521 replies to this topic

[chronolever]

I'll probably get 358/2 sometime. Its been a long time since I played a Kingdom Hearts game, not since KH2 came out.

[urvile]

I thought KH1 was easily one of the best games on PS2, I was completely impressed with it. Unfortunately I never finished the final boss (wanted to collect everything first and then just kinda got lost in the whole... collecting everything part). I got really far in Chain of Memories, but somewhere in Neverland (last area I selected) I was stuck in a room that would not give me the enemies that would give me the cards to progress in the level, so I said fuck it and turned it off, never to play again. I thought it was fun though, just made me really frustrated.

No KH2 for me, really wanted to but never bought it and then it just wasn't lucrative time-wise to pick it up.

One of KH1's many flaws is the fact there's so much pointless shit to collect. Oh wow, a Gravity-G! Awesome! Cause the Gummi Ship levels are SO uber cool! I can't believe you'd make it to Chernabog and stop playing though. Which is another reason why I love that game so much despite its best efforts. One of my all time favorite boss fights. That moment is the one that hooked me as a series fanboy.

As far as room cards in the original CoM, the game was definitely broken in that respect. Luckily the ps2 remake is superior in almost every way, finding the right room card isn't usually much of a hassle esp if you hold on to wild cards until you really need them.

[Kirk]

I like gummy ships. I wish there were some decent rewards for doing it though.

[Hale-Bopp]

One of my all time favorite boss fights. That moment is the one that hooked me as a series fanboy.

Me too. My mind was completely blown during the whole battle, cuz I had no idea they'd take it that far.

[Kirk]

I thought the final boss in KH2 was the best in the KH series.

Cutting through and jumping to and from chunks of buildings was awesome.

[urvile]

Usually I hate having to redo stuff after I die, but 358/2 is perhaps WAY too forgiving, even on Proud. When you continue, you usually are right back to the same room you died in and depending on the situation your progress is saved. Not to mention health and magic are restored. However, there is no quicksave mode.

So fucking odd when you compare it to how much time the gantlet that is KH1's endgame takes.

EDIT: forgot to add, make sure you talk to everyone in the grey room between missions. You can nab additional items, sidequests, and story tidbits.

EDIT EDIT: One thing that's bugging me is the targeting system. You should have just be able to toggle auto targeting on/off. Your character will attack the closest enemy without hitting R, but unless they're highlighted the camera won't focus on them. Square Enix, you guys really should hire me on as a consultant

EDIT CUBED: Forgot to mention limit breaks! The final fantasy influence is a lot more apparent in this game. Lots of status ailments, too.

EDIT QUAD: So now I have Mission and challenge missions unlocked. They both offer metals(?) you trade in for "free" shit. For better or worse, it only shows you approx the next 3 items coming up on the list which is cool for me because I feel less compelled to play them again as they're just the same damn missions as in the main game. And in Challenge missions, you still have the cutscenes to skip through which makes no sense. Haven't spent much time with mission mode, but you can play as all of Org XIII right off the bat which is cool!

[urvile]

I thought the final boss in KH2 was the best in the KH series.

Cutting through and jumping to and from chunks of buildings was awesome.

Mostly agree, could have done w/o the whole Nobody hoverbike area though

That and when I imported KH2 I had been up for almost 2 days straight when I got to Xemnas and let's just say my roommates at the time must have thought I was batshit crazy after that night.

EDIT: oops, double post douche

[Nario]

I love Kingdom Hearts. Tis amazing.

Anywho, just got 358/2 yesturday and played a lil bit. Will play more later. So far, so good.
Kind of wished there was new music though.

Oh no! No new music? Just how many times are we going to see the KH1 worlds? Seeing them again in CoM was okay, seeing them AGAIN in Re: CoM was enough... do I have to go through them again!?

I like gummy ships. I wish there were some decent rewards for doing it though.

Me too, on both accounts. I spent countless hours making the most awesomest ships ever on KH1, to the point that the ship took up a majority of the screen. I'd crash all the time and never die! I also spent a majority of my Munny on Gummi parts too.

One of my all time favorite boss fights. That moment is the one that hooked me as a series fanboy.

Me too. My mind was completely blown during the whole battle, cuz I had no idea they'd take it that far.

x3

Yeah, 100% completion in that thing was... so fucking awful.

KH2's was three times bigger. I nearly did it all too, but seriously, just beat it on the hardest difficulty and do what you need to get the bonus ending. It's so much more worth it.


urvile: Thank you for all of these posts. They're getting me stoked for the game once I'm able to buy it, as if I wasn't stoked enough for it.

[urvile]

I love Kingdom Hearts. Tis amazing.

Anywho, just got 358/2 yesturday and played a lil bit. Will play more later. So far, so good.
Kind of wished there was new music though.

Oh no! No new music? Just how many times are we going to see the KH1 worlds? Seeing them again in CoM was okay, seeing them AGAIN in Re: CoM was enough... do I have to go through them again!?

Well I'm not sure if would qualify 358/2 Days as KH1's worlds. So far the levels play out like KH2's. And I'm assuming Traverse Town isn't in the game. Also: KH1 is currently being re-re-re-re-rehashed in Coded which I'm assuming will hit stateside after all the episodes hit Japan.

