What Ninja Gaiden 4 Needs

In light of the last game, which I will not call a total fail, but it could have been better for sure, I have come up with a few things that Team Ninja could do better in their next game. That being said, however, I will give them props first. The story in the game is the best in the Ninja Gaiden series. While the first game had a decent story (when it remembered to tell you that there was one) the second game’s story was almost non existent. I can actually remember watching a comparison video online for Ninja Gaiden 2. IGN was comparing Ninja Gaiden2 to Ninja Blade. The two hosts wanted to know which game was more ridiculous. When they got to story Ninja Blade had plot twists that “you could see from a mile away”.  The host defending Ninja Gaiden 2 then countered: “I don’t know that this game had a plot to twist.” So, suffice to say, it’s story was bad.

                Now to be fair the best stories in the game are the NES versions. Looking back on them now, however, some of them might not be that inspiring, but in the 80’s and early 90’s when the games came out, the story was one of the best in a game. In fact, it was one of the first games to have an actual story that played out in cut scenes.

                The other two things that I think Ninja Gaiden 3 did right was the Dive Attacks (or whatever the game calls them) which Ryu did from buildings, helicopters, bridges, etc. It had you do them a lot. Some times along with a kuni cliff climb. Again, the dives could be fun, especially when diving upon an unsuspecting victim and ripping them to shreds before he/she/or it ever even knew you were there. The kuni climb could be fun in moderation. Frustrating to be sure, but still fun. I wouldn’t mind seeing a return of them in future titles.Only in moderation though. It would be a nice change of pace for a bit. Of course knowing Team Ninja it will not be a change of pace with rockets flying all over the place while you climb. In short I didn’t hate them. Though to be honest Flying Bird flipping up walls is much faster and cooler.

                Another thing I liked was the stealth mode. In the first level, and approximately two random times after that with Ayane (only in Razor’s Edge) goes into stealth mode. This means that his/ her body turns translucent as he/she walks. As he/ she does this you can sneak/walk up to enemies and instantly kill them. Again, it was a fun change of pace, and one I would not mind seeing again in future titles.

Okay, so onto the bad.

In Ninja Gaiden 3 Ryu was given only 1 weapon, a sword. Technically two because you got a bow and arrow as well. At any rate the only weapon you could use were those, and the kuni’s so three. That was it though.  The reason for this was supposed to be that Team Ninja wanted players to know what it was like to “cut someone down.” That’s fine and all, but that doesn’t mean we only should have one weapon. I mean the first game had two other swords, one that split into two swords (this was expanded upon in Sigma with the duel katanas), the other the Dibilharo which was a 100 pound sword. Why not learn what it’s like to “cut someone down” with one or both of those as well? They are still swords after all.

 So Ryu went through the entire game with a single weapon. Had this been the first iteration of the game then maybe it would have been fine. But as this is the third game, and we have had over a dozen weapons to choose from in the first game alone, and about a half dozen or so in the second game, this just won’t cut it (no pun intended). Now we are reduced to one? Really? Of course this was remedied by the Razor’s Edge remake which gave the player a few familiar faces.

Another thing that was very bad in the third game was the “Steel on Bone” attacks. The game really wants you to use them, so much in fact, that if you don’t use them in battle your health goes down. This can be “remidied” by using the one ninpo in the game, but regardless, it is still tedious. It becomes even more tedious when you evade in the wrong direction and don’t get to do it or aren’t close enough to the enemies when they give you the chance. Of course with the “lasting damage” health bar this becomes really irksome.  Some how I always end up fighting bosses with a health bar the size of a fingernail.

This leads me into the boss fights. While there are some really fun ones. There is one fight that will make you want to eat your controller, your console, your game, and maybe take up alcoholism afterward. That is the freakin’ dinosaur fight. That is the single most horrible fight in this game. I admit the other two games had some awful fights like the “blind bandit” thing in Ninja Gaiden 2 or Pa Zhu in Ninja Gaiden, but once you got the hang of them, they really aren’t bad fights. This dinosaur fight just blows chunks.

Not to mention the fucking helicopters fight. I mean really, we already beat the helicopter in the first Ninja Gaiden. Can’t we beat something else like a fighter jet, or a giant mechanical Gundum/ Dinosaur/ Eagle/ old fart who shoots flames out of his ass after you have already had to fight two mechanical spiders who shot flames and missiles out of their asses? I mean really It’s not like we already have shitty health and have another boss fight only about five minutes after this one. Also who the fuck is this old fart and where the fuck did he come from? Anyway I digress. Then of course we have the grabs. These don’t kill you outright like in Ninja Gaiden 2 but they still suck. This is because every enemy has them. It’s really fucking tiring. I hate grabs. Oh, and on the subject of enemies I will say fuck the final boss fight. I’ve died there so many times do to stupid shit. The game doesn’t even prompt you to do anything it just says “oh your not standing in the right spot well fuck you than.” Then you are stuck with doing the whole fight over again. So with all this said what would I like to see in the next game? Well here is my take on what the next Ninja Gaiden game could do. One of the things I really liked about the second game was the dismemberment. There was just something cathartic about slicing off another person’s limbs. Of course I have a PS3 so the blood of the second game was replaced by random rainbow mist. First off, don’t ever do that again Team Ninja. Limb removal was not present in the third game originally but was present in Razor’s Edge. It was fun to do, but also dangerous. Enemies with removed limbs know they are dying so they will kamikaze themselves upon you. I do have some issues with this(mostly due to grabs) but more on that later. The only real problem I have with this is that it feels more like a gimmick than anything else. There is no real point or reason to the chopping of limbs other than to perform an Obliteration Technique. So what could the game do to

