Tomorrow morning Novak Djokovic takes on Andy Murray in an attempt to take his seventh career major title in the world of tennis. If you ask the casual sport fan who are the top men's tennis players currently in the world, Novak would likely be third or fourth (behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and possibly Andy Murray and that's also hoping that people don't think Andy Roddick still plays or that he was ever really any good). Since the start of 2011, no men's tennis player has been better than Novak and he has certainly earned being #1 in the world.
Since Wimbledon in 2010 Novak has reached at least the semifinals in each major event (13 in a row), 9 of those being finals appearances (counting tomorrow's match), and he has won 5 majors in that span, quite possibly making it six sometime Sunday. To compare to the other greats today, Roger Federer's best saw him go a 23 major span where he reached the semifinals, 20 of those saw him reach the finals, and 14 were major victories. Nadal's greatest streak of semifinal appearances is 5 and he has done that twice. Nadal has won eight French Open, and is the "King of Clay" but his case helps prove how unique of a player Novak Djokovic is, as he has shown the ability to be successful regardless of the surface. Djokovic will likely never reach the greatness of Roger Federer, but when you breakdown what he's done over the course of these last three years, his performance is only trumped by the greatest to ever swing a racquet.
So where does Novak Djokovic stand in terms of the all-time greats? We've already discussed Roger Federer, who leads all-time with 17 major victories, and Rafael Nadal, who has twelve to his credit, tied with Roy Emerson for third most all-time. Pete Sampras, who is 2nd all -time with 14 major titles, never had a stretch of more than three semifinal appearances in a row, and Pete's career is more defined by longevity (won majors of 13 year span) and his dominance at Wimbledon (won 7 out 8 years). If Novak wins tomorrow he'll notch his 7th career major title and that'll place him in a tie for 13th all-time (most notably with John McEnroe). If he was done tomorrow, I think he would be remember as dominant during a short stretch and he was the third wheel of this generation. For a player who is entering the prime of his career and is seeing issues with some of the other stars (Federer - age, Nadal - injuries), the stage is set for Novak to continue this pace for the next four years comfortably. One major victory in each of those four years would place him in the top 5 of major winners all-time (I think that'll be easily achievable), and it's realistic for Novak to set his sights on Nadal and Sampras's marks. I would be amazed if he ever reaches the standards set by Roger, and when all is said and done, I feel Novak Djokovic will be one of the five best men's tennis players ever.
Uh oh, they left the door to my cage unlocked again and I
found my way back.
In recent weeks on my other online home (Yes you’re going to
get another shameless plug. We’re good people, give us a try http://www.forums.mlb.com/ml-mlb )
I’ve been asked if I can do a post about cheap and easy meals that anyone can
prepare. Now, I believe that anyone can prepare any meal with a bit of
foresight and some gumption but the cheap part is the kicker here. So I’m going
to take myself back to college and post to you about my personal experiences
living on “Bachelor Chow”.
To start off, I guess we need to define what bachelor chow
actually is. I think it is the food that young people make when they’re too
busy chasing members of the opposite sex or having the blackout nights
aforementioned in my “cooking with booze” post (http://offtopicblog1.blogspot.ca/2013/06/blame-it-on-alcohol-use-of-booze-in.html)
to care much about taking time to cook fantastic meals. I also suppose I should
let you know that in college I was spoiled by having a full size deep freeze
and a room mate whose father gave us 500 pounds of moose meat so I didn’t have
to buy any variation of beef or beef like meat for the year I lived with him.
That leads me to my first tip, take freebies or good deals
when they arise. If you have an uncle who raises pigs and he is willing to let
you have some of the meat for cheap or free, JUMP on it. Store has a 50 pound
bag of potatoes on for $3, BUY THEM. Of course there are limits here, don’t buy
the 50 pound bag of tomatoes as there is no way you’d ever eat them before they
go bad.
My second tip is to get some sort of a freezer. Apartment
size freezers are fairly cheap and are worth their weight in gold if you use
them correctly. Please don’t talk to me about the little freezer in the
refrigerator either, we both know that it serves no other purpose than that of
a liquor cabinet for college students. Having a freezer will allow you to make
large amounts of food and freeze them in single servings for later when that
hot redhead in your physics class is far more interesting than chopping onions.
