Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days liveplay! (complete)

[sincere]

What's that? Yes, I just finished a Kingdom Hearts liveplay, it's time for SON OF DAYS: A KINGDOM HEARTS LIVEPLAY OF A GAME I'VE ALREADY FINISHED. Sorry, out of the way, it's time to get my Nobody feelings on. /rolls up sleeves


Current progress: Completed.

Comments

[sincere]

There's no New Game + so I will just have to make a new game.

We start with sneering at Heartless, panning over the Organization members on their chairs, and then Roxas and Axel musing about how they definitely probably don't have hearts, because of consistency.

[sincere]

/.watches them pan through each member of the Organization, their powers, and their weapons

[emends]

sits here forever. :D

[sincere]

Flash forward to snarky Roxas greeting Axel on the bell tower on day 255. ♥ He's so cute. They talk about what a zombie he was and is and they laugh and Axel talks about why the sun sets red, because red is the color that travels the farthest. He says it smugly like it's his personal achievement.

Roxas rolls his eyes and calls him a know-it-all, and they laugh. And they wait, but Xion... doesn't come...

Time for some tragedy.

[sincere]

"You gotta figure, everything starts someplace. The closes thing for me is when I was just seven days old, and I met her."

Day 7: Number XIV

[sincere]

Roxas sleeps like a zombie fully dressed on his flat bed over the covers because that's definitely how people sleep. Time to talk to some people and get a mission!

[sincere]

Axel: Hey, Roxas.
Roxas: ... :(
Axel: Something I can help you with there, chatterbox?
Roxas: ... :(

Roxas is still too young to talk, but he does have some vaguely sad/lifeless faces! When Axel says something actually relevant ("We're supposed to have a meeting in the Round Room today", plus some more commentary) Roxas repeats after him, "Round... Room?" but right now he's barely reactional. He's so new and blank.

[sincere]

Xemnas introduces Xion, Number XIV.

Roxas has a flashback to when he was introduced the same way -- with Axel trailing behind him like a babysitter. He looks up at Xemnas, who frankly looks bored.

But now Xion looks up, directly at Roxas.

[sincere]

"After seven days of clinging to a number and a name, I had trouble processing anything else. I couldn't have told you who the people in the black coats were, or what they wanted with me."

Day 8: The Icing On The Cake

[sincere]

I'm sure that first week is very helpful for Organization members who need to adjust to their new lifestyle, but maybe not so much for someone who doesn't have anything else to go on. Saix gives Roxas his first mission, with Axel along to babysit some more. Axel complains and Saix ignores him.

[sincere]

Zexion: What's the significance of No. XIV's name, exactly?

Axel: Talk to Saix when you're ready to go. Also, check out my bad posture, I'm practically horizontal while sitting upright on this couch.

Xion: ... /zombies it up

[sincere]

As we head out, Roxas and Xion stare at each other for a little bit. Axel gives him a name pop quiz and Roxas demonstrates that he may still not speak voluntarily unless asked a direct question but damnit he sure knows people's names.

[sincere]

Down in the Twilight Town underground, Axel fails to explain anything. "Missions are... uhh, you know..." Roxas does not know. "You know what? Talking is dumb," Axel concludes. Truly he is a master of cleverness and manipulation.

[sincere]

Axel: Find the treasure chest.
Roxas: That's all I have to do?
Axel: I know. Don't strain yourself.

I appreciate when Kingdom Hearts allows itself to have a real sense of humor instead of "OH BOY, THAT RIDICULOUS DONALD! LET'S ALL LAUGH UPROARIOUSLY FOR THIRTY SECONDS STRAIGHT UNTIL WE FADE TO BLACK."

[sincere]

Axel gives him some more enthusiastic praise that Roxas responds lukewarmly to, and when Axel prods him, Roxas turns around and goes, "I could have done that blindfolded."

