jbmasta

Olympus certainly gets a lot of love, it's only been absent from one game so far. Space Paranoids is a pretty popular one too, as is The Caribbean and Toy Box. For original worlds definitely Hollow Bastion, the KH1 version at least. Traverse Town and Twilight Town too. As for least popular, Arendelle is a well known example in part due to the world design (specifically the lack of variation from snowfields and no visiting the town itself) and how little SDG are involved in the plot of Frozen. Pridelands can be a love it or hate it, mainly because the quadrupedal form means summons and form changes are off limits (similar to Atlantica in KH1).

End of December sounds good, allows for people to get it for Christmas and play it before having to worry about spoilers.

Unless you have a 3DS and a copy of Dream Drop Distance on 3DS, best to do the PS4 HD version on 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The HD version doesn't add anything in terms of story and it's very minor additions/alterations for gameplay (mainly the Reality Shift minigames have different controls for not being touchscreen based on the PS4, like the Symphony of Sorcery one being a rhythm mini-game). It's also the only way to play 0.2 Birth by Sleep A Fragmentary Passage, as well as the movie X[Chi] Back Cover. In the original PSP version of the scene where Aqua talks to Kairi before the Unversed show up, there's a bug where another model of Aqua appears in the background.

Since I'm watching Owl House at the moment I can see a lot of potential as a Disney World. Luz would absolutely squee at seeing the keyblade and would make a great party member. "Hoot hoot" "We've already got one annoying bird in our group!"

But how do you farm for it? Aren't the prequisites completing the sticker album and finishing the Final Episode? Farming isn't the term I associate with collecting the stickers since they aren't renewable, unlike if you were going to all the ice cream flavours as the prize pod Unversed manifest each time you enter a world. Quick question, rank each game based on difficulty at highest difficulty mode from easiest to hardest (so that's likely two lists, one for Proud like KH1 and the DS games and one for Critical). I'm doing a Crit run of Birth by Sleep and finding it pretty easy at the moment. I'm having a harder time doing KH2 on Proud!

Secret episode? Is that the Realm of Darkness level in Birth by Sleep or a secret movie?

It does fit that Sora's an amalgamation. Since age 4 he's had Ventus in his heart and by the end of KH2 Roxas and Xion are in there. Roxas has a notable impact on Sora in KH2, emotionally (such as through Anti-Form) and to some limited degree physically (his hair is a lighter shade of brown than in KH1). Thematically he's connected people across worlds and time, explicitly stated at the end of re:coded when he's the key to free the Wayfinder and Twilight trios from their suffering. He's used "my friends are my power" multiple times, at one point even summoning images of all the keyblade wielders and allies shown by that point in the franchise (during the end of his storyline in Dream Drop Distance just before the Xemnas boss fight). It was a big part of his speech when the Kingdom Key decides its true allegiance to him in the first game. It is a shame that the "wand chooses the wizard" aspect for keyblades wasn't explored more deeply, instead going for "you get a keyblade, you get a keyblade, everyone gets a keyblade!" Yep, Data Sora. Maleficent is able to destroy his data rendered keyblade because it's data. However during his first trip to the data rendering of Hollow Bastion and travelling through with Goofy and Donald, he's able to manifest one on the strength of himself as an individual, not a digital doppelganger of Sora. As Mickey says:

Nobodies can grow hearts and data entities can grow, hearts, so presumably replicas can as well. We haven't seen a replica live long enough or have the positive interactions to do so unimpeded except for Xion. She appears in the version of Destiny Islands in Sora's heart that Riku accesses at the end of Dream Drop Distance along with Roxas and Ventus (where they ask the questions that determine if you get the secret movie, and also mirror how the questions at the start of KH1 determine how you level up).

