Update: 3 April 2013

The demo for Injustice: Gods Among us is now live for the PS3 and Xbox 360! No word yet if Wii U players will get access to it. The demo contains playable versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor. Get it now to hold you over until Injustice’s April 16th release!

Original Article

When they hear that a game focused solely around super heroes is in the making, gamers tend to be skeptical. Developers continue to fail in meeting our expectations of superhero games and in doing so their efforts flop like a fish fresh out of water. Now, there are some great licensed games out there, such as the Batman Arkham games and Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions. However, they’re so few and far between that the term ‘superhero game’ is usually associated with something mediocre-to-terrible. Remember last year’s The Amazing Spider-Man?

Thankfully, NetherRealm Studios’ latest fighting game looks to defy that stereotype. It shows that it’s very much possible to have a game featuring our favorite heroes, which is both exciting and high in quality for a modern video game. This is Injustice: Gods Among Us.

I may be putting a lot of faith in the success of this game, but the plentiful trailers and the genius idea of having the characters face each other in a tournament is doing wonders to build up hype leading up to the April 16th release. NetherRealm has had a lot of experience with fighting games with its successful Mortal Kombat franchise from before Midway Games filed for bankruptcy, and it isn’t their first time using DC characters either. They released the title Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe a few years ago, albeit to mixed results. Fans were psyched about pitting Mortal Kombat characters against popular superheroes such as Superman, but in the end were disappointed by the lack of violence that the Mortal Kombat brand is known for. NetherRealm learned from their fans and are making a second attempt; one that will hopefully satisfy both comic fans and Mortal Kombat vets alike.

DC still prohibits NetherRealm from using that Mortal Kombat brand of graphic violence when it comes to their characters–no decapitations, no fatalities, and no unique ways of splitting someone in two. You might think that puts a damper on NetherRealm’s signature violence, but they’ve come up with a new style of action that will not only keep everything just as intense, but fits the concept of super heroes fighting each other like a glove. For what it lacks in over-the-top violence, Injustice reciprocates with crazy jaw-dropping action.

When first seeing a fight in progress, you can definitely tell this is a NetherRealm game. The characters and environments are realistic and dark, every punch is felt as it connects, and the familiar HUD is in the corner, containing a bar that fills up with each attack landed and taken. However, underneath the familiar exterior are several new mechanics that make Injustice stand on its own from other games in the fighting genre. All the characters–heroes and villains–are split into two different classes: Power characters and Gadget characters. Power characters are the over-powered fighters who can throw cars like cardboard boxes, while Gadget characters rely on their speed, agility, and as their name states, gadgets, to take down opponents. The one question that everyone has been asking is how can someone like Batman stand a chance against, say, Superman in a fight? There’s definitely a reason for the balance among the characters, but NetherRealm hasn’t revealed what it is, as it’s likely an important plot point. Just know that there’s a reason for everything. Check out the video below for the official Injustice story trailer.

From what we can tell so far, the story revolves around the ‘human’ characters standing up against the superheroes. The why of it all is beyond me, but the circumstance is uniting heroes and villains to form a resistance. Hopefully the story is stronger than NetherRealm’s previous games, as that’s been a constant downside to their games for years.

Let’s get down to the gameplay. From what you can tell from the videos, the game seems to focus on being equally entertaining and jaw-droppingly epic. This is evidenced by the way you can utilize the environment to your advantage. Power characters can smash cars over their opponent’s head, while gadget characters can use cars to hop behind their adversaries. Lasers, rockets, robots, portals; just about anything can be used to turn the tide of a fight. Stages are much more than a couple of tricks though. Characters can be smacked straight through a wall, floor or ceiling if hit hard enough. This commences a cringe-worthy (and sometimes hilarious) sequence showing the character hitting objects and hazards before landing in a whole new area of the stage.

If you watched the videos above, you may have noticed the insane moves that the characters pulled off. When you fill up your battle meter all way, you can perform what’s called a ‘super move’, which naturally deals a copious amount of damage. I’m not going to announce any of them, because they’re such a blast to watch for the first time, but that’s just one of the things you can spend your battle meter on.

If you have at least one segment filled, you can use the classic combo breaker to get out of a nasty situation. Or, you can initiate an epic clash between the characters, which has the players bet a certain amount of their bar. Whoever bets the most wins the clash and gets significant damage dealt to their opponent.

Netherealm has a knack for having lots of characters, and a healthy amount of bonus content outside of the story and multiplayer. Injustice is no exception! So far twenty-two characters have been announced, with potentially more on the way. Also count on there being tons of collectibles and minigames to play on the side from the main story.