make it feel less like a gimmick and more like a game mechanic? Let me introduce you to one of my favorite games. Darksiders did a great job with this. As you fought enemies they would eventually form a prompt over their heads and you could perform an Execution. This was simply a really cool way to kill them. I would be okay with that. Rather than Ninja Gaiden having a prompt though, the prompt could be the fact that an enemies arm or leg has been removed from its former location. I just feel like it should take a little longer to kill the enemies. In this way the game would force the player to utilize Ryu’s attacks rather than just spamming what works. There is a reason this game was modeled after one of the best fighting games out there. Also maybe that way we could have a bit less rocket spamming as well. But like that’s ever going to happen.  Anyway moving on. Ninja Gaiden 3 introduced the “steel on bone” ability. This is simply waiting for the enemy to strike at a certain time in a certain way and attacking him. The ability was simple to pull off as it wasn’t really based on timing. You did have a limited time to perform it, say 10 seconds, from the time someone’s arm turns red to the time they attack. Much of the time I failed (thanks in part to the camera) and was caught off guard and of course ended up being grabbed or kamakazied. Honestly, I don’t really care for steel on bone but maybe that’s because I feel (and it was meant) to be a replacement for obliteration. So the question is how could Team Ninja incorporate them into the next game and keep obliteration as well? 

Meet another Favorite Game of mine. Devil May Cry, if memory serves, was the first to use the “block at the right moment to counter” ability. The game calls it Royal Guard. I have played several other games with the ability though in DMC it is the hardest for me to pull off. Actually scratch that it was Harder in Bayonetta. But if Team Ninja were to incorporate the steel on bone attacks in this way then it would work really well. Ninja Gaiden wants you to block, in fact if you don’t you will surely die. However, what it doesn’t do is reward you for blocking. It will punish you for sure with rockets to the face but you never feel cool blocking. You only feel safe. That is until an enemy vaults over you and skewers you with your own sword. The point is Ninja Gaiden could use the steel on bone abilities as a kind of “Royal Guard” attack. Where if you block just at the right second Ryu will launch into a fit of rage and kill several enemies at once. Even if it only killed a single enemy it could still be integrated into the game. I liked the steel on bone to a point. It was mostly just during those damn “kill everything in sight” modes that it bothered me and that was only because my health was depleting and, rather than do the attack, I keep getting spammed with fucking rockets. By the way I know I mentioned this before but the health bar “regenaration” thing has to go. Or at least put it back to the way it was in two, though I hated that too. I much prefer the health in the first game. It grew as you went along but as long as you had items you were fine. And speaking of items I miss them. The “meditating” to bring your health up was fine, but it could only go up so far, and unless you did the steel on bone attacks, your health probably sucked. My suggestion is to either bring back items (like they were in the first game) or if you want to forgo them then bring back the health bar from the first game. I don’t mind sacrificing Ki energy to raise my health, but I don’t want my health only to be able to regenerate to a certain point. Going into a boss fight with a bar of piddly health blows. 

The next issue I’d like to address isn’t an issue per say but it is pretty useless. I suppose it’s there for the comedy of it, but really it’s just useless. The fact that they would even add it in there tells me that there are few, if any woman, in Team Ninja. Yes I am referring to the breast jiggle in the second game. Perhaps, rather than spending your time on stupid shit like this you could make the motion control useful and have us use it to, say, break free from fucking grab attacks. Just a thought though. Hell even shaking the controller to make ninpo stronger would be better. I still shake the controller  for ninpo in the second and third games even though I know it doesn’t do anything. Really though. Unless you are going to make the jiggle do this to your enemies than there is really no point to it.

This next issue has been the biggest issue in the game from the start and that is the camera. I really don’t know what can be done to fix it other than keeping it in one place. I know many people don’t like it though and I’m sure if Team Ninja did keep it in one place they would still find a way to screw it up. The camera is one of the more irksome things about the first Devil May Cry game. It changes abruptly and turns me around

constantly. Although in Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS it worked brilliantly so I don’t know. I like to be able to move the camera but not that much. I played a game one time, Prince of Persa I think, and every time I moved the camera, even if I moved it in a complete 180 it would slowly make it’s way back around to the back of the character. Perhaps if Ninja Gaiden could do that in some way. Maybe then the camera wouldn’t cause so many problems. I don’t know. All I know for sure is that it has been the cause of many a deaths in this game. Something has to be done.

