Kingdom Hearts II - #5 - Vacation Over

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Playlist ► • Kingdom Hearts II
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Edited by Carrie Floyd
♫ “Dearly Beloved (LoFi Hip Hop Remix)” by Dj CUTMAN
smarturl.it/Dea...

[@Cuix]

Sora being just full of overwhelming joy when reunited with his friends is such a hilariously potent gut punch when Roxas *just got martyred* to make it possible, and none of them have a clue.

[@SkyeFyre2131]

Thank you for finally putting into words why that happy reunion always seemed so somber to me.

[@zeemod1556]

Just like real life, Summer vacation only feels like it was a week long

[@cyndaquilllover4807]

Zeemod155 so true

[@sjames551]

The fight against Axel was an INSANE hype moment for me as a little kid when I first played this game. Everything before that had felt fairly mundane, and of course there was the feeling of frustration at not being able to just move on and play as Sora already, but then that music comes on, Roxas whips out _two freakin' keyblades_ and we just get to go to town on one of the guys who has been giving us so much trouble in the game so far! It was an incredible moment, and I still get chills down my spine whenever I hear that music playing.

[@starlight_circuitry]

Yeah! Such a great fight!

[@xianartman]

sjames551 it was nice to give Roxas a battle to fight as himself, even though he had to fight his friend. Oh, right in the feels again.

[@MarzipanPie23]

*TWO?!* Gets me hyped every time, and dual wielding as Roxas feels just incredible.

[@Jonjon13Jonjon13]

I fell in love with Roxas the moment Axel mentions he's the nº 13 of Organization XIII. I've always loved number thirteen, so that moment was like EXCUSE ME WHAT

[@Athados1]

@@MarzipanPie23 Until you find out why he has two keyblades, and then you get sad

[@ayme9153]

"Donald, are you dreaming about casting the least helpful spell ever? Instead of healing me? I bet you are..."

[@thunderthebright8469]

Please note that the recipe for Ultima Weapon is currently in the mansion, right next to the pod where the gang slept. I guess Sora just forgot to open the chest.

[@xianartman]

Thunder the Bright maybe another visit to the mansion is in order. 😬😅

[@YamiKyougi13]

I mean...can you blame him? He's spent the last 7 days just remembering his own name.

[@raupy_prince]

When he says the line.... :'( I still remember actually being miffed about going back to Sora when I played this for the first time, I was busy being sad about Roxas and he just hopped in there all happy and not knowing a thing

[@MegaSpideyman]

Yeah, I definitely get that.

[@Morvelaira]

TIL: Kylo Ren learned anger management techniques from Roxas.

[@unversedhero6028]

Kylo Ren confirmed to be a KH fan.

[@charliec.1347]

Unversed Hero Star Wars confirmed for KH3

[@JimmyWuffster]

Don't know if you noticed Dan, but the command menu when you're in the room with Namine uses a Castle Oblivion card as the cursor ;)

[@xianartman]

Jimmy Wolf just the little highlighter for each option! Wow! I didn’t notice, and playing before I missed all of CoM so I didn’t think anything of that, but that is cool.

[@funnysillyclown]

24:21 that's actually a really cool effect to immerse the player with Roxas.

[@BariTengineer]

At the beginning you discussed how you thought the intro sequence in Twilight Town enhances the rest of the games. I think it's similar to the Harry Potter books. In those you always start with the Dursleys in the non-magical world before the story proper starts and you're whisked away to the magical world. I think the Twilight Town section has a similar effect. The first few days where you act like a "normal" kid ground the story and give you a sense of what these worlds are like when they aren't falling apart because of heartless and nobodies. Seeing this "normal" town gives a stronger sense of what Mickey, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are all fighting for.

[@ingonyama70]

It's also a nice intro to the character of Roxas. Getting to know him as he sees himself really opens the door to who and what Nobodies actually are, and his personality in the prologue casts an interesting light on claims made throughout the rest of the game.

[@timothymclean]

Exactly. Establishing the protagonist's "normal world" is a ridiculously common trope across genres and media. It's all but required for any story which is initiated by upsetting the protagonist's status quo...which is most of them. The one place it doesn't seem to be common is video games, specifically because they're so much more worried about boring the audience.

[@Shoop400]

Timothy McLean Yet I can't help but feel that a segment like this would have worked wonders for Final Fantasy XIII. Being able to get the necessary worldbuilding and character backstory BEFORE everything goes to hell for the characters so we can actually care about them.

[@pyrosianheir]

Yeah, I just wish it didn't drag quite as much as it does.

[@IncredibleMD]

@@timothymclean I think part of the problem is that the very concept of "a normal world" in a Kingdom Hearts game is just... bizarre. Kairi is wearing a SCHOOL UNIFORM. Implying that THESE KIDS GO TO SCHOOL. The idea of Sora and Riku in math class is just infinitely more bizarre than Sora and Riku fighting in Hollow Bastion.