Injustice: Gods Among Us comes out April 16th and it’s building up a lot of hype. What do you think? Does it look like a smash hit, or a dud? We at inMotion Gaming love to hear from our readers, so leave a comment below and give us your opinion!

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

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Star Wars: Battlefront 3

I never realized how much of a following the Battlefront series had picked up in its two game run until relatively recently, when it was revealed that the third game was painfully close to being finished when Pandemic went under. Maybe if they hadn’t wasted their time on Lord of the Rings Conquest they could have squeezed it out.

Now that Disney bought Lucas Arts, we find a speck of hope in the darkness. It’s been quite a while since Battlefront 2 came out for Playstation 2 and Xbox. It was considered somewhat of a failure to fans of the first game. While the battles were larger, there was more diversity in class options, and you were even able to play as Jedi or Sith, it suffered from framerate issues that the systems of the time couldn’t handle. Now what if we saw a Battlefront 3 for this generation of consoles, or even the next? Framerate wouldn’t be nearly as much of an issue if handled correctly, whoever developed the game could make a much deeper system of class options, and even create a customization feature. Can you imagine creating and customizing your own Jedi and personally plunging him into an epic battle?

Why stop there? Space battles were introduced in Battlefront 2, but it was a shallow, unsatisfying experience after the glamour of the concept wore off. If the hypothetical developer could just learn from Pandemic’s mistakes, they could make it so much more. Here’s another fun thought: grant the ability to do an orbital drop from space to the battlefield on the planet and vice versa.

Kingdom Hearts 3

This is the one that I have a strong personal investment in. The Kingdom Hearts series is based off of a crazy idea of having a game with Disney and Final Fantasy characters mixed together to weave an epic tale through space. Personally, there isn’t too much improvement needed on my end. We all just want to see more of the story unfold. Since the release of Kingdom Hearts 2, Square Enix has done nothing but dance around the third instalment by making mediocre side-games that just fill in some of the gaps that were left by the first two games. While taking their sweet time is more than irritating for die-hard fans like myself, I can’t help but see the plus side of them taking all these side ventures. Square has been learning much about what works with fans in terms of gameplay and they’re doing wonders to build up tension leading up to the hopefully-soon-to-be-announced third instalment of the main story.

Half-Life 3

What’s with all of the threes? Here’s yet another case of the developer taking their good time making what their fans clamour for. Valve’s CEO Gabe Newell has become infamous over the years for teasing Half-Life fans about a sequel. He even released a photo of himself holding a couple of knives while standing in front of a television that has a Half-Life 3 logo on it. Not cool Gabe.

Valve is best known for their innovative and outside the box ideas for their games. Half-Life 2 had an amazing physics engine for its time, the concept and execution of the Portal games is genius, and Left 4 Dead takes zombie survival to a whole new level. It’s their knack for making unique games that makes the wait for Half-Life 3 all the more intense. What amazing new innovation to gaming will it bring with it? Perhaps that is what’s making Valve take so long.

Mirror’s Edge 2

Mirror’s Edge was an amazing idea that fell short due to a lack of planning. The game was way too short, combat was shallow, I can’t even remember the story it was so lacklustre, and the beautiful graphics were wasted on a pale, colorless city. Even the cutscenes were replaced by cartoon/anime graphics. I have all the faith in the world that Dice could learn from their mediocre first outing with the IP, and sling out a sequel that could be one of the most breathtaking experiences you can find in a game. We just have to hope that they’re given another chance.

Another Burnout

Burnout games are insanely fun. While I love the games that Criterion is pumping out for the Need For Speed series, I miss the ridiculous, fast-paced, crash-fuelled experience that is a Burnout game. The racing game genre just doesn’t feel the same without it.

It may very well be that all of these games will eventually be announced some day in the future, and I certainly hope that that’s the world we live in; where all the games we desire are made. What sequel are you dying to have put into production? Sound off in the comments below!

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

The story- at least what’s been revealed- is as straightforward as can be. We’ll be filling the shoes of Corvo Attano, the legendary bodyguard of the Empress, whom he’s just been framed for murdering. He escapes to find a mysterious being called the Outsider, who decides to help Corvo exact revenge on those who conspired against him by granting him the ability to use magic. The lack of details leaves room for the unknown, so expect the plot to thicken as you chip away at the names on your hit list.

