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Kingdom Hearts: best to worst?



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Larxene012

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I never realized how hit n' miss 3D was for a lot of people. I didn't think it was on the level of KH2, BBS and KH1 but I still thought it was a really good game. The thing that gets me is how people hated the gameplay. I thought it was awesome.
i theorize its because people played other games before kh1.
 

Max

"There's always money in the banana stand."
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1. Kingdom Hearts
2. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
3. Kingdom Hearts II
4. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
5. Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded
6. Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
7. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
8. Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories
9. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

For those that would like explanation:

1. Kingdom Hearts: This is mostly out of nostalgia probably, but damn does that game have a special place in my heart. I remember feeling so proud of myself when I beat it as a child, and even prouder when I finally one hundred percented the game on Expert. Of course, I thought the Final Mix version was better, it was just more content and a few added mechanics. I even went so far as to plat Final Mix on PS3, but even with all of the time I put into that, there's no way it rivals my playtime of the original. It was my first PS2 game, and I didn't have a memory card when I first got it, so I had to restart the game everytime I wanted to play unless I kept my PS2 running (but it froze every now and again). After a couple weeks, I got my memory card and I was set!

2. KH: DDD: This game exceeded my expectations. The story was awesome, we got a slew of new worlds, and TWEWY characters! Flowmotion was a welcome addition, and the game was just fun! I especially loved Riku's story, it was nice to see him get some spotlight. It was the handheld that felt the most like a console game to me, and it was a fantastic lead-in to what will be Kingdom Hearts III.

3. Kingdom Hearts II: Wow, I ranked this higher than I thought I would. The story was great, I had waited so long for the game to finally be released that I thought I was going to die of excitement when I picked it up from the store. I sat down with it, and it was the only thing I paid attention to for 2 days. I plowed through the story in a single weekend, and while it was fantastic, I became disappointed that I didn't let myself enjoy it over a period of time. After going through it again, this time on Proud, I was disappointed at how the game really lacked any challenge. The magic of the story from my previous playthrough slipped away as I hundred percented the game in a matter of weeks, whereas the first game took me more than a year to figure everything out and overcome the challenges. I think the story and the Final Mix let me cut this game a lot of slack though, and it still managed to grab number 3 from me.

4. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep: Great gameplay, great story, but a lot of things just felt off to me. I think the fact that Aqua's story lacked the depth of the other two really bothered me, with her only really feeling like she held significance at the very end. I played through Terra's story first, and while his story was great, I wasn't able to appreciate the worlds. They felt too small to me, and it wasn't until I started the next story that I realized they were pretty much full-sized worlds with each character only having their own limited access to them. This wouldn't have been too bad if it was a game where we periodically swapped characters, but going through Terra's entire playthrough and looking at the worlds like "is this it?" was kind of a bummer. I know my experience when I finally start up the HD Final Mix I have laying around will be better, I just haven't gotten to it yet. If anything though, I definitely grew attached to the characters and cannot wait to finally learn their fates in KHIII!!!

5. KH Re: Coded: Okay, so this game doesn't have the greatest story of them all? In a rare occurrence, I just did not care. The game was so damn fun that I could not put it down. Honestly, the amazingly fun and addicting gameplay made me care about the mediocre story in a way. The way the gameplay changed from world to world, and how each world had it's own quirk, it made this game probably the most unique of them all! And having a party of Sora, Cloud, and Herc? Just yes! Returning to Castle Oblivion? Yes please! As low as I ranked the CoM games, I loved the idea of Castle Oblivion, and this game did it right! By the time I reached the ending and saw the secret ending, I was in awe, what a setup for a sequel after such a fun experience! This game gets way to much flack. Fuqk it. This game is number 3, move the others down my list.

6. KH: Re:Com Reverse/Rebirth: Yeah, I'm giving this it's own rank. Why? Because I enjoyed it way more than everything I ranked below it. I loved playing as Riku better, and I honestly liked not editing my deck and worrying about CP. For some strange reason, they took game features away from me and I liked it better. Honestly, I think that I felt like I was more able to play it like the other Kingdom Hearts games not having to worry so much about my card positions and whatnot. Also, I just really enjoyed the story. It was a very nice addition to Sora's story, but and addition that I liked better than the base. While I can appreciate the strategy involved in Sora's story, I think I may just resent it more as a whole after finally getting the Platinum trophy for this game on PS3. Fuck that noise, never again.

