You should also join the conversation over on the Keyhole! |
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 Page 3 - The Ansem Reports
Page 4 - Unlocking the Keyhole
Page 5 - The Door to Light
Page 6 - The Coliseum
Page 7 - The Keyblade Master
Page 8 - Dive to the Heart
Page 9 - The Round Room
Page 10 - Mark of Mastery Exam
Page 11 - Naminé's Sketchbook
Page 12 - The Grid
Page 13 - Flick Rush
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 by Byzantinefire and TheFifteenthMember | |
 2015's Tokyo Game Show convention was recently held and, in a surprising twist, Square Enix (the publishers of the Kingdom Hearts series) used the event to announce a brand new Kingdom Hearts collection during September 15th's Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia Press Conference! The upcoming release is named Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and its announcement trailer can be viewed below. Continuing after the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX collections, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is slated for a 2016 release on the Playstation 4. The release will include three titles:
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 This June the D23 Expo was held in California, and with it came the revelation that a world based on the highly popular film Big Hero 6 would be included in the upcoming game, Kingdom Hearts III. For those unfamiliar with the title, Big Hero 6 is an animated Disney film based on characters from a Marvel Universe comic. The story follows 14-year-old prodigy Hiro Hamada as he forms a team of superheroes to fight against a mysterious masked villain. The film was released in 2014 and won the Oscar for Best Animated Film.  The events of the Kingdom Hearts III world will take place after the events of the film. Sora and friends will go on a grand adventure with Hiro, his companion Baymax, and their friends who, following the conclusion of the film, have been recognized as an official superhero team. Released concept art shows Keyblade-wielding Sora riding Baymax to take on a second, darker Baymax. Maybe we're seeing a corrupted form of the body Baymax left in the portal at the end of the Big Hero 6? In other Kingdom Hearts III news, the name for the previously announced Tangled world has been teased as Kingdom of Corona in an official tweet. | |
 Set in the shady era before the Keyblade War, players can finally explore the monumental event that shall someday spark Xehanort's world-threatening transgressions. The story will be told in 200 main quests with the aim being to add 50 of these stages each month, until January 2016. Square Enix's commitment doesn't end there, as they also plan on updating the game with challenging side quests. While Unchained χ shares many features with it's predecessor Kingdom Hearts χ, a few differences are noticeable. New touch controls have been adapted for the game's smartphone platform and instead of using cards in battle, the player collects medals. These changes are an attempt to appeal to Western audiences, as Unchained χ is planned for release in NA and PAL regions. Although we are still waiting for the announcement of an English release date, the Japanese version has stirred the Kingdom Hearts community and made the wait to Kingdom Hearts III that much more bearable. Are you excited to create your very own Keyblade Wielder in Square Enix's latest entry to the Kingdom Hearts series? Tell us your thoughts on the comments page! | |
 Since December 2014, Disney Interactive staff have been publicly addressing the possibility of adding Kingdom Hearts content to the Disney Infinity game series. But Kingdom Hearts's addition had always been just that: a possibility. No matter how successful the series has been, or how highly demanded an inclusion was, the chance of a character from Kingdom Hearts appearing in Disney Infinity was never more likely than a character from any other property's appearance.   In an interview with ComicBook.com, Vice President of Production John Vignocchi revealed that this collaboration has been in the works for about 8 months, its creation involving a lot of back and forth with Kingdom Hearts parent company Square Enix. Because Kingdom Hearts is one of the most highly requested properties for Disney Infinity, he wanted to make sure Infinity was respectful to the brand. For example, all of the animations for Mickey in his Kingdom Hearts II outfit are taken directly from Kingdom Hearts! ~ John Vignocchi | |
It has been a nine year-long journey, but on the 22nd of August, the Kingdom Hearts II manga finally finished its run in Japan. Square Enix finally released the manga's highly-anticipated 10th volume, the final entry to the series!
Following the events of Kingdom Hearts II and illustrated beautifully by Shiro Amano, this series was a wonderful adaptation for Kingdom Hearts fans to enjoy. Are you an avid Kingdom Hearts manga reader? Are you sad to see the series end? Let us know on the Twilight Time's talk page!
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 by FinalRest | ||
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Our most popular post of the past quarter is...    | |
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We've had a steady influx of users the last couple of months, so make sure you head over to the user creation log to check everyone out and give them a warm Keyhole welcome! All our new users are welcome to our wiki family, and here just a few of our newbies that we'd like to shine the spotlight on.
We offer a big hello to those users, as well as all the others we didn't have the time to mention! We hope you enjoy your stay in the Keyhole/KHWiki universe! | ||
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Each quarter the Keyhole hosts a tea party for all users to get together and discuss wiki related issues. Below are important policies we have decided upon in our latest tea party forums.
