Brandon

Based on what (very little) I know, I think if they advertised a revival of the first three games more like they do for nocturne/other smt games, it would potentially go over better... There is some opportunity to integrate social links in one or two of them, but I vaguely recall it playing out more like an smt-proper game, gameplay wise.

I kinda disagree with this take; I will agree that it has alot to do with boosting sales, but the final fantasy element was definitely a big part of the fun of the series, both narrative and gameplay wise.

The ff characters are VERY much tied to the lore of the series, several events would have to be retconned to literally never include them again. The backstories of radiant garden/twilight town/'traverse town' are simply too intrinsically tied with some of the ff characters to never include them again.

Moreover.... Honestly, the versions that we see of cloud, sephiroth, Leon, ect in kingdom hearts, are MORE well known than their original looks. Some could say it informed the looks we see in these subsequent remakes, and it DEFINITELY generated interest in the remakes, with their inclusion in the first two games... I've spoken with far, far too many people that were most familiar with their KH versions, to not attest to this. It's just not the smartest market move to divorce themselves from KH entirely, although it's certainly up for debate on if they will go that route regardless...

KH, Disney, and square Enix would be fools to ever exclude one of themselves from the equation, and I'm well aware that's what happened in kh3... It greatly hurts the impact of the franchise if they continue that pattern, though.

You'd rly think it would have been Disney backing away lowkey all things considered, tho.

(Also, i'mma just say it since I forgot to circle back to this: the gameplay parts... It's just more fun with final fantasy being a part of it. We simply must have that edge that only square can give us. Lol)

I'd honestly have to say, even with unohana's big reveal, it's mayuri that has the most consistently drastic changes within the narrative overall; man's has a completely different aesthetic each and every appearance he makes.

Unohana is full 180, but mayuri is just utter chaos with his rather iconic and extravagant outfits. His true bankai rly reflects that constantly shifting nature to boot, being customizable to whatever enemy he foresees fighting.