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The first Kingdom Hearts is still the best.

KH2 plays like Dynasty Warriors, if Dynasty Warriors took place in the best hallways ever.

There is no complexity to combat, no complexity to the environments, just running down different sets of (beautiful) hallways mashing buttons.

The only complexity is in the plot, which is because you need supplementary material to know who half the characters are, or make sense of their nonsense. Not only does it become needlessly convoluted, but any of that interesting interaction or exploration is gone and youre left with... with the animated spinoff series on the Disney Channel where the worlds start to lose some of their charm.

"Heartless" (lol) Dynasty Warriors spinoffs.

Kingdom Hearts II also has the privilege of being one of the few games where Ive fallen asleep "playing"- the Jafar fight was so boring I fell asleep for a couple hours and woke up to finish it, having no idea what I was even doing. Most of the game feels like filler.
I liked BBS more, but KH2's gameplay was the worst yeah, button smashing nosense

Here's a tip, when a game is too easy how about raising the difficulty level? You surely will have a hard time button mashing through KH2 on critical mode/level 1.
 
Story wise/disney shit yeah

it got so far up its own ass with xeonhort and ansem and the organization and the nobody garbage immediately after
This! It delivered concepts uniquely it's own without over complicating the universe. Had the first been a stand-alone, I would not hold as much contempt for the KH series as I do right now, and probably look at the name "Kingdom Hearts" more fondly, but everything AFTER KH1 just added too much ingredients to the stew.
 
FYI, if you still have your PS2 copies, both KH1/2 emulate gloriously

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What you just described is the epitome of convoluted. Do you think you could explain this to someone who's not a fan of the series and that they would be like "Yep got it, that's a pretty simple plot."

It's not convoluted at all. It's really not any different from any other series that's used amnesia or mind control or Stockholm Syndrome or, etc., etc..

I think people just have this expectation that when they see "Disney" on the box the story's going to be as simple as "There's a good guy and a bad guy. The good guy wins. Everybody smiles. The end."

Then when they have to actually *keep up* with the story they get all upset.

If that's really the "epitome" of convoluted, then I'd hate to see people come up against an actually dense plot.
How do people that complain about Kingdom Hearts follow, say, Game of Thrones?
 
Aside from the horribly pixelated menus and icons, this looks absolutely gorgeous. Too bad 2.5 won't look anywhere near this sharp.

3D assets always look much more sharp at significantly resolutions, on the other hand, 2D assets end up getting stretched.

Some games have mods to increase the HUD resolution, there might even be some available for KH. Majora's Mask example

 
It's not convoluted at all.

I think people just have this expectation that when they see "Disney" on the box the story's going to be as simple as "There's a good guy and a bad guy. The good guy wins. Everybody smiles. The end."
Yes, it's convoluted, you're completely misinterpreting the reason why people think it's convoluted. It's not because we're too stupid, lazy, or want a simple plot. It's because the story is objectively convoluted from a pure and simple storytelling perspective because of way too many characters, why too many plot elements, and way too many plot devices. Especially coming off from where it started with the first game.
 
I actually didn't really like the Disney stuff. The abridged versions of classic Disney movies were too short and crappy. They also only make sense if you've seen those movies. In that sense, they were no better that a typical tie-in game.

So I was actually really happy when they veered from Disney after KH1 and became more and more like Final Fantasy. Sure, the story became needlessly convoluted, but those fights against Organization XIII were awesome.
 
What I liked about the first Kingdom hearts is that its levels were all fairly open. I remember that KHII had mostly fairly linear levels compared to that. I haven't played any other game, do some of the other games tend to be more open again?

But yeah, I enjoyed KHII more than the first one. The gameplay is just so much better, more fluid, and I loved these reaction commands. The gummi ship sections, while alright in the first game, were absolutely improved in the sequel. I spent several hours getting higher ranks, unlocking parts and the third modes for each level.
 
The whole Hollow Bastion sequence in the first game is the pinnacle of the series for me. Really feels like an adventure, and there are some challenging segments in that area too, not to mention secrets and puzzles a' plenty.
 
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix fixes every issue you just mentioned and more. It has entire new areas to explore, more abilites, new bosses, a new difficulty mode, new collectibles, new sidequests, it obliterates the first one in quality and makes vanilla Kingdom Hearts 2 obsolete.

People say this all the time but it's really not true. There is still next to zero exploration, the puzzle pieces are basically a band aid that doesn't resolve the problem.

It does obliterate vanilla KH, but I still think that KH1 is superior.
 