7. KH: 358/2 Days: Still a stupid title. I was it was just called Kingdom Hearts: Days honestly. We were told that after playing the game, we'd get the title. I had guesses, but I wasn't like "oh I get it." When it was finally explained, I was like okay whatever. Anyway, I'm not ranking this based on the title of the game. I actually really liked Days. I like Xion's character, and I honestly thought the concept of a game about Org. XIII was cool before the game was even announced. What I felt I got out of this game was a decent filler of the story of Roxas over the course of his short life, but where the game failed to deliver was with the other characters. Hardly anyone other than Roxas, Xion, and Axel got fleshed out, and that was a bummer. Multiplayer was a great idea! But I had no one to play with, so yeah. The worlds were meh, and I was very upset by the lack of Final Fantasy characters, not even one. I think the main thing that shined in this game to me was the combat. I liked how each Keyblade had it's own playstyle, and yeah. I hated equipping my level ups though. That was dumb.

8. KH: Re:Com: I pretty much said what I had to say about this in the Reverse/Rebirth section. I think overall, the game just got monotonous. Run through rooms that all look the same with different skins (the only variety based on which card you use), and fight enemies on the same flat battlefield over and over until you're strong enough to proceed. The story was the only real saving grace of this game once the fun in the strategy of building decks and battle wore off, and it got to a point where I just wanted to Calm Bounty my way through every world until I could progress no further. Platting this game was not fun, it was simply a KH-love fueled nightmare.

9. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: I won't bother splitting CoM and Reverse/Rebirth for this one. It's the same as the Re, but on GBA. I just found the Re verision more enjoyable thanks to the cutscenes really. As a kid, I liked this game simply because it was more Kingdom Hearts, but as an adult, chances are slim that I'll ever play through this version again (though I do still have it, just in case).
 

VoidGear.

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1. Kingdom Hearts
The gameplay was a bit clumsy and I hated the gumishipt travel, but other then that, this game was awesome. The worlds still felt like real worlds (e.g. Deep Jungle, even though I didn't like it too much), the story was kinda dark and thrilling, and some of the heartless were even a little creepy. End of the World was an intimidating place which I really liked.
While I can't play this game to much, it's my favorite story-wise.

2. Kingdom Hearts II
Gameplay. ♥
I can't say how many times I completed this game, be it the original release or the final mix version. I just LOVE it for the gameplay, the funny scenes and stuff. The only reason it's not my favorite is because of things like the nobodies who should have been a lot more relevant and that the story itself was a little too "funny" for my liking and the game itself way too easy.
And I've gotta admit, if I didn't love the gameplay as much as I do (which results in me playing it over and over and over and over again), KHII would probably be at least beneath BbS.

3. KH BbS
Even though they're complete idiots, I really like the main characters. I'd never want another game in which all characters go completely different paths and just walk into each other sporadically, but the idea to have three characters with the same goal which turns into different goals was nice.
About being idiots: I always hated how, e.g., Terra and Aqua actually believed Ven would just go home like they told him too. I also found it stupidly unrealistic that Eraqus didn't tell Aqua why Ven needed to come home or at least how exactly important it was. I felt like he just willingly accepted what was going to happen. He knew how dangerous Ventus could be, so why didn't he tell Aqua something like: "Bring Ventus back NOW! Pull him by his ears if needed but just make sure he returns, it's so damn effing important, I mean it!"? Oh, and I never liked his light-obsession like Terra was a brutal monster for having darkness inside him. Pleeease, everyone does. Ok, Ven doesn't. But him, dear Eraqus, you even tried to kill! Hypocrite...
Other than that, the story was a little too dramatic for my liking. Either something sad happened in one of the worlds or TAV had to remember how sad they were about losing each other or whatever. There was like...no real happiness in this game (except for Ventus clobbering people viciously...what a B-Boy).
Still, I liked the gameplay a lot, also the minigames and the worlds you could visit (no Agrabah, YAY).
But of course, best thing last, Vanitas. ♥ Oh fiiinally a villain who doesn't scream like an insane fool when performing a sneak attack on someone. Why is this even a thing? It's like...most villains don't even try to really land a hit...
I really love this character. And I'd sell my soul if that would bring him back in KH3... <3

4. Kingdom Hearts (Re:) Chain of Memories
CoM wasn't really my kind of game, but Re:CoM was kinda cool! *_* Both Sora's and Riku's storymode, even though I found Riku's almost a little TOO hard from time to time...
The gameplay idea was okay, but I had a feeling it got a little too easy to spam powerful attacks in the end and get the right cards (except for the...I think it was enemy cards...I never got that trophy...)

5. Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded
I played this game in Japanese when it came out and I really didn't get anything of the story, but dayum, I liked the gameplay! Especially the ability system was kind of nice.
I replayed it in german and watched the movie of the II.5 ReMIX (which was way too long) and I think the story is okay, but I never really understood why this game was exactly needed. Anyways, the gameplay was cool (even for Nintendo DS which I H.A.T.E.!)

6. Kingdom Hearts 3D
There's three things I really liked about this game:
Seeing Vanitas for one or two seconds ♥♥♥
Being able to play as Riku
Pet my favorite dream eaters
The worlds I liked where The Grid and The World That Never Was. Traverse was okay, but kind of...too big. Story-wise..well, the end was okay, starting in TWTNW, but other than that, it didn't really feel much like a KH game, more like a complete Disney-game with a few KH characters.
Lea as a keyblade-wielder...please, could anyone without that thing be important? Goofy even said it in the end. Will Donald and Goofy (or anyone without that stupid key) ever have important missions?
I won't start with Kairi being summoned by Yen Sid. "Oh, you wield a keyblade, thus you are important enough for me to summon you here now.". Darn it.


7. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
I could start off with writing what I liked about this game but I wouldn't get far. The gameplay was boring, the characters completely dull and it focussed even more on Roxas and Axel than KH II did. The manga did a little better than the game, but whatever.
That stupid board-system where you had to but your abilities and keyblade and stuff...SO ANNOYING. And I'm not gonna talk about that Ruler of the sky a-hole or I'll probably smash my laptop into the next possible wall.
Did I mention I found Xion more than just "unnessecary"?
 

Elysium

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1. KH ~ Easily the best game still, even with its flaws. The only game in the series that didn’t treat Disney a joke or filler.
2. 3D ~ Sora/Riku, flowmotion :D
3. CoM ~ Love the story, the villains, and the combat (even if I prefer the menu in KH1 and KH2 more). It still features the best SDG + Jiminy interaction in the series…which’ll probably be the case forever, unfortunately. Even the repetition of the Disney worlds isn’t so bad, thanks to the script being so strong and the plots being different than in KH1.
4. KH2 ~ Every game from hereon, I always have to grit my teeth through to some degree. This one’s alright, even if the game is still too easy and the level designs are small, linear, and anti-exploration. The villains here are uninteresting (both the Org and Maleficent/Pete) and all the scenes move very…very…slowly…. I’ll probably never see it in a great light, tbh. After the long wait from KH1/CoM, to get a game that basically gives the finger to everything good about the first two. They even managed to suck all the fun out of the Coliseum tournaments, jeez.
5. BbS ~ I only put this above Coded for the Disney worlds and the Command Board. The Castle of Dreams was awesome. Besides that, not a fan of the characters, the multiple scenarios, or the combat.
6. Coded
7. Days ~ Makes a better movie. Even so, what little expectation I had for this game (seeing the Org. members interact) was let down. The game focuses almost entirely on a new character, and the most interesting Org. members (the CoM crew) are only in the game for 3 minutes.
 

Lunarmaster54

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So..

1. Com. Hands down. It introduced me to the series and has a really wonderful story. To this day the Com story is my favorite one.

2. BBS. It's super fun, top notch story, it introduces convienient things like retry button and getting staple abilities like second chance and exp walker early

3. Coded. The ds had way fun gameplay and I loved the story even though it was fillerish. Plus Namine at the end delivers one of my favorite kh lines "I may be gone but my promises to him are forever"

4. Kh1. It's only a little bit in front of kh2 tho. I like the story a little better than 2 and gameplay wise it's harder than 2. But I enjoy the top three more

5. Kh2. It's a step down from kh1 because on my last play through the only challenge on proud mode was the bonus fm content. The story isn't quite as good as the story for kh1 either.

