I was once a kh die hard fan up until re:coded was released. I started to analyze why KH lacked the luster the original had. And i realized its "style over substance"
I have told many KH fans my bitterness of the series and kept saying i didn't understand the story when it was not the case, it just wasn't that great or amazing.
For example in kh1 when you re about to race riku over destiny islands, you initially get that confidence right? But its that race that the game teaches you that without the proper timing and a simple screw up you could lose that race quite easily. for one that surprise loose boards make you lose a lot of time. Another is the proper timing and distant jumping
Another surprise was there were battles "meant" to be lost. Sora didn't just became a hero right when he got the keyblade. Cloud and Leon beat him easily. These just give a strong sense of realism and moves the story in amore interesting and realistic direction.
Also the worlds were much bigger and the camera angle was focused more on sora making me want to put it in first person sometimes and look around. Not only worlds were bigger but they were incredibly puzzling. Worlds like monstro and hallow bastion and wonderland kept surprising me. the gameplay was also difficult and made every aspect of it to use. Sora had a very short range with his keyblade making every hit count and he wasnt incredibly fast.
Sora was a realistic boy, he wasnt always happy, he had a fight with donald, he called riku stupid, he would genuinely get angry and even then he still was mysterious in the sense that we didnt know what he was thinking the entire time. For example he had visions of kairi and was calm about most of them.
And when you get near the end, the end of the world just surpises you again for its dark yet fitting music and feeling the world gives you.
But after that? What happens to kh after kh1?
Kh was not meant to be a 16 bit game and was put on gba for the sequel whch couldve been more amazing and closer to its roots by staying on playstation 2. Regardless it was remade on ps2 (not the same as initially releasing on it) and the game was still emotional. I dont have much complaints on gba given the circumstances it dealt.
Kh2 however lacked proper pacing and story of the worlds was barely relevant. Slowly disney was just eye candy and nothing more. The worlds barely made an impact and even worst very few worlds were breath taking. The only ones come to mind are beast's castle and twilight town. The rest i saw a lack of imagination or research.
Playing sora has become easier as he automatically homes into his enemies no matter how far you are. His mp recharges too. There was no use of tactic. Many of the bosses and enemies were able to be defeated by just hitting it with the keyblade.
It doesnt stop there, relevant aspects of the story such as organization 13 and riku, ansem the wise, namine and roxas were left a mystery up until the end. There was no build up at all leading upto them. Even chain of memories showed things sora couldnt see such as the organization discussing their plot yet still being a mystery.
And then they decide to make several kh games on several systems. Which made it diffcult for many. Playing kh and making their collection has become nearly impossible for some. But at first it looked like a step towards the right direction for BBS. But 358/2 days? Which was code for something quite stupid really. days spent by 2 a better name would be "Days of Nobody" or so.
Game couldve been great on PSP for various reasons, the main one being satisfactory graphics and voices. More scenes for thatre mode. But no we got most likely 64 bit characters with no voice acting save for what, 5 scenes or so? Thats another thing, the scenes didnt look like they match the graphics. It was going day by day and some days were skipped (which i understand couldnt have been avoided) regardless the problem was again the story, going day by day for irrelevant tasks other than creating kingdom hearts seen in kh2 but we have this completely unnecesarry character xion. Which many love but others see her as a unnecessary waste of space. I see her as such but unfortunately she is now relevant to the series overall for what little she did and only complicates the sitation with sora.
Almost all of the kh worlds did not lead upto kh2's storyline which they could have. Hercules meeting meg wouldve been a great one.
BBS was satisfactory for the most part. But the characters werent that original. Many people love aqua but honestly think ppl are too swept up by the fact that shes an original character. Nothing unique about her. Some of the lack of originality could have been avoided such as vanitas looking like sora. Not alot of problems with BBS. It seemed to try to go back to its roots but still holds the small flaws the others had. It still over complicates the situation, such as x-blade and the naming for it just not what you expect of kh and the explanation of it can be interpreted various ways. Though it gave us answers to alot of questions, i cant be mad at BBS for the way it turned out. Its satisfying but doesnt surprise me.
Coded however was completely unnecesary. I believe both coded and days shouldve been avoided altogether (well days serves as some fanservice, i just wish it was made for psp alongside bbs and avoid xion). Coded does almost exactly what chain of memories does but in data form. Not only that but uses riku as a form. All to reveal what couldve been revealed earlier. This gae couldve been avoided.
Now kh3D. Is a shining example of style over substance. Kh3D shows exactly what kingdomhearts strengths but at this point does not even try to overshadow its flaws. Sora has become more happy-go-lucky cutesy dumb act yet makes those heart speeches you think will surprise but no longer does for the over usage and lack of build up. The gameplay is great, however the story continues to go in an unnecessary and completely avoidable turn. This game makes you think what was the point of kh2. Actually it makes you question what was the point of previous games after kh1 (except bbs). Nomura advertised it as a main game yet it doesnt feel like one even though its as important as one. It seemed incredibly rushed. The ending had a nice built up but then it was killed by random surpises
KH shines in so many aspects such as gameplay, music, visuals and sometimes pacing but lacks where it matters most and that is the story. Its just not good cluddered by dual identity such as replicas, new enemies seemingly all related to aspects of the heart but not heartless. By the time you play kh3D it will become unbarably obvious. Not only that but its shallow way of trying to add new elements constantly, instead of reworking what they have in a different perspective will be shown. Nomura believes as the fans get older the story needs to mature but the story was already mature to begin with its just that it had a sense of innocence and nostalgia.
Many of you might not agree with me but i wont be surpised. This is just my opinion and some people do agree. And for the record i do undertand the story. I just think most of the complications couldve been avoided.