The freezer will also allow you to buy bulk packs of things (chicken, shrimp,
sausage, frozen veggies etc)for much
cheaper than individual packs and portion them out as you want them. Making your food this way is actually cheaper
than buying premade canned or frozen meals and it is WAY healthier.
I know I was asked for specific recipes but I’m not going to
go that route as I find it limiting and boring really. I’m instead going to go
the way of giving ideas and letting your creative juices flow.
First idea is to get creative with what you have. Tired of
eating KD, but you bought a 900 pack of it for $10 at COSTCO? Well make it
anyways and chop up a couple of those hot dogs you have in the fridge and then
add some of the salsa you have to it and boom, it aint KD no more. Add some
different spices (http://offtopicblog1.blogspot.ca/2013/06/bringin-heat.html)
to things to totally change their flavor. Got a leftover smokie from that
kegger a couple nights ago? Chop it up and add it to your Ramen noodles with
some diced onion or peppers. The idea here is to look outside the box and try
new things. Don’t be afraid of making something that isn’t gourmet, this is how
you learn and even the best chefs in the world have made a few stinkers in
their lives.
That smokie thought got me thinking about the next idea;
make use of your leftovers. You’re on a tight budget, don’t throw money away by
throwing food away. At the very least most foods can be chopped up and added to
some diced potatoes and veggies to make a hash that will be passable as food in
98% of the civilized world. Or toss in a can of premade tomato sauce and $0.30
worth of spaghetti noodles and make a pasta dish. The point is that most things
can be re-purposed as a secondary meal.
I suppose that both of those ideas are pretty much the same.
It all boils down to being creative and not being afraid to fail. Once you get
past those two hurdles, the possibilities are endless.
I want to make a list of things that I think every bachelor
or bachelorette should have in their home so they can at the very least eat
semi-healthy.
A
freezer – explained above
Dry
pasta – cheap to buy, keeps forever on the shelf and is very versatile
Brown
rice – see above
Canned
tomatoes – decently cheap, healthy to eat and available in a wide variety
of flavors and styles
Beans
– fresh is more work than canned. Beans are ridiculously healthy for you
and are cheap if you look around
Fresh
vegetables – Not always the cheapest but lets face it, you have to stave
off scurvy somehow
A good
assortment of spices – not cheap to buy but they last a long time and
allow you to make food that doesn’t all taste exactly the same.
That’s probably good for now. I may revisit this idea or
just do a recipe post later.
Dogg’s Chili
(If you’re from Texas, I don’t want to
hear about the fact that it “aint chili”)
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef3-4 cups
home made baked beans (3-4 cans)
2 cans red kidney beans2 cans sliced
mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, chopped1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped4 cloves
garlic, minced
Chili powderOregano
BasilMarjoram
Thyme
Directions:
Add
meat and garlic to large pot and cook on medium until meat is browned.
add
onion, peppers, mushrooms and beans and bring to a slow boil.
add
spices to taste.
simmer
for at least 1 hour, preferably 2, stirring often.
serve
with garlic toast.
if you're a bachelor, freeze some and use it on hot dogs later
Since Game of Thrones is currently on a nine month break, I will be providing my thoughts and predictions for one storyline every month until the show’s return. Since I have read the books, I know what should happen, but several plots seem to be taking turns away from the original material, while others are almost spot on. I will examine these apparent changes/accuracy, and do my best to avoid spoilers in “A Monthly Dose of Westeros”.
Next up is the journey of the crippled little lord of Winterfell to beyond the Wall. Bran Stark has officially parted ways with his brother Rickon and wildling companion Osha, who are now on their way to find safety with a Stark bannerman. This leaves Bran to continue north with his mentally handicapped companion Hodor and Meera and Jojen Reed. After a chance encounter with Samwell Tarly, the group will make their next appearance beyond the Wall searching for the three-eyed crow that Bran often dreams about.