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Jiminy in COM: "OH NO! MY JOURNAL IS BLANK!" Jiminy in KH2: "'Thank Naminè' I wonder who that is? Oh well."

[@MrAuthor3DS]

This is...one of the things that annoys me about KH2's story in retrospect. There's so many things our main group sees and never really figures out at all here - that or it takes them a REALLY long time in this game before they realize things that we players/viewers knew since the start.

[@levilukeskytrekker]

Y'all, I got a problem. I like Roxas way more than Sora now. The game's spent so much time bonding us with him, I'm actually kind of disappointed we're returning to our usual protagonist.

[@thunderthebright8469]

Don't worry, we'll get *plenty* of time with him in 358/2 days.

[@nicolle2126]

i've been the same for 10 years

[@TheBoundFenrir]

Thus was the curse of Kingdom Hearts: forever after this game, fans couldn't get enough of Roxas. Somehow, in these few short hours, he outshone the protagonist who had 3 whole games (including this one) to make his way into our hearts.

[@pyrosianheir]

Um... Spoiler Tag. Do not read passed here if you want to be completely blind to later entries. GOOD NEWS, then. As of the last trailer, Roxas is officially coming back for 3. They show a quick shot of him back in his old O XIII coat.

[@TheBoundFenrir]

pyrosianheir Advice: add an extra enter to your post so that the spoilers are hidden behind the "read more" tag.

[@psyched1804]

According to the end of Chain of Memories, DiZ swiped a few coats from Castle Oblivion for Riku and Mickey on their way out. So I have to ask: Why did they have a Mickey Mouse shaped coat in the first place?

[@xianartman]

Patrick Thomas (Spoilers...maybe?) I think you could surmise that Mickey knows a few good tailors.

[@kurtisharen]

I only really looked back on the PS2 version where everything was a bit more low-res, but I always figured he just cut ear-holes in the hood. I mean, he is carrying a KeyBLADE, you can assume there's got to be some sort of sharp end on it somewhere. Maybe like an axe, the little sticky-out part on the end?

[@MarzipanPie23]

The coats conform to fit the wearer (we see this in action with Riku).

[@Arexion5293]

I find it interesting how every Org member specific nobody sort of hints about the powers and the nature of their masters quite a bit. Assassins, the nobodies that swim in the floor belong to Axel, and their floor swimming ability is nod towards his ability to jump in and out of flames, while the name 'Assassin' sort of refers to Axel's role in the organization. Of course their looks and abilities don't perfectly reflect their host's abilities, but the implications are quite clear, like with how the nobody has spiked limbs that can stretch, trying to mimic the way Axel throws his Chakrams around. And then there's that one ability they use when they've been damaged enough... Foreshadowing, this series has loads of it.

[@mariacargille1396]

That's a super cool detail! I'd never made that connection before

[@brgkotme]

A decade of games later and in retrospect I think the introduction is my favorite part of the game now

[@pinkwings8036]

I always enjoy being Roxas, if all else for his version of the Twilight Town theme (yes, Roxas and Sora get different background music!). It's so warm and comfortable that it makes the prologue flow all the better.

[@Teh10Sorrow]

Can you imagine how weird it must be for Sora waking up in basically a new body, going from boy to teen. He suddenly is allot taller, limbs longer and voice is allot deeper. That would be so confusing to get use to.

[@ryapowa]

It was only a year, it's not like he went to sleep at 11 and woke up at 15, he was 14 when he fell asleep and 15 afterwards

[@shadeknight6537]

And the results are in! 5 parts and just shy of 3 hours to reach the title screen. If you bet on 5 parts, congratulations! You win nothing!

[@NoobishNoob1]

How do you know the mansion has seen better days when you've never been there before? Maybe they wanted it that way...... and MAYBE you're being plain rude MISTER!!!

[@TheGamedawg]

Set Donald Cure to be used in only special situations if you want him to stop wasting it as much. That will make it so he'll only use it when someone's at low health.

[@Arexion5293]

24:34 Considering how the cutscene cuts over here and then fades in to another cutscene makes it seem like at some point in development they had considered making a Diz boss fight. The game has way longer cutscenes than this, so that sudden cut seems a little odd, and the way the last key frame stays makes it seem as if music was supposed to start building up at that moment, leading to the transition into a fight. But it's honestly pretty obvious why a boss fight doesn't exist here. We just had our climactic fight of the story arc, it'd be odd to have another fight, especially when it's only purpose is to display Roxas' anger while Diz merely toys with him. It'd honestly feel a very confused taste in the player's mouth and wouldn't work well as an ending to a story.

[@albertilloman]

Just realised that when Roxas is in the "Mansion", the cursor of the menu of "attack", "item", etc. is a card like the ones of Chain of Memories. Nice touch there.

[@funnysillyclown]

Looks like Sora's gonna need some new pants haha

[@xianartman]

SaraBLQ they may need to do something about that 😅 (he says knowingly...)

