Recent Content by Zandyne

I'm afraid I must personally disagree with this for the following reasons:
KH1 brought the entire franchise about and while it brought questions it answered most of the lesser-epic ones and gave hints to the answers concerning the epic questions.
Examples: What is the keyblade? A weapon that can destroy or save, we got to see someone who saves with it, aka Sora. Who can possess a keyblade? Anyone with a strong heart, and the irony that Riku was supposed to be the owner of the Keyblade. What do the Heartless do? Steal hearts from people and to find the Heart of the world. Who is Kairi? A princess of Heart. Who is "Ansem"? The 'leader' of the Heartless as well as the researcher of Darkness who produces artificial Heartless. Will the worlds be saved/restored? Yes, but it is a journey Sora and his party must make (Mickey as well). What happened to Riku and Mickey and What does the future hold? (Cue CoM taking the reins.)

CoM brought more loaded questions to the table and answered enough yet still left some unanswered.
Examples: What are the impact of memories to a person? Sora, Repliku and Namine's interactions in the entire game is what it is all about. What about the 'forgotten' ones? One of the most awesomely executed villain plots for manipulation...ever. Who is Namine? Namine is a part of Kairi, but in what sense is unexplained. (Loaded KH2 question) What is the Organization? They are not whole but in what sense is not fully explained (Loaded KH2 question, but can be considered the same as 'who is Namine'?) What purpose does Castle Oblivion serve? The Organization used it as a device to possibly obtain the Keyblade themselves. What IS Twilight Town? Apparently a town that Sora is supposed to know. Is there more than 'one' Sora out there? (Loaded KH2 question) Who is DiZ? A new friend or foe, it is not certain (setup for KH2 question) What is Riku doing in the Castle? He was brought there somehow by Sora. Where is Mickey? Somehow he is in the castle as well. What will happen to Sora now that his memories of Castle Oblivion are to be erased? (Setup for KH2)

KH2 brought almost NO questions to the table and the loaded questions from CoM and KH1 were still not addressed or given a rather lackluster answer or still NO ANSWER AT ALL.
Examples: What are Nobodies? The leftover shells of people with strong hearts. Organization question is answered, they exist to collect back their hearts by using the keyblade. Twilight Town is just a place Sora's Nobody hung out. (With all the importance they'd placed though, one would have thought it was Sora's somehow REAL hometown or some such, or a new sort of limbo or a base of demonic operations, but no it's just another world, what a letdown.) DiZ is the REAL Ansem in disguise, why he did it is poorly justified and makes little sense why he even hung out in Castle Oblivion instead of the OTHER Castle (not explained). The Organization also are all baddies, suck at Organizing and have practically NO backstory save for Xemnas who was just Xehanort's Nobody and Xehanort NOR his Heartless get much more new information than 'he came from Hollow Bastion with no memory, Ansem was his mentor and he stole his name for some unmentioned reason.' (This was terrible, you can still bait and have more information in reserve but they tossed out nothing, the leftover Organization never even REFERENCED the incidents of CoM despite losing a notable number of members in the process, emotions or not, that is a strategic nightmare. Ansem the Wise could have EASILY explained at least one or two new points about Xehanort aside from 'he was my student, he had amnesia, he pwnt me and stole my name. Now I explode.' ) What they did not gloriously explain is WHY THERE ARE STILL ARTIFICIAL HEARTLESS RUNNING AROUND ON PREVIOUSLY CLEARED WORLDS. The emblem gives it away that the machines on Hollow Bastion created them and those machines were supposedly destroyed -or maybe the Committee is really dumb, but I'm giving benefit of the doubt here- so why are there still endless amounts of the ARTIFICIAL ones? The only locations that still have natural Heartless are Yen Sid's Tower and understandably, TWTNW. And yet REGARDLESS Sora happily returns back home in the end, great job hero.

Also in KH2 they managed to break some plot continuity with the whole Keyblade business and who can "have one". In KH1 Riku manages to find/make/plot-device-create his own keyblade, in CoM it's his Soul-Eater Sword and *magically* in KH2 he has his own Keyblade, where he got it no one knows! He also manages to give Kairi one for one/two cutsenes and it magically dies. Kairi didn't even question it, neither did Sora, which I find very ODD.

