The Kingdom Hearts Series: KINGDOM HEARTS 4 ANNOUNCED! STAR WARS POTENTIALLY TEASED (page 175)

[Big Panda]

2 hours ago, Spidey3525 said:

Forgive me if this was explained in a game, but why is Squall referred to as Leon in the Kingdom Hearts games?

Something about him hiding his shame at being unable stop Radiant Garden from falling to darkness.

[Perkilator]

Random thought, and yes I know it’ll never happen; if Happiness Charge Precure was in Kingdom Hearts, I think Unversed would be a good enemy type just for irony’s sakes.

[KHCast]

Speaking of unversed, I’m kinda annoyed that they only them for one world. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Nomura confirmed a theory of mine - according to Reddit, this was mentioned in the Ultima:

Spoiler

The reason Roxas was able to return to the Keyblade Graveyard was because an artificial heart was created through the data still within Digital Twilight Town, placing Roxas into a similar situation in KH2 in reverse, his body, memories etc was in the replica but he wasn’t complete without his heart. Arriving at the graveyard due to sensing Axel and Xion in danger, his heart then went into the replica, completing it.

Possibly means this was the case for Xion too - Vexen recreated her from data stored from her original creation, with her memories, but lacking a heart, and her heart escaped from Sora, completing her.

 

[KHCast]

No that’s not what he said

 

roxas’s body was completed via the data twilight town, but his heart released from Sora when Xion and axel were in danger and attatched itself to the replica. There’s no artificial-heart  mentioned period  

Quote

 How was Roxas able to come back? Nomura: Using the replica body Vexen and Demyx prepared, Ienzo used the data from the fake Twilight Town to mostly complete Roxas’ body. It’s similar to how Xion was made from Sora’s memories. In the Keyblade Graveyard Roxas, as a heart inside Sora, could sense that his best friend was in danger and his heart was able to return to its new body, completing him.

[Perkilator]

The more I think about it, the more I wish this was at least kinda KH3’s world list (DISCLAIMER: entirely a wishlist)

Spoiler

Beginning:

-Olympus (Heartless)

-Twilight Town (Heartless & Nobodies)

 

Tier 1:

-Toy Box (Dream Eaters)

-Kingdom of Corona (Heartless & Nobodies)

-The Emperor’s New Groove (Heartless & Nobodies)

-Radiant Garden (Riku Only)

 

Tier 2:

-Arendelle (Unversed & Nobodies)

-Princess and the Frog (Dream Eaters & Nobodies)

-Agrabah (Heartless)

 

Tier 3:

-Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Heartless)

-The Lone Ranger (Heartless & Nobodies)

-San Fransokyo (Unversed & Nobodies)

 

The End

-Dark World (Riku Only; can be revisited after Riku’s visit early in the game)

-Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure (semi-exploable ending with a battle against Anti-Aqua)

-Keyblade Graveyard/Scala ad Caelum

And I would’ve gone with these characters as summons:

Spoiler

-Meow Wow (obtained after beating Olympus)

-Wreck-it-Ralph (obtained after beating the Verum Rex minigame)

-Baloo (obtainable in a chest in Emperor’s New Groove world)

-Jack Skellington (obtainable in a chest in PatF world)

-Ariel (obtained after beating Atlantis world)

-Neku (obtained after beating San Fransokyo)

-WALL-E (obtainable in a chest in the Keyblade Graveyard)

-Eraqus (obtained after beating the game)

 

[8ther]

Why do people hate KH1's gameplay so much? I found it more engaging that the Dynasty Warriors-lite mechanics of KHII and onwards.

[KHCast]

Slow, clunky and boring vs fast paced rewarding gameplay that still challenges you while also being able to present flashy moments without sacrificing any depth like future titles did. It’s really not that hard to see why people vastly prefer 2 to 1 in the gameplay regard. There’s also just way more shit to do in 2. Simply put, 1 hasn’t, at least to me, aged all that well

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

14 hours ago, Kiggy Queen said:

Why do people hate KH1's gameplay so much? I found it more engaging that the Dynasty Warriors-lite mechanics of KHII and onwards.