[@hadriennogueira3726]

17:55 roxas did it before Kylo Ren made it cool

[@ingonyama70]

Yay for the return of the King's Fools! Honestly, it took me a few playthroughs of the game, but I eventually did warm up to Roxas's intro. Especially since last night was my first time beating the end boss in about...yikes, twelve years. And I was already in my 20s. I feel oooooooold. Contrasting Roxas with Sora is fascinating. With all the time we've spent with Sora, especially compared with the relatively shorrt period we spent with Roxas, Sora never seemed to give off much of a personality of his own until this game. Stuff happened TO him, rather than the story focusing ON him, even in Chain of Memories. But now that we have Roxas, he serves as an interesting frame of reference. Roxas is much more like a normal teenager than Sora. While both are kind, good-hearted kids, Roxas can be more moody, uncommunicative, and worse at dealing with his emotions. He takes rivalries much more seriously; look at how he interacts with Hayner and Seifer compared to how Sora and Riku interacted in the first game, before their friendship was really tested and cemented. However, he does *very clearly* feel things, and feel them strongly, as we saw in this very chapter. He also seems somewhat asexual/aromantic; neither Olette nor Namine seemed to stir any romantic interests in him, though I might be reading too much into that one. Sora, by contrast, wears his heart on his sleeve. Maybe partly due to the Destiny Islands being such an idyllic place, Sora's kind and uncomplicated, perhaps not the most perceptive person in the world (though we will meet even more naive and gullible characters later on...I'm looking at you, Master 'I-Never-Met-A-Villain-I-Didn't-Fall-For' Terra), but he's optimistic and upbeat, almost to a fault, and even when he's sad or upset about things, it's usually transitory and something he gets past quickly. He has an amazing resolve and seems impervious to any sort of lasting angst, something that I truly envy. Sora definitely DOES have a romantic streak in his feelings for Kairi, but it's very chaste kid's stuff, even after they grow into teens. This is all stuff we took for granted in the first two games, but having a different protagonist really highlights where Sora stands out as a protagonist, and makes me appreciate him better, as well as liking Roxas much more than I initially did.

[@starlight_circuitry]

Yeah, it's a really cool way to use the weird Nobody stuff for a character foil in a way that goes even beyond what they could show with separate people (say, Sora and Riku), and I cannot get enough of that sort of thing. Re: Roxas's orientation, I definitely don't think it's a reading to much in to at least say Roxas doesn't read as straight (although to be fair I might think that just because he's my favorite character). Particularly since Sora's relationship with Kairi, romance and all like you said, is such a big part of him. It would be reasonable to think that since we can see that connections to Sora's heart also link to Roxas's and vice versa because they're two sides of the same coin, that would show up in Roxas too. But though there is clearly some bond between Roxas and Naminé that kind of reflects Sora and Kairi, the romance isn't there (and Roxas refers to Kairi as "the girl he likes", too, removing himself from that equation). Also, it's specifically said that Sora gets nervous around girls in general, and Roxas doesn't seem to. So it doesn't feel like a stretch to me that that could be because Roxas just doesn't like girls like that--and the logical corollary, though with less direct textual evidence: Naminé doesn't like guys. I know some people read Roxas's relationship with Axel as romantic, which, I am not a fan of that interpretation because Roxas is a Teen and Axel seems like Not (also a lot of it is straight people fetishizing gay folks which makes it even worse), and that's usually the context I've seen people speculating about his orientation. I haven't seen anyone bring up him being ace/aro, but I am a fan of that interpretation.

[@xianartman]

There is the personality categories of thinker and feeler. Sora is a high feeler, Roxas is his mirror image as a pure thinker. Both have similar personalities, however their reactions are different to everything. Even in how they move to open chests. Sora has always gently double tapped a chest, kindly and unique. Roxas swipes the keyblade quickly once across the top. At least that is how Sora used to open, I forget if he changes after this. As to romance, both Roxas and Sora are still too young. Sora is still a long ways from all grown up. Sora just wears his heart on his sleeve as you have said. I think of Roxas being a thinker is compounded by being a nobody who by nature are supposed to be near blank when it comes to emotion (same goes for Namine) however I think he still shows loyalty and cares for his friends. He seemed to obviously be closer to Namine over even Axel as she could talk to him in his head. Yes this was through the simulation, however Namine broke back in just to encourage him before he would fade. I really enjoy Roxas and I am looking forward to seeing more of him, even if it is in other games.

[@unversedhero6028]

You lost me the moment you started talking about his sexuality, sometimes friends are just friends. Romance was nowhere near the focus of Roxas's story, so mentioning it serves no purpose.

[@rmsgrey]

People can be interested in romantic relationships with the opposite sex, but not be interested in specific individuals. Roxas treating Olette, Namine and Kairi the way Sora treats Selphie, Aerith and Belle is hardly evidence of his deeper preferences. I think his sexuality/romantic preferences are undeveloped, but that doesn't mean they're absent, just that he hasn't been a position to explore the concept yet.