6. Days. Story is interesting enough but gameplay was bland. Much better as a movie. Though the ds version does have some cool stuff not in the hd movie

7. Dream Drop. The story didn't pick up until the end and the gameplay was watered down BBS but with spirits to mess around with. It wasn't very difficult either.

So that's my list. I like them all and this is easily my favorite series of video games. Some are just better than others
 
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Grono

KH ☼ D&D ☼ Music ☼ Wack.
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Damn it, this answer is late :) I was going to answer a few days ago, but I was on vacation and didn't want to write this on the metro in DC, so I waited until I got home to my laptop to write it :D First off, I'm not putting in DDD, since I haven't played it and I have hardly watched any cutscenes, so it wouldn't be fair to give an opinion on it so soon. Otherwise, here's my list:

1.Kingdom Hearts (final mix)
This is almost every ones number one pick, and for good reason. On top of a good atmosphere, memorable and relevant characters, a simple story, charming theme, and likable main cast, this game didn't have much to hate on at all. Its premise was simple enough so that people not familiar with either two properties could still get attracted, and even introduced (such as me to nightmare before christmas and final fantasy), to this new fantasy world, but also mysterious enough so you could always be left asking questions. Not to mention some of the graphics in the first game had a homely charm to them. I don't know what it is about Traverse Town being perpetually nighttime, but it left me feeling so much more homely than the "hub" world of Hollow Bastion in KHII. Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone wanting to get hooked into the series, since this game left me hooked as a kid and I know that some of my friends in high school over the years have also gotten hooked as teenagers as well (although I don't recommend them to do proud mode right away!).
2. Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
On top of the beautiful new graphics, the stellar voice acting, and wonderfully touching story, I really don't see why people hate this game so god damn much! I know that people have troubles with the battle system, and while, like the BBS system, I really grew to enjoy its complexity while other people grew to hate it, I must admit that, especially for a new person, it is a bit odd. However, I really really like the voice acting in this title, like it totally blew any of HJO's previous work out of the water when I played through it, and Sora's personality is so much more believable in this title than in others, hence why his personality in this game is definitely the one that I prefer over any other Sora personality. However, the worlds, especially for Riku's story, do get tedious and boring, and I can understand why the lack of exploration like the original can be off-putting for new players and old players alike. So, while it does have more flaws than the original, I found it to be a really great title nevertheless, and I will be damned if any one person can take that opinion away from me.
3. Kingdom Hearts II (final mix)
Despite the game losing its charm that it did when I first played it in 2006, I have to say that I do still enjoy playing the title to this day. However, it has way more flaws than the previous two games, and some of them, I have to admit, can be game-breaking to certain people 'coughcoughIGNNEWSTEAMcoughcough.' Now, onto why I don't like some aspects of the game: despite the game, for the most part, being ridiculously easy, some parts are really really hard. For example, did they have to include the assault rider heartless so f***ing close to the beginning of the game? Those bastards cost me SO many deaths. But on top of that, most of the game is left far too easy unless you go to critical/proud mode, a problem the original never had. Because of this problem, the variety of attacks that increased since the first game are posed unnecessary due to the fact that this game is WAY more of a button-masher than kingdom hearts. Seriously, you can go through the entire game with just valor form, shortcut for cure, and the x button and you'll pretty much make it through without dying. However, there is things that I liked; despite the tutorial that was WAY too long, Roxas' story was actually pretty strong all the way through; even though his story is slightly stepped on by the presence of Days, it still stood strong in the game back then, and, in my humble opinion, it still stands out strong in the game today. Plus, the game had Ansem the Wise and Namine in it, two of the best characters in the series. Also, RIKU AS A PARTY MEMBER ARGGGHHHHH.
4. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (final mix)
When I first played through Aqua's story of this game, I was sure that this was going to be higher on the list. Sure enough, Terra basically dragged it all downhill for us. Why is it so hated among me, though? Is it because of characters like Vanitas, Eraqus, and Xehanort? Nope, I found that all of those actors for those characters did excellent, and each character was intriguing in their own right, to say the least. Was it Aqua? Not necessarily, since in the secret ending and the Final Episode she REALLY pulled herself together and become really awesome! Was it Ventus? Hell, even I can't blame Ventus. I mean, Jesse McCartney is the only one of the three main voice actors for the trio that seemed to be trying the whole time, and, for what it's worth, he did really well! Plus, Ventus' story with Vanitas was cool to watch unfold. It was all f***ing Terra. On top of the abysmal voice acting, horrible writing, cliched attempts of trying to build character with Ven & Aqua even when he showed no signs of connecting with them at all, and his gullibility, Terra's playthrough was really a tipping point for me since I hated the character so much. Seriously, that's the best his voice actor could do? Good god. However, I did give my share of praises with the title too, on top of the excellent gameplay, so I guess i can't completely dump on it.
5. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (movie) & Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (movie & game)
So, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days fits very close to BBS and Re:Coded on this list for one reason: its movie is not worth the price of admission. Sure, I walked out near the end feeling bad for the characters, but as far as a movie goes, I have never come out of any Kingdom Hearts thing feeling so drained of all energy and will for life after sitting through that whole movie straight, all 3 hours... until the Re:Coded movie came along. The Re:Coded movie & game fails in the one concept of the game that it tried so hard to be: relevant. At the end of Castle Oblivion in that game, it tries so hard to be relevant to the series and such, but in reality it is just another lazy, wasted effort at trying to relive the glory of the first game. In the end, I am not saying that I didn't have some good times in either movie, it is just that it was certainly not a good idea to watch the whole thing in a row both times, certainly not a good idea to talk about it for this long, and certainly not worth watching the Re:Coded movie for that little information on the next title. Plus, I heard that the gameplay for 358/2 days was pretty bad (although the Re:Coded gameplay was pretty good!). There is positives, however; 358/2 days did have interest near the end of the movie, and me and my brothers did feel like it was a story that needed to be told in the end (despite it being quite the contrary), Riku was cool in that movie, and the added fight scenes for the Re:Coded movie was a much-needed bonus (although the castle oblivion part was so mind-numbingly boring that the fun of eveything else was sucked out as soon as the movie got there). So, it's not like it's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life, it's just not something I'd plan to do for a while.