KH1 is fine, but it doesn't feel nearly as engaging, blood-pumping or speedy as KH2 is. The main issue with the first game is how sluggish it feels. Not as much pizazz either.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Having just finished 100%ing KHFM and doing a Proud run, the answer is simple. Whilst there’s a certain atmosphere and flare that gives KH1 a lot of charm, especially when you hit Hollow Bastion, the game itself is a slog to run through. Sora feels far too sluggish to control, his magic is too easily cancelled, he whiffs attacks multiple times, there’s critical design flaws involved with the game as well, especially in Hollow Bastion where it’s littered with flying enemies, yet Sora’s air combos can send him flying back down to the lower levels of the castle, not helped by him again constantly whiffing attacks.

KH1 has not aged incredibly well unfortunately.

[Sean]

I like it better than KH2. KH2 is more fun in a casual flashy way while still having its own depth to it (so I wouldn't say it's flashy in a bad way like KH3 is, I still have a lot of fun with it) but in 1 the player has to be more careful about how they approach an enemy and balance out melee with magic more often. You can't button mash your way through it like you can through 2 on normal difficulty. It's almost like the difference between DMC1 and 3, both are still good games but 1 has a more simple charm to it that requires more deliberate input and wildly attacking enemies will just get you killed faster than in 3. And you have less tools at your disposal but that just gives you more room to think more about how to use what you do have.

I haven't played it on proud mode but I think the normal difficulty suits 1 well, the reason being that the game's less agile movement still presents a challenge to the player for most of the story. In comparison, 2's normal mode is a complete pushover and you might get better enjoyment on proud mode.

[Big Panda]

https://www.khinsider.com/news/SE-plans-to-replace-Olaf-s-JPN-voice-actor-in-KH3-amid-drug-scandal-14779

[Wraith]

Kingdom Hearts essentially abandons the mission statement of the first one in the second game onwards. The first game tries to be even handed about how it juggled it's various different gameplay mechanics. This means that it doesn't all come together sometimes but the sheer variety in things you'll be pushed to do is much greater. Kingdom Hearts II gives you a varied amount of tools but rarely ever encourages their use. Mashing is far too powerful of an option and the reaction command system will make any openings you'll ever need. 

The level design is more varied and takes effort to move around which isn't something I can say about the later games. Even Kingdom Hearts 3 can't help but let Sora autorun up certain walls which feels like a waste of the vertical level design 

Kingdom Hearts 2 cleaning up Sora's movement while abandoning meaningful level design altogether might be the series's biggest missed opportunity imo.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I actually quite enjoyed KH1FM Proud Mode on my recent (second) run through. It wasn't nearly as hard as the first time I tried it. I even beat the first Riku fight in around 40 seconds (his second form was actually harder this time around for whatever reason).

The Hades Cup was kind of a nightmare on the last 10 rounds though. I was sorta speedrunning it so I may have been underleveled, hehe.

[KHCast]

Mashing in KH2FM especially on the harder difficulties is a death wish, that’s severely recommended against. Summons, drive forms, abilities, etc I found all a use in the game, much more compared to 1, which, well all you need is aeroa/ga even on proud to break it. Most of the abilities and summons I found useless. Reaction commands didn’t really effect that too much. The combat system is just more fun and satisfying in 2, and should have been the direction going forward. 

[Wraith]

It's not a "death wish". It works fine on most difficulties in the game and even on critical it's more of a manner of playing carefully than using more of Sora's kit. Using more of Sora's abilities definitely helps especially early on but critical mode is just one mode in the whole experience. 

The game was designed without a traditional dodge button in mind and knee caps magic with the cooldown mechanic. Sora's basic combo can be upgraded to the point that it does the job of closing the distance and crowd control for him while also doing way more damage than a lot of options without wasting as many resources. 

Reaction commands seal the deal by being extremely lenient with timing and opening enemies up for combos all the time. Any enemy or boss that broke these norms like the dancers were considered difficulty spikes for a reason. They disrupt the other 40 hours of game you spend hugging the attack command.  The final boss culmitates into you mashing triangle a bunch to automatically avoid and deflect Xemnas's attacks. If that's not telling, I don't what is.

Drive forms come in handy but they are designed with insanely powerful basic combos at the forefront aside from Wisdom.

