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[Perfect Cha0s]

See, I'm cool with Flowmotion because... fuck going back for treasure chests. It's an ARPG, not Metroid. After I've visited the worlds already, having to find more chests isn't the greatest incentive to go back, nor a fun one.

That's just me, though.

Well, it's a shitty incentive whenever 80% of the loot is shit, as it is in KH:3D.

However, I think chests can work as a rewarding incentive to go back to other planets when three conditions are met:

1. The loot is worthwhile. This means most of what you find isn't Drop-Me-Nots and Potions, i.e. pretty much trash.

2. The chests have platforming segments (or whole areas) that can't be gotten to unless you possess certain abilities (like High Jump, Glide, etc. were needed to be attained and upgraded to fully navigate the Cavern of Remembrance in KH2:FM.)

3. All worlds keep close to your level once you've beaten them, or at least, the old worlds update once you finish the current cluster of worlds. This gives you an incentive to at least, be on the planet, even if you're not there for chests, since you'd be able to grind for some levels or farm items. As it stands, you have no incentive at all to go back to old planets, outside of 100%-ing the treasure journal, because the loot is old, mostly useless, and stagnant, and the XP isn't worthwhile.

I do have to agree with Duckroll, though: I understand that they wanted to use 3D as a test bed for ideas, but it doesn't make them good design choices, nor does it make them excusable. I like the game and don't regret buying it a bit, but the Dream Eater system, primarily the LP board, and flowmotion just seem poorly thought out. The LP board as a form of progression is just not fun, and flowmotion is broken and invalidates the (what I consider) nice platforming and world design. Hopefully, they take some lessons from 3D to learn what they shouldn't do in KH3.

 

[Jinfash]

So I'm an hour into the game, and I'm trying wrap my head around all the new systems and menus. Right now I have a couple of basic questions about the Spirit system:

- What is the pink gauge under what I'm assuming is the EXP gauge?
- What do the hearts denote?
- What does the disposition do/mean?
- How important is it to pet my spirit with the stylus VS. allowing them to level through play? Are there any things or advantages only obtainable through petting?
- Was any of this going to be explained eventually had I just kept playing instead of asking here?

Plus, they always have the excuse that the system can't carry over to the real world because KH3D was all dream anyway. Lolz.

This better not be an actual spoiler.

 

[Wolf Akela]

- What is the pink gauge under what I'm assuming is the EXP gauge?
- What do the hearts denote?
- What does the disposition do/mean?
- How important is it to pet my spirit with the stylus VS. allowing them to level through play? Are there any things or advantages only obtainable through petting?
- Was any of this going to be explained eventually had I just kept playing instead of asking here?

- It's your Affection Gauge. When it fills up, your Affection levels up.
- Affection level. Higher means the spirit is more effective in combat (uses skills more often), and extends the time you remain linked with them.
- Affects which set of skills they use. Petting (poke/rub) them can change Disposition which can also unlock new paths in the Ability Grid.
- Not really that important. Petting is just free points, but you want to pet them from time to time since their current affection drops after taking some damage.
- Some are explained while you create Meow Wow. The rest aren't explained at all.

 

[Jinfash]

Thank you so much.

 

[Seven Force]

The disposition also dictates how the spirit's AI works. Depending on the eye color of the spirit (It cycles between four dispositions and colors) It'll either be more of a physical attacker, an attacker that uses magic offensively, a support character that heals and grants buffs like Haste/Protect/Shell/etc., or it'll just loaf around, only attacking occasionally.

Problem is, the game doesn't tell you any of this shit at all

 

[Wolf Akela]

Nor does it describe any of the DE Dispositions or attacks (differs per DE), so you're just guessing.

 

[branny]

Don't worry. Since all your character growth is tied to DEs, you'll be switching them out so regularly that you probably won't care what they're doing in battle most of the time.

It actually took me until the last world to realize you don't even fight alongside all three at once.




:|

 

[mugurumakensei]

Don't worry. Since all your character growth is tied to DEs, you'll be switching them out so regularly that you probably won't care what they're doing in battle most of the time.

