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[BlueWord]

I appreciate the effort, but, I have to say, a KH Versus mode doesn't sound particularly enjoyable, to me. Though, I also wasn't really sold on the co-op mode in 358/2 Days, and that turned out alright.

The command board sounds intriguing. Enjoying reading your impressions, Duckroll.

 

[Bebpo]

Got mine today and played a few hours. I picked Vennut to start with because I love Roxas and am interested in this Roxas-like character more than two completely original characters.

Some observations:

-Correction of duckroll: You don't need a PSP-3000 to use the 32-bit color mode. It works on the 1000. You can test this by standing in front of a save point. In 16-bit color the save point produces dithering, in 32-bit color it does not. OTOH I feel 32-bit color looks a bit...soft? I dunno. I played an hour in 32-bit colored and changed back to 16-bit color and I think I prefer 16-bit. I might be crazy though.

-The load times for cutscenes are kinda bad. The load times for gameplay is fine. Thankfully when you die you can choose (continue) which starts you pre-cutscene to boss and sucks for loading but lets you change your setup or (retry) which just starts the fight over again with no loading.

-Game looks great. Only difference between the PR pics and the game is lack of AA so jaggies. There is some bleeding in all the dark locations/cg on a PSP-1000. I'm thinking about finally picking up a 3000 for this.

-Sound is ok. Music is KH music. Voice samples seem a bit low bitrate with good headphones.

-I found the opening to be annoying like a lot of jrpgs lately. Like them, it throws like 30 tutorial screens at you from the start and you're just like STOP IT I DON'T CARE at some point and then you have to ask good people like duckroll to explain the gameplay systems to you! It's also mainly LOADING cutscenes LOADING cutscenes which doesn't leave the best impression.

-This is furthered because the cutscenes between the loading are...very average? The cutscene direction is totally boring so far and not up to the standards of the other KH games. Kinda a shame. Reminds me more of Dissidia cutscenes.

-But not to be too negative, once you actually get into the gameplay it's great. The battle system is a lot of fun and looks to have a good amount of potential. Thankfully you can still just mash O for normal enemies while hitting other buttons to do cool stuff. I don't think I'd like a KH game if I couldn't just mash through low-level enemy fodder.

-The board game is neat but I should ADVISE. The board game is for people who enjoy board games that take MORE THAN 5 MINS. It's NOT A MINI-GAME. I had imagined it would be something I'd jump into all the time at save points and just play a quick game but going by the length of the first game I played on the first to lowest score possible, the games are going to require some time. At least 10 mins if not 15 for the fastest match. So I don't think I'll be playing too often. You do get a lot of xp for your skills though so it's faster than grinding.

-I don't know if it's because I did not do Terra first (recommended order) but the game is difficult from the start as Vennut? In the first world (battle level 1) in the first escort mission I died twice before figuring out the gimmick (not much leeway given) and the first boss was REALLY HARD wtf. I died 3 times and used up all my potions and cure magic a few times. The main problem was if I got hit by poison my life would drop to nothing and kill me really fast and I only had a couple of potions. Also the boss attacks would do 75%+ damage to my life killing me in 2 hits if I didn't dodge between the two and heal. Also got trapped once. I dunno, was weird! I never had problems with KH1/2/358 so dying so many times on the very first boss in the lowest level world seemed spotty.

-The first world was really short. I dunno if this is how they will all be but it's like bite-sized KH 1/2. Same experience but in cliff notes version of the stories. 1 hour instead of 3-4. But then since you revist the world with 2 other characters I'd guess by the end of 3 playthroughs it's about the same length, just you are only spending 1/3rd the world time in each world. Good for portability. Kinda makes an interesting brisk pace.

Oh and I don't like some of the JP voices for the Disney characters this time around. Snow White's JP voice is grating.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Hoping my copy should arrive later today!

 

[Auron_Kale]

Got my copy earlier today and just made it to the first world. Hearing 'Hikari' again made me smile as I watched the opening movie.

