Thread:Blade0886/@comment-31259708-20160610073628/@comment-3463132-20160624042728

Right, quoting Nomura here

''Because the Organization XIII battle becomes harder after making the assumption of the challenge after beating it once, I want you to challenge it after it raises the level, and the abilities and equipment are enhanced. ''

^That is 100% about game mechanics.

Nomura then says

''  As a result, Sephiroth, who was thought to be the strongest in Kingdom Hearts II is now lower than the Organization members in terms of ranking from the strongest. However, the Organization members are not the strongest ones. ''

^That does not say game mechanics. However as it immediately follows a line about game mechanics- it stands to reason it is referring to how difficult the bosses are.

Followed by

''The strength of the Organization XIII, and there is an enemy named “___ no _”. Here, it’s thought that becoming strong and managing to find the capture method of beating the Organization XIII is so that it’s not possible to break if there is no technique of the player after finding the capture method of the new secret enemy. I prepared him for the people who felt that Sephiroth was weak. ''

^This is Nomura talking about the secret final boss and how he's the hardest thing in the game to fight unless you (the player) actually use 'technique'. In other words Nomura says "You can't be a scrub and defeat him- you need to know how the battle system works and how to use it." In particular he points out that Sephiroth decreased in difficulty from KH1 to KH2.

After that it's, again, him talking non-stop about game stuff like Jimminy's journal unlocking. Everything about that article indicates he's talking purely about the in-game difficulty of the enemies- not the canon strength of them.

'' Plus i thought it was established even back in KH 1 Sora was stronger than cloud. ''

In KH1 defeating Cloud is optional- it's purely up to the player. You can lose and still advance the story. Cerberus gets the jump on Cloud because he wasn't expecting it. Later on, Cloud admits he was trying to use the darkness inside of him, and failing. So it was never even full-power Cloud since he was actively experimenting with a new power while trying to find Sephiroth.

In Chain of Memories- recall that everything is essentially Sora's memories- Sora remembers Cloud as being strong enough to oneshot damn-near any enemy he hits. Just an observation I had while playing the game (And, I suspect the reason SE will never allow Cloud in the party, they want him to remain at "boss" levels of power.)

Then in KH2, Sora never technically faces Cloud. He IS however moderately terrified of Tifa's strength- and I'm sure you'd be willing to agree Sephiroth and Cloud are stronger than Tifa? Truthfully neither Sephiroth nor Sora seem tired after the battle- at best you could call it a draw- neither lost. No, this is not me saying Sora is weaker than Tifa or Cloud- I'm just pointing out he was definitely surprised. Add that up to the draw with Sephiroth (who has a long-held CIS of holding back against... literally anything that attacks him) and I'd be willing to say SE wants Cloud, Sephiroth, and Sora to be quite even in terms of power.