Wow, that review went on for a long time! If you read it all, thank you so much, feedback would be very much appreciated! :3 laterrr
 
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I can't speak for the games I haven't been able to play, so I'll just do the 4 I have played:

1. Birth by Sleep - It's mostly older Disney worlds, which is why I love it so much.
2. Kingdom Hearts - The original, so that's kinda self-explanatory.
3. Kingdom Hearts 2 - I didn't like that it didn't have as much Disney in it.
4. Chain of Memories - Hated. I hated the gameplay. I hated the cards. I hated how repetitive it was.
 
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namine_ftw

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1. Kingdom Hearts. The original was wonderful, and did a fantastic job integrating the Disney Worlds into the storyline. The story was simple and straightforward, yet very compelling. I love seeing Sora, Donald and Goofy's friendship develop over the course of the game. The Princesses of Heart were utilized well, and the game as a whole just felt epic. The ending was perfect. The worlds themselves felt alive, and I loved being able to explore the different buildings in Traverse Town and talking with the NPC's there. All in all, a fantastic game.

2. Re:Chain of Memories. This is the only game in the series that I felt actually used the Organization well. I loved the backstabbing and drama going on behind the scenes. I adored Namine (hence my username lol) and thought she was very well-developed, which was great after I was a bit let down with how Kairi's character was handled in KH1. The Org members that appeared here were well-characterized and engaging. Repliku's story definitely tugged on my heartstrings, and I enjoyed watching SDG try to figure out what's real and what's not as they went through the castle. I was never a fan of the card system, but the storyline was solid.

3. KH2. I am well aware this this game has a ton of problems, mainly in regards to its story. The Disney worlds seemed tacked on, and Sora basically watches an abridged version of the movie for every world he goes to, and occasionally encounters an Organization member. Some worlds were used well (Tron, Beast's Castle, Disney Town/Timeless River and the Olympus Coliseum jump to mind). Others...not so much. The game as a whole feels a bit disjointed compared to the first installments, like there were a lot of ideas in production but they had trouble fitting everything into the final product in a coherent way (the part where Riku just hands Kairi a keyblade randomly out of nowhere is just one of many examples). I loved Roxas (when he said his summer vacation was over I actually think I teared up when I first played it) and his story, but after the prologue he basically disappears until the end. I wish he was utilized properly, or at least in a different way. The Organization as whole seemed very shallow, and they lacked presence, especially after CoM.