I always felt kinda bad for Bran. The poor kid’s whole world gets blown to pieces and he has absolutely no way to fix it. Bran used to be a pretty cool character. He was awesome in the first episode...then he fell. He was alright as a crippled kid struggling with the fact that both of his parents, both of his sisters, and his half brother were not there with him when he woke from his coma...then Robb went to war and Bran was Lord of Winterfell. That’s where it all went downhill. Bran grew irritating and seemed like a character we could’ve done without seeing every episode. He did regain some points with me for going into Hodor’s body, but still. Bran is low on my list of favorite characters. As is Jojen Reed, who is a know-it-all kid trying to show Bran everything he can about a power Jojen does not even possess and trying to prove his “green dreams” really do tell the future.
Jojen dreams with his eyes open!
Basically, now that Osha and Rickon are gone, Meera and Hodor are the only reasons I can stay awake during Bran scenes. Meera is a warrior. And a girl. So that’s pretty cool. And Hodor is...Hodor. Everybody loves Hodor! And I’ll admit...Bran is pretty cool when he slips into his direwolf’s skin.
Now, there were many changes made to Bran’s story this season and I’m expecting even more to follow soon. First off, Bran and Rickon parted ways MUCH earlier in the books. Like as soon as they fled Winterfell. Yeah. They also departed without the Reed children, whom they later met in the woods. In the books, the kids came to a feast in their father’s place and remained with Bran all through Theon Greyjoy’s sack of Winterfell. This gave Bran more time to learn and practice his warg powers, although the show speeds up his progress to have him at the same skill level as he is in the books. Another minor change that I missed was the fact that the tower they stayed in when Jon Snow and the wildlings showed up was actually in the middle of a lake, accessible only by a hidden causeway. I am glad they kept Bran’s skinchange with Hodor in though, that was one of my favorite scenes.
So the third season of Game of Thrones was only the first part of A Storm of Swords. But the last part of Bran’s story we see in this book is the point they ended at in the season finale. There’s nothing left in the book to put on the screen. So I really don’t know what to expect here. The writers may create new parts of the journey to fill in the time until material from the fourth book starts to show up, probably for the same reason they included Theon’s torture scenes: they don’t want us to forget these important characters and feel lost next time they show up. I understand why they put all of Bran’s story in this season, though. The writers needed to make Jon and Bran’s paths cross now because there is still so much left in Jon’s storyline that they’ll need to fit in the next season, it just
Hodor lives for this
wouldn’t have worked to stretch Bran’s part out so far into it. Bran runs into a bunch of stuff out beyond the Wall that doesn’t seem to have a place in the show yet; it actually feels like there’s a little jump in time between Bran’s last chapter in A Storm of Swords and his first in A Dance With Dragons.
My prediction for Bran’s storyline is that the writer’s will make up some stuff in order to fill the gap between where we are now and where we will be after the material from A Storm of Swords is finished up. Bran’s story gets a lot cooler later on in the series, but until then, be prepared for a long walk full of boringness. Hopefully, Bran doesn’t appear as much in the next season since there are simply more characters with a ton of story left to tell, and it would be unfortunate to take pieces of these stories out just to put more Bran in.
I suppose with my last post I opened to the door to the deck
or patio where the BBQ is kept and I should keep going in that direction with
the blog for another post or two. Works for me, I love my BBQ. I think for this
entry I’m going to go the direction of tips and tricks for keeping your BBQ
functional and for a few different recipes.
First, the BBQ itself. Keep it clean. That isn’t as easy as
it seems since it is kept outdoors in the elements, probably year round. In the
spirit of that, keep it covered when it isn’t in use. BBQ covers are fairly
cheap and come in a wide variety of styles and materials. Choose what works
best for you and go with it. Even with a cover you’re going to get dust and
pollen and whatnot on the outside of the BBQ but that is easy to wipe off if
needed.
A lot of people don’t clean the internals of their grill as
often as they should. Now I’m talking gas grills here and not charcoal, which
are a whole different animal that I don’t like using because I want my steak to
taste like steak and not an ashtray filled with lighter fluid. Getting back to
the internals; the grill top is self explanatory. Everyone has a wire brush
that they brush off the burnt bits with when they are done. Easy as pie right?
Well now you need to deal with those burnt bits that just fell into the body of
the BBQ. Those bits get down on the heat shields and light on fire and actually
end up burning holes through the shields which cause hot spots on your grill
top. I personally shop-vac the crud out of the bottom of my BBQ every couple of
weeks or so to keep it functioning well. Other than that, check your burners
regularly to ensure you are getting flame from them from one end to another.