With all these unanswered questions and character's unwillingness to even express curiosity in it, it makes for a weak addition to the story; and with only the teaser to go by (some time ago) one would expect KH3, but instead of going forward in time to explain things they are going backwards to ret-con the whole mess with the PSP and DS. Which is WHY KH2's story is not justifiable. KH3 will probably be on the PS3 and it'll be a wonder if it'll be a repeat of KH2 or if they figured out what went wrong and will *hopefully* fix it. They sort of tried to bandage it up in KH2: FM+ but anyone else notice they added in only a handful of new actually INTERESTING scenes but bumped up exponentially more mini-games and extras that were NOT plot relevant? And an extra FORM when Sora's already overpowered as it was/is? I'd trade in all the minigames for some more logic thanks. ]8

Also there is another approach to this tactic: If you make interesting characters and concepts you can still answer all the questions and still continue a franchise, look how much they milk the FFs! Each FF is a standalone game that answers it's own questions (supposedly, not a fan of FFs because I find them bland, but whatever) and has more than enough fans screaming for MORE.

In fact they are ALREADY kind of doing this with KH, just using the same universe but a different trio of people, but that just makes it all the more frustrating that Sora and Co didn't tie up the loose ends of THEIR story before Nomura decided to switch to Terra, Aqua and Ven. (It reeks of bad planning as it currently stands.)

The lack of difficulty was a letdown in KH1, it was pretty balanced and the boss battles seemed more creative, menacing and overall funner, in KH2 they just seemed to nerf most of the things I liked about KH1. The irony is that they did better with the Disney boss battles than they did with their OWN characters. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the Org13 but they were such a passive threat and the formula, save for Xemnas, and a touch of Saix was pretty much "oh hi!" *battle* and then *croak*.

Which was so very disappointing considering how the Castle Oblivion crew was (I consider CoM Marluxia a better head-antagonist than Xemnas of KH2, and if I hear a flower = OMG FLIPPANTLY GIRLY SPARKLY comment, you know you're being stupid, I'm sorry to say. People think Saix is very cruel for just capturing Kairi and ignoring her, Namine in Marluxia's control was pretty much abused every scene the whole time). CoM also had a better overall story as well which was far more consistent and had the same aura of KH1, sans silly card battle system. (Why wasn't LUXORD in there again??)

The story and characters felt so WEAK this time around, except for Olette (Bizarro Kairi aka a Kairi if she were a credible character), Hayner and Pence (the only plump human Square Enix kid in existence it seems), those were good characters and it's a shame they were used so LITTLE. Roxas's chapter was also decent but it was one very long hour that I wouldn't want to repeat.

Level design also got nerfed for almost everything, except Twilight Town, The World that Never Was and PART of Hollow Bastion, the Restoration Committee sucks if the area SHRINKS you know. And for the love of god I miss some of those puzzles, better than those damn "minigames." :\

They could have also used an editor for most scenes, I can very safely say that half the game was just cutscene, and if I want that I'll play MGS if I want long BUT enjoyable cutscenes.

So yeah I pretty much agree with you and a little extra on some points.

*Drive forms seem like a really tacky add-on, unless some people consider that Xemnas somehow accessed his OWN drive form (and was somehow pivotal to story?), in which case I found it fairly unnecessary and an annoying request just to clog the Jimney Journal. Speaking of which Jimney's descriptions of the story were MORE INTERESTING in text than the actual events themselves.

Alpha smarts, they only type and have a very primitive screen as well as spell-check program. However I have no idea if they are still manufactured anymore.

As for Laptops being a distraction, a digital screen is no different from a piece of paper when it comes to taking notes. With laptops you can explore the internet or play games, on paper you can doodle or write totally off-topic things or just not write anything at all in either case, just zone out at the whiteness. The student is still distracted only the medium is different.

It's more of a matter of the disposition of the student and I believe laptops can bring a lot of good for taking notes in all classes just as taking notes on paper can. It's really up to the student and they have no more obligation to take notes digitally or traditionally than they have to stay on-task or do well in the class, that is a matter of the parents' disciplinary discretion and the student's own self-control.

Well there is minimum wage and such things as budgeting, it's mainly a matter of desires, some people require a lot of money to be happy and others don't. Another reason why some people get paid very little for doing constant/endless labor is because it is usually unskilled labor. Any other skills which require a certain amount of knowledge or very specific study in X theory will be given more money for their services accordingly because they are, for lack of a better word, rare. Most minimum wage jobs like working a the local fast food joint is unskilled labor. The skills of a lawyer or a doctor or someone who can create demand for a product cannot compare to the person who does a rather simple task, it may be back-breaking but it is unfortunately not something that deserves much note. We also have enough people to do said unskilled labor, should we ever run out, machines could be used to take their place.

