mrmickfran
Member
Pretty much the whole series (sans back cover since I don't have an interest in watching it).
Took advantage of that glorious Prime Day back in July and managed to get the whole series for $25. Was finally able to play them after looking into the series for over a decade.
Kingdom Hearts
I felt that while this game has aged a bit, I can still find a competent game with a heart. Story was easy to follow, the Disney worlds really felt like they were part of the plot and it just had this lovely sense of adventure. I think it's still worth playing in 2017, though those platforming sections are infuriating sometimes.
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
I played it for an hour and stopped. Hate hate hated the card system. I actually find it odd considering I played CoM on the Game Boy Advance back when I was a kid and I liked it. Maybe it was just something about the transition to 3D that didn't sit well with me. Gathering exp was stupid on the GBA version and it's even worse here with all the extra space. All the environments felt empty and soulless. I knew it was necessary to play this for KHII so I just watched a summary of it on YouTube.
Kingdom Hearts II
This game. THIS FUCKING GAME. Holy shit the jump from I & CoM was immense. No more platforming sections, much more focus on combat, fantastic boss fights and Goddamn, that combat system. THIS was the game that made me so envious of those PS2 players back when I was a kid. I can already see it taking place in my favorite RPGs of all time. Already played through it twice, standard then critical.
Fuck that Roxas opening though. Good Lord. 3 HOURS. I always complained about Okami and Twilight Princess' opening, but those are nothing compared to this. After that the game really shines. Though I was not a fan of the fact that the Disney worlds take a back seat in the overall plot. Atlantica was a nightmare to play through as well.
I feel like I need to talk about the bosses a little more and how fantastic they are; particularly, the Organiztion XIII fights and Terra of course. Some of the best bosses that I've faced in an action RPG.
Overall my favorite in the series.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Oh, they're eating ice cream on the balcony? That's nice. Wait they're doing it again? And again? I remember seeing criticisms about the game being repetitive back when it was on DS, but I didn't realize that also extended to the cutscenes. Overall wasn't a big fan of it. Nice to see a game from a villains side, but it wasn't all that interesting until the ending.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Easily the most depressing one story wise. NOTHING good happens to the 3 protagonists. All of them gets royally screwed over. One thing that really bothers me is how Aqua manages to stay in the dark realm for 10 years while Riku, Sora, Mickey and DiZ were able to pop in and out. Really? Not once did anyone cross paths with her and try to get her out? That just screams retcon to me. Yes Mickey did see her in 2.8 but what about during the 10 year gap? Or after that?
Gameplay wise, I was not a fan of the command styles and deck system. Felt so neutered compared to the glorious KHII. Though I do like how fast you were able to get some abilities and the fact that AP wasn't a thing anymore. Second Chance at level 10? Why yes, thank you. And the bosses... what the hell happened? They're not that fun at all. Can't believe they dropped the glorious revenge system from KHII for the garbage that we got. Yes KHII was easy, but the bosses in here just.. God. (Terra's final boss especially. FUCK THAT BOSS)
Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded
Garbage. Waste of time, waste of a game. Game has no plot relevance to the series until the very end. And even then, this was something that could've been talked about in II or in BBS.
Another retread of the KHI worlds, as if CoM didn't do that already. Game overall just felt pointless.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
The genius in me decided to play this years ago after only playing CoM. It didn't even interest me so I sold it. Fast forward a few years later and I'm playing this on PS4 AFTER playing the previous games this time.
Plot officially lost me here. Any time that time travel becomes a plot element, I just completely zone out.
And,
All the shit that he did in previous games should automatically qualify him as master. That shit infuriated me. One thing I will say about the story is how much it left me hyped for KHIII and I am so eager to fight this New Organization XIII. Hopefully the bosses will be similar to how they felt in KHII. Though it is a shame that Xehanort won't have Nimoy as his voice actor
Speaking of bosses, yup, still garbage. The final bosses especially just felt like a chore to go through. I guess it was the same team who worked on BBS while the A team are busy with KHIII. Still not a fan of the command deck system and they just had to throw the dream eater garbage into it. What really felt like a downgrade from BBS was the fact that your stat boosting abilities (Magic Haste, HP Boost etc.) are tied to specific Dream Eaters and you can't keep that ability when you switch them out. Horrible idea.
I will say that Flick Rush is an amazing mini game. Spent hours on it.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-
Pretty much a glorified demo of KHIII. This gave me hope that KHIII will be nothing like BBS and 3D gameplay wise (though it does have command styles it's actually better here since it doesn't force you to use them unlike in BBS). Though the drop to 30fps is a shame (it doesn't even maintain that). And the bosses were actually fun.
Also not a fan of the character models, they look too much like plastic. Thankfully they're already working on that since the models in KHIII look great.
And yup, Aqua just stays there and Mickey actually transverses the dark realm along with Riku and eventually get out. But as for Aqua? ¯\_(ツ_/¯
Music
This deserves a separate section because holy fuck the music in the series is phenomenal.
Dearly Beloved
The Deep End
Hollow Bastion
Scherzo Di Notte
The Encounter
Vim & Vigor
Sinister Sundown
The Other Promise (I like the PS2 version more for this one actually).
The Thirteenth Dilemma
Darkness of the Unknown
Rage Awakened
Keyblade Graveyard
L'Impeto Oscuro
Final Boss Phase 1 (0.2)
Yoko Shimomura the GOAT. I always wondered why she got so much love here. It really shows in Kingdom Hearts.
Also
Sanctuary > Simple & Clean
My final ranking of the series would be:
II > I > Birth By Sleep > Dream Drop Distance > Chain of Memories > 358/2 > Coded
Overall, I'm a big fan of the series now and am currently anticipating Kingdom Hearts III (currently my most anticipated game of 2018).