Now at the risk of being flamed I am going to say that, while I do so love the weapons from the first two games having them again in the third game got a little stale. This could be due to the fact that the weapons felt like an afterthought in the third game, which they were, in all honesty. I mean I don’t mind having say, the sword, the lunar, the 100 pound sword (Dibrilharo/ Enma’s Fang), the vigoorian flails, and the dual katana , but give me something different too. Don’t just throw the same old weapons at me. The first game gave you several nunchuks, a second (semi  dual) sword, and a war hammer. The second game gave you the claws, the scythe, Kasari Gama, and the Tonfas, all of which are fun to play with now and again. I know Momaji has a different weapon, and that’s neat too, but I want Ryu to have different weapons. And also, on the subject of weapons, that goes for throwing weapons too. My understanding is that the second game had several throwing weapons, like the exploding shuikans, and the bow, and the windmill blade. In the Sigma 2 version Team Ninja decided that that was too much and left us with just the normal Shurikans, the bow, and they gave us a cannon, which by the way is insanely powerful and pretty much useless against ground enemies. In the 3^rd game they didn’t even bother to give us the cannon. To be fair, one of Ryu’s attacks causes him to throw his sword, but still it’s not the same.  So what could Team Ninja do to remedy this? That’s an easy one. Give us different weapons. How about a mace, or a trident, or a whip? That could be cool. Just be creative. There are plenty of weapons out there that Ryu could utilize so let’s do it.

Now speaking of the weapons, often in the first two games, more so in the second, you would get a brand new weapons and, rather than playing with it, you got to go play as Ayane who didn’t have any of the same weapons at all. Honestly I think I am one of the few who likes playing as these characters but not necessarily within Ryu’s chapters. I think it might be fun to give Ryu his own chapters and have him play through them. Then, throughout some of the chapters he could get help similarly to the way they did it in the third game.

Momaji acts as an intelligible AI character. I say intelligible because the AI in the Ninja Missions of the 2^nd game were shit. So in the third game Momaji goes along with you. Then after the chapter is over you “unlock” her. I think it would be cool if Team 

Ninja were to do something like that for all the characters with secondary chapters. Then rather than making use play as the other characters during Ryu’s campaign we could play these secondary chapters that would fill in the holes from Ryu’s plot, if done right of course. It would also add a bit more play value to the game. If you are a completionist like me you must, find, and do everything there is to do in a game before you are done. That includes any secondary story elements of the game. That way the other characters could maybe get some different weapons too, not just keep the same old things. Also, just a side note, but does anyone else want to play as Joe Hayabusa?

Another thing for me that, while not an issue, is something that I would like to address, and that is the traveling the world thing. To put it simply, I don’t like it. The best part about the first game was it’s rpg esque elements. I would like to see a return of those. Even if they did it the way Final Fantasy 13 did where you are on a liner path, but every now and again will find a spot to branch off and find some health or weapon or whatever. In a game like this that would be a welcome thing. Just not in a Final Fantasy, but I’ve already addressed that.  The first Ninja Gaiden did let you explore a bit. There were so many branching paths to go down, and yet by the end of the game you find yourself having gone down them all for various reasons. Some

more than once. Now I’m not saying that Ryu should always be in the same place. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Ryu has to go to Paris. Okay, great. Explore the city of Paris. That includes the Eiffel tower, the catacombs, Gothic structures, Art Nevou, modern architecture, and maybe even medieval architecture. A better example. In the Second game Ryu started out in Tokyo. Why not let him stay there and explore it a little. Tokyo should be easy for Team Ninja to mimic. I’m sure the developers make enough money to explore other cities like Paris, New York, Chicago, and where ever else they wanted to though. The point I am trying to make here is that I would like to spend more time in one place rather than a little bit of time in several places. This way Team Ninja could focus on making the one place look great rather than making several places look okay. Maybe even throw in a few more indicators like the Eiffel Tower if Ryu were in Paris, or the Empire State Building in New York. Honestly without the statue of liberty in the second game I would have guessed that Ryu was in some generic city. That happened in fact, after the HOLIDAY ARMADILLO fight in the second game. Seriously who the fuck brings a flaming armadillo onto an air ship? What does it fart out flames and make the thing move? Okay back on topic. Where does Ryu end up? Paris? Russia? No they are speaking English. Oh and the main boss is sitting at top a clock tower. Is that Big Ben? Oh, okay, then were are the English accents? I know story was never Ninja Gaiden’s strong suit but really, throw me a friggin’ bone here. I won’t dock the game any points for story. In fact, I liked the story best in the first game. The third game was great but some of the scenes were a bit long and there were a lot. Sometimes the best scenes are the ones that don’t need words. Ninja Gaiden 2’s story was just shit though. 

The next thing I would like to suggest is Ryu himself. If we are going to give him different weapons why can he only use one? The coolest thing about Devil May Cry games was the fact that you could change weapons on the fly. Don’t want to use the sword anymore? Okay switch to the flaming gauntlets. How cool is that? I don’t know if anyone remembers but when the second game was first announced Ryu was shown with three weapons. The sword on his back the scythe in his hands and the claws on his legs and feet. It would be a dream of mine to be able to be able to use either both at the same time or to swap between them on the fly. Not have to stop the game, open the menu, choose a weapon and go on. So many games already do this now that it would hurt Ninja Gaiden not to. Not much, mind you, but hurt none the less.

The last thing I would like to discuss is the enemy verity. The first game had so many that it’s impossible to count them all. What’s more, they were all dangerous in their own ways. The red dinosaur things were very dangerous up close as they could bit down on you if you were not careful. They had the ogres who not only had a massive range to their weapons but would become more dangerous as you whittled their health down. Same goes for the Berserkers. They were incredibly dangerous and fast. The second game had about three generic looking fiends. The third game had some good variety. The snake things, the gorilla things and the bipedal lady who could mimic both. Then they had some from two as well. I would like to see variety in the game. Don’t just throw the same generic enemies at us. Especially on harder difficulties. Don’t be afraid to pit us against enemies that we haven’t met yet. That’s what really makes a game hard. Spamming rockets only adds to the games tedium.