Corvo has the motivation and the determination to get even, but that’s not going to help him if he just kicks down the door and takes on a hundered guards head-on. He has the title of legend and a wealth of experience under his belt, which makes him a deadly opponent, but he still needs to take a more stealthy approach to his objective. Luckily, Dishonored takes place in the fictional city of Dunwall; a dark, damp, rat infested city full of sickness and corruption.

In Dunwall, the poor suffer in filth and plague as the rich live above them in their heavily guarded mansions indulging their desires. Each mission starts Corvo out in the general area of his target’s position in the city; leaving the player to decide how to get there. This is where the true beauty of Dishonored comes into play; you can do things however you want to. You can take to the rooftops, or utilize the darkness of the alleys to get to the objective, there’s a wealth of options at your disposal.

The same goes for when you get to the objective. Say the target’s on the top floor of his mansion, and there are guards patrolling everywhere. There are several ways you can get into that mansion unnoticed. You can pick the lock on the cellar door, find an unlocked window, or even break in upstairs if you’re an impatient soul. The game was designed for stealth, but you can still go Rambo and kill everyone. That’s why the developer added a “Chaos” system. The more collateral that you rack up during the course of the game, the higher the chaos becomes. Rats will be everywhere, targets will bolster their security with more muscle, and things will just get sketchy.

Dishonored Golden Cat Gameplay Walkthrough Demo – Part 1

Dishonored Golden Cat Gameplay Walkthrough Demo – Part 2

While sticking to the shadows and silently picking guards off with his dagger are all he really needs, Corvo has been blessed with magical abilities by the Outsider. These powers bring to mind the Tonics from Bioshock, though all you need is mana to use them. There will be six active powers, four enhancements (passive abilties), and forty “bone charms” which grant you a perk when worn, though only three can be equipped at a time.

Announced powers include: Dark Vision, which allows you to see enemies through walls and also the amount of noise you’re making; Blink, which is used to teleport a short distance; Possession, which allows you to temporarily possess other humans or animals; Devouring Swarm summons a horde of rats which attack opponents; Time Bend freezes time; Wind Blast enemies flying with a gust of wind; and finally Shadow Kill, which turns dead enemies into ash so they won’t be discovered by other guards.

You’ll need to be smart in how you handle your mana bar though, because powers can use it up quickly, and you’ll only have so many potions on you to replenish it. That’s why fighting your way through a level is a bit of a gamble, because you’ll need to use a lot more of your supplies to survive. When your powers aren’t an option you have an assortment of weapons to help you out of a tight spot.

Dishonored Gameplay Trailer: Creative Kills Video

Dishonored comes out October 9th, and I am personally eager to get my hands on it. While other games will be bringing back something we’ve all experienced, Dishonored will be delivering a fresh experience that we’ll all be talking about months after its release.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

In case you missed last week’s Re: Cap, you can find it here.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Following the elimination of Ansem and Xemnas at the hands of Sora and Riku, Xehanort has revived. This is because when a person’s Heartless and Nobody are eradicated, their original being is resurrected. In light of this troubling news, Yen Sid puts Sora and Riku through their very own Mark of Mastery exams to make them Keyblade Masters and prepare them for Xehanort’s coming onslaught. For the trial, they are separated and sent to worlds previously destroyed by Heartless that have been restored, though now asleep and disconnected from other worlds.

Their ultimate goal is to reawaken the sleeping worlds by unlocking the seven Sleeping Keyholes they contain, and return from the realm of sleep. During the exam, the two both come across the resurrected Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas, as well as a young Master Xehanort from an alternate past. The three reveal to Sora what Organization XIII’s true purpose was– to serve as vessels for Master Xehanort to place pieces of his heart inside, turning them into his clones. Near the end, Young Xehanort forces Sora into a comatose state and his heart is engulfed in darkness. However, it’s protected by Ventus’ suit of Keyblade armor, which is still residing within his heart.

Riku tries to save Sora, but is confronted by a new Organization, comprised of the newly revived Master Xehanort and his eleven vessels, whom Xehanort is plotting to have battle seven Keyblade wielders and once again forge the X-blade (through the penultimate clash of equal strengths of darkness and light). Master Xehanort tries to turn Sora into his last needed vessel, but Sora is rescued by Riku and several other friends including Lea–the revived human form of Axel–after which Xehanort and his Organization retreat.

