Kingdom Hearts Kingdom Hearts - the Beta trailer

So while lurking around the Kingdom Hearts wiki, I decided to look at the first game's article and scrolled to the bottom toward the trivia. I had always known that Kingdom Hearts had a beta trailer, but I never really thought about it, then I saw this:

And I thought that what would the game have turned out to be if Sora really had been the one who had to be saved and not Kairi? Would it be Riku to save him? Or would Kairi turn out to be a playable character?

There are several questions I could ask of what could have been, but what do you think could have turned out to be?

[video=youtube;ori-1zhIgcY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ori-1zhIgcY[/video]

 

Honestly, some of the ideas they had would have been nice to see (like the extra parts of fighting the Darkside) and some of them I can't see as being part of the game, considering we're on our way to KHIII. Some of those ideas like Kairi being a playable character and seeing what lies beyond the Keyhole of the Destiny Islands would've been nice to see. Maybe they'll make them part of a later entry...

The game would've been much different had those ideas been included instead of what they ended up doing. The whole story might've taken a different turn, but I guess we'll never know...

 

I remember seeing that before. The only thing that sticks out to me is the concept of Sora being saved. We know he holds powerful memories of others and they hold a lot of hurt. Maybe this will overpower him and his friends will have to help him. It's only an idea, but I think that would be cool, and add some more suspense.

 

I've always loved the Beta Trailer, I often wonder what sort of game it would have been.

I never got the impression that Sora would be the one who majorly needed to be saved, though. The "come on, we've got to save Sora" line I always assumed was referencing when Sora stabs himself to free Kairi's heart. From the Beta Trailer I more got the feeling that Riku would be the one in major need of rescue, not Kairi--that he would fall a lot further than we see him in the final product.

 

It wasn't in the game we got, at least not in the North American version. Don't think they added it for the Final Mix either.

 

God... those graphics sucked. Anyways if they did make Sora open the door then I don't think Noramura would have to create so many games to explain everything. Look at the beginning of the game. After you beat Darkside 1 it says you are the one to open the door. But Riku opens it. So it kinda is weird.

 

Well you guys do have to remember, this trailer was basically the beginning of everything, so back then, graphics weren't especially sexy or anything like they are today.

 

That and it was the beta trailer--it was never intended to be the final product. As you can tell, the actual game's graphics, while not at today's standards, were a lot better than those in the trailer.

I believe the reason for not making the prettiest character models was that they'd rather spend time doing the more technical side of things--after all, they already had concept art and everything.

 

Do you have the concept are for Kingdom Hearts?

 

The only thing I gather was that at one point you would have to save Sora and you would have been able to explore Disney Castle.

 

Wait a minute. If in the Beta they said they had to save Sora.... then why was he playable in the game? I think those people got the idea wrong. The "go save Sora" was most likely when he turned into a heartless.

 

This image is an early concept of Sora, he had a chainsaw-like weapon instead of the Keyblade, and he kinda looked like a lion.

Spoiler: Sora Lion Thingie

Because of exactly what this is - this is a Beta trailer only, the first ideas made for Kingdom Hearts, they eventually changed a lot about the plot and decided that Sora would better be the hero instead of the one who needed to be saved.

 

Bet the creator got his wish in Pride Lands.

 

Actually, the Pride Lands were supposed to be a world in the first Kingdom Hearts as well, it was only removed because the developers had issues with getting the controller to work with quadruple legging.

 

I've seen that image of what sore was originally designed to be many times before. I didn't like it at first and i still don't like it. I also don't like the concept of having to save Sora, what kind of protagonist has to be saved? I'd rather play the courageous hero who travels from world to world saving my friends, which is what the game turned out to be.

I will say that i wish Disney castle had been playable in the game. It always pissed me off that the world was right there on the map but i couldn't go to it. Also, the cut scenes with Darkside and Riku on the island would have been nice in the original game.

 

I'm not sure I would play a game that was based off this trailer. I mean, I know it was the original design, but maybe it's because I've gotten used to the Kingdom Hearts now, but playing a game that revolves around saving Sora just doesn't sound right. Some of the scenes seemed interesting like what they could have done with Riku and Darkside, because Riku was there after the fight with Darkside, right?

 

I'd say this is fairly accurate.

At first i was blaming the poor graphics for kairis awful look, but now that i see it again, im fairly certain they changed the proportions of Kairis face, good thing too.