I think this is about all I wanted to touch on. There are so many ways to improve what’s already there. It would be great if Team Ninja were to see this and use it to help them. I know that it’s not likely, and even if they did see it, they probably wouldn’t be able to read it. These are just some of my thoughts though. If anyone reads this and would like to add something feel free. All I want, really, is another Ninja Gaiden game. Even if Team Ninja were to read this and do the opposite of everything I suggest I would still buy the game. It’s just so much damn fun. 

Kingdom Hearts the Next Chapter.

 The next chapter in the Kingdom Hearts series is soon to be upon us. As of this moment, there is very little information on it. All we know is that Sora is in it, and maybe Donald and Goofy. Some art work has allegedly come up featuring a world made of chains that look suspiciously like The Land of Departure, but otherwise all we have seen are a few teasers. It looks like Sora’s keyblade will have a transform ability. It looks like guns in the D3 trailer but as we know from Kingdom Hearts 2 guns are too dangerous so they will likely be turned into something else.  There are also what appear to be rides, and some fight with the Rock Titan.

                I expect there are a few things that the game will do in Kingdom Hearts 3, such as make use of the flow motion system from Dream Drop Distance, but nothing is certain yet. All we know for certain story wise is that it is the end of the Xehanort saga. This article will address some of the worlds and characters that, I think, should make an appearance in the game, some based on what we’ve seen, and some based on personal preference. Before we continue, however, there are a few things that need to be addressed. Firstly, none of this is confirmed. 

Secondly, I will not be addressing story, for the most part. Lastly, there are some Top 10 lists I’ve seen saying a Who Framed Roger Rabbit world should be in the game. While it is a Touchtone production, as is The Nightmare Before Christmas, people seem to forget, though, that the movie is Disney just as much as it is Warner Brothers. To have only Disney characters in the world would do any world based upon the movie a disservice. In fact, when the animators approached Warner Brothers and Disney to make the movie both companies said they wanted their main characters Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, respectively, to have equal screen time cameos. When the characters are introduced in the movie for the first time they enter and leave together, and of course, join again via the end. So, in the end a Who Framed Roger Rabbit world is better left alone, unless, Square Enix approaches Warner Brothers for the use of those characters as well. If that is the case, and only if that is the case, then bring it on. Otherwise just leave it alone. I do think there should be a Kingdom Hearts style game based on Warner Brother characters though, but that’s a whole other can of worms.

                So without further ado let’s dive right in. Most people, when they think of worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3, the first world I’ve heard mentioned is Frozen. While I would not be opposed to such a world in the future I think the game should stick to older worlds. We all remember how the Pirate of the Caribbean turned out. The point is, don’t just throw worlds in there for the sake of popularity. I would hope that the writers had started penning Kingdom Hearts 3 some time ago, even while they were making 358, Birth by Sleep, Coded, Dream Drop Distance, and even Chi. Frozen is only about two years old, Kingdom Hearts 3 should have been in production for at least nine years now. To just randomly throw in a Frozen world because it’s “popular” would create a chain of worlds that have no real story elements and are solely in the game because people desired to go there. For an example of this see Land of Dragons, Olympus Coliseum, Pirates of the Caribbean, Agriba, the Pridelands, and Atlantica from Kingdom Hearts 2. The game plot of these worlds seemed to take a backseat in order to tell the story of world. Sure you could find game plot if you look, but I shouldn’t have to “look” for it, it should just be there. One of the greatest aspects of Kingdom Hearts when it came out back in 2002 was the fact that it took the stories of Disney movies, like Aladdin, and intertwined it with the game’s story. The second game did that for one world. All the others, it felt like, were there solely to extend the life of the game.

            Kingdom Hearts 3 is Destiny Islands. Perhaps it can be used as a tutorial world for all the new stuff, like flow motion, which we can do (hopefully), or perhaps just in some kind of cut scene. Perhaps in the ten years that he’s been gone Sora has been going to school and brushing up on his computing skills. 

    So what would I like to see in the next game? One world that should be in Either way the adventure should start from there as it did in the first game. From here he can set off on his new adventure. After leaving for Travers Town in the first game, and even when arriving in Hollow Bastion/ Radiant Garden, in the second, one of the first people Sora meets is Merlin. The unique thing about Merlin is that the game has already set up a plot for The Sword and the Stone to happen. Ansem the Wise, king of Radiant Garden, is locked away in the realm of darkness. With him gone, the world is going to need a new king. Why not Arthur? We could come back periodically, al la Travers Town, to check on his progress. Hell, Kiari is from the world, so if she and Sora are going to be betrothed one day that would make Sora king. In that way he could learn with Merlin in the same way that Arthur does in the movie, taking up Arthur’s roll in the same way he takes up Christopher Robin’s roll in Winnie the Pooh worlds. At the very least they could bring in Archimedes, Merlin’s owl. On the subject of Radiant Garden, the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 showed Leon reading a letter with a butterfly coming out. Now while this could mean nothing it could also be a sign of things to come. Personally I think it was a letter from someone he loves. Now I know what you’re thinking “But Rihona’s wings were feathers, not butterfly” and you are
 right. But Cloud never wore Vincent Valentine’s cape and claw. Nor did he ever have a bat wing. Nor, too, were Yuna, Rikku, or Payne fairies in Final Fantasy X2. So butterfly wings, why not? Either way it could be a good way for Square to introduce more Final Fantasy characters. I mean for fuck sake they are making the fifteenth Final Fantasy game and you’re telling me the only characters we are ever going to get are from seven and ten? Yes I know we have Squall/Leon, Setzer, Siefer, Raijin, Fajun, and Vivi, That’s one from nine, and four from eight. Now let’s count the ones from the first two.

