Time to go Valor on some punk's ass.

Am hoping the finisher involves combining the two into a double sided spear and slashing at the opponent

So this update includes all of the new things added to the main game? So if we want to replay the game before remind, we can start now once this update drops?

2?
[SPOILER][/SPOILER]
[SPOILER][/SPOILER]

Looks like he's fighting Young Xehanort in the Limit Cut.

Is there any mention as to when exactly the Free Update is supposed to launch?

Square Enix North America only says "before Re Mind," which for them is 12am EST on the 23rd. I'm hoping it's before Re Mind launches in New Zealand, otherwise a lot of places will have to wait because nothing works without the patch.

I am... so excited for this. Many of us had something like this on our wishlist before KHIII came out, and I can't believe it's actually real now.

Heh... Bye bye lore. Thought you needed two hearts to pull this off, but I guess we're saying it's ok now, right? ? Gotta love the power of fan service, lol.

Looks good! Is that Young Xehanort? I mean I figured he'd be a boss. Glad to see it confirmed, yay!

I figured both Sora and Roxas can still dual wield because their hearts are still connected despite being seperated

I wonder if Terranort can dual wield. He kinda has two hearts...sorta.

We can try to handwave it however we want, but it still contradicts the established lore. Besides, Sora and Roxas' second Keyblade came from housing Ventus' heart, not eachother's. Up until KH3, Roxas never even had a Keyblade of his own to begin with, and we all know none of that was explained either, lol.

Anyway, I'm not trying hark on it too much. Just felt like it was funny to see them sacrificing lore for spectacle.. again.

This is really getting my hopes up for a rewrite of the keyblade graveyard. Anyway I'm probably gonna steer clear of these forums for a week or so so I don't get spoiled now that stuffs starting to drop... so... See you all in about a week!

Nomura been threw the lore out of the window.

Perhaps the memory of Ventus' heart being a part of Sora's is still enough to allow Sora to share that power - Sora's all about sharing.

BOI HALF THE LORE INTRODUCED TO US ALREADY WENT BYE-BYE IN FAVOR OF FANSERVICE!

Don't worry. It'll get retconned later. :P

oooh that is sexy

can't wait to dual wield my way through some unfortunate heartless.

Hnnnnnnnnnng oathkeeper and oblivion being used as they should be

That went out when Roxas came back with both xD

At least with Roxas you could argue that his Replica body created copies from the data Ienzo used.

People were complaining about the lack of dual wielding gameplay. So it's damned if they do, damned if they don't I guess.

I was out of the loop for a while and found out about the requirements for Oblivion a week ago while I was away from home. Now scrambling to finish a new game + on Critical mode in time for this update.

Yup, that's the way it goes. As far as I remember there wasn't an in-game explanation for it in the first place, just an ad-hoc answer Nomura gave and didn't really stick to. Whatever justification they give (or don't give), it's not so unbelievable that Sora could retain the ability, and it makes the game more fun, so who cares.

If it's just about dual-wielding gameplay all they would have needed to do was making Roxas playable more. It's his specialty after all.
Giving it to Sora now as well again makes him just look more like an all-powerful plot device who gets every gimmick and ability of all the other characters.

Sora gameplay is implied (Drive forms).

Yeah. I mean to be fair, they should explain why Roxas is able to dual-wield again, now that everyone's hearts should be in their right places... So I think the confusion is understandable, far as we know, you need two hearts. But if Roxas can do it, it makes sense that Sora can too. And dual-wielding Sora was a feature that a lot of fans were disappointed that it didn't show up in KH3.

...Actually, I wonder. I think it was said that ReMind was post-game content, but they never exactly said that was the case for the Limit Cut episode, right? Cause you could theoretically have the Organization XIII battles take place before Roxas's return and therefore Sora would have the requirements for dual-wielding. It'd be weird timing, but that's one way.

Another idea is that Sora's heart remembers how to do it, and either it's a strain on his heart due to how unnatural it is or he's somehow splitting his Keyblade in half, and each half is its own Keyblade (or rather, each half takes the form of one Keyblade). Something to note is that it's a Formchange, so Double Form just might be a Keyblade Transformation that allows him to do it. Sora dual-wields with guns already, and he was never able to do it outside of a Drive Form in KH2 (except for that one time when he and Riku were fighting Xemnas at the end of the game) so the precedent is there and isn't too strange if this is the case. So he's not "truly" dual-wielding, because it's still one Keyblade.

I've gotta say, I find it ridiculous that people are actually complaining about the "lore being ruined" with this. More than likely, the people complaining about the narrative continuity of this one-off mechanic were big fans of the Data-Organization battles in KH2, which made absolutely no narrative sense whatsoever. I mean, nobody asks why the Organization's members were all recreated as data exclusively for the purposes of fighting people who happened to wander deep enough through the Cavern of Remembrance to find some computers. People just accepted it. Why? Because some things in Kingdom Hearts are just meant to be fun gameplay, they aren't necessarily meant to cohere to the dense thicket that is the series lore.
And anyway, contrary to what Twilight Lumiair said, Sora dual wielding does NOT contradict said lore. It was never established that a person had to have two hearts actually inside them in order to be able to dual wield Keyblades. Roxas dual wielded without Xion being inside him (she had returned to Sora at this point and was NOT inside Roxas' heart). The connection was enough to be able to wield her Keyblade in tandem with his own. Just so, Sora's connections are enough for him to be able to dual wield.

Besides, just like SuperSayanSora said, it's just a transformation. Sora already dual wields in the game, so this is nothing new. He's still equipping one keyblade.

I'm still trying to figure Roxas out.

Oust of universe dual wielding is what Roxas is iconic for.

Right. Well, in terms of Roxas, I think he was able to dual-wield because he had Ven's heart inside him. Once Xion was defeated and Roxas received his power back, that was when he dual-wielded for the first time (if memory serves).

But yes. Sora has two guns, two gauntlets, ice skates... His Keyblade can transform into whatever it needs to be. We saw Dark Form, and we saw Light Form... Oblivion and Oathkeeper, respectively. And when we saw both forms, we never saw him dual-wielding before, so this is a brand new thing to KH3 we're seeing right now. We don't know how it's activated, so it's quite possible there's another Keyblade you get in order to trigger this particular Formchange, or you have to have both Oathkeeper and Oblivion equipped. And then you'd select between whichever Keyblade's Formchange that's currently being used and Double Form, similar to how you could have both Highwind's and Rage Form's Situation Commands pop up at the same time if certain conditions are met.

