a similar fashion to Palpatine. Comic Book Resources noted similarities between Xehanort and Palpatine due to how the villain corrupts the young hero so that both lose possession of their original selves when the villain succeeds in obtaining their desires. CinemaBlend praised how the prequel explores Xehanort's character while highlighting how he nearly succeeds in defeating all the protagonists from the game. Comic Book Resources noted that several of Xehanort's actions contribute to the heroes' downfall.. Another aspect of Birth by Sleep touched by website 3DJuegos was the relationship between Xehanort and Eraqus. For Xehanort's role in Dream Drop Distance, RPGSite lamented how Disney villains were overshadowed by him while GameInformer saw it as a prologue to Kingdom Hearts III. While Kingdom Hearts III focuses on Xehanort's return, Polygon commented players should play or watch cutscenes from other games to understand more of his actions. By Kingdom Hearts III, Comic Book Resources noted that Xehanort causes the biggest catastrophes in the series, citing Kairi's death and the usage of Organization XIII for his own personal needs. The same site listed his alter egos as the sixth most challenging boss ever in the game while his true persona ranked second behind Yozora. GameSpot enjoyed how the Remind DLC re-explores more of Xenahort's character from Kingdom Hearts III. GameSpot in retrospect found Xehanort's identity confusing due to the several alter egos he created in the franchise. Meristation referred to the character in general, complex and manipulative while the same time redeeming in his final moments, he accepts his defeat to Sora and gives him the X-Blade, to the youth as he moves to the afterlife with Eraqus. Zane's work as Xehanort (Ansem), was noted by Kotaku in an article involving "cheesy video game voice acting" as the writer claimed "Zane's performance is a combination of rocky growlings and deep bass utterances" as a result of how many taunts he makes during the cutscenes, making the villain stand out. CinemaBlend enjoyed Nimoy's performance. GameSpot labeled Nimoy as having one of the best performances in Birth by Sleep. Hauer's portrayal was praised by Meristation who noted that Xehanort was one of the actor's final works before his death, but HardcoreGamer felt he did not match Nimoy's performance. Nevertheless, the works of Richard Epcar and Paul St. Peter as Xehanort's alter egos were well received by the site. Christopher Lloyd's performance in the DLC was