1.       Cloud

2.       Tifa

3.       Cid

4.       Yuffie

5.       Sepheroth

6.       Auron

7.       Wakka

8.       Tidus

9.       Yuna

10.   Rikku

11.   Payne

I forgot that Selphie from eight was in there, but anyway, that’s five from FF7 and six from FF10. I think it’s high time we brought in someone else. There are no Final Fantasy 7 movies to promote this time around and the game has been beaten to death in Kingdom Hearts. The same can be said with FF10, although Wakka and Tidus have been absent since the first game so I wouldn’t mind seeing them again, but for God sake no more Yuna, Rikku, Payne fairies. I have never felt such a strong urge to slit my wrists while playing a game. So who to bring? Well other than Rihona, mentioned above, there is one other character created by Tetsya Nomura for a Final Fantasy. Like Setzer, he was created for Final Fantasy 6. His story in there was neither villain nor hero. He was just a guy you could hire for a time. His past was a shady one and a compelling one. In the game he has many names, but he is introduced to us as Shadow. In the Kingdom Hearts Verse he could be 

someone hired, or summoned, as the case maybe, by Hades. His shady past would make sense. Cloud, while easily manipulated in Final Fantasy 7, was never really evil. His dark and moody attitude is almost a contradiction to the game, almost. Kingdom Hearts 2 summoned Auron. He wasn’t even a fucking villain! The only way that made any sense was that Auron was dead to begin with. If Hades really wants to find someone who would do his bidding, not whilst under manipulation, but simply for shits and giggles, then why not throw Shadow into the mix? Of course in the end he can decide that Sora’s not so bad and side with him, or not, that could be interesting too. Shadow is surly a better choice than Auron at least. At this point I’d even take Siefer and the gang. I don’t know how bringing them from Twilight Town would work, but hey, it could. A rivalry between Leon and Siefer would be a welcome one. I’m just so sick of the whole Cloud/ Sepheroth scenario. Give us a rivalry between some of the other Final Fantasy characters. I swear if I have to fight Sepheroth one more time I’m going to go mad. It was fun in the first game, and even the second game, to a point, but it’s time to give Final Fantasy 7 a rest. You want a secret boss? How about Ultima/ Omega weapon? Just use the Behemoth design from the first game. 


Probable Worlds
Moving on. The next possible characters, if Kingdom Hearts 2 is anything to go by, should be some of Sora’s summons. Not Genie, who we will get anyway if Aladdin’s world is featured, or Peter Pan, whose world was already featured in Birth by Sleep, the only other two summons we haven’t explored yet is Chicken Little and Stitch. While it is a fact Stitch was in Birth by Sleep as well, his actual level was never featured in the game. The movie takes place in Hawaii and is about Stitch trying to blend in while protecting those he cares about, Lilo, from Doctor Jumbuki. It would take a fair bit of effort but it could be translated into a world for the game. They’ve only had 10 years to try. Now as for Chicken Little, the plot, as I recall was about aliens invading. Change the aliens to Heartless and you have yourself a full on world to explore. Throw in some Pete for some comedic relief and you have yourself a Kingdom Hearts world rearing and ready to go.

Pixar

Now that Disney has acquired Pixar the use of their characters is inevitable. We already know that Tangled and Big Hero 6 are going to be in there, which I'll admit I'm excited about, but what about the others? Before we jump straight in to a Frozen world though, let’s look other great Pixar films. We’ll start with the first feature film by Pixar and the most likely to be in the game, as there is allegedly a fourth movie in the works. Of course I am referring to Toy Story. Playing as Toy Sora helping Woody save Buzz from the evil Sid would be epic. Just thinking about it make me smile. So much

could be done in a world like this. I cannot stress enough how perfect a Toy Story world would be for Kingdom Hearts. All of the elements are in place for this to happen. There is no way Square can fuck it up. Of Course Toy Story is not the only Pixar film that would translate well into a Kingdom Hearts themed world. There are other movies that would work just as well. One of which featured the voice of our very own Hayden Penetiare. That movie is A Bug’s Life. Playing as Bug Sora would be just as epic as playing as Toy Sora. As with Toy Story the elements in A Bug’s Life

are already there. The villain, the grasshoppers, could easily be turned into a Heartless, or better yet Heartless Grasshoppers. Yet another great Pixar movie that would translate beautifully into the Kingdom Hearts verse is Monster’s Inc. Admittedly this one might take a bit more effort story wise, but playing as Monster Sora could be pretty great. A world based on The Incredible movie would be, well, incredible (and just in time for the second movie too). And While I would not be opposed to movies like Up, Brave, Wall-e, Ratatouille and, yes, even Frozen, I feel as if we should stick to the older movies first. The first Kingdom Hearts didn’t make people love it because it had the most recent and popular Disney movies were in it. It made people love it because it added an element of adventure to some of the older movies and breathed new life into them.  The only Pixar movies I cannot see translating into Kingdom Hearts very well is Cars and Finding Nemo. Don’t get me wrong I think the movies are great but I just don’t see Sora as a car working very well. As a fish it could work, but only done right. If Square could somehow pull that off and make it work then I’m all for it. The likely hood of that happening though is about as likely as Square remaking Final Fantasy 7 for the . . . oh for God sake. That said, if Square wanted to make a Summon out Cars or Finding Nemo that’d be just fine. Another good movie would be Meet the Robinsons. Admittedly I have not seen it, and like Chicken Little, it is not a Pixar film, but it could still find its place in a Kingdom Hearts. 