In the end though, Data Battles have never been canon (I'm pretty sure at least), so maybe this Formchange is the same way -- not canon, but just really cool as a gameplay feature cause people wanted it. We only have two pictures to go on, so there's so many things that need to be answered, like how you even activate this Formchange.

We only have two pictures to go on, so there's so many things that need to be answered, like how you even activate this Formchange.

My guess is maybe you have to have both Oathkeeper and Oblivion equipped? Or maybe because we know that keyblades can "save" their transformation if you switch to another mid-combat then maybe what you are supposed to do is transform one, then swap to the other before the bar runs out and once you transform the second one it sends you into this alternate form instead and uses both keyblades' form changes?

That's the only thing I can think of that makes sense.

Mmm... I really didn't want this to turn into a debate, but I should know you guys better at this point, lol.

Correction: Roxas' actual Keyblades never came from Xion. It came from the fact that Ventus' heart stayed within Sora's body at the time he separated into a heartless and Nobody back in KH1. He merely "awakened" the ability (known as Synch Blade) after Xion died, and that effect carried over to Sora. This was confirmed ages ago. ↓

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania, p. 617 Interviewer: "Why can Roxas dual-wield?" Tetsuya Nomura: " Sora can wield two Keyblades at once because he has Ventus' as well as his own. As Roxas is a part of Sora, he also can use two. In Days, Roxas awakened his ability to dual wield after fighting Xion. In KHII, once Sora absorbs him, he can also dual-wield."

Why is it that people don't think I know what I'm talking about here xD


This^

Let me Re: Mind you all that Sora arbitrarily gained shotlocks, attraction flow, and grand magic at the very beginning of this game despite "losing all of his abilities." It was already hard to swallow then, now we have to accept that he can naturally do all of that, on top of Keyblade Transformations and Duel Wielding? Despite the fact that they just gave him the Ultimate Form, now he's essentially got Final Form back on top of that because.. "connections" and all that.

It's whatever really. I don't care how you handwave it, it's not any less silly to think about.


They can do whatever they want, lol. It's their game. I merely found it amusing that they prioritized flash and spectacle over established lore again (like several other elements of KH3). It's so transparent that it's honestly not worth getting angry over.
Also, for the record, I wasn't one of those people ?

Actually, this would be a really cool idea. I like yours more LOL. The option to use either or would still be cool BUT this method would make more sense, seeing as how it'd be both.

I guess the staff either decided that the "Skill" Synch Blade would stay even after Ventus left their Hearts, (unless Sora's heart is still connected to Ventus despite his seeming okayness) or it is a just for fun thing. I mean potentially he could have picked up a second Keyblade and turned it into another one, because as I understand the Synch Blade thing is a summon thing, that he could call forth an extra Keyblade out of nothingness, but there doesn't seem to be a rule stating that you can't use another Keyblade you picked up in the wild as Sora showed with the Master's Keyblade before (though he had to give that back to Aqua.)

Deja Vu.

Long story short, it's never explicitly stated, but always been implied that Keyblade Weilders can store two Keyblades what's essentially their "pocket dimension", but that doesn't mean they wield both at the same time. During Aqua's final fight against Terranort, for example, she has both Mater's Defender, as well as her own Keyblade. But she never summons them both at once.

Another example would be Mickey, who had both Kingdom Key D and Starseeker after KH1 (regularly switching between them), but is never shown summoning the two at once.

In KH3, once Sora picks up the Master's Defender, he only ever used it when his own Keyblade is dismissed. We actually see him have to dismiss his Keyblade before summoning it right here:


So the idea is that Keyblade Weilders can hold two Keyblades in their "hammer space", but they require two hearts to summon both at once. Even more evidence here:

[ATTACH type="full" alt="GtAS1sszRj2jXFMt5itOXR_6CvLB6qqkDMgWH1MJaBg.jpg"]12184[/ATTACH] I myself drew the cover art. The fact that she has two Keyblade means she must have two hearts oh no the character limit -Nomura

*Edited for Grammatical Errors*

Not only your comment personally comes off as unnecessarily hostile but you are also expressing an opinion/complaint while explicitly stating that you don't care about what other people say.
It's pretty superficial and you are also judging something adamantly, despite not knowing how it will work yet. It just seems complaining for the sake for it.

Where is this source for this requirement?

No source because it wasn't confirmed, only speculated. It could be similar to what happened to the Starlight keyblade: if you meet the requirements (proof of promises and proof of times past) you can start a new game with them, otherwise you'll just unlock them at some poin during the story.

There isn’t a source but it is very clear that the Proofs are essential to these new Keyblades as they have their emblems on them, and the only way to get Proof of Times Past is by beating Critical mode.

Dual wielding was a thing even before roxas.

For example in the xemnas battle in KH2, riku tosses his way to dawn keyblade to sora who then uses it with his own keyblade to fight Xemnas.

Also Riku had his own keyblade and Kairi's keyblade before he gave it to kairi. While we never saw him use it. He must have at least been able to summon it in order to give it to her.

Hostile? Complaining for the sake of it?

The very first thing I said was:


I'm just defending my stance, lol. It was never meant to come off as aggressive in any way. Still, I apologise if it sounded like I being condescending or spiteful though (I can see how one might feel that way). I'll try to be more careful about how I word my post in the future. :)

To clarify, it's not that I don't care what people say (if I didn't I wouldn't be responding), but more that I find the whole situation silly regardless of the theories people construct. They're responses simply haven't changed my feelings; that's all I meant, really.


Actually, we first saw dual wielding in the Roxas vs Axel fight (and even earlier in Deep Dive from KH1), but I get what you're trying to say, lol. It's more likely Riku did what the MoM does, and pulled Kairi's Keyblade from the depths her heart so she could use it. Buuuut even if he didn't, Riku technically didn't have his own Keyblade summoned in that moment regardless XD

【7 DAYS TO GO】This is the last countdown picture. Today Face My Fears, the OP & ED CD, goes on sale. https://erj.lnk.to/0JWh_WN I myself drew the cover art. The fact that she has two Keyblade means she must have two hearts oh no the character limit -Nomura [S]#[/S]_KH [S]#[/S]KH3 [S]#[/S]FaceMyFears

Source

This looks pretty awesome. I'm guessing this is the second stage of Dark Form and Light Form. I can't wait for Thursday, these next two work days will be hard to get through.

I wonder, if we'll get an explanation as to why Sora and Roxas can still dual wield. Though I think the original explanation was never in the games itself, so I guess it's a retcon outside of the main cannon.

It’s funny really. Some Kingdom Hearts fans are known to defend Nomura’s writing by using his interviews as proof that the lore makes sense and suddenly it’s ok for it not to make sense like it’s a new policy?
They came up with a reason for a game mechanic(kh2) and honestly I wasn’t mad that Roxas wasn’t explained but at least I want consistency from the series that thought it was important to explain Mickey’s shirt.

