Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is finally out and the time for speculation and anticipation is thankfully over, making way for a wave of lost hours as players explore the new DLC. However, while most of Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is fairly linear, there are a number of secrets and challenges available for only the most seasoned and committed players. Spoiler warning for Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind below.
One such challenge comes in the form of the Secret Episode of the DLC that unlocks after completing both the Re:Mind storyline and the following Limitcut Episode, a series of challenging boss fights. This Secret Episode is much shorter than the rest of the DLC and consists of only a single boss fight and a couple of cutscenes.
While the Secret Episode only contains one fight, it is still capable of offering up hours of gameplay, as this is one of the most difficult boss fights in Kingdom Hearts to date, competing with challenges like Lingering Will. Some fans may have guessed who this fighter would be already, considering that his presence in the DLC was teased in the most recent Re:Mind trailer.
Unfortunately, this means that Sephiroth still hasn't risen to his original height from the first Kingdom Hearts, but this new challenger brings on his own set of lore and familiar references to where Kingdom Hearts will be heading in the future.
Who is the Secret Boss?
The Secret Boss of Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is Yozora, available in the Secret Episode after completing every other challenge the DLC has to throw at the player. Yozora can be challenged after completing the main Re:Mind storyline and the defeating the Data Battles against Organization 13 in the Limitcut Episode. Some of those Data Battles can be incredibly difficult, especially the fight against Xion, but if players can power through the challenge, then they'll be rewarded with the toughest encounter in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Fighting Yozora can be incredibly difficult to defeat, with attacks and combos that can instantly drain Sora's health to nothing, and a tricky ability that can leave the player completely helpless for some time. If Yozora steals Sora's Keyblade, players need to dodge a successive series of attacks with no way to block or attack back until their weapon is granted back to them. Finally, Yozora's three phases ramp up the challenge quickly as the player brings his health down and his attacks become more erratic and dangerous.
But that "Explained" claim in the title above isn't exactly expected to come down to tool tips and strategy guides, and there will surely be a guide on how to beat him up on the sight once somebody finally does. We're here to find out what the Secret Ending is, but first we'll have to look at who Yozora is and what happens when players either defeat or are defeated by him.
Yozora
Square Enix already teased Yozora in a Re:Mind trailer before the DLC finally dropped. Most of the fans immediately recognized him as the Noctis look-alike from the Toy Box level in Kingdom Hearts. Supposedly he comes from a game within the Toy Story world called Verum Rex, acting as the main character and fighting alongside a cast of characters reminiscent of Ardyn and Ignis from Final Fantasy 15 fighting to rescue Stella, the original concept for Lunafreya.
In Re:Mind he appears in a darkened version of The Final World that extends a night's sky across the horizon as opposed to the never-ending daylight that players are familiar with. However, when Sora first recognizes him, Yozora claims not to be who he appears to be, but seems to know something about why the young Keyblade Master might think otherwise. This could mean a number of things, but considering the many connections between Yozora and some of the initial concepts for Noctis from Final Fantasy 15, Insomnia may have more of a baring on the character's origins than the Tokyo that players fight him in.
At the moment, Yozora's whole world and past is wrapped in mystery, but considering what his last line in Re:Mind is, he can be seen as less of a knock-off Noctis and more of some mirror version of Sora. Just like in the trailer that revealed that Yozora, at the end of the Secret Episode, the character repeats one of the first lines from the series. The line, "I've been having these strange thoughts lately, like is any of this real, or not?" opens the first Kingdom Hearts game with an unexplored existential question that the series seemed to have forgotten about until now.
Defeat Ending
Likely the first ending to the Secret Episode that players are going to encounter, the Defeat Ending is what happens when Yozora easily kicks Sora's teeth in. Players are treated to the sight of Yozora sealing Sora in crystal before waking up in a car, in an unfamiliar city. After mulling over his recent dream of wailing on Sora, Yozora then repeats the famous line from before.
Some fans have noticed that the scene of Yozora waking up in the car looks nearly identical to the scene of Noctis doing the same in early trailers for Final Fantasy 15 from back when it was titled Final Fantasy versus 13. It should also be noted that this early version of what became Final Fantasy 15 was originally being run by Kingdom Hearts Director Tetsuya Nomura. As a result, Yozora's future in the series could be coming from what remains of the original work done on Final Fantasy versus 13.
Victory Ending
When defeating Yozora, players are greeted with a slightly different cutscene after the fight. While Yozora still goes back to wake up in his car with skyscrapers passing behind him, there is one significant change with what happens to Sora. Instead of being trapped in crystal, Sora is instead transported back to The Final World, complete with the sunny sky again, and left to his own devices. However, there is a minor change in the car and the city with Yozora.
Before restating the "is any of this real, or not?" line, Yozora speaks to a man with a British accent and short, blond hair who appears to be driving the car. Some fans have already started guessing who this mysterious man might be, but considering the voice, many have assumed that this driver is in fact Luxord. The implications abound, and unfortunately it seems that Re:Mind has actually managed to raise more questions than it answered, but there are a few things that can be assumed or speculated from these endings.
While nothing is concrete yet, and many of the series' biggest questions still haven't been answered, there is plenty of theory fodder available in both endings. One such theory could involve the existence of more Datascapes and what Yozora means by the secret battle not taking place in "the real world," but that is a topic for another day.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is available now for PS4, and set to release February 25th, 2020 for Xbox One.