THERE'S MY SWEETIE BABY ♥♥♥

Axel rewards him for being a jerk by dragging him away from their RTC for some ice cream -- the "icing on the cake". Roxas can't remember the name because he was just a newborn the first time they got it and he doesn't remember Day 1. Axel declares that "Today is where it all really begins anyway", because it's Roxas's first time actually going out, doing work, being one of the Organization.

[temples]

Baby Nobodies are so lost and confused. :(

[sincere]

"That was my first day working for the Organization. They gave me missions, and I carried them out. But if you asked me what my job was... I would've just stared at you."

Day 9: Heartless

[sincere]

Today Roxas is working with Marluxia, because we need to introduce the Castle Oblivion cast quickly before killing them all off. Marluxia generously welcomes Roxas.

[sincere]

Vexen: Keyblaaaade. 8D

Demyx: ...I don't suppose you play any instruments? :(

Marluxia: We'll set out whenever you're ready. /HAIRFLIPS

[sincere]

Marluxia introduces himself properly once we arrive at Twilight Town, but Roxas really doesn't have enough socialization to know why he should care, so he's like "Okay, sure. What do I do today?"

The answer is, murder Heartless. Marluxia asks him to summon the keyblade and then admires it -- before some Shadows appear. Marluxia tells Roxas to defeat them.

[sincere]

Marluxia explains what Heartless are ("Dark creatures who roam about, searching for hearts") and that "Purebloods don't release any hearts when you defeat them - in other words, don't bother with them" and then the all-important Emblem Heartless! Roxas now knows that his mission is to collect hearts, and that the Organization's goal is to complete Kingdom Hearts. Knowledge get!!!

Also he now knows that they were really bad at it before he came along, since no one can do it but him, and Marluxia is all but drooling over his keyblade. Hmm, it's almost as if the Organization might have had some other goal these last 10 years???

Note: If a Heartless is not killed by a keyblade, the hearts they release turn right back into Heartless sooner or later. So that's what happens.

[temples]

But if you kill a Heartless by magic and not by your keyblade, the hearts still get added to your count! I remember how amazed I was when I discovered that. I never thought I'd appreciate gameplay and storyline segregation.

[sincere]

"That's how I found out the Organization's goal. They wanted to collect these things called 'hearts'. I didn't know what a heart was, or how it even mattered. But at least I knew what my part was."

Day 10: Incomplete

[sincere]

The day when Zexion ruins Roxas's zen thing.

Zexion greets him at the door and says that he's coming along today and he's ready whenever Roxas is!

[sincere]

Lexaeus: ... /not zombieing it up, just quiet

Zexion: If you've finished preparing, you need to report to Saix, not me.

Marluxia: Keyblaaaade. :3

[sincere]

Zexion explains that his mission today is to kill X number of Heartless. He may be asked to perform other missions as well, but overall, Roxas's job is always to kill Heartless.

[sincere]

Roxas kills X number of Heartless and asks if it's time to RTC and Zexion is like, "Uh, underachieving much? Try a little harder, slacker."

Zexion: You don't have to kill them all. It's your choice.
Zexion: Just like I don't have to respect you for slinking back to the castle while there's still work to be done.

PULLS NO PUNCHES

[sincere]

As they're leaving to RTC, Zexion asks if Roxas has anymore questions, so Roxas asks some. What's Kingdom Hearts? Why do we care about it?

So Zexion explains that it will complete us, and that we're all Nobodies, and Nobodies ("That's not very nice," Roxas says. "With a CAPITAL N. It's a NAME," Zexion says) are all missing their hearts. Roxas is startled to hear this.

Now go collect hearts so we can all be complete, Roxas. God.

[sincere]

"I found out I was a Nobody -- that I was incomplete. Just like the rest of them, I came into the world without a heart. Would it have made a difference? If I had a heart... would that make me somebody?"

Day 11: Keyblade

[sincere]

Today Roxas gets to partner with Larxene. Strap in, kid. She's already left because she has zero patience for losers like Roxas. This time Saix informs him he's to practice magic ("I know magic? :|a ") instead of just hitting things with the keyblade.

