Luna Again, here to provide you with yet another summary.

I want to begin by saying, as a disclamer of sorts, that because this game has NOT been released in either NA or EU at this time, that this summary page will contain SPOILERS.

Again, beware, SPOILERS. Ok, here we go:

Set ten years prior to the first Kingdom Hearts game, the story introduces three new protagonists to the series, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus (Ven for short). Terra bears a striking resemblance to the original Xehanort, before he lost his heart to the heartless, while Ventus looks exactly similar to Roxas. This has caused much speculation as to who this mystery boy is, as people wonder if he could possibly be related to Sora somehow. Aqua, looks unlike anyone we have seen so far, with striking blue hair.  At this time, Sora and Riku are living happily on Destiny Islands, as four and five year old children respectively, with Kairi still finding her home in Radiant Garden. 

The story begins with our new protagonists in their home, the world called “The Land of Departure” when the player learns that Terra and Aqua are training to prepare themselves for their Keyblade Master exams, under their noble and powerful teacher, Master Eraqus.  Ventus is still too young to take the Keyblade Master exams, so he is forced to sit out. As the beginning of the game progresses, Terra and Aqua meet up with their master to conduct the exam. Terra however, is turned away because Master Eraqus senses the growing darkness inside his heart. Aqua, who lacks such darkness, passes the exam, becoming the only one of the three to become a full master. 

Shortly after this test where Aqua gains her “Mark of Mastery”, another master, Master Xehanort, disappears. This man, who shares the same name as our former villain, mysteriously disappears from the Land of Departure as he goes to further his own goals outside of the other masters. As Master Xehanort disappears with his new apprentice Vanitas, new creatures that haven’t been seen in the series, begin to appear throughout the worlds. These new creatures, called the Unversed, as similar to the heartless, although how they were created is not explained at this time.

Master Eraqus sends Terra to do two tasks, both to track down and bring back Master Xehanort, and to begin destroying the Unversed before they wreak too much havoc on the worlds. Terra accepts his mission and leaves immediately. Meanwhile, Ventus is visited by Master Xehanort’s mysterious apprentice Vanitas, who tells Ven that he should follow Terra in order to protect him, because that is what’s best. Master Eraqus is uneasy about Ven leaving, and therefore sends the only master of the three, Aqua, to track Ven down and keep tabs on the growing darkness in Terra’s heart.

Separately, they begin traveling to different worlds, some familiar, some not so. They travel to Dwarf Woods, where they meet Snow White, Olympus Coliseum, where they meet Zack Fair in his younger form, (Zack being the protagonist from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy Seven), Deep Space, where they meet Stitch, as well as many others. The trio has a brief moment of respite when they are reunited in Radiant Garden, the town which will later become known as Hollow Bastion. There, Aqua meets a young girl named Kairi, who as most of you know, was technically the Princess of Radiant Garden as she becomes one of the Princesses of Heart. Aqua feels a strong connection to Kairi and feels her pure heart. This connection is furthered by the subtle fact that Aqua is Latin for water; where as Kairi’s name is Japanese for water.  During this meeting, Aqua and Ven are forced to confront Terra about his dark powers, however, their intervention fails, and Terra decides rather to distance himself from them in order to protect them from falling into the darkness along with him. At the same time, Terra and Aqua, who are worried for Ven’s safety, try to convince him to return to the Land of Departure where he will be safe with Master Eraqus. But Ven refuses, and continues to follow them wherever they go.  

A momentous and epic event in Kingdom Hearts history happens next, when Aqua and Terra find themselves on Destiny Islands, the home to the Four and Five year old Sora and Riku. The four meet on the beach, the very same beach that you gather supplies on in the first Kingdom Hearts game, where Terra notices the power that Riku seems to hold in his young heart. Patting him on the head, Terra deems Riku his successor to wield the keyblade, sensing strong ties between their power.  It should be noted at this point, that Terra is Latin for Earth, while Riku is Japanese for the same word. While Aqua sort of sits on the sidelines, she senses the connection Terra speaks of, but also sees a strong connection between Ventus and Sora, whose names both mean sky in Latin and Japanese respectively. Little Sora and Riku pay no attention to their words, and continue on with their games.

Meanwhile, Ventus has become lost again, separated from the others, and he finds himself in a section of the Keyblade Graveyard. Ven encounters Master Xehanort, and the two exchange a dramatic and somewhat solemn conversation in which Master Xehanort tells Ven that he intends to use his heart to create a legendary weapon known simply as, The X-Blade. Ven’s heart lacks darkness, making him the perfect candidate for the X-blades creation.  Master Xehanort also tells Ven that his training master, Master Eraqus, knew about this fact all along, and simply withheld the information from him. He tries to convince Ventus that Master Xehanort does not care about him, and only wants to further his own agenda. In a stupor, Ventus leaves to confront his instructor.

