[POLL] What's your least favorite Kingdom Hearts game in the series?

[Lea]

The title explains itself. Which KH game is your least favorite? (Chi is not included in this list, and I'm talking about the latest installments of the game, not counting cutscene only remasters) I know these posts are common, but I needed to make another.

 

[kuraudoVII]

As I haven't had a chance to play every single game yet (those games being 3D as well as Days and both versions of coded), I can't really vote for a specific game. That being said, based on the games that I have played, I'd kind of have to lean towards II with Chain of Memories following somewhat behind. For II, the lack of story cohesion and the fact that there was literally no thought towards the combat made it fall a little out of favor for me. For Chain of Memories, even though there is technically more strategy involved, it still boiled down to me spamming the same bloody thing (for the original, it was a bunch of 9 and 0 cards in Sora's campaign and the Dark Sleights for Riku's; in the remake, it was constantly spamming Sonic Blade and Lethal Frame for Sora's campaign and the Dark Sleights and Deck Battles for Riku's). I'm not saying that they are terrible games by any means since I am still able to get enjoyment out of them even to this day, but there are better games in the series.

 

[Elysium]

If I had to rank them:

1. Kingdom Hearts
2. Dream Drop Distance
3. Chain of Memories
4. Re:Coded
5. Kingdom Hearts II
6. Birth by Sleep
7. 358/2 Days

To be honest, I enjoy Days' story more than that of BbS, but the structure of receiving a little bit of story + new mission repeatedly isn't conducive to an interesting game. I do like what they do with the Disney worlds in BbS, but that's about it. You're saddled with 3 characters who I have lukewarm interest in, 3 individual stories which--while they meant well (like the 2nd time visits in KH2) to give us more game to play--makes the game last even longer than I would've wanted. Not to mention the overall coldness and emptiness that pervades the game for me. It's mostly because there are no party members, but probably more so because the characters themselves don't have personalities that fill the void like Sora, Riku, or even Roxas do.

Kingdom Hearts II is a fun game if you cut out the Disney worlds entirely. And since part of the reason I play these games is to see interesting things done with the Disney worlds/characters, of course that doesn't lend it to me anyway. Throw in all the other issues, and that's why it's so low for me.

Re:Coded and CoM have the re-hash going on (the former is worse than the latter in that regard, imo), but I feel like they each provide strengths to balance that out--I especially think the writing of the re-hashed Disney levels fun, which makes the repeat less difficult to deal with. CoM utilizes the Organization better than the other games they're featured in, and the interaction between Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy (and Mickey and Riku on the flip side) makes that game one of my favorites.

Kingdom Hearts and Dream Drop Distance are the two games that encapsulate best what I look for in this series--interesting Disney levels and Sora-Riku interaction. Of course, I think they do more with the Disney (and FF) characters in the original game than the latter, so that's why I rank it higher. Plus, DDD is bogged down by the Xehanort melodrama at the end.

 

[axel95]

My ranking, number one being my favorite:
1. Kingdom Hearts II
2. Birth by Sleep
3. Dream Drop Distance
4. 358/2 Days
5. Kingdom Hearts I
6. Re:Coded
7. Re: Chain of Memories

Please note that this is my favorites list, these rankings don't exactly reflect my opinion on what the best game of the series is.

Kingdom Hearts II was the first RPG I played, and I loved it. It is the reason why I'm a gamer. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is the best game in the series by any means. But it is still my favorite.

Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance are really tied for second. They both significantly changed the series and made it more complex, too complex actually. Both have very solid stories and gameplay, even though Birth by Sleep can get repetitive.

358/2 Days drags at times, but RAX is my favorite trio of the series, and I enjoy the game's story very much.

I have never ever been a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts I, but getting the platinum trophy for it in 1.5 gave me a new appreciation for it. Maybe it's because I played the series out of order, but I just don't like it as much as most people.

Re:Coded took rehash to a new level. Re:Chain of Memories was bad, but this is worse. The redeeming factor for it is the gameplay and leveling system. This has the best gameplay of the series if you ask me.