[@jon9828]

@@rmsgrey With Aerith and Belle we're talking a hefty age difference I think. The parallel doesn't quite hold up. I know people love their smut, or more likely their speculation, but something about this whole discussion makes me profoundly uncomfortable. Like we're discussing the private affairs of someone not present even though that someone is fictional. Irrational emotional response of the day right there. Is it just me that feels that way?

[@Brawph]

I guess with that drawing out of the intro, it made it feel like that much more of a betrayal when we find out that his whole life is a lie implanted by DIZ (unless I'm misunderstanding that), if we didn't have this whole "living" of his life for that long, it probably wouldn't hit so hard. Also I think mostly people want Roxas back because he goes 0 to super badass in the last few minutes of play, pulling out dual keyblades, and showing a glimpse of this hidden past that gives him so much more depth than Sora's "I lived on an island, I had friends there." backstory that we've had up until this point. Roxas just feels more interesting given his generic backstory was a fakeout. So that loss of power + the switch back to a simpler character feels like a let down in a way it wouldn't have if they swapped without all this reveal.

[@christopherlin1129]

It broke my heart when Roaxs said my summer vacation is over.

[@linkdude09]

I like how Roxas has his own duel-weilding animations. Sora never at any piont uses these animations for his duel-keyblading, so at least Roxas has this over Sora. Also Roxas can Duel-wield without temporairily axeing one or both of his friends Edit: Ok Yes Xion, but umm, you see, ok i forgot about her, can you blame me though, so did Roxas.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Also relevant: Having gone through puberty in the pod, Sora has begun to look like he’s related to Jak from Jak & Daxter. (I should actually play that now that I’ve got my PS2 set up in my apartment, but I’ve also got FF12 and Katamari Damacy now, so...)

[@TheBoundFenrir]

I love how his clothes don't fit him quite right anymore! He's grown up while he was in the pod, but no-one bothered to update his wardrobe as he grew. It's a subtle detail that helps someone who hasn't played 1 or CoM recently to recognize that Sora *has* aged up since the last game.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

TheBoundFenrir also his fingers seem to have gotten a lot longer, and he’s taller relative to Donald and Goofy But yeah, the clothes are the clearest tell. I wonder if there’s going to be a shop along the way where he can get a new outfit.

[@unversedhero6028]

@@MaraK_dialmformara Don't worry, he will get a cool new outfit real soon.

[@thearcanian5921]

18:31 What are you talking about Dan? Nobody is infesting the secret hideout... I'll see myself out...

[@MDHWritesStreams]

I feel like it's a matter of the length. The people who complain about it want to immediately get back to Sora, rather than being confused by the plot with Roxas. After all, whether or not you played Chain of Memories (and in some ways playing that game makes this section WORSE) the story is already MUCH more convoluted and complicated then it was for really the entirety of KH 1. However, to me, they could have gone two ways. One way was to only have the fight against Twilight Thorn, to show off Roxas and show off this larger threat to the world, and then jumped to Sora, or do this extended intro. If they had gone inbetween, you would not have made such a connection to Roxas. You would not believe for him to truly be the main character. You wouldn't feel his tragedy at the end of this. In other words, I HIGHLY approve of the decision to make this long, and on replays, things like the Skip Scene button and knowing that you don't actually have to get to the munny goal help turn what was a 2 hour experience for me when I first played it, into something closer to an hour, with still some really good fights with Axel and Twilight Thorn.

[@Athados1]

I mostly hated the 7 wonders, that was a time waster. It was already clear that the town wasn't quite right, but that felt like a lot of filler just to drive in the point that's already been made

[@w.logancaldwell5129]

26:00 "Whelp... that sure is Mickey Mouse in a trench coat..."

[@superbun277]

Rise and shine, Master Sora. Rise and... shine. Not that I... wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No one is more deserving of a rest... and all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until... well, let's just say your hour has... come again. The right boy in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So, wake up, Master Sora. Wake up and... smell the darkness...

[@tzisorey]

"Too many monitors" Well, you know how it is. Once you've gone over to having multiple monitors, it's difficult to go back to having fewer.

[@timothymclean]

2:30: Roxas is either dull or really nice. He doesn't so much as think of doing anything to Axel while he's frozen! 11:00: I'm gonna go with dull. "You won't disappear!" "I'll...disappear?" "No, dumbass! Y-" 24:00: More evidence for "dull". "This isn't the real me." _keeps slashing_ 32:32: I see Sora's not alone. 19:35: Wait, why does Roxas have two Keyblades now? That's kinda cool, but also kinda silly. 26:00: Which is also worth filing under "kinda cool, but silly". Organization XIII Notes: 15:50: I know, right? How does anyone even get into their chairs? 16:20: Does everyone in the Organization answer questions like that? I bet Organization _IX_ isn't this rude...I mean, assuming it exists. 21:30: D'aww...shame that Organization XII doesn't help its members understand what to do in situations like this.

[@Valtharr]

you think Roxas having two Keyblades is silly? well, at least it's not Sora fusing with Donald and Goofy in order to wield two levitating Keyblades that circle around him while he floats above the ground in a bright white outfit. because that would be just ridiculous, right?