They do wear out and they do plug off from time to time which will also cause
hot and cold spots on your grill top. Replacement burners are available at many
retailers if needed so don’t think you have to buy a new grill because your
burner crapped out. Twice a year I also take my grill racks and burner covers out of the BBQ entirely and pressure wash them to clean them completely. That way you can inspect them and see if it is time to replace them. Yes they can be bought at many retailers as well.
Wow this is exciting stuff. Lets get to the food. Here are a
few tips and tricks I use for some of my favorite grilled foods.
Steak/Chops – I have one side of my grill screaming hot and
the other on medium to medium-high. That way I can give the outside of the
steak/chops a good sear for 2 minutes a side and then move it to the lower heat
instead of turning down the one side and letting the steaks/chops get the
higher heat for a longer time which in the end can get them overcooked. DO NOT
cut the steaks/chops to see how done they are, this will let the juices out and
dry out the meat. Once they are cooked, let them rest for a few minutes. I
cannot stress that enough. Let the juices reabsorb into the meat before you cut
it.
Roast – Yes that says roast, as in beef or pork. I rotisserie
my roasts but first I get one side of my BBQ screaming hot and do a couple
minute sear on each side of the roast to seal in the juices.Now I have a 3 burner set up for my BBQ so I
position the roast in the center and use indirect heat from either side. Put a
“drip pan” under the roast to catch any juices that fall from the it as it
cooks and put a bit of water in the pan at the start to keep those juices from
burning to the pan when they fall. Those juices go fantastic in gravy. I
actually marinade my roasts overnight the night before and then put what is
left of the marinade under the roast and use the marinade and juices together
in the grave. Again, once it is cooked, let it rest before you cut it.
Beercan chicken – Two quick tips. First, use indirect heat
to keep the skin from burning and second, resist the urge to lift the lid and
check the thing. Lifting the lid lets the heat out and food that isn’t directly
on the grill top needs the heat that is in the space above the grill to cook
properly. Figure out your cooking time and follow it.
Skewers/Kebabs – I like to marinade the meats on my kebabs
overnight before I skewer them. You can add ridiculous amounts of flavor by
doing that. Alternate meats and veggies when skewering to let the flavors mix
with each other as they cook. Kebabs are famous for sticking to the grill top
so I got a set of metal holders that keep the skewers about an inch above the
actual grill and prevent this. I love using them and recommend them to anyone
who wants to make delicious kebabs.
Fish – The main tip for grilling fish is be aware of how
fast it cooks. Fish is done in the blink of an eye so look up cooking times and
follow them closely.
Potatoes – Ah spuds, so good when done properly. When I make
potatoes on the grill I slice them thin (and anything else I am putting in with them)
and wrap them in foil with some olive oil and spices and put them on the grill. The tip is
to flip them often or they will burn to the foil.
I think that’s enough for now. Going simple on the recipe
this time.
Dogg’s Garlic Aioli
Ingredients:
2 egg yolks, room temperature9 cloves of garlic, as
finely minced as you can
1 tsp Dijon
mustard2 tsp lemon juice
½ cup olive oil½ cup sunflower (or lighter
vegetable) oil
Directions:
Add
the egg yolks, garlic, mustard and lemon juice to food processor and blend
until smooth
With
the food processor running, VERY slowly drizzle the olive oil into the
mixture. This can take up to 5 minutes. Seriously, that slowly. If need be
stop the food processor to scrape the sides.
Repeat
step 2 but with the sunflower oil. The mixture should “whip up” as you do
it.
When
done put in an airtight container in the fridge and let the flavors come
together for a few hours before you eat.
This is my first foray into the blogosphere, so bear with me as I/we sift through what you can expect out of my posts.
A little about myself: I'm a 24 year old college grad hailing from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Neuroscience and Biochemistry. This fall I'm enrolling in a doctoral program in Pharmacology and Molecular Science at Johns Hopkins University out in Baltimore. I'm born and raised in the Midwest, and Minneapolis has been my home for 6 years now, so we'll see in short order how the transition to living out East goes. But enough about my professional life and regional affiliation, I'm here to muse on a hodgepodge of items. For those that lack critical reading skillz, I'm big into biomedical science and several other sciences as well. I've always been fascinated by life and how, at every level, from atoms on up to ecosystems, there are numerous moving parts working together to produce the phenomenon that is the world/universe around us.