I gotta take a nap but I just wanted to say Mission mode is such a disappointment. As someone who finished all the optional KH2:FM fights, to turn around, play Xemnas, and be killed by minor heartless because he can't hit anyone in the air (or attack worth shit for that matter) is fucking retarded. Maybe when you have 3 other people it works better, Mission Mode solo however... Whatever you win playing those missions can't be fucking worth it. At least the Challenge missions aren't horrible.

Seriously man, how do you fuck up being able to play as Org XIII?

[Hale-Bopp]

Usually I hate having to redo stuff after I die, but 358/2 is perhaps WAY too forgiving, even on Proud. When you continue, you usually are right back to the same room you died in and depending on the situation your progress is saved. Not to mention health and magic are restored. However, there is no quicksave mode.

This is the most disappointing aspect of the game so far for me. When I finally reach a boss and realize I'm almost dead, I'm better off dying and regaining everything right then and there because there's no real consequence, since I can start over instantly in the same place. bah.

[urvile]

Also wanted to bitch about the intro. They've really been phoning it in since KH2. Would have been a great time to show the first few days of Roxas set to a new tune, but instead it's just an old one set to a montage of old Org XIII scenes. And then they start you off on day 7!

Though I'm working under the assumption that his birth will be addressed at the end of the game. And if not, I'll be sure to rant about it

Despite my issues with the game, gotta say it looks/plays a lot better that I would have guessed the DS could pull off.

[urvile]

[I dunno, it wasn't THAT bad]

Bonus! Additional thoughts since last post:

I haven't had much time to fuck around with it, but eventually in the game you get long-range lock and auto-lock... THE FUCK!?! Why in the hell is this even an equip? It's something that should be in the options menu. At the very least, it should have been available right off the bat.
I'm surprised you don't have to equip a goddamn pause panel.

I don't get why The Organization refers to themselves as "Org XIII" when (as far as I can tell) they only had 13 members for approx 8 days. I suppose you could argue there was another XIII before Roxas but there hasn't been any evidence of that up to this point. There are definitely discrepancies between KH2 and 358/2 Days, another one regarding The Beast's rose (which I'm pretty sure has more than one petal in KH2)

Now that I've leveled up some more (21 now I think?), Mission Mode has gotten better. Although you're better off sticking with Roxas or Xion. It's obvious that MM is meant for multiple people as the solo gameplay isn't very balanced at all. One mission, you'll be blazing through it no problem. Next mission you'll be slowing wasting away some stupid Heartless for eons. Not to mention they kept the cut-scenes. With no option to auto-skip (something FF: Dissidia wisely had as an option). I'll rant about it in my after-game review, but the game is just sloppy at times.

As much as I'm bitching though, as with KH1 there's a good game here if you manage to forgive its shortcomings. The panel system is pretty cool, something I've never seen in a game before. Status ailments are a great addition, why these haven't been implemented before is beyond me. The enemy descriptions in the 'files' menu are actually very helpful and worth reading. For the first time in the series, offensive magic is important (the only non-defensive spell I ever really used up to this point was Magnet, although KH2's fire wasn't a bad spell). And the story might be the best since the original game. Game really trods along in the beginning but now things are starting to pick up. Shame I probably won't be able to finish this game until thursday.

More thoughts to come.

EDIT: Wanted to add that spells are handled differently than in past KH games. Where as Fire > Fira > Fireaga was stronger versions of the same spell, in the DS game spells handle differently. For instance, Curaga(?) doesn't heal more than Cure, it actually functions more like Final Fantasy's Regan. If you want a powerful heal spell (at this point in my game anyways), you need to put a Cure spell in a Triple level panel slot.

[Moldilox]

I played about 11 hours of 358/2 this weekend, which certainly means I like it, but I'm also getting pretty ready to move on. I'll finish it, but I feel like it would be a great game, and a much less repetitive one at that, if it was Kingdom Hearts 179 Days Tops.

I do like the panel system. It reminds me of organizing the RE4 attache case on a larger scale.

[Nario]

I wish I had this game so I could pitch in my experiences and thoughts as well.

Hopefully my sister will get this game soon? I really want to join in on the fun.

[Hale-Bopp]

I'm on day 175 now, so here are some random thoughts...

I really dig the giant boss battles. I want more of those! All in all, this is a great KH game, IF you like KH games that is. Otherwise there's nothing to see here, move along.

Also, since I'm a dork, I like playing around with the panel system a lot. I sit and think of the best combos for making Roxorz at his very best. Great for geeking out on.

There's still a bit too much repetition for my tastes, but I like all the little surprises sprinkled throughout the game, so I can forgive that.

I'm very annnoyed by little things like walking up to a door and not seeing the character open and pass through the door, rather he just keeps running in place and if I'm lucky then sure enough, it's an entrance with a cheesy fade out into the next area of the game. ARGH. Such an ugly way to transition between areas. I mean really, that's just pure laziness. I want the satisfaction of seeing my character coming and going from one place to the next. I need to feel like the world is a little bit more real than an old SNES game. It grates me that we can't move on from the old ways when the system is clearly capable of handling something better.

Hopefully my rambling makes sense.