Kingdom Hearts

[zurich]

What do you all think?

Personally, the camera is SOOOOO bloody annoying (and I had np w/DMC). The Gummi ship is kind of irritating too.. and some of the quests are confusing as hell (ie: running around trying to trigger a cut scene).

However, the animation is by far the best I've seen in any game, ever. When the high poly models with the moving faces are used (you know what I mean), it looks straight out of a Disney movie. Also, this is the first game that I've seen that extensively uses Depth of Field well.

Finally, Kingdom Hearts still suffers from the FF X-esque horrid texture shimmering, but the jaggies are much reduced from a typical PS2 game, and I think in the cutscenes theres some AA going on with the foreground models via DoF.

Anyhow, all that aside, this game is brimming with Square/Disney charm. The production values are astronomic.. and despite _hating_ zelda-type adventure/platforming games... it's actually kind of fun

zurich

edit: 20 hours in, and I give it an 8/10. Why the right stick cant rotate the camera like every other 3d game ever made is beyond me.

 

[iscariot]

great game

so far it's great. The camera isn't causing me issues yet but clearly could use some work, but by pressing R2 and L2 together is a lifesaver sometimes. Gummi ship needs to go but again, doesn't hamper the overall game, but it's pretty pointless. I really like the battle system tho, and the entire presentation of the game is wickedly good. I adore the soundtack so far. Only about 7 hours into it it but so far so good

 

[Ozymandis]

I'm 7 hours in. I'll have to hold off my judgement until I finish, but:

Agreed about the camera. But it does give things a very pretty, action-filled feel, with the jerkiness and all.

Also agreed about the animation. It's much better than FFX's, and generally it's awesome. But why must Square insist on using the too-obvious LoD models?

The shimmering isn't terrible. This is an attractive game overall, with production value through the roof. In fact, I think that my opinion of this game is being boosted by the sheer novelty and nostalgia of game elements like having Squall being concerned about the 101 Dalmations.

 

[Goldni]

Watched my cousin play it (I don't have a PS2). It's a great RPG. But what would you expect from Square? I do think that whoever gets into this game cannot surely ever call the GCN the only 'kiddie' console.

 

[iscariot]

so the ps 2 is a kiddie console because of this game? hmm

btw, about 9 hours into it nw, getting better and better

 

[zurich]

Welp, I just finished Kingdom Hearts.. 27 hours on the dot. While not the 40 hour marathon FF X was, I still have to do the Dalmation, Poo-bear, and misc other side quests.

So, final judgement is that KH is an artistic & design masterpiece which gets shelved right beside ICO.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that one can look over its glaring faults... the spaceshooter gummi ship thing is _so_ unncessary and _so_ annoying. I personally just hold down X with one hand, smoke with the other, and fly in a straight line. Yee haw. Moreover, the dialogue windows are unresponsive here for some reason too.. overall it feels very 1995 PSX-ish.

The camera gets an A for Effort for keeping up with the insanely paced combat, but is murderous other times. You'll find yourself jamming R2 and L2 trying to rotate it around just so you can make the Leap of Faith and try to get to that chest over yonder... GRR. The camera seems to work best in open areas, but really falls over and dies when you're pressed up against a wall (ie: walking up stairs).

Gameplay and combat are great, except later on when you stock up on high-end abilities that tend to make Sorta go bonkers, its pretty easy to fall off whatever it is you're standing on. VERY VERY VERY VERY irritating. Fighting is little more than mashing X, but Square mixes it up a bit with limit-break-esque special attacks and combat quirks, like parrying, only being able to damage an enemy from behind, etc. Ultimately though, the combat is faster than the combat system, so don't expect to be summoning anything, nor using any items. It's just X, and L1+whatever you have cure hotkeyed to

Graphics are fantastic, but as Ozy said, the LOD models can be really painful. The 'not High Poly' models are almost bang on identical to the 'High Poly' models, save for their facial details. Seems the PS2 can only hold 2 of the 'animated face' models in memory at one time, as you'll have Sorta, blabbing away with astonishing facial fluidity, to Donald, whose bottom jaw flops up and down... it _really_ detracts from the overall presentation.

Dialogue is great, except after Final Fantasy X... I'm spoiled. Disney hired all these big names, but half of them only have 1 or 2 lines. I mean, James Woods' Hades virtually never had the dreaded text bubble, but virtually all the Final Fantasy characters were text! Mandy More (Aeirith) must have been cornered in the bathroom by a tape recorder or something. David Borenaz (Angel on Buffy & Angel) was amazing as Squall, but it wasn't enough. FF X proved to me that a 40 hour game can be 98% voice acted.. well this 27 hour game was maybe 60% voice acted. And the voices that _were_ there, were fantastic! Kind of makes you want more

Oh, and don't try to grasp the plot. Its not MGS2 bad, but as long as you don't question abstract terms like 'heart', 'darkness', and 'light'... you'll be ok

It really sounds like I'm ripping the game up.. and I'm trying not to, but Kingdom Hearts was really on the tip of Greatness, it SHOULD have attained Greatness, but the above problems robbed it of this, which is why they stand out so strongly.

A lot of hard work, care, and love went into this game and you can really tell right away from playing it. As I said, aesthetically its pure style and charm make it a visual and artistic masterpiece. Its gameplay and presentation "unfortunately" (take that for what you will) almost make it an RPG masterpiece.

8.5/10

Anyhow, that's my review. I'm off to find some puppies and give Lance Bass/Sephiroth a beat down

zurich

edit: As for that GameCube/kiddie comment, show me a kiddy game where the main plot line revolves around personal jealousy and hatred. KH is most definitely a wolf in sheeps clothing in that regard.

ps: for all you FF VII fans out there, the game is worth buying if only to see the expression on Cloud's face when he first sees/is reunited with Aeirith.. something I think Nomura-san has been waiting to do for a while (NOT a spoiler in the slightest)

pps: btw, anyone see the secret ending a.k.a. Kingdom Hearts 2 trailer? Who would have thought it'd star Riku... ?

 

[V3]

Hey is it true, does the US version have difficulty option of some sort ?

The game was really easy in the Japanese version, which made it rather boring, which is sad, since they did such a great job on other stuff.

 

[zurich]

V3,

yeah, you can choose "normal" and "expert" when you start a new game.

zurich