Meh. I've enjoyed them all pretty equally. My only gripe with later installments is the lack of Final Fantasy characters.

One of the most fun aspects was seeing the redesigns and roles of FF characters.
 
well KH1 still gave the illusion of "open world" anyway, don't see how the apparent linearity of 2 is such an strong argument for some.

i'd gladly take "The World That Never Was" over Wonderland, Neverland, Deep Jungle, and the rest of the KH1 worlds.
 
KH2 is still my favorite. Though I played the series backwards: Kh2 -> Re: Chain of Memories -> KH1

Rank order: KH2 > BBS > KH1 > DDD > Re:COM > 358/2 and never played Coded.
 
KH certainly does feel the most honest to the original vision of a Disney/Square collaborated game.

That said, BBS is the best game I've played in the series.
 
I love the first Kingdom Hearts, but... I'd rank it below KH2FM and Birth by Sleep personally. It's a great game, but I just had a lot more fun with some of the sequels. I know people bash the KH story constantly, but I actually enjoy the more convoluted aspects to the series. Except (3D spoilers):
the time travel bullshit.



I've never seen so much wrong in a post before...

(joking, opinions, etc)

But I do love the combat in BBS and the leveling system was addicting as hell (my favorite leveling system in the series).
I mean I shouldn't have to mash dodge all the time and rely on boring decks. I wish Terra could have a proper dodge and not a dash. Not to mention the horrid Arial recovery. Leveling honestly was very bad. The EXP enemies gave were so unbalanced and low. By the end of the game you are on LV15-20. Days also had unbalanced EXP. Takes way to long to get panels around lv60. Plus unbalanced over buffed secret bosses in BBS. I mean if you like taking super long to level then I guess it's your thing. Farming in that one area in Radiant Garden can only do so much. I got bored of it and felt claustrophobic for some reason... KH 1 and 2 had the best IMO
 
Have you played KH 2 FM

If not you should when 2.5 comes out. Its way better than one.

Also BBS and DDD are good expansions to the kh formula. KH 1 is kinda raw, on some levels that appreciated. But the stuff introduced in kh 2 and kh 2 fm pushes it way past one in terms of quality.

well KH1 still gave the illusion of "open world" anyway, don't see how the apparent linearity of 2 is such an strong argument for some.

i'd gladly take "The World That Never Was" over Wonderland, Neverland, Deep Jungle, and the rest of the KH1 worlds.

The world that never was is the most Namura thing Namura has ever created.

If someone told namura to draw a picture of how he feels everyday, he would draw that.

I love it when I can look at a level be like, " oh yeah that's him. Thats a thing he was invovled with "
 
I completely agree.

No matter how much better the combat is in later games, the Disney worlds just feel like 100% filler and the game feels like such a drag between the story events at the original worlds (which is pretty much the start, middle and end of the game).
 
KH2 plays like Dynasty Warriors, if Dynasty Warriors took place in the best hallways ever.

There is no complexity to combat, no complexity to the environments, just running down different sets of (beautiful) hallways mashing buttons.

The only complexity is in the plot, which is because you need supplementary material to know who half the characters are, or make sense of their nonsense. Not only does it become needlessly convoluted, but any of that interesting interaction or exploration is gone and youre left with... with the animated spinoff series on the Disney Channel where the worlds start to lose some of their charm.

"Heartless" (lol) Dynasty Warriors spinoffs.

Kingdom Hearts II also has the privilege of being one of the few games where Ive fallen asleep "playing"- the Jafar fight was so boring I fell asleep for a couple hours and woke up to finish it, having no idea what I was even doing. Most of the game feels like filler.

I played the game on Proud difficulty from the very beginning.

Your "mash X to win" strategy would get your ass kicked every time. Bosses are a complete nightmare (I still tremble in fear remembering Xalding and Xigbar, for example).
 
Let's not pretend like KH is subtle in anyway shape or form. There's a difference between complex and convoluted.

Eh untill time travel happened, if you had like a few munites I could whip up a short explanation of the story.
It mostly involved riku fixing things.

But then time travel happened, and well shit.


KH2 plays like Dynasty Warriors, if Dynasty Warriors took place in the best hallways ever.

There is no complexity to combat, no complexity to the environments, just running down different sets of (beautiful) hallways mashing buttons.

The only complexity is in the plot, which is because you need supplementary material to know who half the characters are, or make sense of their nonsense. Not only does it become needlessly convoluted, but any of that interesting interaction or exploration is gone and youre left with... with the animated spinoff series on the Disney Channel where the worlds start to lose some of their charm.

