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Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Opening CG Cutscene

Aqua's alright but Terra and Ventus are terrible. Aqua's good relative to them. I'd take Sora, Riku and Kairi over these three any day. BBS is kinda asinine story wise in retrospect.
Taking Kairi over anyone makes no sense. She's a complete non-character.

And I say this as someone whose favorite Kingdom Hearts is the first.
 
Taking Kairi over anyone makes no sense. She's a complete non-character.

And I say this as someone whose favorite Kingdom Hearts is the first.
Sora,Riku,Aqua and Ven are the dream team idc about what happens to kairi or Terra. Kairi is a non factor unless that changes up dramatically in 3 and Terra my hate for him cones from a pure gameplay perspective because he played like utter crap compared to the magical goddess that is Aqua and the Swift strike king Ventus
 
Aww, that's a shame. I'm way more interested in 358/2 Days than Re:Coded. I need more Roxas. :( Still, at least there's not too much lost.

If you want to get the most of the 358/2 Days, I think the best way to enjoy the story is actually the manga. The author adds a lot of humor and makes the characters interact a lot better than they do in the game. You get a lot more personality out of not only Roxas and Xion, but the rest of the Organization as well.
 
Taking Kairi over anyone makes no sense. She's a complete non-character.

And I say this as someone whose favorite Kingdom Hearts is the first.

Exactly why I'd take her. She doesn't make me want to remove her from the game.

If BBS didn't have Terra, it would tell a better story. Straight up.
 
I'll always forgive how gullible Terra is just because of how badass lingering will was. Leave the decision making to Aqua and just have Terra be the muscle.
 
Exactly why I'd take her. She doesn't make me want to remove her from the game.

If BBS didn't have Terra, it would tell a better story. Straight up.

But if BBS didn't have Terra, we would not have the story where it is today in terms of
Xehanort possessing Terra.

I love Terra, always have and always will. The only protagonist that I don't really care for is Kairi. I mean, I like her, but if I had to choose one to get rid of she would definitely go away.

Beautiful cutscenes in this opening though, holy moly. Release day is gonna be rough for me...Yakuza 0, Tales of Berseria, and this?! RIP me and my wallet.
 
While we're on the topic of characters, there's something I want to say about Terra and Aqua's campaigns in BBS.

First, let me say that I hated Terra and thought he was incredibly poorly written.

However, regardless of the terrible writing and him being an unsympathetic protagonist, one thing you can't deny is that is campaign is about him. He drives the story, and at the major junctures of the plot, Terra actively moves things along. Stupidly helping the Disney villains, rescuing Master Exhanort, fighting Eraqus, etc; these are all Terra's decisions. He has agency. While poorly executed, there is at least a germ of a reasonable story there, about a man destroyed by his own obsession.

If you played Aqua's campaign, you may have noticed that she has very little agency. Every major twist in the plot is something that was forced upon her. She has no choice but to follow Terra and clean up the mess he makes; she has no choice but to fight Vanitas in Neverland. Aqua could be replaced by anyone and the plot would be the same, at least until maybe the final mission.

The upshot is that while Terra's campaign made me hate him, I'm fine with Aqua. Instead, I hate the writer.

Also, this cinematic was beautiful and reminds me that while I think the Kingdom Hearts story is a terribly written mess there's still something that draws me into it. I'm really not sure how to explain it, but there's some kind of element to the characters and ludicrous plot that I find endearing.
 
Are you underestimating Nomura's ability right now? He'll find some totally stupid and illogical way to do it and I'll eat it up because this story is awesome.

This is not inaccurate.

Ideally I'd like a multiplayer mode like 358/2 to play as all the characters but that is just a pipe dream. At least give Aqua her W.
 
Also, this cinematic was beautiful and reminds me that while I think the Kingdom Hearts story is a terribly written mess there's still something that draws me into it. I'm really not sure how to explain it, but there's some kind of element to the characters and ludicrous plot that I find endearing.
Agreed. While the scenario's gotten kinda crazy since II (Say what you want about Chain of Memories' card system, but I'll defend that plot to the bitter end), there's something about it all that keeps me coming back without question. I can't think of too many other series like that.
 
Are you underestimating Nomura's ability right now? He'll find some totally stupid and illogical way to do it and I'll eat it up because this story is awesome.

But we already discovered
Nobodies can form their own hearts
. He'll be back. Xion won't return but as it stands
Sora has a part of Vens heart and all of Roxas' heart.
 
