Maybe I'm Just Looking Way Too Deep Into This, But I Think The Reason That BBS Uses A Command System

Maybe I'm just looking way too deep into this, but I think the reason that BBS uses a command system instead of letting you freely use skills and magic because Masterhood requires you to discipline yourself and do things 'by the book'

And that's why in both BBS and DDD a command system is used, because the primary goals is to become a Master. You want to do things 'correctly' so that you can prove that you really understand how a Keyblade works.

(and also, funnily enough, the ones who seem to have the most freedom in this rigid system is Ven and Sora, who only want to be Masters by association of their friends)

And then in KH3, even though Sora was technically trying to be a Keyblade Master alongside Riku, he goes back to the normal action commands menu, because Sora never truly cared for being a master. But.... even then...

The game lets you play as Riku and Aqua, who have become Keyblade Masters, and the combat system doesn't change (and don't you dare stop me here and say, 'Andrew that's because it would be silly to change a combat system for two briefly playable characters' BECAUSE THAT'S NOT THE POINT). They've grown from the games where they achieved Masterhood and they realized the limitations of their teachers and of Mastery itself.

Aqua realized how fragile the balance truly is and Riku, time and time again, learned that doing things 'by the book' entails completely denying the darkness. Both of their struggles stem from darkness - Aqua rejecting it and Riku being unable to reject it. And they learn that the books were wrong: darkness can't be eliminated. They realize how their teachers have failed them, to an extent, and don't hold themselves to their exact teachings.

But, this is only a small example of breaking the toxic cycle their Masters taught them and RIKU IS STILL THE PRIMARY ONE TO LEAD THE CHANGE TO TRULY ACCEPTING BOTH LIGHT AND DARK (ROAD TO DAWN), AND OF COURSE, RIKU ONLY FINDS THE LIGHT BECAUSE OF SORA AND SORA ALSO HAS DARKNESS HE NEEDS TO ACCEPT, SO THEY'RE BOTH THE ONES TO LEAD THE CHANGE, SO THE COMMAND SYSTEM ACTUALLY PROVES SORIKU ENDGAME AND

Nah man the fact that Gregory hasn’t been himself for so long that he stutters when Freddy asks for his name and then the mimic uses that same nervous unsure line when it finally encounters Cassie

I’m emo as hell rn bro

DDD is like. What if you were homosexual and in love with your best friend and you guys became soulmates

Yeah there’s no more doubts; it’s not even either Sora completely forgot Riku’s sacrifice or Riku is literally vanishing from his memory, it’s Sora has forgotten Riku’s sacrifice because Riku is vanishing from his memory.

Sora reuniting with Riku after the islands fell and going from worlds to worlds to find him:

Sora finally meeting with Riku again, after a full year apart from each other, not knowing for sure if he was safe or not:

Sora after Riku wakes up from a dive in his heart, when Sora was the one who was yet more in danger:

Sora meeting Riku again after witnessing that same best friend sacrifice himself to protect him, literally died in front of him:

That’s right fellas, there’s NO IMAGES because we got NOTHING. And after the three first reaction we can easily conclude to two things:

No matter how much time they get separated, Sora will always have a reaction to finding Riku back. There’s some more in KH3, as to him worrying about Riku and Michael Mouse for exemple but my images limit said not today—

And the second one is tied to the first one: there’s no way Sora remembers the sacrifice and didn’t have a reaction when seeing Riku safe in front of him. There’s no way, his best friend of a life time dying in front of him and we get nothing from him??? I’d never believe that a single second.

A third bonus one that just came to my mind: This is Sora we’re talking about. Someone who would do anything for his friends. Imagine the survivor guilt if he actually remembered that someone, and not anyone, died for him. All his other fiends just died, but Riku died because he protected Sora. Sora would live that 100x worse than any other person would. And yet nothing.

Oh, and one more, remember that scene with the star that comes from Quadratum? The one where Sora says he doesn’t remember who told him something special? Yup, that was also Riku. There was 10000000 ways of not adding that but guess who did because he loves to blow minds up with little details like that? Yeah Nomura himself, the mad man.

Anyway, ready yourselves for that Quadratum « Who are you? » because we’re so gonna get it and it’s gonna hit hard.

Riku in BBS always fascinates me because it feels like he's just off somehow. It seems like he knows something that he just doesn't in the other games.

His certainty about the outside world doesn't feel like arrogance or some childish self-assurance, but something more tangible. Like he knows for a fact that there's something out there.

This is practically confirmed when he talks to Sora later

And he's so weirdly certain. Like, it's too weirdly accurate for him to be just bullshitting to reassure his best friend.

Already in BBS, Riku knows this much about hearts and such, and it's so weird yet so intriguing. And I haven't seen anyone discussing this.

bonus adorable little Riku smiling at Terra

Yknow me and my crystal designs for the boi