Riku

It's actually pretty hard going back to Days at all after the command system. :/ I mean, at least going back to the normal system on KH2 isn't bad because it plays so well natively but it was clunky to begin with when they ported it to the DS and after playing such a naturally amazing system in BBS/3D (and to a lesser extent, Re:Coded), Days just feels so slow and awkward. :(

Yeah, I know what you mean. <_< I 100%'d it in Japanese (max level and everything) and then did all the missions again in English too (although did not have the patience for max level that time xD). Was so sick of it for years. When I picked it up a few months ago, though, I made it more interesting by never using level ups. I played BBS at level 1 last year and wanted to try it with Days because I think it's the only other KH game I could ever manage it in haha. It's a new twist on it, at the very least.

I need to finish my replay of Days I started a few months ago. I never even got to any Riku parts and I'd totally forgotten he was in it. I think I actually didn't mind him in it so I'd like to go back and see what I think of his parts now. 'Cause I played KH2 really recently and I still didn't really like him. But... maybe it's worth playing one more time to see if I can't use my newfound appreciation of him to hate him less in it. XD;

If Riku is a combination of Terra's darkness and Aqua's responsibility, Sora is a combination of Ven's outgoingness and Terra's gullibility. XD; I almost feel like they went a bit over-the-top in 3D with making Sora kind of helpless but I guess it's really not THAT surprising. A lot of Sora's trust and stupid decisions in 3D kind of mirrored what happened in COM. Granted, COM wasn't entirely his fault but the fact that it can happen to him twice... I'm not surprised at all that he didn't pass the test. :P I kind of hope he smartens up a bit in the next game because I really do love Sora and it's so weird to know I like Riku more right now. @_@;;

Xion. <3 I don't really have a ranked list after 1 and 2 because Marluxia and Aqua are pretty much tied for me anyway (I like them for very different reasons so they don't really compete with each other, if that makes sense XD). But I absolutely adore every single female character in KH even if that's really weird for the fandom. Xion was so excellent and arguably a stronger female character than most but so many people just couldn't look past her because she either "got in the way" of Axel & Roxas's friendship (or more, depending which fangirl you ask ~_~) or was unnecessary or something. It's like the fandom cheapens everything she went through even if she had it worse than most other characters. ;_; Xioooon.

I hated Riku for years because he was kind of a dick in KH1 and then went to the other extreme as an emo in COM and KH2. I mean, he had his reasons and every right to feel how he did after KH1 (not excusing him for anything in 1 though XDD) but it turned him into a character I just didn't... relate to, maybe? I dunno, those character types just never click with me so I continued to hate him. This game though? It made me neutral toward him the first time I played and now? I... I'm only a few worlds into my critical run but I think I like current!Riku better than current!Sora. It's very confusing because I've honestly found Riku really annoying for YEARS but I finally appreciate his character. I think he's probably the most interesting Keyblade Master. I mean, I love Aqua, but she was pretty cookie-cutter as far as wielding goes. Followed the path of light, somewhat tolerated darkness (as opposed to totally wanting to get rid of it like Eraqus), and all... but she never really had any moral issues and was almost too perfect at times. She's still my second favourite character (you were right on my first XD) but Riku is a lot more interesting. You're right that he's kind of an interesting mix of Terra and Aqua. Terra's darkness with Aqua's... responsibility, maybe? He's definitely turning into a character I could see myself really, really liking. (I think this is the most I've ever written about Riku without outright ranting. Aaaah! 3D what did you do to me??)

tl;dr at me about kingdom hearts and I'll tl;dr right back.