But we already discovered
Nobodies can form their own hearts
. He'll be back. Xion won't return but as it stands
Sora has a part of Vens heart and all of Roxas' heart.
It's pretty obvious who's coming back the DDD opening made it pretty clear as well.
Plus notice how xion wasn't included in that sequence.

Doesn't he at this moment have vens entire heart
 
It's pretty obvious who's coming back the DDD opening made it pretty clear as well.
Plus notice how xion wasn't included in that sequence.

Doesn't he at this moment have vens entire heart
lol I'm not even fully certain. I gotta replay the series to refresh this rollercoaster of a story.
 
lol I'm not even fully certain. I gotta replay the series to refresh this rollercoaster of a story.
Sora "fixed" vens heart when it was "broken" which is why vanitas looks like sora, so when he lost his heart again it found its way back to Sora and now rests inside him waiting to be returned. Roxas looks like Ven because obviously vens heart is inside soras. That's why y I can't figure out a good way for both of them to come back without something happening to Sora first
 
I wish they would change the style of the CGs because it just doesn't work; the character come off as creepy dolls with hair made out of play-doh. This shot was especially bad:
bbf6FM9.png

It ruins the otherwise awesome videos :/
I agree, i'm very supportive of different CGI styles but the KH Nomura art style just doesn't work very well in 3D. The eyes specifically always look incredibly lifeless and the skin shaders and modeling make them look like dolls which at this fidelity coupled with the Nomura edginess looks terrible.
k2.jpg

rZyR0KN.jpg

kingdom_hearts_dream_drop_distance__roxas_and_axel_by_gamergirlx64-d584rdu.jpg

Kingdom-Hearts-CG-2.jpg


and holy fuck I'd hate to work with any one of these rigs because the lack of proper blendshapes means the range for expressions is piss poor by every standard
tumblr_nkbhqrCCGT1tob1xvo3_r1_500.gif

8475584_orig.gif

8340eaea0fcefd47fe71f3bf728d612b.gif


they literally got more limited overtime, this was KH1
tumblr_n17cawIh1u1s6pfcjo1_500.gif


why are they torturing these animators man. "So wait, you made me a new rig for the new intro and CGI shots, and it's more limited than the last one? Wait, ALL of them are more limited than the previous versions? The hell am I supposed to do with this??" ಠ_ಠ


The Good Dinosaur had a similar issue to KH in terms of rendering with the less realistic models looking very out of place on these incredibly realistic backgrounds. The slight stylization of the luminous target render did a incredibly good job at alleviating most of the above issues. First off, they aren't afraid to give the ingame models actual blend shapes so that they can make a range of expressions, also helps that the background was also stylized, not just the characters.
 
Nomura's style is anime and manga based like pretty much most every other Japan based artist.

I don't see the merit in saying he should make the KH characters more cartoon like when the whole point of the series is a fusion of styles, SE's Japan's anime aesthetics and Disney's western cartoon aesthetics.

Yup.
 
I agree, i'm very supportive of different CGI styles but the KH Nomura art style just doesn't work very well in 3D. The eyes specifically always look incredibly lifeless and the skin shaders and modeling make them look like dolls which at this fidelity coupled with the Nomura edginess looks terrible.
k2.jpg

rZyR0KN.jpg

kingdom_hearts_dream_drop_distance__roxas_and_axel_by_gamergirlx64-d584rdu.jpg

Kingdom-Hearts-CG-2.jpg


and holy fuck I'd hate to work with any one of these rigs because the lack of proper blendshapes means the range for expressions is piss poor by every standard
tumblr_nkbhqrCCGT1tob1xvo3_r1_500.gif

8475584_orig.gif

8340eaea0fcefd47fe71f3bf728d612b.gif


they literally got more limited overtime, this was KH1
tumblr_n17cawIh1u1s6pfcjo1_500.gif


why are they torturing these animators man. "So wait, you made me a new rig for the new intro and CGI shots, and it's more limited than the last one? Wait, ALL of them are more limited than the previous versions? The hell am I supposed to do with this??" ಠ_ಠ


The Good Dinosaur had a similar issue to KH in terms of rendering with the less realistic models looking very out of place. The slight stylization of the luminous target render did a incredibly good job at alleviating most of the above issues, also helps that the background was also stylized.
We even see that Disney like expressions were a thing in KH1 with Sora doing that big smile.