[@kurtisharen]

Okay, I know that I'm not the only person bugged by this, but after Chain of Memories, Jiminy had all the time in the world to write down whatever message he wanted in that damn journal. He knew they weren't going to remember anything, so he decides to write "Thank Namine" with absolutely no context whatsoever! Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. We know that Namine's powers wiped the journal from KH1 when she messed with their memories during the events of Chain of Memories. We can assume that fixing their memories and wiping the ones from Chain of Memories would have wiped any information that had to do with those memories and what happened, and only general statements like "Thank Namine" would have been saved. Still, you can at least have added some context that wouldn't have been wiped! "Thank Namine. She fixed our memories and helped keep us safe while asleep. Here's a sketch of what she looks like." Namine's powers only seem to affect the Journals since they're written by the ones she's actively working on, so ask her to go tape a picture or a sticky note or something to the door so they'd see it on the way out! Have her write a note like the above, if that's still too much information to survive Namine's influences on the Journal.

[@jon9828]

Namines powers are never gonna make sense. They fall into the same box as time-travel in other fiction for me. They're there as a tool for the writer and will always serve the whims of the plot rather than make sense. TLDR: it's just for plot convenience.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Oh well, guess we better search the journal's data.

[@ShakalDraconis]

28:12 Aaaand for folks not playing the Final Mix, that's it for Jiminy Cricket in this game.

[@phyrofox1641]

2:36 "time has completely halted" (looks at clouds drifting by in background) sure

[@CodyKing45]

Just got done doing this ! So cool using Oathkeeper and Oblivion

[@LostInNumbers]

Poor Roxas.

[@xianartman]

LostInNumbers he just had a really rough week.

[@ThePortableTornado]

Yea Roxas is a great character... and tragic as hell.

[@unversedhero6028]

If you think he is tragic, then you might not be ready for the rest of the series... if you have not played through it of course.

[@ThePortableTornado]

@@unversedhero6028 Oh I've played all of them (besides the phone games) and I know the tragedies only get worse lol.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Thoughts! And questions. Least spoilery first. DiZ has a “data-based projection.” Did somebody in the command structure decide the audience wouldn’t know what a hologram was? It seems that everyone with a claim to the Keyblade manifests it differently. Roxas, apparently, dual-wields. (I get the sense that dual-wielding is something a lot of Nobodies do, to reinforce that they’re only “half a person”. And I imagine that, as a Nobody with a Keyblade, Roxas is extremely valuable to the Organization’s search for Kingdom Hearts. (Also notice he’s got a light key and a dark key.) Onward to Big Deal Things So DiZ wants Roxas to go back to being part of Sora, and the Organization wants Roxas to stay himself so they can use him to find Kingdom Hearts. I imagine Roxas managed to put this together. But I want to see more of the decision process; as it is, we don’t get to see him choose his fate the way we get to see Sora, Riku, or even Kurix choose theirs, and we don’t get to say goodbye to Roxas properly, or see what actually happens when he chooses to go back to being part of Sora-or even *if* he chooses, there might be some mystical connection between Being and Shadow that we just don’t know about because no one’s ever survived making a Nobody before, that compels him to just reach out and let himself fall. (Lotta falling in these games, and that’s not a comment on the platforming. Or is it? I suck at platforming.) Namine tells Roxas that they’ll meet again, but not necessarily recognize each other. I can only assume she’s saying Sora and Kairi will find each other. Pence appears to recognize Sora. This doesn’t really help me piece together Roxas’ timeline, but it suggests that they knew each other. (And hey, Twilight Town does exist outside of simulation and/or Castle Oblivion.)

[@jasminesidney8174]

358 days/2 shows that the twilight town crew did meet roxas for a day and hung out with him for a while when he was still part of the org. it's a small thing but it enhances so much.

[@CustardCosmos]

There's a rather sorta specific reason why Roxas wields two Keyblades. Spoilers though.

[@Valtharr]

DiZ wasn't a hologram, though. It was a projection into a VR space. Therefore, a data-based projection.

[@unversedhero6028]

1. They are inside a simulated data version of Twilight Town, his choice of words is the correct one. 2. Not exactly, there is very spoilery reason why Roxas can dual wield. And in about an episode you will see something that ties into that, not an explanation but it will change your mind a bit about how that works. 3. You will have to wait until 358/2 Days for an answer to that. Don't worry, it is a good one, so don't let anyone spoil you on it. 4. Nope, he didn't recognize him, he was just being friendly towards them.

[@scottcampbell4353]

Interesting to note that Roxas's light and dark keyblades arn't just any old keyblades but ones we have seen before and carry some meaning. Oathkeeper the keyblade with kairi's charm as a key chain, and Oblivion a keyblade found in the room where Sora fought Riku/Ansem.

[@hihope2307]

Roxas has a Harry Potter moment when he look at the picture

[@Minihood31770]

I'm still kinda confused, so I can't imagine what it would have been like without chain of memories.

