Kingdom Hearts II: A review
Kingdom Hearts
I finished Kingdom Hearts II yesterday. I spent about 35 hours on the game, but I didn't do everything (there's probably another dozen hours or so of meaningful play time). My final battle stats (standard difficulty) revealed that Mickey had to save me twice, I finished 82% of the journal, and I used the heartless form 6 times. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything about the ending, mostly because I don't understand it myself.
I finished Kingdom Hearts II yesterday. I spent about 35 hours on the game, but I didn't do everything (there's probably another dozen hours or so of meaningful play time). My final battle stats (standard difficulty) revealed that Mickey had to save me twice, I finished 82% of the journal, and I used the heartless form 6 times. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything about the ending, mostly because I don't understand it myself.
Story
I really liked the references to the original game. At the start of the game (which felt slow), there are some flashbacks to things that happened in the original. This were, possibly too effective, as they made me want to stop playing the sequel and go back to playing the original again!
A friend of mine (who never completed the original) went back to finish things up (to get the story line straight). However, he was frustrated by the lack of camera controls in the first game. It's easy to gloss over the fact that they got the camera controls right in KH II.
So, although I enjoy the complexity of the story, I simply didn't get it. I'm entirely willing to believe that this is my own fault. I'd be grateful to anyone who can send me a brief summary (or even an FAQ) that answers any of my story questions about both games. I fear that the answer to some question might not be "because it made sense to the character", but rather, "because we needed some extra tension".
Also, it is just me, or does Sora like Riku more than Kairi? It reminded me of Back to the Future, where Doc and Marty go around having adventures, leaving Marty's girlfriend passed out on a porch somewhere.
I really liked the references to the original game. At the start of the game (which felt slow), there are some flashbacks to things that happened in the original. This were, possibly too effective, as they made me want to stop playing the sequel and go back to playing the original again!
A friend of mine (who never completed the original) went back to finish things up (to get the story line straight). However, he was frustrated by the lack of camera controls in the first game. It's easy to gloss over the fact that they got the camera controls right in KH II.
So, although I enjoy the complexity of the story, I simply didn't get it. I'm entirely willing to believe that this is my own fault. I'd be grateful to anyone who can send me a brief summary (or even an FAQ) that answers any of my story questions about both games. I fear that the answer to some question might not be "because it made sense to the character", but rather, "because we needed some extra tension".
Also, it is just me, or does Sora like Riku more than Kairi? It reminded me of Back to the Future, where Doc and Marty go around having adventures, leaving Marty's girlfriend passed out on a porch somewhere.
Tron
Awesome.
Awesome.
Gameplay
I like the system of ability points, that allow you to customize the active abilities of each character. I used the commands that allowed me to close in on an enemy (either in the air, or on land), quite a bit. I especially liked being able to set general rules for how the entire party battled (e.g. target separate enemies, target Sora's enemy, etc.)
I never really understood limits (mostly my fault, I'm sure), I only used Magic for curing myself (with a few ignorable exceptions), and I barely used Summon at all.
The features of the game that I didn't use might explain why the game occassionally felt like a button-mashing competition. I could eat dinner with one hand, and fight a battle with another (just pressing the X button repeatedly). In fact, there are at least three battles that come to mind (Beast, Ursula, MCP) that incorporated the "Hit this button as many times as you can" challenge.
Not to say that this game is all about pushing buttons quickly. It's also about pushing buttons at the right time.
I like the system of ability points, that allow you to customize the active abilities of each character. I used the commands that allowed me to close in on an enemy (either in the air, or on land), quite a bit. I especially liked being able to set general rules for how the entire party battled (e.g. target separate enemies, target Sora's enemy, etc.)
I never really understood limits (mostly my fault, I'm sure), I only used Magic for curing myself (with a few ignorable exceptions), and I barely used Summon at all.
The features of the game that I didn't use might explain why the game occassionally felt like a button-mashing competition. I could eat dinner with one hand, and fight a battle with another (just pressing the X button repeatedly). In fact, there are at least three battles that come to mind (Beast, Ursula, MCP) that incorporated the "Hit this button as many times as you can" challenge.
Not to say that this game is all about pushing buttons quickly. It's also about pushing buttons at the right time.
Tournaments
So, you want me to spend time playing tournaments, but I don't get any experience? No thanks, I'll play with Pooh instead.
So, you want me to spend time playing tournaments, but I don't get any experience? No thanks, I'll play with Pooh instead.
Frustrations
I was really frustrated by the random Heartless form. I would try to do one thing (e.g. change into a form that I could use to defeat an enemy), but the game would randomly switch me to a much less useful form instead. And then I'd die.
In a few battles, this eventually drove me to not using forms at all, for fear that I would randomly get killed. Not very satisfying.
The random "get saved by Mickey", though? Awesome. That's the way to do random, as an extra bonus, not as a detour away from a strategy you're trying to employ.
I was really frustrated by the random Heartless form. I would try to do one thing (e.g. change into a form that I could use to defeat an enemy), but the game would randomly switch me to a much less useful form instead. And then I'd die.
In a few battles, this eventually drove me to not using forms at all, for fear that I would randomly get killed. Not very satisfying.
The random "get saved by Mickey", though? Awesome. That's the way to do random, as an extra bonus, not as a detour away from a strategy you're trying to employ.
Bugs
Nothing major, but I was able to finish a Pirates adventure (get 4 coins) without getting all of the coins. I simply walked past (not defeated) the enemy that was supposed to drop the 3rd coin, defeated the enemy with the 4th coin, and then I was done.
There was a bug with the Struggle as well. I defeated my opponent, getting all 200 of the orbs, and the words "You win!" came on the screen, but Sora sighed as if he had lost, and I got the "quit/try again" options.
Nothing major, but I was able to finish a Pirates adventure (get 4 coins) without getting all of the coins. I simply walked past (not defeated) the enemy that was supposed to drop the 3rd coin, defeated the enemy with the 4th coin, and then I was done.
There was a bug with the Struggle as well. I defeated my opponent, getting all 200 of the orbs, and the words "You win!" came on the screen, but Sora sighed as if he had lost, and I got the "quit/try again" options.
Ending
The final battles were unrelated to any progress that had been made during the game (the boardgame Monsters Menance America has a similar flaw), and there were not enough save points at the end. Don't attempt the ending if you have to go anywhere in the next few hours - you'll end up leaving your Playstation on all day until you can come back and finish the game.
The final battles were unrelated to any progress that had been made during the game (the boardgame Monsters Menance America has a similar flaw), and there were not enough save points at the end. Don't attempt the ending if you have to go anywhere in the next few hours - you'll end up leaving your Playstation on all day until you can come back and finish the game.
Overall? Meh.
posted by FlyingSheep @ 8:16 AM
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