It actually took me until the last world to realize you don't even fight alongside all three at once.




:|

Do not swap out DEs regularly. You want to level and bond with at least 2 of your DEs. My two main dream eaters knocked off over half the health of most of the final bosses.

 

[Jinfash]

Can someone explain how the Forecast works?

Mainly the 3 panels, the mystery creature card, and the star symbol.

 

[Vermillion]

Well, it's a shitty incentive whenever 80% of the loot is shit, as it is in KH:3D.

However, I think chests can work as a rewarding incentive to go back to other planets when three conditions are met:

1. The loot is worthwhile. This means most of what you find isn't Drop-Me-Nots and Potions, i.e. pretty much trash.

2. The chests have platforming segments (or whole areas) that can't be gotten to unless you possess certain abilities (like High Jump, Glide, etc. were needed to be attained and upgraded to fully navigate the Cavern of Remembrance in KH2:FM.)

3. All worlds keep close to your level once you've beaten them, or at least, the old worlds update once you finish the current cluster of worlds. This gives you an incentive to at least, be on the planet, even if you're not there for chests, since you'd be able to grind for some levels or farm items. As it stands, you have no incentive at all to go back to old planets, outside of 100%-ing the treasure journal, because the loot is old, mostly useless, and stagnant, and the XP isn't worthwhile.

I do have to agree with Duckroll, though: I understand that they wanted to use 3D as a test bed for ideas, but it doesn't make them good design choices, nor does it make them excusable. I like the game and don't regret buying it a bit, but the Dream Eater system, primarily the LP board, and flowmotion just seem poorly thought out. The LP board as a form of progression is just not fun, and flowmotion is broken and invalidates the (what I consider) nice platforming and world design. Hopefully, they take some lessons from 3D to learn what they shouldn't do in KH3.

Actually, you're right - the main problem is that almost everything in the chests are shit. If I were guaranteed more often to get moves or abilities, I'd gladly go back and get chests.

The disposition also dictates how the spirit's AI works. Depending on the eye color of the spirit (It cycles between four dispositions and colors) It'll either be more of a physical attacker, an attacker that uses magic offensively, a support character that heals and grants buffs like Haste/Protect/Shell/etc., or it'll just loaf around, only attacking occasionally.

Problem is, the game doesn't tell you any of this shit at all

That is annoying. Which reminds me, I totally agree with the no more Dream Eaters thing. I really prefer the Disney characters.

Also, I want to play as Mickey one of these games :/

Not just when I die, BTW. At any rate, I'm thinking that KH3 should be glorious. If it ever comes out.

 

[Vermillion]

Can someone explain how the Forecast works?

Mainly the 3 panels, the mystery creature card, and the star symbol.

All I know is that each creature is one of the Nightmares you'll fight at the Link Portals within the levels.

 

[also]

Can someone explain how the Forecast works?

Mainly the 3 panels, the mystery creature card, and the star symbol.

The 3 panels indicate the current forecast (leftmost panel) of a world and also show the next two. Forecasts change shop prices and available items, number of prizes (munny, HP, items) received from enemies, enemy strength and dream eater ranks obtained through fusion*. Just read the scrolling message on the bottom screen to see what each forecast means. When you drop, the forecast changes from the current one to the next one. Also the game may screw up the forecasts due to some issues with the last world, if this happens just drop 3 times in a row.
*Always fuse in a world with a Risky Winds forecast because the dream eaters you create automatically gain one rank.

Each word has 12 special portals, 6 for each character, except for the last one that has only 3 per character. If you only see a silhouette, it means that you haven't completed that particular portal yet. Go into that world, find the portal that's labelled Special (or check this FAQ for all the locations, !world spoilers ahead!) and beat it. Don't worry about the fulfilling the secondary goals (don't get hit, don't use X commands....) as the rewards aren't worth it, just focus on defeating every nightmare. Once you beat a special portal, the silhouette will fill in and you won't be able to access that portal again until you have beaten all of the 6 (or 3) portals in that world. Once you have beaten all 6 (3), you will be able to replay the portals in that world, though only one will be open at a time and once you beat it, you have to drop for the next portal in that world to open. To see which/how many special portals you have beaten in a world, check Reports-> Game Records-> Link Portals
EDIT: I was wrong, you can replay completed portals before completing all of them in a world.

