Reception
Due to his resemblance with Roxas, video game publications initially thought that Roxas would be one of the protagonists from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep when seeing one of Ventus' mages. However, when it was revealed that the two were different, publications still discussed how similar they were and if there was a connection between them. GamesRadar particularly thought that there would be an eventual connection between the two of them and Sora. Amanda L. Kondolojy from Cheat Code Central also commented on speculations regarding the similarities between both of them, but mentioned that due to the existence of Nobodies in series, it is hard to find them as coincidences. When Jesse McCartney confirmed he was working on the English localization of Birth by Sleep, sites thought that he would voice Ventus, as he also voiced Roxas in previous titles.
The character's story and actions shown in the demonstrations were praised for being the "most original take on Kingdom Hearts" and yet "frustratingly traditional". Particular comments were given to shrinking Ventus' height for Cinderella's world and his interactions in it. Upon Ventus's introduction in Birth by Sleep, X-Play found the character to be very similar to Sora's due to his friendly attitude. Despite advice to start Birth by Sleep with Terra, IGN's Ryan Clements chose Ventus as the first character to play with due to his similarities with Roxas and wanting to learn about his story. RPGamer's Adriaan den Ouden also chose Ventus to start, noting his similarities with Roxas, but also finding that he had a similar personality to Sora's. GameSpot writer Sophia Tong noted that people had to face the fact that Ventus and Roxas were identical, and also had a spiky hair like Sora. Kevin VanOrd from the same site gave praise to Ventus's character for his "well-meaning" and yet not "annoying" personality. The site also said that the time players spend playing with Ventus would be "rewarding" and commented on the English voice acting. PlayStation LifeStyle's Thomas Williams found the trio of Ventus, Terra and Aqua as welcome additions to the franchise, finding their stories enjoyable even though the three travel to the same worlds. On the other hand, PALGN found the three characters unappealing, labelling Ventus as "just a Roxas clone, but without his personality." In contrast to 1UP's comments towards Ventus' actions in Cinderella's world, VanOrd commented that such interactions to be "more bothersome than boisterous." Videogamer.com writer Emily Gera stated that players may know little about them due to their role in Kingdom Hearts II, but with Birth by Sleep, players will be able to know about them. Writing for GamesRadar, Crhis Antista later called Ventus a "Roxas-clone", and commented that he still did not understand the importance of him and the other characters being briefly featured in Kingdom Hearts II, although it could be explained once the player finishes Birth by Sleep.
Read more about this topic: Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
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