Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 39 - Deus Ex Machina

3 games down, however many we have left to go!



There was a healthy discussion about the endings in this episode that has stuck with me in the (now) year since we originally recorded it. Had Square and Disney decided to stop here, this would have been a solid ending. Sure, there would have been some mysteries left unsolved, but not everything needs to be explained in order for a story to be a good story.

Either fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your perspective), Kingdom Hearts did continue after this game. And as the series went on, they moved away from the more whimsical tone of the first game and more towards the decidedly darker tone started in Kingdom Hearts 2. We'll talk about some the problems I have with the storytelling in future Kingdom Hearts game at a later point, but I feel this shift in tone had it's own impact on the series.

Sam and I talked about how the fate of Roxas and Namine in particular is terribly tragic, but didn't get as much screen time as it should have. If anything, those kinds of very unfortunate fates become almost a staple for the series as it goes on. That said, it all started here.

Now that we're officially out of Sam's Kingdom Hearts comfort zone, I hope you guys have as much fun seeing how he reacts that I did when I was recording it with him.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 38 - Honest Eyes

We're ramping up towards the grand finale!



I think the best part of this episode is how, up until King Mickey said the line, Sam thought I was joking about "the eyes don't lie".

The resulting meltdown was truly spectacular. I don't think I could have scripted a better scene between the two of us.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 37 - The Most Interesting Man in Kingdom Hearts

Welcome to one of the best parts of Kingdom Hearts 2.



I've maintained that Roxas is one of the most interesting characters in the Kingdom Hearts fiction. Unlike a lot of the other heroes, he has a solid arc from the start of Kingdom Hearts 2 to the end of the game.

Roxas begins with a strong desire to understand himself, who he is and why he exists. In his effort to do so, he starts to develop his own identity. There's a tension born from the fact that while his mere existence is tied to someone else (just by the nature of his birth), he is beginning to actualize himself as his own being.

His role in the game is small, but it's rife with interesting philosophical discussions and has big implications on the lore of the franchise. For most of it, he is unwilling trapped inside Sora, only at the end finally accepting his place as a piece of a larger whole.

I like the character. And as small a role he has in the game, I'm happy for it.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 36 - Darkness Works in Mysterious Ways

And we finally get back to the main plot of Kingdom Hearts.



As I reflect on this transition into the Final Act of Kingdom Hearts 2, I have difficulty trying to solve the real issue I have with it. Like I said in the episode, there is a serious logical leap that takes place here in order to catch Sora (and the player, by proxy) up with the events of the plot.

The logic is as follows:

• The crystal trophy and Olette's pouch are one of a kind items.
• There are two copies of a crystal from the trophy and Olette's pouch.
• There is a place where the people who are missing from Twilight Town (like Kairi) are located.

• Therefore, there *must* be a second town where the duplicate items came from and where Kairi got sent when she was kidnapped.

The Twilight Town crew happens to be right in this case, but I don't see how the premises lead to the conclusion.

What I think should have happened is that the second round of trips should have been about investigating worlds again, looking for clues as to what the (seemingly unmelting) sea-salt ice cream bar and photo might be alluding to. With a few more clues or facts to go on, I feel like it would be more plausible that the whole team could arrive at the conclusion it did.

This would also have solved the big problem that much of the Disney world stories had, in that they don't tie-in to the main plot thread. While the other games aren't always great at this either, this was a major problem with Kingdom Hearts 2.

The storyline in Kingdom Hearts has never been the problem. The problem is always in how it's presented and in its support. A bit more attention to detail would've gone a long way.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 35 - Going Super Cyan

Finally, at long last, THE KINGDOM HEARTS PRIMER CONTINUES!



So, I could make up a whirlwind of excuses for why it took us so long to make another episode of the series, but in truth real life just caught up with us in a big way.

And the moment Sam was free enough to resume editing of the footage, he had some massive computer issues that set us back.

It's a good time to come back in though, since after this we get to go back to talking about important plot details. On top of that, Tron's world is one of the better one's in this game.