The console games need online multiplayer, and should have adapted things like the Mirage Arena for this purpose. That was the whole point of the Mirage Arena in the first place, people working together in the challenges and it's only on the PSP version. It suits the customisable nature of the command deck, the skill tree of finisher moves and various command styles. Of course you'd probably end up with three other people who have Magnega, Thundaga and Seeker Mine in their deck like you do. Chain of Memories also establishes Namine and hints that there's a relationship between Sora and Roxas (at that point only appearing in Another Side, Another Story and the end credits of the Reverse/Rebirth campaign of Chain of Memories) with the introduction of Twilight Town presented as the other side of his heart. It's also key, pun unintended, to Riku's redemption arc as it's where that arc begins. It contextualises a lot for Kingdom Hearts 2. Days and Re:coded were less about broader character arcs and more about filling in blanks, which makes sense since Kingdom Hearts 2 and Chain of Memories weren't written with those games in mind. Indeed, Days had to not only write out Xion but give an explanation as to why no one, particularly Roxas and Axel, ever mention her in Kingdom Hearts 2, such is the necessity of writing within established events (a perpetual requirement for expanded universe writers, and amnesia is not plausible all the time unless it's the Eighth Doctor).

Finished Re:coded last night. It doesn't deserve all the hate it gets, and does deserve a full remake for the PS5 or Switch. The chip panel system is a lot of fun, and good way to unlock deck slots, accessory slot and abilities. The individual world plots play out with mostly more depth than you'd expect, and the sector sections make for a minigame that provides a change of scenery while also giving value for exploring the world post-completion. The Blox provide more focus on platforming, especially when you get Damage and Bounce Blox in the mix so you have to time your jump, and eliminate or avoid the Damage Blox. The last world, Castle Oblivion is definitely the weakest in terms of gameplay because it's basically run around, talk to NCPs, destroy blox and beat up enemies with none of the gameplay switch up presented in the other worlds. Olympus Coliseum's labyrinth was a lot of fun, even if Cerberus took me more than a few attempts (fire is not the most effective magic to use on him). It definitely challenges the perception of Hit X To Win with Kingdom Hearts, when the standard combat options are stripped away for certain fights. This is easily the most balanced use of the Command Deck combat system. Without the completely broken Command Meld system from Birth by Sleep (a good grinding spot and an hour or so can get you -ga tier magic on your first Disney world), or the New Game+ of Dream Drop Distance (or accessible early game techniques like the infamous Balloonra) and that higher level commands require commands only available later in the game you won't be ridiculously overpowered. The Memory capacity means that you can't just load up your most powerful techniques, you need to think about the fights you'll be engaging in and enemy types you'll be up against. The Command Conversion system is cool, as you can level up the two commands you put in, see what they'll make and convert them without scrolling through your command inventory. One thing I like about the story is that at no point do Mickey, Donald or Goofy talk to the Data versions of Sora and Riku like they're just disposable avatars based on people they know, they treat them like they would their analogue counterparts. There's no talk of Real World, it's Outside World. Indeed, Donald and Goofy relish the opportunity to travel worlds with Sora again, even if it's starting the friendship from scratch again. It's never mentioned what happened to Data Sora afterwards, and I would like some resolution (pun unintended). Did Jiminy upload his journal from KH2 to give Data Sora more worlds to explore? Is that computer in Chip and Dale's workshop?

A spaceship is more of a mechanical thing, you generally see and feel what happens when you push a button or pull a lever. The way the gummi ship operates is more steer and shoot, two fairly straightforward operations. Sora's probably adapted some experience from sailing. Computers are far more precise and rely on the interface to tell you if you've pressed the right thing. Sora is an islander and Destiny Islands isn't indicated to be high tech by any measure, so he has no prior experience until finding Ansem's computer in Hollow Bastion. For all of the mechanical developments in Disney Castle there's not much in the way of electronic innovation, the most high tech electronic device is the computer Chip and Dale build in re:coded that ends up with matter to energy conversion capabilities since it zaps them, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pete into the datascape.