The stars indicate the difficulty of the currently open special portal; 1* being the easiest, 3* being the hardest.

 

[ULTROS!]

Just wanna say this is my favorite track in this game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJgrSKF1x9A

 

[branny]

Do not swap out DEs regularly. You want to level and bond with at least 2 of your DEs. My two main dream eaters knocked off over half the health of most of the final bosses.

But...how did you learn new commands? Through the reserve DE? And creating new DEs on a regular basis will always give you more powerful ones closer to your level (from what I noticed, anyway--please correct me if it didn't work like this). You can also literally buy their affection and LP with crap like water barrels.

Some of the mechanics in this game encourage you to rotate DEs, while others encourage you to stick with them. The whole system is stupid, and I couldn't have put the game back on my shelf fast enough after finishing it on Proud.

 

[Jinfash]

The 3 panels indicate the current forecast (leftmost panel) of a world and also show the next two. Forecasts change shop prices and available items, number of prizes (munny, HP, items) received from enemies, enemy strength and dream eater ranks obtained through fusion*. Just read the scrolling message on the bottom screen to see what each forecast means. When you drop, the forecast changes from the current one to the next one. Also the game may screw up the forecasts due to some issues with the last world, if this happens just drop 3 times in a row.
*Always fuse in a world with a Risky Wing forecast because the dream eaters you create automatically gain one rank.

Each word has 12 special portals, 6 for each character, except for the last one that has only 3 per character. If you only see a silhouette, it means that you haven't completed that particular portal yet. Go into that world, find the portal that's labelled Special (or check this FAQ for all the locations, !world spoilers ahead!) and beat it. Don't worry about the fulfilling the secondary goals (don't get hit, don't use X commands....) as the rewards aren't worth it, just focus on defeating every nightmare. Once you beat a special portal, the silhouette will fill in and you won't be able to access that portal again until you have beaten all of the 6 (or 3) portals in that world. Once you have beaten all 6 (3), you will be able to replay the portals in that world, though only one will be open at a time and once you beat it, you have to drop for the next portal in that world to open. To see which/how many special portals you have beaten in a world, check Reports-> Game Racords-> Link Portals

The stars indicate the difficulty of the currently open special portal; 1* being the easiest, 3* being the hardest.

You're too good to me, thanks. I take back whatever bad thing I said about the series.

 

[Jinfash]

Ugh, whoever thought giving the player this many flowmotion skills from the get go, even the non-flowmo air dash, should be slapped. Being able to traverse the entire field and search every nook and cranny from the start doesn't feel satisfying at all. Especially when I have to resort to spamming flow>jump to get back to a platform I just fell off from; it's too awkward and more akin to a god-mode hack. Everything should have been trickled to the very last drop.

I'm sure most of you are already sick of hearing these complaints by now, but stupid design decision is stupid.

Also, the drop mechanic is pissing me off so far, as it hasn't done anything but derail the flow of my progression. Do I get more time and more control over it later?

The game is not flowing as smoothly as past entries for me so far, too many bumps. What a shame, because it *looks* like they've put so much effort into this.

 

[duckroll]

Also, the drop mechanic is pissing me off so far, as it hasn't done anything but derail the flow of my progression. Do I get more time and more control over it later?

No, it never gets "better", it's just a presentation system to force a certain type of "experience" on the player. If you get really sick of it, you can buy Drop-me-nots for cheap and just use them to keep resetting the bar so you can finish an entire world with a single character before dropping manually. The system blows.

 

[Mpl90]

No, it never gets "better", it's just a presentation system to force a certain type of "experience" on the player. If you get really sick of it, you can buy Drop-me-nots for cheap and just use them to keep resetting the bar so you can finish an entire world with a single character before dropping manually. The system blows.