[@adonaiblackwood]

@13:45 great job covering all of her drawings.

[@jonathanfaber3291]

I'm only at 3:10 but is roxas the nobody of Sora? 13:30 I'm now guessing maybe it's the previous key blade holder? Haha! I was right the first time!

[@aradraugfea]

You're right. But... buckle up. Things get COMPLICATED from here.

[@JoeReMi123]

2:33 It's weird that the clouds still move. Would've been a neat touch to make them stop moving as well.

[@ironmilutin]

It only took 5 episodes, but we finally got to the title sequence

[@IncredibleMD]

... Olette... You're such a good girl, being worried about Sora's homework like that. But your worries are misplaced. Sora doesn't even know what homework is, let alone that he had any to do.

[@francescosorce5189]

18:59 - 22:12 I love this part... especially after I know what they had together...

[@francescosorce5189]

Also that double keyblade moment is just TOO EPIC!

[@kurtisharen]

So, they're running out of time and the Nobodies have invaded the simulation en-masse. Why does DiZ still insist on keeping the lab locked up? There's no guarantee that Roxas would decide to find Namine's drawings, copy them onto the table, and open the passage. Hell, for a normal person, it's pretty far-fetched to decide that scribbling on a table would achieve anything, even knowing the lab was there. They'd probably check the statues and each book in the library for a switch, which with the aforementioned time-crunch, would take WAY too long. DiZ: (After watching Roxas pull on books for five hours) FINISH THE PICTURE!!! THE PICTURE WILL OPEN THE PATH!!! *Roxas looks around for the voice, then scribbles something on the table* DiZ: ...Is that? Why would you draw a potato, of all things? You know what, good enough! We're out of time, come on already! (Opens the pathway forward anyways)

[@akiraishin7141]

The only thing I've been thinking through this entire episode is: What? What? Why? Wh-HOW!?

[@alexivan8615]

When i saW all that 🔥fire🔥 i immediately thought, "where's the darn zero card?!"

[@avocadoboy5402]

darn i was hoping we could play as roxas the whole time

[@pyrosianheir]

I gotta say, the on thing I like the most for this bit, other than Roxas himself, is that they make sure that the levels and exp that you get as him actually do matter, which is nice.

[@philippak7726]

I'm a little surprised you didn't use the First Person Camera mode you discovered to get a closer look at the art :3

[@MarzipanPie23]

Speaking of Abilities, are you going to play around with Donald and Goofy's battle styles in the coming episodes, Dan? Makes Donald way more useful.

[@SkyeFyre2131]

Back in the day, the line "Thank Namine" combined with all the information given in the PS2 release of the intro was all the context I'd needed to go without most of CoM. Though the specifics of the middle game were fascinating on its own.

[@hakimdhaou]

"Look's like my Summer Vacation... is over...." Me, who has a Job: I feel ya, buddy...

[@Valtharr]

honestly, the amount of people in the comments who still expect something even *resembling* a straightforward plot is kind of adorable.

[@fionnagatechronicler1088]

Yes. Having the introduction to the game be longer is very good, because it gives the audience a chance to get connected to the characters that we see. The more time you spend with someone the more you're likely to care and the same goes for characters and narrative. In the first game we barely get any time with them before shit hits the fan, which is a story makes it much harder to care. So when Riku goes bad, for example, I at least was like "uh, ok? And?" because we didn't get depth to the dynamics between the trio. Yes, it was the first game and that's always a gamble, but even so. Here we get much more time with Roxas and co as they lace in the mystery of the strange stuff going on. Speaking as a writer, this opening is much better.

[@IncredibleMD]

"Some people feel these introductory *hours* feel a bit too long and drawn out."

[@madhatterhimself181]

Best fight in the entire freakin' series right here. The only flaw with this fight is that it isn't longer! The controls of Roxas in this battle are so amazing that I've been known to purposefully die at the very end of the fight multiple times, just so I could do it all over again! I wish we got far more chances to play with them, and that is without going into the absolutely stunning animation given to Roxas' moves in the battle (GOD! I love Roxas' little twirl of Oblivion when not actually attacking), or the massive narrative impact the fight has. I cannot praise this fight enough!

[@kurtisharen]

Why not just make a separate save right before the fight, so it's available at any time? Hell, if you're playing Final Mix, you can use Critical Mode and EXP Zero to keep your damage output as low as possible so you can drag the fight out a bit more.

[@madhatterhimself181]

Kurtis Haren - Haven't gotten around to playing Final Mix yet, though I do have it now. And have a separate save specifically for the fight? I did actually have that back in the day.

[@ShakalDraconis]

25:35 After 2 hours 45 minutes, the title card!

[@bragbirch287]

Hum, Donald is now vivi and I am honestly entirely fine with that turn.

[@Caterfree10]

With all the Unicorns, I wonder if this mansion is now connected to the leader of the Unicornis (sp?) faction in KHUX? I’m like 12 millions years behind on the game, but I’ve been meaning to find a play through of that (I don’t think you said you were gonna do that game? Wouldn’t blame you if not tho lol).

