there are few things in any games that bring me the exuberant joy and whimsy that the warthog run at the end of this game

even now, playing it makes me feel like that starry eyed kid who first laid eyes upon this game all the way back in the late 2000's, completely boggled as to how a game like this could even exist

funnily enough unlike most people, i actually really loved the story of this game. it has its issues, but as a whole i genuinely think this follows up on the stories of days and BBS well, and sets up for something fucking crazy in KH4 when that eventually happens

this rating is more for the gameplay than anything, because MAN this is a stepdown from KH2 in almost every which way lmao. if the game let me do a fresh playthrough WITH the new combo added in with remind then it'd prolly be closer to a 9-9.5/10, but with normal vanilla ass KH3 yeah no some of the fights in this game are miserable beyond measure. especially near the end, i genuinely hated the 13 vessels and armored xehanort fight

welp time to spend 20 hours grinding to get the ultima keyblade and crack remind over my fucking knee

crazy how that one new combo + the addition of oathkeeper and oblivion almost fixes every single problem with vanilla kh3 and makes it arguably even more fun than kh2

anyways this dlc fucking rules and basically fixes any issues i might've had with the og version of 3's finale (which i already quite liked). the redemption arc is... complete

giving this game a 7/10 not because it's a 7/10 experience consistently, but because depending on what area, enemy, or boss i'm fighting the game alternates between being a 10/10 or a 4/10

DLC's fucking rule though, which helps raise it a little bit overall

was fun cooping them with my bestie :)

the threnody to a broken boy, masquerading his endless grief and sorrow behind the pleasantries of a kind smile and soft tone. a smile that slowly withers as time eats away at his mind. a tone that becomes more desperate, more unhinged, the more things slip from his grasp

the threnody to a broken boy, who time and time again comes face to face with the living representation of his failures. of his inability to change anything, to become anything more than a tool. of the simple truth that the endless, relentless march forward, meant nothing to the requiem composed of blood and iron

the threnody to a broken boy, come face to face with the evil of the entire world; concentrated into one singular being. the father who so despises him, the father he so despises, the mutual blood running through their veins alight in desperate fury

the threnody to a broken boy, lost so fiercely in that all consuming, abyss black rage and tempered grief he becomes nothing more than a feral beast. wanton bloodlust replacing the tattered remnants of a place that guilt and sorrow once called home

the threnody to a broken boy, the catalyst for the end of the world. one who wished nothing more than to destroy his own life if it meant even a single other could be saved. turned into nothing more than the trigger for the deaths of thousands. a justification for bloodshed, for inevitable conflict, for everything that would tear his soul asunder

a tale written in ink, as black as despair

𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦

𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬
𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺

2018

after about 13 or so tries, my gf and i went on a complete 10-game winning streak and beat hades' ass 10 times in a row over a few days to get the true ending on her ps5 after save data didn't transfer

some of the most fun gaming i've ever had in years haha

happiness not as something to be fought for, not something to be gifted only after untold suffering, but simply an obligation. an obligation to those we love, an obligation to those we've left behind

we are given life, and it is those we love who provide meaning to live that life. the gentle kiss of a lover, the weathered yet comforting arms of a mother or father, the welcoming uproarious voice of a friend, the nuzzled murmurs of a snuggled up pet. all are reasons to continue, all are reasons to continue walking this form we're given. and all are reasons that happiness, indelibly, graces our souls

maybe that's all we need to find a reason to wake up every morning. to persist when persistence is lost. to subsist when we walk among our fettered lives. that even as we rot, as we burn in our own anguish, the unmitigated love of all the souls we cherish are reason to find a way to continue

i am but a gentle dream, of warmth and weariness. wake up, have a little cry, and forget i ever happened