You know, I'd be okay with the Drop system, since it enhances in theory strategy, but...but why during boss battles too? I mean, you're almost finishing a boss, and you have all commands occupied, so no space for Drop-Me-Not, last hits to kill it and then...BAM! Drop to other character, then come back to the first one and you fight the boss ALL OVER AGAIN. This is stupid.

And I'm saying this despite thinking it's a pretty good game.

 

[duckroll]

You know, I'd be okay with the Drop system, since it enhances in theory strategy, but...but why during boss battles too? I mean, you're almost finishing a boss, and you have all commands occupied, so no space for Drop-Me-Not, last hits to kill it and then...BAM! Drop to other character, then come back to the first one and you fight the boss ALL OVER AGAIN. This is stupid.

And I'm saying this despite thinking it's a pretty good game.

How does it enhance any strategy whatsoever?

 

[Famassu]

Why don't I play a game with one hand? It would make it harder too!!!!!! I guess that negates any and all complaint about any poor difficulty design in any game! If one-hand is still too easy, play it BLINDFOLDED!! OMG!

Gimme a break. Flowmotion is a shit system that invalidates any incentive to look forward to getting skills like high-jump, glide, etc. It basically ruined the platforming progression for the game. It's a fact.

Flowmotion is much better than shit like high-jump & glide. It made exploring more fun. It's still platforming, just different kind (& better).

 

[duckroll]

Flowmotion is much better than shit like high-jump & glide. It made exploring more fun. It's still platforming, just different kind (& better).

Looks like another person who has reading comprehension issues. Pro-tip: High-jump and Glide are still in the game, and the levels were designed for them, not Flowmotion. THAT is the problem.

 

[Mpl90]

How does it enhance any strategy whatsoever?

In theory, giving a time limit for the experience makes you think about what to do, how much to fight, how to organise your session with a character. Considering the two characters alternate every...15 minutes I think ( I have to check, but I'm sure it's more than 10 minutes), I'm not so against it. Considering also you can just skip it with Drop-me-Not. But seriously, during boss fights Drop System should have been suspended: in those cases, it's unnecessary and plain stupid.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

In theory, giving a time limit for the experience makes you think about what to do, how much to fight, how to organise your session with a character. Considering the two characters alternate every...15 minutes I think ( I have to check, but I'm sure it's more than 10 minutes), I'm not so against it. Considering also you can just skip it with Drop-me-Not. But seriously, during boss fights Drop System should have been suspended: in those cases, it's unnecessary and plain stupid.

Well you can still just manually drop again after a drop so the whole system makes zero sense as a time limit. Only thing it limits are the bossfights and scripted battles and even then only if you have low meter from before.

 

[duckroll]

In theory, giving a time limit for the experience makes you think about what to do, how much to fight, how to organise your session with a character. Considering the two characters alternate every...15 minutes I think ( I have to check, but I'm sure it's more than 10 minutes), I'm not so against it. Considering also you can just skip it with Drop-me-Not. But seriously, during boss fights Drop System should have been suspended: in those cases, it's unnecessary and plain stupid.

Does Kingdom Hearts with a time limit sound fun to anyone at all? Serious question. To me as a long time fan it is a fucking stupid idea. Just like most things in KH3D.

Square Enix while under pressure of a short development cycle really seems to loose their marbles.

 

[vagabondarts]

just finished the

Spoiler

fantasia

world.

My favorite kingdom hearts world ever. Awesome experience!

 

[Jinfash]

You know, I'd be okay with the Drop system, since it enhances in theory strategy, but...but why during boss battles too? I mean, you're almost finishing a boss, and you have all commands occupied, so no space for Drop-Me-Not, last hits to kill it and then...BAM! Drop to other character, then come back to the first one and you fight the boss ALL OVER AGAIN. This is stupid.

And I'm saying this despite thinking it's a pretty good game.

It's not only annoying for the character being pulled, too many times I found myself suddenly in control of the other character and thinking "Wait, where am I? Oh yeah. Wait, I was in middle of doing something, trying to get somewhere/some chest/some goal. What was it?... Ugh."

Again, I've seen no benefits so far. It's only been one giant troll.

