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Kingdom Hearts II Won My Heart

Reviews, Video games No Responses » Tagged with: kingdom hearts, rpg

Apr 042016

After how much I enjoyed the first game and my love/hate relationship with Re: Chain of Memories, I was really excited to finally start Kingdom Hearts II.

Like the others, I didn’t actually play the original version, but the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix included in the 2.5 Remix.

Kingdom Hearts II left behind the card-based battle system I hated so much about Chain of Memories, and returned to the first game’s action RPG style, with some changes.

I preferred the original’s way of building magic to the new “MP Charge system,” which recharges your MP over time when you expend the gauge, but I enjoyed the new Reaction Commands and loved the Drive Form system, where you take on powerful new forms (and level them up to gain new abilities, like High Jump). The controls and camera felt much improved over the original’s.

The one thing I didn’t like was the way the worlds felt. They seemed more linear, with less exploration. I also missed having a hub world, but overall it was just the straightforward layout of the worlds. I want more exploration, more secrets, more hidden stuff!

Story-wise, though, the worlds were great. While some of the previous Disney worlds return, new ones were also added. There was a nice mix of worlds that followed the basic plot of their movies and ones set elsewhere in the timeline. For example, the Halloween Town/Christmas Town segment is set after The Nightmare Before Christmas, which sets up some amusing character interactions.

They were all fairly enjoyable (except the Tron Light Cycle, which killed me more times than anything else in the game) and most managed a decent integration of their own stories with the main plot.

So let’s talk about the story. The first game had a fairly simple, self-contained story. Chain of Memories expanded the worldbuilding. Kingdom Hearts II sent the plot careening away from its simple origins into something much more epic and exciting, and I loved every minute of it.

When I reviewed Chain of Memories, I mentioned my love of Organization XIII. They’re even more interesting in Kingdom Hearts II, as they take center stage among the antagonists.

Plus, while I loved their black cloaks in Chain of Memories, I didn’t realize until Kingdom Hearts II that several of them can be considered mad scientists. You know how I love mad scientists.

(Okay, so I’m a little crazy.)

Really, though, I love Organization XIII. I love pretty much all of them.

The story kept me guessing, and several excellent twists took me by surprise. I’d also like to say that while I didn’t always like Chain of Memories, I consider it a necessary step in the story. If I started Kingdom Hearts II without already knowing Naminé, DiZ, and the Organization, I’d have been completely lost.

And I have to admit, the one thing I never thought would happen, happened.

See, despite my enjoyment of the Disney worlds in the previous games, I just sort of tolerated some of the other Disney elements. In particular, King Mickey.

Mickey Mouse would never be “cool.” All he did was show up and ruin the mood with his squeaky little cartoon voice, and no amount of characters calling him “Your Majesty” and treating him like a powerful person would change that.

…Until I reached a scene in Kingdom Hearts II that forced me to say, “Wow. Yes. Mickey can be hardcore.”

Overall, the game had fantastic scenes, including some exclusive to the Final Mix. This is the bright side of not playing the series until now.

There are also some really great character moments in Kingdom Hearts II, from more lighthearted ones like Sora’s reaction to visiting a world where Santa Claus exists, to darker ones like Roxas’s struggle with what’s happening to him in the prologue.

Click for Kingdom Hearts II spoiler

And while I don’t like DiZ/Ansem the Wise, he’s really a well-written character.

I hated him for his treatment of Roxas and the way he talked about Nobodies. It seemed like every time he opened his mouth, he had something horrible to say.

But his attitude toward Nobodies demonstrates, far more than anything he said in his reports, just how badly his apprentices’ betrayal affected him.

He can describe it, lament it, and even talk about wanting revenge… but it’s far more effective when he coldly dismisses all Nobodies as non-entities not deserving of mercy.

And so far, I more or less understand what’s going on, except for the parts still left mysterious. People say the series’ story becomes wildly convoluted at some point, and I can’t wait!

Although I ignored the Kingdom Hearts series for years, I’m now officially obsessed with it. If you’ve played Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, you definitely should pick up Kingdom Hearts II or the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix to play the next entry in the series.

As for me, I celebrated my completion of Kingdom Hearts 2 by watching the (quite sad) 358/2 Days cutscenes (which I might still play, since I love Organization XIII so much). I might take a short break so I don’t burn myself out on Kingdom Hearts, but then it’ll be time to dive into Birth By Sleep.

Let me know your thoughts on Kingdom Hearts II in the comments below!

Buy Kingdom Hearts II from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix from Play-Asia

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories – Cloaks and Cards

Reviews, Video games No Responses » Tagged with: chain of memories, kingdom hearts, rpg

Dec 232015

After the first Kingdom Hearts got me hooked on the series, the next step in my journey was Chain of Memories. To be more specific, Re: Chain of Memories.

