The Villains Of Video Games: Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts)

Kingdom Hearts had something to prove when it came to the original characters. Sora, Riku, and Kairi led the series a great foot forward, but that still left original villains needing to prove themselves. Now, Riku fell to the dark side of course, and Chain of Memories showed a section of Organization XIII. But, as Riku found redemption and many players jumped into Kingdom Hearts II without knowing Chain of Memories would be important, the only original villain to leave their impression was left with Ansem the Seeker of Darkness.

A fine villain for what he was, a subject for his entry, but ultimately a plot-twist villain that is nearly spelled out should you look for the signs (i.e. reading the Ansem Reports). I’m a Kingdom Hearts 1 fan, yet it’s not a twist of my arm to say that game doesn’t have the best villain of the series. That villain is the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts II; the Nobody Xemnas.

Xemnas led Organization XIII, a shadowy Organization even if you did play Chain of Memories on the GBA (Something I still haven’t). The threat of the Organization was left a mystery until the halfway point of KHII, leaving them to feel around as enigmatic as Yen Sid describes them. In a flash, we get their true motives and the backstory of specifically Xemnas, something that back during release was honestly a bit infamous.

To tell players that the man they defeated, was not, in fact, ever a man named Ansem. That Ansem the Wise was someone else, only the teacher of the man who would steal his name and attempt the throw the universe to darkness on a lark. Xehanort was the man you killed, his Heartless side, whom also created the Nobody Xemnas. This smug slow-talker who can’t even step out of the shadows as long as he still has Nobodies to throw at you.

And as I said, over the years I’ve grown to love Xemnas. I’ve played all the games released on console (aside from Melody of Memory), and I know Kingdom Hearts loves feeling like it’s pushing bigger punches than it really is in the writing department. KH1 and Re: Chain Of Memories have great writing, but starting in KHII, we instead saw mediocre stories that would somehow manage to have great moments anyway.

The Organization and the Nobodies are sort of this, see, the game focuses so much on telling the players that Nobodies are emotionless and non-existent beings. The authority figures of the game outright hate the Nobodies, and this hate gets passed on to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Even when I was younger I felt this was a bit mean; why should I be forced to believe people unfortunate enough to stop existing must be evil by default? Likely why this backstory would later be retconned. As for KHII itself, Xemnas’s ultimate plan was to awaken Kingdom Hearts and force the entity to grant Hearts, therefore existence, unto every surviving Member of the Organization. Genocide is the means to his end, sending Heartless to swallow the Hearts of countless, and then have those Hearts be unleashed through a Keyblade. Only done so when the Heartless in question is killed.

It’s dark when thought about, darker than it already sounds, and yet still Xemnas feels this is his only option. He doesn’t feel bad about these atrocities, as, he can’t. He’s emotionless, and not even a real being anymore. He isn’t capable of caring, and unlike his subordinates, never really tries to ape his forgotten emotions either. Xaldin mimics the psychology of a domestic manipulator, Saix loses his cool after perfectly maintaining it for dozens of gaming hours, Demyx is panicky and seems to understand fear on a real level, and going back in time with Chain of Memories shows us Larxene’s sadistic streak. But, Xemnas barely raises his voice and only speaks in terms of incorrect facts. Things he completely misunderstands, to the point where I now get the impression that Xemnas straight-up doesn’t remember what emotions were like, despite how other members ranging from Axel to Saix openly brag that they remember what emotions were like, hence the ability to copy them.

The motion Xemnas is going through though are barely one-track, even when he tries to manipulate the heroes he just points at them and tells them to gather more Hearts, lacking all the wordplay and mind games of Saix, Luxord, or Xigbar. Even when Kingdom Hearts is shattered, and he knows his dream is gone, he speaks with the exact same cadence he did when he cheered his victory. I remember him being smug when I was younger, but as an adult, he now just sounds matter-of-fact, with the facts in question being half-lies and other things he isn’t capable of understanding. Out of every Organization member, it is Xemnas who feels like someone not allowed to cry out in pain. Xemnas is unforgivable but quite understandable.

