Twilight Town


 * This article is about the real Twilight Town. For the virtual Twilight Town, see Simulated Twilight Town.

Twilight Town is a world from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. It is the hometown of Roxas and has since been infested with Nobodies.

Despite its subtle atmosphere, Twilight Town is one of the largest worlds known. It is located in between light and darkness, similar to Castle Oblivion and The World That Never Was.

Twilight Town will be a world featured in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts coded.

Setting
Twilight Town is a quiet city in endless sunset. Much like Traverse Town in the previous game, it is divided into several distinct districts, commonly known as Market Street, Sunset Terrace, and The Fabled Countryside.

Market Street
Market Street is easily the largest area of Twilight Town, and is what is most commonly referred to as Twilight Town itself. Market Streets is a long, winding, steeply-sloped road that leads from the lower areas of the city to Central Station. The upper portion of the street is known as Station Heights. There are a few shops at Station Heights, including an item shop run by someone familiar to Final Fantasy X fans.

Central Station is a large train station that leads all over the world, including other districts of the city and The Beach, which is never visited in-game. It rests in a large open area called Station Plaza, and is roofed by the town's distinctive Clock Tower.

The lower portion of Market Street is Tram Common, an open-market area with a free tram circling around. Many shops are found here, including the accessory shop and armor shop run by familiar faces to Final Fantasy VII fans. It appears to be the location of many homes as well. Both parts of Market Street connect to The Sandlot, the area where the infamous Struggle battles take place, and to the Back Alley and Hayner's gang's hideout, The Usual Spot. It is implied that Roxas' house in Simulated Twilight Town is above The Usual Spot.

Sunset Terrace
Another district of the town, Sunset Terrace, can be reached by taking the train at Central Station to Sunset Station. Connecting to Sunset Terrace is Sunset Hill, where Roxas spots the mysterious Ghost Train on the fifth day. Sunset Terrace is eventually joined to the Market Street areas through the Underground Concourse, which finally opens the last time Sora and his party visit Twilight Town.

Yen Sid's Tower
The final part of Twilight Town is The Fabled Country Side. The only area here is Yen Sid's Tower, and can only be reached by the Magic Train that appears in Central Station. Little is known about this area, other than that Yen Sid chose it to put his tower and train King Mickey. It is also accessible to Nobodies later in the game.

Other Areas
Apart from the main areas of Twilight Town, there are also several unclassified areas. These include The Woods beyond the borders of the town (accessible only through a break in the wall of Tram Common),  The Old Mansion  that lies within it, and the Underground Concourse, a series of interconnected tunnels that lead to all areas of Twilight Town, with the exception of The Sandlot  and The Woods. There is also a small, square platform on an offshoot where, during Roxas' stay in the virtual version of the town, he fought digital Vivi clones.

Story
Twilight Town is the birthplace of all Nobodies, with the possible exception of Naminé. When they are first "born", they arrive in front of the manor gates, in the clearing of the woods. Here, a previously born Nobody greets them and gives them their new name. Roxas at first turned down the offer to join Organization XIII, and wandered the city streets. Seeing Roxas' apparent sadness over not having friends here after seeing Hayner, Pence, and Olette, Axel appears and gives him sea-salt ice cream, convincing him to join atop the Clock Tower.

Throughout Roxas' life as a Nobody, he and Axel used the Clock Tower as a meeting place after their missions, where they would sit and talk about their missions, or discuss whatever came to mind.

Meanwhile, Sora, Donald and Goofy access Twilight Town via a card on the eleventh floor of Castle Oblivion. Sora, vexed and confused, wonders why Vexen mentioned the words "my Riku". He suspects that something is amiss, and with a Key of Beginnings card, they enter in and defeat Vexen. Vexen is just about to reveal Marluxia's plans to Sora and company... when Axel barges in and kills Vexen by causing him to burst into flames.

DiZ, unbeknown to the Organization, began using the old manor as a headquarters for his revenge. Along with Naminé and Riku, he set up computer systems and memory pods in the basement levels of the manor, and monitored Sora's progression as he regained his memory. When Roxas deserted the Organization, he was captured by Riku and brought to DiZ, who put him into a virtual simulation of Twilight Town to live in as Sora's restoration finished.

After the episode in Castle Oblivion, and after the restoration process is finished, Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken from their sleep with their memories restored up to the beginning of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but not knowing how long they were asleep, or how they got to this strange world. Sora says that this place is rather familiar, but having lost all memory of Castle Oblivion, Sora and company wonder if they had ever been there in the first place.

They wander the streets, looking for answers, meeting up with Hayner, Pence, Olette, Seifer, and the other residents of Twilight Town. Eventually, they meet King Mickey, who saves them from a group of attacking Nobodies and tells them to board the magic train to Yen Sid. Yen Sid gives Sora his new clothes, new abilities, and the knowledge of Nobodies and Organization XIII. He also returns the Gummi Ship to them, and starts their adventures.

Sora and the party return to Twilight Town twice during their adventures. The first, he learns that Kairi fled Destiny Islands in search of him and was kidnapped by Axel. He also meets Saïx for the first time.

The second return, the party, along with Mickey, Hayner, Pence, and Olette, go to the manor where Sora and the party awakened, and find the digital Twilight Town, which leads them to The World That Never Was.

Mini-games

 * Struggle can be replayed in the Sandlot while Twilight Town is avallable.
 * Three summer job mini-games, Mail Delivery, Cargo Climb, and Grandstander, can be found on the bulletin board at Station Plaza.
 * The other three summer job games, Poster Duty, Bumble-Buster, and Junk Sweep, can be found on the board at Tram Common.
 * There is also a Skateboard game

Trivia

 * Before the 3rd visit, the player must go through the Assault of the Dreadnaught Gummi Ship route. The name is a reference to the massive ship built and destroyed in Final Fantasy II and has since then been reused in various Final Fantasy installments.
 * The ending of the Japanese version of Re:Chain of Memories features Roxas meeting up with his new friends Hayner, Pence and Olette between Market Street and Tram Common, along with some text.
 * In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (and its remake Re:Chain of Memories), Twilight Town is one of two worlds which have the shortest plots, with only one major card, Key of Beginnings (the other being Castle Oblivion on the 13th floor).
 * Roxas' room can be accessed using cheat codes. However, it doesn't seem to have enough leg room for Sora and company.
 * It could be thought that something big with the Organization happens in Twilight Town in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days because Heartless are being fought in 358/2 Days, but in Kingdom Hearts II there are no heartless in Twilight Town.
 * Interestingly, the only two Final Fantasy characters to appear in Kingdom Hearts that were not designed by Nomura - Setzer and Vivi - are both residents of Twilight Town.
 * In Chain of Memories, if you look closely at the World Card, Twilight Town, you can see many details of the town not shown until Kingdom Hearts 2, such as Yen Sid's Tower.
 * Twilight Town remains in eternal twilight most probably because of its location in between Light and Darkness.