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Kingdom Hearts Community Thread: Now everybody can be a Keyblade Wielder!
- Thread starter Blood Diamonds
- Start date
Seven Force
Banned
One weird thing I never understood about that particular fight is that for some reason, despite using the same keyblade (Void Gear), being at the same level, and Aqua having a naturally higher strength stat, I always manage to outdamage her against MF with Ventus. Weird.
Finished Terra and Ven's stories in Birth by Sleep. Getting that one Xehanort Report in Terra's Mirage Arena so that I can move straight onto Last Episode right after Aqua's story. Can't wait for that, either, she definitely got the best bosses in the game (Dragon Maleficent, Gantu, Hades & Ice Colossus, Neverland Vanitas, Braig II...)
I like how the Disney bosses in BBS are a lot less gimmicky than the ones in KHII. Only real standout to me in KHII was MCP and Sark.
That's weird. Did you possibly have more elemental boost abilitys on Ven rather than Aqua? Would account for the extra damage. If not that's really odd.
Agreed, Aqua's scenerio is by far my favorite for bosses (although excluding the last episode Terras final boss is still my favorite)
It sure would explain most of the texture bugs that have been occuring. It's a good thing they're not permanent at least.
It's probably not. But hey, my PS3 has survived 5 years so far without so much as a hard disk change. Maybe I'm doing something else right :V
(On the flipside all my game timers are misleading)
edit: To be fair, this is when I'm playing a PS3 game or another. I usually get so little time in between bouts of work that starting up every single time just became plain annoying. When I'm not in the middle of playing anything, PS3's off.
(Both my main work computers, however, are on 24/7 but I think that's way less uncommon)
(On the flipside all my game timers are misleading)
edit: To be fair, this is when I'm playing a PS3 game or another. I usually get so little time in between bouts of work that starting up every single time just became plain annoying. When I'm not in the middle of playing anything, PS3's off.
(Both my main work computers, however, are on 24/7 but I think that's way less uncommon)
Seven Force
Banned
Finished Birth by Sleep FM today! Going to watch Re:Coded then start with each game's post-game content. I might as well do a full impressions post while I'm still in the mood and have the game(s) fresh in my mind.
======================
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
While it's definitely the main star of this collection, there's not much (outside of the OST and HD, obviously) in the way of improvements for KHIIFM. But that has more to do with the fact that KHIIFM is already a pretty damn good game as is. Would 60FPS have been a nice thing to have? Yeah, sure, but the game still plays just as great as it always did at 30.
The texture glitches on the other hand, definitely need to be addressed, along with the freezing issues, though they seem much less frequently reported. My biggest issue however, is the loading. It seems like loading takes slightly longer, and the loading for drive forms takes longer than it did on PS2, and actually negatively affects gameplay because time doesn't stop during the transformation. (Unlike Command Styles in BBS) It can be circumvented by pause buffering (Pausing at the start of the transformation, waiting about two seconds, and un-pausing, making it load a little faster), though.
Those issues aside, it's still a pretty great (and great looking) port, and I'm looking forward to the English release.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
KHIIFM may be the main attraction, but Birth by Sleep Final Mix is the game that intrigued me the most in the collection, not just because it's a fantastic game, but because the jump from PSP to PS3 means that it should see some substantial technical improvements, just by virtue of the fact that it's on more powerful hardware. Now, while I wouldn't use the word "substantial", there's definitely some tangible improvements to the game:
The frame rate stays at 30 FPS far, far more consistently now. Anyone with experience playing the PSP version knows that there are numerous portions of the game where the frame rate will dip or even turn into a complete slideshow because so much is going on at once. While framerate dips haven't been entirely eliminated, the vast majority of the notable ones have been smoothed out. Some notable examples:
* The very first light orb battle in Land of Departure runs a lot smoother.
* Mad Treant's bomb attack no longer slows the game down to a crawl anymore.
* Maleficent's castle in Enchanted Dominion had a noticeably lower framerate that the rest of the world in the PSP version. It runs far smoother for both characters this time around.
* The Trinity Armor fight in Radiant Garden runs much smoother now.
* The main hub area of Disney Town use to run a bit choppy. It's also fixed now.
