KINGDOM HEARTS TIMELINE - Episode 87: Place to Belong

Again, read the following comment ONLY after watching the video! Don’t get spoiled! * So if I had to choose my favorite episode for the Days portion, this one right here is the best so far. It has a lot of elements which make it memorable, emotional, and much else. When I got the idea to start all of this back in July, my very first objective was filling in those voids left by the 1.5 movie. I seriously couldn’t understand why they didn’t include any reference to Roxas fighting Saix when he escapes the castle, since it’s a key point to Roxas’s development. Through the original text dialogues included in this playthrough (that missed in the 1.5 movie) we can have a more clear idea about Saix. He fully embodies the chains that kept Roxas away from freedom. When playing as Roxas, all we had to do was talking to Saix every day, waiting for him to give us a mission, and we couldn’t change that, no matter what. Roxas escaping the castle and humiliating that same person who had made his life worse since his birth is something that I wanted to include in this project in a special way. First off, the music. Needless to say, a great part of the epic result is obtained thanks to Project Destati’s Critical Drive. I carefully edited that track so that the most epic bits could be listened during most of Roxas’s incredible combos. Roxas has now finally fully mastered the Keyblade and he’s using the same weapon the Organization wanted to copy to humiliate one of his most important members. Hence the reason to fight a part of the battle using Final Form’s moveset. Yes, he’s still using a single Keyblade. But Final Form’s gameplay currently represents the best way for delivering the most epic combat system which is, in my opinion, extremely needed for Saix’s battle. Roxas had to destroy Saix. He had to do that just as classy as he did when breezing through the Nobodies when escaping the castle. And Final Form perfectly delivered that. * Xion fighting Axel… right. Oh my God. I’ve always avoided all of your questions in the past months when you asked me if I wanted to make this battle too, as I wanted it to be a surprise. But c’mon, you all knew that was coming. Still, we did our best to add those elements that make this battle extremely emotional and unique, something that no one watching the video could ever predict. I myself got chills when Xion turned into Sora in the middle of the fight, with the beautiful Project Destati’s Xion soundtrack reaching its climax. Yeah, showing Xion with Sora’s face now changes people’s expectations for when she takes her hood off with Roxas on Day 357, but this fight is, after all, a bonus fight meant to be enjoyed by those people who have wanted to see this battle for almost a decade. Everything turned out so epic and, as much as this fight is fan made, it actually felt real. I could feel the tension between two best friends who promised not to hold back, fighting for what they think is right for both of them. I’m extremely happy of the final result and I do hope this is the same for you. __ Some notes to read related to most of your curiosity and concerns about the 358/2 Days portion of the Timeline. Please read before expressing your concerns! Please, bear in mind — THIS IS NOT A Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days remake! It will never, ever be, nor it is in our interest working on it. What we have been doing is just focusing on SIMULATING some of the original missions using KH2FM codes, adding in dialogues and cutscenes from both the original Nintendo DS and the HD 1.5 movie versions. You can’t just download it and play it and do these “missions” like in these videos. It’s not like you can download an actual game, boot it and see yourself playing as Xion and encountering random Heartless in every world like shown here. The Commands Menu on the bottom left corner is actually a picture, which is faithfully and constantly manually edited through video editing when attacking/using magic/using items/healing party members. In fact, I play with an invisible menu. The Information bar appearing at the top of the screen is just a picture as well. The Heartless spawnings have been handled each time exclusively for recording purposes, it’s not like they would appear on regular basis as shown in these videos. In other words, this is not a playable game, nor will it have any sort of remade cutscenes, rather a temporary “simulation” of some of 358/2 Days missions. Our goal is creating an exclusive, new perspective of 358/2 Days gameplay, mixing it with the original cutscenes and finally create the definitive experience of Roxas’s story, a character who deserves all of our tireless efforts and dedication. And I’m proud to be a main part of this, being able to provide you such a unique experience. Just as I am extremely honored for having met and for working with such amazing people. Nothing of this would have been possible without their massive experience, impressive capabilities and, more than anything, patience! - Credits go to the following people: - Disgustor, for the custom models and so much other incredible stuff. www.youtube.com/channel/UCNZWIUgF7j27wrtHk6zfYxQ - An anonymous contributor, whose extreme kindness and experience is a fundamental key for the success of this project. - 13th Vessel, for re-texturing some models and maps: www.youtube.com/channel/UClX_9s-m3PxkJtHSkTyw6ug - Crazycatz00, for his Base patch v0.00.18233.0022p. - SoraikoSan, for his model importer and moveset tool. youtube.com/user/SoraikoSan - Sonicshadowsilver2, for the UCM and much more: youtube.com/user/Sonicshadowsilver2 - ohmiyamoto, for lending us her beautiful voice for dubbing the playable version of Xion. She’s been a precious help for us and without her we couldn’t bring life to such a perfect Xion! Please, take a few seconds of your time for thanking her with a tweet on twitter.com/ohmiyamoto, and follow her works on youtube.com/user/ohmiyamoto - Project Destati, for letting me use some of their wonderful tracks: ayoutube.com/user/ProjectDestati - BlueNctrn, for his arrangement of Dance of the Daring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE-8yUMiFs - ToxicHydreigon, for his arrangement of Tension Rising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqOdRVOLTks Of course, all of the gameplay recordings and various videos editing are made by me. We all really hope you could appreciate this massive job, just as we hope you can support us and keep us company during Roxas’s journey. This is your best chance to show your support, sound off your opinions and let us know that you, the fans, care about the project and the people behind us. If you want to show your support or feel like donating and have morsel free to visit my Patreon page www.patreon.com/everglow and follow me on Twitter to get in touch with me! twitter.com/everglow8444 - The dialogues and interactions between characters will still have a major value in this, filling those empty holes left by the 1.5 HD movie which left out a lot of details. Dialogues within the Disney worlds are extremely important to the understanding of Roxas, Xion and Axel's development. Showcasing actual gameplay in Days helps delivering the best feature of the original Nintendo DS version, which is the concept of routine. The Organization's mission routine is all about Roxas's life and, as redundant as they might be, it's actually the most explicit way to picture the life within Organization XIII. And of course, gameplay is shown because we do want to let Roxas and his allies have their own moments of glory in HD, as well! Nonetheless, the best way to let players feel empathy with a video game character and actually CARE about them is playing AS THEM/playing ALONGSIDE THEM. Which is why I do think that showing Roxas and Xion fighting together, especially when she can't use the Keyblade and Roxas helps her, is a key element to the plot that must not be underestimated.