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 by TheFifteenthMember | ||
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Here's the latest from the KHWiki:
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We are delighted to have seen many new users in the last three months and we'd like to take this moment to shine the spotlight on a few:
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Catch up on the latest changes made to formats, policies and the Manual of Style:
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| For this quarter, we're focusing on Reaction Commands, a mechanic that's fairly major to the series yet badly covered on our wiki. The plan is to list every Reaction Command of every game in a table that covers the command's name, description, and trigger context. For Kingdom Hearts II, much of the information is already on the page under hidden text, but they need to be merged into the table to work effectively. We know a lot less about Reaction Commands from other games, such as Birth by Sleep, Re:coded, and Dream Drop Distance, so we need to pool together information for these. Visit the article's talk page for more guidance and don't be shy in helping out! |
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 by TheSilentHero  Mickey first appeared in Kingdom Hearts, wielding the Kingdom Key D, which he had found in the Realm of Darkness. As of then, he used it in all his appearances and people called it "Mickey's Keyblade". But with the release of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, this was about to change. In Birth by Sleep, Mickey can be seen before he travels to the Realm of Darkness to obtain the Kingdom Key D, wielding the Star Seeker. This could have been Mickey's original Keyblade, were it not for the fact that Sora obtains the Star Seeker Keychain in Kingdom Hearts II. At that point, people began to wonder what Mickey's "base Keyblade" is. Let's go back to the first game. During Sora's travels, Mickey is going through the Realm of Darkness to get a Keyblade to mirror Sora's. Now, let me ask you, how big is the chance that two people who never met before, have mirroring weapons when they first meet at the Door to Light? If you have only played the first game, you would say that the chance of achieving this is quite large. Sora obtains the Keyblade of the Realm of Light and Mickey the Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness. But with more games being added to the series, so were more Keyblades, even "base Keyblades", like Terra's Earthshaker or Aqua's Rainfell. If Sora had shown up wielding the Wayward Wind, would they still have been able to close the door?  Knowing this, it seems rather unlikely that two people who have never met before, have mirroring weapons when they first meet. Now then, how can you make sure the person you will meet has a mirroring weapon from yours? Quite simple, really. You send him your weapon and get a weapon that mirrors that yourself. That's right, I think that Mickey's base Keyblade is... the Kingdom Key! Isn't it a big coincidence that Sora obtains the Keyblade at the same time as Donald and Goofy begin their adventure? What I think happened is that Mickey left Disney Castle to travel to the Realm of Darkness, but before he left, he wrote a letter to Donald, and sent his Keyblade to the next Keyblade wielder (don't ask me how, though...) He sent Donald and Goofy to Traverse Town, because he knew the Heartless would go after the Keyblade ("And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade"), and destroy Sora's world eventually, causing him to end up in Traverse Town. And the most important reason: the Keychain is Mickey's head! What do you think of this theory? What do you think Mickey's Keyblade is? Let me know on the talk page. | |
 by TheFifteenthMember It started with an episode of The Flash. Cicso Ramon was wearing a particularly funky T-shirt (pictured right) that episode and being the inquisitive spirit I am, I decided to see what it actually was. From there, I discovered "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock" (if you're an inquisitive spirit, check it out)! I figured that if someone managed to come up with a functional, five-way "Rock, Paper, Scissors", would I be able to re-create the simple three-way version, but using Kingdom Hearts terminology? So I did some thinking, sketching, crossing-out and more thinking until I got to this.  The idea of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" is:
But "Heart, Heartless, Keyblade" works like this:
In terms of hand gestures, a heart is represented by a fist, which matches nicely since your fist is approximately the same size and shape of your heart. A Heartless is depicted by forming an open ring with your hand (as opposed to a fist), symbolising the lack of a heart. Finally, the Keyblade is played using the same gesture as "scissors" from the classic game because holding out two fingers bears some resemblance to a skeleton key. My game isn't exactly full proof (the gestures are clumsy and a heart doesn't really "beat" the Keyblade) but it is what it is. If you have any better "Rock, Paper, Scissors" formations, do share in the comments section! | |
 by Troisnyxetienne In any work, there is always an antagonist or a character who errs on the side of wrongdoing, due to some event in his life that has impacted him profoundly that he shows calculation, coldness or violence. Kingdom Hearts has many antagonists, each with different motivations for behaving as they do, but none of them display the sheer amount of planning and calculation of Xehanort.
I find it simply inadequate to place Xehanort into any one of the three categories of evil (i.e. lawful evil, neutral evil and chaotic evil) – because quite frankly, I see him as neither. A freak of nature would often be seen as chaotic at worst, committing evil out of impulse, but Xehanort is a personification of something far worse. I invite you to read along with me, as we go through his role in the games bit by bit, just to see what conclusion we could possibly draw from it all.  Before it all began
Some like to theorise that Xehanort started off as a good person and turned evil due to his association with the darkness. I cannot help but think, however, that Xehanort always had a disobedient, rebellious streak from the get-go. We do not know if people in the islands begged him not to go. We do know that he disobeyed his master, and he wounded Eraqus in order to tell him not to be involved in his unhealthy obsession with Kingdom Hearts and the X-blade. Make of all this what you will. Birth by Sleep: Prologue  He picks the most barren, most depressing place to train Ventus, i.e. the Keyblade Graveyard, where countless Keyblade wielders died. His lust for the X-blade drives him to order Ventus to give in to the darkness in order to become the blade. No one knows where the Neoshadows that surrounded Ventus came from; Xehanort could presumably summon them due to his strong connection to the darkness. Ventus does not give in to the darkness, and would rather die than do so. Bear in mind that Ventus is only ten years old at this point. Children have often been seen in fiction as having an innate ability to determine right from wrong, and Ventus seems to have this ability as well. Despite not having sufficient words to say anything in response to Xehanort, Ventus' actions give away his intentions quite easily. This does raise a point, though: what other forms of abuse was Ventus subjected to under Xehanort's tutelage?  What really strikes me in these scenes is that Xehanort has absolutely no remorse for potentially murdering an innocent boy to further his own ambitions. Fortunately, Ventus – by some miracle – joins with the heart of a newborn, and his damaged heart is repaired. Okay, so Xehanort's initial plan didn't work. Time for Plan B. He doesn't say anything, and his emotions don't suggest that it's time for Plan B, and these only serve to show depth of his scheming. He sends Ventus to his former friend Eraqus, as he predicts that Eraqus would be the man to nurture the light within Ventus' heart. On the brink of apocalypse  We see Xehanort quite early on; he has been invited by his old friend Eraqus to his pupils' Mark of Mastery examination (well, Terra's and Aqua's, really). I don't claim to know how Xehanort is able to see darkness in Terra's heart, darkness that probably wasn't there or had no reason to take effect, but the plot of Birth by Sleep has indeed revealed that Xehanort himself is responsible for bringing about the darkness in Terra's heart. Terra fails the exam, because of that same darkness, and he is deferential to authority to the point of asking Xehanort (who is a master, after all) what can be done about his darkness. Xehanort seizes his chance. “Darkness cannot be destroyed, it can only be channelled.” With that, he disappears and goes incommunicado. He may have accepted Eraqus' olive branch, but he is still shifty enough to not tell Eraqus what is going on, and now everyone knows that something is wrong. Eraqus sends Terra and Aqua off to search for Xehanort, and report back to Eraqus as soon as Xehanort is found.  Xehanort puts up this façade of being a just, but failed trainer. All throughout this story he tells half-truths, until he does not need to anymore. He does so several times:
He makes Ventus disobey Eraqus and go alone in search of Terra just so that he could drop his plans on the boy just when he is at his most vulnerable. He does so through Vanitas. As I said before, Vanitas acts on impulse. He is deferential to Xehanort – I have honestly no idea why, since surely a chaotic evil person would want to retaliate against his own creator? I can never understand this game sometimes. It is presumably Xehanort who orders Vanitas to get rid of Mickey, which would prompt Ventus to seek his whereabouts, because by some deus ex machina (honestly, see me repeat this phrase a number of times throughout this article), Xehanort can somehow read Mickey's mind and know that Ventus is friends with the mouse. Mickey being knocked out already makes Ventus troubled – a chink in his otherwise strong heart. Xehanort comes in for the kill; the very sight of him makes Ventus intensely traumatised. Knowing that Ventus would return home to question Eraqus, he has all his cards laid out. He would summon Terra and tell him that Ventus is in trouble, prompting Terra to go after Ventus. Terra would discover that Ventus is about to be killed by Eraqus. Terra would clash against Eraqus and weaken him, basically doing all the dirty work for Xehanort so that he could land the killing blow – because there's no way he would dare do it himself, not after Eraqus had previously extended an olive branch to him. He attacks from the back, too – a fitting form of murder coming from a treacherous bastard. What's even more unsettling is that Xehanort knows that all these things are going to happen. And by the time all this is over, he drops the charade and shows himself for what he truly is: a master manipulator, a traitor and a murderer. Then again, our encounters with young Xehanort as a superboss in Birth by Sleep suggest his affiliation with the element of Time. He has the Doom spell in some way, shape or form, and the Keyblade associated with him shows some sort of chronometer on it. It could be possible that Xehanort knows that everything is going to fall into place because he probably will have seen it before. He manages to form the X-blade and summon Kingdom Hearts, almost bringing the worlds to a cataclysmic end.  Such a possession would need an exorcism- a long and painful one. Would Xehanort truly be summoned out of Terra's body, ever? Terra says he's ready to do whatever it takes until Xehanort is expelled from his body. But if there's anything, anything at all, that I've learnt from real-life exorcisms, it's that expelling an evil spirit from one's body cannot be done by willpower alone, and Terra most certainly cannot do it alone. He would need the help of someone outside to set him free. | |
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by FinalRest and Chainoffire Welcome to Intro to..., the Twilight Times' newest column! The purpose of Intro to... (yes, the ellipses are mandatory) is to educate! Each Intro to... will delve into a chosen Kingdom Hearts topic and dissect it in a possibly informative, possibly entertaining, and (in the case of this Intro to...) possibly nonsensical way. It's the beginner's guide to Kingdom Hearts!
 For our first Intro to... We're going to talk (in a mostly spoiler free capacity) about Kingdom Hearts. The game. The series. The ever-expanding universe. Our reason for being. We kid, we're not that obsessed. *thinks about account on Kingdom Hearts encyclopedia* *thinks about being co-admins on a Kingdom Hearts based tumblr* *thinks about Kingdom Hearts posters on bedroom walls* *thinks about Kingdom Hearts figurines and books on bedroom shelves* *thinks about Kingdom Hearts in general* Okay, we're a little obsessed. Kingdom Hearts (KH for short) arrived in an explosion of soap opera-worthy dialogue and umpteen references to darkness in 2002. We open on three friends who live in a little place called Destiny Islands.  Sora, the spiky haired brunette, is the character through whose eyes we view the series. He's hyper, eager to help, and even the possible end of the world can't ruin his cheerful mood. He's got a "might be more than a friendship" friendship going on with Kairi, the pink haired cutie pie.  Anyway, we're absorbed into the adventures of Sora and his crew (otherwise known as the Destiny Trio) as they build a raft to travel the seas. We gather materials, race against Riku, spar with the other island kids, watch as the island is swallowed by darkness, watch Riku succumb to darkness, see Kairi turn into a mirage... Standard island life, basically. Actually, not so standard island life. A mad magical storm wipes Destiny Islands off the map and leaves Sora alone in a new world, with a shiny new weapon latched to his hand. That weapon is called the Keyblade and it's... Well, it's a giant key that you use as a blade. It's not rocket science. Meanwhile, Kairi has That's the basis of KH. It's a story of a boy and his key, defeating Heartless to find his friends. Except there's one element that makes KH special. And that element is...  KH is created by a company called Square Enix, most famously known as the creators of the wildly popular Final Fantasy series. KH is a collaborative effort between Square Enix and the even more famous Walt Disney Company. This series is one part Final Fantasy, one part original content, one part Disney. It's a fanfic writer's dream. So while Final Fantasy has its moments to shine, and the original story is what glues everything together, it's the Disney content that sucks most fans in. Each level of the game is a "world", based around a Disney franchise. You can swim in Atlantica with Ariel. You can train with Phil in Olympus Coliseum. It's even a Disney villain that conducts the heartless plague! If you're a Disney lover, KH is for you. Ever dreamt of running through Wonderland or chasing Pinocchio through the whale Monstro? Then KH has got you covered! As Sora's world unravels, he befriends Donald Duck and Goofy, and a seamless blend of darkness spewing monsters and cheery princesses occurs. Disney, Keyblades, finding friends. This is simple, right? Hahaha. HAHAHAHA. HAhahAHAHahaHAHa! No. Simple is not a word KH fans know. The first game was pretty cut and dry. It ends on an almost happy note, and leaves an open end. And that brings us to Kingdom Hearts II... Explaining KH2 will make no sense to those unfamiliar with the series, which, since you're reading a beginners guide to KH, I will assume you are not. So I'll keep this brief. Sora's still out in the world, fighting to get back home, to Kairi, just as he always is. Riku's having an identity crisis, as he always is. Kairi's standing around looking pretty with her unutilised potential, like she always is. Then in walks...  