* Mirage Arena battles seem to generally run a lot smoother now.
* Braig II's desperation attack doesn't cause slowdown anymore
* (Possessed) Zack's Hero's Pride (The Omnislash-esque attack) no longer slows down the game, making it slightly easier to evade.
*The Vanitas Remnant battle is more or less devoid of frame drops
Haven't fought Mysterious Figure yet, but I'd be surprised if a lot of the slowdown was still present. There are a handful of places where framedrops are still apparent (Final phase of the Secret Episode boss, any fight against a horde of those UFO Unversed), but for the most part, it's been improved throughout a good portion of the game. Command scrolling being available on the shoulder triggers feel a lot more intuitive than the D-Pad (Though the option is still there for those that want it)
I did notice a bit of screen tearing, but for some reason, it seemed almost exclusive to the Last Episode. Never saw it anywhere else during the game.
I messed around a bit with Level 1 Critical in Terra's story up until Braig, and the rebalancing definitely makes things a lot more enjoyable, particularly boss fights. You still have to rely on Ignite and Poison for those mandatory Unversed encounters, but considering enemies don't have much health in BBS, and you have a wealth of defensive options for each character, it seems like it'll be far less tedious this time around. Sadly, Aqua's battle level wasn't adjusted to give her more viable enemy levels, so post-game grinding with her is still a bit of a drag.
Load times are more or less comparable to the PSP version when there's no data installed, though like Drive Forms in KHIIFM HD, D-Links seem to take longer than usual to load. Thankfully, it's not as big of an issue here since time stops when linking. (Plus, you can pause buffer it as well)
With all of that being said, I paid $80 or so for this, and I still feel like I got my money's worth. $40 for great ports of the two most content packed entries in the series is a fucking steal.
Edit: Rhythm Mixer is still broken as all hell, but now the only way to get it is by completing the sticker album since the save file bonuses from the PSP version aren't a thing anymore.
======================
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
While it's definitely the main star of this collection, there's not much (outside of the OST and HD, obviously) in the way of improvements for KHIIFM. But that has more to do with the fact that KHIIFM is already a pretty damn good game as is. Would 60FPS have been a nice thing to have? Yeah, sure, but the game still plays just as great as it always did at 30.
The texture glitches on the other hand, definitely need to be addressed, along with the freezing issues, though they seem much less frequently reported. My biggest issue however, is the loading. It seems like loading takes slightly longer, and the loading for drive forms takes longer than it did on PS2, and actually negatively affects gameplay because time doesn't stop during the transformation. (Unlike Command Styles in BBS) It can be circumvented by pause buffering (Pausing at the start of the transformation, waiting about two seconds, and un-pausing, making it load a little faster), though.
Those issues aside, it's still a pretty great (and great looking) port, and I'm looking forward to the English release.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
KHIIFM may be the main attraction, but Birth by Sleep Final Mix is the game that intrigued me the most in the collection, not just because it's a fantastic game, but because the jump from PSP to PS3 means that it should see some substantial technical improvements, just by virtue of the fact that it's on more powerful hardware. Now, while I wouldn't use the word "substantial", there's definitely some tangible improvements to the game:
The frame rate stays at 30 FPS far, far more consistently now. Anyone with experience playing the PSP version knows that there are numerous portions of the game where the frame rate will dip or even turn into a complete slideshow because so much is going on at once. While framerate dips haven't been entirely eliminated, the vast majority of the notable ones have been smoothed out. Some notable examples:
* The very first light orb battle in Land of Departure runs a lot smoother.
* Mad Treant's bomb attack no longer slows the game down to a crawl anymore.
* Maleficent's castle in Enchanted Dominion had a noticeably lower framerate that the rest of the world in the PSP version. It runs far smoother for both characters this time around.
* The Trinity Armor fight in Radiant Garden runs much smoother now.
* The main hub area of Disney Town use to run a bit choppy. It's also fixed now.
* Mirage Arena battles seem to generally run a lot smoother now.
* Braig II's desperation attack doesn't cause slowdown anymore
* (Possessed) Zack's Hero's Pride (The Omnislash-esque attack) no longer slows down the game, making it slightly easier to evade.