I enjoy the card system in Re:Chain of Memories. You have to use strategy in your battles, which I like. What I don't like is the some of the room synthesis requirements at the end of the game and the fact that you'll have to spend significant time level grinding at some point in Sora and Riku's story. No matter how many times I play it, I find it a struggle to get through this game.

 

[Ruran]

I'll elaborate more later, but for now the short of it:

1. Kingdom Hearts
2. Re:Coded
3. Re:Chain of Memories
4. Kingdom Hearts 2
5. Birth by Sleep
6. Days

From favorite to least favorite. Haven't played 3D yet so I have no proper place to put it. Days I consider my least favorite because it was just so tedious. The story was slow, the characters were boring, and the gameplay was literally painful. Those types of action games were just not meant for the DS...

 

[KingdomKey]

From favorite to least favorite:

1. Re: Chain of Memories
2. Birth by Sleep
3. Dream Drop Distance
4. Kingdom Hearts II
5. Kingdom Hearts
6. 358/2 Days

I haven't played Re:Coded. Therefore, it won't be added to my ranking.

 

[Gram]

While I have issues with many of them the only one that I truly dislike greatly over the others is Days. Days...Days was just bad...

 

[Zettaflare]

Coded hands down. While I know its relevant to the story (especially after 2.5), I just didn't care about the game at all. Character wise or story wise. Data Sora and Data Riku bored me and I didn't find the story to have a whole lot of substance. While days had a lot of problems, I honestly thought it was so much better than coded

 

[Zephyr]

I think my least favorite would be either Days or Re:coded but when I say least favorite, it doesn't necessarily mean that I hate them, it just means that their level of construction isn't as good in comparison to the others.

 

[gamerobber7]

Let's see here. 1 is my favorite while 7 is my least favorite.

1. Kingdom Hearts
2. Kingdom Hearts 2
3. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
4. Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
5. Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded
6. Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (either version fits here)
7. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

While Days has a great story and the panel system was an interesting idea it's not enough to save the game. Lack of mission variety and the overall gameplay makes it feel like it takes forever to complete the game.

Chain of Memories has great interactions between SDG and Jiminy (who gets his first big role in the series in this game) and the Organization interactions were fun as well. The card system required some strategy but all of those floors along with lack of room variety causes it to become somewhat boring after a while.

Re: Coded is a lot of fun. I really enjoy it. The character interactions and variety of gameplay styles gave me tons to enjoy about it. The only problems I had with it were the rehash of KH1 worlds and lack of major importance to the overall story.

DDD has flowmotion and major story importance, as well as the ability to play as both Sora and Riku. It ranks in the middle for me because I didn't much care for the Dream Eaters aspect of the game. I know they were trying something different but personally I would have been fine with Donald and Goofy as party members again.

Birth By Sleep had a lot of combat options (what with the Shotlocks, Command Styles, and D-Links) along with the Command Board. I enjoyed the story of all 3 characters too. I just felt it a little monotonous to go to the same exact worlds, albeit to some different areas, with TAV.

KH1 and 2 both rank at the top because I never seem to tire playing either one while I do with some of the other titles in the series. Despite its multiple faults I still thoroughly enjoy KH2 but it's because of those that KH1 beats it out. The story, characters, and gameplay are always engaging to me and it will always be my favorite.

 

[Kazr10]

358/2 Days.


I have a serious OCD so I have a tendency to arrange my panels in a specific order. I spent at least 6hrs every time I organize my panels just to get all the shapes to fit according to my order and make sure every panel is used........

I know it's my fault, but this factor brings nothing but nightmare to me whenever I think about Days.....imagine my joy when I found out it's movie in 1.5.

 

[Xehanort-X-blade]

recoded needed more cutscenes only but gameplay was good and the one i hate the most is RCOM battle is annoying my cards always gets reject when he use stronger card the point is RCOM the worst

 

[The_Echo]

Days will always and forever be my least favorite.