Returning Worlds

There are some Disney worlds that are bound to return to the game. The most obvious choice is Agriba. With Aladdin and the King of Thieves untouched it will likely be the next phase in Kingdom Hearts 3. Another possible world is Neverland. The story could be based on Return to Neverland. I have not personally seen the movie but, often, I find that is the case with some of the worlds in Kingdom Hearts. Usually after playing the level I want to see the movie. Tron is a great example of that, but I digress. A Fantasia world is possible, seeing as how it was “freed” in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance.  The Nightmare Before Christmas is likely to return as well, seeing as how it is so popular in Japan. I’m not sure about story for the game, unless Square wants to try and use the story from The Nightmare Before Christmas game, but hey, it was its own thing in the first game, so why not here too.  Of course Monster's Inc would be a great replacement if they can't decide on what to do. Another returning world is Olympus Coliseum. It was one of my favorite worlds in the first game because it offered a place to level up without feeling like you were level grinding. In all games prior to that it has failed to remain as such. Mandatory “tournaments” in which your character does not level up and meaningless orb collection have plagued it since Kingdom Hearts CoM. What I want is story. By that, I mean something else. Not just Hades trying to defeat Hercules, but a story with actual sustenance. In the movie, for example, Hades motives were to take over Olympus. Why not have Sora helping Hercules take down Hades and the Titans? Not only could we fight in the battle to save Olympus but we could level up our characters via Kingdom Hearts 1 style tournaments. Honestly I just want something different. Having Hades try to destroy Hercules is

getting a bit stale. And besides, Sora has only fought two of the Titans from the movie, Rock and Ice, there are three more who we have yet to see in the game. The Lava/ Fire and Wind/ Tornado Titans have remained conspicuously untouched. Making them would, obviously, be a bit of a challenge, but I think Square could pull it off if they really wanted to. The final Titan is one, in the movie, Hades sent to fight Hercules and would have succeeded in destroying him, if not for Meg interfering. Without spoiling too much I will say that, of the remaining Titans he would be the easiest to make.  I just think that it would be fun to fight more of the beasts in Hercules. There are plenty to go around. Some have only small snips of scenes, and others, Like Hydra, who is part of the story. The Centaur is another example of this. He could be fun to fight as well. Still though, ever since fighting the first two 

Titans in Kingdom Hearts I have wanted more. Sadly I was disappointed in Kingdom Hearts 2. The Hydra fight was fun for sure; even the Cerberus fight was a ton of fun. My only wish was that they had added one more Titan. I beat the Hades cup hoping beyond hope that there would be a surprise Titan at the end, like in the first game, but nope, just Hades, again. Fighting a Titan was some of the most fun I had with the first Kingdom Hearts. Especially since beating him warranted you over 3000 experience points. All I’m asking is for one more Titan Square. Just one, please.  

Possible New Worlds

One world I have wanted since the Deep Jungle world in Kingdom Hearts is the Jungle Book. What’s more, in hacking Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep there is a level featuring part of the world. So seeing it in the next game is a good possibility. Sora and the gang could help Mowgli get back to his people. The villains would of course be Kaa, the snake, voiced by Winnie the Pooh, King Louie, and Sher-khan the tiger. Both of whom Sora will have to fight, though of course the game. Mowgli would finish Sher-khan off with fire of course. This is a game I have thought a lot about. The Jungle Book is one of the first Disney movies I remember seeing in Theaters. It’s one of my favorites ever. To

have this in a Kingdom Hearts game would be a dream come true, and seeing as how they already made a level, at least in part, with BsB, it’s a really good possibility. There’s really not much more I can say about this to be honest. Each, number titled, Kingdom Hearts game has featured a heartless monkey. Deep Jungle had Power Wilds and Pridelands had Shaman. A Jungle Book level would continue this tradition. There is just so much that can be done with a Jungle Book level I don’t see any reason Square shouldn’t do it. 

Another movie that many people want is the Black Cauldron. After hearing that it was one of Tim Burton’s first animated debut, I decided to give the movie a try. While I admit it is not my favorite Disney movie it has a lot of elements that would translate pretty well into Kingdom Hearts. One scene that stands out is when the villain refers to himself as a “heartless”. Now it’s not in the Kingdom Hearts sense, of course, but that could easily be remedied. There are plenty of plot points in the movie to give any Kingdom Hearts inspired world some life. The cauldron itself could play a role in the game even outside of the world what with the power to grant the wish of anyone who possesses it. Maleficent could take it, or get Pete to, and create a never ending army of Heartless. Really there are a lot of possibilities here.

Let’s be honest. The Little Mermaid level in Kingdom Hearts 2 blew chunks. Not only did it make no sense at all, having killed Ursula in the first game, but it didn’t even try to explain itself. Unless the next Atlantica world is going to be The Little Mermaid 2 Return to the Sea. I have not seen the The Little Mermaid Three but my understanding is that it is a prequel to the first movie. The Little Mermaid 2 Return to the Sea is really the only way to go. 

