There’s a ton of silly images going around of Lightning being in Kingdom Hearts 3D. These accounts are all false as far as we know. But if it were to be true, Lightning’s presence would only serve to be detrimental.

First of all, Square Enix really seem to be pushing Lightning right now. After appearing in Final Fantasy XIII, she was ported over to Dissidia 012 as the main character and she’s also appeared in Theatrhythm. Much of Final Fantasy XIII-2’s presence has revolved around her too. By putting her in Kingdom Hearts, it would feel like overkill. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Lightning has become the most exploited character of Final Fantasy next to the likes of Cloud. Do we really need another game that includes Lightning, in such a short space of time?

Along with that goes my general feelings for Final Fantasy in the Kingdom Hearts series in general. I still remember the first time I ever saw anything on Kingdom Hearts. I felt so excited for a game that incorporated Disney and Final Fantasy and often wondered how the Final Fantasy worlds would play out and which moments in each game Nomura would choose to focus on. But when I played the game, I began to realize that Final Fantasy was basically just a side thing and wasn’t given the same respect that Disney seemed to have received. This is where my anger began.

Starting with Kingdom Hearts, we were introduced initially to Tidus (pronounced Tee-dus which I just couldn’t get my head around), Wakka, and Selphie; two characters from FFX and one from FFVIII. I thought it was a bit strange that they were made so young and also wondered where their significant others got to. I thought maybe Yuna, Lulu and Irvine were chilling on some other part of the island and we’d meet up with them later, but that unfortunately never happened. The first world Sora travels after his island is tragically destroyed, is Traverse Town and it is here that you meet up with Squall (Leon), Yuffie, and Aerith. Those three seemed to be the same age as their characters in their respective titles, but it all seemed very strange that they were put together. Not to be morbid, but why was Aerith alive? Did FFVII just not happen?

As the game progressed it got even more strange since Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth seemed to carry over their relationships from their respective titles. For someone who has never played FFVII, this could be very confusing, but then for those of us who are fans of the other Final Fantasies like VIII and X this just proved FFVII as a cash cow for Square Enix and that since it is so much more popular compared to the other titles, this game should have the spotlight. But even then, I feel as though Midgar should have existed as a world too.

I just found it so odd that the Disney worlds remained pretty faithful to their source, but Final Fantasy wasn’t allowed to have that same sort of gratitude. This is what I thought Kingdom Hearts had promised me; Disney worlds and Final Fantasy worlds fighting together against the heartless. Instead we get a mismatch of Final Fantasy characters; some turned into children and some turned into fairies, but all without a real specific purpose.

Even the kids from ‘The World Ends with You’ seem to be getting star treatment in Dream Drop Distance. Most of the characters are being featured and even the composer from the game is helping out. This could be that because this title is one of Nomura’s properties, he had easier access to the content, but I still feel Kingdom Hearts would’ve benefited from a little more Final Fantasy TLC, especially since there are a ton more fans of the Final Fantasy series than there are fans of ‘The World Ends with You’.

Imagine reliving the fight between Galbadia and Balamb from Final Fantasy VIII? Hanging out with Barrett and Tifa at the 7th Heaven Bar? Seeing Vivi taking out that nasty Black Waltz No. 3 once more? There are so many fantastic moments from the Final Fantasy series that could’ve been featured and revamped. As excited as I was to see the Disney characters as video game characters, I’d feel even more excited to see the Final Fantasy characters grouping together again.

However, as unfortunate as it sounds, I feel as though this ship has sailed. Birth By Sleep only had one new Final Fantasy character featured. I’d just rather not feel so betrayed. So I ask again, would adding Lightning really be a good thing?