So far, the combat is pretty fun, and I love what they've added (the focus attack is really fun).

Hopefully SE will announce a NA date soon.

 

[duckroll]

Finally, more people with the game. I thought you people would never show up! :lol

 

[Kagari]

Finally, more people with the game. I thought you people would never show up! :lol

Buy me a copy and I'll play it.

 

[jiggle]

Impressions sounding very positive

 

[duckroll]

I beat Terra's campaign. 13 hours 20 mins. The final boss battle was VERY technical. I really liked it. Had to retry a bunch of times, but it was a great fight. Now I'm REALLY surprised, because after beating one campaign mode, you unlock the "Trinity Report" option on the title screen, and it has a bunch of neat stuff.

Since you have to start a new game to play as another character (the clear save loads with the same character in the final world, so you can keep playing as that character to complete stuff in that campaign), the Trinity Report is how you access stats and rewards across all saves.

It has a timeline story summary for each character so you can see who visits which world at what point in the story, and it has a theatre mode where you can watch all cutscenes you've seen before, and so on. I'm really surprised that Nomura took all the awesome additions from KH2 FM+ and implemented it into this game. Pretty awesome for fans.

Oh and did I mention, the enemy viewer in the menu for BbS actually shows the animated enemy model, and you can full screen it and rotate it as well. I honestly wonder why all these little things are present in BbS, but not FFXIII. Toriyama fail. :lol

 

[Peff]

They sure crammed a lot of stuff into the UMD What kind of optional stuff is there to do?

 

[duckroll]

They sure crammed a lot of stuff into the UMD What kind of optional stuff is there to do?

What do you mean? Are you referring to minigames/collectibles/secrets or post-game content?

 

[Peff]

What do you mean? Are you referring to minigames/collectibles/secrets

Yep, like the Dalmatians/Pooh/Jiminy's Journal Challenges from the other games.

 

[jiggle]

how many worlds are there in this game?


was actually concerned about redoing the same stage 3 times with each character, but sounds like they made each run through completely unique, so that's good to know

 

[duckroll]

Yep, like the Dalmatians/Pooh/Jiminy's Journal Challenges from the other games.

Instead of Pooh being the minigame hub, in BbS it's Disney Town. There are 3 different types of minigames there, and you unlock more levels/variations in each when you beat what's available.

There are the normal collection stuff in the Records menu, where it keeps track of how many chests you have found and opened in each world, how many abilities you've acquired, etc. Stuff that you haven't found are represented by question marks and so on. There's a completion % as well.

Other than optional content to be collected and done, the optional content that's available as is (Command Board and the various minigames) are very replayable. Definitely a ton of fun, and there's a good amount of depth and design even in the simpler minigames. I'm sure the game has a good amount of secrets too, but I don't think I've seen enough of the game to discover any yet, since I only completed 1 campaign.

The stages themselves generally have areas that you find that you cannot reach, either because it's not intended for that character, or you lack a certain ability. For Terra there were two chests I couldn't get to in a certain world the first time, but after I got the continuous air dash I could return and reach the platform. So yeah, there's definitely a lot of thought put into the design where it doesn't feel empty or boring even though you've "cleared" a location.

how many worlds are there in this game?

Spoiler

There are 13 different locations on the World Map iirc, but there are only like 10 "real" worlds where they are stages and stuff.

 

[jiggle]

The stages themselves generally have areas that you find that you cannot reach, either because it's not intended for that character, or you lack a certain ability. For Terra there were two chests I couldn't get to in a certain world the first time, but after I got the continuous air dash I could return and reach the platform. So yeah, there's definitely a lot of thought put into the design where it doesn't feel empty or boring even though you've "cleared" a location.

noice
similar to KH1

 

[Peff]

^Sounds awesome, thanks Say what you will about the story, but at least Nomura is always trying to improve the negative feedback the games get (I always thought it was insane how complex the Gumi stuff was in KH2 when most people would just play each course once).