Or, to be even more specific, Re: Chain of Memories from the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix, just like how I played the first game.

Since the game is split into two sections, let’s talk about each separately.

Sora’s Story

The core storyline follows Sora, immediately after the events of Kingdom Hearts. He, Donald, and Goofy are looking for Riku and King Mickey, and their search takes them to Castle Oblivion.

Guided by people in black cloaks, Sora ascends Castle Oblivion in search of the truth, though he loses his memories along the way.

And to progress, he must use cards.

Oh, cards…

Chain of Memories uses cards for both its maps and combat. I liked the way the map cards work. You sort of build your own dungeons, picking which room goes where as long as they’re a high enough value to get past the door. I enjoyed that, although it took away most of the exploration.

For combat, cards are used for everything: attacks, magic (even cure), summonses, and items. Cards with higher numbers “break” cards with lower numbers (stopping your action), except for 0. 0 cards can break any number, but also can be broken by any number. In theory, I love the strategic thinking this system requires.

In practice, I hated it.

Ironically, the combat system inspired the combat in The World Ends With You, which I love. There’s no nice way to say it, though. I despised Chain of Memories’ combat system. Trying to manage my deck, pick the best cards, set up sleights (special attacks formed from multiple cards), and react to my opponent’s cards, all while running and dodging like a traditional action RPG drove me crazy.

Fortunately, Chain of Memories knew how to handle me. Every time it forced me to endure a battle so terrible I wanted to abandon the whole game, it introduced another character in a black cloak from the “Organization.”

These people, and the story, is what really kept me interested in Chain of Memories.

Of course, Disney was still involved, beyond just Donald and Goofy. Each floor of the castle is a Disney world… the same worlds from the first game, in fact. The repetition didn’t bother me, because I felt Chain of Memories actually used them really effectively.

The Disney stories fit in thematically with the main plot of Chain of Memories so well, it’s admirable. The problems faced by the Disney characters, and the slight alterations of their stories, all work to complement Sora’s story.

Even though the Disney stories are integrated well, the real story in Chain of Memories is Sora’s journey through Castle Oblivion, and his interactions with the aforementioned cloak-wearing weirdos. The plot takes some nice twists and turns, and it intrigued me with its larger universe and world-building. (It also makes me wonder again why Kingdom Hearts includes Disney and Final Fantasy when it obviously has its own original story it wants to tell… but never mind.)

I enjoyed the characters, the questions raised about memory and identity, and the vague hints dropped about Nobodies.

And when I finally made it to the end, after an admittedly awesome final battle, it unlocked a second story.

Reverse/Rebirth (aka Riku’s Story)

The second part of Chain of Memories follows Riku. It’s technically known as Reverse/Rebirth according to the title screen, which means I was playing Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories – Reverse/Rebirth as part of the 1.5 Remix. I love Kingdom Hearts titles.

Riku’s story plays a little differently. While the card system is more or less the same, his decks are locked and the cards changed automatically during the course of the story. He can also engage in “duels” when you and your opponent use a card with the same number. Breaking enough cards in a battle triggers Dark Mode, where he has access to powerful sleights.

In general, I enjoyed Riku’s combat slightly more, except for two things: 1) I was so bad at duels, the duel tutorial boss almost killed me, and 2) the lack of a “cure” card really hurt.

Unfortunately, Reverse/Rebirth has even less exploration than the main game. Remember how well I said the Disney worlds integrate with Sora’s story? They don’t even try in Riku’s. The Disney worlds are there solely to give Riku things to fight in between more cutscenes about the Organization.

Again, those cutscenes were interesting enough that I kept playing. I really enjoyed the story. And if there’s one good thing I can say about the lack of a heal card, it gave me a greater appreciation for Mickey.

Riku’s story is significantly shorter than Sora’s, and culminates in a boss fight so terrible, I thought I might not actually beat the game after all.

After two hours of agony, I beat the final boss and officially completed Chain of Memories!

Overall… I liked it. It’s given me more reason to be glad I picked up the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix. I like the Organization and the overall plot, and I can’t wait to see where Kingdom Hearts 2 goes. (Despite having 1.5, I’m not watching the Days cutscenes until after I play KH2. I’ve been told it’s better that way.) The gameplay had some unique ideas, some of which was pretty fun.

But I hope I never have to break another card ever again.

Buy Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (original) from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Play-Asia

Kingdom Hearts: A Door Worth Unlocking

Reviews, Video games 7 Responses » Tagged with: kingdom hearts, rpg

Oct 122015

When the original Kingdom Hearts came out in 2002, I ignored it.