At Yen Sid’s tower, Riku enters Sora’s body and releases his heart from Ventus’ armor in a fierce struggle. When Sora wakes up, only Riku is made a Keyblade Master, as Sora ultimately gave in to the darkness in his heart. Lea is revealed to be a Keyblade wielder, much to everyone’s surprise. Sora then begins a new journey to train by himself. Ven is shown still in Castle Oblivion’s Chamber of Waking, but smiling a bit. The secret ending reveals that Yen Sid is preparing to gather seven Keyblade wielders to battle Xehanort’s thirteen vessels of darkness. He has Riku bring Kairi to his tower to begin her training with the Keyblade she was given in the climax of Kingdom Hearts II.

So there you have it. The story of Kingdom Hearts recapped. Admittedly, it’s a lot to take in, but it’s worth it to prepare for Kingdom Hearts III.

Kingdom Hearts III Predictions

While I’m on the subject of Kingdom Hearts III, I would like to take a moment to speculate the events that could transpire in our long-awaited sequel. Here are 6 things I predict.

1. Terra, Ventus, and Aqua are trapped, and it’s up to Sora to save them. This will probably be the bulk of the game; saving them one at a time.
2. Riku passed his Mark of Mastery exam, but Sora didn’t. So either saving Terra, Ventus, and Aqua will earn him the mark, or he’ll have to find another way before he’s fit to take on Xehanort.
3. Xehanort is back, and he’s got a squad of versions of himself from different time periods. This will undoubtedly mean they will be messing with our hero’s head, as is tradition of Kingdom Hearts villains, and also that there’s going to be an epic battle in the climax of the game, similar to that of Birth By Sleep.
4. Yen Sid needs 7 Keyblade wielders to battle Xehanort. Right now, there’s Sora, Riku, the newly acquired Lea, and Mickey. That’s four, lets assume that Yen Sid won’t be taking part in the battle, so if/when Ventus and Aqua are retrieved, we’ll have six. Kairi will make seven. Unless we somehow get Terra back…
5. We know where Aqua and Ventus are, but what about Terra? He was trapped in his body with Xehanort. Now that Xehanort is back in his old form, what happened to Terra and his body? I suspect he’ll be the last of the three you rescue, with Aqua and Ventus helping you locate him.
6. The battle system has taken many different forms throughout the games. However, Dream Drop Distance looks to have the coolest one. For III, we can probably assume that there will be an awesome system, possibly combining the more popular ones. Or maybe they’ll just come up with something completely new.

The MoonLight of Keyblade Wielders | Image by MultiShadowYoshi

Thank you for joining us throughout this series! Keep it here at inMotion Gaming for all your Kingdom Hearts III news!

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

inMotion Gaming presents Reminiscence, a new series of articles covering the games of yore which made us the gamers we are today.  Please join us as each member of our team takes a fond look back at the wonderful video games of yesteryear.

I was a late bloomer when it came to playing video games. My dad seemed to think my brother and I weren’t ready for them, save for the occasional game on our computer. Most games I begged for were denied for the sake of my innocence. However, one of the games that I managed to get my dad’s “OK” for was Rayman 2 The Great Escape.

It certainly wasn’t the first game I had ever played, but it was the first to open my eyes to the wonders and worlds that can be created in a game. Exploring Rayman 2’s fantastic world is one of the fonder memories of my childhood, and I vividly remember all the times I played way past the one hour of game time I was permitted a day, be it trying to beat the boss of a level, or trying to overcome a tricky platforming section. Even when I would get caught, it would always be worth it. My adventures with my favorite limbless hero took me to many different and unique places throughout the magical world he lived in. I was (and honestly, still am) thoroughly creeped out in the Cave of Bad Dreams, I marveled at the life-threatening temples, and I explored every nook and cranny to find all the lums.

If I had to describe myself as a gamer in one word, I would say completionist. I can’t stand leaving something unfinished, uncollected, or unseen. Though these days most of my completionist energy is focused on trophies on my Playstation 3, back then I had to settle with just beating a game to say it was completed.

I have to give Rayman 2: Revolution (the PS2 port of The Great Escape) the credit for unleashing the completionist monster I am today. Not only did it incorporate a way to spend the lums you collected to buy new abilities that I would have killed for when I played it on PC, but it also showed a percentage of game completion and had addicting minigames that when beaten, would give a nice little boost to your health bar. Needless to say, I thrived in this game that I felt was made just for me, pouring all my abundant free time into it until I saw that 100%, which I still keep as my own makeshift trophy on my memory card.

I recently went back and played through Rayman Revolution. Rayman Origins being my inspiration, it had been years since I’d powered up my PS2 with the intention of playing through again. I was happy to find it aged very well, though I found it a bit overly easy throughout, I still experienced challenge in the minigames and the bosses. The nostalgia I experienced was off the charts as I remembered where secrets were, the weaknesses of bosses, and laughed at the characters I had come to love all those years ago when their goofy humor delighted me.