I’ve danced around it, but what exactly happens with the retcon is only a shame for Xemnas. Just think for a moment, taking in everything Xemnas is; how should a villain like Xemnas react to hearing everything he did was completely pointless, as he was growing a Heart again anyway? The retcon makes sense, as while it may spit in the fact of Yen Sid and Ansem the Wise, neither truly comes across as all-knowing (especially the latter). It’s a fact that feels right, and something that paints over every previous feeling with almost the same coat of paint anyway. You still feel bad you killed Demyx, and are less surprised Larxene was such a cretin.

Xemnas however, underwent a complete re-write that was a slap in the face to his character. Xemnas was not Xehanort nor The Seeker of Darkness, he was his own self, a bit of themselves with his own goals and needs. But Dream Drop Distance instead ushered in one of the least-liked Kingdom Hearts story ideas, especially in my book, that every game must in fact be building to the next one whether you like it or not, and especially whether it fits or not. Xemnas became nothing but another Xehanort, despite how obvious it is that there were other ways to have him react to the retcon.

Like many other Organization members, he could have just been simply horrified at the news. Stunned that he did unthinkable acts for well and truly no reason. Of course, as Xemnas was recycled as a villain for Dream Drop and KHIII, there’s even another option: just make him succumb to the sunk-cost fallacies. Xemnas spoke in incorrect facts he believed in, I see no reason he wouldn’t have heard about the retcon and simply ignored the epiphany. Just a calculated response; he had no idea it was unnecessary so he shouldn’t be held responsible. That if he felt like he needed to do it, why is everyone judging him at he did it? An obvious lie that men like Xemnas tell themselves every day. It’s why Dream Drop Xemnas is such a let-down, because it feels like nothing was done to justify fighting him again. Hey everybody, remember Xemnas? Because he’s back again and about a seventh as interesting. Another Kingdom Hearts staple.

I will say these complaints were heard, in what I think was my favorite bit of KHIII. Look, I’m not on the boat ride claiming it was actually a good game this whole time. It’s bloated and somehow just as rushed as it is padded, but as I said before, ever since KHII this series managed to stick mediocre scripts with stellar sections. And Xemnas’s death is maybe its most stellar.

Sora politely asks his foe how he really feels. Puts it together that someone who put his co-workers into the slaughter only because he wasn’t allowed to process the emotional discourse, is very likely suddenly full of guilt now that emotions have come back to them. And Xemnas, admits it. His lackluster cadence manages to shrivel, making something, sorrowful. KHIII’s main villains, all of whom overstayed their welcome, range from patting Sora on the back for killing them or just gloating that they will always be evil anyway. Xemnas is the one who comes to realize just how much of a monster he is, just how much blood is on his hands just because he did not think to stop. While the other villains see Sora as an annoyance or as an equal when he defeats them, it’s Xemnas who fully understands why Sora is the better man. His call out that having feelings and embracing them must make you unfathomably strong, sounds so perfect as a closure to everything about his character.

A villain like Xemnas only comes when a writing team truly believes they are saying something. I think that’s why he’s one of the many highlights of KHII, and one of the few highlights of KHIII. When he’s the epitome of Nothingness, how seeking for existence without a care who gets hurt, he’s a stand-out villain you both enjoy defeating and wish you could talk down. He’s not a good Xehanort, but why did he ever need to be? Nothingness and yet layered after all.

If you enjoyed my writing here then I suggest you take a look at my Ko-Fi store page, as I am currently selling full books and short plays for 10 dollars and under.

For further information on my doing and whereabouts, you can access my Linktree.

Video game review: Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD

Game played on: PlayStation 4

Is a remaster of a game originally on 3DS

I've been playing games in the Kingdom Hearts franchise since the original title. While the original is still one of my favorite games, my opinions of the overall series highly differ between what I am playing. Some I highly enjoy for their gameplay or story, and some I can barely wrap my head around and end up cursing the bizarrely implemented controls. Remember when Kingdom Hearts II decided we needed the ability to skateboard? I mostly remember that it never came back as a mechanic.