I continued to avoid Kingdom Hearts as the series continued after that. I had no interest in playing a game about Disney characters, even with Final Fantasy elements. It sounded too weird, and I had no interest.

Well, I finally relented and tried the 1.5 Remix, starting with the Final Mix of the first game. Like many other games and series I ignored, I enjoyed it.

Kingdom Hearts is a weird concept. Let’s get that out of the way. There is no reason why Disney combined with Final Fantasy should equal anything but a train wreck, let alone a series so popular people are clamoring for the newest one.

Yet, somehow, it works.

As I played, I developed my own idea about why Kingdom Hearts works. Even though Final Fantasy characters appear, it isn’t really a crossover. It struck me much more as a Final Fantasy story told with Disney characters.

But enough babbling about what Kingdom Hearts is or isn’t. Let’s talk about the game itself. It’s an action RPG, with melee, magic, helpful abilities you can equip to help you in combat and/or exploration, and a summons feature I always forgot about. Combat is solid. It took me a little getting used to, particularly since the party AI often seemed less than helpful, but once I learned Cure, everything fell into place.

(Tip: if you’re struggling at the start of Kingdom Hearts, forget Olympus and go to the Deep Jungle. You learn Cure there. It’s a godsend.)

A few changes to the controls for the 1.5 Remix gave me trouble, as the D-pad controls the menu–so if you want to access an item or summons while moving, you better be able to use the left analog stick and D-pad at the same time. I got used to it, but it wasn’t ideal.

Exploration was enjoyable, with treasure chests and secrets to find… except for the platforming elements. In theory, I like Kingdom Hearts’s platforming. In practice, the controls felt a little too clunky. However, they were perfect compared to the gummi ship sections. I hate the gummi ship. It’s a gameplay switch as you shoot enemies while flying to the next world, and it’s the one thing I really disliked.

Fortunately, you get the ability to warp directly between worlds you’ve already visited. As soon as my ship could warp, I never flew it normally again except for when I was going somewhere new.

Speaking of those worlds…

It was simultaneously ridiculous and enjoyable to visit Disney worlds and interact with their characters. While there were some worlds present that I didn’t care about, some of my favorites were well-represented: Aladdin and The Nightmare Before Christmas, to name a couple, not to mention Maleficent’s large role in the story.

After the first few wacky cutscenes, I suspended my disbelief pretty easily and accepted the premise. Maleficent is leading other Disney villains in an evil plot involving shadowy “Heartless” creatures, and main character Sora has to fight them because he has the Keyblade. With the help of Donald and Goofy, who were sent by King Mickey. Sure, why not?

Donald and Goofy were one of the reasons I steered clear of the series to begin with, because they annoy me. They grew on me as I played, but if I’m honest, I most enjoyed the game when it was least focused on Disney stuff.

Although I understand the story gets pretty convoluted later in the series, the first game’s story seemed fairly straightforward. It was an entertaining adventure against forces of darkness, and I loved how each Disney world was a sort of “what-if” scenario: the events of the movie re-imagined in the context of Kingdom Hearts.

It also did something that, as a writer, I found absolutely brilliant from a narrative perspective.

Kingdom Hearts 1 Spoilers

Ansem’s Reports.

As you play through the game, you find pieces of a report written by Ansem, a man who studied the Heartless. You only find the odd-numbered ones at first, though, #1, #3, and so on.

So you’re missing parts of his story, but they tell you enough to give you a general idea of what he was doing.

I already liked them because they had a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe. I expected them to end with Ansem dying or maybe turning evil.

When he was finally revealed as the true villain behind Maleficent’s scheme, I thought my prediction was correct. After that reveal, the game gave me the even-numbered Ansem’s Reports to fill in the gaps.

And they changed EVERYTHING.

Reading #1 and #3 with #2 in place between them twisted the entire tone and meaning of Ansem’s Reports.

I love it. It was unexpected, and brilliantly handled. It goes to show how much you can change something’s meaning just by cutting out a few key details.

In short, the majority of Kingdom Hearts’s gameplay was enjoyable, and its intriguing story had a few great moments that really worked for me, despite my ambivalence toward some of the overt Disney content. (It also had some glorious music.)

Yes, it’s too late for me. I’ve opened the door to Kingdom Hearts, and now I’ll be swept away in the obsession like everyone else who loves this series.

After I take a break for something more in keeping with the Halloween spirit, I’ll move on to Chain of Memories! In the meantime, I encourage anyone else who ignored this series like I did to give Kingdom Hearts a chance! Share your thoughts on the first game in the comments below.

Buy Kingdom Hearts (original) from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Amazon
Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Play-Asia

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