*The Vanitas Remnant battle is more or less devoid of frame drops
Haven't fought Mysterious Figure yet, but I'd be surprised if a lot of the slowdown was still present. There are a handful of places where framedrops are still apparent (Final phase of the Secret Episode boss, any fight against a horde of those UFO Unversed), but for the most part, it's been improved throughout a good portion of the game. Command scrolling being available on the shoulder triggers feel a lot more intuitive than the D-Pad (Though the option is still there for those that want it)
I did notice a bit of screen tearing, but for some reason, it seemed almost exclusive to the Last Episode. Never saw it anywhere else during the game.
I messed around a bit with Level 1 Critical in Terra's story up until Braig, and the rebalancing definitely makes things a lot more enjoyable, particularly boss fights. You still have to rely on Ignite and Poison for those mandatory Unversed encounters, but considering enemies don't have much health in BBS, and you have a wealth of defensive options for each character, it seems like it'll be far less tedious this time around. Sadly, Aqua's battle level wasn't adjusted to give her more viable enemy levels, so post-game grinding with her is still a bit of a drag.
Load times are more or less comparable to the PSP version when there's no data installed, though like Drive Forms in KHIIFM HD, D-Links seem to take longer than usual to load. Thankfully, it's not as big of an issue here since time stops when linking. (Plus, you can pause buffer it as well)
With all of that being said, I paid $80 or so for this, and I still feel like I got my money's worth. $40 for great ports of the two most content packed entries in the series is a fucking steal.
Edit: Rhythm Mixer is still broken as all hell, but now the only way to get it is by completing the sticker album since the save file bonuses from the PSP version aren't a thing anymore.
heathen give me 60 or give me death
Seven Force
Banned
Holy shit Mysterious Figure's clone assault with a stable framerate is terrifying
My opinion would probably be different if I had a decent enough PC to run PCSX2 on :/
My opinion would probably be different if I had a decent enough PC to run PCSX2 on :/
Yeah, that and not being able to lock-on when he's invisible but knowing he's a tiny gap away from hitting me almost gave me a heart attack.
And ditto, not having a good rig for PS2/Gamecube/Wii emulation sucks
(especially when your CRT is now busted and your only subsitute for playing retro games is a 1080p monitor or a plasma TV)
At endgame, trying to trigger Final Form and getting like 6 Anti Form in a row (honest-to-God, what) after specifically 'farming' Anti Form count for an hour or two for the chieve earlier on = :|
Luckily I have a mousepad with the text "bang forehead here" stowed somewhere. I'm about to dig it out.
T-shirt rear text coming back to haunt me
edit: And I just got Anti Form right after triggering Final Form. I don't think the wiki is accurate on this count. D: I guess it's entirely possible that the x0 multiplier only applies when you select Final Form as opposed to the first RNG triggering, but I've definitely been getting a way higher Anti Form rate than the 25% suggested.
edit2: Okay, I'm retarded and had Two Become One equipped. Nothing to see here.
Luckily I have a mousepad with the text "bang forehead here" stowed somewhere. I'm about to dig it out.
T-shirt rear text coming back to haunt me
edit: And I just got Anti Form right after triggering Final Form. I don't think the wiki is accurate on this count. D: I guess it's entirely possible that the x0 multiplier only applies when you select Final Form as opposed to the first RNG triggering, but I've definitely been getting a way higher Anti Form rate than the 25% suggested.
edit2: Okay, I'm retarded and had Two Become One equipped. Nothing to see here.
Holy shit.
Seven you weren't kidding about the No Heart battle, youtube videos of the battle made it look pretty easy and simple pattern wise but god damn was that something else.
After VS and MF, and heck even Armour of the Master I thought the Osaka team wouldn't be able to do a boss battle of that calibur. (or at least their attempt wouldn't come too close to Lingering Sentiment) Can't wait until I get to attempt him with Ven and Terra.
Seven you weren't kidding about the No Heart battle, youtube videos of the battle made it look pretty easy and simple pattern wise but god damn was that something else.
After VS and MF, and heck even Armour of the Master I thought the Osaka team wouldn't be able to do a boss battle of that calibur. (or at least their attempt wouldn't come too close to Lingering Sentiment) Can't wait until I get to attempt him with Ven and Terra.