With a series as complex, convoluted, and contended as this one, allow me to be a little bit more relaxed in this review than I normally would. Now, the truth of the matter is that I did not play the 3DS version of this game. I'm fully aware that all games in the franchise have important plot points, that skipping out on one game can leave you completely in the dust. I learned this lesson when I originally skipped over Chain of Memories, which led to complete confusion during Kingdom Hearts II up until I played the remake on PlayStation 2. But before I finally played Dream Drop Distance, I did make sure I was up to speed, with some minor exceptions due to my increasing frustration in certain boss fights of games I had beaten once before anyway.

Also, to be frank, I knew several of the story's spoilers before I went in. I don't tend to care about spoilers, at all, so I learned everything about this game's story just by random searching about the franchise's plot. Anyone who has played only a couple or even all of these game will admit that isn't a horrible idea. The series does make sense once you ingest everything, but even then, there's nothing wrong with a guide by this point.

Due to the spoilers, I didn't think I'd like this game.

I was wrong. I really loved playing this game.

The first thing to catch my attention was the combat. I was not a fan of the command deck from Birth By Sleep, and it returned here, but this time it felt much more straight-forward and easier to figure out. It still had it's glaring problems, but I didn't hate it this time around, and it was much easier to decide which attacks I should keep stocked now that I did not have to level them up along with my character.

The real star of the combat show was the flowmotion. Flowmotion involves Sora or Riku dashing against a wall, streetlamp, or other surface. Suddenly the character glows, and you are given a possible attack where you get to spin around, hit very hard, and cannot be hit from what I could tell. The franchise had been getting more and more unfair boss fights as of late, and this equally unfair style of attacking has made it so we are back to being on equal playing grounds instead of just hoping you might win.

Flowmotion also allows you to jump again in the air, then dash again, and continue until you reach the top of the wall you dashed against. Similar to Saints Row 4, it is very cathartic to know that any item you want is now easy to get, even if it's on the top of a tall building.

There are certain commands that can allow you to interact to certain objects and weakened enemies, and they are different depending on the world. Take for example the image below, where the command lets you encase an item or enemy in a large bubble, and you can use said bubble to trap further enemies in until it pops, a lot of the time instantly killing anything inside.

Your companions are now little battle monster style creatures you create with the synthesis method, which meant they gave a purpose to synthesis that I finally liked and did not feel nearly as tedious.

It's also surprisingly fun to play with them. And the original game came out before Pokemon X and Y, so it did Pokemon Amie before Pokemon did.

The graphics and the framerate are also quite nice. True, nothing is particularly beautiful, especially for PlayStation 4, but even without playing the original game I can tell this port looks far better. All the vibrant colors the series loves to employ are still here, and they still look very good, even if they are not beautiful this time around.

Now, the story. For many players, the story this time went too far. There were a couple of explanations that didn't make sense and did not fit with the previous games. The overarching villain became so overpowered and seemingly flawless that players are calling him badly written. I kind of agree.

Behold the awesome power of balloons.

But I also kind of really like that.

The original Kingdom Hearts is, again, one of my favorite games. One of the reasons is because of how much silly stuff is in there, even stuff that wasn't supposed to be. I'm a little more than done with the harp strings and the single game plots that branch off fifteen different ways. The plot is getting stupid, so to me, by all means let it get stupid. I enjoyed this story so much. The moments I thought were moving, did move me. The moments I thought didn't, made me laugh or otherwise enjoy myself. It had been a while since a Kingdom Hearts game had a good mix of fun game play and fun story telling, and this one did it for me.

Fans are gonna hate me for this.

8/10.

Can A Bad Adaptation Be A Good Movie?