I'm pretty sure that when KH2 came out, Nomura said that Sora is wielding only 1 keyblade all the time. When Sora has two keyblades in his forms, he actually is using only one keyblade. The second one is only a phantom/Illusion made by his powers. Maybe the same explanation will be used in KH3.
But maybe I just misremember this all.

To be fair only Roxas is the only one breaking lore in an explicitly canon sense. Double form can just be a gameplay element like many other things in the series. That said, for a boy who routinely acts as a wildcard to break the supposed laws of the universe, some people sure do care about him following lore "rules" lol. There's plenty of easy explanations that would satisfy.

guess i'm not getting these keyblades then ;_;

because fans whined that they couldn’t duel wield so screw the lore he’s duel wielding now.

Also what Ryuman said.

There’s is an in universe explanation for Roxas, his body is a Replica. CoM and Days show and tell us that given the right data and memories, Replicas can recreate appearances and weapons. The prologue makes a big deal about Roxas’ data because it’s vital for his body recreation. The game gives us context for that, not so much Sora.

Which is simple really, all they have to say his clothes gave the ability to duplicate his Keyblade.

Hope we don't have to start the game from the beginning (or before the Keyblade Graveyard stuff happened) to play through all the new content.

I can't really defend Nomura's constant trashing of his own lore but I wouldn't be surprised if we do get some kind of reason. For example, if Sora's heart travels back into the past in ReMind and inhabits his past self, then arguably he will have two hearts inside him, albeit both 'Sora'.

Errr, both of these things came after Roxas, and at the end of KH2 at least, Sora had Roxas' heart in him so he could dual wield. As for Kairi I'm pretty sure he wasn't holding both keyblades at once but I haven't watched that scene in a while so

I don't really care either way about dual-wielding myself--I know many were big fans of it, it never really made any difference to me--but I can see Twilight Lumiair's point at the same time. I gave up on the lore along the way though, so that must be why it's not a big deal for me. :p I was also fine with Shotlocks and other things even though Sora was supposed to be weaker than ever.

I assumed Roxas data from digi-Twilight Town, which has his dual wielding power, was the reason he can still do it. I also suspect his Keyblades are like Xion's. Replica Keyblades.


Glad I'm not the only one who wasn't concerned with dual-wielding. Like it's cool and all but of all the problems with KH3, the lack of dual-wielding was not one of them for me.

This possibility also crossed my mind, makes sense seeing he's in a replica body. I figure that Xion's Keyblade in KH3 is still a replica Keyblade. Not that I don't think she and Roxas aren't worthy I just feel like they haven't been picked by their own keyblades yet.

Kingdom Hearts should just be renamed "Identity Crisis".

Kinda forgot Xion had a fake Keyblade. So what, everyone is headcanoning that Roxas' are shams now too lol? That doesn't really make sense considering he wasn't created as a replica.

Whatever happened to Keyblade sharing? That would open the way for so many loopholes regarding who owns their own Keyblade and how many of them exist at the same time. Is that oldschool fanon? Am I out of touch?

I could actually see this being the explanation they go with XD

Aw, but can you imagine all the salt the other Guardians must feel everytime they see Sora use Form Changes? He gets all this cool shit from the 3 Fairies, while they're stuck with fabric that just wards of darkness. Poor kiddies ?

Like.. even from a strategical standpoint it would make sense to give all the GoL that kind of arsenal. But then, we are talking about Yen Sid here, so this is more par for the course, lol.

A bit roundabout & overly convoluted, but right up Nomura's alley at this point, lol.

On that note, if he ever does come out and attempt to explain this move, do you think he'll go for the simple answer, or the convoluted one? That's something I'd be very curious to hear people's thoughts on.

Same. I liked dual wielding too (got nothing against the mechanic), but I was perfectly willing to say goodbye to it for the sake of preserving continuity. I've since learned how misplaced my priorities apparently were, sadly..

It would've been fascinating if Roxas and Xion obtaining their own personal Keyblades was framed as a part of the journey for them to earn their humanity. Since Keyblades are cannonically forged from hearts, it could've stood as the ultimate proof of their existence (similar to what happened with Data-Sora). But alas, that's the story we didn't get.

Nobody said he was created as one but using one. The game hammers in that they’re using Replicas as body substitutes.

Sure, but I suppose I have trouble with accepting the idea that he's using fake Keyblades without any confirmation.

This is true. They also make it a point to say that with these new Replica bodies, they essentially become people, so for all intents and purposes, Roxas and Xion should count as Somebodies now.

I like the idea that the Replica body just gave him Data-Roxas's memories and those Keyblades he's using are Replicas, since it sounds like that's the road Nomura might take. Xion's Keyblade is a Replica, so maybe it's the same for Roxas too.

I'm not sure if this was ever explained lore-wise, but do we know the difference between a replica Keyblade and a real one? Cause it seems to me that a replica more or less functions like a real one, but the replica just might not be as durable or something.

Sora cannot own two keyblades: "Nomura give us double ownership".
Now Sora can own two keyblades, fans are again unhappy.

The series has hard enough time sticking to the lore that's actually in the games. it wouldn't be the first time that secondary canon like an interview has been quietly exiled from continuity without actually making it into a game. Like Young Xehanort being from a time before he had the keyblade.

But to be honest for me I see no harm ignoring a magazine interview about a vague mystery that never really needed to be explained or given a rule in the first place.

I wonder if any of the Seekers will have big Darkness resistence though, might hamper Oblivion's handiness in comparison to Oathkeeper which is presumably Non-Elemental.

I don't think people are unhappy, it's really just a lore question that we haven't really had the answer to since the game came out, and now the question is even bigger.

Mind you though, most fans are hyped over dual-wielding coming back, so don't worry too much about that. Plus since Nomura made the comment about Utada wielding two Keyblades in the Face My Fears cover art and him joking about her having two hearts, and that song is a year old (and that song came out before KH3), I like to think that he probably knows that he's gonna have to explain it sooner or later. It's just a matter of when or where it gets explained hopefully.

I'm hoping for a new Ultimania or similar publication. I haven't found the last ones to be particularly illuminating.

I guess we can wave the lore of the two keyblades the same way Star Wars Legends justified the Force mechanics of KOTOR I, II, The Force Unleashed I, II, and more: mechanics aren't necessarily canon or are exaggerated for the purposes of a video game.

Beating crit gives you an item that has the same style as Oblivion. So people are inferring that's how it gets unlocked.

