Support NeoGAF

[mehdi_san]

It's here! I completely forgot Amazon delivers even on Saturdays
What difficulty level should I go with? On the menu, it basically says the harder the mode, the easier it is to unlock the secret movie. Is it worth it going with the hardest mode from the start?
Also, can you change difficulty when changing characters? (I remembering reading there are 3 different stories for each of the 3 characters).

 

[Akainu]

It's here! I completely forgot Amazon delivers even on Saturdays
What difficulty level should I go with? On the menu, it basically says the harder the mode, the easier it is to unlock the secret movie. Is it worth it going with the hardest mode from the start?
Also, can you change difficulty when changing characters? (I remembering reading there are 3 different stories for each of the 3 characters).

For Birth by Sleep it stays on the difficulty you choose for the first character. So if you choose the hard mode for another character you still have to go by the lowest difficulty setting for the secret movie requirement.

 

[duckroll]

Woohoo, my copy arrived. Got the Cloud card too. That costume is going to be awesome for Dissidia012. Can't wait to dig into the game later tonight.

 

[duckroll]

So I played some of this yesterday before dozing off, and managed to beat the Enchanted Dominion with Terra pretty easily on Critical Mode. Definitely haven't lost my touch of the game.

One really, really weird thing though. Why are ALL the Unversed in the game completely recolored? Even the bosses? It's so weird! It's like playing a fighting game with alternate costumes set to default. Nice touch for a re-release, but I'm guessing that Nomura and the team basically expected only existing fans to be playing this? Because it would be weird if the first experience anyone has with the game with with these colors... :lol

 

[Bebpo]

Maybe the colors were too Japanese for the US release.

 

[Peff]

Most of the enemies in Final Mix editions are usually recolored, including Heartless bosses (obviously not Disney/original characters). Not sure why they do it but some recolors end up really garish lol

 

[duckroll]

Maybe the colors were too Japanese for the US release.

I don't think that's the case at all. The US version has the same colors.

Most of the enemies in Final Mix editions are usually recolored, including Heartless bosses (obviously not Disney/original characters). Not sure why they do it but some recolors end up really garish lol

Really? I didn't notice this at all with KH2, but it could be because by the time Final Mix came out for KH2, it was well over a year since KH2, and I only played through KH2 once. Lol. It's weird though, the recoloring is pretty extreme here.

 

[Peff]

Yup, they did it in both Final Mix and Final Mix+:

Those games had more Shadows/NeoShadows/Nobodies and such that remained the same, though, so it's probably less noticeable than if they change pretty much every enemy in the game.

 

[duckroll]

Those games had more Shadows/NeoShadows/Nobodies and such that remained the same, though, so it's probably less noticeable than if they change pretty much every enemy in the game.

Ah, that makes sense. The first thing that made me go "wtf?!" was when the very first cutscene where you see a Flood appear, it was purple instead of blue! It blew my brain.

 

[mehdi_san]

I'm really impressed, only about 3G in but I love it. Graphics, especially during the cutscenes, are amazing (and they're all voiced!!). Even the command board looks like a lot of fun. I went with proud difficulty, and I kept dying at first, need to get used to the combat system. One thing that bothered me a lot: Terra's head is so big I can't see my HP! Who thought that was a good idea?

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

So do we have any idea how to "unlock" the Monstro fight?

 

[duckroll]

So do we have any idea how to "unlock" the Monstro fight?

Isn't it just a Mirage Arena mission? I would imagine it would have the same conditions as unlocking anything else on the Mirage Arena...

I'm at Radiant Garden now as Terra. Critical Mode isn't really hard, until I get hit, which I notice doesn't happen very often! I guess finishing BbS twice last year and getting almost everything really paid off!

 

[duckroll]

I beat the Unversed Mission in Dwarf Woodlands and got my first Illusion command. It's a pretty cute gimmick to be able to play as an Unversed, but too bad the first one I got is a shitty flying jug whose only attack is basically pouring poison gas out in front of it. :lol

I have to say I'm really enjoying this Final Mix. It's not really surprising, since BbS is my favorite KH game so far, but I really like the way the extra stuff has been implemented into the game. I still can't beat the Unversed Mission in Castle of Dreams... I need to equip a keyblade with more reach, and probably use my Shoot Lock more efficiently... grrr...

 

[mehdi_san]

5h in now, and I haven't had so much fun in a while! Even the command board is so addictive. I'm at the 3rd world now (snow white?), and if the dungeon's structure worried me at first, it's getting a little more interesting now. It's just that HP bar... it really really bothers me that you can't see it because of Tera's head

 

[duckroll]

I cleared Terra's story in Critical. 15 hours 30 minutes. Got all the stickers and treasure chests too. Did almost all the Unversed Missions except the one in Neverland and the Keyblade Graveyard. Unlocked the Trinity Report, and I can confirm that the Theater Mode is just like KH2FM+. You select English/Japanese voice using L/R while in the selection. All cutscenes are available in English and Japanese, so the Japanese only ones should only be the ones in the Secret Episode.