Ven arrives in the Land of Departure, seeking answers. He confronts his master, who has few words to say to him. Instead, Master Eraqus sees it best for the world if Ventus is killed. They begin a battle where Master Eraqus attempts to erase Ven from the world in order to prevent him from becoming the X-Blade. It wasn’t something Master Eraqus was happy to do, but he felt it better for the world. Terra however, arrives at the exact same time, (Master Xehanort suggests he make a stop there) and sees that Master Eraqus is trying to hurt one of his best friends, and therefore attacks Eraqus himself. Having successfully recovered Ven, he takes the wounded boy back to Destiny Islands. Since Master Xehanort had planned the entire event from Ven’s knowledge to Terra’s arrival, Master Xehanort is already waiting in the wings to take advantage of the Situation. Because Master Eraqus is weakened from the fighting, Master Xehanort has the advantage, which he uses to kill Master Eraqus, to stop him from stopping his plans again.

While Ven is in Destiny Islands, he encounters the “man” who has become sort of like a nemesis to him, Vanitas. In order to spur Ven into a confused state so that he can be easily used for Master Xehanort’s plans, Vanitas tells Ven of his true history. It is explained to Ven that he was once Master Xehanort’s true apprentice long ago, and that Master Xehanort had larger plans for his young pupil. However, the light in Ven’s heart was strong, and therefore he wasn’t as dark as Master Xehanort wanted him to be. Master Xehanort decided that this strong heart made him too weak, and that he was useless to what Master Xehanort had planned. Therefore, Master Xehanort casted Ven away, but not before sucking out all the darkness in his heart, which was lying dormant, buried by the light. This darkness formed itself into a physical body, and became Vanitas. From Vanitas, all the Unversed were born. Unversed are the most raw form of dark power, manifested into a physical form, and because Vanitas is nothing but pure darkness, the Unversed could be born. Because Master Xehanort essentially created him, Vanitas was nothing but loyal, and they began working on their plans. After his explanation, Vanitas tells Ven his friends need him in the Keyblade Graveyard, and that he should hurry. Vanitas then vanishes, leaving Ven alone.

At the same time, Aqua is continuing to travel the worlds as she begins to hear that Terra is committing very heinous and dastardly deeds. She refuses to believe what she hears, but after mulling it over, she sees that the darkness in Terra’s heart may be winning, and therefore she somewhat accepts the rumors. She makes her way to Yen Sid’s tower, where she finds another apprentice of a famous master, Mickey Mouse. At this time, he is not king yet, and is completing his training under Yen Sid so that he may become more powerful. She seeks both their help and advice in what to do about her friends and their increasingly tragic situation, and is instructed to head for the Keyblade Graveyard herself in order to protect her friends and look after Terra’s darkness. She leaves as well, to meet them in the Keyblade Graveyard.

The three gather in the Keyblade Graveyard, where they are appalled to see hundreds of thousands of keys. Master Xehanort and his apprentice appear as well, and he begins to tell them of the Keyblade war and the X-Blade.

Long ago, the Keyblade war was fought so that a warrior of light and a warrior of darkness could be joined together to create the X-blade, to open Kingdom Hearts. The X-Blade is a legendary weapon that can only be forged one way, by combining two hearts, one of pure darkness and one of pure light. Xehanort intends to recreate this event, by joining together Ventus and Vanitas, who represent the purest light and the purest darkness respectively. If this were to happen, The X-Blade would be created, and Master Xehanort would be able to use it to unlock Kingdom Hearts, and the secrets it holds about the Keyblade War. This would also release the souls of the warriors from the first Keyblade war, which remain locked inside their weapons. By doing so, they Keyblade war would be restarted, and Master Xehanort could wreak havoc on everything with Kingdom Hearts as his weapon.  He also tells him that his body is far too old to see all his plans work, and therefore he has been building a new body for himself, one that utilizes the darkness enough for him to possess it. He plans to use Terra’s body, which he has secretly been manipulating in to using his dark powers so that Master Xehanort would have a way inside.

The now legendary scene from the end of Kingdom Hearts Two Final Mix+ takes place, where Terra, Aqua and Ven begin to fight the master and his apprentice. As all should know from this video however, they lose. In order to regain the upper hand, Terra taps fully into his dark powers, much as Riku did later on when using his Ansem form. Because Terra has fully accepted the darkness however, Master Xehanort’s heart has a clear and one way path into Terra’s body. Master Xehanort’s heart flees his own body, and makes its way into Terra, giving birth to the white haired apprentice of Ansem the Wise, Xehanort. This character has come to be known as Terranort through the end of the game (by fans only, not actually inside the game) because it is a combination of Master Xehanort and Terra. This Xehanort however, is different from his Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 counterpart, in that he has full control of all his memories, and remembers everything. He casts Terra’s armor aside, and returns to his plans. Terra however, is much more powerful that Master Xehanort had intended, and Terra’s soul continues to remain inside the discarded suit of armor. The armor begins to stand on its own, and Terra is able to fight inside of it. This new character becomes the Lingering Sentiment, and is the secret boss everyone saw in Kingdom Hearts Two Final Mix+. Terranort and Lingering Sentiment face off in Terra’s final battle. Terranort is defeated.