Due to my love for understanding how those moving parts fit and work together, and my relegation to living in states that have 4 not-so-distinct seasons( almost winter, winter, still winter, and road-construction), I developed a strong, distinct love for two cold weather sports: basketball and hockey. The movement, grace, and artistry of these two games are unmatched. Those who follow soccer, I hear you and understand your groans; alas, my ignorance of the game prevents true appreciation of subtle plays, and, frankly, diehard soccer fans are just vicious to newcomers. Baseball fans, I see you shaking your head, and I understand because I think Joe Mauer's stroke is a thing of beauty, too, but the game just moves too slowly at times and seems compartmentalized--there is no, for lack of a better word, flow. Don't even get me started on you NFL junkies, with your jaws now on the floor that someone dare challenge Czar Goodell's baby, although I do love me some Adrian Peterson. Basketball and hockey, to me, require a level of synchronous movement and trust in teammates that is more critical, or more obviously critical, than that required by the other two major U.S. sports. Sure, it's obvious when a receiver zigs when he should zag, or when a pitcher crosses his catcher up, but in those sports those incidents feel isolated. In basketball and hockey you can see the momentum swing gradually as players slide into or out of a rhythm with their teammates. When everything clicks you see things like the Bruins rallying from 3 goals down in the 3rd period in Game 7 to beat Toronto in round one of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, or the Spurs' offensive clinic from Games 4 and 5 of the NBA finals. When it falls apart you get really obviously awful crap: hey guys look, it's the Charlotte Bobcats and Florida Panthers!
Anywho, hopefully that stream-of-consciousness rambling conveyed my point a.k.a. what will be the focus of my posts here: basketball and hockey. As a Big Ten and Minnesota boy I am by no means set on only discussing the professional ranks, so College Hoops and Hockey will be featured along with their professional counterparts from time to time.
Periodically, I may touch on buzzworthy intel from the realms of science, but ultimately this space will be a chance for me to provide my not-so-professional opinion on hoops and puck. I'll be kicking things off with a semi-live blog of the NBA draft this Thursday, followed by my take on a NHL draft primer for the festivities on June 30th.
This is the second post from Peter in his series about living with severe food allergies. To read part 1 click here.
You see, having allergies isn't really about “not eatinng"-- at least for me. I don’t exactly know what I’m missing out on, so when I say “I have never
eaten sushi in my life,” I don’t being to cry uncontrollably. For all intents and purposes, I hate sushi, so who cares if I can’t eat it? So really, not
being able to eat certain things never sucked that much. It’s the efforts I had to take to stay away from the foods that have taken a toll.
I think my first memory of thinking “allergies blow” is from 4th grade or so. My friend Nicky was having a birthday party at a local sports
center, and all the cool kids were invited. Well, it wasn’t actually like that, but kids were talking about it a lot, so there was hype. Thus, you can
imagine how pumped I was when I got my invite. Just think about it, little Peter, so innocent, so unaware: all I wanted was to go to this party. And
yeah, of course I made it, and of course I was having a blast. But then something happened. All my friends were called into this side room, so I just
followed. And I had just gotten a glimpse of what it looked like, balloons and chairs and plates and hats, and it seemed pretty cool. But that was when
my mom suddenly stopped me, telling me “Oh, Peter. You shouldn’t go in there, they are serving pizza, and I don’t want you reacting.”
Now, bear with my mom here. Whenever I tell this story, people are all like “wow she really overprotected you.” She tells me now that she was paranoid
that the kids would throw the pizza back and forth, which actually had happened at a birthday party my brother had gone to recently. So the idea was
fresh in her memory, and she was being safe. There is no love lost, but nevertheless, the situation really bothered me. I turned away from the room,
and went to go kick a soccer ball, alone and waiting for them to come back. My mom did actually sit there with me, but there was a feeling of
isolation, being an outcast in a way.