[@JacksonBockus]

So let me get this straight. The story of Kingdom Hearts 2 so far: Roxas is a Nobody, created from half of Sora, and a member of Organization XIII. DiZ has a vendetta against them, so he puts Roxas into a simulation with a bunch of false memories to create a new personality for Roxas so that he won’t be found. DiZ wants to merge Roxas with Sora so that Sora will be strong enough to defeat O13. As Naminé works on Sora’s memories in the real world, Roxas gets flashes of them as well. Meanwhile Vexen and those white things are trying to get Roxas out from the simulation and back to O13 but he’s lost his memories of that. In the mansion, he regains his memories of his time with O13, gets TWO keyblades, and fights Axel again, then gets mad at DiZ for messing with his head, and merges with Sora as he wakes up. Am I following so far?

[@JacksonBockus]

Also, we’re at like four Ansems: The one Sora beat in KH1, the shadow of him inside Riku from Riku’s story in CoM, DiZ pretending to be Ansem at Riku in CoM, and this black-hooded O13 member (?) who keeps chatting with DiZ.

[@Valtharr]

Ooooh, boy...regarding the Ansem thing...ohhh boyyyy.... especially the "DiZ pretending to be Ansem" part. You...you can't even imagine the irony in saying that...

[@Valtharr]

also, if you're confused by multiple versions of the same character... OH BOYYYYYYYYYYYYY....

[@PlayFramePlus]

Trust me, this will get a LOT worse before it gets better. :P

[@unversedhero6028]

Axel, not Vexen.

[@Soumein]

So, now knowing what we do from CoM, are they still in Castle Oblivion since the mansion was in there? I don't remember the events of KH2 very well; it's been at least a decade. *Plot twist* Every game except KH1 is just Castle Oblivion and didn't really happen!

[@Mikesean45]

Yeah, it always confused me how they hauled that massive pod from Castle Oblivion to Twilight Town.

[@unversedhero6028]

It is implied that the Mansion is one of many places with ties to Castle Oblivion. If you notice the commands when Roxas enters the Mansion it starts resembling the Castle Oblivion design.

[@qwerty77772]

I do like Roxas's story in the beginning, but it might of been a good idea to allow player to skip the prologue for future replays. Interested in what you'll think of 358/2 now, which does have more of this tone and feeling.

[@adnanilyas6368]

Sora, Donald, Goofy. Always in that order, apparently.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Ariel and Rapunzel would beg to differ.

[@rmsgrey]

That battle with Axel showed one of the few issues I have with KH2's combat - that bosses can't be killed with regular attacks - you need a combo finisher or other special attack, so if you have too many combo pluses equipped, you can spend several minutes attacking a boss who has 1HP left only to keep getting parried mid-combo every time...

[@Silverizael]

They try to make 26:50 such a positive, upbeat moment with the music and the laughter and everything. And yet I sit here just so not with it, considering Roxas just freaking died (and yes, Sora absorbing him is him dying, even if he's a disembodied voice in Sora's head).

[@IncredibleMD]

... So... was Jiminy in Sora's pod, or did he get his own pod...?

[@endermage77]

Every time Dan misses a save point on-screen, I wince slightly inside.

[@PlayFramePlus]

There's not much point saving mid-episode, I've found. If something goes wrong with the recording, I have to start over from where the recording started anyhow. :P

[@kailastnam9793]

Wow. I can’t believe I watched 5 episodes of a 3 hour long loading screen.

[@azurmarlinW]

Hi dan :) i'll have dinner with you :)

[@brockmckelvey7327]

A lot of the things in this prologue (and some stuff later on) really made a lot of us think that Roxas was a certified Bad-@$$. I really liked how cool and edgy he was at the time, but then 358/2 Days let us down by making Roxas the exact opposite. Edit: That fight scene with Axel is the real selling point on Roxas being a super awesome dude.

[@salgen1319]

358/2 Days Roxas is best Roxas

[@MrAuthor3DS]

I disagree. The events of 358/2 Days are what molded Roxas into an anti-Organization rebel.

[@DragonxFlutter]

Excuse me, but there's _always_ time for words.

[@charliec.1347]

He got 6 days of summer He got out of bed But above all He ded :'(

[@KneeHub]

Damn I remember grinding the hell out of this game like 5 years ago

[@oakenshadow6763]

I really hate how he treats Nobodies. It's so cruel. He is literally using a crayon. >XD 14:29

[@thaddeusgenhelm8979]

Nanananananana nanananananana Bat Swoooord.

[@dduuddeechil]

Looks like my summer vacation, is over...

[@ImperatorPenguin]

I've done the math... these videos have taken almost three hours for the plot to finally get rolling... THREE... HOURS OF GAMEPLAY AND CUTSCENES! Just for Point A, to get to Point B!

[@ImperatorPenguin]

And for the record that was not Mickey Mouse in a cloak. That was Mickey Mouse in a silly robe... THE THING SIPS UPSIDE DOWN! WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!