And some people are, believe it or not, happy with their unskilled labor and then there are those who loathe their unskilled labor jobs yet don't strive to get any higher on the money-earning chain despite their want of more money. Also you can't get rid of competition in a free-business arena, putting limits on something that typically has free-reign is pointless. For those who scam or otherwise use fraud though in their financial pursuits, well that's for the law to handle. :\

*If people received enough money to survive there is still a notable percentage of those who would slack off, especially if the government gives them a tangible form of the currency; people already abuse the welfare system as it is.

I DON'T SEE ENOUGH OF ME EITHER. How have you been? :D

Marluxia is about as homosexual as he is straight.

He's more likely to be a pedophile really. If we're going to be drawing sexual orientation due to his "natural" hair-color or the color of his weapon or the fact he uses flowers (or that no one seems to notice in his Re: CoM fight he uses THORNS OF DARKNESS for most of his damage if not by his weapon or by that there DOOM COUNTER) we might as well start using the visible traits to their fullest. He hangs an awful lot around Namine, and not in a "you are my prisoner and nothing more" sort of way, the fact he doesn't need a cage to keep her in line should be a creepy enough fact. :\

Also I don't understand the bias of Marluxia vs Axel hanging out with Larxene. When Marluxia hangs out and plots schemes with Larxene he becomes girlier for doing so, but when Axel is in the same screen as Larxene, Axel gets straighter. Even though in my opinion, Axel is worse than Marluxia when it comes to questionable orientation.

It probably sounds harsh but SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS guys!

It certainly is an out-there wish, but if it's their money they are allowed to spend it as they see fit. Sure it's impractical but much of the human race is spent on being impractical based on opinions and ability to act on it. Regardless the same argument could be easily made for tattoos and piercings, this is just another level to that same aesthetic desire. Some could say it's more drastic, but it's relative to the person. You could boil it down to really decorative metal embedded (or specific pigment in the case of tattoos) vs. having scales, feathers or other biological structures not normally found on humans punt onto humans.

However with this I would like to think that the re-attachment process for missing limbs is going smoothly or smoother; I haven't been quite up to date in that regard....

Having an exercise like this would prove quite useful in the long run, nothing says a lesson learned like simulating it post-action. They could also use Giga-Pets (I think that's their name) for basic programming if the crying isn't enough (cleaning up, health care and food too!). The doll should also be given to both boys and girls to be fair, after all it takes two for a baby.

As for Pika_Power's statement, I believe the motivation to use more protection and safety (or even abstaining) is that the protection is cheaper than the abortion process, among other factors that vary according to individual's preferences (comfort, safety, etc.).

There are only so many ways to swing a weapon.

I took the time to modify your post, hope you didn't mind.

I also included the words "everybody else," but I guess they don't exist, KH is all about the Sora and Kairi I fathom. As for your "connections" statement, if we're going by that, Axel and Roxas also had a connection, so did Larxene and Marluxia, Xemnas and his Kingdom Hearts, Repliku and Namine, etc. Then again I guess they are off the scope...given they clearly weren't the game's focus at all at any point...

Though given Nomura's lack of development with Kairi she might as well be in a backpack or whatever Sora stores his items in, after all it would save the effort of her getting captured again just to be saved to advance the plot.

Also they are a trio/trinity of main characters, to omit one is to break the trinity which is one of the main themes and points of KH (friendship and all that jazz), then again given Kairi is the weakest in terms of development, breaking the trinity just for her seems even more pointless (the action of separating them for the sake of "pairing them up"). Really they should all just be good friends, it's worked in the past so why split them up?

Ah well, just my opinion on the matter.

I am saddened that you fail to include Riku or any of the other characters that have a stance on good and evil in the matter of life risking. I mean fighting the Heartless has already been called a valiant effort, so really, that's a poor excuse for you to consider the two to be together. It also doesn't contribute to the conversation.

It sounds almost perfect, the logic so to speak however the actuality of how to fix or even begin to address the "problem" leaves something to be desired (I don't mean this in a negative way, mere an observation).