 

[duckroll]

^Sounds awesome, thanks Say what you will about the story, but at least Nomura is always trying to improve the negative feedback the games get (I always thought it was insane how complex the Gumi stuff was in KH2 when most people would just play each course once).

Well, I'll be honest, when KH first came out, I was HYPED for the Gummi Ship. I love building models and stuff, and this seemed like awesome Lego + shooter. The reality was something else though, and it was boring, pointless and just wasn't very fun. The parts weren't great, the stages didn't really have any flair to them, and it was a really boring and shitty shooter minigame with average customization of the main ship.

Then KH2 was coming out and they promised a total revamp of the idea. It sounded awesome. Panzer Dragoon style rail shooting! More weapons and customization on the ship! Well.... it was certainly better, but it still wasn't very good. Kinda average and fun for fans of rail shooters (I enjoyed the levels, but didn't really want to replay them), but way too button mashy and the customization was still kinda ugh.

Now with BbS, he drops the Gummi Ship entirely (duh, hasn't been invented yet!), and you just move between the worlds the same way as you do in KH2, on a map, except without the lame minigame stages inbetween. Instead the major "minigame" companion this time is the Command Board, and HOLY SHIT IT'S AWESOME. So yeah, I think Nomura has definitely been trying to improve on the KH formula with each game, and it's very visible in all the little upgrades, changes, and design decision each subsequent game has.

 

[Kingsora]

Well, I'll be honest, when KH first came out, I was HYPED for the Gummi Ship. I love building models and stuff, and this seemed like awesome Lego + shooter. The reality was something else though, and it was boring, pointless and just wasn't very fun. The parts weren't great, the stages didn't really have any flair to them, and it was a really boring and shitty shooter minigame with average customization of the main ship.

Then KH2 was coming out and they promised a total revamp of the idea. It sounded awesome. Panzer Dragoon style rail shooting! More weapons and customization on the ship! Well.... it was certainly better, but it still wasn't very good. Kinda average and fun for fans of rail shooters (I enjoyed the levels, but didn't really want to replay them), but way too button mashy and the customization was still kinda ugh.

Now with BbS, he drops the Gummi Ship entirely (duh, hasn't been invented yet!), and you just move between the worlds the same way as you do in KH2, on a map, except without the lame minigame stages inbetween. Instead the major "minigame" companion this time is the Command Board, and HOLY SHIT IT'S AWESOME. So yeah, I think Nomura has definitely been trying to improve on the KH formula with each game, and it's very visible in all the little upgrades, changes, and design decision each subsequent game has.

SO how do they get in other worls than if they can't use a gummi ship? How do they explain that in the story

 

[duckroll]

SO how do they get in other worls than if they can't use a gummi ship? How do they explain that in the story

Keyblade Masters (or Keyblade Masters in training, lol) travel between worlds by riding their keyblades. They transform into the armor, and their keyblade transforms into a vehicle. They're basically like Jedi Knights, and the "normal" rules don't apply. Gummi is required to allow normal people to travel between worlds.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

fffffuuuu

Missed the delivery guy this morning, rang 'em up and having it redelivered tomorrow
What a bitch I've got nothing to do all day now

 

[duckroll]

fffffuuuu

Missed the delivery guy this morning, rang 'em up and having it redelivered tomorrow
What a bitch I've got nothing to do all day now

You can't do manual pick up?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

You can't do manual pick up?

Can't drive - and we're knee deep in snow so i'd rather not leave the house either way.
I'm working tomorrow straight after they'll drop it off so i'm gonna be stuck in work lookin' at the case too =/

Spoiler

i'm totally taking my PSP into work

 

[duckroll]

Can't drive - and we're knee deep in snow so i'd rather not leave the house either way.
I'm working tomorrow straight after they'll drop it off so i'm gonna be stuck in work lookin' at the case too =/

Spoiler

i'm totally taking my PSP into work

My condolences.