"Heartless" (lol) Dynasty Warriors spinoffs.

Kingdom Hearts II also has the privilege of being one of the few games where Ive fallen asleep "playing"- the Jafar fight was so boring I fell asleep for a couple hours and woke up to finish it, having no idea what I was even doing. Most of the game feels like filler.


You might wanna play on harder difficulty than babby.

If you do not learn how to not do the thing you are suggesting in the damn practice levels of the game you die immediately.
 
I know the emulated version of KH I is great, but the texture improvements in the HD remix makes everything really better so I guess it'll be the same with KH II.
 
But then time travel happened, and well shit.

Time travel by itself isn't inherently bad or confusing. We have a movie like the new X-Men that had a time travel plot but was simple enough to follow. I never understand the people who have an issue with time travel itself, no matter how it's executed (not aimed at you btw).

Now if you just have an issue with the KH time travel (I can't distinguish between people who just hate time travel in general vs. people who weren't fond of KH's time travel)...well the problem with KH time travel so far is that not everything seems to have been explained, which is why it seems confusing so far.
 
Far far and away.

The experience of Kingdom Hearts is what made it my favorite game at the time. The whole package. Gameplay, story, character, pace, etc. Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep improve on the gameplay mechanics quite a bit (while unfortunately delving a little too much into "Press Triangle for Awesome") but the narrative, characters, motivations, pacing all fell to SHIT. Honestly. Like, offensively bad nonsense.

--in my opinion--

Which leads to a couple of successors that are mechanically very fun games but vapid, heartless experiences. Pardon the pun.

Can't wait for 3! Hahahaha
 
Time travel by itself isn't inherently bad or confusing. We have a movie like the new X-Men that had a time travel plot but was simple enough to follow. I never understand the people who have an issue with time travel itself, no matter how it's executed (not aimed at you btw).

Now if you just have an issue with the KH time travel (I can't distinguish between people who just hate time travel in general vs. people who weren't fond of KH's time travel)...well the problem with KH time travel so far is that not everything seems to have been explained, which is why it seems confusing so far.

I do not have an issue with time travel plots.

I have an issue with kh time travel.

I understand whats going on, its just stupid.
 
Have you played KH 2 FM

If not you should when 2.5 comes out. Its way better than one.

Also BBS and DDD are good expansions to the kh formula. KH 1 is kinda raw, on some levels that appreciated. But the stuff introduced in kh 2 and kh 2 fm pushes it way past one in terms of quality.



The world that never was is the most Namura thing Namura has ever created.

If someone told namura to draw a picture of how he feels everyday, he would draw that.

I love it when I can look at a level be like, " oh yeah that's him. Thats a thing he was invovled with "
I don't know if you're joking or what, but Nomura has a lot more wtf capacity than the world that never was, as evidenced by 3D drop and to a lesser extent 356/2.

He's what I would call an acquired taste. Aesthetically and plot wise.
 
Pretty much. KH2 had a terrible, convoluted story full of too much Nomura bullshit.

KH2 convulted? What. Kingdom Hearts II's story is the most straightforward of all of them (besides Re:Coded of course because that game doesn't even have a story, just an excuse plot and a teaser for Kingdom Hearts 3D).
 
The combat in 1 is so much more satisfying as you have to time things just right.. Aside from the awful camera, 1 is by and large the superior game.

The first game did a great job of convincing me of the rules of the world, even though little was explained in great detail.... and yet the second game fails at it miserably. I just don't believe anything that happens in that game, meanwhile, I'm totally on board with the fantasy stuff in the first game.

The second game not picking up right after the events of the first should have been a sign. Instead, they immediately spun off and did a bajillion things wrong what with body swapping and eight million people named Ansem and SLEEPING FOR TWO YEARS in the matrix... It's just really silly.
 
I don't know if you're joking or what, but Nomura has a lot more wtf capacity than the world that never was, as evidenced by 3D drop and to a lesser extent 356/2.

He's what I would call an acquired taste. Aesthetically and plot wise.

Oh I know there are weirder levels.

But I do feel that level in particular is just namura as all hell.
 
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix fixes every issue you just mentioned and more. It has entire new areas to explore, more abilites, new bosses, a new difficulty mode, new collectibles, new sidequests, it obliterates the first one in quality and makes vanilla Kingdom Hearts 2 obsolete.
People keep saying this but it's really not true and I think it's building an expectation into the US release that's going to backfire once people can dig into it.