Seven Force
Banned
Well, holy shit.
I'm in the middle of post-game grinding in Aqua's story so that I can get to level 50 and take on Mysterious Figure, since Aqua barely does any damage before that point. I got bored doing Command Board to level up the arena, so I figured I'd give myself a laugh and attempt him at her current level. (Level 42)
Well, after an absolutely epic 20 minute battle:
The Final Mix nerf, along with actually playing on a controller make him not as much of a pain in the ass this time around. He's still terribly designed in comparison to every other superboss in the series, but he's at least manageable now.
I'm still in the process of leveling up Mirage Arena, but I can't wait to fight him again for myself. Too bad I won't have any need for Royal Radiance by the time I get up to him :lol
I'm in the middle of post-game grinding in Aqua's story so that I can get to level 50 and take on Mysterious Figure, since Aqua barely does any damage before that point. I got bored doing Command Board to level up the arena, so I figured I'd give myself a laugh and attempt him at her current level. (Level 42)
Well, after an absolutely epic 20 minute battle:
The Final Mix nerf, along with actually playing on a controller make him not as much of a pain in the ass this time around. He's still terribly designed in comparison to every other superboss in the series, but he's at least manageable now.
I'm still in the process of leveling up Mirage Arena, but I can't wait to fight him again for myself. Too bad I won't have any need for Royal Radiance by the time I get up to him :lol
#TeamShield wins in the end. >:]
badcrumble
Member
Yeah there's essentially no reason to pick anything but Shield in KH2. At least in KH1 it's kinda debatable.
I do kinda like how Shield/Sword/Staff kinda map a little bit to how Terra, Aqua, and Ventus play. That felt cute to me when I first played BBS.
What, Ventus is supposed to be Shield? I don't see it. But Terra as Sword and Aqua as Staff, sure. Another parallel is their elemental affinity:
Earth - The element of the stoic. Rigid strength. A power to stand against all.
Wind - The element of the spontaneous. Capricious and free. A will of great haste.
Water - The element of the adept. Ebbs and flows. A force of crushing gentleness.
That's a little too poetic but you get the idea.
Earth - The element of the stoic. Rigid strength. A power to stand against all.
Wind - The element of the spontaneous. Capricious and free. A will of great haste.
Water - The element of the adept. Ebbs and flows. A force of crushing gentleness.
That's a little too poetic but you get the idea.
badcrumble
Member
Nah, I see Ventus as Sword. Terra's combat (especially in his final fight) is much more block/counter heavy and he's absolutely the biggest tank of the three. Ventus and Aqua both have more offensive power than Terra.
i'm pretty sure Terra without a doubt is the Shield. lots of Blocking and counter Hammer. Ventus is swift like a dagger
*edit* bruh
Actually, I just found out one of the Final Mix changes is the removal of Lucky Lucky from everywhere it originally was and it's stuck on the new Drive Form.
I'M SAVED.
#teamstaff
Seven Force
Banned
Yeah, it's one of the level up bonuses for Limit Form, which is ridiculously easy to level up.
WeaponKnight
Member
I was hoping that my copy of KH2 would be delivered this week but it was sent to customs
I'm probably going to get it next week and for around $150 total. I love Brazil.
I'm probably going to get it next week and for around $150 total. I love Brazil.
Get gud.
Seven Force
Banned
Judging by the picture, he did!
I guess this was kind of a stupid thing to do, but I just started replaying KH2 (original NA release). The game is a ton of fun, but will I be missing out on a lot of discussion come December when people start playing HD because it's not Final Mix? I don't care too much about the HD, as I am running it in PCSX2.
I don't have a PS3.
I don't have a PS3.
Seven Force
Banned
Question for anyone else with the game: Anyone finding there to be a slight bit of input lag with reaction commands? I've been fucking up a lot on that one portion of the final Xemnas fight (Well, the data battle anyway) where you have to evade those weird looking energy attacks while Xemnas is still trying to pummel you in the air. At first I thought I was out of practice, but I put in the original PS2 version just to check, and my inputs definitely seem snappier there. I don't know if they fucked with the timing or what, but either way, I've never had trouble with that particular attack until playing this HD version.
