Topic: Kingdom Hears 2

[MaryJane]

I finally bought this game, and was so glad then I started playing it... or should I say watching it. This game is over 50% cut scenes, i mean give me a break, the game plays really well don't get me wrong, i love the battle system, all the different characters, and special moves, and the additions to the battle system are more than welcome. again the game plays really well, but you never get to play it. I'm 9 hours in, and i swear i've only played for 3 or 4, i'm thinking of starting the game over and skipping every scene to see how long it really is, you seriously only take a few steps, or a few battles before a cutscene usually twice as long as you just played for, it's kind of annoying, the worst part is that the game is really good, when you actually play it, and that's what really annoys me.

I know a lot, ok most, rpg's use a lot of dialogue and cutscenes to tell their stories, but this is rather extensive, the worst part is, again, the game play is really good, and almost makes all the stupid, and often completely unneccessary scenes worth it, just to get back to playing.

Anyway, this is just a rant.  

[Hocotate]

Exactly what I thought when I played it. I only got 5 hours into the game but I would say a good 80-90% was all cut scenes. I finally said "screw it" I wasn't playing a game, I was watching a game.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: MaryJane
I finally bought this game, and was so glad then I started playing it... or should I say watching it. This game is over 50% cut scenes, i mean give me a break, the game plays really well don't get me wrong, i love the battle system, all the different characters, and special moves, and the additions to the battle system are more than welcome. again the game plays really well, but you never get to play it. I'm 9 hours in, and i swear i've only played for 3 or 4, i'm thinking of starting the game over and skipping every scene to see how long it really is, you seriously only take a few steps, or a few battles before a cutscene usually twice as long as you just played for, it's kind of annoying, the worst part is that the game is really good, when you actually play it, and that's what really annoys me.

I know a lot, ok most, rpg's use a lot of dialogue and cutscenes to tell their stories, but this is rather extensive, the worst part is, again, the game play is really good, and almost makes all the stupid, and often completely unneccessary scenes worth it, just to get back to playing.

Anyway, this is just a rant.

Hah! Kingdom Hearts 2 is nothing compared to Xenosaga! >XD

And in terms of stupidity and pointless-ness (this isn't even a word...), Metal gear solid 2 owns ALL!)

I rented the game a few weeks back (currently too broke to buy it) and finished it last night.

I love the game, although I agree with many of the complaints about the game. The cutscenes are indeed long, but my problem is that some cutscenes are flat out boring while others are very fun to watch. For example, I found nearly all of the cutscenes during Roxas's story a bore, thanks to how flat and boring some of the voice actors sounded. But once the story focused on Sora, Donald and Goofy the game picked up for me greatly.

I don't mind long cutscenes in a game just as long as they are fun to watch and adds to the story.

Again, if you thought the cutscenes in KH 2 were bad, avoid Xenosaga and MGS 3 like the plague!

[jasonditz]

I personally like cutscenes. I guess it goes back to my Sega CD days when pre-rendered high quality cutscenes were a pretty new idea and sort of felt like a reward for a hard-fought boss battle.  

[Pale]

So far Kingdom Hearts II is easily one of my favorite games EVER!  Yes I said it.  I'm about 20 hours in right now and I've been taking my time soaking up the story and the characters.  Some worlds are better than others, but that's what's great about this game...

"Damn that Pirates of the Caribbean world was boring, but this Lion King world is awesome!!!"

There is something to be said for a game that is so charming, and has so much polish, you can look by its flaws, because, let's face it, every game has flaws.

PS: The combat system in general is one of the best of any rpg ever in my opinion.  Drive Forms, Trinity Spells, Summons, Regular Spells, Regular Fighting...  you can beat almost any boss however you want...

I'm glad this game isn't for a Nintendo console, as this is the kind of game, that if I reviewed it, I would look like a blathering fanboy... I just like it that much.

Edit: I don't really want that though!  Bring KHIII to the Revolution!

[KDR_11k]

I suppose it's not a good choice for those of us who don't like Disney's characters?

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: PaleI'm glad this game isn't for a Nintendo console, as this is the kind of game, that if I reviewed it, I would look like a blathering fanboy... I just like it that much.

...

Bring KHIII to the Revolution!