Everything's coming together now; this episode is super powerful and highlights exactly why Roxas's journey in Days might be the best story in the KH franchise, giving so much extra weight to everything that happens in Coded. "You... accept it? Don't make me laugh! It's time you learned what real hurt feels like!" 14:23 I LOVE how the low piano hit punctuates Axel's begrudging "Yeah, they did..." and the piano collections version of Roxas really amps up the emotion during this scene. 16:20 augh. The following scene of Roxas' escape where he one-hit KOs every nobody in his way is so good and really shows his anger and resolve (I also love that you modded away the save point from Twilight's View). I can't express how COOL IT IS to see Roxas use Final Form against Saix while Critical Drive hammers away in the background <3 30:00 ;_; 33:50 all this Axel dialogue is killing me. It's surreal to fight him with the twilight sky shining above. 35:25 AAAAA I'm terrified of the next episode

This episode reminds me how perfect of an actor Jesse McCartney is for Roxas. Best acting in Kingdom Hearts I’ve heard! Excellent work once again Everglow 💕

"I have the right to know the truth!"-Roxas, Days "A Nobody doesn't even have a right to be "- DiZ, KH2

This is probably the most beautiful thing anyone has done for the kingdom hearts series besides the creators themselves

21:37 and 35:19 ... ... ... ... Clap, clap, clap Just bravo Everglow and your team.

25:18 Holy shit, Xigbar, your Braig is showing.

30:13 Go on keep running, BUT I’LL ALWAYS BE THERE TO BRING YOU BACK!!