ORGANIZATION XIII! These guys stroll onto the scene and jack everything up. There's a bunch of them, each with different goals, and different reasons to wail on Sora. Before we know it, Sora's joined Riku's "I don't know who I am camp" and the KH angst-o-meter is cranked to eleven. In Kingdom Hearts II we're also introduced to an extra playable character, Roxas, who the org are extra interested in. The story becomes Organization XIII searching for Roxas, who is watched over by Riku, who is searching for Sora, who is searching for Kairi, who is running from the Organization. The character pool is saturated. There's the bazillion Final Fantasy characters, the gazillion KH original characters, and the bajoollian Disney characters. But we've still to explain the most important character of all. Introducing Tetsuya Nomura:  This is the mind that dreams up KH. He might look unassuming. You might think he's no more than an ambitious designer with no-one to reel his imagination in, leaving him free to do whatever he wants to the Kingdom Hearts series. Whatever convoluted plot, confusing game mechanics, or extra characters he wants, Nomura gets. And if you're a KH fan, by golly you better roll with it. You wrap your head around whatever plot Nomura conjures, or you'll be left behind! It's survival of the fittest in the KH fandom! And just when you think you understand, just when you think KH makes sense to you, Nomura reveals his true plans. Nomura reveals... THE SIDEGAMES!       You see all the different platform labels on those covers? I hope you don't like money, because Kingdom Hearts likes to keep your pockets nice and empty. All money must go to Tetsuya Nomura! Let's cut to the chase: The sidegames aren't really sidegames. Sidegames insinuates optional playing. These games are more "play them if you want any hope of understanding the plot of this series". At first things were simple. We begin with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories aka Haven't we done this before? Chain of Memories is almost a scene for scene remake of the first game, with a minor plot about lost memories thrown in to excuse the lazy rehashing. Even this, one of the least popular games in the series, is a must-play, as it explains how Riku and Sora go from Point A (the end of KH1) to Point B (the beginning of KH2). Then there's coded aka Okay, we've definitely done this before. We get to experience all the same worlds AGAIN, this time because Sora's journal is glitchy and... I dunno, unkempt journals are out of style or something? But of course this game is also necessary to play, in order to understand the links between the ends of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Next up is 358/2 Days aka Who are these guys and why do they make my heart hurt?. A much more inventive offering than the preceding two, 358/2 Days tells the story of Roxas, from Kingdom Hearts II, and his origin. Again, this game delves into the Org XIII, finally explaining much of what was happening in KH2. Like in KH2, we play as Roxas through this game, giving us another glimpse of the world outside Sora's happy disposition. Oh man, and then there's the remakes! Coded became Re:coded, Chain of Memories became Re:Chain of Memories. Some games got Final Mixes, aka "Here's the same games but with some extra stuff thrown in because why not?". HD remakes are like Final Mixes, with better graphics and movies. All of these games are released in Japan first, and then released to the rest of the world with extra stuff. And even though each remake is a shameless grab for money, you have to play them, because each one has some special extra ending or cutscene to explain something in either the past or the future of the series. It's a nightmare. Thankfully, not all sidegames are annoying. 2010 brought Birth by Sleep, a game set ten years prior to KH1, with a new cast. We learn more about the keyblade, we learn more about the core cast, the organization, even some of our Disney favourites. We saw the rise and fall of three keyblade wielding friends, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, who are now essential to the KH story. But, most important of all, we were introduced to this guy:  Master Xehanort, the purveyor of all that gives the heebie jeebies. You only have to look at him to know what his deal is: like Riku in the first game, he has hair jealousy. Check out our protagonists and their lovely locks.         And now look back at Xehanort. Yeah, he's jealous. And wouldn't you be angry if you were the only bald guy in a world where everyone's hair is freaking awesome? I mean, there's also this guy, but even he gets a cool hat to cover the dome. So, because of hair jealousy (and a few other factors too, I suppose), Xehanort has launched a plan to destroy the world, so he can be the coolest kid on the block. He's the grandmaster of every crazy plan we've met so far. He's also almost every character we've met so far... but that's a concept too complicated to explain in a beginner's guide. The big Xehanort reveal gave way for the 2012 sidegame, Kingdom Hearts 3D aka Riku gets a haircut and everything you know is a lie. This game tells us that Organization XIII's whole plan from KHII was just a cover up to find 13 different versions of Xehanort, each with their own hairdo, so they could find the secrets to the big heart-shaped moon in the sky. Yeah, it got weird. Little did we know that there was a prequel to the prequel called Kingdom Hearts χ aka Nomura's platform checklist is almost complete. KHX is a PC browser game (that was later ported into a smartphone game) that takes place in an alternate universe before the events of the Keyblade War. Yeah, it got weirder.  Which is where we are now. The next to come from this crazy mess is Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, aka Why are the titles in this series so confusing?. 2.8 will bundle HD remakes of KH3D, a new special movie for Kingdom Hearts χ, and a sort-of-revival-of-an-old-cancelled-game-but-not-really title called Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-. In other words, Nomura has figured out the perfect excuse for pushing the final game in this phase of KH back even further. .png) So that's concludes an Intro to... Kingdom Hearts. We've barely scraped the surface of what the series has to offer, but you are welcome to peruse the Keyhole and KHWiki to learn more. Although, if you're reading this magazine, chances are you're already a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, because you're hanging around a Kingdom Hearts site. That means you already know what Kingdom Hearts is, and you didn't need it explained to you. Unless you got here from a completely non-Kingdom Hearts matter. Like maybe you were looking for an intro to heart surgery in the United Kingdom and you clicked on the wrong link. In which case we say: What are you doing reading this stuff? Get out of here, man! Those hearts aren't going to stab themselves! That's what heart surgery is, right? Stabbing hearts? NOTE: We are not licensed medical professionals. But if you're here for the Kingdom Hearts, then we hope you enjoyed reading our ramblings about things you probably already know. At the very least, one thing we have all learnt from this Intro to... is that FinalRest is not quite eloquent enough to handle an entire column in this magazine, and Chainoffire doesn't have the sanity to keep doing this sort of thing. We're kept behind the scenes for a reason. In conclusion: Kingdom Hair is a game about a bunch of people beating the crap out of a kid. Disney provides good insulation. Give Lord Nomura all your money. | |
by Troisnyxetienne I have been requested to write a second guide for levelling up another Drive Form, and I thought Wisdom Form would be a good next piece. It is unclear to me whether Wisdom Form is one of the least favourite forms among Kingdom Hearts fans, but it most certainly comes in handy for magic users. With the introduction of new magic-intensive bosses in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, it is almost imperative that we players level up Wisdom Form all the way in order to reap its benefits, especially Quick Run and MP Hastega. I hope this guide may come in handy. If there is anything missing from it, please feel free to share your levelling tips and suggestions to the magazine's talk page.