You're actually not far off. Data-Sora's original fabricated Keyblade was said to possess all the abilities of a real one (much to Mickeys surprise), but since it was just a replica, "it didn't have any substance." Which is also why Maleficent was able to destroy it so easily. It wasn't until later on that he received a true Keyblade (implied to be born out of his newly formed heart).

Similarly, Xion's replica Keyblade could capture and contain hearts like Roxas' real (albiet borrowed) one. But when it came time for her to face Riku, he dismissed as a sham. "Worthless." He also used the analogy of "fighting fire with sparks", implying it was similar in nature, but far less impressive.


Lol, true enough I suppose. Though to be fair, it was stated more than once by Nomura that YX was using Master Xehanort's Keyblade, in addition to Ansem SoD's powers (allowing him to manipulate time). So he technically still could be seen as untrained, even though I agree it became a bit of a stretch by the end of KH3.

— Did King Mickey’s time magic not work properly on Young Xehanort because Young Xehanort has the power to control time? Nomura: Not Young Xehanort’s but rather Master Xehanort’s power. King Mickey was surprised at the time, seeing his Keyblade and noticing he harboured the power of Master Xehanort. That Keyblade was designed as the one Master Xehanort used in KHBBS combined with an hourglass, you see.

Again, this gets a bit iffy when we consider the trio Xehanort fight at the end of KH3, but it still holds up to a point.


Are the Ultimania's really just magazine interviews? I've never actually seen a physical copy myself (just their translations), so I'm not sure.

Maleficent easily broke Data-Sora's replica blade, so they must be easy to break if you really tried. Though he got his own real blade after, so I think Xion and Roxas would as well.

No, they are massive books that are guides for the games. They feature character bios, world descriptions, actual walkthroughs, enemy and boss stats, artwork, and then each section of the book also contains interviews from key staff. The Ultimanias are the go-to lore books.

The point that makes Young Xehanort's interview backstory impossible is that the Boy in Black is younger then Young Xehanort and is just shy of taking his Mark of Mastery. The backstory originally laid out of Young Xehanort was that he had never left the islands yet and had not come to ever wield the keyblade before Master Xehanort possessed him directly.

I think it's just the new artstyle and graphics making characters look younger than they are. Kairi as an example.

The model for the Boy in Black in the journal is about a foot shorter then Young Xehanort's model and has a different and younger head including Xehanort's original not yellow eye colour he had before he met the Master of Masters. Its definitely not an illusion of hairstyle like Kairi.

The irony is that Xion's "sham" Keyblade never broke once in the series in comparison to Riku, Mickey, and Lea's "real" ones lol. It would be nice to get more info on replica Keyblades and how they differ. By KH3 Xion's Keyblade works just the same as everyone elses and I suspect that Roxas's Keyblades are also Replicas.

There is also the Xehanort Replicas we see fighting the heroes and they all have No Name Keyblades, all of them must be Replica Keyblades right? Replicas became huge in KH3. They really are going to take over. We should fear Vexen, creator of life.

God I forgot how much I hated that they did that. The distinction between real and fake is made more irrelevant by that.

Well, got me then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Really it just shows how good Vexen's work is. :ROFLMAO:

It's funny how wild people go for the concept of dual-wielding. It's pretty cool, but is it REALLY that much cooler, conceptually, than a spear, hammer, or claws? I don't mean to come off as a cynic but to me, dual wielding was never that huge of a deal unless it was Roxas doing it, or Master Form.

Roxas's brief battle against Axel with the two keyblades was memorable and controlled fairly well, which is nice compared to Roxas's rather lame combat in the tutorial of KH2. Master Form is cool because it's strong and unique, but doesn't feel overpowered or uninspired.

Valor form, on the other hand? Pretty trash. It's... Kind of flashy, but the inability to guard or use magic makes it worse than base Sora. It's also by far the floatiest form in KH2.

Meanwhile, Final form is undeniably cool and exciting, but it passes no resemblance to conventional dual wielding, and is also a smidge too strong in a lot of situations (Critical notwithstanding, as sometimes it's laggy enough to get you killed pretty quick).

The image of Sora wielding Oathkeeper and Oblivion is very cool. It's an iconic setup and it feels like it was inevitable, but I can't help but worry. I hope they're not trying to make this new Double Form a playable equivalent to how overpowered Roxas was when fighting Saix. We already have Ultimate Form to shred HP bars. I'd rather have something that's snappy, responsive, but ultimately just FUN to use rather than monstrously powerful. Dual Wielding isn't very exciting if it's more of a laser-light show than a sword fighting style.

We're all assuming Nomura wants to forget about lore, but what if Sora ends up housing another heart?!

Oh wow I never thought about that. That could totally happen in Re:MIND

Execution matters. Just because people wanted dual-wielding doesn't mean they wanted the mechanic placed ahead of the lore. One of the reasons I would have argued for dual-wielding over Keyblade transformations aside from personal preference is that the rules and internal logic behind it is better established. It represents the kind of structure that KH3 lacked, and it suffered as a story for it.

It's like, yes I wanted Kairi to have a stronger showing in the game, but no I'm not going to pretend that ReMind fixes her narrative arc just because it patches in some flashy move sets for her. When the attempt to fix the issues with the approach taken towards his game exacerbate the core issues with the approach taken with this game (as [USER=246762]@Twilight Lumiair[/USER] has put it, style over substance) it's not a real answer to the criticism surrounding it. It shouldn't be hard to ascertain why people remain unimpressed.

And I'll concede from the outset that this is all speculative for now. As is any positive or optimistic reception. We're all on equal footing in making a determination about how this looks to us given the information we have available.


While I agree with the general perspective here, I think on this specific issue there's a case to be made that Sora should be able to dual wield because Roxas's heart is with him for the majority of the game, and that it actually causes dissonance within the narrative that he doesn't. There's at least a rationale to Sora displaying that power which, I agree, could and should have been built into a potential arc for Roxas.

Moreover, I think the real issue with Sora's role in the story isn't so much exemplified through these more or less superficial displays of "strength" as it is a matter of his dynamic with respect to other characters and the narrative at large. Sora has always been mechanically superpowered by the end of each KH game, but the story has always gone out of its way to position his strength as thematically relative to his connections and the people who believe in him, and help him to believe in himself. The influence and support of other characters have always been shown to shape Sora's journey in a way that shares the collective narrative space: Sora is the protagonist, but the viewpoints and motivations of other characters are given equal weight to his own. In KH3, the efforts of ensemble hardly even register; if Sora didn't explicitly want to bring back half of the cast, it wouldn't have mattered to the outcome of the narrative. Even the antagonists get short shrift, ultimately losing the fight because, meh, can't beat Sora (or, meh, wasn't really trying to beat Sora, which is generally the level of indifference witnessing this game's climax induces).

