Trio Minis by Keyshakitty!

KH: CoM - Trio Minis by *KeyshaKitty on deviantART

Excellent, ADORABLE work, as always!

RE: COM Alice in Monstro Acre Wood *possible spoilers*

Alice in Wonderland lacked the drink this/get big and flower puzzle crap, so the stage itself was generally fine and without any incident. The boss monster, on the other hand.

*sigh* I can see why the reviewers said what they did about Chain of Memories. One of the biggest complaints was that everything else was relatively easy, but the Boss monsters were just damned near impossible thanks to the card system. Alice in Wonderland's Boss was generally EASY in Kingdom Hearts, but here? There was nothing that could have helped you except "Keep trying" and "Don't Give up". Even the Mickey Ears weren't much help. I ended up using Fire Boost/Ice Boost and concentrating on using Magic rather than just physical attacks. Lots of healing too. All of that eventually worked after a bunch of "I WAS SO CLOSE!" battles.

I loved how Alice played on the Queen's unwillingness to admit an fault. Oh, she never forgets anything at all, so yea, she gave the order for them to eliminate the Heartless. Sometimes it's so easy...yea, if you try too hard to remember, your memories may lie to you. Thank you, Cheshire Cat.

The opinions of Axel and Larxene haven't changed at all, so nothing needs to be said there. Axel sounds a little different though. Like, more sinister and quiet than the Japanese version.

Monstro ended up being the last of the first bunch. I HATED this stage in Kingdom Hearts, and didn't like it much now. The one difference is that the Cage Boss proved slightly easier than the previous bosses, but I almost lost. Thank god for magic and strong attacks. Friend/Mickey cards are nice too. No other boss existed in Monstro. Why should there be when you get to fight Larxene next?

I don't have anything to say about the Cutscene because I already talked about it in previous posts.

As for the Battle? Put it this way, if she's the easiest of the Castle Oblivion Org members, then I can't wait to see how the rest of them are. I lost to her a few times because in order to fight her, you need to make sure you don't run out of cards. You also need to make sure that you aren't gobbling spicy chicken soup and nearly fainting from sudden heart palpitations. Ugh.

Anyway, Dumbo proved very helpful and so did boosted fire magic and healing. I'd say that it took less times to beat her than those in Olympus, Halloweentown, and Alice in Wonderland.

Vexen's VA is no dud, so that's good. My TV proved better than YouTube because I saw how Axel basically glared holes into Larxene. Lol!

100 Acre woods was next. I dreaded this level in ALL of Kingdom Hearts and Chain is memories is no exception. There's nothing insanely difficult about this place, and is sort of an Oasis from the constant fighting, but it can be annoying too. I generally viewed it as interrupting the main story. The games were generally fun though. I ended up with a lot of powerful cards/items/abilities from this level in COM, so it turned out quite nicely.

Except for dealing with Riku Replica. Buur. Oddly enough, he didn't prove as difficult as I thought. I lost, at first. He hit me RIGHT before I could cure myself. I won the second time around. I didn't think I'd get off that easily because of my rather awful memories of dealing with Riku in Kingdom Hearts. Good thing I did.

Worlds after 100 Wood are Atlanticia, Hollow Bastion, and Neverland(one of my favorites).

Reverse Rebirth Basement 5, 4,

You can just tell that Larxene ADORES tormenting Namine.

Poor Namine, she looks like a wet puppy left out in the rain. Not that I blame her. You can also tell that she's no fan of Larxene's. Yea, big wonder why.

Sure, if's "deplorable"...as long as SOMEONE else is doing it/orchestrating it. Even then, neither of them take Axel very seriously at all. When they say "Our Leader", I'm assuming that they mean Marluxia, right? Because I don't see why they wouldn't want Xemnas to have Sora. Oh, wait. They know that Marluxia is up to, so they figure that if Xemnas can't have Sora, then Marluxia certainly shouldn't either, and who better to stop Sora (and ultimately Marluxia) then through Riku. Hurrr. Or, rather, the Replica. Either one is probably fine with them.

Sheesh, I'm not reading very carefully because they DON'T want to destroy Sora. Not out of any "good intent", of course, but rather since he's already "subverted", then they figure that he's useless to them and useful to Marluxia, so throw a "monkey wrench" at his plans. Hmmm...I think they either act too quickly or too slowly. They KNOW that Axel can't be trusted, but then they just think that he's some kind of joke, even though they KNOW that he killed Vexen, and they had to have been aware that Axel is no ally. I guess it's "dramatic irony". Or, rather, it's HUBRIS. Now, that wouldn't surprise me one bit since Zexion is practically the poster child for Malignant Cerebral Narcissism.

It's been too long. Last time I saw this on YouTube, it was the GBA version, "Skies of Memory" and even then, I was too busy thinking of what Axel did to Vexen, so, I'm kind of doing some mental gymnastics here.