It is true that by doling out vaccines and other medicines to combat these problems we are leaving ourselves wide open in the future for possible re-infection with even worse results. However, consider the reason why vaccines were created, it was meant to cure/immunize/treat something so that lives could be saved. By saying that vaccines and other medical procedures are wrong for the future is much like saying farming is wrong as well as any other technology. The actual core of the matter is, "Which is more valuable, the present or the future? What gives me the right to determine what humans can take advantage of or not? Why do this when we know the repercussions?"

For the first question consider the general human mentality on what is "right": "I can save this person with a cure or I can save the unborn children of someone else." Technically by thinking of genetic immunities you are being "wrong" for the sake of letting the person "now" die for the children of "tomorrow". The logic to ensure that neither of these happen is to eradicate the possible cause of death so that the most "right" can be done. By handing out treatments they are saving both the lives here and the lives later; yes there is a risk of the future being in trouble from something that wasn't fixed, but there is no such thing as a permanent, perfect solution.

As for the second question, technically no one has the right to deal with who lives and dies. Generally speaking, most people often offer these "objective" solutions up until it happens to them on a personal level. Because of this, we have a plethora of band-aid solutions because most of us believe in preserving life when otherwise it should not be extinguished.

Thirdly, we do it because we can. Why die today when you can die twenty or more years from now? The majority wish to avoid death so that is why they do it.

Lastly, consider how we have combated what nature has thrown our way, if we can keep on doing it, we most likely will and forever. And if we do happen to die from it, well then I guess nature wins, and really who can argue with a force of nature?

I have highlighted and bolded the important part of my quote which you seemed to have missed. :\

Also we DO know something about Aqua, she clearly cares for her teammates and doesn't just gawk or brag whilst she aids them in some cheesy, flowery way; she does the logical and most available option (since you have mentioned KH2:FM+ you should have seen the additional clip by now). If Nomura wanted her to be as girly and "pure" as Kairi he would have given her a weapon that reflected her, armor or not. Amazing we could determine this in a single trailer. But for the sake of repeating myself, ONLY TIME WILL TELL. Also you don't have to be able to play a character to have a good one.

To be honest, I am looking forward to the possibility of a female character who just doesn't just wait on the coast of an island staring dreamily into the horizon as she waits for her knight aka Kairi-ism. Given that Nomura has such free-range with her and yet does nothing is disappointing in on itself, he gives her powers then takes them away, he gives her character indirectly (Namine) then removes it from existence. Since the game series focuses heavily on the Key-blade Wielder, and for two games running out of two and a half, Sora has been the main character. Kairi MIGHT become a party member, but I suspect she will be made out to be a mage, or better yet captured again. She has that sort of luck. She is being given a chance, just not the full 100% hope (unless she dies for some unforeseen reason, then she's really screwed for once.)

Spoilers for Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.
And BoF: DQ Lin having LESS personality than Kairi? How odd, I mean she's only a member of a rebel organization rather than lie down and die like the rest of people, gets down to business rather than has a panic attack when things get hectic, cares for people through actions more than words, shows concern when necessary and hm, shows FEAR in the face of something FEARFUL. Hm, lack of character indeed! Especially when you consider the game time to each other, BoF: DQ is a very SHORT GAME with very few cutscenes. If we compare "screentime", KH would easily match if not exceed it, especially since we're going by "net Kairi screen time vs net Lin screen time". Also, going from someone who tries to kill you to an ally is NOT development, right? How about leaving her organization after being betrayed (an organization which is the equal to her family)?

I guess you're right, Kairi IS clearly the superior character.

Also for the sake of argument, NINA is Kairi's equivalent in the BoF series, especially in DQ. And even more ironically, the character for Nina (a mute in DQ) is better than Kairi's. Hell Nina even does pull off a miracle and suffers the consequences for doing so. Kairi (I'm repeating myself) however gets everything and suffers no consequences for whatever she does, everything she does only ends in it getting it DONE or someone else fixing it before she can get it done.

Hate to burst your bubble and continue with this pessimism but his track record isn't the greatest, and two games in a "row" with having such a backseat character leaves little options or reason. Also he did it right with a "half game" for Namine but couldn't pull it together with Kairi, which really just makes things rather dimmer and even worse. He seems to be on the right foot for Aqua, only time will tell, but once more, I have a very slim sliver to nonexistent hope for Kairi.

Unlisted option:
Good fan-fic writer's Kairi, because Nomura seems to just make her more of a trainwreck with each game.

Also the option of:
Kairi who isn't Kairi, aka Namine, though it sounds insulting to write the two as the "same" in some demented way.