 

[badcrumble]

Given all of these changes being made to the KH formula that sound pretty positive, it seems fairly clear to me that KH3 will concern Sora becoming a Keyblade Master as well.

 

[duckroll]

Started on Ventus' campaign. When starting a new game, they actually detect that you've played the game before, and ask if you want to skip the prologue and tutorial, and go straight to the character selection! Awesome!

Ventus definitely plays differently from Terra. He has much less reach as I expected, and while he can be really fast when applying actual combos, he does a lot less damage and is really weak when not in Speed Rave. I didn't have any problems with the first boss at all though, so I'm pretty sure what Bebpo experienced was just "first boss ownage" which I also suffered as Terra. Basically if you're not familiar with the game systems yet and you're unsure of how to best make use of all your attack options and survive, the first world and boss will be HARD for sure. Now that I know how to play it wasn't hard for me at all.

 

[badcrumble]

Y'know, the three characters thing really reminds me of the sword/wand/shield choice in KH1/2. Except instead of having an offense character and a defense character, Nomura correctly realized that the shield is LAME AS HELL and turned it into a classic power vs. speed thing instead. A much better decision.

Also, given FF13, 358/2 Days, and now BBS, I'm starting to wonder if someone at Square-Enix triple dog dared everyone to abandon MP in their games.

 

[duckroll]

Y'know, the three characters thing really reminds me of the sword/wand/shield choice in KH1/2. Except instead of having an offense character and a defense character, Nomura correctly realized that the shield is LAME AS HELL and turned it into a classic power vs. speed thing instead. A much better decision.

Yes and no. While the emphasis might be Power/Speed/Magic in BbS' characters, Terra would definitely be the "shield" if it comes down to it. His play style definitely favors more up close non-evasive combat, and there's a big emphasis on block->counter if you want to play that way. His character build and animations just make it such that he's the most able in terms of standing his ground and just blocking everything, countering, and aggressively attacking an enemy when their guard is down.

I feel that Nomura has not abandoned that concept of Sword/Shield/Wand, but simply re-emphasized the 3 into more practical applications of offense. Remember, these characters are supposed to be trained in wielding a keyblade, so they're pretty versatile and strong regardless of what their main strength is. That's what makes the game really fun to play imo.

Also, given FF13, 358/2 Days, and now BBS, I'm starting to wonder if someone at Square-Enix triple dog dared everyone to abandon MP in their games.

You're missing 4 Warriors of Light and Crystal Bearers as well. There's definitely been a shift away from MP, and it's certainly a good thing because it keeps the pace of battles up and builds great momentum without ever forcing the player into an unwinnable situation because of the lack of resources.

 

[badcrumble]

You're missing 4 Warriors of Light and Crystal Bearers as well. There's definitely been a shift away from MP, and it's certainly a good thing because it keeps the pace of battles up and builds great momentum without ever forcing the player into an unwinnable situation because of the lack of resources.

Yeah, I think that's great. The recharging MP in KH1/2 and FFXII helped to show that MP resource management is something of an outdated concept and that the important thing is pacing the player, and the fact that it's been abandoned outright in so many games is a pretty natural step since there are other, better ways to encourage good pacing of gameplay. It sounds like BBS does this better than the rest of the bunch, too. Can't wait to play it.

 

[Pureauthor]

Hey, duckroll, after playing Terra's story, how would you say it compares to KH2 overall?

 

[duckroll]

Hey, duckroll, after playing Terra's story, how would you say it compares to KH2 overall?

Disclaimer: This is not a review, I have only played 1/3 of the entire game!

KH2 clearly has more overall content, even if you take into account how BbS has 3 story modes. There are also worlds in KH2 which are clearly better than what I've played in BbS so far in terms of overall design and boss creativity (Tron in particular comes to mind). Although, I definitely feel that Terra's story does not fully represent the best of what each world has to offer. My opinion on this could change depending on what the game has to offer with Ventus and Aqua.