Sora gains experience for Wisdom Form according to the number of Heartless defeated. Each Heartless defeated gives one experience point. Wisdom Form is magic-intensive, and Sora naturally has access to his spells because of this. Therefore, if you're looking to level up this drive form, do not go for Heartless with high hit points. Instead, go to areas where there are many Heartless, especially those with low HP. There are a few such areas throughout the game, but they do not always remain ideal training spots for this form. Therefore, when levelling up Wisdom Form, do take note of which point of the game you are.  The image above shows the four Windows to the Past in Timeless River. They are all situated on Cornerstone Hill, which serves as the “hub” of this world. Cornerstone Hill, incidentally, has a Save Point, a Moogle Shop, and a World Exit. This is where our little trick comes in. Some of you may know that exiting a world from a Save Point when your Drive Gauge is still running will replenish your Drive Gauge back to full. The same applies when taking the door back to Disney Castle. Your modus operandi when training here would be to enter into any one of the Windows of the Past, take out the Heartless there as quickly as you can with whatever spells you have in your arsenal, leave, exit to Disney Castle with your Drive Gauge still running, and enter back in. Repeat as many times as needed. Evidently, you will not have access to Wisdom Form until after your first visit to Timeless River is complete – training here is a good excuse to return to Timeless River.  The Fragment Crossing is a winding road of sorts, surrounded by skyscrapers. There's a sort of sewage or electric generation system halfway through, and the odd few treasure chests can be found on the generators or on the sides of the road. I mention this place here because it is one of my tried-and-tested places to defeat scores of Heartless. The Heartless to be found here are Shadows and Neoshadows. They have a low to medium amount of HP each, and scores of them can be defeated at once with a well-placed Magnet and Thunder. In the original Kingdom Hearts II, the Fragment Crossing is always infested with Heartless. There is no lapse of time if you're looking to use this as a training ground. But if you're playing Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix like most of us currently are, with the not-so-recent release of the HD 2.5 Remix, then take note: this place will not stay a training ground for Wisdom Form forever! Your point in time to look out for in II Final Mix is when you approach the Altar of Naught and defeat Xemnas for the first time. By this point, presumably all the Heartless that Pete and Maleficent have summoned have all been defeated by Nobodies. At this point, Heartless will no longer appear in the Fragment Crossing; they will all be replaced by Nobodies. Therefore, if you are playing the Final Mix version and are looking to train up Wisdom Form before your first encounter with Xemnas, the Fragment Crossing is a good spot – but it will not be for long.  Now this method only works during the first visit to Agrabah. When Sora and company arrive in the treasure room, they are tasked with defeating 50 heartless. 47 of these Heartless consist of Icy Cubes, Fiery Globes, and Silver Rocks, which have low HP, so they can be dispatched quickly. However, been warned that after the 47 smaller enemies are vanquished, 3 Fat Bandits will appear. After defeating 50 enemies here, it will get you 50 steps closer to your next level! If you have yet to level wisdom form at this point, you'll automatically make it to level 2 and be halfway to level 3! Even if you have already started levelling this form, using this strategy will give you a significant boost to your next level. If anyone has any more methods of levelling up this drive form, feel free to add them to the magazine's talk page, they would be much appreciated! |
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 You'll have to keep your excitement at bay. But! Although there's no episode for today, The sorry folk still have something to say: | |
 Neumannz: Hey there, guys! This is your friendly neighborhood Neumannz, welcoming you to Round Room Corner! ... What do you mean a round room has no corners?! ... You get outta here! ... *door slam* ... Okay, guys, now that Chain is gone, let me say a few words. I've been kicking around on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki since Fall 2009, back in the days of Days, and I've been bureaucrat since February 2011, when we decided our landlord was being kind of a jerk and moved out. When we decided we were doing a podcast, I jumped at the chance to get involved on this kick-awesome project! Chainoffire: Hey Hey! It's your friendly neighborhood Ch- HEY! NEZZY TOOK MY LINE! Well, it's Chain! I was “coded” onto the Keyhole back when Re:coded was the latest game to hit the shelves in April 2011. I became an admin back in December 2013, and have been going back and forth between The Keyhole and the KHWiki ever since. When I heard about the podcast, I happily decided to volunteer my efforts to get more acquainted with some of the other users. Thus… here I am! |
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I'm going to say this now: the subject of this review is a little unorthodox. I'll be scrutinising the 12 seconds of 0.2 Birth by Sleep footage from Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue's announcement trailer. Why? Because my heart stopped the first time I watched those 12 seconds but as I rewatched it, I began to notice a couple of flaws and kinks. I'll split this into three main sections.
"Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep ~A Fragmentary Passage~". I've been avoiding writing out the name in full so far because it takes so ridiculously long. Any announcement trailer throws a lot of information at you in the short space of a couple minutes and as an eager viewer, you're trying to digest the main details. On the first time I watched the trailer, three words -"Birth by Sleep"- had me encapsulated so that I paid little attention to the inelegant words around them. The mention of BBS is enough to excite any Kingdom Hearts fan, especially with the notion of Birth by Sleep Volume 2 being around for so long. As you go back and read the name in full however, you realise how kooky it is. The "0.2" numeral is plain awkward. I've read the interview explaining that χ is 0 and Birth by Sleep, 0.1, making this 0.2 but the whole thing is incredibly wacky. It doesn't sound like anything intended for commercial sale. It's a geeky title that's trying to be way more smart than it needs to be. Then there's the subtitle that comes at the end, referencing the original Birth by Sleep secret ending. I don't see why there was a reason for this to be appended at the end. "0.2 Birth by Sleep" is already the subtitle for "Kingdom Hearts"; we don't need a sub-subtitle explaining way too much than a title should.
Aqua stands in the Realm of Darkness. It's something we knew already from the secret ending of the original Birth by Sleep, yet the setting still evoked a sense of excitement from me because it was reminder that the full story of Volume 2 is finally about to be told. The footage doesn't reveal any new story details and I think that's a right decision; 0.2 Birth by Sleep is only going to be the length of a single world so spilling any secrets beforehand would spoil a large portion of what's going to be only a short experience. At the end of the trailer, Aqua turns her head sharply with the suggestion of a nearby disturbance. Could it be a Heartless, a familiar character, or someone entirely new? We're left guessing, which builds up anticipation effectively.
The visuals are stunning and few could disagree. Detail can be seen in subtle cracks in the rock and the colours are gorgeous. Best of all, the lighting is insanely beautiful with the gleaming rocks. However, I hate to point it out but Aqua herself doesn't look as crisp and realistic as her surroundings. The texture of her skin looks more like plastic than actual flesh and the same is true for her hair and clothes. While this could just be an artistic choice in favour of a slightly cartoony feel, it's not consistent with the photo-realistic appearance of the background. Character models and scenery should share a similar design and stick with one art style. Otherwise, I feel the contrast becomes a little jarring. | |
Marking criteria: Tonality Context Expression Memorability Fate of the Unknown, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep As far as I am aware (correct me if I am wrong), there isn't an entry in the soundtrack for the music to the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. That secret ending, called “Birth by Sleep,” is the fan favourite for a good reason: there is a lot going on visually and musically. In fact, in the last issue of the Twilight Times, Birth by Sleep was voted our favourite secret ending of all time. It is my favourite too, mainly for the music. All of us who have played Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep have found that this secret ending has been promoted to an actual in-game event. I think it a real pity that the only appearance of Fate of the Unknown was in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, because I wanted to hear this in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as well. I think a lot of people would agree with me when I say that this piece is pure orchestral awesomeness. It begins rather solemnly, and then progresses to something relatively quick-paced. A lot of the piece sounds decisive, like the kind of music you would hear at a fight. But somewhere in the middle, a calm point occurs. The presence of that calm point in the middle is the clincher for me. Only a few instruments take centre stage – the piano and the violin, and the context of this will be discussed in a later section, of course. Then, it gets fast again, building up to a decisive end. Today, many of us would recognise a good bit of this piece to sound like Terra's character theme, while the calm point is Aqua's character theme. Recognising these bits would perhaps make us appreciate this piece of music a lot more. I bet a lot of us remember how Birth by Sleep goes. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, this secret ending was promoted to an actual event in the game, and we will have seen the progression of events at some point. Now, let's tie the music to the story. We are in the Keyblade Graveyard, an ancient battleground for countless Keyblade wielders who clashed over the light, and wanted to possess it for themselves. We do not know what this world looked like before; all that remains is the husk of a world, with thousands upon thousands of lifeless keys stuck in the ground and on rock faces here and there. Xehanort and Vanitas, who are approaching our heroes, Terra, Aqua and Ventus, are about to turn this area into a battleground once more. All the while, we hear a solemn choir telling us that there is a very sinister power about, one far more sinister than anything we have ever faced before. We are then treated to a slew of Keyblade-wielding theatrics: Xehanort has immense power and we immediately see him as the antagonist. Terra rushes to Xehanort before anyone can stop him. The solemn introduction fades into a battle theme with little extravagance. Things are getting serious, and the gloves are off. There is little time for talking. Xehanort summons a cliff, and then another. Before Terra can attack him any further, Xehanort freezes Terra's right arm. Ventus attacks in Terra's stead. Vanitas rides upon the many lifeless keys, effectively desecrating the memory of the many Keyblade wielders who fell on these grounds. The music flourishes into a lush fragment of Terra's theme, and then repeats. At this point, Vanitas knocks Ventus over with a great many keys before concentrating on Terra. We are treated to more Keyblade-wielding theatrics: Vanitas attacks Terra with the lifeless keys upon which he rides. Aqua casts Barrier on Terra but it is still not enough to protect him: the keys deal significant damage to him anyway. And then, halfway through, Ventus, hoping he could gain the upper hand, tries to attack Xehanort from behind. Xehanort cracks Ventus' armour and freezes him, and sends him falling off the cliff. Ventus' Keyblade snaps in half as he falls off the cliff – a detail absent from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.  Is he dead? Is he still breathing somehow? We see an instance of tender, almost motherly, compassion, in the midst of a battleground. It is here that Aqua's theme plays, and that musical section, in my mind, heightens the feeling that Aqua is willing to show compassion, even in the face of death. Of the team of three friends, it seems as if Aqua is the medic, even though theoretically, each can heal the other due to knowing the Curaga spell. Aqua has a particular affinity for magic, and would fulfil that role best. In many stories of the past world wars, we have heard of the heroic acts and sacrifices of medics; this particular section (and the music for it) suggest to me that Aqua might indeed do the exact same, with the amount of silent resolve that she has… except that she does not know if Ventus is dead or alive. Then we see a slight glimmer of hope: Ventus' eyes are moving! He is alive! And then, the music gets louder, once again to ready us for battle. Xehanort parts the clouds above him. To everyone's shock and horror, Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts. Aqua can only look up into the sky without saying anything. It is no secret that he is about to wrest control of Kingdom Hearts, should he not be stopped. It becomes clear, with the visuals and the increase in drama in the music, that this is another one of Xehanort's many forms that need to be defeated. And as the music builds up into a crescendo, once again playing Terra's theme fragment, and reaches its dramatic climax and resolution, we see just what happens to Terra. He looks up to the sky… his eyes turn yellow… is Terra, of all people, the “Ansem” that we once fought all those years ago!!!!???? Cut to black. Fate of the Unknown has been a no-frills, no-nonsense battle theme showing that time is of the essence in stopping Xehanort from doing the unthinkable. There has been no other secret ending music or battle music much like this. Fate of the Unknown starts off solemn and sinister, telling us that the approaching enemies are of a calibre beyond what anyone has faced up to this point. Then, it builds up to a sense of urgency, and stays there up to about halfway through. At that point, it becomes calm and solemn once more, playing Aqua's theme, showing a great deal of sadness and the possibility of imminent loss. Then the music builds up, it climaxes very quickly, showing that the change that has happened to Terra is so quick, that Xehanort could probably have a stranglehold on how fast things progress. There is a whole mix of emotions in this piece of music, and it fits, as we find out in the actual story of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep that Terra, Aqua and Ventus enter into battle with Xehanort and Vanitas with mixed emotions. Seriously, don't tell me this thing isn't memorable at all. The many people who voted for Birth by Sleep as KHWikis and The Keyholes favourite secret ending speak for themselves. That's a secret kept under lock and key. | |
Interview conducted by Chainoffire Watchful overseer of the mainspace, Aixon is a careful editor who takes great pleasure in the tasks that he commits himself to, ensuring he completes each one with finesse. Chainoffire sat down with him to talk about the important things, such as the future of Kingdom Hearts, adminship, and facial hair.