 

[Famassu]

Looks like another person who has reading comprehension issues. Pro-tip: High-jump and Glide are still in the game, and the levels were designed for them, not Flowmotion. THAT is the problem.

I agree that some stuff was designed with High-jump in mind (and, mind you, it's still good to have it since sometimes it would be more cumbersome to use flowmotion than to just jump up), but I can't really come up with many (or almost any) examples in any levels that would've needed Glide. Except maybe one room in Hunchback's world.

Still, even if levels have places where flowmotion makes one dated move or another useless, that doesn't mean flowmotion isn't a fun system. It's one of the best things to happen to the Kingdom Hearts series.

 

[Jinfash]

Well you can still just manually drop again after a drop so the whole system makes zero sense as a time limit. Only thing it limits are the bossfights and scripted battles and even then only if you have low meter from before.

Wait a second, I'm aware of manual drops, but can I drop again right away, with NO penalties?

 

[duckroll]

I agree that some stuff was designed with High-jump in mind (and, mind you, it's still good to have it since sometimes it would be more cumbersome to use flowmotion than to just jump up), but I can't really come up with many (or almost any) examples in any levels that would've needed Glide. Except maybe one room in Hunchback's world.

Still, even if levels have places where flowmotion makes one dated move or another useless, that doesn't mean flowmotion isn't a fun system. It's one of the best things to happen to the Kingdom Hearts series.

I think it's a fun idea, but it's a broken system. I don't enjoy using it because I don't really like playing systems which feel broken. If the system was designed in a way where it didn't feel broken, I would like it a lot more. I'm all for faster and more dynamic action, I just feel this was the wrong way to execute such an idea.

It's not just about using other abilities either. Even simple platforming is ruined by Flowmotion. There are places where there are platforms and challenges designed for you to jump around and find your way to a chest. But with Flowmotion's wall spam, it's all ruined. I hate that sort of design.

Wait a second, I'm aware of manual drops, but can I drop again right away, with NO penalties?

The penalty is that you will be dropping with 0 drop points. This means you can't spend them on buffing that run. I prefer to just use Drop-me-nots to keep playing and get a ton of drop points, so I can pump all that into the next character's run without feeling gimped.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Wait a second, I'm aware of manual drops, but can I drop again right away, with NO penalties?

Well you don't get any drop points to spend but I didn't mind lol. I always manually dropped 2 times before a bossfight and such.

 

[gamergirly]

I think it's a fun idea, but it's a broken system. I don't enjoy using it because I don't really like playing systems which feel broken. If the system was designed in a way where it didn't feel broken, I would like it a lot more. I'm all for faster and more dynamic action, I just feel this was the wrong way to execute such an idea.

It's not just about using other abilities either. Even simple platforming is ruined by Flowmotion. There are places where there are platforms and challenges designed for you to jump around and find your way to a chest. But with Flowmotion's wall spam, it's all ruined. I hate that sort of design.

Maybe they've just rushed the development. Look at how empty and large all of the worlds are. Had time to put in Flowmotion but not take less meaningful skills out

 

[DarkChronic]

Welp, finally started this a few days ago when I picked up my 3DS XL.

Gotta say, I'm seriously impressed so far. Clock reads 8:30, I just completed the City of Bells with both characters, and I'm going through as Riku again to clean up the last of the treasures. Absolutely LOVING the sizes of the worlds - they feel meaty and lengthy, unlike Birth by Sleep's worlds.

Also gotta disagree with duckroll here - I'm finding that Flowmotion is a joy, and I'm having so much fun bouncing off walls and gliding all over the place. Really great to implement it into the combat.

Story seems pretty vacant so far, and I imagine it'll stay that way until the end, but again, I'm really enjoying this so far, and I can't wait to see what else is in store.

 

[Famassu]

I'm not sure if they ever meant people to always just play the, what, 10-15 minutes with one character and then switch over. That doesn't make sense in any way, given the Drop bonuses (no one can gather any kind of good amounts of DP within that timelimit) and how cheap Drop-Me-Nots are. After the first world or two (after discovering DMNs), I always dropped manually when I wanted to and after almost always getting 200-300+ DPs, which helped with some of the thougher fights.