Can't make up your mind about being a blathering fanboy or maintaining your editorial dignity huh? LOL

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Darkheart]

Quote
Edit: I don't really want that though! Bring KHIII to the Revolution!

OMG I totally never thought of keyblade/revmote interaction~! :0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :: Druels :: That would be so awesome to stick out your arm and have the beam of light shoot out to lock up another world.  Hell if it ever makes it to Rev they could have Nintendo themed worlds :0.  Why not?  Square whores their FF characters in there so why can't nintendo?  Travel to Hyrule and defeat the heartless whos being controlled by Ganondorf.   Sora and Link fighting side by side!  I actually think this could be quite feasible with the friendly ties with square and nintendo as of lately.


Anywhoo beat the game already and I have to admit I enjoyed the game but it didn't live up to all of its hype they built up with the game.  A plot two and half times the size of the first?  At one point they said the game was so big it was going to have to be placed on two count them, two discs :/.  I highly reccomend watching the secret ending for the game though, its quite jaw dropping.    

[Pale]

Dark Heart, I honestly thought of the same thing... I mean the concept of the game is all of these worlds existing in parallel, and the keyblad master travels between them...  Well eventually, they are going to run out of worlds...

Nintendo has more worlds than most other companies.  It would be awesome and, in a way, harken(sp?) back to Super Mario RPG.

PS Dark, without giving me any spoilers, is the secret ending unlocked by beating it on hard mode?  I started my game on normal and I'm somewhat regretting that decision.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Pale
Dark Heart, I honestly thought of the same thing... I mean the concept of the game is all of these worlds existing in parallel, and the keyblad master travels between them...  Well eventually, they are going to run out of worlds...

Nintendo has more worlds than most other companies.  It would be awesome and, in a way, harken(sp?) back to Super Mario RPG.

PS Dark, without giving me any spoilers, is the secret ending unlocked by beating it on hard mode?  I started my game on normal and I'm somewhat regretting that decision.

Here is how you get the secret ending, Pale:

Easy mode:
You don't get the secret ending

Standard mode:
To get the secret ending, you must complete all worlds and complete all of Jimminy's journal

Proud mode:
To get the secret ending all you need to do is beat the game.

Pale, about what you said about the engine being great, that is EASILY debatable.

I agree that the engine in KH 2 is much more polished and has variety, even of most of it is there for show (like the summons and some of the drives), but we can agree that the game still relies on constantly pushing the X button, and many people are put off by that.

In some ways, I understand, but on the other, I don't get it. I mean, ALL games in existence rely on button smashing, some more than others. Remember the old arcade beat em ups like the Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? All you did was smash the buttons over and over to beat the bad guys. And even then, they were FUN, ESPECIALLY with other people. So if people enjoyed these games, as well as the Gauntlet games, they might be able to tolerate Kingdom Hearts, and even then that's almost stretching it.

I think that if there really is a KH 3 or  a Gaiden, they really should revamp the engine. If they release a third game and they are still using the engine it would be pushing it.

And about KH Rev., it could really happen. Nomura has mentioned in the EGM article that he is very interested in the Rev. controller and that if he were to make a game using it it would be vastly different from everyone else. Nomura also recently announced that he and his team are already working on a new KH game, but that this would neither be a direct sequel or a spin off. If that's true, they could be making it for the Rev. That way, they could create a KH game that Nintendo fans could get. Like, if they missed the first two games and the GBA game and don't know much about the story they could get into the story of KH Rev. because it will neither be a direct sequel or a spin off.

So yeah, it could happen...

[Pale]

Sweet, I'm glad to hear I can get the good ending in standard mode.  I was planning on completing the journal anyway.

I understand and expect the possible debate over how good the engine is.  To me though, it just comes down to feel.  I compare this game to Namco's Tales games.  In them, you are tapping the main action button most of the time too.  In fact, KH I and Tales of Symphonia feel very similar.  I feel that the addition of the special button (triangle) to be used occasionally as well as how drastically some of the drive modes and summons change the game, put Kingdom Hearts II ahead of other real time beat-em-up rpgs like Tales.

Trinity spells also add a very interesting twist to the otherwise button mashing, in that how you set them up can wildly vary the amount of damage they do, and each spell requires it's own mastery.