[@pinkwings8036]

It's a double zipper, where you can close and reopen from both ends.

[@rmsgrey]

Also to cover the tutorial and give people at least some hints as to what happened in KH1 in case they haven't played it...

[@NevaMoore]

I like the intro. Because I really like Roxas. And I don't rightly know how I feel about the game punching me in the gut with Sora meeting Roxas's friends who don't remember Roxas. I do hope he comes back.

[@knitifine]

I hate that Axel's story is spread over the least likely to be played games, and 'culiminates' in KH2 where he comes off as well... Nobody.

[@alecxisgarcia1990]

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN

[@llamapajamas821]

I never get why Diz refers to Roxas’s heart being tied to sora when as a nobody Roxas doesn’t have a heart. Surely he should know this...

[@charliec.1347]

I can imagine a situation in KH3 where Sora is confused as to what "data" is *Sora*: So there's a bunch of stuff in this world that is made out of "data", such as the Riku Replica, Roxas' Twilight Town, and that projection of Diz, right? *Donald*: Yeah, you can tell because you can see all the ones and zeros when they materialize. *Sora*: Okay, but how was the Riku Replica able to physically damage me in the real world? *Donald*: What do you mean? *Sora*: well, If Riku Replica can hurt me, he must be a physical entity, like a clone or a robot. Vexen says he was made out of data, which would imply that he's a digital entity that doesn't physically exists, like the other Twilight Town. The two are kind of mutually exclusive. Now that I think of it, how exactly did we get to the other twilight town again? *Donald*: we were teleported there by Diz' computer, you could see the ones and zeros as it was happening. *Sora*: That's impossible! We're physical entities, we can't just be "teleported" into a computer program. The only way that would be possible is if the real world was also made up of da- *Sora*: ... *Donald*: What's wrong Sora? *Sora*: ...Holy crap, are we in a video game?

[@AssassinLupus7]

Charlie Christakos Well... to be fair... Spoilers below: They do go into the world from Tron, later.

[@kaptenteo]

I'm very confused about pretty much everything that's happened so far. I have no clue as to the reason for anything that I've seen up until this point.

[@firockfinion3326]

Oh boy, time to get to the meat of the game! yob hO

[@lucianodebenedictis6014]

All those fire effects really fucked up there compression hehe

[@salgen1319]

So, DiZ is basically just racist towards Nobodies?

[@Mikesean45]

Idk, it reminds me of what you said about Riku Replica in Chain of Memories. There's some drama and gives a nice little twist, but ultimately...doesn't actually contribute a whole lot to the story. (I'm talking just KH2, I know it becomes important in later games) And we spend so much time in this town where we only briefly visit again as Sora. I guess I'm saying that it works much better as the ending to Days than as the intro to KH2.

[@unversedhero6028]

The hell are you talking about? That intro is 200% important to KH2.

[@Mikesean45]

Unversed Hero Spoiler: Roxas doesn't really come into play until the end, and even then, its one scene and then Sora and Co. move on. But in terms of the plot of KH2, it really doesn't affect a whole lot. EDIT: I do hear that the Final Mix is better about this, so I guess we'll see, I've never played it.

[@TissueCat]

I'm confused about what's a simulation and what isn't. Twilight Town is a simulation, right? Are Hayner and crew a simulation too, or are they real people that actually exist? Is the mansion a simulation? Was the mansion a simulation in CoM? Are Sora and crew in a simulation at the end of this video? Is Zion actually part of the Matrix?

[@Overhazard]

From what people are saying, there is both a real Twilight Town and a simulation Twilight Town. The simulation is meant to resemble the real one as closely as possible, right down to each inhabitant, with the exception of Roxas's presence. (For instance, the real Hayner, Pence, and Olette are best friends, but their simulation counterparts are programmed to treat Roxas as a longtime friend too.) The Mansion is where they're linked, and it looks as though anything that happens in the real Mansion can also be seen from the simulation Mansion, though I'm not sure of the other way around. Roxas seems to have seamlessly crossed over from simulation to real shortly after where he made the floor disappear in the library. Presumably, he destroyed the simulation when he destroyed DiZ's computers. Sora emerges from the pod (which is located in Castle Oblivion, as the Mansion has portal doorways of sorts to there) and goes into the real Twilight Town, where he meets the real Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

[@Kio_Kurashi]

Those close are pretty small on sora. Me thinks it's time for some new duds ;D

[@ndJssFlurt]

I don't get it. Why make us bond with Roxas only to take away Roxas and give us Sora?

[@muraalia]

Sora, get some new clothes. That looks uncomfortably small.

[@Valtharr]

don't worry

[@chrisfloyd9204]

Man, I forgot how much of dill-hole DiZ was in KH2

[@coastersplus]

"They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for Kingdom Hearts." Whenever these games name drop it keeps reminding me of the actual games and takes me out of the story. My new theory is that everyone in Organization 13 only got to play Chain of Memories which is why they want plain Kingdom Hearts so bad.