I am not a fan of gacha games. So unlike the other Kingdom Hearts games, I don’t know the full story of Kingdom Hearts χ [chi], which was renamed Unchained χ and now called Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross], other than what I recall from reading summaries and the 2.8 movie tie-in.
χ and its sequels/remakes have players creating an avatar of their own choosing and joining one of five groups of Keyblade wielders (Unions) led by the Foretellers. These five (who have the same horrible sense of fashion) are apprentices of the Master of Masters, who gave them this mission and gave each a special mission in order to prepare for an upcoming conflict between light and darkness detailed in the Book of Prophecies: the Keyblade War. Luxu, the sixth apprentice, is given a different job by the Master of Masters. Meanwhile, Keyblade users fight Heartless to collect Lux (pieces of light) across various Disney worlds and are assisted by cat-like familiars called Chirithy. One particular Chirithy acts as Your Keyblade, Your Story‘s narrator. This Chirithy is the partner of the novel’s protagonist.
Lots of games that have with customizable characters have someone to act as the sort of canon protagonist for the story’s events. Think Victor/Gloria from Pokémon Sword/Shield or Cissnei in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Here, though, it’s you — in other words. Chirithy narrates that you did this, then you went there, you met so-and-so, etc.
Hence the name Your Keyblade, Your Story. While it’s not how Your Keyblade, Your Story reads, I’ll be referring to the main Keybearer in the story as if “You” was their name for ease of reference. The protagonist is referred to as a male in the second half of the novel, but this could just be the English translation while the Japanese used a more neutral pronoun.
“You” joins Foreteller Invi’s Anguis Union, and with Chirithy’s help, “You” travels from Daybreak Town to other lands to gather Lux. For much of the novel, “You” is like an old-school JRPG protagonist: a nice person and devoted warrior but not much of a talker. “You” doesn’t have any lines of dialogue until over halfway through the story, and then they can be quite chatty in tense moments. It’s a bit bizarre to go from no talking to whole conversations, but whatever. One day, this Keybearer meets Ephemer, a warrior from another Union. Ephemer suspects something’s amiss with the world, and along with fellow Anguis Union member Skuld, they find themselves getting involved with the Foretellers’ true missions and own personal conflicts.
Your Keyblade, Your Story is set before the Keyblade War, which is a legend by the time Xehanort becomes an apprentice. “You” meets the King and his two guardians early in the story, so obviously there’s some sort of wonkiness with how time flows in the series. Events in the worlds “You” visits will likely confuse readers, but the little bit of info Ephemer drops relatively early makes the Disney worlds feel unnecessary and tacked-on. Fortunately, they’re rather short and all but abandoned by the latter half of the novel.
What most people — including myself — are really after are clues about the Master of Masters and his apprentices. Either as chapter-ending flashbacks, visions, or via Chirithy, readers can see friction rising between the five apprentices. Are they all on the up-and-up? Or is someone trying to manipulate events for some nefarious purpose? The Book of Prophecies is a record of things to come, but some of the Foretellers question if they should just accept destiny or fight against it. All this weighs heavily on their minds. Unlike a lot of other Kingdom Hearts games, it is easier to understand how they drift apart. The Master of Masters wants balance, but their individual roles makes it hard to do. Not to mention that following their teacher’s instructions means condemning countless individuals to certain doom.
Your Keyblade, Your Story doesn’t answer a lot of questions. The mobile game is still going on, and with χ tying into future game entries, the book can’t dive into each of the apprentices or their master. The biggest surprise(s) is probably in the epilogue, but that brings even more confusion. However, where it excels is explaining these events, laying out who’s who and providing a summary of the events. Ephemer kind of just popped up in Back Cover (and forms a fast, sudden friendship with “You”), but at least here I can see his importance to the story. For someone like me who has limited experience with χ, I have a better understanding of what went on just before the Keyblade War.
Of course, relatively speaking, as Kingdom Hearts is not known for being easy to grasp.
I still have my money on χ eventually having a Switch port, but until that happens, Your Keyblade, Your Story does a good job of filling the hole in my Kingdom Hearts knowledge. I hope Kanemaki will release another χ-inspired light novel, as the Unchained χ epilogue shows there’s plenty of adventures — and answers — left to be shown.