sort of tool you need if you want to move hearts around and free them. I bet Power of Waking could easily be written out and just use the Keyblade of Heart instead.

Remember the means of which the KoH was made. It needed the forcibly removed hearts of the princesses to be created. And in the case of Sora using it for characters like Roxas, Ven, and Xion...it would be doing what Xemnas brought up. Which, given that this is XEMNAS saying it and the means of Roxas' creation...it's highly likely that Sora using the KoH to free RVX would just play into Xehanort's hands.

 

[Launchpad]

Remember the means of which the KoH was made. It needed the forcibly removed hearts of the princesses to be created. And in the case of Sora using it for characters like Roxas, Ven, and Xion...it would be doing what Xemnas brought up. Which, given that this is XEMNAS saying it and the means of Roxas' creation...it's highly likely that Sora using the KoH to free RVX would just play into Xehanort's hands.

It's all how they write it, lol

if the princesses willingly used their power to grant Sora the abilty to use the KoH, it'd be fine-- reclaiming the bad guy's weapon to do something good would be cool. That keyblade is a pretty classic piece of iconography in the series so it'd be cool to find a use for it, or at the very least it'd be marginally cooler than the power of waking (although I've enjoyed SOME of the power of waking's utilization, especially ReMind).

it'd be nice to give SDG something tangible to look for during the KH3 world tour, rather than just waiting for Sora to learn an ability. recovering pieces of the KoH would have been a fun treasure hunt for the trio to go on with a solid reward. The cherry on top would of course be a formchange that gives Sora a light-based version of Riku!Ansem's kit from KH1

 

[Zackarix]

Earlier in this thread there were some people suggesting that SE should have just made Birth by Sleep Volume Two. While that's an idea as valid as any other in this thread I think it's important to consider why it didn't happen:

If this video is at all an accurate representation of what BbS V2 was pitched as it's not really surprising that it wasn't greenlit, it looks like it was supposed to be a game about filling in the gaps of the other games with new stories that weren't directly connected to each other. That format could work as a series of shorts, but not as a video game.

It's too bad that Kingdom Hearts has never had had a game that tried to cover the entire series, perhaps with some recaps to act as connective tissue. One with a story so stapled on that it could be replaced with anything.

So yeah, my proposal is to make Melody of Memory years earlier (perhaps in place of Theatrhythm DQ) and use the story proposed for BbS V2 as the plot for it. There are tons of potential "flashback" stories in KH that wouldn't fit well into a video game, but could work as memories you unlock as you work your way through the timeline.

Maybe this version of MoM wouldn't be as big or ambitious as the one we got. But hey, that just leaves room for a greatly expanded sequel sometime down the road.