Kinda, since Final Mix adds a fairly substantial amount of new content that more or less makes the original North American release obsolete. Though if you're playing it through PCSX2, you could probably run Final Mix with the english patch if you're so inclined.
Kinda, since Final Mix adds a fairly substantial amount of new content that more or less makes the original North American release obsolete. Though if you're playing it through PCSX2, you could probably run Final Mix with the english patch if you're so inclined.
By the time KH3 is released, it'd have been out for 8 years. More than enough time to be considered.
I found him less difficult, more annoying due to the small windows you got this time around. Took me about the same if not more time to beat him again.
And is that a HP bar that's on a difficulty mode less than Critical I see? What happened to people copping out and doing it on lower difficultys Falk?
Yeah, it's not just you.
I think that's the only battle that seems to represent how quickly reaction commands are required so it's the only time the imput lag shows, although I have screwed up on the PS2 version before but that was different, this seems to be imput lag. Quite annoying seeing as how they're important in that battle.
And I second the notion of Final Mix with English Patch, you wouldn't be missing out on anything (minus a couple of extra texture touchups maybe) and would get the content we'll be discussing when the time comes.
Or now
Yeah I was at level 51/52 by the time I fought him so I just stuck with Void Gear.
There definitely is. My time with Lingering Will can attest to that (his DM 3rd phase kept messing me up)
I actually first noticed it with Data Luxord though. Jeez, that last DM was a crapshoot till I actually just aimed for the opposite on the fourth command and it worked lol.
(Also Atlantica come to think of it. Annoying as hell)
And is that a HP bar that's on a difficulty mode less than Critical I see? What happened to people copping out and doing it on lower difficultys Falk?
It's on Standard. I'm actually saving Critical for English. Main reason I'm 'powering' through the game in Japanese is to brush up on kanji and I'd rather concentrate on that. Was even wondering if I should do Data XIII and Lingering Will this playthrough, but figured I might as well. I actually don't foresee it being that hard though. The main snag honestly was his DM 3rd phase where my old technique just wouldn't work, till I swapped to something else which worked 100% of the time. A good amount of that 4 hours was spent away from the console raging irl.
re: final battle reaction commands: Am I the only one who spammed triangle both in the PS2 version and now for his aerial combo? D: It still 'works'.
edit: Cool guys don't look at explosions (I'm easily amused)
badcrumble
Member
I still kinda suspect that if and when BBS vol 2 happens, it'll be a way of explaining stuff about whoever the villain will be after Xehanort.
I don't care about the ludicrous contortions the plot would go through, as long as we can get another Aqua-led game.
And wrap up loose ends from 3.
WeaponKnight
Member
Got the game today!
I didn't have much time to play so I only got to the save point before the Struggle. Looks amazing so far!
I didn't have much time to play so I only got to the save point before the Struggle. Looks amazing so far!
That's quite a big stretch. I'm inclined to think it's something related to 2.5 EN promotion.
Seven Force
Banned
but roxas' prologue is the struggle
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/south-florida-secession-new-state/
We just discovered the secret project. It's to set up Org XIII autocracy IRL
(Yeah I know it's not the same Disney castle etc)
We just discovered the secret project. It's to set up Org XIII autocracy IRL
(Yeah I know it's not the same Disney castle etc)
badcrumble
Member
Possibly, yeah. We'll see how many loose ends there are and what they're like. Kinda suspect BBS vol 2 would take place prior to and parallel to KH1 (basically it'd also include Mickey and fully explain the significance of the Kingdom Key D).
I know KH3 is gonna wrap up Xehanort but there's no way it wraps everything up with a bow, though. I fully expect it to begin the process of teasing the next villain with an optional superboss at the very, very least.
WeaponKnight
Member
To top that off, I got the 2000 munnies. Gotta do a perfect critplat playthrough :V
Seven Force
Banned
Yeah, I'd be a little surprised if this didn't happen.
As an aside, I absolutely love that the series does little previews of what to come like that. It uses one of my favorite game tropes (Optional super bosses) and uses them to create hype for whatever they have planned next. I'd say more series should ape that, but then I remember that there are very few series that could feasibly ever work in.
Y'all are crazy.
I'll probably do the same for the US release.
As a South Florida citizen, i support renaming to Disney World