Final Mix doesn't fix anything wrong with Kingdom Hearts II, it just adds some more stuff on to it. It's a better version of the game simply because there's more content, but the battle system is the same, the worlds are the same and the um, plot, is still the same.
 
People keep saying this but it's really not true and I think it's building an expectation into the US release that's going to backfire once people can dig into it.

Final Mix doesn't fix anything wrong with Kingdom Hearts II, it just adds some more stuff on to it. It's a better version of the game simply because there's more content, but the battle system is the same, the worlds are the same and the um, plot, is still the same.

Level 1 fixes my major gripes with the combat, summoning and magic become far more useful and you need to use way more strategy.
 
People keep saying this but it's really not true and I think it's building an expectation into the US release that's going to backfire once people can dig into it.

Final Mix doesn't fix anything wrong with Kingdom Hearts II, it just adds some more stuff on to it. It's a better version of the game simply because there's more content, but the battle system is the same, the worlds are the same and the um, plot, is still the same.

I had the same issues with KHII being too easy outside some of the Organization battles, I wanted a greater challenge.

Final Mix's critical mode gives us that and it changes the game up completely, even regular enemy encounters have to be thought out and strategised, and boss fights become these epic struggles where you discover just how clever some of the fights were designed.

All I know is it's my personal favorite Kingdom Hearts title by a long, long margin, and that's in spite of playing through the japanese version with, for me, mostly unreadable menus and dialogue boxes.
 
Level 1 fixes my major gripes with the combat, summoning and magic become far more useful and you need to use way more strategy.
Unfortunately, a Level One run isn't something most people will be interested in.

I don't doubt your claims here, but most people are going to be playing largely the same game they had before.

I had the same issues with KHII being too easy outside some of the Organization battles, I wanted a greater challenge.

Final Mix's critical mode gives us that and it changes the game up completely, even regular enemy encounters have to be thought out and strategised, and boss fights become these epic struggles where you discover just how clever some of the fights were designed.
Personally, I really enjoyed my Critical Mode run and I loved some of the changes exclusive to that like how you got extra Lucky Lucky skills and more SPs, but it still didn't feel like a sweeping change of the game to me. And I don't think I'd be able to classify ANY of Osaka Team's optional boss fights as clever, most of them are irritating (BBS in particular, but that's another thread).
 
I agree with OP, but he/she misses the most important reason. The level design is just so much better in the first game. The levels are much larger with a lot of secrets and hidden treasures. The way they streamlined it in the sequel was an atrocity. Levels like Agrabah, Halloween Town and Hollow Bastion were great in the first game, and really forgettable in the sequels and spinoffs.
 
The world that never was is the most Namura thing Namura has ever created.

If someone told namura to draw a picture of how he feels everyday, he would draw that.

I love it when I can look at a level be like, " oh yeah that's him. Thats a thing he was invovled with "

Well i have to say, KH feels a lot like Nomura, probably because he's been able to share his "lore" the way he wanted, with creative freedom. (i don't feel like disney has gotten in the way of anything). Reading the interviews and the way he manages the plot points and such gives me the impression his work on KH it's more than a simple job.

However, I'm still waiting for FFXV though, that game will probably be the epitome of his work and vision.
 
The story was rather dumb in KH1. But lawd, I had no idea how bad and ridiculous the story would get with the sequels. You can't even defend it. You simply can not. Do they actually believe they are telling good shit?

KH1 was the best game overall, I agree. Gameplay didn't get all Budakai yet and the levels were better designed I felt. Also, I think it had Yoko's best work overall. A lot of the memorable pieces came in this.
 
Ah no, really?! You're entitled to your opinion, but the only thing that feels aged to me about KH1 is the jumping mechanics. Deep Jungle had me swearing a few times.
Yeah. The platforming in the first KH is terrible. I can't play it anymore. Still, the first game felt the most magical upon play, back in its time.

Overall I see Birth by Sleep as the best game in the series.
 
While the original game certainly holds a special place in my heart, Birth by Sleep shits all over from it. Pretty much the only flaw in Birth by Sleep was the somewhat empty/lonely environments. The battle system was just so much better than anything else.

The original had its moments, but the game play is really simplistic by comparison to just about every other game in the series.
 
Ranking thread?

KH II > BbS > Re:CoM = KH I >>>>>> 358/2 Days

Haven't played 3D, but read about it in order to stay up to date with the franchise before III comes out, and what the fuck are they doing?
 
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