So after reflecting back to the two versions I’ve played through, and playing it again years later I’ve come to one logical, heartfelt conclusion: Rayman 2 is, was, and always will be the game that made me the gamer I am today, and I’ll never forget it, or my hero Rayman, who in my eyes is The Limbless Legend.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

Miss the previous chapter? You can always find it here.

Kingdom Hearts: coded

Coded takes place immediately following the finale of Kingdom Hearts II, when Sora, Riku and Kairi receive the King’s note. While organizing the records in his journal, Jiminy Cricket’s curiosity about the line “Thank Namine” ends with him finding a message he didn’t write: “We must return to free them from their torment.” To investigate the message, Mickey digitizes the journal and enters the simulated world to investigate. He creates a Data-Sora to carry out the contents of the journal to find out who the mysterious note refers to.

As Data-Sora travels through the digitized world, Heartless appear in Disney Castle. Everyone is saved by Data-Sora, and a cloaked figure appears, informing the group that he is Jiminy’s Journal taking on the form of Riku. He explains they are now in the data world. Maleficent and Pete appear and there’s an encounter, ending with them abducting the journal. Mickey gives chase, while Data-Sora makes his way through Hollow Bastion. Later they are confronted by the Journal being controlled by Pete, whom they defeat. Jiminy’s Journal falls unconscious.

Mickey arrives full of knowledge as always, and tells them they need to destroy all the bugs in the data to awaken the journal. They then enter Riku’s data world, and find Maleficent and Pete once again. After defeating the two for what has to be at least the fourth time, Mickey discovers that he will have to return to the real world soon, but the journal will have to be erased once it’s completed. This means Data-Sora’s memories will go away, but Sora requests more time so he can save Pete and Maleficent. Though he finds them, they are seemingly erased by Sora’s Heartless before he can help them.

After defeating his Heartless, Sora learns the Journal saved Pete and Maleficent. They leave shortly before Mickey does, which destroys the Journal. A new message appears that says a new door has opened. Mickey returns to the data world and takes Data-Sora to Castle Oblivion, where he fights a man in a black cloak. Upon his defeat, this man is revealed to be Data-Roxas. He gives Data-Sora a card as Mickey appears.

He then opens the new door to find Namine behind it. She reveals Sora’s nature as the “Key that connects everything” through his ties with herself, Roxas, and Xion. She then goes on to tell him about three figures (remember Terra, Ven, and Aqua?) who are also tied to Sora’s heart that need his help. Mickey promises to notify the real Sora of this and heads back to the real world. The game ends with Mickey sending his note to Sora, telling him of these events.

That’s what the message at the end if KHII was about! See how everything is tied together? Roxas, Xion, Namine, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua are all tied to Sora’s heart. Before we move on to next week’s article, we must not forget Birth By Sleep’s epilogue.

Blank Points

This is actually a secret ending that has to be unlocked, but it holds importance nonetheless. It plays out as a cinematic, starting by showing Terra and Xehanort’s hearts lying dormant in Terra’s body, waiting to see who will gain control. Though Xehanort is stronger, Terra reveals he has Master Eraqus’ heart sealed within his own.

Now skip to after the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Aqua is still wandering the Realm of Darkness. She encounters Ansem the Wise who had survived the explosion of his Encoder with few of his memories remaining. He reveals to Aqua that while darkness threatens to swallow the worlds again, hope lies in Sora, who is preparing to set out on another journey to help those whose hearts are connected to his own.

So all this time after the events of Birth By Sleep, Ventus has been asleep, Terra’s heart has been trapped inside his body with Xehanort, and Aqua has been trapped in the Realm of Darkness. They’ve been waiting for ten years!  Make sure you don’t miss the final episode of Re:Cap, coming next week!

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

In case you missed last week’s article, you can find it here.

Kingdom Hearts II

We begin with Sora nowhere to be found—still asleep, if you recall from the end of Chain of Memories. Instead, we’re following Roxas, enjoying his summer vacation with his best friends. He starts to have weird dreams, one of which is his Dive to the Heart. Strange things start occurring around town, and eventually he finds himself facing a lower-leveled Nobody called a Dusk. The Keyblade mysteriously appears in his hands and he defends himself from the Nobodies. He comes across Axel, who appears to know him even though Roxas has no recollection of their friendship. After a brief skirmish, he defeats Axel and makes his way to an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of town where he meets Namine (from Chain of Memories). She informs him he is a Nobody, even though he has no clue what that means.