As for everything else, I have to say I enjoy BbS way more than KH2. The game is faster, it gives me more combat options, and it's just much more fun to play. The game is also way less grindy, as bosses don't have 10 HP bars which you chip away at slowly. There is also way more gameplay variety than in KH2. There are 3 characters who all play differently, there are tons of different combat sub-systems which work together to give you more realtime options in combat than ever before.

Each Command Style, Finisher and Shoot Lock Skill you acquire actually feels unique and it rewards the player's curiosity in experimenting with all the different systems by providing new forms of visual flair as well as a chance to potentially change how you approach a combat situation.

The minigames are also way better than KH2, and as I said before, I would buy Command Board if it's available separately as a downloadable game. The "distractions" in BbS beat KH2 out completely both in quantity and in quality. It's definitely a solid evolution of Nomura's know-how as a director and probably also a result of him studying fan feedback very seriously.

Disclaimer: This is not a review, I have only played 1/3 of the entire game!

 

[badcrumble]

Yeah, I really need to reiterate that KH2:FM and now everything duckroll is saying about BBS really show, to me, that Nomura is fantastic at taking feedback and improving his games. I appreciate that kind of openness to suggestion - he's grown a good deal as a game director since KH1 even if he's still got a serious addiction to awful melodrama in the actual story/scenario.

 

[Bel Marduk]

So, like, how do you play the Command Board? I know its benefits but what makes it fun? I was expecting it to be kinda simple when I saw the trailers but I guess not.

Edit: I'm excited to see what he does for Versus XIII.

 

[duckroll]

So, like, how do you play the Command Board? I know its benefits but what makes it fun? I was expecting it to be kinda simple when I saw the trailers but I guess not.

Edit: I'm excited to see what he does for Versus XIII.

It's a lot like Monopoly. I'm not going to go into specific details because when playing it the rules are really clear, and it's not worth my time explaining how a board game plays when the fun is in actually playing it and scoring. Like, what makes Monopoly fun? What makes The Game of Life fun? :lol

 

[xero273]

So, like, how do you play the Command Board? I know its benefits but what makes it fun? I was expecting it to be kinda simple when I saw the trailers but I guess not.

Edit: I'm excited to see what he does for Versus XIII.

My explanation might be confusing, but the objective of the game is to get a certain amount of BP. You can set this amount to 5000, 10000, and 15000. The board itself has empty spaces or spaces with BP value on it. If you land on those spaces you can use BP to claim it as your space. This is where you select your command cards to put on the space. If an opponent lands on one of your spaces, they lose the amount of BP as indicated on that space. You can use BP to upgrade the spaces you own. It goes up to 5 levels. The more you upgrade the space, the more BP it'll take from an opponent. On the board itself, there are four locations you need to reach. They are red, green, blue, and yellow blocks. These are your checkpoint blocks. You get BP for reaching them. Once you reach all four blocks, there is a keyhole block that you need to go back to. This counts as a lap and you earn more BP. You get lap bonus, panel bonus, and card bonus (I think). So once a player reaches the specified BP, they need to go back to the keyhole block to win. There is also a special block on the field that allows you fly on your keyblade rider to any block you want.

 

[Bel Marduk]

OK, it's like Monopoly kinda? I understand now :lol I see what you mean. If it's like that it's gotta be fun.

 

[xero273]

OK, it's like Monopoly kinda? I understand now :lol I see what you mean. If it's like that it's gotta be fun.

yea, it is a lot of fun. I am in the beginning of Terra's story and spent 4 hours playing command board...

 

[duckroll]

yea, it is a lot of fun. I am in the beginning of Terra's story and spent 4 hours playing command board...

You should progress, if only because it allows you to unlock MORE boards, and they're even MORE fun! :lol

 

[MNC]

Seems this game has a nice polished feel to it, with small but important features that can be found missing from alot of other games.