Sora "fixed" vens heart when it was "broken" which is why vanitas looks like sora, so when he lost his heart again it found its way back to Sora and now rests inside him waiting to be returned. Roxas looks like Ven because obviously vens heart is inside soras. That's why y I can't figure out a good way for both of them to come back without something happening to Sora first
I had thought when Sora became a heartless Roxana formed with Vens heart as well as Soras, so in time he was able to create his own heart so when he merged back Sora then had 3 hearts. So besides Ven hopefully being older when he comes back they both come out of it as seperate people. Lol what a mess.
 
I'll probably get this to tie up all the loose ends i have, but i care so little for the terrible story of this game now that the actual Kingdom Hearts III may be the first game in existence where i deliberately skip minor cutscenes and dialogue.

I tried to get a grip on the story, but then i saw Kairi and Axel with a keyblade and i ragequit instantly
 
We even see that Disney like expressions were a thing in KH1 with Sora doing that big smile.
I will never forgive what the remaster by using a much more Nomurafied Sora model since they couldn't find the original KH1 files. It's like the less Disney was involved the worse off the models were.
 
I will never forgive what the remaster by using a much more Nomurafied Sora model since they couldn't find the original KH1 files.

To be fair, all of Square's remasters do this. They murdered poor Yuna's face in the FFX remaster.

Well, they murdered everyone's face, but Yuna probably got the worst of it.

I never really noticed how poorly the faces animate after KH1. The artstyle change was apparent, everyone looked far more "anime" in KH2 than they did in KH1. Maybe this is why I didn't take to any of the BBS characters.
 
We even see that Disney like expressions were a thing in KH1 with Sora doing that big smile.


I had thought when Sora became a heartless Roxana formed with Vens heart as well as Soras, so in time he was able to create his own heart so when he merged back Sora then had 3 hearts. So besides Ven hopefully being older when he comes back they both come out of it as seperate people. Lol what a mess.
I still see no way in which roxas comes back either looking the same or having his memories anyway.
I don't think any of the 3 are coming back older. We've seen aqua stay the exact same when she was talking to ansem in the Realm of darkness. Ventus is "Sleeping" and not in the same way Sora was at that. Terra who knows I don't even see how they get him back it'll have to be during the end of 3 unless they draw that version of Xehanort out first.
Yes it is indeed a mess lol but I love it to death

I tried to get a grip on the story, but then i saw Kairi and Axel with a keyblade and i ragequit instantly
That's what thru you off? Kairi has it because Aqua unintentionally did the ritual because kairi touched her keyblade. Axel is more of the what the fuck situation.
 
I agree, i'm very supportive of different CGI styles but the KH Nomura art style just doesn't work very well in 3D. The eyes specifically always look incredibly lifeless and the skin shaders and modeling make them look like dolls which at this fidelity coupled with the Nomura edginess looks terrible.
k2.jpg

rZyR0KN.jpg

kingdom_hearts_dream_drop_distance__roxas_and_axel_by_gamergirlx64-d584rdu.jpg

Kingdom-Hearts-CG-2.jpg


and holy fuck I'd hate to work with any one of these rigs because the lack of proper blendshapes means the range for expressions is piss poor by every standard
tumblr_nkbhqrCCGT1tob1xvo3_r1_500.gif

8475584_orig.gif

8340eaea0fcefd47fe71f3bf728d612b.gif


they literally got more limited overtime, this was KH1
tumblr_n17cawIh1u1s6pfcjo1_500.gif


why are they torturing these animators man. "So wait, you made me a new rig for the new intro and CGI shots, and it's more limited than the last one? Wait, ALL of them are more limited than the previous versions? The hell am I supposed to do with this??" ಠ_ಠ


The Good Dinosaur had a similar issue to KH in terms of rendering with the less realistic models looking very out of place on these incredibly realistic backgrounds. The slight stylization of the luminous target render did a incredibly good job at alleviating most of the above issues. First off, they aren't afraid to give the ingame models actual blend shapes so that they can make a range of expressions, also helps that the background was also stylized, not just the characters.

Huh. I actually quite like most of these shots.

Guess you can't please everybody.
 
Huh. I actually quite like most of these shots.

Guess you can't please everybody.
I mean no one said you aren't allowed to like them, but the criticisms in that post are still very very valid. "I like them" isn't really a retort. I like Frozen and the way that it looks, but that doesn't mean that the shaders that they used for things like skin suddenly look amazing when they're just average for modern standards compared to when they switched their renderer to Hyperion.

Try to think about these why it doesn't work from an artistic point of view. I don't hate the kingdom hearts intros, far from, but, they are certainly up for critique, (especially as they keep getting more flawed thanks to things like the eyes and faces becoming more lifeless).
 