Expect more for us soon. We'll back, and the gravy train isn't stopping for anyone.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 34 - God Is Dead!

Finally, Atlantica is over!



It's worth noting that when we make silly suggestions like we did in this episode, it's almost purely because we're so bored that imagining that version of the show is the only way we can keep ourselves awake.

We had no intention (at the time) of making adding all of this in at the time. But since Sam needs some way to liven up the editing job, and I love seeing what his brain cooks up, here we are.

Final note: We will be producing content at a slower pace than usual just because of real life obligations. Please be patient with us. We promise it'll be worth the wait.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 33 - The Thing Furries Don't Thing About

We come back to the Lion King world, so let's try not to fall asleep.

Thankfully, Sam's here to add some spice to my life.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 32 - How Sora Saves Christmas (Again)

This world is best world.



As much as I love Halloween Town, we're still getting tired of all these world stories. And as a result, we were still in the middle of losing our minds.

I would apologize, but I think it's fun to watch.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 31 - Magic Carpet Ride

Sometimes we make interesting, serious points about Kingdom Hearts.



And sometimes we look at copyright and just say "screw it".

This is one of those latter times.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 30 - The Civil War of 1812

If you lost Sam and I lost it before, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.



It's a tournament plot. You've seen it before. Moving On.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 29 - Of Kings, Contracts, and Fish Lawyers

Finally, we get to the part I HATE!



I've written about it before, but I can't even fathom how anyone though Atlantica was a good idea. It's a concentrated does of everything wrong with Kingdom Hearts 2.

I hate this world, and I hope it they never come back to it in future games.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 28 - What Has My Life Become!?

Welcome back to Port Royal. We're barely hanging on.



This is roughly the point where Sam and I start to lose our minds and slowly slip into madness. It's not quite so visible at this point, and we're still able to mostly hold a coherent conversation. But we start making a ton of diversions and side conversations, which will become a more common occurrence later on.

In the meantime, enjoy the sanity while it's still there.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 27 - JRPG Talk

While Kingdom Hearts rolls in the background, Sam and I talk about the JRPGs we have (and haven't) played.



I want to point out that while Sam seems to have a chronic inability to finish the JRPGs he starts, as of the time of writing, he has completed a single JRPG: Final Fantasy XV, otherwise known as the Beautiful Boy Band Adventure.

Given how long this series has gone on, and Kingdom Hearts status as one of the biggest JRPG franchises out there, it was only a matter of time before an episode like this came out. Sam and I spent a while just talking about the various games we've played in the genre, lightly comparing them both to each other and to Kingdom Hearts.

Also, props to Belle for not being another captured princess. Even when held hostage, she still manages to be the only sane person in the room.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 26 - This Force Called Sora

And now that we've finished with some of the important stuff, we can do nonsense for the next 5-10 episodes.



A recurring problem we're running into with this series has more to do with the nature of these long RPGs than any inherent flaw with Kingdom Heart's actual story. Our objective here is to help explain the lore and story behind this franchise. That said, so much of the content, even when focusing purely on the cutscenes, has little, if anything to do with the story.

Most of this "filler" story comes from the Disney worlds. This is an interesting problem, because those Disney worlds are a major draw for many, if not most, of the people who play this franchise. A lot of the reason people come to Kingdom Hearts is to fight alongside characters from classic Disney films.

But for us, who are only interested in the overall plot, most of this is just a waste of our time. It's almost shocking that, if you remove most of the Disney-related worlds from any given Kingdom Hearts game, and focus on the original story, without losing much. Some details are lost, but the series as a whole will still make sense.

If anything, I would want to have the main story thread woven into the Disney world storylines with much more grace than this. Considering worlds like Beast's Castle can do that, it doesn't seem like too much of an ask.

Then again, I wasn't on the team for this project, so what would I know.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 25 - Going Full Stupid

It's so refreshing to have cool, interesting conversations about the story.

