Kingdom Hearts is a well written piece of art. The idea that Kingdom Hearts is riddled with plot holes and retcons is perpetuated by a casual audience and a cynical fast-paced culture. An audience that doesn't have the time or patience to play though all of the games and fully process the connections being made.
This level of understanding, created though half-listening and misremembering, is parroted to groups that want to tear it down for entertainment. People who've decided, without seeing for themselves, that the story is dumb and overly convoluted. That a "children's game" with 20 years of continuous narrative is bad because they can't understand it with a loose, poorly told summary.
The narrative surrounding Kingdom Hearts is poisoning the narrative contained within it. There is a bias of bad faith shared by millions of people. The story being told is that Kingdom Hearts is a bad story. That Tetusya Nomura is a bad storyteller. This effects how people respond to his style of writing.
Nomura will give the player a question, and the question won't be answered for a long time. (15 years sometimes) The player will then assume there ISN'T an answer. That if the story conflicts with what they know, that the AUTHOR is wrong and NOT the narrator. They don't ask how. They don't ask why. They just say "WRONG".
Kingdom Hearts isn't perfect, but in my experience, every twist is foreshadowed. Every plot point is precendented by prior events, parallels, and well placed symbolism. There is a purpose for what is said and what is done. There is an overarching plan for the story, and it's been around since day one. The answers will come, but they take time.
There is reason not to engage. This story is as old as I am, and unfortunately there have been and will continue to be people who die before they see it end. But there isn't much longer to go. The Lost Master Arc has its pieces in place and they'll be all put together soon. I predict the story will end with Kingdom Hearts V before 2035. Five Acts. Like a Shakespeare play.
But, before that, and I'm calling it now, we'll get Missing-Link, KH4, Re:Union χ [Cross], a cutscene compilation of Dark Road, Verum Rex, maybe a movie?, another side game, and a book.
The series is a time commitment. There is a TON to remember. But it IS made with care, and if you decide to play it and pay attention to it, the story can be very rewarding.
I would like to add that even when things seem confusing within the story, the characters always make a point to explain what's happening, or what is going on, etc.
An example of this is in kh3, where there is an ENTIRE cutscene dedicated to Riku and Mickey, literally explaining and summarizing every version of Xehanort.
Truly, just pay attention.
Pay attention, and if you didn't get it, watch the cutscene again, I promise you the answers are right there.
Little sneak pic of the Xehaqus drawing I'm doing rn, with a little fun fact:
Anyway, too much lore for simple little silly braceletsLMAOOO, ALSO, I know Ephemer and Elrena don't have separate beads, but it's because I associate light blue with both（；´д｀）ゞ
Umm so as it turns out, after entering dark road to actually look at his design, because I had to figure out if his accents were gold or silver... I found out I've been drawing his coat (and by extension, Xehanort's) wrongLMAO, also his belt but whatever
When I was studying them, I only studied their faces, not their outfits, so my bad ig, he still looks cute so a win is a win
So, like I don’t know if this is a hot take, but of the Kingdom Hearts games that I have personally played, I think thus far KH1 has the worst or at least most frustrating gameplay. Looking at you, Deep Jungle
Deep jungle is my NUMBER ONE enemy in kh1, and I think it's because most places are insanely full of green so your eyes get tired quickly and so, you struggle to actually see and recognize where things actually are.
But what would I know, I only spent two full days in there because I had to constantly look away from the screen because I kept having headaches, and now I refuse to go back to that world🫶