Roxas then finds Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the basement of the mansion. He merges with Sora, who awakens along with Donald and Goofy, from a year-long sleep. They have no memory of what happened after they defeated Ansem. The only clue they have is in Jiminy Cricket’s journal, which has a single note reading, “Thank Namine.”

The trio meet a villain named Pete (from Disney lore) and meet Master Yen Sid, who is still acting as Mickey’s mentor. He informs them that they need to attempt to stop Organization XIII and a revived Maleficent, by traveling to several worlds once again. They eventually learn that the Ansem they fought, was actually the Heartless of Xehanort, and is more correctly referred to as ‘Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.’ The leader of Organization XIII, Xemnas, is Xehanort’s Nobody. Both were created when the Xehanort-possessed-Terra (referred to as ‘Terranort’ by the KH fanbase) unlocked his heart at the end of Birth By Sleep. They then learn that Terranort was actually the apprentice of Ansem the Wise (the real Ansem), who has been missing for quite some time.

Sora, Donald and Goofy take to the worlds once again. After the war-sized Battle of 1000 Heartless at Hollow Bastion, Xemnas appears to the group and reveals the organization’s true goal: to create another Kingdom Hearts, a doorway to the heart of all worlds that will allow them to reclaim their hearts. Sora then goes to The World That Never Was (the Nobody home world you could say) to confront Xemnas. He finds Kairi, who was captured by Axel, and Riku, who has been working behind the scenes with a mysterious man known only as DiZ. However, Riku had tapped into the powers of darkness in his heart (if you recall, from the end of 358/2 Days), and he now resembles Xehanort’s Heartless. Sora also learns the truth about Roxas and Namine; they are Sora and Kairi’s Nobodies, created when Sora used Riku’s Keyblade to unlock his and Kairi’s heart.

Meanwhile, Mickey has finally found Ansem the Wise. He was posing as DiZ the entire time, working on bringing Sora back and creating a machine to destroy Xemnas’ Kingdom Hearts. He uses his machine (the Encoder), and while it does work, it explodes in the process and takes Ansem the Wise/DiZ with it. All is not lost, however—it miraculously turns Riku back to his true form.

The group battles their way through The World That Never Was in a series of high-octane fights with the remaining Organization, during which Kairi is revealed to be able to wield a Keyblade (recall her ceremony with Aqua in Birth By Sleep). Xemnas then separates Sora and Riku from the rest of the group for one last battle. After they take him down in a string of fights, they are returned to the Destiny Islands along with the rest of the group. The game ends after King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy leave, with Sora, Riku, and Kairi receiving a mysterious note from King Mickey.

Stay tuned next week for the sixth episode of Re:Cap, covering Kingdom Hearts: coded.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

In case you missed last week’s episode, check it out here.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days takes place starting before the end of Kingdom Hearts, throughout Chain of Memories, and ends right as Kingdom Hearts II begins. This installment, released on the Nintendo DS, follows the story of a boy named Roxas. Roxas is Sora’s Nobody—the sentient shell left over when a person is separated from their heart. On the day he is born as Sora’s Nobody (when Sora unlocks his heart near the end of Kingdom Hearts) he is found by a man named Xemnas in the realm of darkness, and named the thirteenth member of Organization XIII. Xemnas gives the boy the name ‘Roxas,’ which ‘Sora,’ rearranged with the letter ‘X.’ He’s sent to other worlds to destroy Heartless on a daily basis, so he can release the captive hearts to summon Kingdom Hearts. Being Sora’s Nobody, he has the latent ability to summon a Keyblade. He’s placed under the care of Organization XIII’s eighth member, Axel, who quickly befriends him.

Soon after his induction into the Organization, a mysterious fourteenth member arrives. Named Xion, her appearance changes from person to person, depending on the relationship between her and that person. When most of the members are sent to Castle Oblivion (right before the events of Chain of Memories), Roxas is paired with Xion as a mission partner. The two begin to form a friendship, and Xion begins to open up, revealing her resemblance to Sora’s friend Kairi, and that she can wield a Keyblade, too. A few days later Roxas goes into a coma around the same time Sora is put to sleep to regain the memories he lost in Castle Oblivion.

