FACE TO FACE WITH MALEFICENT - Kingdom Hearts (Part 19)

[@alextherucksack]

Now that know Kairi’s heart was in Sora and that she is from Hollow Bastion heres a cool Easter egg. If you remember back to Deep Jungle, when Jane was showing slides to Tarzan the scene pauses on a castle. Then Sora thinks to himself that it feels familiar even though he has never left his islands before. That was Kairi’s heart resonating to the picture because it reminds her of Hollow Bastion.

[@SamTheMarioMan]

4:49 I can't blame Evan for this one, cause it took me a *very* long time to figure out that you have to use the Gravity spell to bring down those floating chests. It feels so obvious once you know what to do, but otherwise, since you've never had to use Gravity outside of battle, you might not think to do it. Speaking of, Gravity is super useful against enemies with big health bars, so I'd recommend trying it out!

[@Gestrid]

Yeah, this is definitely one of the more obscure things about the game. Those chests were, in fact, defying gravity.

[@Derpaholic_rex_games-wr2pw]

@@Gestrid and there is a gravity chest in that "prison" so its a nested riddle

[@pawngrabber4853]

Since you couldnt skip the cutscenes in the original version. There is now a whole generation that knows ansems speech word by word...

[@blivveries]

I feel like a lot of long-time Kingdom Hearts fans kinda forget that up until he reveals himself as a villain here, Ansem is supposed to be a good guy you're searching for. All you really know about him is that he's a researcher who vanished during his studies of the heart, and you learn this from Leon and the gang, who think his reports might help in the fight against the Heartless. Then he shows up here, embracing the darkness, and you learn the truth...

[@NessBrawl64]

Slight spoilers for what's ahead, but I really like how Ansem's Reports play into this twist too (outside #11-13, which were added in Final Mix to set up later games). You get the odd-numbered ones from almost all the Disney villains you beat and if you read them as soon as you get them, they just show him as someone interested in the heart, the heartless and other worlds. Then you get almost all the even-numbered reports at once - you only miss #8, which can only be gotten after this by beating Hades - and they suddenly repaint everything you know about him in a more sinister light. It really goes from "this guy knows more than we do, interesting info" to "how did I not see he's the villain?", and all it changes is that you learn _how_ he got that knowledge.

[@SamTheMarioMan]

It's interesting how every Disney villain who was in the council (with the exception of Hook, who's the only one without access to magic, and Hades, who we haven't fought yet) has 2 fights in a row: a regular one, and then one where they transform into something huge. And now here we are, at the 2 hardest boss fights in the game (that aren't superbosses). I personally think Dragon Maleficent is just a little bit harder than Ansem-Riku, but the latter is way more infamous for one big reason: unskippable cutscenes in the original KH1. Lol it's part of the reason why Ansem being a twist villain is so well-known: We all had to hear "It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness" *so many times*

[@godzilla4189]

Ansem: "Whats 2 Plus 2?" Sora: "Well, thats easy, it's" Ansem: "Darkness" Ansem: "Who's my favorite character in Super Smash Bros?" Ansem: "Dark Ness."

[@edmg7]

Evan, you and everyone else who played Final Mix first are so lucky. All of us who played the PS2 version have the “It is I Ansem, the seeker of darkness!” scene tattooed to our brains because the fight took multiple tries and we couldn’t skip scenes.

[@jonathanrobinson198]

The treasure chest on the platforms come down with gravity magic. I think the gimmick exists souly to clue the player in to use gravity magic on Maleficent’s platform. It also really hurts dragon form.

[@tobex6626]

As a literal child, I figured that out instantly lol or at least tried it just for the lolz and got excited it worked. Felt like a child genius haha

[@_Lis25]

Man figured out that but not Maleficent platform being pulled down XD

[@dylanswift479]

Sora finally faces Disney’s most iconic villain

[@SamTheMarioMan]

Maleficent really does not disappoint with her fights! It is so much fun fighting a very competent sorceress and hearing her wicked laughter throughout, and while her dragon form is an absolute nightmare to beat, it's also an awesome fight

[@Lavacrust]

I agree, Riku is definitely the most iconic!

[@BGTitanAvatar]

My earliest memories of KH are watching the preview on my Snow White VHS and seeing Maleficent in her dragon form while this scrawny little kid swung around a big key with epic music playing in the background. I was sold. Though I accidentally ended up buying KH2 by mistake, and was thus very confused.

[@temuror3816]

For those who struggle with Dragon Maleficent, you actually have a secret weapon at your disposal, wich can easily turn her from a nightmare to a pushover: STOP! As long as you have lots of mp to use, & items to replenish it back, you can completely freeze Maleficent with the Stop spell. The fight can just boil down to you stopping her, whacking her for a while, stopping her again, and repeat. And really, with how long i was stuck on her during my first time playing this game, cheesing her is so satisfying... You won't find any trick for Riku/Ansem, unfortunately. Either get good or get lost.

[@JJ_R]

The “Everlasting Darkness” line is another one that was meme’d due to the original’s lack of skippable cutscenes. Everlasting darkness is not welcome in doors.

[@godzilla4189]

Not to mention "Kairi's Inside Me?" for....other reasons. XD

[@SamTheMarioMan]

Similarly, there's "Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness!" Funny how the 2 most infamous cases of unskippable cutscenes both involve Ansem-Riku talking a lot!

[@Gestrid]

"What is up with Keri?" "She is inside you." "Oh my."