It's a system that doesn't really make much sense (except it probably does make people play with the two characters at somewhat even intervals and not like in BBS that you'd finish the game with one character before moving on to the next), but there's been at least on positive to me and that is Boss Fights. Some might not like it, but it did make a few of the longer boss fights more exciting when I noticed I had to hurry up and hence take more risks to beat the boss in time.


And I still disagree strongly with Duckroll. 3D is the best KH so far, though command melding needs to come back.

 

[duckroll]

I'm still so disappointed by the game I can't be bothered to really collect my thoughts on the entire game and post something comprehensive. It hurts too much.

 

[Skilletor]

Flowmotion feels like it invalidates any of the other movement abilities. It feels like they made the levels bigger just so you'd have a reason to use it. It doesn't feel like good game design. It just feels like they wanted to make you move closer to what they do in the CG, but I think it breaks the game. It eliminates any sense of progression. It feels like sequence breaking in a metroid game without the skill.

 

[Jinfash]

3D is the best KH so far, though command melding needs to come back.

3D is definitely the most ambitious and daring of the bunch, but it's nowhere near BbS in terms of execution. BbS remains the mostly solid and tightly designed KH. Any criticisms I can come up with (barren tiny worlds, for instance) can be easily attributed to the hardware limitations. 3D's issues, on the other hand, are a result of the poor execution of some interesting ideas. I don't mind if they stick to some of them in upcoming games, but they're in dire need of testing, tuning, if not a complete overhaul.

 

[duckroll]

BbS was a really, really tight game. That's definitely what 3D lacks. While 3D feels like a bunch of ideas being thrown into a testing ground to see what works, BbS felt like a painstakingly polished product where every system and design element has gone through several passes to improve and refine them until they work perfectly with everything else.

I really miss that.

 

[Wolf Akela]

You know, I'd be okay with the Drop system, since it enhances in theory strategy, but...but why during boss battles too? I mean, you're almost finishing a boss, and you have all commands occupied, so no space for Drop-Me-Not, last hits to kill it and then...BAM! Drop to other character, then come back to the first one and you fight the boss ALL OVER AGAIN. This is stupid.

In the Japanese version, boss health goes back to 100% if you dropped.

 

[duckroll]

In the Japanese version, boss health goes back to 100% if you dropped.

It does in the English version too. The difference is that in the JP version the player health does not reset to 100% if you drop! Lololol.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Oh, well glad I never dropped during a boss.

I'm enjoying Lv1 Crit so far. I just beat Sora's boss in Traverse Town. I had to make sure not to stand on the glass because the boss becomes so much harder to fight, especially when Tyranto Rex blocks my screen. On my first try, the boss broke the glass at the start of the fight. I'm having problems with Riku's side though. I just need to stock up on Fire/Blizzard since the boss is airborne most of the time.

 

[ULTROS!]

The drop system is utterly stupid.

Anyway, what do worlds do you like guys? I like the Symphony of Sorcery world due to the music.

 

[InsaneZero]

It did not actually occur to me that I was actually at the end of the game until the plot revelations and the difficulty curve spiked. I was under the impression that I was still at some halfway point, since at no point prior did I feel that I was making any significant progress in this game. And that is obviously not a good thing.

I didn't notice any meaningful upgrade in ability, since anything that mattered was obsoleted by flowmotion from the get-go (as mentioned a billion times already, myself included).
I didn't notice any meaningful change in scenery, since I was hitting the skybox of every area I came across from the very moment I stepped into it.
I didn't notice any meaningful plot progression, since lol plot

And I'll probably stop here before I actually get to finish the game, since I have been so behind on working on the Link Board. That thing is the epitome of unfun grinding; whatever you do to get those points up are all mindbogglingly repetitive that I am seriously wondering who the hell had the great idea to replace the Command Board for this shit.