When Roxas wakes up, he finds that all the members assigned to Castle Oblivion, except Axel, were killed. Roxas, Axel and Xion become close friends, but Roxas begins experiencing Sora’s memories and grows suspicious when no one will answer his questions. Meanwhile, Sora is transported from Castle Oblivion to Twilight Town by DiZ and Namine, who are trying to restore his memories. Xion has a confrontation with Riku, who brings her identity and authenticity of her Keyblade into question and suggests she merge with her former self. Xion is torn between doing so and staying with Roxas and Axel.

Eventually Xion discovers that she’s an imperfect replica of Roxas created by Organization member Vexen from Sora’s leaking memories should Sora turns out to be of no use. Her resemblance to Kairi is because of Sora’s strong memories of her. However, as Namine restores Sora’s memories, they affect Xion to the point where she begins to physically resemble him. Xion becomes confused and leaves Organization XIII wanting to become a true person, before which she has a falling out with Roxas and Axel.

Later Roxas decides to leave the Organization to find himself as well. Xemnas then reprograms Xion to attempt to absorb Roxas and become whole, though it will stop Sora from regaining his memories. She eventually succeeds and dies in Roxas’ arms as the memories she has return to Sora. Roxas then takes Xion’s Keyblade, allowing him to use two at once.

Not long after, Riku seeks out Roxas under orders from DiZ to capture him so they can merge him with Sora and complete the restoration. During the epic clash, Roxas dons the ability to wield two Keyblades, thanks to Xion being absorbed into him. Nearly defeated, Riku taps into the darkness in his heart to defeat Roxas. However, this has an effect that changes his form into that of Xehanort’s Heartless, Ansem Seeker of Darkness. Riku then brings back the unconscious Roxas to DiZ, who digitizes and places him into a virtual Twilight Town.

The game ends with Roxas running down the street to meet with his friends, as the events of Kingdom Hearts II begin.

Be sure to check out next week’s episode, which will cover the epic game of Kingdom Hearts II.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

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In case you missed last week’s episode of Re: Cap, you can find it here.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Sora, Donald, and Goofy chase Pluto to a crossroads where a man in a cloak appears before them. He says some gibberish that they can’t understand and the paths converge to make one path leading to Castle Oblivion (Hopefully you remember Castle Oblivion and its origin in Birth By Sleep). They enter the castle and find themselves in Traverse Town, and discover that Leon and company have forgotten who they are, yet they remember the trio’s names.

They continue out of Traverse Town and find themselves on the next floor of the castle. The cloaked man appears again and calls himself Axel and picks a fight. After defeating him, the trio continue through the castle experiencing their memories, all of which are distorted in some way. Eventually they start to lose their memories, and a being called a Nobody (to be explained soon!) named Namine begins replacing memories of Kairi with fake ones of herself. It’s revealed that Namine isn’t a bad person, but is being forced to do this by the head of the castle, named Marluxia. The game ends with a final battle for Sora’s life and Namine’s freedom. Sora, Donald and Goofy are then put to sleep by Namine so that she can attempt to rebuild Sora’s memories.

While all this is going on upstairs, Riku wakes up below the castle. As he makes his way to the top of Castle Oblivion, he has to resist the darkness within himself. An Organization XIII member by the name of Vexen fights Riku to obtain his data and creates a replica of him to counter Marluxia’s plan. Ansem, who had previously taken over Riku’s body, tries to regain control of Riku, but is continually beaten back by King Mickey. On the way, Riku battles and defeats Lexaeus, a member of Vexen’s group, only to be dragged into the realm of darkness. However, he is saved by King Mickey when Ansem nearly succeeds in possessing Riku’s body.

With Marluxia eliminated by this time, another of Vexen’s allies, Zexion, attempts to dispose of Riku by drowning him in light. Riku is saved by Naminé, who helps him to control his darkness, allowing him to defeat Zexion. Riku then meets a mysterious masked man named DiZ, who takes an interest in him, and sends him to find Naminé. Riku’s replica, who has since learned of his altered memories and seeks to justify his existence, fights Riku only to be destroyed. Riku chooses to face Ansem upon learning from Naminé that Ansem lives in his heart, and defeats him after DiZ summons him for Riku to fight.

In the aftermath, Riku, Mickey and DiZ escape the Castle. DiZ claims that Riku must travel down one of two paths, one leading east, the other west. However, Riku forges his own path—down the middle, claiming he’s walking “the road to dawn.”

Stay tuned next week for our retelling of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, which completes the gap between Kingdom Hearts I and II.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

If you happened to miss last week’s first instalment of this series, you can pick it up here.