To bring Ursula back a third time would be ridiculous, but at least 2 would make some kind of sense. It would be Ursula’s sister and Ariel’s daughter. Maybe Square could go in a slightly different direction this time. Rather than Atlantica why not just use Atlantis instead.

Treasure Planet is another one of those worlds that would work on so many levels in a Kingdom Hearts game. Option A, Sora could help Jim uncover the mysteries of the map and accompany him on his journey to Treasure Planet where he helps rescue him from the Not so bad Long John Silver and his blood thirsty crew. Option B, Sora could find Jim traveling the worlds in his own Gummi Ship and help him out on his ultimate quest to find Treasure Planet. While the latter is less likely, as Nomura seems to like all the Disney characters, for the most part, to stick to their own respective worlds it could still work out. The crew could help Pete bring heartless out into the worlds. Honestly though, either option sounds like it could be loads of fun. Especially if Sora got to ride the Solar Surfboard, which, for the record, would be nothing like the Solar Sailor in Tron’s world. And speaking of Tron’s world, I would love to see it again. I think they exhausted all the movie material at this point, though, so it’s not clear as to what would be next for that world. Square could base it off the TV show Tron Uprising though Nomura has said he wants to stick with movies. Tomorrowland is another option. Another possible world is Wreck-it-Ralph which is like Tron only in that it takes place in a computer world. It's unclear how the other game characters would translate though, such as Sonic or Pacman, or if they would even be featured in there at all. Like some of the above movies, if they can pull something off than I’m all for it but for that we will just have to wait and see. If memory serves (based on the walkthrough I watched on youtube) I don’t think they technically “finished” Tron Legacy, so maybe they could pick it up from there. At any rate whatever they decide to do with Tron’s world, if anything at all, I’m sure it will be fine. Tron’s world made some descent sense in the Kingdom Hearts 2 story, which I cannot say for more than half of the other worlds. 

 A world based on one of Miyazaki’s movies would probably make a lot of fans pee their pants. I am sad to say that I have never seen a Miyazaki movie, though thanks to Netflix this will soon change. Now I don’t know that Disney actually owns the rights to this, but they did it with Tarzan’s Deep Jungle, so why not

with Miyazaki’s movies. Perhaps Studio Ghibli could even offer some assistance. Admittedly though there are some Miyazaki movies that may be too dark for a Kingdom Hearts game. Some, such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, I think would be pretty safe though. If it’s possible Square should totally do this. Whichever way Square decides to go, either for or against, or even if they just don’t have permission, you have to admit that a world, any world, in Kingdom Hearts based on Miyazaki’s movies would be fantastic, regardless of how bad Square fucked up the story. The last world on this list is Fantasia. Having Freed it from sleep in Dream Drop Distance the chances of it being a world are pretty good. One of the things I have always liked about Kingdom Hearts is that it does utilize some of the more obscure Disney movies. In the first game Sora has to fight Churnbog with Night on Bald Mountain playing in the background. That was friggin’ awesome! Then, in two, we met the Sorcerer from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Not only did we meet him, but now he has become an important part of the game. There are plenty of Fantasia themed worlds that we could find ourselves in. From the first movie there is a Dance of the sugarplum fairy world, as well as the dancing alligator/ hippo world. In Fantasia 2000 there are the strange flying whales, the Jazz City, and the flood, a world Donald could have more of a presents in, and even the fire bird world. The greatest thing about Fantasia is that the options are almost unlimited. Nomura Tetsuya seems to really enjoy putting Fantasia in Kingdom Hearts, so I don’t have doubts that it will be in there in some way shape or form.

Summons

Having seen the trailers for the game it appears that the summons may not be based on Disney Disneyland rides. There is a pirate ship summon, hopefully acquired from space pirates and not sea pirates, which works similarly to the pirate ship in most theme parks that moves back and forth and upside down. The other summon appears to be based on the runaway train ride at Disneyland. Now the trailers bare the “work in progress” stamp so things are liable to change. Honestly though, if that is what summons are going to be then I say cool. I’m down with that. If there are some character summons though, then these are my suggestions.

characters this time around, but instead based upon

                Now if memory serves, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, Pete’s Dragon is a very docile dragon. I don’t even think he could shoot fire. But, hell, Dumbo found his way into the first game, which by the way would also make a good world with Sora, Donald, and Goofy helping Dumbo become famous like the mouse did from the movie. The heartless could even resemble pink elephants, like from the final song of the game, but I digress. A Pete’s Dragon summon could work. As stated above, I’m not sure what the dragon would be able to do. If not shoot fire than maybe something more like Bambi from the first game, or Stitch from 2. If Square does decide to make use of this character, which they likely will in some future installment of the game, then I have faith that they will make it work. Likely it won’t be in this game though. That’s fine. I can wait.