 

[Foffy]

Yeah, I really need to reiterate that KH2:FM and now everything duckroll is saying about BBS really show, to me, that Nomura is fantastic at taking feedback and improving his games. I appreciate that kind of openness to suggestion - he's grown a good deal as a game director since KH1 even if he's still got a serious addiction to awful melodrama in the actual story/scenario.

If only he'd take feedback about how fucking messy the story has become.

I was considering importing it, but after hearing all of the stories about the nightmare it gives CFW users, I don't know. I've heard stories that they block off MS access, to there being PS3 data within the game which causes it to bug out on CFW.

 

[Kagari]

I beat Terra's campaign. 13 hours 20 mins. The final boss battle was VERY technical. I really liked it. Had to retry a bunch of times, but it was a great fight. Now I'm REALLY surprised, because after beating one campaign mode, you unlock the "Trinity Report" option on the title screen, and it has a bunch of neat stuff.

Since you have to start a new game to play as another character (the clear save loads with the same character in the final world, so you can keep playing as that character to complete stuff in that campaign), the Trinity Report is how you access stats and rewards across all saves.

It has a timeline story summary for each character so you can see who visits which world at what point in the story, and it has a theatre mode where you can watch all cutscenes you've seen before, and so on. I'm really surprised that Nomura took all the awesome additions from KH2 FM+ and implemented it into this game. Pretty awesome for fans.

Oh and did I mention, the enemy viewer in the menu for BbS actually shows the animated enemy model, and you can full screen it and rotate it as well. I honestly wonder why all these little things are present in BbS, but not FFXIII. Toriyama fail. :lol

Really? D: I thought it was a little odd in XIII that it was just a static image...

 

[Fimbulvetr]

You should progress, if only because it allows you to unlock MORE boards, and they're even MORE fun! :lol

So would you say you imported the Command Board and got BBS as a bonus? :lol

 

[Bel Marduk]

Really? D: I thought it was a little odd in XIII that it was just a static image...

It's good they put monster animations for the better game :lol

Spoiler

Yes, I'm implying BBS > FF XIII

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Sorry if this has been mentioned and answered, but can anyone explain what the "unbirths" are? They are the main heartless in the game, right?

 

[Foffy]

Sorry if this has been mentioned and answered, but can anyone explain what the "unbirths" are? They are the main heartless in the game, right?

From what I know, they're called Unversed, and

Spoiler

they're some anti-life or something, and they come from Vanitas.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please. They are the main antagonistic lifeforms for the game, though.

 

[duckroll]

So would you say you imported the Command Board and got BBS as a bonus? :lol

I wouldn't really say I imported anything...

 

[Kagari]

It's good they put monster animations for the better game :lol

Spoiler

Yes, I'm implying BBS > FF XIII

I'm not arguing.

 

[duckroll]

I'm not arguing.

Of course you're not, you're talking to someone who hasn't played either! :lol

 

[duckroll]

What happened to everyone else with the game?! :/

 

[Pureauthor]

I think after figuring out the Ventus/Vanitas plotline they started stabbing out their eyeballs.

I know I considered it!

 

[Auron_Kale]

Have been mostly playing this game during my commute so I've only now made it to the second world, but I've easily been having so much fun playing this game.

Finally got to try the Command Board last night, definitely fun and I'll probably sink more time into it over the weekend.

C'mon SE - I want a NA release date! This game is absolutely fantastic and a welcomed addition to the PSP library.

 

[badcrumble]

Duckroll, now that you've spent more time with Ventus, would you say that the characters converge with each other's playstyles (kind of like how sword/wand/shield sora was basically the same by the end of KH1) and all play fairly similarly once you learn a lot of abilities, or do they diverge from one another and become more intensely focused on their particular advantages (i.e. giving Terra more and more and more counter/defense abilities as he develops instead of making him faster and more agile, etc)