<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>And yes, this is a spoiler if you can't tell...
I have very little to complain about Kingdom Hearts except for the ending. It seems like most recent RPGs have a problem finishing strong. Besides the fact taht Ansem is a poorly developed character suffering from the Zeromus syndrone, the ending of KH looks basically like something borrowed out of Secret of Mana. The 'best friend' character gets separated forever and the 'girl' gets left behind (well, didn't exactly happen in Mana, but then the hero didn't stay with the girl either). This wouldn't be so bad if this happens to against what the story is trying to establish. Riku stayed behind in the door of darkness to protect them and wanted Sora to protect Kairi but he left her behind. What's the point of the scene in The End of the World when Goofy says that even if the world barriers are restored and they've to go back to their worlds, friendship is always in their hearts? Like FFX, Kingdom Hearts has an ending that's set up to just sell the sequel. It's not even open-ended... just incomplete. I don't like this, especially since Kingdom Hearts has a very strong sense of closure. By the time you get to End of the World it's supposed to be just that, the end. Maybe not all questions are answered yet, but all that needs to be done has been done. The story should have ended then, with Sora staying behind with Kairi, knowing that Riku and Mickey sacrificed themselves to hold the darkness at bay from beyond the door. Of course then you can make another game about Sora going back for Mickey and Riku, but you don't have to do this by making a big hole in your first game.
Although Secret of Mana has a fairly medicore story, I consider the last scene where the sprite is in his world watching the shooting stars go by to be one of the most powerful scenes in a RPG. Why? Because he's a casuality of justice, sacrificing his friendship so that the Mana Beast might be defeated. Kairi's final scene in Destiny Islands nodoubtedly is supposed to have the same effect, but I really can't feel any sympathy for her, even though she's probably the first Square main female character that I find likeable despite her limited involvement because there was no reason she should've been left behind alone in Destiny Island except it'd make it easier to make a sequel. Indeed Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is already working on part of what happens to Sora when he does travel to the realm beyond the door. Heck, the world barriers didn't even get restored (Sora was definitely not in Kingdom Hearts at the ending which means for him to get there, he'd still have to get across more worlds). There was no reason for Sora and Kairi to be separated. Worse, they're not even really separated because the world barrier is still broken.</div>
I have very little to complain about Kingdom Hearts except for the ending. It seems like most recent RPGs have a problem finishing strong. Besides the fact taht Ansem is a poorly developed character suffering from the Zeromus syndrone, the ending of KH looks basically like something borrowed out of Secret of Mana. The 'best friend' character gets separated forever and the 'girl' gets left behind (well, didn't exactly happen in Mana, but then the hero didn't stay with the girl either). This wouldn't be so bad if this happens to against what the story is trying to establish. Riku stayed behind in the door of darkness to protect them and wanted Sora to protect Kairi but he left her behind. What's the point of the scene in The End of the World when Goofy says that even if the world barriers are restored and they've to go back to their worlds, friendship is always in their hearts? Like FFX, Kingdom Hearts has an ending that's set up to just sell the sequel. It's not even open-ended... just incomplete. I don't like this, especially since Kingdom Hearts has a very strong sense of closure. By the time you get to End of the World it's supposed to be just that, the end. Maybe not all questions are answered yet, but all that needs to be done has been done. The story should have ended then, with Sora staying behind with Kairi, knowing that Riku and Mickey sacrificed themselves to hold the darkness at bay from beyond the door. Of course then you can make another game about Sora going back for Mickey and Riku, but you don't have to do this by making a big hole in your first game.
Although Secret of Mana has a fairly medicore story, I consider the last scene where the sprite is in his world watching the shooting stars go by to be one of the most powerful scenes in a RPG. Why? Because he's a casuality of justice, sacrificing his friendship so that the Mana Beast might be defeated. Kairi's final scene in Destiny Islands nodoubtedly is supposed to have the same effect, but I really can't feel any sympathy for her, even though she's probably the first Square main female character that I find likeable despite her limited involvement because there was no reason she should've been left behind alone in Destiny Island except it'd make it easier to make a sequel. Indeed Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is already working on part of what happens to Sora when he does travel to the realm beyond the door. Heck, the world barriers didn't even get restored (Sora was definitely not in Kingdom Hearts at the ending which means for him to get there, he'd still have to get across more worlds). There was no reason for Sora and Kairi to be separated. Worse, they're not even really separated because the world barrier is still broken.</div>