                I know a lot of people want Square to bring in Star Wars and or Marvel now that Disney own the rights to the properties. I am totally for Sora fighting alongside Yoda and Captain America. It would be beyond cool to get a light saber keyblade or a keyblade based on Cap’s shield. However, before all that happens, maybe the first thing Square could do would be to introduce them as a summon. And if rides are truly the new summon of the game then what better ride than the

Millennium Falcon? I’m not sure that Cap’s shield would work as a summon, though something like Ironman’s suit could. Really there are endless possibilities. What was it Walt Disney said? “If you can Dream it, you can do it.” Or was that the Epcot worker Dave Smith, I can’t remember? I’m sure it’ll be great though. As stated above another great summon could be from Pixar’s Cars. It could be a great way to introduce Pixar themed worlds into the Kingdom Hearts universe. While it would be difficult to build an entire world based upon Cars, it would be easy to make a summon. If Square does decide to use Cars than summon is the way to go. I loved the movie and would love to see it in a Kingdom Hearts game in some way. Being in the game as a summon just seems the most obvious route.

                I thought I had more summon idea’s than that but I guess not. If Aladdin is in there then Gene will return as a summon for sure. If Neverland is there than Tinkerbell or Peter will likely become one again as well. Really there is only four or five summons, so that should be enough right?

Game play

                As I stated above flowmotion looks like it’s a shoe in for the next Kingdom Hearts game. Kingdom Hearts is its exploration. Take that away and it becomes Final Fantasy 13. We don’t need a repeat of that any time soon. 

Unfortunately, having not played Dream Drop Distance, still waiting for the hd remake, I cannot talk a lot about it. I did watch a video on it, on the entire game in fact, and was very impressed. The player could zoom all around the place. It was even cooler during fights when you could zoom around enemies. The only fear is that the game will shrink the levels down to make room for the flowmotion feature. The levels in the 3d’s version of the game may have been shorter but that could have been for time and or space issues. The levels in the second game were also pretty short when compared to the first. Perhaps somewhere in between would be best. That way you could make use of the flowmotion and still have areas to explore. The greatest element about Kingdom Hearts is its exploration. Take that away and it becomes Final Fantasy 13. We don’t need a repeat of that any time soon. In the second game we were treated to reaction commands. These were simply prompts that you had to used to defeat some enemies. Most of the time they were optional, but on occasion they were necessary. Much of the time they were fun to pull off. The games that came after made use of the other buttons as well, rather than just leaving it at one. That is fine, but the one thing I really liked about these reaction commands was that they were optional. In later versions of the game, if you mess them up, whatever attack you were using ends. This is getting into

quick time event territory. I hate quick time events. They are annoying and just awful. Especially when the boss you are fighting has no health and you have to attempt to spin a tiny ass stick with your thumb that is numb after failing for the millionth time. Yes I am referring to Ventus’s last fight in Birth By Sleep. It is in that moment when I hate them. Twisting the stick around is what I despise about God of War. Don’t give me quick time events. I don’t want them. What I want is to have the OPTION to use the attack. Don’t make it mandatory. Another thing about the second game I really liked was the use of the drive form. One of my favorite forms was Antiform. It’s unfortunate that it only seems to happen at the most inopportune moment like during a boss fight. The other forms are fun too though. My favorite is Valor, probably because it’s the easiest to level up. I always end up learning them all though so I can gain the special moves. I don’t imagine that the next game will abandon them. My only suggestion is to use them in a similar

fashion to the Firestorm, Diamond Dust forms. Perhaps as a D-Link (since you are “linking” with your party when you use them) either way could be pretty cool I think. The Okinawa team, who are making the game currently, are pretty capable I. I have confidence in however they chose to do it, just please, put them in somehow. And maybe make Antiform use able not just random. 

On the subject of forms, having us go into different modes is just fun. I’m not sure if these different modes will be available in the next game but if they are than I am all for that. Not only are they fun to use but they are way cool to look at. Some of these modes are a bit overpowered to be sure, but to be fair, some enemies deserve it. If you could not only find away to fit drive forms back into the game, but to also put these random mode forms in the game then that would be insanely fun. This might mean you’d have to put back in some kind of fighting arena (Mirage Arena) in order to utilize these awesome new abilities. I’m fine with just using Olympus if the tournaments are going to allow me to level up and maybe have some surprise fights along the way. 

The shotlock abilities are another fun ability. They may not be necessary in the next game, but they are sure helpful in Birth By Sleep. They are especially useful when you have ten seconds to defeat a

herd of enemies that cannot be attacked from the front. They are also a very helpful way to finish bosses off. One of the more irksome aspects of the second game was that you had to use a finish move to finish off a boss. Of course this could be remedied with magic. But if you had just used up your magic on a heal, and were in berserker mode, then it just sucks. Even more so if the boss is someone like Sepheroth, or Cloud, Squall, Tifa and Yuffie. That shit pissed me off to no end. Had I had a shotlock attack to utilize I would have totally used that to my advantage. Somehow I don’t see it coming back in the next game, but who knows, square may surprise me.

Music

Let me say this first. I love the music in Kingdom Hearts. The only problem I have with it is that we've had to listen to the same "Simple and Clean" rererereremix of the same song. I mean why not, at the very least, remix "Passion" from the second game? All the other music in the game is superb. It's just that one song above that has been played to death in these games.

As far as the next game goes I have one last request. The second game (actually technically it was CoM) started a trend of making the game E10, which in America means for everyone ten and up. I think that the next game should maybe get a T for Teen rating. I don’t think it needs profanity or anything, but I wouldn’t mind a slightly darker story. Kingdom Hearts is always at its best when the story causes misery for its characters. I feel like a Teen rating could add a level of darkness to the story that would make even Birth By Sleep’s ending seem like a happily ever after.  I have faith in you Square. So don’t fuck it up.