That being said, I find this game incredibly fun to play. It's the game that got me involved in the fandom, so it will always have a special place in my heart. When this game came out there were a of of debates about the nobodies and whether or not Sora's attitude towards them was was right, and I really liked that moral ambiguity. It has a lot of epic or emotional moments (Auron, Cloud and Squall as back-to-back badasses, Riku and Sora vs. Xemnas, Axel's death, Roxas's ending, going into the Timeless River for the first time, etc.), and I just enjoyed playing the game immensely. The ending was wonderful. If the series ended there, I would have been okay with it.

One thing I should note is that this is the game that introduced us to the idea of Apprentice Xehanort. Honestly, I feel that 90% of the current mess of a plot we have now is due to the decision to make the Ansem we fought in KH1 not "the real" Ansem. Initially when I played KH2 I thought the idea, while a bit confusing at first, was interesting. Xehanort's origins were mysterious, and could lead to interesting story potential. Which brings us to...

4. Birth by Sleep. I'm torn about this game. On paper, the premise sounds fantastic, and when I was reading the spoilers for this game when it first came out in Japan I thought it would be a game to rival KH1. When I actually played it, I was...underwhelmed. Part of it might be due to the hype; after the epic secret ending, I expected an epic game. People kept coming up with crazy and amazing theories, some of which were better than what we got in the actual game. The game I got was just "good."

It's been five years since I played it, but from what I remember I just had trouble connecting with the characters. I have no problems with Aqua's characterization, but I felt like she didn't really do anything significant until the Final Episode. She was basically just trailing after Terra and Ven. I liked playing as her because of her magic, but the storyline itself was boring.

I really, REALLY hated what they did with Terra. Going by his behavior and expressions in the the early trailers, a popular theory was that Terra would fall to darkness to save his friends. That's what I was hoping to happen, but we get body-possessing shenanigans that just make the series more complicated. Terra's character throughout the whole game just...stayed the same, pretty much. He didn't seem to grow or change his outlook on anything. Disappointing overall.

And Ven...ugh. I should probably say here that one of my biggest problems with this series are the alternative versions of Sora and Xehanort running around everywhere. I like Vanitas and Ven as characters just fine, I just hate the fact that we have two more clones. Enough is enough already. I also HATE the X-Blade, and think it is a terrible addition to the series. I just hate the whole idea behind it, it lessens the importance of the Princesses of Heart, and it makes it confusing in cutscenes since "X-Blade" is pronounced the same as "keyblade." I am also incredibly disappointed in the Unversed. They seemed so...unnecessary, like they only existed because the game needed a filler enemy.

I also think the whole idea of the keyblade inheritance ceremony is beyond stupid. Keyblade masters just walk up to random four-year olds and ask them to touch their keyblades. Seriously, wtf? Wait until the kid is at least a teenage before you completely alter their lives. Or at least ask their parents. Sheesh. In KH1 Sora was treated like a big deal because he was "the keyblade's chosen one." Those were the days.
The Lea and Isa cameos were completely pointless, and a waste of space.
As for the positives, I enjoyed the Disney Worlds they choose, though I thought the worlds themselves were too barren due to the lack of NPC's (seriously, they hold a ball for the whole kingdom and the "whole kingdom" apparently consists of only Cinderella's family). The game itself was fun to play, and I liked playing through the different scenarios.

5. Dream Drop Distance. It was a tough choice between this and Days, because I think both are horrible. Note that when I say horrible, I'm talking purely in terms of story. I loved the gameplay in DDD. I liked the Dream Eaters, and I liked switching back between Riku and Sora. But the story and worlds...ugh.

After playing this game, I no longer have any expectations for the future of this franchise. The "revelations" at the end were absolutely horrible. With time travel, the series has officially jumped the shark, if it didn't already. I hated the "true purpose" of Organization XIII; in fact, I think that's my most loathed "revelation"/retcon, even more than Xion. And Lea being a keyblade wielder, seriously? Anyone remember when the keyblade used to be special?
Also, wtf was up with the Three Musketeers world? Sora went to Disney Castle in KH2, so the world couldn't be lost. So how the heck does it exist in the Realm of Sleep? I mean, I'm assuming it was a past version of the Disney Castle world considering that Minnie was the princess and the anthromorphic animals and whatnot. That whole part was just confusing.