It's the inverse of the problem with Kairi, where they try to substitute a real character arc with poorly reconciled superpowers and then expect us to forget or ignore the issue, which is that, unsurprisingly, she isn't functioning as a character.


The difference between these examples is twofold in that:
1) Nomura himself has explicitly tied the internal logic of dual wielding to a set of narrative principles which he can choose to contradict if he wishes, but not without causing narrative dissonance which people are only right to point out and,
2) The lore surrounding the Keyblade, how it works, who can wield it, and under what circumstances is actually essential to understanding the larger story, whereas understanding why and how the Organization Data Battles are possible is not. That's not to say that there are no valid critiques to be issued regarding the Data Battles in this vein, but it doesn't necessarily take precedence whereas understanding the manner in which the Keyblade functions is consequential to making sense of many of the scenarios that form the core of the narrative, beginning with the first game.

In general, I think people who play KH are pretty familiar with the norms of gaming as a mode of storytelling, and are willing to be generous in accommodating gameplay decisions which are then reconciled (or not) with canon. Dual wielding could have been just another ability of the Keyblade which Sora unlocks with the Faeries' help. Nomura chose to complicate the matter. Turning the trust we should be able to have in Nomura's decisions as a writer into another reason to blame the audience (for bothering to care?) only serves to underscore how arbitrary the lines of defense for this game have become.


I don't disagree with this reasoning on principle, but it opens up the series to further scrutiny on the issue. Namely, if the strength of a connection between hearts is enough to enable Sora to dual wield, why isn't the same true for other characters? Are their connections weaker than his, and if so, how is that quantifiable (I don't mean scientifically, but how would we as the audience be enabled to recognize that)? Moreover, how useful is it to the story in general to make this argument for one game mechanic: to retroactively degrade the link between other characters' hearts in order to advance the notion that Sora is just special enough to warrant this additional skill set? That would seem to call back to the concern that [USER=89012]@Sephiroth0812[/USER] rose: that Sora has been effectively elevated above the rest of the cast in such a way that his presence increasingly renders their relevance precarious, as well as contradicting Nomura's own stated theory of the character as a normal boy with no special powers.

Again, this answer isn't unbelievable, but it might have sat better before KH3 poisoned the well. Actually, that pretty well sums up my feelings on the DLC in general.

Honestly speaking I don't think the casual audience side of the complainers (which is most likely the majority) cared if it went against lore. They just wanted drives and dual wielding back because they were fun.

Also since it uses both Oblivion and Oathkeeper, I'm thinking it might just be a unlock reward for getting both keyblades, and not even tied to story or lore in the first place. Like how Resident Evil gives you infinite ammo weapons to use in NG+. As you said, we don't know. But looking at how the two keys are unlocked, I think that's definitely where they're heading with it.

That "ReMinds" me (I'm gonna miss using that joke) we're finally gonna get the answers on the third heart in Sora. Assuming it's still Xion. There are folks that say it's MoM, Ava, Skuld, Ephemer, Yozora, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, or Nomura himself.


There is a logical reason as to why Sora didn't dual wield in KH3. He didn't have his Drive Form powered KH2 clothes anymore. His new fancy KH3 clothes didn't come equipped with that ability. The Good Fairies couldn't be bothered to having his old cloths retain his old powers because they think to the future and not the past, and dual wielding is so 2005. It's all about Keyblades turning into honey shooting pistols!

I wonder how many people will now turn around and start praising Kairi's character now that she's playable? I still like Kairi, but her being playable doesn't fix her writing flaws in the series. Give her a story and arc to go with that playable action.

There's certainly a contingency of people who feel this way (there are a lot of people who don't care about KH's story at all and play for the Disney and the action components), and more power to them. If it's all just gameplay to someone, they should enjoy it on their own terms. It doesn't render the criticism on the issue of lore invalid any more than the criticism renders their experience untrue.


That doesn't really play for me, because every game mechanic related to the Keyblade has been explicitly made part of the canon on some level. Transformations have seemingly no rules governing their usage but they are still (much to my chagrin) canon abilities on par with locking/unlocking, purifying hearts and everything else the Keyblade does or can do. Limitless weapon systems bug me on a personal level, but they also tend to lead to lazy storytelling: there's no longer any reason for any other form of weapon to be considered viable in the KH universe, and its thematic purpose has been diluted. Why duel it out with a Darkside in a pitched battle for the worlds if it's possible to simply sit on the Twilight Town Clock Tower and snipe it in the head?

And that's where I think this is really headed. The speculation that dual wielding should be possible via Keyblade transformation (because there's no appreciable difference between two skates and two blades) isn't a new one, and I think it represents an articulation of how bad this series has become at attempting to do things that are meaningful, or weighty. Better to just write everything off on the merits of convenience. It's fun! Except it's actually boring, because it's thoughtless, and overeager to make everything easy on itself.


That doesn't explain how he's dual wielding in the DLC!
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I think there are a lot of people who, acting in good faith, really want to enjoy this game and are looking for reasons to validate its inconsistencies and poor methods of conceptualizing and delivering its own ideas, and will lean into any appearance of that occurring, but I also think there's a kind of rote cynicism to this whole ReMind project that betrays those folks most deeply. We'll see how it plays out.

This whole thing gets funnier when you realize a mechanic from a KH gacha game (guilt/sin) gets a lore explanation too.

I know it didn't explain how he's dual wielding in the DLC. I was making a joke on why he couldn't before ReMind, the clothing ability and all XD

Clearly the real question here is, can Sora wield the Keyblade at all when he's naked?

Ssssh! We're not suppose to know that secret!

Inquiring minds want to know!

Somebody consult Riku!

At the very least we know Mickey can wield without a shirt, lol.

Speaking of which can Mickey dual wield? He had a different Keyblade in BBS compared to his one that he got in KH1 and used before it got broke. Did they ever explain what happened to Mickey's first Keyblade? Can he summon both his regular one and the Darkness Keyblade and dual wield them since they both belong to him?

Based on the design his new Star Cluster keyblade I think he fused Star seeker and Kingdom Key D together

Okay, good to know. So he probably can't d-wield then. Oh well

I still think Nomura should have also had his pants disappear in that scene and reveal that his classic trousers are actually boxer briefs. For the sake of consistency.