 

[prwxv3]

3D is definitely the most ambitious and daring of the bunch, but it's nowhere near BbS in terms of execution. BbS remains the mostly solid and tightly designed KH. Any criticisms I can come up with (barren tiny worlds, for instance) can be easily attributed to the hardware limitations. 3D's issue, on the other hand, are a result of the poor execution of some interesting ideas. I don't mind if they stick to some of them in upcoming games, but they're in dire need of testing, tuning, if not a complete overhaul.

SE psp engine was shit when it came to environments.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Played about an hour. The intro movie with max 3D is freaking sweet! Though I have to turn the 3D way down in game or I see double of the image. Holy tutorial batman! I guess Traverse town is the tutorial world or something?

Gonna fully charge up tonight and play tomorrow.

 

[duckroll]

Duckroll i dunno, sounds like you're overthinking this.

Really? When pretty much all the KH fans on this thread agree with me? Don't think so.

 

[Skilletor]

Duckroll i dunno, sounds like you're overthinking this. Ive hated all previous games in series and this is my favorite game on the 3DS! It was a fun ride. Nothing more, nothing less. I hated the series when i took its convoluted and contrived story too seriously; 7 yers put enough distance between me and the aspects i disliked to where i could just enjoy this game.

Looking at my stats, ive killed very few enemies using flowmotion so its apparent to me that the system is there for one to use or ignore.

To me the game is about character and revisitin your favorite worlds. I dont ever remember any kh game being recognized for its combat system.

Sounds like you've ignored BbS. I agree with everything Duckroll said. And lol @ anybody factoring story into why they like or dislike Kingdom Hearts.

Flowmotion is gamebreaking and destroys any semblance of traversal, discovery, or any other special abilities. Drop system is horrible. The combat is a step back from BbS. The worlds are barren wastelands that are big only so you have an excuse to use flowmotion. I wonder how anybody thinks that it adds to combat when everything you can do in flowmotion could have been done as a special move from an airdash in any other kingdom hearts.

I've loved all of the mainline entries of the games, even KH2. I can't bring myself to play this game much more.

Also, wouldn't it be more telling that you've hated every single entry but like this one? Why would your opinion fall in line with any other KH fan's?

 

[branny]

Flowmotion being broken and overwriting level design doesn't bother me as much as the stupid Dream Eater stuff. I would take two Drop systems if it meant getting rid of Dream Eaters. This game is just a hot mess. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it sucks. It's like eating a piece of poop after having a chocolate.

At this point, I'm just going to start categorizing KH games as "BbS" and "not BbS", because they all seem to have problems in one way or another. Some of the games have better combat yet some other horrendous structural flaws, while others are beautifully produced but vapid as hell.

edit:

I dont ever remember any kh game being recognized for its combat system.

Skilletor, duckroll, and everyone else who agrees with them are right in basically saying that BbS finally gave KH good combat.

 

[InsaneZero]

Kingdom Hearts should just drop all attempts at having a partner system. Sure, it destroys the pretense that you're fighting as some sort of team, but since character interactions are shallow and/or convoluted anyway why bother? Getting rid of allies altogether means that battles can be more focused on the player, and conversely the player has more control over the battle dynamic.

And what I really mean by all this is that the D-Link system was a godsend.

 

[badcrumble]

Kingdom Hearts should just drop all attempts at having a partner system. Sure, it destroys the pretense that you're fighting as some sort of team, but since character interactions are shallow and/or convoluted anyway why bother? Getting rid of allies altogether means that battles can be more focused on the player, and conversely the player has more control over the battle dynamic.

I'd like to see KH3 do this, but on the other hand, I still think it *could* be done well. I wouldn't mind seeing Command Styles on the one hand (in a BBS-esque manner), and link attacks with your partners on the other hand (think of something more like Sora's Link attacks in DDD). That could easily replace Summons, which have generally been utterly useless in the KH games apart from Tinkerbell in KH1, Cloud and Mushu in Chain of Memories, and Stitch in KH2. KH2 already had a decent emphasis on team-up attacks with your teammates, but fuck the way that game did, like, anything.

I only mention this because it's still a lot of fun in KH1 to have Donald utterly demolishing the enemies with Thundaga. Goofy's basically only good for MP Gift in that game, though.

 

[Seda]

KH1 is still my favorite.