[@RedOnYouTube]

I’m so use to nearly 100 episodes playthroughs that being near the end already feels weird

[@misstressfoxtail05]

"There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" I heard that line so many times back in the day. Took me forever to beat this guy.

[@senior12MdN]

back on the ps2, when they didn't have the skip scene button... omg nightmare flashbacks lol

[@topherfugate1844]

In this episode evan becomes the first person to ever defeat Maleficent without using magic. I don't know whether to be impressed or disappointed.

[@SamTheMarioMan]

In my first playthrough I didn't use magic either, and though I died a lot, I eventually beat both of her fights!

[@senior12MdN]

this guy refuses to use magic lol

[@Gestrid]

You're supposed to use magic on her? I just used Tinkerbell and hit her till she died like Evan did. Actually, this specific fight is one of the reasons why I brought up Tinkerbell's summon ability in a comment a few episodes back.

[@Derpaholic_rex_games-wr2pw]

tbh i'm much more surprised by the healing donald/ adds. never seen anyone do that before, as people tend to realize pretty quickly its worthless to try to keep them up

[@rpgrage7711]

Now open the door LEAD ME INTO EVERLASTING DARKNESS the final dark riku fight is no joke and going almost immediately after the dragon maleficent fight these 2 battles are fantastic

[@iterbolt]

A yes, the classic getting hard carried by tinkerbell in the maleficent fight. Also the iconicly difficult Riku/Ansem fight, this one took me 9 tries and getting the colliseum keyblade to beat him on proud. Good luck.

[@SciRei7H3dEG3NeR4T3]

Damn, if only there was a world that introduced solo combat. lol

[@thejester4130]

So yeah, tinker bell is great, constant healing and lets you keep your party members. Also while you didnt see it, she says with you until you die, because if you die she revives you then vanishes

[@SamTheMarioMan]

I only ever beat one of the superbosses (the one in Agrabah) because I had Tinkerbell with me, to revive me when the boss did his helicopter spin attack. She is quite literally a lifesaver!

[@thejester4130]

@SamTheMarioMan oh that one, I've beaten all the super bosses at least once, but man, as a magic user, I loathed that one. At a certain point, I got more used to using cure and then potions, so that boss was a rough fight for me

[@Derpaholic_rex_games-wr2pw]

tinker + aero is the real way to do this fight

[@marberg4749]

This riku bossfight is my childhood nightmare. This neverending unskippable cutscene in 2002 made me cry

[@jamestatsumi7095]

If you take that fireglow to the Fairy Godmother at Merlin's house, you'll be able to summon a dragon to fight with you.

[@magicalarthur2555]

The Ball Heartless are literally called Dark Balls

[@marifolio]

You think Maleficent ever regretted bringing Riku on, and thus eventually started the chain of events tgat would lead to her heart getting stabbed with that funky keyblade.

[@veebehamfil]

How fitting y'all are fighting off Maleficent when it just so happens to be the 66th anniversary of her origin movie's release (she's truly iconic and Sleeping Beauty is my childhood favorite movie, it just looked way too gorgeous...) :0

[@destinydivided8689]

I just realize the balloon heartless look a little like Shinigami's ghost form Ansem got corrupted? Flea- Nooooooo! Not again! Ahhhhhhhhh!

[@petertilton7004]

You might want to dedicate the next part to a bit of cleanup because once you beat Ansem Riku all heartless get stronger and relocated to different worlds. Might I suggest trying the Pegasus cup, and Hercules cup if you have unlocked it.

[@NessBrawl64]

Reminder that in the original PS2 version, cutscenes were unskippable. Due to this, DARKNESS... THE TRUE DARKNESS! and THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE TAKING KAIRI'S HEART are two lines I won't forget for the rest of my life. Congrats on beating Dragon Maleficent on your first serious attempt (2nd try, but you barely saw anything on Round 1, so it's fair to count Round 2 like that). But good luck next time, you'll need more than that to win, but I hope you at least have it. A few other things of note: - Fireglow is a summon gem. I won't spoil who they are, but since you also got Naturespark back in 100 Acre Wood (and iirc Watergleam in Monstro), you should now have every summon in the game. Just go talk to the Fairy Godmother again (back in Merlin's House) and you'll unlock them. - Apparently I misremembered and turns out you can't use Tinker Bell when Sora's alone, but you still have Aero in your magic shortcuts, so you should either start using that or switch it for another spell. It reduces your damage taken while it's up, that + Tinker Bell often makes you near unkillable

[@DarthSpiderMario]

I don’t think it’s controversial to say Beast is the best guest party member in this game. And that both Maleficents and especially Riku-Ansem are some of the harder mandatory boss fights.

[@jamatthews83]

Bro just hates Isaac Newton.

[@EmDingaming]

Nice play. What do you do with the chests on platforms that defy the laws of gravity?

[@Gestrid]

Sonic Blade is not doing it for you here. You used it three times and only git his health bar down by about half of the first bar.

[@DarthSpiderMario]

I feel like Ali would enjoy Fire Emblem with how many dragons there are in it.

[@Gestrid]

Yep, this game's done handholding you with these boss fights. Time to git gud. This is legitimately one of the hardest main story fights in the game. (And, for some people, _the_ hardest fight.)

[@felixthecat5333]

You really need to get rid sonic blade cause it just wastes your ability to heal with cure

[@senior12MdN]

please stop trying to make the Sonic attack work lol. its terrible. Aero and Cure could get you through anything in the game