  Chainoffire: So Aixon, you're the newest staff member over at the Keyhole, what's it feel like to have all that power? Aixon: Power is fine, as long as the bearer knows how to deal with it. This isn't my first time in such a position, so there is very little difference from being a regular editor. Very little has changed for me really, besides perhaps bearing a little more responsibility to ensure that correct edits are being made to the mainspace. Chain: You've been such a position before? Where was this? Aixon: An online browser game which I still play today. I shan't name the game though Chain: I won't press for it then. So what brought you to this fine wikiverse? Aixon: Originally, I came to the Keyhole when looking for tips on how to beat the Ruler of the Sky. (I still despise that boss; this is also the reason why I refuse to replay Days.) I was brought back by a friend who used the site for all his Kingdom Hearts related information. I wanted to try editing out, so I joined. The rest is history heh… Chain: Ahh yes, ruler of the sky. That and leechgrave are some of the nastiest creatures that you're required to defeat. So not a fan of days huh? What is your favorite KH game and non KH-game? Also, your favorite bosses both in and outside of the KH series? Aixon: I never had too many issues with the Leechgrave myself. Just utilise those limit breaks well, and success is guaranteed. Oh, don't get me wrong, Days is a great game! The only reason that I decline to play it through again is to avoid the pain of that horrible flying disaster boss... My favourite Kingdom Hearts game in terms of storyline has to be Re: Chain of Memories, and in game-play it would be Dream Drop Distance. I haven't played a huge array of games, but I can say that Tales of the Abyss is up there among my favourites. For bosses, my favourite KH boss is Chill Clawbster; outside the KH series it would have to be Legretta from TotA. "Power, come to me!" Chain: Interesting choices! Now with the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and the anticipation of Kingdom Hearts III ever increasing, what do you look forward to most for these games, or the future of the franchise in general? Aixon: I am very excited to see where the storyline is going to develop to from this point. The "final clash" in KHIII is certainly enough to get excited about. I am also very keenly anticipating Aqua's return from the realm of darkness, as well as hoping daily that Ansem the Wise's speech from the end of KHDDD will mean the returns of both Roxas and Xion. Beyond KHIII, I am interested to see what Tetsuya Nomura is going to do with the story (there won't be a Master Xehanort any more if the 7 lights get their way. Chain: Certainly a lot to look forward to! Anything you hope to NOT see in KHIII? Aixon: Terra. Anything involving Terra is bad. He needs to stay..."gone"... I'd say capes, but that wouldn't end well, so I won't do that! (Not that I dislike capes anyway...) Chain: [peers eyes] yeah, you'd better not. So, is there any advice you'd give newbies on how to become #1? Aixon: In terms of the wiki? If #1 is what I am now, then I would say to be dedicated to a task and see it through to the end, whether that is an official project or a task that you set yourself. Offer to help out when you can, and generally be friendly towards other users. Chain: A good piece of advice! Time for some quick questions! Favorite color? Aixon: Blue, royal blue to be specific. Chain: Favorite animal? Aixon:I don't have a favourite animal really. If I did, it'd probably be some species of fish. Chain: Favorite type of facial hair? Aixon:That's not exactly something I've thought on much... I'll have to get back to you there… Chain: If a woodchuck, could chuck wood, how much would a woodchuck chuck? Aixon: You're very much on point today with the questions... I'd say 10kg. (That's about 22 lbs. for you American folks!) Chain: Sounds about right. Favorite admin? [gives Aixon a death glare] Aixon: FR of course! I am her favourite, so the favour needs to be returned. [hides himself behind his chair] Chain: Preferred method of dea- [is suddenly reminded that he's on camera] er.. ice cream? Aixon: Raspberry ripple! Chain: Interesting! Well that's all the time we'll have for today, any last words er.. last things you wish to tell our readers? Aixon: Keep calm, and don't make irrelevant edits. Also, if you would like to chat to me, leave a message on my talk page on The Keyhole. Oh, and before I Chain: So thanks for the interview, Aixon! |
 Art compiled by TheFifteenthMember | |||||
 by TheFifteenthMember |
 by TheFifteenthMember |
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| If you enjoy user contributed colored lineart, why not send us one of your own? Help add some color to this black and white image and then send your finished work to kingdomheartswikibcrat@gmail.com and we might feature it in a future issue! Be sure to make "Magazine" your subject title or else we may not notice your question!  For inspiration, see this Disney alphabet. Click here for a printable version! Submitted by FinalRest | |||||
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 A mysterious curse has been wrought upon the world of Kingdom Hearts! All the wicked foes that stand in the way of our favorite protagonists have been gifted with the power of invisibility! Thankfully, our quick wiki editors who are skilled in the ways of magic - as all good editors are - have managed to capture some monsters, but they need your help identifying what type of beast they have found, so their un-invisiblity spells work correctly. Help us out! Do you know who this beast is?  Hover here for the answer! This issue's beast was captured by FinalRest |
 A twist of fate, a change of sides With honest intentions- no evil lies. I am manipulative and cunning, But always look out for my friends. A flurry of flames passes by. Who am I? Hover here for the answer! Submitted by Xion4ever Conductor of pain; Violin, trumpet and drum All express disdain. Hover here for the answer! Submitted by TheFifteenthMember Pitiful creatures; so mindless, so Heartless, and so unwise. Inferior to my intellect; unable to see through my guise. Externally calm, but a berserker inside Can come quite off as truly a surprise. Hover here for the answer! Submitted by Xion4ever From one to another Two trios connected Intentions oraccidents Where are summoners selected? Hover here for the answer! Submitted by FinalRest A lucky charm crafted for you. To protect you, no matter where you go. A gift between us; I have one, too. Promise to return to me, or allow me to go. Hover here for the answer! Submitted by Xion4ever | ||
 Traverse through the maze to lock the Keyhole!
