[Keystaff Master]

A lot of fans came off of the original Kingdom Hearts with a certain expectation for the long awaited numbered sequel, that it would be bigger, darker,and better than the original and that it would take the KH franchise to a whole new level. While it is all a matter of opinion (and everybody is entitled to their own) the general consensus from the original KH1 players is that KH2... is severely lacking in many aspects. This topic is to discuss two separate things:
1.) Things that were rumored or alluded to being in KH2 in the early stages of development, but were never included in the final product
and
2.) Expectations we had as fans, things we wanted and hoped for that just weren't there in the finished product.

This isn't meant to bash KH2 or anything, just discuss things we were once told we'd have (or rumored) and things that we wanted (within reason, nothing to story altering mostly cosmetic and gameplay related).

An example of a rumored feature:
-Keyblade Customization
You guys remember that idea? It used to be clearly stated as a feature on most KH fansites, but it sure wasn't in the finished product. I expected it to be a form of synthesis to make Keyblade that were in the 358/2 Days style. I mean, that's how we make the Ultima Weapon? Why not have some variation? Adding certain ingredients to maximize attack or magic, change the length, and add different elements. Maybe being able to paint your Keyblade to a certain degree. Would have been badass and then the Ultima Weapon could be the ultimate customized Keyblade.

An example of an expectation:
-The Battle of 1000 Heartless
When we first saw it in the original trailers how many of you freaked and screamed: "Ahh! Behemoths! Ahh! Wyverns! Ahh! 1000 Heartless!" We got the 1000 Heartless, minus the Behemoths and Wyverns. Geez, this was a huge disappointment for me. I remember hearing that they "removed Behemoths because it would have been too difficult". Damn straight it would have been! It's the BATTLE of 1000 Heartless! It should have been hard. Look at it this way: Imagine you, Donald, and Goofy (the whole party) taking on 1000 Heartless, both Armored Knights and Surveillance Robots, then the occasional powered up Wyvern would pop in every now and then. Say every 400 Heartless a Behemoth would show up, take it out and continue on killing the army (only so many Heartless would be on screen with the Behemoth at once, how about 50?). Another 400 (up to 800) take out another Behemoth. Finally, when you got to the last 100 Heartless, TWO Behemoths at the same time. How epic would that be? Think it would be too hard? With KH2's engine not likely being that it's a relatively easy game even on Proud, but it should have been challenging. It should have been an ENDURANCE round, fighting through waves of Heartless and sub-bosses and seeing if you -with the help of your partners- just limp into the finish line. Forget the Reaction Commands that make the battle a simple mashing of the triangle button. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all the way! Supporting one another and covering eachother's weaknesses, it would have been a real battle and you would have felt like you were really accomplishing something. I would of came out of that battle thinking: "Wow, that was one of the most epic things I've ever done". By it not being "too difficult" it ended up being too easy and it's more of a chore than accomplishment...

Share you ideas and feel free to respond to other ideas!

[Sorange]

Couldn't agree more with your view on the battle of 1000 heartless.
I was one of those that freaked when I saw the original trailers. In my mind, I was thinking "1000 heartless?! That battle is gonna be so awesome!" I even tried memorizing what the background looked like so I could know when it was coming in the game, that way I wouldn't be caught by surprise. Funny thing is, that battle came and went, and I didn't even realize that was THE battle. I kept thinking, "no...more are gonna appear any minute now." That battle was just a disappointment to me.
Was KH2 darker than the original? Yeah, I would say so. Was it better? As much as I liked KH2, it wasn't better than the original.

To be honest, I don't remember the rumors before KH2. It was mostly theories about Roxas (who at the time was blonde haired kid) and the mysterious cloaked figure in the teaser.

[Declan]

I was expecting some kind of movement or even closure in regards to Sora and Kairi.
Just a hug and Sora finding Kairi's addition to the chalk drawing was NOT OKAY.

I DEMAND ROMANCE DAMNIT.
Whether they like it or not!

[Ryusuke]

Declan, on 15 February 2011 - 07:51 AM, said:

I was expecting some kind of movement or even closure in regards to Sora and Kairi.
Just a hug and Sora finding Kairi's addition to the chalk drawing was NOT OKAY.

I DEMAND ROMANCE DAMNIT.
Whether they like it or not!

Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't kissed. I'm no romantic...but this is Disney we're talkin' about here.

But, yeah. In terms of what it could have been, I think Ursula mentioned the "whole switching characters randomly" concept that Kingdom Hearts 3D is using could have been used for this game...randomly switch from Sora and Roxas. That would have been a neat idea.

Also, some of the stuff in the spin offs could have been done in Kingdom Hearts II. Like in Re:coded...

Spoiler

Sora bonding with Mickey, Sora thanking Namine, Roxas calling Sora out for being ignorant and Sora giving him a half decent answer.