Way back in high school I remember a class mate of mine (who's name and appearance I have long since completely forgotten) once told me, and I believe a few others who were also in the room at the same time, about her opinion on a movie she had seen. Apparently, she originally really liked the movie, may have even loved it if I'm remembering correctly. Then she said that after she read the book, she hated the movie because of how different it was from the source material. This statement immediately bothered me, outright confused me. For the life of me, I didn't see why something being different from it's source material should mean that it is automatically bad. It didn't bother her when she didn't know what the books were like, but suddenly, knowing it differed from it's source material meant that it must be bad.

Needless to say I don't agree with this mindset. The point of this post is not to simply shake my fist in the air and proclaim that I believe adaptations are allowed to take liberties. What I would like to do instead is discuss just how common this really is, and how people don't really have as much of a problem with this as many say they do. Let's be real, we have all heard the same thing or similar to my example from a high school girl. Some of us may have even said it ourselves. I'm not going to point out your hypocrisy or try to change your opinion, I just want to talk about how many things we love are actually adaptations that differ slightly or heavily, some of them you may not even know are adaptations in the first place.

Also this is now the point where I tell you the movie she was talking about was one of the Percy Jackson movies. I don't know which one, I never saw any of them or read the books. I waited until now to mention it by name as I'm aware the movies were not well-received, my point would have been made muddy if I used a widely-considered bad movie as my starting point, so I waited until now. For the record, this is how you stretch the truth effectively. I never withheld anything from you, I just waited for the time it would be best to mention. Consider that if you ever run for political positions. It is much better than lying. It beats having the piss takin' outta you, if you get what I mean.

Now to get back on topic. Perhaps you noticed the picture I used above? The picture was taken by myself, and those are in fact all pieces of media with their adaptations above them. I did the traditional book to movie, then video game to manga, comic book to video game, and book to comic book. I thought it would be interesting to do as many fields as I could, and I really do think it's best to do adaptations not as many people are aware of. I could take all day telling you that Disney films are okay and it doesn't matter if they are too accurate or not. That doesn't help my point, as even the person with the hardest stigma against my point tends to let Disney slide by. Perhaps this is because they mostly do fairy tales, but just as a reminder they also did adaptations of full novels, such as Tarzan of the Apes, The Hunchback of Notro Dame, Pinocchio The Tale Of A Puppet, and Bambi: A Life In The Woods. 

Speaking of, if you work at a book store and you have in stock a copy of Bambi: A Life in the Woods, do not put it in the kids section. It's a young adult novel that's very dark and realistic for it's setting. If it has that subtitle, it's the original story and it's not meant for children. I've seen it in that section and it worried me about some innocent child reading it and being horrified. It's also one of my favorite books.

Let's start with the first two in the picture; the novel Nothing Lasts Forever and it's adaptation Die Hard. Nothing Lasts Forever was apparently popular enough when it was published to warrant a film, despite being obscure now. The book itself is also a sequel to the novel The Detective, which also got a movie, that is not connected to Die Hard at all. Die Hard is an action classic, and it's overshadowed the novel so much, that my copy literally tells you on the cover that it's the book Die Hard is based on. The back cover barely talks about the book, most of the positive things are about the film instead. I felt this was perfect to start out with, as this is more common than you think. Hellraiser, The Wizard of Oz, the aforementioned Bambi, many movies get so well-known that many do not realize they are an adaptation. For some, they only learn when they decide to read that fact in the credits, or when they go to a bookstore or library and find a copy like mine that proudly states the fact.

Now, as for the book, it's very similar but has some very notable differences. It is worth a read if you so feel, but I won't shed tears saying the movie is much better. There may be things that make the original book worth reading, but one is vastly superior, and I understand not bothering with the other if you don't care enough. If you feel you only have time in your life for one of them, and you've already watched Die Hard, you don't need to feel like you've lost something. They took some of the better parts of the novel, and ironed out what didn't work. This is something that some may argue is not too accurate of an adaptation, but that I would argue makes for a great adaptation. You have to truly understand your source material to be able to say "This isn't good" or "This is good for the book but it wouldn't work for a movie". We've entered an era where filmmakers try to be more faithful to the source than ever before. It's worked out for them for now, but I'm waiting for the day when film goers start asking for the adaptations to have more differences like they used to, and I'm very positive this will happen.