Mainly because, unlike every other game, I actively hate just about everything in Days. The gameplay is atrocious in so many different ways. In a word, it's tedious. The Heartless and bosses are nothing but HP sponges (I replayed it a few months ago, fought Xion in the normal mission on Standard and somehow my LV75+ Roxas with the strongest equipment was barely denting her health! Even some normal Heartless were brushing off my attacks like nothing.), the Panel system is more constrictive than I believe was intended, the missions are boring and very quickly start repeating themselves very often, the Command Menu doesn't work well on DS, magic changed per level meaning Fire was actually more useful than Firaga and other such silliness, Keyblades changed how Roxas moved in combat but I found a lot of the time he'd flail more than he would actually attack. I whiff more in Days than I ever could in KH1, and the latter has a terrible habit of whiffing.

And the story is just... well, it accurately mirrors the gameplay: a boring slog of wasted potential.
I was so glad it became a movie in 1.5, but even the movie is boring (how many times did they just sit around eating ice cream?!).

Since a lot of others are ranking the full series, I guess I will too.

Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts II
Dream Drop Distance
Re:coded
χ[chi]
Kingdom Hearts
[Re:]Chain of Memories

Right now I'm a little sore on KH and CoM after doing the 1.5 Platinums and trying KHFM's LV1 run.

 

[Xehanort-X-blade]

i agree 358days was good just needed remake and more cutscene and why all people here vote 358days worst game ever what is the reason and hers my list of best game 1-khbbs-2-358days-3-kh2-4-khDDD-5-kh1-6-khrecoded-7-khRcom-8-khxchi

 

[Ruran]

i agree 358days was good just needed remake and more cutscene and why all people here vote 358days worst game ever what is the reason and hers my list of best game 1-khbbs-2-358days-3-kh2-4-khDDD-5-kh1-6-khrecoded-7-khRcom-8-khxchi

Most people who marked Days as their least favorite game explained why. In a nutshell, it comes down to the game being extremely tedious.

 

[Xehanort-X-blade]

lol yeah i saw and do you hate it two ruran?khdays

 

[Ruran]

lol yeah i saw and do you hate it two ruran?khdays

"Hate" may be a strong word, but yeah, I said it was my least favorite as well. Pretty much for most of the reasons already stated.

 

[Xehanort-X-blade]

its not bad game but i think it well be one of the best KH game if it got remake insted of movie

 

[Wander]

I think I've ranted about Days enough on these forums, lol. I think it's a shame, I think if they had stuck with a story revolving solely around The Org and Roxas it would've been pretty good story-wise (not saying the story is bad, just lackluster). The gameplay was beyond saving, it had some cool concepts that could have worked had it not been intended for the DS. Different Keyblades having different combos was really interesting, and gave incentive to switch around weapons relative to the players' playstyle and not just base item choices around stats.

Overall a missed opportunity.

 

[Endareyn]

For me it was Re:Chain of Memories. While I liked the Castle Oblivion parts and the overall storyline, the worlds and the card system annoyed me to no end. It just felt like room after room after room of stupid heartless fights to finally get 2 minutes of story at the end of each level. And because I absolutely sucked at using the cards properly I had to grind A LOT. I did like being to play as Riku though, and his card system was a little more fun (except for Wonderland Oo), but that's it.

So many people hate Days, it always surprises me. I'll admit that I found the story took a while before it became really interesting, but then I thoroughly enjoyed it. The panels didn't bother me too much - apart for the magic spells - and while it's true that some missions were annoying I didn't get that boring feeling of doing the same thing over and over for hours as in Re:CoM. To be honest, I would have liked a playable version with the HD remix.

I've been trying to make a list but I really can't decide... My favorites are probably KH2 and DDD, mostly because KH2 was my first game which got me hooked on the series, and I really enjoy the gameplay. DDD... well I had so much fun playing it (I really wonder if they were drunk when they designed the Dream Eaters - but weird/crack things are also something I enjoy about KH), I loved the gameplay and the story, as well as being able to play as Riku. (I do like Sora, don't mistake me, but sometimes it's nice to have another perspective... And I find Riku's character growth interesting)