[sincere]

Vexen: DISSECTING THINGS 8D HEE HEE HEE

Xigbar: Get practicing so you can make yourself useful.

Ah, it's really starting to feel like home here in the Grey Area.

[sincere]

Time to head to work! Larxene can sit there fuming in Twilight Town until I'm ready for her. 8D

[slayerofgod]

Good to see you again. ^^

I think my favorite part about this game is that it actually develops Roxas and Axel's friendship. It felt pretty disjointed in KHII, especially since they never explained what caused Roxas to leave Org XIII to begin with. Really liked the reason behind that, as well.

[sincere]

Thanks! I've been around, I just find that I don't have as much to say online as I used to, really?? It may be depression talking but I don't really have opinions so strong I want to go talking about it online. I gave up on Tumblr, too. I should try to update more often anyway...

I don't recall feeling like it was disjointed in KH2, although to be fair, I spent an inordinate amount of time dissecting KH2 because I was obsessed with it. It was definitely a story we didn't fully understand, but that whole segment of the game was something that wasn't meant to be fully understood for a long time. It was a brief flash of things that could've been, and I utterly loved it for its tragic, uncompromising ending abruptly, while only barely touching on the answers -- best part of the game for me hands down. Axel had been played up like a villain for a long time (including through CoM, where his friendship with Roxas was hinted at, but buried under self-interest) only to be revealed as someone who was genuinely Roxas's friend and was committed to helping him, even if Roxas had been unkind to him in the past; Roxas was revealed to be someone who was more than just some fluffy kid, who had complicated goals and motivations of his own. The only thing I missed was actual confirmation that at some point Roxas had been friendly with him, because in their only flashback scene together, Roxas was pretty pissy with him, and you could say the friendship was kind of one-way, which would make Axel's attachment make less sense.

Their relationship definitely wasn't explicit, but Roxas's goals were actually pretty clear, as I recall! I haven't replayed KH2 yet, but I'll always remember, "Why did the keyblade choose me? I have to know." And at the end of the game he gets to confront Sora and demand to know why the keyblade chose Sora, so there's even some resolution for it. Roxas left because he had unanswered questions and a mission of self-discovery, and we knew already in KH2 that Roxas didn't remember being Sora, so that made a lot of sense. Even if that plot thread deserved more development, it wouldn't have fit in KH2.

I definitely appreciated Days for expanding upon both, because there was so much left to explore, but my only problem with the KH2 plot is the way we pretend that the end results are happy for Roxas and Namine -- which the series later walked back and corrected anyway. VINDICATING ME!

But my favorite part of Days is definitely the exposure to the Nobodies overall -- the expanded characterization, their cutthroat and cruel nature, the wonderful well of sarcasm. This game reveled in things you just don't get in KH from anybody else. OH NO, A CREEPY MAN IS SAYING OMINOUS THINGS TO ME. OH WELL! I'LL JUST KEEP BOUNCING AROUND WITH MY NEON PINK SIDEKICKS, NOT THINKING ABOUT IT AND UNLOCKING THINGS AND OCCASIONALLY GUSHING SYRUP ABOUT MY BFF RIKU

Now I definitely sound like someone who doesn't have opinions they care about enough to make DW posts, right? Right.

[sincere]

So Larxene is the least excited to help Roxas out.

"Whose idea was it to send me along on your stupid baby mission? Do I look like I run a nursery school? Let Demyx handle this stuff. It's not like he's good at anything else."

She forbids him from using his keyblade, to be a brat. You'll be practicing your magic, juuust like Saix said.

[sincere]

She gets bored of that pretty quickly and almost immediately tells him he can use his keyblade again, because at this rate they'll be here all day. Roxas is frowny and snarks at her in his head but he is currently still a toddler so he keeps it to himself.

[sincere]

"They taught me that my keyblade releases hearts. But why do I have it? How did I learn to use it? The more I learned, the less I seemed to know."