I think it can be inferred that RoD Keyblades are different from RoL Keyblades in that they're born (I guess on rare occasions?) as counterparts to their respective Keys on the other side. Probably has something to do with balancing light and dark in the universe, but at any rate it seems as if they're essentially up for grabs by anyone who dares (or is desperate enough) to try. It seems likely that Mickey can wield both, but in keeping with the rule of hearts, not at the same time--but then it's still not clear to me wtf happened with his Keyblade after the Anti-Aqua shenanigans, so yeah. KH3 "breaks" Keyblades in more ways than one.

As I said in an earlier reply, Mickey never lost Starseeker. We see this is 0.2. He had both KK-d and Starseeker across the series, and periodically switched between the two (he used Starseeker for the entirety of Re: Coded, for example). But despite having two, he was never shown wielding both at once. Indicating he can't. It's the same with Aqua at the end of BBS when she had both her own Keyblade and Master's Defender (during the final episode specifically). Holding two Keyblades isn't the same as dual weilding them.

Once Kingdom Key D was damaged beyond use, he went to Yen Sid, who seemingly repaired it (or just flat out gave him a new one; it's unclear which), and based on his new Keyblades design, the implication is that he may have combined the two together.
Aaaaand I was ninja'd by alexis, nice XD

I mean, just because the mechanics themselves are canon, doesn't mean bonus unlocks are. Plus if it does require unlocking through the proofs, then it's definitely not a canon thing because you'd have to beat the game on Critical just to unlock it. The Proof of Times Past is even only added to your inventory after you make a clear save.

Wow! Shows how much I pay attention to half these Keyblades. I didn't even realize Mickey was using Starseeker for ReCoded. But interesting he can't use them both at once despite having two.

You were more confident in your explanation so it's worth more.

To be honest I don't mind the idea of Mickey combining his Keyblades (no more than Riku supposedly using Soul Eater as a medium to forge one), but then it's placed so awkwardly within the material as a solution to a problem that didn't need to exist. At least with the Way to Dawn there was an implied journey that took place, and it was indicative of Riku coming into his own as a protagonist. I can accept that as a symbolic gesture. What doesn't ring true is introducing a symbolic obstacle through one scenario, and then resolving it immediately not through character action that provides insight into the metaphorical foundations of the narrative, but by making the relationships between the characters and the metaphors cheaper. Keyblades are supposed to be toys in the real world, not the fantasy one.


That's a fair point.
I'm still calling BS on Roxas though.

Wait are we calling Mickey's keyblade Star Cluster instead of Kingdom Key W? We should really call Xehanort's keyblade Gazing Eye by now then...

Lol, don't worry. You're definitely not the first person to miss that particular detail. XD

But yeah, the idea is that you need two hearts in order to use both Keyblades at once, but not to carry more than one Keyblade in their pocket dimension/"hammer space."

Exactly. It's framed as almost part of Riku's journey (even though it's technically a gesture to aid/thank Repliku for saving him), but then it's fixed by shallow, utilitarian means. By that logic, no one has to earn their Keyblades through growth and struggle (like Riku, Data-Sora, and Lea) anymore, they just need to ask for Yen Sid to make them a new one. Which lessens a lot of the weight the weapon used to carry, and now we have even more unnecessary questions. For example, why didn't Lea just ask Yen Sid to make him a Keyblade immediately during DDD, rather than struggle to form it on his own? There was NO reason they needed to make things so difficult for themselves (especially in Sora's hour of need).

Honestly, when I first saw the scene of Riku giving up Way to Dawn, I figured he was either going to forge a brand new one from his own heart (like he seemingly did with Kairi), without using Soul Eater as an intermediary. Showing that Braveheart a more pure representation of who Riku is now. Or, alternatively, they could've had Riku and Repliku unite once they met up in the RoD, and you could've had the Keyblade represent the two's shared struggles and common courage to face the darkness (perfectly explaining the name). But alas, they went for the most boring angle possible.. again. It almost ReMinds me of how people were defending the idea of Xion being brought back through data, of all things, despite no one remembering her.

I actually think it's pretty nice that Oblivion (as far as we know) has to be unlocked through completing Critical mode. Very cool reward for a good challenge. KH3 Critical Mode is one of the best difficulty increases they've ever done, second only to the godly 2FM. It ups the challenge by a lot but doesn't nerf Sora to a ridiculous degree-- You can still be monstrously strong, you just die real quick too. My biggest problem with it is their refusal to rebalance magic. Instead, they just made your MP bar really small, so there's no point in using anything besides Links, which are still WAY too strong. God, please let them update the game to make magic more sensible.

When the update should be coming out?

Sometime within the next 44 hours.

The deep heart-connection between Sora and Ventus certainly remains as this connection existed since Sora was a newborn heart when he first patched up Ven's heart in the prologue of BBS which takes place four years before BBS proper. It was only after the finale of BBS when Ven's heart was heavily damaged due to the destruction of the proto-X-blade that it actually properly moved completely into Sora's.

Having a heart-connection, no matter how deep and close, is still different to having a heart directly inside another like a Matryoshka doll.
So far, lore was always that only the latter allows one to dual wield two Keyblades at the same time. Mickey i.e. owns several keyblades but never summons more than one at the same time.

Granted, Keyblade transformations have by now murked the whole issue and can be pulled as an explanation for seeming dual wielding when in "reality" it would be just one Keyblade transformed into two.

Considering how malleable the lore is in Nomura's mind I wouldn't put it past him that, I dunno, people at Master level or so who own multiple keychains can duplicate their own Keyblade and give that duplicate one of their extra keychains so it looks like another one.

There certainly exist several possible explanations, but that isn't necessarily the main issue.



It could also be another Xehanort from a different worldline or something like that. Since Nomura opened that can of worms one can expect for some things to make even less sense than before KH 3 and Ux.



I'm not sure if it even is "wanting" to forget the lore or just simple plain forgetting as is. Didn't Nomura mention somewhere in a pre-KH 3 release interview that even he himself sometimes tends to forget some twists and past developments?



Exactly, and execution is something the KH series as a whole has a undeniable problem with ever since KH2 itself when it comes to narrative and character issues.
Gameplay is a different beast altogether and while thanks to so much RL duties I haven't yet had time to finish KH3 I'm now in San Fransokyo and in terms of gameplay KH3 is more than just fine.

In regards to stronger showing all I can add to this in quickness is that such a thing doesn't have to translate to person of mass destruction racking up a kill count in the hundreds.
When it comes specifically to Kairi the problem is that she's allowed no clear agenda outside of Sora and remains always in his trajectory. The scene where she talks with Lea/Axel about Naminé and Roxas shows that she herself cares to a degree and makes her own thoughts, but it is not followed upon nor do we ever get further in to knowing what's going on in her head and what her actual aims and goals are beyond "being with Sora".