I'm also bitter at this game because it butchered one of my favorite Disney movies, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was waiting for a Hunchback world for years, and what we got was beyond disappointing. Notre Dame is supposed to be bustling with people! There's supposed to be an entire gypsy hideout! There's supposed to be a festival! WTF happened here?! The whole world just felt so hollow and watered down.
The only reason this game is above Days is because I thought it was ok (not great but not awful) up until the infodump near the end. Days was bad (imo) for the majority of the game.

6. Days. This game was advertised as Roxas's time in the Organization so I expected the game to focus, y'know, on Roxas and his interactions with the Organization. Nomura should have just called the game Kingdom Hearts: Xion and be upfront about it. To say that I despise Xion's insertion into the series would be a massive understatement. I had no problems, conceptually, with a girl shoved into the Organization and the Axel-Roxas dynamic, needless as it may have been. What I do have a problem with is her nonsensical origin (ANOTHER Sora? Seriously? Like we don't have anough of those already), her bland personality, and how she monopolizes 95% of the game. DiZ and Riku decide to wait on their asses for a year while they're aware Xion is interfering with the memory recovery process why, exactly? Characters become stupid in order to accomodate the forced plot. This was the game for us to learn more about the Organization. Xemas rarely appears (and I don't understand why. They could have done SO MUCH with him and Roxas, especially in light of BBS), you can't really explore anything in TWTNW besides that one grey room, and all the other Org members not named Axel, Roxas, Xion, or Saix are overlooked. We STILL don't know anything about members 9-12! So much wasted potential...

It wasn't all bad though. I liked the dialogue in the game, and I thought the backstory between Axel nd Saix was very interesting. The manga actually fixes a lot of my problems with the game, since it actually gave focus to more Organization members than just RAX.
 

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In KH1 Sora was treated like a big deal because he was "the keyblade's chosen one." Those were the days.
The whole point of KH1 was that he wasn't the Keyblade's chosen one, tho. That he wasn't special or destined. Why do people keep seeming to forget this point in their KH1 nostalgia?

Anyone remember when the keyblade used to be special?
Given that there were three different wielders and keyblades in KH1 alone... no? Not really?

Also, wtf was up with the Three Musketeers world? Sora went to Disney Castle in KH2, so the world couldn't be lost. So how the heck does it exist in the Realm of Sleep?
I think the bigger ???? was the fact that the Mysterious Tower existed in the Sleeping Realm lol.

I'm also bitter at this game because it butchered one of my favorite Disney movies, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was waiting for a Hunchback world for years, and what we got was beyond disappointing. Notre Dame is supposed to be bustling with people! There's supposed to be an entire gypsy hideout! There's supposed to be a festival! WTF happened here?! The whole world just felt so hollow and watered down.
This applies to literally every world in the series. They really aren't good at making the worlds feel alive and lived in. Definitely one of my biggest complaints that never gets addressed. Even KH3 so far is shown even bigger, emptier worlds (though they claim it will be different, with NPCs being able to assist in battle and stuff, but we'll see...)

6. Days. This game was advertised as Roxas's time in the Organization so I expected the game to focus, y'know, on Roxas and his interactions with the Organization. Nomura should have just called the game Kingdom Hearts: Xion and be upfront about it. To say that I despise Xion's insertion into the series would be a massive understatement. I had no problems, conceptually, with a girl shoved into the Organization and the Axel-Roxas dynamic, needless as it may have been. What I do have a problem with is her nonsensical origin (ANOTHER Sora? Seriously? Like we don't have anough of those already), her bland personality, and how she monopolizes 95% of the game. DiZ and Riku decide to wait on their asses for a year while they're aware Xion is interfering with the memory recovery process why, exactly? Characters become stupid in order to accomodate the forced plot. This was the game for us to learn more about the Organization. Xemas rarely appears (and I don't understand why. They could have done SO MUCH with him and Roxas, especially in light of BBS), you can't really explore anything in TWTNW besides that one grey room, and all the other Org members not named Axel, Roxas, Xion, or Saix are overlooked. We STILL don't know anything about members 9-12! So much wasted potential...
Yes to all of this though.
 

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Audo said:
The whole point of KH1 was that he wasn't the Keyblade's chosen one, tho. That he wasn't special or destined. Why do people keep seeming to forget this point in their KH1 nostalgia?
I think namine_ftw only meant that Sora had a purpose in KH1, although it was more about sealing Keyholes than being a chosen one.