5,4...

Yes, this is a ROCKET LAUNCH! HEE!

Remake COM Reverse Rebirth Basement 6

Basement Six.

There's no real basement here, except for Vexen crawling up to "topside" from his dungeon. Huurrrr... "topside".

I like the way Axel handles Vexen, though. Just curt, no nonsense, and not intimidated by an "Elder" who considers him disrespectful. Not that I'd blame Vexen for feeling that way, but it's been made clear that he seldom got along with the "Neophytes".

As for the Replica, I thought it was Vexen who approached him. Blarg, I don't remember, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that it turned out to be Larxene in the remake.

Maybe I'm seeing things here, but when Vexen is saying "it must be done", it looks like Axel is glaring holes in his back. I doubt he cares about the Replica either way, so I don't think that's it. I guess the "no love lost" is mutual. Well, duh, considering that HE DID kill Vexen and LIKED IT.

It's also interesting to note that when Larxene zaps Replica, Vexen looks at her, but Axel never even glances away. He doesn't even move. Then again, why would he want to look at Larxene?

She's still a Goddess though. Beautifully sadistic.

Poor Namine, she's so horrified, but completely helpless.

Lightning

Lighting pics, on the other hand, were very easy to find. Now to use the pic for the banner. I'm thinking background too, as a possibility because it is pretty! Only problem is that such backgrounds would make it rather difficult for people to read the text, unless I somehow make a background that can have something "blank" in the middle and the lightning on the sides. Either way, this pic will be used for the Larxene banner. Yea, I'm slow, as usual, but I'll do it, especially since I've shown this pic.

I did find a couple of Larxene screenshots too. Honestly, I'm not surprised she isn't too available online. She's not too popular in Org 13. I hope it's not because she's female. Course, it could be because she's a Bitch Goddess. Heh.

The 13th Floor

I could have sworn that there was movie called "the 13th floor".

Anyway, Floor 13.

1. Wow. Poor Namine. Looks like she's having a heart attack. She wants so much to have Sora for herself, but she knows it's wrong to mess with his memories.

2. The Replica is a psychopath, but I guess that's all he could be considering who made him. It's interesting to see how Namine has power over him. That's something I never expected. I would guess that it comes from her own connection with Kairi. Or the Replica's inadverdant connection with Sora himself. Maybe both since she was born out of Kairi's heart and Sora's body/soul.

3. Quite a kick there, Larxene. That might explain the kicky boots.

4. That "toy" had thoughts and feelings of his own. Even if memories were implanted, he was still a seperate entity. Kind of like an android. To see him tossed like that by anyone is just terrible to witness. Or maybe I'm just too sensitive.

5. I was under the impression that Namine only had the power to manipulate SORA'S memories, not anyone else's. If she had the power to mess with other people's memories, then that would be a pretty scary thought.

6. Yup, Axel used Namine. In this case, Larxene is right. She certainly seemed none too pleased. People say that it's because she liked Axel, but I say it's because she's arrogant and saw him as nothing more than a loyal dog, especially after he killed Vexen. Axel owed her no loyalty as both she and Marluxia were traitors to begin with. I am also almost positive that they would have betrayed Axel too.

7. My respect for Larxene went way down when she hit Namine. Not that I was surprised, but Namine is no warrior. Hitting her is like kicking a puppy. Got to hand to Namine though, she stood up to Larxene. Still, that doesn't make Larxene's behavior any less disgusting.

8. Sora, ever the optimist. He's nearly always forgiving, and that's a damned hard thing to be. I think his forgiving nature is part of what makes his heart so strong. Not to say that he would let people walk all over him, but he knows how to just let things go, which is something a lot of real life people can't manage to do.

Riku Replica fight NUMBER THREEEEEEEEE!

This particular fight is not as tedious as the other two were. Looked hard too.


Larxene second battle

No doubt Deathspank considered her tough as nails. Fast, furious, and probably had some devastating attacks were it not for her cards being "broken."

And now, screenshot captions:



"I'm....having...chest...pains..."

Yea, I know, not very original, but it was all I could think of. Hey, it could be worse. Could be something like: "Sora, you make me feel like I have a heart."




"I want it painted black..."

How interesting to see Larxene fade into complete darkness. Her element is always light(lightning). I guess it goes to show you that she was simply one of the more...unpleasant members of the Organization.

The next videos Deathspank has are LOOOONG. The final COM scene is about 20 minutes. Whew. That can wait until tomorrow.

Floor Seven

In case you missed it, here's floor seven from the usual spot.

1. In the earlier scenes, Larxene reminded me a little of Gollum, but obviously, she's nothing like him. She's much worse. In fact, she is cruel as I've always imagined her to be. She puts Axel to shame in that department, that's for sure. Can't say I blame Sora for hating her.