BbS is sooooo fun.

 

[Aru]

I cleared Terra's story in Critical. 15 hours 30 minutes. Got all the stickers and treasure chests too. Did almost all the Unversed Missions except the one in Neverland and the Keyblade Graveyard. Unlocked the Trinity Report, and I can confirm that the Theater Mode is just like KH2FM+. You select English/Japanese voice using L/R while in the selection. All cutscenes are available in English and Japanese, so the Japanese only ones should only be the ones in the Secret Episode.

BbS is sooooo fun.

So they found some space left to add JP voices in this version but not ours ? :/
Well the english VA wasn't exactly bad (outside of a few characters), but...

 

[duckroll]

After I beat Terra's story back in Feb, I continued with Vent's story for 3 hours or so before Tactic Ogre arrived and I had to move the UMD out of my PSP. I kinda forgot about it for months, only to pick it up again last week. I completed Vent's story this week, and finally started on Aqua's. I really love playing this game on Critical Mode. When the bosses (and many regular enemies) can kill you in a single hit/combo even at the higher levels, it's really a ton of fun to motivate the player not to mindlessly mash, and instead create a good deck of skills and handle the situations without getting hit at all. Bosses are the bestest.

Oh and I have FINALLY tried out CFW after resisting it for 7 years or so. Since the latest one allows me to just run the CFW without actually installing it, I used it to rip my BbS FM UMD into an ISO, and I'm running that off the memory stick instead. HOLY SHIT. The load times have improved so dramatically it's like I'm playing a different game. Everything (cutscenes, areas, etc) load in 1-2 seconds flat (single spin of the heart logo), and the pause menu now comes up instantly instead of pausing for 2 seconds or so while loading up when you press start. I'm in heaven!

BbS is definitely the best KH game made so far, and FM really expands on all the things which made it good and makes it even better. I can't wait to finally get to the Secret Episode. Mmmm....

 

[PixyJunket]

I thought about getting BBS: Final Mix but decided against it since the cost is high for the amount of extra content I'd get over the US version and I already couldn't beat the first hidden boss on the Vanilla Version (the only KH hidden boss I ever gave up on, even viewing YouTube videos show how poorly designed he is), so I guess I don't have too much interest in MORE hidden bosses.

Some day I may grab it (when it becomes a Platinum Hits title) just to play through the Secret Episode.

 

[duckroll]

Finally made it to the Secret Episode today. Really, really impressed with it. For a bonus area which was made just for fans to have a taste of a bit "more" of the game, it's really pretty well thought out, and more importantly, fun. The world consists of 3 different areas, and the enemies are Shadows, Neo-Shadows, and Darkballs. There's a mix of "defeat all enemies" walled in fights, some platforming, some "destroy all the spawning point to unlock the path" fights, etc. Nothing overly ambitious in terms of assets, but it's interesting that there are gameplay elements which aren't exactly present in the normal game, which is cool. It definitely feels more like an action game stage here, than a RPG.

I got to the boss, and it's REALLY cool. I was surprised at how much effort they put into the boss. It's pretty original, and I really like the way the fight is designed. Haven't beaten the boss yet, so I still haven't seen the new ending. But I'm really happy with this Final Mix. It was expected that they wouldn't add as much content as KH2 FM+, but there's still a good amount of new stuff that makes the package more than worthwhile imo, especially for fans who previously only had the JP version. The English language track has really grown on me over the course of the game, so it was a little weird to hear Aqua in Japanese again in the Secret Episode... heheh.

 

[Kyon]

The boss is so scary :x but i beat it after my 8th try. Glad you liked it as much as I do

 

[duckroll]

I beat it. Pretty cool. I hope the ending of the Secret Episode isn't what I think it is...

Spoiler

I'm not too keen to play an Aqua only Realm of Darkness game featuring remixed BbS worlds which have fallen into the darkness. It would be a pretty crappy cash-in reuse of assets. I don't even see the point of it, especially if KH3D will be coming out next year, with brand new worlds and continuing the story after BbS/Re:Coded/KH2. Going backwards again and playing Aqua's remaining journey during the events of KH1, CoM, and KH2 would be pretty zzzzzzzzz. :/

 

[duckroll]

I started doing the Arena with Aqua using the Last Episode clear save, and I finally beat Monstro. The fight isn't really as hard as it looks, at least once I got the trick on how to seriously damage Monstro himself. One thing I really like about the bosses added into the Final Mix is how they're not just color swaps or enemies with more HP, but actual creative fights designed to be interesting and different. Pretty fun stuff. Can't wait to unlock enough Arena Level to fight the Eraqus and Xehanort armors.