I get from where you come and that could have been built up into an interesting premise which would have connected narrative and gameplay in a coherent manner.
However building a potential arc for Roxas would have required for KH 3's narrative to give a damn about the other major characters not named Sora and some focus to them in the first place which goes beyond just two scenes and being a mark on a check list to be met.

They said it will come out before Re:mind.. so hopefully midnight for australia

Sorry for double post but jpns twitter just posted this.
hopefully someone can translate

But hasn't that always been more or less the case that we fans put in way more effort to make sense of the breadcrumbs we get piecing together explanations where the game and Nomura only offered us indications?

I feel we always tried to make sense of what we saw with the information we got, often getting it wrong, because the answer came out of left field and was something new.



Gosh I'm not a fan of the whole forming a Keyblade from one's heart being introduced. Weren't wielders suppose to be chosen by the Keyblades. I guess existing ones choose and new ones can just be made for someone? Just handing them out is even less appealing.

Still I can't help but feel what a Keyblade is and what rules govern it are constantly changing. Which makes getting a feel for what to expect impossible.
With Riku's Keyblade breaking, Mickey's taking damage and both Kairi & Axel learning to wield, we'd have had a great opportunity to hammer out some things regarding the Keyblade in KH3, which was sadly not utilized.

And we really needed it, the Information regarding Keyblades has become so messy and unclear over the games. There are just so many ways of getting one. Like we have Keyblades that are passed down (Master's Defender, No Name), Keyblades that chose their wielder (Kingdom Key), Keyblades made out of people's hearts (Keyblade of Hearts, X-Blade), a Keyblade summoned for someone else (The first appearance of Destiny's Embrace), Keyblades just being picked up (Kingdom Key D), one just handed to a wielder (Bravehard) and Keyblades being fused (Star seeker + Kingdom Key D = Starcluster aka Kingdom Key W). All of these methods can in theory coexist but would greatly benefit from an explanation and lore/info dump.

I get that there is merit to some things being implicit, like a Keyblade wielder can have multiple Keyblades, but only summon one at a time, but with how wishy-washy everything else is, I'd prefer that stuff to be spelled out.

I'd also appreciate some consistency, if Sora was chosen by his Keyblade the others should have been too. It'd have been cool if one their journey through the RoD, Riku had been recognized by a Keyblade of Darkness and chosen as it's wielder instead of just randomly getting a new one out of nowhere.

The North American branch said it’d be out in NA before Re Mind. Everywhere else could be screwed over lol

Also:

Well yozora as secret boss confirmed.
xion is part of the data fights.
xion and master xehanort are the most difficult ones.
6 new abilities

Guy translating

Thats Goldpanner, not some guy lol

And Goldpanner’s translations are so good, Square Enix even uses her terminology in the Kingdom Hearts games (Foretellers, Chirithy).

Yeah I just noticed she was a mod a second ago. xD


SORRY GOLD!

Agree with you but I mean people should not take Sora move and attacks in gameplay seriously it’s really exaggeration and fan service since in cutscenes I never seen him fight like that it’s us that control him and make him look OP not the actual story which makes him just a decent keyblade wielder like the other ones we played with and no more then that.

So did PVP and that's absolutely hilarious. Nomura is so hot on making everything canon, and he's constantly telling the fanbase to figure things out, but when the fans do that people get mad.

It's only plot hole, y u heff 2 b mad

I figured it’s like “you need two hearts to awaken the ability. Once it’s awakened, you always have it.” That’s what I’m going to tell myself anyway. That and it’s a gameplay mechanic so it doesn’t need a full explanation. Kind of like Aqua not actually having cat ears and glowing wings while in the realm of darkness (although it would have been cool if it took data from your 0.2 save to add those in her cutscenes before you rescue her).

Xion as hard as old man Xehanort? I already got murder numerous times by my boi Roxas in KH2FM now my daughter is going to have her turn in destroying me too? I can't wait :D

Also that there are canon concert scenes and that if Sora ever did appear in Smash, it would likely be canon and explained away somehow. And that in KHUX even the medal mechanics are canon

I realized I could use the Fast Pass code to make my time through Critical less stressful lol

So Xehanort the leader and Xion the final SoD are naturally the most challenging. Maybe Xion will summon her armor from 358 2 Days

I hope so, just for the sake of the voice lol.
it was really cool under the armor

I didn't read all of the pages, but I'd just like to point out that everyone is stressed out about dual wielding when we NEVER got a proper explanation on how the Keyblades in general work in the first place.

Originally back in KH1 there was only one Keyblade: THE Keyblade, the one Sora used. We knew it was meant for Riku but then Sora earned his. Mickey got his, but at the time we didn't know he was actually a proper wielder too, just that his Keyblade was from the Realm of Darkness.

Then Days had Sora and Roxas SIMUTANEOUSLY using the Kingdom Key. Not Ventus Keyblade taking the form of the Kingdom Key, but the actual damn thing. And then Xion and Roxas after Sora went into hibernation, and then Xion gets her own Keyblade.

Birth By Sleep then happened and we found out about the inheritance, but it was never properly explained how it worked either: With Kairi's it seems like what she got was the power to wield one and not Aqua's Keyblade as a whole, while with Riku and Terra we know it's his actual Keyblade being passed on. And again, he uses it just fine when he comes back even though the actual thing is with Sora right now.

X and Union X show us that the MoM forges the first Keyblades as an imitation of the Chi Blade, but we never get proper explanations for that whole method either.

My point being: we all just kind of go along with the justification that people dual wielded in the past because they had more than one heart within them, but it was never flat out stated that this is the only way to do so or anything.

We have seen new Keyblade users pop up without having to go through Inheritance cerimony nor having their Keyblades forged by a Union Leader (Sora, Data-Sora, Xion, Repliku, Lea, theorically Roxas as well).

We barely have any rules explaining how the Keyblade work or what the powers of a Master are because Birth By Sleep and X never took the time to do so and the entire Xehanort saga had Sora do things without the guidance of a master.

This isn't even a situation where Nomura has to retcon anything because there were never any stablished rules in the first place, just a bunch of fan assumptions that we just kinda took as rules with time.

(And I'm not saying this is wrong because I definitely did that as well and it's the game's fault in the first place for not stablishing things)

Yeah this is basically the issue. In KH1 the basic explanation they gave was enough for the story, but at some point they should have developed and established the Keyblade and it's lore more concretely. At the moment it's just the McGuffin that can do whatever whenever needed. We've had multiple good opportunities to fix that, but neither BBS, DDD nor KH3 felt the need to take the opportunity.

Same goes for the Princess of Hearts and the powers they possess. What we got works for a short one of story, but not an ongoing one. But I feel it's intentional so that the writers have more flexibility moving forward.