Especially with a fight like this! Yikes! She's certainly not an easy one, that's for sure. Her style kind of reminds me of Saix at the end. Both of them just go all out at the end. As usual, the spells are very nice and flashy. Huuur Larxene is flashy! Can't imagine why.


2. It's about as plain as day that Axel hated her too.



I know he'd just love to stab her in the back. Oh wait...

Despite the blurriness, I think it's also obvious that he's glaring holes into her. This is where Vexen comes in too. It's interesting to see how Axel is somewhat respectful. I mean, moreso than I thought he would be. In the GBA version, he seemed less so, and much harsher than in the PS2 version. Don't get me wrong, Axel IS harsh, it's just that he seems less so in the PS2 version. Looks like this is the Axel that Nomura/KH staff wanted to show all along. Still a badass, but this version shows how smoldering Axel can be and how fire itself is actually a very controlled element. More on that later once I start running my mouth about elements in other posts.

As for Vexen, he's like a cariacture of Josef Mengele . Yikes. Every bit as malicious as I thought he would be, but he doesn't seem as cold as I thought. Still, he's one of the nastier ones in the Organization. Don't care for him much, but he does have fans. I'm just not one of them.

Floor Four/Five/Six(Here comes Larxene!)

Video here in case you missed it! From the usual suspect(kh-vids).



1. "If Goofy still remembers, then I won't forget anytime soon."

So Goofy has memory problems too. Awww, Demyx isn't alone after all.

2. "People who lose their hearts also lose their minds, their feelings...They're consumed by the darkness."

When Larxene says this, it looks like she enjoys saying it. Almost like, "If I have to be this way, then so do you."

3. Right. But that didn't happen to Sora. He held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. Only one other man ever managed to do that."

Who, Demyx? Yea, I wish, but it's never mentioned who it is. When I saw that, I thought "Kairi", but no, since she isn't a man and was never a Heartless, that can't be her. Then I thought that it might have been Xemnas. Why not? He's pretty damned powerful and the Org Leader. His "Heartless" seemed like nothing more than an extension of himself while using his master's name. Then again, Xemnas is cold as ice and full of malice, just like the vast majority of the Organization. He's as "Heartless" as the rest of them, it seems. It could not be Riku because he was never a Heartlesss. I don't think the "other man who ever managed it" was ever mentioned, unless it is, in fact, Xemnas.

But, you know what? It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it turned out to be Demyx after all. I don't think you'd need to be chosen by the Keyblade to hold on to your feelings like that. I say this because Demyx is the only one in the Org who claimed that they had Hearts. I really don't believe he's a good actor and I always believed that his feelings were not phony in any way. Then again, I tend to agree with the novels in that the Org members DO feel, they're just incomplete, so to speak, so the emotions they DO feel tend to be either weak or on the negative side, but nearly all of them are full of malice. I've always said this, and still believe that Demyx is the only one who never really did, not even when he was provoked. Scary, sure(Silence, Traitor! Oh ho ho ho), but never truly malicious.

Why am I talking about Demyx? Technically, I'm not supposed to know who he is at this point. Also, if he were the other one, then wouldn't he be more than marginalized? Heh. Oh, it could be Diz, but was he ever a Heartless? I don't think so...Anyway...


Axel: "What makes his heart shine like that? What sleeps in his most secret depths?"

That should be obvious. Course that would also explain why Axel craved a close friend so much. At least I think so.

Alice in Wonderland is next at this point, but it doens't look like the Disney stars will be up on Youtube anytime soon.

Floor Five

1. Ah, Donald. Demanding like he always is. Not that I blame him at this point.

2. Again, Namine seems pretty smug as she's drawing those pictures. That's not to say that she's some psychopath, but I think that while she doesn't want to be stuck in a Castle, she doesn't seem to mind messing with Sora's memories. Almost like she wants so much to be included, that she puts herself as part of Sora's "playgroup", so to speak. She knows it's wrong, but does it anyway, and it's not necessarily because she has no choice. This has actually been addresed before in other fan groups, I just never thought anything of it until now. Course it's still early in COM and I haven't see the old version in quite awhile, so moving right along.

Floor Six

1. Oh good grief. Here comes the Axel/Larxene fodder! Anger sex, ahoy!



Axel: BLARGH! Don't touch me, you bitch!
Jurhael: AHAHHHA! Better you than Demyx!
Axel: Shut up, or I'll kill you!



You have to admire Larxene's nerve. I don't know of many people who would DARE touch Axel like that. Hell, not even Roxas would have the nerve, I bet. I'm also willing to bet that Larxene knows that Axel doens't like her touching him, but she does it anyway! HEE! She's a Goddess!

That being said, I don't "Ship" Axel/Larxene, myself. With het, it's Marluxia/Larxene all the way! OH yes!