The scenes in the first seven minutes of this episode are all Final Mix exclusive, and that's honestly a large problem. In those seven minutes, so many of the reveals from future games are foreshadowed that the people who only played the original release don't have the foundation that they should. Unless you're like me, and read the wiki, the only way you'd have this content is to:

• Look it up in the wiki
• Import the Final Mix version from Japan
• Wait several years for the ReMix to be releases, that you'd have no way of knowing about at the time Kingdom Hearts 2 came out

And up until recently, this was one of the biggest problems with the Kingdom Hearts series. In order to have the complete story, it was required to have the following systems so that you could play every game in the Kingdom Hearts series:

• PlayStation 2
• Game Boy Advance (any variant)
• Nintendo DS (and later 3DS)
• PlayStation Portable (PSP Go and Vita wouldn't work due to copyright protection)
• Mobile Phone

This all changed recently with the ReMixes. While this was a problem for a long time (and part of why Kingdom Hearts was so hard to get into), now all one needs is a PS3 and a PS4 to have access to every game. Soon, with 1.5 + 2.5, the PS3 won't even be necessary, and the PS4 will be the one-stop shop for Kingdom Hearts.

Square Enix has had this problem for a long time, and finally they've solved it. Still, disregarding the financial commitment of getting all the systems and games, there is still the issue of having to play all of the games. As you can see, even with a ton of the gameplay edited out, going through all of these stories is still quite time-consuming.

It's a messy complicated problem Square Enix dug themselves into. While I appreciate the attempt to solve it, it's still a problem.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 24 - An Single Joke (Please Laugh)

It's story time, ladies and gentlemen.



It's weird to think of how Kingdom Hearts 2 is a product of it's time. I'm not talking about mechanics or how dark its story is (although that's certainly true). I'm talking about how it references other media that, in hindsight, are clearly only to drum up or capitalize on hype for other projects.

We touched on that topic earlier in Port Royal. In hindsight, it's obvious that the only reason Port Royal is even in Kingdom Hearts 2 is that Pirates of the Caribbean was taking off in a big way at the time it was being developed. This is silly, but something that one can easily look past, and is no more offensive than any other Disney-world story.

On the other hand, the references to Advent Children are some of the worst offenders in the game. It's not just that the game is detouring to make a thinly-veiled hype piece for the movie. That could be hilarious, but otherwise inoffensive in its own way. The real problem is that the way the jury-rig the pieces together makes almost no sense. It comes off as awkward, especially when those extremely edgy looking outfits are juxtaposed to "Happy Disney Funtimes".

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 23 - De-Rezzed

Sam and I stop playing games to talk about not playing games.

I appreciate Sam's help in reminding all of us who Christopher Lee is and why you should be worshiping him.

Aside from that, it's nice to have a Disney movie tie into the main thread in a way that makes sense without feeling too much like filler.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 22 - A Tale of Two Ansems

Today, we start to get into some of the more confusing aspects of Kingdom Hearts.

I love the way they leverage the fact that Tron exists in a computer system in order to write the scenario. The way they smartly link it back into the main scenario through the protagonist's quest for answers was a nice way to keep the plot moving forward.

I was also very impressed at Sam's ability work through his confusion and figure out the Ansem/Xehanort connection without my help. It shows that he's been paying attention as we prime.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 21 - Zippers Held By Belts

Finally, we're back to talking about story content.



It's actually pretty amazing that, after the original Kingdom Hearts, Kairi has a huge problem with almost completely ceasing to be relevant to the plot. Even though she spent most of the first game in a state of limbo, she still does contribute to the story in some ways.

In Kingdom Hearts 2, her only real contribution is being kidnapped, and then not being kidnapped anymore while Sora goes off and actually deals with the real plot. It gets worse from here on. At some point, you'd be hard-pressed to remember who Kairi is. I wish that they'd make more use of her. As it stands, she only serves as motivation for the real heroes, without taking any actions of her own.

Also, points to Sam for correctly figuring out the Xehanort/Ansem family tree on his first try.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 20 - The Eyes Don't Move

Let's get back to that movie plot!



Not much Kingdom Hearts to talk about while we watch The Lion King...