There are many threads detailing the flaws Kingdom Hearts has, mostly post KHII entries. And I'll be honest, in 2012 I would have easily dismissed any point anyone would try and make as being hypercritical, because that's just how much I loved the series. It was extremely easy for me to turn a blind eye to any flaw KH has, no matter how glaring that flaw might be. I don't know exactly when the tables were turned in my mind, but they sure as hell have. I can't watch a new trailer or anything pertaining to KH's future without scoffing and immediately finding something to pick apart.
I think that it really all started with KHIIFM and its secret ending. I watched it more times than I'd like to admit. The hype I had created within my mind for Birth by Sleep was unfathomable. There was a seductive darkness, a darkness the series had never even come close to. Dialogue was nonexistent yet by the end I felt like Terra, Ventus and Aqua were the actual protagonists all along and Sora was some frumpy supporting role. The despair the trio had was basically tangible, things looked absolutely hopeless, things couldn't have possibly gotten any worse so in a paradoxical sense hope was birthed from that despair. And then... The actual game happened. It felt watered down. The darkness was gone, there really wasn't any impending doom, and the chemistry they seemed to have had was nonexistent. And in conclusion we were left with more questions than answers, which has become a staple for this series. That wouldn't really be an issue if Nomura wouldn't incessantly dangle the notion of finally getting those answers over our, rather, my head. I don't want to speak for anyone else, these are only my opinions after all. And yes, I know, Kingdom Hearts has never had a simplistic story by any means, but I do believe there is a difference between complicated/psychologically thrilling and just being a downright convoluted mess. The worst part is, a plot device like time travel was not a necessity for the story to progress, especially not with the "laws" that govern time travel in the KH universe, it just adds insult to injury. Nomura is guilty of the same thing his character is, he's being messy and rushing things along much like Xehanort did in Birth by Sleep. It's obvious he is trying to create an antagonist in the style of other villains such as Voldemort or maybe even Orochimaru. I honestly can't decide if he is trying to make Xehanort come off as pragmatic, cold and calculating or just another villain that got ahead of himself and creates his own demise without much help from the protagonist. I'm sorry, but I'll never believe his bluffs, he's making shit up as it happens creating excruciatingly painful plot holes with each new installment. Maybe he never thought people would love KH as much as they do? That's certainly not a completely outlandish idea, who could've predicted the success of a Disney/Final Fantasy love-child? It was a huge risk, there really is no doubting that.
And now I'd like to rant about gameplay. I'm a bookworm, and I've grown up playing Final Fantasy, so gameplay will pretty much always come second to the presentation of the narrative and whether or not each entry is cohesively relevant to that narrative. But I'm gonna bitch about it anyways.
One advantage to making a video game is that it's made up of two parts, essentially, story and gameplay. If the story isn't that great, the gameplay could be its saving grace and vice versa. For me, KH is slowly deteriorating in both categories. We went from flashy, well-balanced, smooth gameplay to laughably simplistic gameplay. In KHII, we had combo modifiers, limits, drive forms, decent magic, etc. Yes, most people go for button mashing, that's true, but so much more was possible if you took the time to explore your options and nothing was necessarily better than the other. And then there's the command deck era. You'd be wasting a large portion of your time if you actually wanted to take out enemies using normal combos. They're sluggish, repetitive and in most boss battles, they'll get you killed. Sure, there are some beautiful and bad ass commands but seldom are they actually useful. That issue boils down to shitty enemy/boss AI's and little to no invincibility frames during the aforementioned flashy commands. Dealing with mobs? Magnega(Zero-Graviza for 3D)+Thundaga, rinse and repeat. Bosses? Seeker-mines(Balloon/ra/ga for 3D) and homing projectile spells like Firaga and spamming your dodge commands, except for you, Terra, you're shit out of luck. Flow-Motion is fun and addicting but you could spam that for the first half of the game and then it becomes extremely gimmicky and useless during end game bosses. Also, the fact that it went from being gold on Sora and white on Riku to just being pink ticks me off for some reason. There are literally bosses in these games that NEVER, EVER stagger. And because of that, command style changes and Riku's dream eater links are virtually pointless because there's a good chance the enemy/boss will break out of your combo and you'll most likely never get to use the finishing move... Ever. That's not making a boss hard, that's making the boss broke as fuck, pardon the profanity.
With all that said, I'd like to reiterate that these are just my opinions, I won't parade them as fact or act like they are. That's why I'm hoping I can talk to you guys about it, explore our differences of opinion and why they are such in a civil manner.
