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[Aru]

After going back to the MP system with KH1 FMHD, I'm now pretty sure that I prefer the vastly superior command system from BBS/3D. Well, the MP system isn't entirely bad, but I think the thing I dislike the most now is the menu in battles. If you are not using a spell that is on the shortcut list, basically you can't move while you're selecting your spell in the menu (unless you like moving your character with your right thumb). On Proud Mode, you can easily die when selecting a spell if you're surrounded.

When I watched the D23 KH3 trailer the first time, I didn't concentrate on the battle system, I just watched. But something was wrong. And I decided to go watch the trailer again... And it confirmed what I feared: they brought back the menu system from KH1/KH2.

The command system was much more fluid and fun. I hope I won't be disappointed :/

 

[WeaponKnight]

That's a problem only the HD version of KH1 has. In every other game, you can navigate the menu while you walk, especially in the PS2 version. They even had the option of making it like KH2, but chose not to.

 

[Aru]

I don't remember the PS2 version of KH being any different.
Technically you CAN walk (but can't jump, since O is the cancel button) while choosing a spell/an item, but only if you use your right thumb to move the left analog stick while using your left thumb to manipulate the D-Pad. But you have to concentrate to look for the item/spell you want to use. That's what I meant. Well, when using an item you can move far away from enemies first and then use it (may not be always possible, though, because some areas are really tight). But when you want to use a spell, you have to be in the right range/area.

In BBS/Re:Coded/3D it isn't an issue since the commands menu moves automatically to the next command and switching only requires pressing up and down. Also, you only have a handful of skills/magic spells/items to choose from.
In KH1/2, you have to validate which sub menu you need, and then look for what you want to use. You have access to all spells so it can be pretty confusing.

Returning to the full menu system is basically a step back. Maybe they should offer alternative controls for the menu, like using L2/R2 to navigate up and down the menu. But you would still have to use X to confirm the selection, so you can't attack while choosing.

The only good thing about the full menu system is that you have access to more items and spells than with the command system. That's pretty much it.

 

[WeaponKnight]

Why the need to validate? After I adjust the cursor,
Down, Right, O, O = Cure
Down, Right, Down, O, O = Aero


Thing is.... that command-based menu reminds of the inferior battle system of BBS and 3D that prioritises flashyness and is terribly unbalanced. Plus I like using magic in KH1/2 and having access to everything. Makes the gameplay less mashy and more varied.

 

[Aru]

Why the need to validate? After I adjust the cursor,
Down, Right, O, O = Cure
Down, Right, Down, O, O = Aero


Thing is.... that command-based menu reminds of the inferior battle system of BBS and 3D that prioritises flashyness and is terribly unbalanced. Plus I like using magic in KH1/2 and having access to everything. Makes the gameplay less mashy and more varied.

Oh I forgot about the right button doing the same thing as X basically.
And Cure is always in the shortcut list for me, or else I'd be dead every time

I admit that I love the eye-candy based system they made for BBS and 3D, but it's not THAT unbalanced. On Proud (and surely Critical) most bosses are very challenging. The optional bosses are really hard, too.
BBS and 3D are more challenging than KH2 in standard mode.

EDIT: You forgot about selecting a target, which requires yet another validation.
In BBS/3D, you can do a lot of combinations using the same skills/spells in your command menu, and that makes it less mashy than KH1 for example. MP bar is drained fast in KH1, so you have to mash X, X, X until you have enough MP, choose a magic spell and cast it. Rince and repeat.
In BBS, you need to balance the waiting time for each spell to recharge. You don't have to mash X to replenish a MP bar.

 

[Tenrius]

I'll be collecting my brand new copy of KH2 today. Pretty excited! Actually, I somehow ended up getting two copies, but I won't get the other one for a while (as it's being sent by post).

It may be a while before I finish it though, because it's college season and I don't have my PS2 on campus, so I can only play it when occasionally, when I come back home for a few days.

 

[Zalman]

As I posted in the KH1.5 thread, I'm currently playing KH1 for the first time. Really great game. Unless I'm mistaken, both HD collections basically cover everything Kingdom Hearts except Dream Drop Distance. What are you guys' opinion on that one? Worth playing? I could see myself go through it between 2.5 and 3.

