Many have criticized Kingdom Hearts 2 for its extended tutorial section revolving around the character of Roxas; a character who has little relation to the overall plot or main cast up to then. Others have been quick to defend the opening section for its ability to create suspense towards the main game. Where do I sit on this argument? Honestly, I think it’s more memorable than the actual game.

“But it’s boring” I hear you say. To which I would respond yes, I agree with you. “But the voice acting is awkward, and the gameplay is mundane, and it’s so drawn out”, I know. I’m not writing this to change anyone’s opinion on the matter, but rather to offer a unique perspective. I actually like the tutorial mainly because of its setting, story and characters. I’ll acknowledge that it hasn’t aged quite as well into my adulthood now that I can see the flaws mentioned previously much more clearly. But it must had been doing something right in the first place, otherwise it wouldn’t had stuck with me even to this day and be writing an article about it.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into what I see in this small, self-contained story.

What’s the story?

Roxas is a teenager living in the sunset-enveloped Twilight Town. He has a normal life and is on summer holiday with his school friends. He begins to have strange dreams of a boy named ‘Sora’, the main character from the first game. Strange entities called Nobodies also begin to invade the town, and a weapon known as ‘The Keyblade’ keeps appearing in Roxas’ hand. The mystery builds until it’s revealed that Roxas is living in a digital world, and that he only exists because he is essentially a clone of Sora. Roxas then learns that he will eventually have to die for Sora to awaken from a coma.

The thing I like about Roxas’ character is that to begin with he has no connection to the rest of the Kingdom Hearts universe. Roxas never wanted the keyblade, it just came to him. He never wanted to be a piece of this fantasy adventure, he just wanted live his ordinary life and be with his friends. You could say the same for Sora but there was never any doubt that he was enjoying his adventure. Roxas on the other hand is confused and angry throughout his, and ultimately has to give his life for a cause he didn’t understand or have a say in. You could almost compare it to a Franz Kafka story in that Roxas is essentially stuck in a nightmare, especially so like during the Twilight Thorn fight pictured above.

The setting of Twilight Town is gorgeous with southern-European style architecture and large looming shadows everywhere. The characters while somewhat bland have interesting designs and give the idea of what it’s like be at that age. You could even argue that even the uncanny valley of Playstation 2 graphics and stilted voice acting adds another weird layer to the story of unease and foreboding, intentional or not.

Throughout my first playthrough in my childhood I felt just as confused as Roxas was. By the time I figured out what was happening, it was already over. I didn’t realize it but I had become invested in his story, and I felt genuinely conflicted over the fact that he never got his own archetypal happy ending and disappeared from the rest of the game. Whilst I still had fun throughout that first playthrough, after going through that tutorial I couldn’t help but feel that something or someone was missing.

Re-con’s ahoy:

Given how much I enjoyed Roxas’ section in KH2 that may lead you to think that I’m a fan of Roxas’ backstory game. Well… not quite.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days attempts to change Roxas’ backstory by including another character named Xion. Before Kingdom Hearts 2 they shared a friendship together that eventually lead in tragedy when Xion had to sacrifice herself for the greater good. This leads Roxas onto wanting revenge which ultimately leads to the events of Kingdom Hearts 2.

The problem that I have with this inclusion is that while it gives an emotional core to the story of that particular game, it retroactively changes Roxas character arc in Kingdom Hearts 2. Let me put it this way: Before 358/2 Roxas didn’t have a steak in the overarching universe. But with the addition of Xion, he does. I thought is was much more interesting when Roxas was someone who didn’t care about some grand unrelated fantasy adventure. He was a nobody before, and I preferred it that way.

While it may seem that I’m being overly critical of Nomura and Co for changing Roxas’ backstory, honestly I don’t it mind that much. Mainly because as much as they try to change the context, nothing will ever physically change Kingdom Hearts 2. You may even like 358/2 and prefer the idea that Roxas had investment in the overarching plot to make his story all the more tragic.

Final Thoughts:

By the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 Roxas can be seen with his friends sitting happily atop the clock tower. To his left and right are Axel and Xion, while his old friends from Twilight Town are pushed to the side. What use to be a fun little moment (eating ice cream atop the tower) has become the single thing that defines their friendship and character arcs. Will we ever see this character again? Probably not.

Pictured below is a fan-art creation by deviantart user ‘hakei’ which I’ve linked below. It’s a drawing of Roxas looking outside the window of his room. Within his room is the place in where I imagined he always wanted to be, rather than the clock tower. He’s away from the fantastical nonsense of his own game series and instead he looks warmly over the familiarity and tangibility of his own city, living his own small life. And no sequels of prequels will ever be able to change that idea and the impact that this little story had on my childhood.