I have told many KH fans my bitterness of the series and kept saying i didn't understand the story when it was not the case, it just wasn't that great or amazing.
For example in kh1 when you re about to race riku over destiny islands, you initially get that confidence right? But its that race that the game teaches you that without the proper timing and a simple screw up you could lose that race quite easily. for one that surprise loose boards make you lose a lot of time. Another is the proper timing and distant jumping
Another surprise was there were battles "meant" to be lost. Sora didn't just became a hero right when he got the keyblade. Cloud and Leon beat him easily. These just give a strong sense of realism and moves the story in amore interesting and realistic direction.
Also the worlds were much bigger and the camera angle was focused more on sora making me want to put it in first person sometimes and look around. Not only worlds were bigger but they were incredibly puzzling. Worlds like monstro and hallow bastion and wonderland kept surprising me. the gameplay was also difficult and made every aspect of it to use. Sora had a very short range with his keyblade making every hit count and he wasnt incredibly fast.
Sora was a realistic boy, he wasnt always happy, he had a fight with donald, he called riku stupid, he would genuinely get angry and even then he still was mysterious in the sense that we didnt know what he was thinking the entire time. For example he had visions of kairi and was calm about most of them.
And when you get near the end, the end of the world just surpises you again for its dark yet fitting music and feeling the world gives you.
But after that? What happens to kh after kh1?
Kh was not meant to be a 16 bit game and was put on gba for the sequel whch couldve been more amazing and closer to its roots by staying on playstation 2. Regardless it was remade on ps2 (not the same as initially releasing on it) and the game was still emotional. I dont have much complaints on gba given the circumstances it dealt.
Kh2 however lacked proper pacing and story of the worlds was barely relevant. Slowly disney was just eye candy and nothing more. The worlds barely made an impact and even worst very few worlds were breath taking. The only ones come to mind are beast's castle and twilight town. The rest i saw a lack of imagination or research.
Playing sora has become easier as he automatically homes into his enemies no matter how far you are. His mp recharges too. There was no use of tactic. Many of the bosses and enemies were able to be defeated by just hitting it with the keyblade.
It doesnt stop there, relevant aspects of the story such as organization 13 and riku, ansem the wise, namine and roxas were left a mystery up until the end. There was no build up at all leading upto them. Even chain of memories showed things sora couldnt see such as the organization discussing their plot yet still being a mystery.
And then they decide to make several kh games on several systems. Which made it diffcult for many. Playing kh and making their collection has become nearly impossible for some. But at first it looked like a step towards the right direction for BBS. But 358/2 days? Which was code for something quite stupid really. days spent by 2 a better name would be "Days of Nobody" or so.
Game couldve been great on PSP for various reasons, the main one being satisfactory graphics and voices. More scenes for thatre mode. But no we got most likely 64 bit characters with no voice acting save for what, 5 scenes or so? Thats another thing, the scenes didnt look like they match the graphics. It was going day by day and some days were skipped (which i understand couldnt have been avoided) regardless the problem was again the story, going day by day for irrelevant tasks other than creating kingdom hearts seen in kh2 but we have this completely unnecesarry character xion. Which many love but others see her as a unnecessary waste of space. I see her as such but unfortunately she is now relevant to the series overall for what little she did and only complicates the sitation with sora.
Almost all of the kh worlds did not lead upto kh2's storyline which they could have. Hercules meeting meg wouldve been a great one.
BBS was satisfactory for the most part. But the characters werent that original. Many people love aqua but honestly think ppl are too swept up by the fact that shes an original character. Nothing unique about her. Some of the lack of originality could have been avoided such as vanitas looking like sora. Not alot of problems with BBS. It seemed to try to go back to its roots but still holds the small flaws the others had. It still over complicates the situation, such as x-blade and the naming for it just not what you expect of kh and the explanation of it can be interpreted various ways. Though it gave us answers to alot of questions, i cant be mad at BBS for the way it turned out. Its satisfying but doesnt surprise me.
Coded however was completely unnecesary. I believe both coded and days shouldve been avoided altogether (well days serves as some fanservice, i just wish it was made for psp alongside bbs and avoid xion). Coded does almost exactly what chain of memories does but in data form. Not only that but uses riku as a form. All to reveal what couldve been revealed earlier. This gae couldve been avoided.
Now kh3D. Is a shining example of style over substance. Kh3D shows exactly what kingdomhearts strengths but at this point does not even try to overshadow its flaws. Sora has become more happy-go-lucky cutesy dumb act yet makes those heart speeches you think will surprise but no longer does for the over usage and lack of build up. The gameplay is great, however the story continues to go in an unnecessary and completely avoidable turn. This game makes you think what was the point of kh2. Actually it makes you question what was the point of previous games after kh1 (except bbs). Nomura advertised it as a main game yet it doesnt feel like one even though its as important as one. It seemed incredibly rushed. The ending had a nice built up but then it was killed by random surpises
KH shines in so many aspects such as gameplay, music, visuals and sometimes pacing but lacks where it matters most and that is the story. Its just not good cluddered by dual identity such as replicas, new enemies seemingly all related to aspects of the heart but not heartless. By the time you play kh3D it will become unbarably obvious. Not only that but its shallow way of trying to add new elements constantly, instead of reworking what they have in a different perspective will be shown. Nomura believes as the fans get older the story needs to mature but the story was already mature to begin with its just that it had a sense of innocence and nostalgia.
Many of you might not agree with me but i wont be surpised. This is just my opinion and some people do agree. And for the record i do undertand the story. I just think most of the complications couldve been avoided.
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