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Between the rumors and the 13 year gap, I thought the day would never come...and we’re on the edge of fandom history. Utada Hikaru released “Don’t Think Twice” and I was immediately along for the ride. And then suddenly I heard that it’s not the opening song and there was a Utada x Skrillex collab coming. I don’t know if this was Square Enix and Disney’s plan all along...but my initial impressions of the song aren’t the best. “Face My Fears” starts off with the flow that a Kingdom Hearts opening should have - piano taking second place to Utada Hikaru’s powerful vocals. There’s a steady build and eventually the Skrillex influence is heard and that takes over the entire vibe. I’m REALLY hoping that we’ll get to hear more vocals from her because her vocals embody Kingdom Hearts for me. You can sing “Sanctuary” and “Simple and Clean” anywhere you go, and “Don’t Think Twice” did a good job of following in those legendary footsteps. This installment isn’t the same by any means and I’m not saying the opening is bad but it’s not good either. I can’t get a full picture of it because I know there are cuts in the trailer but, as it stands right now, I think “Don’t Think Twice” would’ve been a stronger opening song. The visuals for the trailer itself are jumbled; throwing pieces from all of the previous games into a 1 minute 29 second trailer that makes it feel like a fan-made AMV from Youtube. I’m not a fan of how it flows right now even if the visuals are absolutely stunning, simple and clean style. There seems to be a method to the madness though. Not only is it a good marketing plan to include more EDM to attract new fans, it seems like the BPM to the openings has been going up since the first song. “Simple and Clean” has the slowest at 88 BPM, “Passion/Sanctuary”
comes in at 109 BPM and “Don’t Think Twice” clocks in at 133 BPM as the fastest recorded so far in terms of the openings. I imagine that “Face My Fears” will be even faster. The EDM isn’t unheard of in KH, either: It happened in KH2.8 for the “Ray of Hope” remix of the first opening “Simple and Clean”. The difference is that KH2.8 was a short, under 10-hour prequel and KH3 will be at least 7 times that. I expect a fuller song. Even with the six trailers dropping this month for KH3, my hype is skeptically optimistic. Sure they could stand to keep some of the game hidden away for players to discover on their own, but there is merit to showing what it has to offer. I just hope they don’t reveal too much. All in all, not even Skrillex is going to keep me away from buying and playing the 80+ hours of KH3 that’s coming at the end of January. I’m hoping that the soundtrack will grow on me and match up to a well done opening that rivals the Utada in KH1 and KH2. Skrillex is restrained enough to not go full-on Bangarang and I think that shows some good character development lol.
~D