In the Name of the Plot

More Like KH-WTF-BBQ
People interviewed about this newest game have described it as "insane" and "on steroids." Watching videos that Japanese gamers have recorded and posted of themselves playing the game earlier this year show that they are just as shocked and confused as the characters themselves are. There are a lot of twists that need to be resolved in the next game after this one. I can't wait to see the English dub (since translations of the Japanese subtitles were blocked by YouTube somehow) just to get a better idea of how this new part of the story does or doesn't make sense. If it still doesn't make sense, then it probably never did. But that's what this series has done up to this point - leave gaping plot holes while attempting to close other ones while at the same time retconning things from the first game when they had no idea how big the story had yet to grow. And again, if nothing else, I just want a scene in a later game when all this is resolved (or close to being resolved) where Ansem the Wise can go back home to Radiant Garden and choose to forgive his remaining apprentices.

So KH is going the Digimon Adventure and 02 route in which the main big bad who posed the biggest threat just won't effing die (in addition to the Disney villains that needed to be inexplicably reincarnated in order to remain relevant). That's right, I'm comparing Xehanort to Myotismon now. This does not take into consideration what happened to the hearts in Kingdom Hearts or when Ansem's machine blew up. The good news is that this means all the innocents are okay now, as well as the rest of Organization XIII. Whether or not they still have all their memories remains to be seen (update: yes they do). I know I won't be completely satisfied with it, but if they manage to wrap things up without creating too many more gaping plot holes I'll be okay. But being brought back to normal so easily as well as unintentionally seems like an affront to the sacrifices some of them went through and how traumatic some of their supposed deaths were. If they remember that much, they will likely be pissed at each other and there will be some in-fighting before Xehanort can assume any form of control over them again if he so desires. (update: there really wasn't, but Xehanort can only control Braig and Isa for some reason. Even and Dilan went back to sleep, and Lea went to go find the others and help the heroes while Ienzo and Aeleus got to stay behind and clean up the mess Tifa made.)
Anyway, I saw the Mark of Mastery thing for Sora and Riku coming, although I'm not sure how I feel about it due to how disastrous the last one was. People wonder why Kairi won't be included in the test, but she hasn't had as much experience as the guys, and that makes sense given that Ventus, who had less experience than Terra and Aqua, was not included in the test either. At least, that's what I'm telling myself to keep myself sane. Is it even worth being in this fandom anymore if the games' storyline is going to piss me off this much? If I was actually playing them I wouldn't be happy about having to do the same things over and over again with little-to-no payoff if it's just going to continue on like this.

Worlds I'd Like To See in III
There are some Disney-based worlds that have not yet appeared in Kingdom Hearts (at least not in a satisfactory capacity) and others that are worth returning to. So I made a list of the ones I wanted to see and why.
Returns: Lion King 2 (because Quinton Flynn voices Kovu as well as Lea); Cinderella 3 (so Aqua can fix things again starting from where she first arrived in her timeline); Aladdin and the King of Thieves (the theme of families should come up in this series, and this is a perfect time to do so); Winnie the Pooh (new movie, time to get more training levels in); Oogie's Revenge (because the villains don't stay dead in this series); Pirates 2 and 3 combined (because of the storyline with Davy Jones' heart); and Lilo and Stitch (cousins continuity or just the other half of the movie that takes place on Earth).
Whole New Worlds: Princess and the Frog (awesome); Tangled (fun); Atlantis (more Leonard Nimoy!); and Sword in the Stone (or at least a reference to what Merlin's been up to).