Now for video game to manga. The Kingdom Hearts games are beloved by fans like myself. The first game has a storyline that is still considered wonderful to this day, and even with later installments getting far too complicated, we still do our best to understand them. The manga takes the basic plot and turns it into a complete farce, and I'm not the first one to say that. I can understand this being a turn-off for many people. Taking a game series that they love so much, and basically making fun of it. Well, personally, the first game is one of my all-time favorite games, and I adore the manga adaptation. There's a very strong "so bad it's good" vibe that I get from it, and I don't think I could have it any other way. Case in point, the one I chose for the picture is the manga for Chain of Memories, which takes itself more seriously and tones down the wacky jokes and atmosphere without getting rid of them. It makes the quality better, and means I do not lose the moments that I loved from the original manga productions. It cuts out more of the plot than the last one, the only Disney world left is Agrabah from Aladdin, meaning it keeps itself self-contained arguably better than the game did.

I can still play the games until I die, and they will remain unique experiences that cannot be replicated. In a way, I think that is what the manga is going for. Doing it's own thing because it knows it would just be an inferior copy if it tried being a regular copy. What this manga series is, is a comedy to the point that it may as well be a parody of the games, and I appreciate and love it for that.

Now for the third. What I love about Sam & Max is that no matter what version you are currently enjoying, it has the same characters in completely different situations. There was an original comic strip series, many video games, and a cartoon aimed towards children. By this point, it is a franchise, and every iteration is a cult-classic. If you like one, you will like the other as well, for similar and different reasons. I think that's something to remember. When you become a franchise, many of your installments are in fact adaptations. They should be held in regard to the other installments, but they are still products that need to be judged on their own for what they are. If you don't know Sam & Max, I have no problem saying you can start anywhere. If you do try, and you like what you got, then I say you may as well keep going even if it seems like a big leap.

And the last was  Lost on a Mountain in Maine and it's very recent comic book adaptation Lost Trail. I read the original book in middle school, and a few years ago I came across the comic I did not know existed at the time. I purchased the comic, reread the book, and then read the comic. I think both are quite good, and are on equal playing field with each other. If you don't know the story, it's the real-life story of Donn Fendler, who as a boy became lost from his family on Mount Katahdin. In Maine it is considered a classic that we read in schools, so I'll forgive if you have never heard the story. For us it's a personal thing, Maine is very big on fellow Mainers. The book was written by someone who simply wrote down what Donn told him, and the comic came decades later, with Fendler still having a part in the process, although admittedly I don't know how much. The book is a great read because you are just reading a child retell a harrowing experience that had happened recently. The comic is a great read because Fendler himself admitted that he remembered more about the event when age let it stew in the back of his mind.

I don't just recommend either, I recommend both. I think they compliment each other. They are great alone, but if you read the original first and immediately follow it up with the comic, you have a winning combination.

So all in all, I have talked about adaptations that overshadow the original, adaptations that decide to just do their own thing and damn the consequences, the power of franchising, and an adaptation that fills in some of the blanks the original couldn't.

All of them, to me, are just as valid.

Maybe it is nice to know exactly what you are getting into. Honestly, I could sit here and argue the fact that sometimes a good adaptation leads to a bad product. All I ask for in an adaptation is one thing, and I think it is best we all consider following this.

The only thing I ask from an adaptation, is that it is good. I don't care if it's faithful, I don't care if it's ridiculous, I don't care if it has almost nothing in common with the original. I just want a product that I end up enjoying. I think that is all I need to ask.

So, yeah. A good movie can come out of a bad adaptation. Or a good manga, or video game, book, or comic book. It's happened before, and it will happen again. Whether it's a slight variation or a completely different take. Anything enjoyable can be taken as it's own product.