I think similar scenarios had played out before this one, but this instance really stuck with me because in the following week in school, my friends
were talking about the party, and they referenced some sort of specific event that happened while they were eating. I had no clue what they were
talking about, but I laughed, and then stupid Casey had to say “Peter you weren’t there you don’t get it.” I mean, screw that guy, right? That hurt a
lot. I didn’t cry or anything, because I was a manly 4th grader, but I really wanted to tell him why that was such a terrible comment. Of
course, I was little and couldn’t express myself well, so I just carried on. That’s really the worst side of my allergies; they don’t just stop me from
eating food. They hold me back from enjoying certain activities. I had to stay inside at camp during the egg toss. I was never in the line at school to
get food on bagel or pizza day. The amount of times I had to reject candy from confused adults on Halloween is about a zillion. It’s really a shame
that the skill hasn’t been utilized to its fullest, yet--I’m looking at you, creepy guy with minivan.
Now that I’m older, this stuff doesn’t really bother me. However, my childhood will always be partly remembered for these restrictions I had to comply
with. Nowadays, the cons of allergies are really what would be expected. I can’t eat food, and I have to deal with that. Because I’m older and wiser, I
can determine which situations are safe and create my own restrictions. I no longer stay back kicking soccer balls, I’m right there at the table…just
not eating. However, one thing that allergies still stop me from doing that I want to point out is they keep me from going out to eat. I don’t go to
restaurants with my friends, I stay home and eat. It’s definitely made me really attached to the place I live, but by no means am I a hermit. Plus, I’m
sure there are things that places can do to accommodate my condition, I’ve just never felt it’s worth the effort to ask. I go home to eat, then meet up
with my friends later. It’s not even that bad, and I also get to save cash.
In fact, I think it’s about time I get to the pros of my allergies. I’m just going to bang them out, because there is no point in being dramatic here.
I eat relatively healthily. If I ever have to diet when I get older, it’ll be easy. I have amazing self-control, and I’m not bragging. I am excellent
at reading food labels. I have seen an immense amount of human kindness in my life. It means a lot to me that when I tell people I have allergies, they
instantly back off and say “Oh, should I not be eating this here?” Maybe I read too much into moments like that, but I think it’s awesome.
And finally, this is my favorite. I believe my allergies have given me a sense of hope in life. Because, well, chances are I will sooner or later grow
out of most of my allergies. That fact has always been with me. Today I may not be eating that cheeseburger, but one day I will. The only direction is
up. It’s a fantastic feeling, and it makes life that much better. No matter how bad things are, something out there can make it better. And of course,
you cynical bastards ask “what if you don’t grow out of them?” To that, I say this: Some things just don’t work out. I have lived with allergies for 17
years, I can do it for another 83. It’s just food.
Now that I've gone through the process of explaining the series and what it is about, I can finally get to my predictions for Kingdom Hearts III.
The general plot of Kingdom Hearts III is not a mystery. It is known that Sora and the seven guardians of light have to fight Xehanort and the thirteen darknesses, as it has been foretold. What isn't known, however, is how this is going to be accomplished. I'll spend a bit of time on plot, gameplay, and overall expectations.
Plot
As mentioned, the overall plot is already known. We've been told that the game will conclude the "Xehanort Saga", which means that something huge has to go down at the end of the game. We know that Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Lea, and Mickey can all wield keyblades. However, we don't know who the seven guardians of light are. While it makes sense for Terra to be one of the seven, I'd say it's more likely that Lea is one of the seven guardians of light at this point, considering how much he's done to save Sora and others.
As far as the darknesses, I am completely lost. There are a few I have the utmost confidence in, given that they have already appeared: Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Braig, Isa, Xemnas, Ansem: Seeker of Darkness, and the possessed version of Terra known as Terranort. As for who the others could be, well here's a thought:
Riku was possessed by ASOD, which means that a form of Xehanort was present at the time of his existence. "Rikunort" as he was called could be brought back. That still leaves five different spots. All of the original Organization XIII members are gone except for Xemnas--who has been brought back from another time. It will be interesting to see what Tetsuya Nomura does to fill these spots.
As far as I'm concerned, there are going to be a few key moments that have to happen in the game:
1) Aqua will return to the Realm of Light after an absence that has simply been far too long. She has an extensive knowledge of Xehanort's past plans and has a strong connection to Terra and Ventus. She's going to meet/team up with Sora at some point.