Click here for a printable version! (and printable answers) Submitted by TheFifteenthMember | |||
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For me, it's definitely community events! Mainspace editing is fun and fine but it's when you collab with the other Wikians that you experience the full effect of being part of a wiki. It's great to see the lively buzz that the magazine and End of Year Events tend to cause. When I am doing real wiki work, I tend to stick with gameplay articles, especially sections of the wiki that are extremely vacant and empty. It's very satisfying to complete a project that actually contributes new information to the wiki as opposed to mundane clean-up work. Those of you into that stuff, I'm so glad you exist, because I certainly don't have that patience!
Dancers from Kingdom Hearts II. No contest. Besides the fact that they're one of the only Nobodies that don't have a reaction command, their kicks knock off quite a large chunk of HP, and they have a move that cannot be reflected or blocked. Once you're trapped in said move, you have no control over Sora, and you lose an even larger portion of your health than their normal kicks. These enemies are especially tedious if you're doing a level 1 critical mode playthrough, any of their attacks signify a certain death! Also they look stupid. Ugh.
Being a cat owner, I know how it feels to feed and clean up after your furry little animal without getting any thanks in return (my cat doesn't hug). That's why I think Chef Kyroo would be the greatest pet ever! He cooks, he cleans, he scares away the burglars, what more could you ask for? Sure, he isn't very furry but I could make do with cuddling a teddy bear instead.
_2_KHD.png){kind=icon} So let's narrow down the list. In the first Kingdom Hearts game, Sora's hair sets the precedent for the spike-a-thon do's of the KH males. Unfortunately, as the series continues, his hair becomes less and less fabulous, leaving us with the cat ear style of Kingdom Hearts III. Therefore, I dub Sora's hair too unpredictable and eliminate him from the running. Next up is Ventus and Roxas, the clone twins. I'm all about originality, so I eliminate both of their hairstyles to ensure I don't get a clone of my own who copies my early 2000's scene punk hair. So that leaves us with the best option, Vanitas!  Vanitas has the wonderful height of Sora's hair, without the loss of volume Sora is prone to. His hair is imbued with the teenage-y angst of Ventus and Vanitas, without the dual twin theme. He also pays tribute to Xion, via the hair color.But, most importantly, the picture of Vanitas above was taken shortly after he removed the motorbike helmet he wears for the majority of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. That's right folks, Vanitas' hair defies the laws of helmet hair. And that, in my opinion, is a power worth becoming the ?-blade for.
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 by FinalRest | |||||
  Expand on one stub article. Vote in the Mirage Arena. Fix at least ten inappropriately capitalized category links. Pitch in on Project Items. Enhance an article in need of improvement.
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  Defeat Riku in Mission 93 of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days while wearing the Extreme Ring. Earn five consecutive Fantastic scores on any Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ice Cream Beat songs. Beat Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts II without the use of magic or items. Consecutively complete three of Kingdom Hearts' Jungle Slider courses without being hit once. Acquire Zolephant in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
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  Convert a jpg. Vote for a featured article. Comment on two topics at our latest tea party. Create your own blog or comment on a recent blog. Help out on Project χ.
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 Results compiled by FinalRest In our last issue we asked you... Which of the following would you most like to see in Kingdom Hearts III? Here's what you said!  Lea and Isa had a lot of fans amongst the voters! It seems that what we want the most from Kingdom Hearts III is to find out exactly what happened to the two former friends and how they became nobodies in the first place. This option received 6 votes, 23% of the total. The other popular option was for the indifferent voters. Another 23% of voters decided that they wanted two or more of the presented options. In a similar vein, the second most popular option, with 5 votes and 19% of the total, was all of the above! The third character to earn support was Kairi, with 4 voters crossing their fingers and hoping that she'll be available as a playable character in the upcoming release. This gave her 15% of the total votes. Tied for fifth, with 2 votes each, was the return of Keyblade armor and the hope that Sora will make a final descent into darkness in order to safeguard his friends. Both of these options earned 8% of the final total. There was one person excited for transformation sequences for every Keyblade Sora owns, which gave that option 4% of the total. Finally, it seems that we're all happy with the present, as no one requested that Sora, or any other character, travels to the past. Thanks to all those that participated and we look forward to seeing what the results of our next poll will be! | |||||
 Dates compiled by TheFifteenthMember Oct 07: TheFifteenthMember |
 We asked... What's your favourite Kingdom Hearts trio?
See the next issue for the results! Question submitted by FinalRest | ||||
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