 

[Aru]

As I posted in the KH1.5 thread, I'm currently playing KH1 for the first time. Really great game. Unless I'm mistaken, both HD collections basically cover everything Kingdom Hearts except Dream Drop Distance. What are you guys' opinion on that one? Worth playing? I could see myself go through it between 2.5 and 3.

While flawed, Dream Drop Distance is really really fun. The story is really complicated, even in KH standards, but I thought it was worth it. KH is one of my favorite series though.
They'll probably include a story recap in KH3 for people that didn't play the other games, I'm not sure we'll see DDD on another platform.

Maybe they could do a Kingdom Hearts Re: Dream Drop Distance on PS3 and change the gameplay elements that rely on 3DS features (notably Dream Eaters mini-games and the augmented reality feature). KH2.5 will be released in 2014 and KH3 in 2015 probably, so it's pretty much guaranteed that DDD won't make it on PS3.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

As I posted in the KH1.5 thread, I'm currently playing KH1 for the first time. Really great game. Unless I'm mistaken, both HD collections basically cover everything Kingdom Hearts except Dream Drop Distance. What are you guys' opinion on that one? Worth playing? I could see myself go through it between 2.5 and 3.

If you after 2.5 want to continue playing the series I don't see why not. DDD is ok game and while it isn't the best in the series it is still one of the 4 ''major'' games released so far and it easily is carried by the new OST, worlds, enemies ect. The gameplay while unbalanced can be pretty fun too.

The best way to describe it is that it's one of those games I had fun the first time but I'm not planning on playing it again for a while. The telling part here is that I have completed the other games multiple times (with the exeption of Days that I also did only once and Re:Coded that I have not personally played.)

I think my playcount for the other games is something like KH1 x 4 (plus KH1FM HD x 3), CoM x 2 (plus Re:CoM HD x 1) KH2 x 3 (plus KH2FM x 2) and BBS x 2 (plus BBSFM x 2).

I can't really describe what it is about DDD that I don't feel like going thru again for a while. With Days tho it is obvious :lol.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

I love Days

Dream Drop Distance is a pretty meh game up until TWTNW, it gets good there. I agree with what Napalm says, it's pretty unbalanced and the way abilities work is complete bullshit but it's also fun and it's awesome to play as Riku without the battle system from CoM

 

[Napalm_Frank]

I love Days

We know YoungBlade, we know. And we love you for it.

I mean for example FF fanhood would feel empthy without the crazies like Perfo who love 13.

Spoiler

I know you like it too and I don't hate it either :d

 

[WeaponKnight]

I like Days and 13. I feel special.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

We know YoungBlade, we know. And we love you for it.

I mean for example FF fanhood would feel empthy without the crazies like Perfo who love 13.

Spoiler

I know you like it too and I don't hate it either :d

:c
It's because FF XIII has Snow, Fang, and Hope. I love those three, honestly I thought the game was going to be some unplayable shit going by the way some people on GAF (Actually, on the internet) talk about it but it turns out it was pretty fun.

It's a shame the story turned into shit in the span of like 2 cutscenes in Chapter 11 :c

 

[Zalman]

Thanks for the replies! I might pick it up after I've played 2.5. It should be cheap by then too (hopefully!)

 

[Village]

Adam Sessler is playing KH1 on a stream right now, reminding a lot of people how long that intro sequence was. To be fair though, he tends to be not good at video games.

 

[Zalman]

Adam Sessler is playing KH1 on a stream right now, reminding a lot of people how long that intro sequence was. To be fair though, he tends to be not good at video games.

I watched it. Frankly, the intro sequence was pretty bad.

 

[Caladrius]

I watched it. Frankly, the intro sequence was pretty bad.

That item hunt was completely unnecessary. I hope they cut to the chase with 3. It's seriously annoying to have to replay the first areas of 1 and 2. And the first game doesn't even have much intrigue to hold your attention with.

 

[Zalman]

That item hunt was completely unnecessary. I hope they cut to the chase with 3. It's seriously annoying to have to replay the first areas of 1 and 2. And the first game doesn't even have much intrigue to hold your attention with.

I haven't even played 2 yet but I hear it's just as bad.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

I haven't even played 2 yet but I hear it's just as bad.

It's worse.

KH1 island intro takes like 30 minutes if you don't get totally lost. KH2 intro takes about 2 hours.