Audo said:
Given that there were three different wielders and keyblades in KH1 alone... no? Not really?
Three wielders, but only two at the same time (Sora couldn't carry the Keyblade whenever RIku was holding it, and vice versa). Two versus, what, 20+ is a pretty big difference.

namine_ftw said:
I loved Roxas (when he said his summer vacation was over I actually think I teared up when I first played it) and his story, but after the prologue he basically disappears until the end. I wish he was utilized properly, or at least in a different way.
You know, thinking about it, they really could've done more with Roxas throughout KH2. Perhaps with Sora having moments similar to how, in KH1 when Kairi's heart was inside him, he would see her in Merlin's house, "recognize" the castle slide in Deep Jungle because of Kairi's memories of HB, or "remember" Kairi's grandmother's tale, etc. It would've fit in with a lot of the Disney worlds there with having characters who felt their identities were "divided" in a sense (Aladdin being a street rat, but soon a prince; Beast being a prince inside, but a monster on the outside; Jack Skellington being the Pumpkin King, but wanting to run Christmas; TRON having to "die" to save Space Paranoids, like Roxas did to save Sora; Ariel and Eric combining two worlds; etc.). I remember writing something similar to how Riku could relate to certain Disney characters in CoM. It's really not difficult; I wonder why the writers never do more with the Disney worlds in that way.
 

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Tartarus said:
You know, thinking about it, they really could've done more with Roxas throughout KH2. Perhaps with Sora having moments similar to how, in KH1 when Kairi's heart was inside him

Honestly that would've been a far preferable way to tell Roxas' story and motivations. Though I think it'd be more fitting to have Sora have dream scenes where we got glimpses of Roxas life the same way Roxas did Soras at the start.
 

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The real downfall of KH2 is that all of the actually interesting characters are shoved into a closet for 90% of the game, with their stories only being covered or alluded to in supplementary novels. Riku, Naminé, DiZ, Kairi, Roxas, Axel, etc all had far more engaging stories and potential developments going on than the one Sora had and they were never really shown. It's ridiculous. I worry that KH3 will suffer the same fate as the stories of Riku, Mickey, Kairi and Lea are likely hidden away while Sora plays through Disney movie plots. :/
 
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The real downfall of KH2 is that all of the actually interesting characters are shoved into a closet for 90% of the game, with their stories only being covered or alluded to in supplementary novels. Riku, Naminé, DiZ, Kairi, Roxas, Axel, etc all had for more engaging stories and potential developments going on than the one Sora had and they were never really shown. It's ridiculous. I worry that KH3 will suffer the same fate as the stories of Riku, Mickey, Kairi and Lea are likely hidden away while Sora plays through Disney movie plots. :/

...did someone just acknowledge that Kairi's story was interesting in KHII? THANK YOU AUDO!
 

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...did someone just acknowledge that Kairi's story was interesting in KHII? THANK YOU AUDO!
Well, I'm more saying it had the potential to be interesting. What we were actually shown was not that interesting, lol. But so much of her story is cut-out. We learn secondhand that she escaped from Axel. Why wasn't this shown? We learn from BBSv2 that she explored the Old Mansion with Hayner and Co. Why was this not shown? Etc.
 

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Well, I'm more saying it had the potential to be interesting. What we were actually shown was not that interesting, lol. But so much of her story is cut-out. We learn secondhand that she escaped from Axel. Why wasn't this shown? We learn from BBSv2 that she explored the Old Mansion with Hayner and Co. Why was this not shown? Etc.

It wasn't shown because they had to shove everything organization XIII into the second half of the game. Duh. It would have been way too revolutionary for them to show a secondary character interacting outside of her environment and becoming more of a person, right?
 

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lol even the organization suffered from not being shown. That's why like 90% of the added cutscenes in KH2:FM were Round Room meetings.

the game is just not good, lol.
 

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lol even the organization suffered from not being shown. That's why like 90% of the added cutscenes in KH2:FM were Round Room meetings.

the game is just not good, lol.

It's rushed, that's what I call it. You know what games aren't good? Takeshi's Challenge. Starfox Adventures. Bootlegged Pokemon Games. I consider KHII a masterpiece compared to some games I've seen (and yes, all of those are reviewed by JonTron lol)
 
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