PSY・S;222215455 said:
crossing eden always on the attack.



oh cool. i hope she becomes a bigger player in 3.

edit: man, the luminous target was sogood.
It really never fails man..kills the vibe alil sometimes.

Kairi is definitely a bigger player this time around I'm willing to bet that
 
PSY・S;222215455 said:
crossing eden always on the attack.
How is it an attack? I could've used kinder terms than terrible and piss poor, but it's not an attack. You'd know if it was a straight up attack over a critique. >_>
 
There is plenty of stuff worthy of a good attack in the post KH1 world.

Especially the dialogue and event planning sometimes feels absolutely atrocious. I dunno why KH1 Sora who is supposed to be the youngest and most inexperienced protagonist in the series at that point comes off as the most relateable.

For all the love Aqua gets she has some teeeeerrible lines.
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?

Ummm............no.

If you only played one and two, you REALLY don't know what the fuck is going on, haha. I wouldn't even bother playing 2.8.

Get 1.5 2.5 for PS4. Play those first.

Although 2.8 has Dream Drop Distance which is a direct sequel to 2.
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?
All you literally have to do is play/watch all of them and you'll have the story down its no different from say mgs or ff13 trilogy or any other long running continuous story.

1.5+2.5 collection
Than
2.8
In order boom
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?

Play Birth by Sleep first. This game contains the direct sequel to that game and the direct sequel to KH2 and Re:coded.

So 1.5+2.5 then 2.8.
 
i watched most of that GT(?) timeline feature but i already forgot everything. bleh. it just doesn't stick with you unless you give yourself time to digest each entry, i guess.
 
PSY・S;222218783 said:
i watched most of that GT(?) timeline feature but i already forgot everything. bleh. it just doesn't stick with you unless you give yourself time to digest each entry, i guess.
You have to actually give a damn otherwise it definitely wont stick lol. I've played the 13 trilogy many times, I've played thru metal gear series many times I can't tell you shit story wise to be honest lil snippets here and there that's all. On the flip I could tell you everything about kh story. It all depends on the person at the end of the day I suppose
 
Good remix, but I miss Sanctuary. Kind of seems pointless to have the song around if all they are going to do is keep rehashing Simple and Clean.
 
PSY・S;222217551 said:
i mean you're always ready to tear something down. i don't mind it though since you're always prepared with examples.

edit: your language is a bit harsh at times though lol.
I'm not tearing it down, i'm just critiquing since I'd like them to do better and can empathize in some way, (such as the rig example since I like animating facial expressions and i'd be pretty peeved if I worked on a sequel short or project and the studio handed me something more limited than what I had before). I wouldn't take it personally as just to reiterate, I enjoy these little opening movies, they're nostalgic, but there are some things that have worsened overtime.
 
It's pretty obvious who's coming back the DDD opening made it pretty clear as well.
Plus notice how xion wasn't included in that sequence.

Doesn't he at this moment have vens entire heart
DDD makes it pretty obvious that Xion, Roxas and Ven are all coming back as their own, individual people.

DDD ending spoilers ahead.
Just watch this cutscene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7izPHBbHQH4&feature=youtu.be&t=1855
I highlighted the important parts.
"Sora was the only one able to return to his human form without destroying his nobody...
Perhaps... he has the power to bring back the hearts and existences of those connected to him - to recreate people we thought were lost to us forever. Our most precious treasures -even an empty puppet- the trees of the forest, and the petals of the wind - there are hearts around us everywhere we look... And some of those hearts have never left him... they can be saved. All Sora needs to do is be himself..."
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?

Go on youtube and look up one of the videos that explains the whole series. Then you'll be ready to play this game. I dont think you'll be able to beat all the games you missed before this comes out unless you have a lot of free time.
 
God I fucking love Kingdom Hearts, but the only ones I finished were the first and second.

It's gotten to the point where the story is soo freaking convoluted and I don't know who is what anymore.

Will getting this game actually clarify some of what the fuck is going on in the series?

stop complaining and join on the Fun! :P
you have a PS3 or a 3DS?
 
I'm not tearing it down, i'm just critiquing since I'd like them to do better and can empathize in some way, (such as the rig example since I like animating facial expressions and i'd be pretty peeved if I worked on a sequel short or project and the studio handed me something more limited than what I had before). I wouldn't take it personally as just to reiterate, I enjoy these little opening movies, they're nostalgic, but there are some things that have worsened overtime.

maybe i should have expressed myself more clearly but that's what i'm saying. i understand you're critiquing these games and not just trying to troll or be contrarian.
 
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