I don't hate either really and 1st time playing it wasn't a problem at all but replays on KH2 intro are way more tedious than KH1.

 

[Caladrius]

I haven't even played 2 yet but I hear it's just as bad.

Two is much longer (it takes me around 2 hours and I've replayed the game 6 times. I still watch the cutscenes though) And if you don't care for Roxas or Axel (I do) it's going to be a serious bore.

 

[Seven Force]

KH1's intro is made much less painless in the HD version with the option to scene skip.

KH2's intro is long as fuck even with scene skip.

Just let that sink in for a bit.

 

[Seda]

KH1's intro sequence isn't long when you know where everything is already (and skip scenes).

You can't even compare that to KH2's intro.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Well with the nonexistant intros in BBS and DDD KH3 needs to pick up the slack and have a 5 hour tutorial stage with escort missions.

 

[Meccanical]

Well with the nonexistant intros in BBS and DDD KH3 needs to pick up the slack and have a 5 hour tutorial stage with escort missions.

While being underwater.

 

[Box of Bunnies]

KH3's intro will be a long game tutorial Lea and Kairi's Keyblade training.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

The best part of the KH 2 intro is the last day

 

[Seda]

While being underwater.

I was going to say this

 

[Soriku]

While being underwater.

Maybe the whole thing takes place in Atlantica? 5 hours of singing?

 

[Napalm_Frank]

The best part of the KH 2 intro is the last day

Well no arguing there.

 

[Seven Force]

Maybe the whole thing takes place in Atlantica? 5 hours of singing?

This must be what hell sounds like.

 

[Meccanical]

Maybe the whole thing takes place in Atlantica? 5 hours of singing?

You somehow found a way to make it ten times worse!

I commend you and curse you in the same breath.

 

[Caladrius]

If they had cut out the gameplay padding in the earlier days (Hayner, if you wanted to go to the beach you should have saved/stole some money beforehand. I ain't your errand boy, and the station of awakening was the only combat you should have needed for that section) I would have loved II's prologue.

Spoiler

The Axel

fight is still one of the most memorable boss fights in my 15 years of gaming, and when I first fought him I didn't even know who he was!.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

Well no arguing there.

actually no the best part was the errands

there

who doesn't love giving letters while skateboarding??

 

[Psxphile]

They wanted us to give a damn about Roxas and his little predicament before they took him away. That's the main reason KH2's intro was as long as it was. Might've been better if he could've been playable beyond the simulated Twilight Town, learn actual skills and whatnot but I don't know how that would work with the plot setup of being absorbed back into Sora. Maybe simulated worlds he could visit alongside Sora's actual journey?

Maybe not. It sounds too much like what DDD did.

 

[Zalman]

Okay, I gotta say, the final boss in the first game is completely bullshit.

Spoiler

I beat Ansem once, and after that they throw another recycled boss battle at me (Darkside) followed by another battle with Ansem. The worst part? No save points in between! And whenever Ansem kills me, they want me to defeat the Darkside again before I'm able to have another shot. I don't even feel like trying anymore because it's so tedious. If the bosses were easy it would be fine, but I'm having a hard time with Ansem.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Okay, I gotta say, the final boss in the first game is completely bullshit.

Spoiler

I beat Ansem once, and after that they throw another recycled boss battle at me (Darkside) followed by another battle with Ansem. The worst part? No save points in between! And whenever Ansem kills me, they want me to defeat the Darkside again before I'm able to have another shot. I don't even feel like trying anymore because it's so tedious. If the bosses were easy it would be fine, but I'm having a hard time with Ansem.

Are you keeping aero on you at all times? Do you at least have Leaf Bracer or Second chance abilities? Remember you can block the rush attack he does.

 

[Aru]

Okay, I gotta say, the final boss in the first game is completely bullshit.

Spoiler

I beat Ansem once, and after that they throw another recycled boss battle at me (Darkside) followed by another battle with Ansem. The worst part? No save points in between! And whenever Ansem kills me, they want me to defeat the Darkside again before I'm able to have another shot. I don't even feel like trying anymore because it's so tedious. If the bosses were easy it would be fine, but I'm having a hard time with Ansem.

I just beat the game earlier and Ansem was FAR easier than I remembered. And I only played on Standard on PS2 (Proud on FMHD). The hardest part was the second fight. The longest part after that was a joke.