I desperately want to be excited for KHIII again. Like in those leaked documents, I believe the quote is "This is a story that happened in a world that exists only if you believe it exists" I want to believe in this series again, as sappy as that sounds.
(One more thing, am I the only one that thinks Birth by Sleep would make more sense as the title for Dream Drop Distance? Considering its mythos and what-not)
I think that it really all started with KHIIFM and its secret ending. I watched it more times than I'd like to admit. The hype I had created within my mind for Birth by Sleep was unfathomable. There was a seductive darkness, a darkness the series had never even come close to. Dialogue was nonexistent yet by the end I felt like Terra, Ventus and Aqua were the actual protagonists all along and Sora was some frumpy supporting role. The despair the trio had was basically tangible, things looked absolutely hopeless, things couldn't have possibly gotten any worse so in a paradoxical sense hope was birthed from that despair. And then... The actual game happened. It felt watered down. The darkness was gone, there really wasn't any impending doom, and the chemistry they seemed to have had was nonexistent. And in conclusion we were left with more questions than answers, which has become a staple for this series. That wouldn't really be an issue if Nomura wouldn't incessantly dangle the notion of finally getting those answers over our, rather, my head. I don't want to speak for anyone else, these are only my opinions after all. And yes, I know, Kingdom Hearts has never had a simplistic story by any means, but I do believe there is a difference between complicated/psychologically thrilling and just being a downright convoluted mess. The worst part is, a plot device like time travel was not a necessity for the story to progress, especially not with the "laws" that govern time travel in the KH universe, it just adds insult to injury. Nomura is guilty of the same thing his character is, he's being messy and rushing things along much like Xehanort did in Birth by Sleep. It's obvious he is trying to create an antagonist in the style of other villains such as Voldemort or maybe even Orochimaru. I honestly can't decide if he is trying to make Xehanort come off as pragmatic, cold and calculating or just another villain that got ahead of himself and creates his own demise without much help from the protagonist. I'm sorry, but I'll never believe his bluffs, he's making shit up as it happens creating excruciatingly painful plot holes with each new installment. Maybe he never thought people would love KH as much as they do? That's certainly not a completely outlandish idea, who could've predicted the success of a Disney/Final Fantasy love-child? It was a huge risk, there really is no doubting that.
And now I'd like to rant about gameplay. I'm a bookworm, and I've grown up playing Final Fantasy, so gameplay will pretty much always come second to the presentation of the narrative and whether or not each entry is cohesively relevant to that narrative. But I'm gonna bitch about it anyways.
One advantage to making a video game is that it's made up of two parts, essentially, story and gameplay. If the story isn't that great, the gameplay could be its saving grace and vice versa. For me, KH is slowly deteriorating in both categories. We went from flashy, well-balanced, smooth gameplay to laughably simplistic gameplay. In KHII, we had combo modifiers, limits, drive forms, decent magic, etc. Yes, most people go for button mashing, that's true, but so much more was possible if you took the time to explore your options and nothing was necessarily better than the other. And then there's the command deck era. You'd be wasting a large portion of your time if you actually wanted to take out enemies using normal combos. They're sluggish, repetitive and in most boss battles, they'll get you killed. Sure, there are some beautiful and bad ass commands but seldom are they actually useful. That issue boils down to shitty enemy/boss AI's and little to no invincibility frames during the aforementioned flashy commands. Dealing with mobs? Magnega(Zero-Graviza for 3D)+Thundaga, rinse and repeat. Bosses? Seeker-mines(Balloon/ra/ga for 3D) and homing projectile spells like Firaga and spamming your dodge commands, except for you, Terra, you're shit out of luck. Flow-Motion is fun and addicting but you could spam that for the first half of the game and then it becomes extremely gimmicky and useless during end game bosses. Also, the fact that it went from being gold on Sora and white on Riku to just being pink ticks me off for some reason. There are literally bosses in these games that NEVER, EVER stagger. And because of that, command style changes and Riku's dream eater links are virtually pointless because there's a good chance the enemy/boss will break out of your combo and you'll most likely never get to use the finishing move... Ever. That's not making a boss hard, that's making the boss broke as fuck, pardon the profanity.
With all that said, I'd like to reiterate that these are just my opinions, I won't parade them as fact or act like they are. That's why I'm hoping I can talk to you guys about it, explore our differences of opinion and why they are such in a civil manner.
I desperately want to be excited for KHIII again. Like in those leaked documents, I believe the quote is "This is a story that happened in a world that exists only if you believe it exists" I want to believe in this series again, as sappy as that sounds.
(One more thing, am I the only one that thinks Birth by Sleep would make more sense as the title for Dream Drop Distance? Considering its mythos and what-not)