Also the thing with the two hearts isn't just a fan theory, but something that Nomura stated outside of the games in interviews. Needing to hearts was the only way we were told someone can wield. Over the years aspects of the Keyblade were introduced then dropped to not really be relevant any more. Like the Keyblade choosing someone, well now some people are just handed new ones or you can forge a new one out of your heart.

To be honest, most of the time we get canonical information it's very rare for it to be precise, canonical lore from the hands of Nomura himself. Most of the time we just have what is stablished in the games but from the very start it was showcase that the characters themselves have limited knowledge of things, with us believing in Ansem and in his reports only for two games later we find out Ansem was a fake.

In the case of the Keyblade, I believe the other characters were choosen by theirs as well; It's not like they were forged in the same vein as the generic wielders from the Era of Fairytales.

But yeah, I feel like we as a fanbase really need to reread things and actually take the time to separate what is PROPER canon lore and what we just assumed as a collective hivemind through the years, really. And even with canon lore things can't always be 100% trusted because information in-universe is always changing because Kingdom Hearts deals a lot with science and things having to be proven and tested, even if it the method isn't always necessarily correct by our standarts, lol.

We always took the Dual Wield aspect as something incredible because, visually speaking, it's really cool. But in-universe the characters never really reacted wildly to it, just like we never really had Sora be astounished by the things Lingering Will does with his Keyblade (unlike us players). Heck, no one even really cared about Roxas dual wielding in the Graveyard.

Sora had access to Ventus Keyblade, and probably Roxas and Xion as well. The same goes for Roxas, except replacing his with Sora's, obviously. As Nomura himself stated that characters have used the same Keyblade simutaneously before, I'll assume the same thing is happening here: Sora is simutaneously using someone else's Keyblade alongside his own for the form change.

Yeah, it'd be great, if someone could go through the games and collect all the information we get through out the games high light, which ones are disproven later and which ones are just hinted at.

Though honestly i do think it'd help, if we'd get a game that would just sit us down and give us a proper description of what the keyblade can do and how the different types differ from one another. It doesn't have to reveal all it secrets and new elements could still be introduced, but we'd at least understand what the basic rules of it are.

The glossaries we get kinda just dance around it.

I've loved those keyblades since KH1

I'm gonna go with the explanation that Dual Wielding is an ability that can be awakened with having two hearts, and it stays with you even if the other heart is gone.

That or the simultaneous keyblade usage thing returns.

OTHER than that, I'm also gonna see this the same way I see absorbing party members for Drive Forms in KH2 and DMC5's Irregular Full Custom ability. Purely gameplay-based.

And as for Roxas, I'd chalk it up to Ansem the Wise's data on him having dual wielding as part of it.

The Keyblade that Sora has now, isn't Terra's, it's the Keyblade given by the Realm of Light, even through all of the retcons that hasn't changed. Riku was in line for Terra's but the worlds gave him a Keyblade because they were in trouble and he was a Keyblade wielder in the Realm of Light (retcons are very confusing.) It's only because the Keyblade that Sora has is so special that it could change users to a non-user like Sora, or even flip-flop between him and Riku. I thought Nomura would just forget about that and make it disappear with the new canon, but then in 0.2 he references it through Mickey, which kind of makes things even more murky.

.. What are you talking about, lol. All Keyblades we've seen are Keyblades from the Realm of Light, Mickey's Kingdom Key D being the only know one to come from the realm of Darkness.
Sora's Keyblade is flat out stated to be Terra's and there's nothing special about the Kingdom Key keychain as far as we currently know, Sora's achievments having to do with him and not his specific Keyblade.
The reason he got the Keyblade when Riku wasn't avaiable is most likely because of Ventus heart making him fit to wield one, and then later on it choose him by it's own will (however Keyblade wills work, anyways).

Then maybe this second keyblade could be the one gifted to Sora through the realm of light in addition to Terra's. Or maybe when Sora made contact with Ephemer and jumped on the keyblades in the keyblade graveyard another one was granted to him.

Since when is Sora's Keyblade Terra's? He still has his own Keyblade available to him. The inheritance ceremony does not pass down actual specific Keyblades.

Yeah I was confused by that too. I remember Terra choosing Riku to receive a Keyblade and the Lingering Will being confused why Sora had a Keyblade when he chose Riku to and not him.
I don't recall Sora's Keyblade ever being said to be Terra's but I can't rule out a interview stating that being out there.

This DLC is really making me lament waiting until I got Ultima before heading into Critical (screw the sledding mini-game!)

Reminds me of some "Why doesn't every Avenger get an Iron Man suit" arguments I've seen. :P

I was actually under the impression that Sora's orginal keyblade was Ven's, especially because the kingdom key is half of the Xblade, appearing in his time of need and eventually accepting him over time. It seems the only evidence that Sora's keyblade was Terra's was that Riku was somewhat able to manipulate it in the first game, eventually taking it away from him for a short period.

But if we're to believe that Sora was granted his first keyblade because he was accepted by Ven's keyblade I don't think it would be a far cry to say the same thing could have happened for Roxas' or Xion's heart. The obvious problem this would introduce is "can keyblade's be duplicated?" And being that we don't know how they're made or where they come from it's impossible to say. So personally I don't care, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief at Sora duel wielding keyblades until these answers become more clear

I understood that it was his ctual Keyblade because of what Lingering Will says, yeah. It makes no sense for him to be able to sense that Sora "isn't the one" if his Keyblade had nothing to do with him in the first place, specially since he did not recognize him in the first place. It's not like LW was just waiting for Riku to show up at the graveyard either.

Plus, Riku being able to take his Keyblade away. Although we have seen other Keyblade wielders pick up someone else's Keyblades before, that specific situation was the only time I can remember we've seen the Keyblade actually be taken by force and through materialization instead of just grabbing it physically mid-fight.

But it doesn't surprise me if I'm wrong here since they never bothered to explain how the whole Keyblade-Ownership works lol

I never said that it was from the Realm of Light (which it is) I stated that it was given BY the Realm of Light. That's how it is explained in the first game, and in 0.2 Mickey alludes to the fact that the Keyblade in the Realm of Light that Sora wields is the counterpart to the Kingdom Key D, the Keyblade that is important to the Realm of Darkness. That's why it's so weird (and I thought that was why everyone was weirded out by) that the Kingdom Key D is broken and then mixed with the Star Seeker because KKD was Plot Important in the first game, and because 0.2 was right before 3 and he called attention back to the KKD and it's origins why then have it break and then be mixed with a Keyblade from the Realm of Light?