 

[Zalman]

Are you keeping aero on you at all times? Do you at least have Leaf Bracer or Second chance abilities? Remember you can block the rush attack he does.

I had Aero on at all times, yes, and the Second Chance ability was on too.

Good news, though, I finally made it through. Just finished the game. I gotta say they really stretch it out in the end. I didn't really care for the entire

Spoiler

End of the World

part. Too much unnecessary backtracking and too many fights. They could've easily ended it much earlier.

Overall, I did enjoy the game and I can now consider myself a KH fan. The ending was quite good too, but it's obvious that was just the beginning. Next up is Re:Chain of Memories.

 

[Aru]

The worst part of the last world are the invisible walls. WHY did they do that?

 

[Caladrius]

Overall, I did enjoy the game and I can now consider myself a KH fan. The ending was quite good too, but it's obvious that was just the beginning. Next up is Re:Chain of Memories.

Hmm...have fun with that.

I wouldn't go so far as to call the game outright bad (I reserve that demerit for coded) but it gets very tedious if you don't fall in love with the card fight system.(and there's a lot of asshole bosses).
If you simply can't take the game anymore don't feel ashamed to drop it and watch the scenes on Youtube. The story is probably the best part of it and Kingdom Hearts II picks up where it leaves off. (Pity I didn't know this when I first picked up the game. It took me until the second playthrough to get a firm grasp of what was going on.)

 

[Blood Diamonds]

They wanted us to give a damn about Roxas and his little predicament before they took him away. That's the main reason KH2's intro was as long as it was. Might've been better if he could've been playable beyond the simulated Twilight Town, learn actual skills and whatnot but I don't know how that would work with the plot setup of being absorbed back into Sora. Maybe simulated worlds he could visit alongside Sora's actual journey?

Maybe not. It sounds too much like what DDD did.

Roxas got his own game so idk I'm satisfied.

 

[Mr.Fresh]

Working my way the the Extras of FM and the Story or Re:CoM. Can't wait to fight The Unknown/

Spoiler

Xemnas

for the first time in FM. I didn't know that was cannon. So does that mean the Enigmatic Armor or

Spoiler

Terra

from KH2FM is cannon too?

 

[Psxphile]

Working my way the the Extras of FM and the Story or Re:CoM. Can't wait to fight The Unknown/

Spoiler

Xemnas

for the first time in FM. I didn't know that was cannon. So does that mean the Enigmatic Armor or

Spoiler

Terra

from KH2FM is cannon too?

According to Nomura it is, and so is Mysterious Figure's fight with the trio in BBS:

Talking about Mysterious Figure (pre-release)
The new secret boss will be like how Lingering Sentiment was to KH2FM. You will think it’s impossible that that can happen at that time of the story, but it actually happens

Furthermore, fights with Armor of the Master and NO HEART in the Mirage Arena aren't canon to the main plot but their existences are real. Thought they did intend to craft cutscenes for the fights before being rejected.

 

[Tenrius]

I've nearly finished Twilight Town in KH2. Should I just get onto the train and head onwards to the game proper, or is there something noteworthy I should do before leaving?

 

[Napalm_Frank]

I've nearly finished Twilight Town in KH2. Should I just get onto the train and head onwards to the game proper, or is there something noteworthy I should do before leaving?

Leave.

 

[Tenrius]

Leave.

Laconic. But okay!

 

[aravuus]

The "The moment when you realize everything you just played was the just intro" thread made me realize how much I liked KH2's intro, and how many people actually hated it.

 

[Tenrius]

The "The moment when you realize everything you just played was the just intro" thread made me realize how much I liked KH2's intro, and how many people actually hated it.

I found it inoffensive myself. The bits with DiZ, Ansem and Namine were pretty cool. Maybe it was a bit too long, but only just.

 

[Tenrius]

Yeah, the level design is pretty straightforward in KH2, especially compared to KH1. The Land of Dragons was a corridor with enemies, basically.

 

[badcrumble]

KHDD and the super-scripted nature of nearly all of the KH3 gameplay we've seen so far (the sole exception being the bit where Sora is running around on foot and using a Fire spell on enemies) makes me really worry about the quality of the game. I know it's early, though.