Kingdom Hearts (2002)

Playing this with my wife. We are passing the controller back and forth. The non-active player helps look up stuff when we get stuck. So far I am having fun, but I am not impressed with the combat. Now that we have a roll move, at least there is some possibility to evade attacks, and spells are offering some attack variety.

I figure as the game goes and we get more options of what to us, it will get better.

Also, why does Wonderland, one of the most boring Disney movies, have to be the first world...

Going to finish this one but the amount of annoying shit in this game is crazy, grew up playing KH2 and I did eventually have this one as a kid but could never get very far because in comparison it feels awful and confusing to play

1. I honestly don't think I like a single one of the worlds as far as level design goes, the lack of a mini-map in this one especially makes it rough. I was especially disappointed with what KH1 Hollow Bastion actually is after remembering KH2 HB so fondly.
2. I hate the trinities system. Some people like it because "exploration" and "a reason to go back to beaten worlds" but I hate backtracking with a passion. Sucks even worse that you are actively discouraged from using the unique party members in worlds because you have to have Donald and Goofy in any chance you come across one.

I can say that the combat and worlds have gotten more tolerable as the game goes on. Can't wait to replay KH2.

Throwing in the towel on this one around 60% through I’d guess? I took a break for a few days to focus on something else, came back and played a bit today, and I just can’t be bothered to go through any more of this.

What I like most about this game is the variety of distinct Disney-themed worlds. This kind of theme park approach to a game is something I enjoy, where each area has a totally different vibe, a little story arc of its own, and ideally some kind of unique gameplay hook. It Takes Two and Super Mario Odyssey are my favorites that feel sort of like what this feels like, though unfortunately this is not nearly as fun even though on paper it should be. Anyway, although they’ve omitted the great sung music of Disney animation, an understandable choice for this game’s tone and audience, they do capture its vibrant colors and personality really well.

The big problem though is that those unique gameplay hooks and level objectives can be downright bad, or on average at least slightly annoying or phoned-in feeling. As for gameplay in general: Navigating levels can be a real chore looking for some way to trigger the next cutscene or event. Platforming feels “off” to me, and they’ve made it as annoying as possible by having areas where you can fall and have to retrace your steps. The vine swinging thing was particularly awful-feeling. Combat is not that bad but it just got tiresome after a while as part of the overall package.

There are two other parts to this formula besides Disney, being Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts’s own unique contributions. The former has barely been a factor up until where I’ve played, to a point where its inclusion barely seems to add anything of value besides very light fanservice. The latter is honestly fine, I’m not totally in love with it, but wouldn’t mind seeing where it goes from here.

I wish this idea had led to a much more focused end product. There’s a lot of promise, and I think it’s “fine” overall, but it’s just not fun enough to play between the cutscenes for me. Not an official review since I didn’t finish it, but I’d give my experience a 3/5.

A Series of My Favorite Video Game Songs with Lyrics

2. Simple and Clean

You knew Utada would return.

I get Kingdom Hearts hate. It is a very odd franchise. But "Simple and Clean is undeniable. Utada's timbre and passion are on full display, but so is their ability as a poet. The lyrics are much more complex than we would find in a lot of modern pop music, let alone a video game song. I started to pick out lyrics to say why I like them, but I was literally Ctrl+C-ing the whole song. Truly, shout out in the comments your favorite line. There are no wrong answers.

When Utada says "Hold Me"- like yea, of course. I get shivers.

Does.... does Winnie the Pooh want to commit suicide? He was thinking about "how to say goodbye to Pooh"...... And then I immediately have to leave to get pages.

Opposite Armor really be "You really thought you were safe with Ripple Charge, huh". Donald and Goofy continue to be unintentional meat shields as they dumbly run straight into every hit, wasting my Potions from them using it on themselves.

I am not creative and just decked out my Gummi Ship until it looks like a Frankenstein's monster but it's got speed, power, and armor! Just don't look too closely it's a mess

Clayton's fight was annoying simply because I had to climb the vines to get to him, but otherwise was a piece of cake, even with the gecko thing. That being said, the slide game seems like a piece of cake until it surprises you on the last fruit and then you have to restart the whole thing all over again to get that one dang fruit hahahahahahahaha

I like how the return visit to Traverse features more aerial enemies. My favorite part of the combat is air fighting because ground gives you too many good things early game that makes fighting a joke and you have to be careful when jumping around or you'll stumble into something's charge up.

I never had too much of an issue with Wonderland or the Colosseum. Wonderland being topsy turvy in navigating felt appropriate to the area, and it at least is a small world so it's actually not that hard to navigate around. Colosseum is just straight up a challenge test and is where, for me, was the first difficulty spike.

Deep Jungle, however? I hate this area. This area sucks. I get the idea of vines jumping and the slide area being fun scenes, but when you start going back and forth to progress the story and they immediately turn into bad gimmicks and sometimes the vines just don't work, I would rather play fucking ToonTown for the same things!

Olympus Colosseum is the difficulty spike. Had to use potions against Cloud and Cerberus, so that's a first. Cloud is relatively easy to just jump jump jump and try to hit him from behind, but Cerberus asked a lot out of my movement, just mashing puts you in the line of fire. A welcome change to be honest.

I'm kinda mad that I didn't use magic more often when I was younger, because it's especially good for getting XP against certain enemies and for clearing out crowds. Blizzard is especially useful for being a frontal cone, and Fire can be used out of combos. I don't know what Thunder is good for, it saps way too much out of my MP.

Flower: "Hey kid, you want to buy some drugs? Just gimme a Potion and I'll get you the GOOD stuff"

Wonderland was OK. A bunch of gigantic shadows I was never told about spawned after clearing a few waves of enemies and then vanished, and I have no idea why. Trickmaster was easy, just let Donald and Goofy die while you get on a shelf and mash your head against the button. Whoever said to use the Blizzard tactic, it doesn't work. Just hit. He just goes back to the oven sooner anyway.

Gotta love how I collected all the evidence for the Queen and still got the goddamn box with Donald and Goofy, what even is my luck. The mushrooms also already spawned in the forest area and I can't even do anything with them lol