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is set ten years after Birth By Sleep, and starts with Sora having a bizarre dream where he experiences what’s called the Dive to the Heart–a dream-like event where a character ultimately faces the darkness within. He eventually wakes up on the Destiny Islands; his home, where he lives alongside his friends Riku and Kairi. All’s well until one night the island is invaded by the heart-devouring creatures of darkness known as Heartless. Riku ventures into the portal of darkness, curious as to what it holds. Amidst the assault, Sora inexplicably obtains a Keyblade—unbeknownst to him, this is a result of the events of Birth By Sleep. While fighting his way through the seemingly endless army of Heartless, he finds Kairi in their secret spot in front of a strange door. The door blows open and blows Sora out of the cave while Kairi disappears.

Sora is then faced with the dark creature that he defeated in his Dive to the Heart. He defeats it and is engulfed in the darkness. Meanwhile, King Mickey set out on his own mission to deal with the increasing darkness, while sending Mage Donald and Knight Goofy to find the “key”. They head to the world of Traverse Town to find any leads, which is where Sora happens to appear. Sora awakes in a daze, and is greeted by the classic Disney dog, Pluto. After waking Sora up, Pluto flees. While giving chase, Sora runs into a man named Leon (better known as Squall from Final Fantasy VIII), who says that the Keyblade is the only way to defeat the Heartless. He also notes that the ruler of his home world, Ansem, was studying the Heartless before they took over. Sora then happens upon Donald and Goofy, who identify his Keyblade as the key they’ve been searching for. He is also joined by Jiminy Cricket, who acts as the group’s record keeper. They then decide to join forces to find Mickey, Riku, and Kairi.

As they travel world to world in their search the trio discovers that the Keyblade also locks keyholes in the worlds, which is how the Heartless were sneaking in to devour the worlds’ hearts. They also run into a group of villains led by Maleficent (of Sleeping Beauty fame), who are looking for the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the keyhole to Kingdom Hearts. Maleficent has brainwashed Riku with the promise that she will help him find Kairi. Riku falls for her tricks and begins to distrust Sora, but finds Kairi, whose heart is missing.

Sora, Donald and Goofy eventually happen upon Hollow Bastion, the previous home world of Leon and Ansem, which is now Maleficent’s hideout. Riku comes to Sora and takes the Keyblade claiming to have been it’s chosen wielder all along. Although he had no way of knowing, Riku’s claim was true—Terra performed the Keyblade Ceremony on Riku in his youth, during the course of Birth By Sleep. This forces Donald and Goofy to leave Sora and follow Riku, as per the King’s orders to follow the key. Sora, though taken aback at this turn of events, decides to enter Bastion anyway. He happens upon Beast, who joins him in the hope of finding his beloved Belle. Sora eventually finds and confronts Riku. Donald and Goofy help him once again and he obtains the Keyblade back from Riku, who flees and is met by a cloaked man who tells him to ‘give in to the darkness.’

The trio defeats Maleficent, and find Riku once again. He has given in to the darkness and become completely possessed by Ansem. He reveals that Kairi’s heart has been inside Sora ever since they left the Destiny Islands, and that she is in fact the last Princess of Heart. The group defeats Ansem, but Sora can’t seal the keyhole because Kairi’s heart needs to be released to complete the heart of the world. Sora then uses Ansem’s Keyblade to unlock his own heart, thus releasing both of them. This selfless act makes Sora cease to exist—his heart and body were separated. His Heartless is all that remains, although much more catalytic events occur because of this, which will come to play later on. After some confusion and running around, Sora’s heart is returned to him by none other than Kairi, who has the ability to restore hearts due to her status as a Princess of Heart.

Ansem has retreated into a dark abyss called the End of the World, the combined fragments of worlds taken by the Heartless. Upon his defeat at the hands of Sora and his companions, he explains that darkness is the heart’s true essence, and he seeks Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts– the ultimate source of darkness. When he opens the door, Light pours out and kills Ansem. Riku and Mickey turn out to be on the other side, and help Sora close the door, trapping the two inside. Sora and Mickey then lock the door, which causes all the worlds to reconstruct themselves, and Kairi is pulled back to Destiny Islands.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy then resolve to find Riku and Mickey. They find themselves in a bright, hilly field. Not long after, they happen upon Pluto, who has a note with the King’s seal and chase him into the distance, while a silent narrator tells us that Sora’s destiny is to open the door to light.

Be sure to keep it here at inMotion Gaming next week, when we detail the interluding events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Written by

Jonathan Gipson

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMG, and get our articles and reviews directly to your inbox or RSS reader.