More enemies and bosses in Final Mix require you to get creative with added options helping with that but almost all of this was optional. The Kingdom Hearts 2 most people experienced was a masher. There's nothing wrong with that, but there are things I prefer in the first game and wished they kept.

[KHCast]

Personally I didn’t find most of the variety 1 offered all that engaging, certainly didn’t seem that intertwined with the level design either. Aside from a few bosses having weaknesses like Xemnas being weak to gravity, I felt probably moreso like I was button mashing my way through 1, just at a slower pace, only occasionally using spells like aero and cure. It was just...idk not boring since it’s still a fun game, but certainly shows it age, and I find myself going auto pilot going through it most times. I don’t feel as engaged in it and thus, don’t feel that pushed to experiment in other ways with its combat and mechanics like in 2FM. There’s not much I’d want from it to be brought into the series going forward, outside maybe more interactive world space, which 3 attempted, and Aero being more of a defensive spell.

[8ther]

Is it possible to speed run KHFM on Beginner Mode?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 hour ago, Kiggy Queen said:

Is it possible to speed run KHFM on Beginner Mode?

Yes. There's a trophy for doing so within 15 hours. Granted, you need to know about the worlds you can skip to make that time achievable (Namely, Atlantica)

1 hour ago, KHCast said:

Personally I didn’t find most of the variety 1 offered all that engaging, certainly didn’t seem that intertwined with the level design either. Aside from a few bosses having weaknesses like Xemnas being weak to gravity, I felt probably moreso like I was button mashing my way through 1, just at a slower pace, only occasionally using spells like aero and cure. It was just...idk not boring since it’s still a fun game, but certainly shows it age, and I find myself going auto pilot going through it most times. I don’t feel as engaged in it and thus, don’t feel that pushed to experiment in other ways with its combat and mechanics like in 2FM. There’s not much I’d want from it to be brought into the series going forward, outside maybe more interactive world space, which 3 attempted, and Aero being more of a defensive spell.

Well, put it this way. In KH1FM, I got away with spamming limits on the superbosses and using items for refills, granted - Phantom had to be beaten properly. Kingdom Hearts 2, even on Beginner, I can't get away with doing that shit on the superbosses. You really need to learn how to use Sora's kit properly for counters and retaliation or otherwise, you will get killed. Especially when it comes to your MP bar, you need to know how to make the most out of your magic before wasting it all on a heal, which you'll need often against these bosses.

[Big Panda]

It’s painful how plausible this is.

[KHCast]

Yeah I agree that Disney likely meddled, but not sure if I agree about Elsa being the villain of the world being what was originally planned. But it sounds like a cool concept, so if that was the initial idea, sucks it was never realized. There was a lot of potential for Arendelle probably moreso than any other property in the game, so it stinks that it ended up the way it did.

[Tailikku]

On 3/17/2019 at 3:12 PM, KHCast said:

Yeah I agree that Disney likely meddled, but not sure if I agree about Elsa being the villain of the world being what was originally planned. But it sounds like a cool concept, so if that was the initial idea, sucks it was never realized. There was a lot of potential for Arendelle probably moreso than any other property in the game, so it stinks that it ended up the way it did.

That was the original intent for the film, but "Let it Go" was the turning point where Elsa became the deuteragonist. So Mat Pat is again grasping at straws.

[Big Panda]

What makes that “grasping at straws”?

[Perkilator]

Hey, I just thought of how Disney Town/Castle could’ve worked in KH3; SDG go to visit Chip and Dale Disney Castle after completing Toy Box and Corona to ask about the Datascape, but play some of Disney Town’s mini games on the way there (and even get Classic Kingdom after completing their visit). And now that I think about it, guys think the Unversed could’ve fit as an enemy type in this world, all things considered, or would we have to go back to using Heartless?

[Big Panda]

I went and performed this glitch myself (it’s the simplest and least cumbersome of the OoB glitches).

It amazes me not only just how many bases the developers covered in making sure you could see this much detail in the distance as possible at any conceivable angle, but also how much of these places are built on solid ground.

Like, there are so many fully rendered, fully explorable areas hidden away in the town that you can never normally reach.

You can even find a Snuggly Duckling sign in the forest, completely hidden outside of the map!