. As much as I don't like Re:coded, it did some good things with Sora's character, and it just feels like a missed opportunity with Data Sora.

[sakuchan]

The appearance of Tifa.

I'm not sure what I expected from the tease, but certainly not Cloud's line in KH1: "I'm looking for someone." It was pretty weird-she just comes in and starts trying to break the walls in Ansem's office. O yea, I didn't forget YuRiPa, either. That was a shitty cameo.

[KHJEDIMASTER]

I remember rumors of there being a clothing customization after the Valor Form was first shown in screenshots, before we knew about drive forms.

[Sorange]

Declan, on 15 February 2011 - 07:51 AM, said:

I was expecting some kind of movement or even closure in regards to Sora and Kairi.
Just a hug and Sora finding Kairi's addition to the chalk drawing was NOT OKAY.

I DEMAND ROMANCE DAMNIT.
Whether they like it or not!

I think that's one thing all fans are waiting for. I was so sure they were gonna kiss. SOO sure. But of course, they didn't. Sora didn't even give her a peck on the cheek! (Or vice versa. It's okay for girls to be making the moves now a days. I guess?) Anyway, my point is: Someone man up already and freaking kiss!!!

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O yea, I didn't forget YuRiPa, either

I expected them to be sorta, well I dunno, more badass? Maybe the whole pixie-thief concept could have been worked better? Given a bigger role? I guess I just wanted/expected too much lol

[Keystaff Master]

Sora Angel, on 18 February 2011 - 02:50 PM, said:

I think that's one thing all fans are waiting for. I was so sure they were gonna kiss. SOO sure. But of course, they didn't. Sora didn't even give her a peck on the cheek! (Or vice versa. It's okay for girls to be making the moves now a days. I guess?) Anyway, my point is: Someone man up already and freaking kiss!!!

I was expecting Sora to come across the drawing of them giving the Paopu to eachother at the end of KH2, but I expected them to share one by the end of the credits at the very least. :/ I suppose that would be a nice "Going away gift" in 3D or KH3 though.

Here's one: Gummi Ship Reaction Commands
Honestly, I don't mind these weren't included as the Gummi Ship is perfect how it is in KH2, but the idea of them having Reaction Commands just disappeared by the time the game came around even though they were originally stated to have them.

[sakuchan]

I expected less awkwardness when Sora met Kairi again. Come on, where's the stand-still scene where they just look at each other for a minute, then run towards each other for the mother of all hugs? MOAR DRAMA!

[Sorange]

sakuchan, on 03 March 2011 - 06:31 AM, said:

I expected less awkwardness when Sora met Kairi again. Come on, where's the stand-still scene where they just look at each other for a minute, then run towards each other for the mother of all hugs? MOAR DRAMA!

LOL!! I think it's safe to call that "awkwardness" sexual tension. I swear, I will go into a rage if something doesn't happen between them in the upcoming games. Namely KH3. You hear me Nomura?!

[Eyebrows]

Sora Angel, on 14 February 2011 - 01:52 AM, said:

In my mind, I was thinking "1000 heartless?! That battle is gonna be so awesome!" I even tried memorizing what the background looked like so I could know when it was coming in the game, that way I wouldn't be caught by surprise. Funny thing is, that battle came and went, and I didn't even realize that was THE battle. I kept thinking, "no...more are gonna appear any minute now." That battle was just a disappointment to me.

I had the same reaction with the 1000 heartless battle, even with trying to memorize the background. When I played it I didn't even realized what I'd just played. Talk about a major disappointment.

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I was expecting Sora to come across the drawing of them giving the Paopu to eachother at the end of KH2, but I expected them to share one by the end of the credits at the very least.

Yeah! What's the deal with them not sharing a paopu fruit? It's used as such a huge symbolic thing between them, and yet after all of these death-defying battles, and all of these journeys to other worlds with Kairi as Sora's drive and reasoning.. They still don't share one, and all they do is hug? This isn't Sesame Street..

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I swear, I will go into a rage if something doesn't happen between them in the upcoming games.

I'll put on mickey mouse gloves and go slap the developers.

[Ursula102]

Actually, I thought the very last clip in the ending credits of KH2 was of Sora in the Secret Cave, looking at the picture. It was almost shot-for-shot just like Kairi at the end of the first KH.

Unless I have a really faulty memory that's starting to make things up.

[Eyebrows]

I believe that you're right. That, or you just performed inception on me. haha.

But what is that, more than just moderate character relation development between the two?

[Keystaff Master]

Ursula102, on 06 March 2011 - 12:34 AM, said:

Actually, I thought the very last clip in the ending credits of KH2 was of Sora in the Secret Cave, looking at the picture. It was almost shot-for-shot just like Kairi at the end of the first KH.