Took some notes from the novel, did you? Haha amazing job! "No matter how many times. For my own sake, for your sakes. No matter how strong Xion tries to make her power, I don’t think I’ll lose. Because, I’m strong. Axel kicked off the ground, wrapping his body in flames. He threw a chakram which Xion deflected. The chakram back in his hand, Axel shortened the distance between him and Xion in one move. Then he brought it down. Xion caught and blocked it. “Axel—please.” “No ‘please’.” “But... I…” For a second, Axel thought he saw Xion’s face become Sora’s again. He shook his head slowly. “You get it, don’t you, Axel? I can’t live like this.” “There should be a way for you to keep living as yourself.” Xion pushed Axel back with the Keyblade, jumped back, and readied her stance. “That’s a lie. On top of this, I don’t want to be used by the Organisation for such a thing. I hate that Roxas is being used by the Organisation.” “So do I.” Axel closed the distance between them again, and encircled the area with flames. Xion clasped her hands to her chest, as if trying to protect herself from the fire. Then, shaking it off, she plunged at Axel’s chest."

15:10-15:28 no matter how many times I watch this scene I can’t help but feel sad for roxas , you can really tell by how he expresses his words in both anger and sadness 😢

Oh my god you added a Xion vs Axel fight. I love this.

You've done it... you brought me to tears. I absolutely adored this episode. While nearly all of us were expecting modded battles of Roxas vs. Saix and Xion vs. Axel, none of us expected them to turn out the way they did here. The music timing and choices were perfect for these moments, the battles were incredible, the 2nd Axel phase was amazing, the HUGE surprise of Xion's face transforming to Sora's was awesome... This episode just feels so satisfying. Definitely one of the highlights of this series and I can't even begin to imagine what you have in store for the next episode. Everything about this episode is pure perfection. There is no flaw here. An amazing episode that is a great example of what I love about the series; the relationships between characters, what they go through, the fitting and incredible music tracks. Just... ALL of this is why I adore this series and why I appreciate all the hard work that you all put into this series. Thank you so much to everyone involved in making this a reality. It truly is incredible what you are able to create for fans of this great series and possible newcomers. An awesome job once again and I never expected anything less. You continue to surprise me and I'm certain you have more waiting in the future.

18:12 I love the one individual medal just kinda hanging there

16:21 Roxas saying "I am DONE WITH THIS" is a big mood lol 7:46 That shading will always amaze me. The battle quotes Axel does in round two is such an amazing touch. Everglow, you never cease to amaze and exceed all expectations. Bravo on all accounts.

13:29 — 16:24 I stand by what I’ve always said, Quinton Flynn and Jesse McCartney do such a damn good job in this entire scene. Especially Jesse, major kudos. 17:07 — 19:29 alright this is just wonderful not only did you add the Saïx fight, but you also added Roxas actually escaping the Castle, and I love that the Samurai Nobodies appeared the moment Roxas went rouge that’s an excellent touch because those were once his Nobodies to control. 30:25 — 36:55 AHHHH OMG AXEL vs XION FIGHT HOLY SPICY TACOS ALSO XION SAYING “I’m sorry Axel,” AND THEN ROUND TWO WITH THE RING OF FIRE AND FUCKIN XION’s FACE MORPHING INTO SORA’s KILL ME IT WAS SO GOOD (and the MUSIC MY GOD) This was all just an epic wave of awesomeness and it was just amazing. Also what did Xion say at the end of their fight at 36:50? I can’t make it out

This is one of your best works yet. The Saix fight was incredible, but I honest to god gasped when the Xion vs Axel fight popped up. Somehow it didn't occur to me that that would be turned into a fully-fledged boss battle, even though it should have been obvious. So I was extra shocked and WOW what a surprise that was. So many people have such an immense love for Days, whereas I've always been someone who felt it had such grand potential but felt flat in execution. But this? I feel like now I finally understand it. The friendship between the Sea Salt trio, the politics of the Organization, the existential crises of Roxas and Xion, it's all finally hitting me this time. I felt bits of it in the original game (like that cutscene of Roxas in Agrabah wondering if he has any real friends anymore) but this series has shown me Days the way I always thought it could be.

3:58 “except for the five members we lost at Castle Oblivion, but calling ourselves Organization VIII doesn’t sound so cool!”

Goodness, words cannot describe how amazing all the effort has been put in for the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts Timeline. The music, the timing, the battles, and the amazing mods. It's amazing seeing how this project has brought different youtubers and fans together. A decade ago, I would have never thought something like this would have been made. What a time to be a Kingdom Hearts fan

Funny how Xemnas makes it a thing to call Xion "it" but still says "she" at 2:41

I'm mcflipping crying scoob... axel and xions fight had me in tears