What about you guys? What's your take on the series?
Took advantage of that glorious Prime Day back in July and managed to get the whole series for $25. Was finally able to play them after looking into the series for over a decade.
Kingdom Hearts
I felt that while this game has aged a bit, I can still find a competent game with a heart. Story was easy to follow, the Disney worlds really felt like they were part of the plot and it just had this lovely sense of adventure. I think it's still worth playing in 2017, though those platforming sections are infuriating sometimes.
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
I played it for an hour and stopped. Hate hate hated the card system. I actually find it odd considering I played CoM on the Game Boy Advance back when I was a kid and I liked it. Maybe it was just something about the transition to 3D that didn't sit well with me. Gathering exp was stupid on the GBA version and it's even worse here with all the extra space. All the environments felt empty and soulless. I knew it was necessary to play this for KHII so I just watched a summary of it on YouTube.
Kingdom Hearts II
This game. THIS FUCKING GAME. Holy shit the jump from I & CoM was immense. No more platforming sections, much more focus on combat, fantastic boss fights and Goddamn, that combat system. THIS was the game that made me so envious of those PS2 players back when I was a kid. I can already see it taking place in my favorite RPGs of all time. Already played through it twice, standard then critical.
Fuck that Roxas opening though. Good Lord. 3 HOURS. I always complained about Okami and Twilight Princess' opening, but those are nothing compared to this. After that the game really shines. Though I was not a fan of the fact that the Disney worlds take a back seat in the overall plot. Atlantica was a nightmare to play through as well.
I feel like I need to talk about the bosses a little more and how fantastic they are; particularly, the Organiztion XIII fights and Terra of course. Some of the best bosses that I've faced in an action RPG.
Overall my favorite in the series.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Oh, they're eating ice cream on the balcony? That's nice. Wait they're doing it again? And again? I remember seeing criticisms about the game being repetitive back when it was on DS, but I didn't realize that also extended to the cutscenes. Overall wasn't a big fan of it. Nice to see a game from a villains side, but it wasn't all that interesting until the ending.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Easily the most depressing one story wise. NOTHING good happens to the 3 protagonists. All of them gets royally screwed over. One thing that really bothers me is how Aqua manages to stay in the dark realm for 10 years while Riku, Sora, Mickey and DiZ were able to pop in and out. Really? Not once did anyone cross paths with her and try to get her out? That just screams retcon to me. Yes Mickey did see her in 2.8 but what about during the 10 year gap? Or after that?
Gameplay wise, I was not a fan of the command styles and deck system. Felt so neutered compared to the glorious KHII. Though I do like how fast you were able to get some abilities and the fact that AP wasn't a thing anymore. Second Chance at level 10? Why yes, thank you. And the bosses... what the hell happened? They're not that fun at all. Can't believe they dropped the glorious revenge system from KHII for the garbage that we got. Yes KHII was easy, but the bosses in here just.. God. (Terra's final boss especially. FUCK THAT BOSS)
Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded
Garbage. Waste of time, waste of a game. Game has no plot relevance to the series until the very end. And even then, this was something that could've been talked about in II or in BBS.
Another retread of the KHI worlds, as if CoM didn't do that already. Game overall just felt pointless.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
The genius in me decided to play this years ago after only playing CoM. It didn't even interest me so I sold it. Fast forward a few years later and I'm playing this on PS4 AFTER playing the previous games this time.
Plot officially lost me here. Any time that time travel becomes a plot element, I just completely zone out.
And,
HOW THE FUCK IS SORA NOT NAMED A KEYBLADE MASTER BUT RIKU IS? Are you shitting me? Just because he was asleep this ONE time?
Speaking of bosses, yup, still garbage. The final bosses especially just felt like a chore to go through. I guess it was the same team who worked on BBS while the A team are busy with KHIII. Still not a fan of the command deck system and they just had to throw the dream eater garbage into it. What really felt like a downgrade from BBS was the fact that your stat boosting abilities (Magic Haste, HP Boost etc.) are tied to specific Dream Eaters and you can't keep that ability when you switch them out. Horrible idea.
I will say that Flick Rush is an amazing mini game. Spent hours on it.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-
Pretty much a glorified demo of KHIII. This gave me hope that KHIII will be nothing like BBS and 3D gameplay wise (though it does have command styles it's actually better here since it doesn't force you to use them unlike in BBS). Though the drop to 30fps is a shame (it doesn't even maintain that). And the bosses were actually fun.
Also not a fan of the character models, they look too much like plastic. Thankfully they're already working on that since the models in KHIII look great.
And yup, Aqua just stays there and Mickey actually transverses the dark realm along with Riku and eventually get out. But as for Aqua? ¯\_(ツ_/¯
Music
This deserves a separate section because holy fuck the music in the series is phenomenal.
Dearly Beloved
The Deep End
Hollow Bastion
Scherzo Di Notte
The Encounter
Vim & Vigor
Sinister Sundown
The Other Promise (I like the PS2 version more for this one actually).
The Thirteenth Dilemma
Darkness of the Unknown
Rage Awakened
Keyblade Graveyard
L'Impeto Oscuro
Final Boss Phase 1 (0.2)
Yoko Shimomura the GOAT. I always wondered why she got so much love here. It really shows in Kingdom Hearts.
Also
Sanctuary > Simple & Clean
My final ranking of the series would be:
II > I > Birth By Sleep > Dream Drop Distance > Chain of Memories > 358/2 > Coded
Overall, I'm a big fan of the series now and am currently anticipating Kingdom Hearts III (currently my most anticipated game of 2018).
What about you guys? What's your take on the series?