Unless I have a really faulty memory that's starting to make things up.

No, that happened. I really appreciated the throwback to the KH1 scene, but it still wasn't followed by paopu sharing. :/

[StoryKing]

I hadn't heard about the Keyblade customization until this topic but now I'm like "hey... gimme."
It would be pretty sweet, and if you could customized the costumes, then it would be better for people i think. I mean they work your Keyblade into the scenes so why does it matter how your dressed exactly? (Besides Nomura's ego...)

Yep. 1000 Heartless battle was lame, especially because the reaction commands in that battle are way Op'd compared the the heartless they come from.
I was also disappointed in the heartless, some were really cool but some were pretty lame, and I felt like they really could have let loose a little bit more there, and i still think the environments needed more population. (Save the citizens mini-game/sidequest anyone?)

I really with the game was harder too, I mean Critical mode on Final Mix was a significant improvement, but the hardest fights are optional, I think there were maybe two boss fights I died on otherwise.

[Cow]

Sorta related to 1000 Heartless.

Deep Dive(referring to the Neo Shadow portion of the battle). Both incarnations of it in a game is heavily toned down from the original secret ending.

KH2: Ok cutscene rendering of it, but only 5-8 Neo Shadows. Also, the sound design was abysmal. Much like a lot of KH2, the sound effects were unrealistic and almost so quiet they were unnoticeable.

358/2 Days: Why was the DS the console that gave us the chance to play this battle!? Biggest disappointment of my fandom. Let me clarify, the team did an excellent job for what could be done on the DS, but the DS should not have been the place to have this battle.

[RainingSnows]

Eyebrows, on 05 March 2011 - 11:25 PM, said:

Yeah! What's the deal with them not sharing a paopu fruit? It's used as such a huge symbolic thing between them, and yet after all of these death-defying battles, and all of these journeys to other worlds with Kairi as Sora's drive and reasoning.. They still don't share one, and all they do is hug? This isn't Sesame Street..

It's probably because Tetsuya Nomura knows that Aqua cast a spell on Kairi that whenever she's in trouble, her light will lead her to another light that will keep her safe. Thats why she ended up on Destiny Islands in the first place. And probably why her heart ended up in Sora's body. So there's real no point to sharing a Paopu fruit, when their practically stuck with eachother, haha.

[Sorange]

Cow, on 28 April 2011 - 01:07 AM, said:

358/2 Days: Why was the DS the console that gave us the chance to play this battle!? Biggest disappointment of my fandom. Let me clarify, the team did an excellent job for what could be done on the DS, but the DS should not have been the place to have this battle.

Yes! I'm glad someone brought it up.
I was half excited that I'd finally be able to participate in the battle, but also half disappointed that it had to be on a hand held. In the end, I just shrugged it off. Just another battle >>

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(Save the citizens mini-game/sidequest anyone?)

You know? That doesn't sound all that bad. I'd go for that

[sakuchan]

Ditto on "saving citizens" as a mission. Because we don't see much of them, the citizens. KH is the only game I know where a town can have fewer than 10 people in it. If I'm going to save a world, I wanna see the people I'm saving.

[Grassy]

Oh man. Had so many weird theories prior to KH2.

One of my ideas was that Roxas was evil. An evil clone of Sora. Sort of got that with Vanitas lol.

[nova]

well, he was part of an "evil" group anyway. (which kinda makes me mad, everyone decided they were an evil group before even knowing for sure. sora could have been way nicer to demyx, ok)

does anyone remember the first trailer for kh2, in which kairi had dark hair and was wearing kind of a loin cloth for a skirt?
...i still really want that

[Jiminy Cricket]

I've been disappointed with almost every portable Kingdom Hearts game.
The exception of course being Birth By Sleep, since it played so similarly to the numbered entries.

But on the topic of things that were alluded to but never happened or were simply nowhere near as grand as originally shown:
Deep Dive or Another Side/Another Story.
This was the biggest "Oh hey, we're making Kingdom Hearts 2" hint we had and it developed a LOT of hype for me/us.

Then we get to watch flashbacks preluding it.
Then we get to play it out on a tiny screen.

Sure, no one was expecting it to look ANYTHING like that, but to at least have a similar mood (or even just rain... that'd have been nice) would have satisfied me.
I loved the darkness aspect of Kingdom Hearts.
S'pose that's why I'm baffled by the colourful dream-land stuff in Dream Drop Distance.

[Captain Hazama]

About the 1000 Heartless battle, I just basically pressed X a couple of times and hit Triangle for the special... Ir could have been better with the "Special Cutscenes" they use during Boss battles like with *Spoiler* Cerburus or Xemnas. That would have been boss

This post has been edited by LoveIsOver: 25 February 2012 - 05:59 AM