2) Ventus needs to be woken up. Aqua knows where he's been hidden, and now we know how he can be woken up: Riku. Yes, conveniently, Riku has gained the ability to wake up people's hearts. He did it with Sora, and he should be able to do it with Ventus.
3) Something's gotta happen between Kairi and Sora. Thus far in the series, the creator has portrayed a huge connection between the two, but we have yet to see it fully mature. Now that the characters are going to be set as 18-year-olds (most likely), I think it's time to either establish them as friends or something more.
4) Xehanort must go. Ending the saga with something other than Xehanort's termination at either the Keyblade Graveyard, Kingdom Hearts, or the Destiny Islands wouldn't do the series justice. I think it makes the most sense for Sora to put an end to Xehanort in a big final clash.
Game Play
I fully expect the same hack-and-slash style that has been present for the whole series. I also expect the elements used within the side games to appear in the third game. Ideally, we see the reaction commands from KHII, the command deck and command styles from BBS, and the environment interaction that was portrayed in 3D (videos are all below).
KHII Reaction Command Examples (watch at 8:20 for the best example)
I'd also like to see more interaction between Sora and his party members. It's been nice having Donald, Goofy, and others be in the party and act on their own, but I'd like to see more team-up attacks and whatnot. It's been a while since we've gotten the opportunity to have party members, so I hope they address this.
Worlds
Since the creation of the latest game, Disney has been busy acquiring properties, as they now own Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios. I've seen many fans complain about the possibility of using these titles in the next game, but let's be real: if the goal is to get more dark and serious, you can't just stick to Disney. The series was very clever in its adaptation to Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, and I'd like to see more of that. I don't mean to make Sora fight in a Star Wars themed world, but I wouldn't mind seeing Marvel characters worked into the mix. They are cartoon-based and have back stories that can be easily woven into the Kingdom Hearts universe.
Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, INCLUDE PIXAR IN THIS GAME. Toy Story was initially developed into Kingdom Hearts II before being removed. Another world that needs to be included is The Jungle Book, which seemingly is removed last second in the development of every game. I have ideas listed below:
World of Heroes (Marvel-based)
Toy Haven (Toy Story)
Jungle Ruins (The Jungle Book)
Port Royal (Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest)
Tangled (no idea what to call this world, but this movie easily fits in plot-wise)
Sword and the Stone (Merlin's been pretty important thus far)
There are a lot of options that haven't worked out for whatever reason. Let's see a more serious game with world inclusion that goes beyond cartoon Disney.
Final Fantasy Characters
Despite their inclusion in the plot, Final Fantasy characters have been light on usage in the games thus far. I understand the desire to make the series about Sora and Disney, but let's get some FF characters in parties. I'd like to see Leon, Tidus, and Lightning make appearances in the series and be party members. At the very least, get Lightning into the plot, because her character in the Final Fantasy XIII games has been pretty epic.
Boss Fights
While the secondary games have been really good, they've been lacking in their secret boss fights. The ultimate boss fights in the first couple of games came when Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) was involved. Links are posted below:
It's not like the series has been short on other great boss fights either. I'm just going to post videos from here on out for boss fights (both regular and secret). As far as predictions go, the only secret boss I'd really love to see in the game is Caius (Final Fantasy XII-2), as he is one of my favorite bosses in any game ever. Perhaps they could throw in a few special Xehanort-related battles. Anyway, enjoy these:
Julius (Kingdom Hearts 3D)
Xemnas (Secret Fight in KHI: Final Mix)
Lingering Sentiment (Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix)
Anyway, those are my thoughts on what KHIII should be about. I want a more serious game that wraps up the plot--the Xehanort parts anyway--and expands on game play. A major complaint in the series has been a lack of ability to interact with the environment around Sora, and Kingdom Hearts: Dream, Drop, Distance provided a format to fix that issue. I think the creators have gotten themselves in a good spot, and I anticipate a highly well-received game.
Unlike a lot of the people on the internet that have overreacted to news that the title is "early" in development, I think the game will be out closer to the end of 2014 than the beginning of 2016. Have some optimism, people.