Aqua and Ventus had been weakened and frozen respectively in the fight against Master Xehanort and Vanitas. After Ventus thaws however, he and Vanitas attempt to fight, but it’s not long before Vanitas possesses Ven, taking over his body, and creating this legendary X-Blade.  Mickey arrives at the battlefield to assist, and he revives Aqua so that she can be a part of the battles. Aqua and Mickey team up to fight the possessed Ventus, while at the same time, Ven experiences his final battle inside his own body, when he fights Vanitas essentially for control of himself. Aqua and Mickey win, and Aqua shatters the X-Blade, ending the Unversed, and killing Vanitas in the process. Ven however, suffers as well. Because so much turmoil happened to his heart, between his darkness being destroyed, and then the X-Blade he created being wasted, his heart becomes lost. When the X-Blade is destroyed, a magical burst of light takes place, which engulfs everyone present, and sends those with hearts to the confines of space, away from the Keyblade Graveyard. Because Lingering Sentiment has no heart however, he is not affected by the light, and he remains in the Keyblade Graveyard, searching for his body to reclaim.

Mickey uses all his power to save Aqua and Ventus as they travel though space, but after diagnosis by Yen Sid, it is revealed that Ven has lost his heart, and therefore will never wake up. Unbeknownst to everyone however, Ven’s heart was not lost, as it made its way to a suitable candidate to carry it. Ven’s heart, as it traveled the corridors of space, ended up finding Sora’s body on Destiny Islands, because Sora’s light was very similar to Ven’s. Ven’s heart merges with Sora’s; creating a more powerful heart that is immersed in the light. This is why Roxas resembles Ven, because when the other side of Sora’s heart was brought out in his Nobody, it was Ven’s heart as well, and therefore, when Roxas was born, he took on the appearance of the other side of Sora’s heart, which is now Ventus. 

While Aqua is with Mickey and Yen Sid, she is instructed to protect Ventus’ body. She takes it back to the Land of Departure, which is beginning to fall into darkness, and has therefore been deserted. She uses Master Eraqus’ keyblade, which was said to still house his soul, to unlock the Chamber of Waking, the very thing Xemnas searches for later on by sending the Castle Oblivion team away. She places Ventus inside the Chamber of Waking, and creates Castle Oblivion around it, a place to protect her friend while he sleeps, awaiting his heart’s return.

She then travels to Radiant Garden, still in search of her lost friend Terra. What she finds however, is not Terra, but his new form of Terranort, who has lost some of his memories in the light explosion. Aqua’s final battle begins to take place where she battles Terranort. Terranort is losing, and attempts to unlock his heart once more as he did when Master Xehanort first joined Terra. In the process, Xehanort loses the rest of his memories, being too weak to unlock his heart now, and beings to fall into darkness. Resembling Terra, and with the body of her old friend, Aqua dives into the darkness to save Terranort, stopping him from being absorbed so that he can one day return to his old self. Aqua ends up trapped in the Realm of Darkness, where she beings her apparently twelve year long journey to return to her friends. Xehanort, having no memories of anything that happened, but having a strong inclination with the darkness as well as the light, is discovered by Ansem the Wise, and taken in as his first and most valuable apprentice. It is there where Xehanort begins to delve into the mysteries of a person’s heart, and where the heartless and Nobodies are both created. Because Xemnas is technically the nobody of Terranort, when Xemnas does find the Chamber of Waking, and sees Ventus, he is able to call him “Friend”, finally explaining that elusive extra scene from Kingdom Hearts Two Final Mix+. 

With everything over and done with, the only thing left is the secret ending. A large secret ending for content, it is revealed that inside Terra’s body, he and Master Xehanort’s heart, which both reside inside of him, are constantly dueling for control of his body. It is also revealed that Master Eraqus’ heart resides inside Terra’s body as well, and he takes a small part in their battle. Although why his heart resides in Terra is unstated.  The events of Kingdom Hearts two take place, and the whole series passes by in a flash-forward. Later on, Aqua, who is still wandering the Realm of Darkness, comes across Ansem the Wise, who survived the explosion from Kingdom Hearts two, although he has lost his memories. Aqua senses his wise mind, and asks for help. Ansem tells her that everything now rests on the shoulders of one boy, Sora, who is at the same time, reading the letter inside the bottle. The letter tells Sora that it’s time to go on another adventure, and that he must save everyone who is connected to him. At this time, the scenes begin to change as character from the entire series begin to say Sora’s name, first Roxas and Xion, then Terra who appears next to Ventus as he wakes up, the both of them saying his name, then Aqua, who beings to cry as she says it as well, displaying all the people connected to his heart. Sora says goodbye to Kairi, and beings his new adventure, which is said to take place, In Kingdom Hearts Three.

Again, like the 358 summary, if you are more interested in watching the cutscenes then you are reading my summary, you can travel over to http://www.kh-vids.net/index.php?page=khvbbs where the nice people there have provided us with free uploads. Although not all the videos are there, and although they are still in japanese, you can still see the videos to get a better understanding.