So, to sum up, I understand the complaint that you are almost always pressing the same button, but then I step back and think about it, and I can't think of a better way to pull off a real time RPG.

If you wanted to, you could always use sora as mainly a caster... that could give the whole game a different feel (and most likely make it a lot harder).

Your point brings up why I would get in trouble if I ever publicly reviewed this game.  I don't know what it is about it, but I just can't freaking get enough.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Pale
Sweet, I'm glad to hear I can get the good ending in standard mode.  I was planning on completing the journal anyway.

I understand and expect the possible debate over how good the engine is.  To me though, it just comes down to feel.  I compare this game to Namco's Tales games.  In them, you are tapping the main action button most of the time too.  In fact, KH I and Tales of Symphonia feel very similar.  I feel that the addition of the special button (triangle) to be used occasionally as well as how drastically some of the drive modes and summons change the game, put Kingdom Hearts II ahead of other real time beat-em-up rpgs like Tales.

Trinity spells also add a very interesting twist to the otherwise button mashing, in that how you set them up can wildly vary the amount of damage they do, and each spell requires it's own mastery.


So, to sum up, I understand the complaint that you are almost always pressing the same button, but then I step back and think about it, and I can't think of a better way to pull off a real time RPG.

If you wanted to, you could always use sora as mainly a caster... that could give the whole game a different feel (and most likely make it a lot harder).

Your point brings up why I would get in trouble if I ever publicly reviewed this game.  I don't know what it is about it, but I just can't freaking get enough.

Not to mention that in an action RPG you have a lot more control over your character than in a standard RPG. I'm sure Kh wouldn't be as fun if Sora, Donald and Goofy were just standing in one place while you selected the actions on a menu.

And don't worry about voicing your opinion on Kingdom Hearts. KH is almost seen as a guilty pleasure game. Some people don't get at all why the game is so popular. True, the gameplay is good but not polished enough and it DOES rely on a sparkling innovation, but I have always said that the reason the game has done so well is because the idea simply works and has captured an audience. The game reached fans that may have denounced their love of Disney movies or anything lighthearted in general. That just because you are a "grown up" it doesn't mean you are always one and what delighted you as a kid will still delight you.

This is really was KH is about, and thus not everyone gets it.

[Kairon]

I'm inclined to believe you pap64. I haven't played the game personally, but that's the sense I got as I read about it and thought about it and gauged people's reactions.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
I'm inclined to believe you pap64. I haven't played the game personally, but that's the sense I got as I read about it and thought about it and gauged people's reactions.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

If you are interested in the game, I suggest renting the first one first and see what you think. I know a couple of friends of mine that were intrigued by the game but couldn't bear the game enough to get to the best part.

The game is really good, but far from perfect. So again, rent if you are not sure.

[Kairon]

I'd have to rent a PS2 for that...so it ain't happenin'!

Lol.

What I'd probably end up doing is hunting down a friend who has it and playing it an hour or two on their system. I'm probably gonna be shot for this, but I can typically get a very good sense for the game's design, style and even sometimes game control by playing it for only a few hours, or even by watching someone else play it for a couple of hours.

I am an expert at living life vicariously.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
I'd have to rent a PS2 for that...so it ain't happenin'!

Lol.

What I'd probably end up doing is hunting down a friend who has it and playing it an hour or two on their system. I'm probably gonna be shot for this, but I can typically get a very good sense for the game's design, style and even sometimes game control by playing it for only a few hours, or even by watching someone else play it for a couple of hours.

I am an expert at living life vicariously.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

I misunderstood your earlier comments, then.

To sum it up, there will be people that will like the game because of what it is and there will be people that will not.

Here is how I can sum it up:
If you like:
- Hack and slash games (like the Gauntlet games, Golden axe etc.)
- Brainless, beat 'em up style gameplay (like The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles etc.)
- Either Disney or Square

Then give Kingdom hearts a chance

If you like:
- Tactical RPGs
- RPGs where you need to think
- RPGs that are slow in gameplay
- Games that rely on more than just mashing the same button over and over

Either avoid or approach with caution Kingdom Hearts.

That's all I have to say about this.

[Kairon]

If Kingdom Hearts is multiplayer like Gauntlet I'd almost certainly have to hunt it down and try it out then! But that isn't the case is it? *sigh*

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com