In the Queen's Court area of Wonderland in Kingdom Hearts 1 do Heartless spawn randomly for general exploration, or is it just the story battle against the Card Soldiers? I was wondering because I was thinking that Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3 are the only games to have save points on maps where enemies can spawn (as opposed to story battles). Thinking about it lots of save points are in rooms that seem to exist solely for that purpose, like the Turo Transporter or Machinery Bay Access maps for Deep Space in Birth by Sleep, or the Parlor in KH2's Beast's Castle.

Do you have the Special Edition of Birth by Sleep, with the artbook and postcards? I was incredibly fortunate to get that second hand.

All of these would be really good choices. Atlantis would be awesome for exploring, on land, underwater and in the air. The movie is about a Princess and a giant crystal called the Heart of Atlantis, that's perfect for a Kingdom Hearts story (and the crystal could be interpreted as a callback to Final Fantasy's regular use of crystals). Emperor's New Groove has a lot of possibility for more animal forms, which could factor into puzzle solving. "Pull the lever, Goofy!" "Where'd Donald go?" "Why does she even have that lever?" Treasure Planet would look gorgeous, and have proper space exploration. Take the naval aspect from the Caribbean and add the Z axis, wouldn't that be truly amazing? Brother Bear, again animal transformation potential and it's an underrated film. For a Pixar The Incredibles would be a lot of fun. The way the second movie ends opens up a lot of scope for Sora and Co to interact with the Parrs and the superhero community, and it'd get Samuel L Jackson in a Kingdom Hearts game. Samuel L Jackson is never not a win.

I always make sure to get that chest during the Disney Town visit as Ven. When starting a new file of Dream Drop Distance I always carry over the spirits and put Ryu Dragon in the party first alongside Meow Wow for Superglide. Really, you can get it within a few minutes of customising your team. It's the same ledge as where the Prize Pods manifest in Disney Town when playing Terra's story. For Ven they appear on the roof area where the door to the giant pinball thing is.

Playing Dream Drop Distance on Critical Mode (this definitely makes mash X to win a huge challenge), really keeping an eye on the HP bar and a Cure command always on standby (grinding Meow Wow to get Curaga as soon as I can). The lightcycle challenge took a few tries because you can't heal, really not looking forwarding to the rail grind aspect of the Spellican boss fight.

Didn't really help that doing two visits cut down the length of each visit's story to be pretty much the length of a single Birth by Sleep world visit, and those were short. It is Disney, there's a tradition of parents being absent or bumped off, or bumped off in the backstory. That in Moana both parents are alive and stay alive while getting some semblance of characterisation (looking at you Mr and Mrs Aurora's parents, try naming her mother off the top of your head) is remarkable.

The Land of Departure must have been a really toxic place to grow up. Only three, eventually four people there, making Terra, Aqua and Ventus more friends by circumstance rather than coming together as friends by their own volition. It really shows that as soon as they go out into the worlds the connection they have and the relationships between them end up tearing their bond apart. Terra's desire for validation drives him further into where Xehanort wants him, Ven's determined but very naive innocence make him willful and lacking in common sense, and Aqua's pride makes her unable to unify the other two with her. At the end of her Radiant Garden story she's still treating Ven like a wayward child, telling him to go home when anyone who's so much as looked after a child knows he's going to do no such thing. They all needed therapy, and to actually communicate with each other what was wrong with them. Ven even takes his dream for becoming a Keyblade Master because that's that Aqua and Terra are already working towards. Aqua does go through a lot of self-reflection in 0.2 though, better living up to her title as Keyblade Master. Compare with the Twilight Trio. Axel approaches Roxas with that becomes their clock tower ice cream tradition, and Roxas in turn invites Xion. They choose to do this and when one of them is in trouble another will watch out or actively try to help them. Roxas and Xion regularly made detours through Destiny Islands to collect shells for each other when the other was in a coma. When things are going wrong Axel's motivations are to keep the three of them together despite the toll it takes on the trust Roxas has in him. When Axel is on his Castle Oblivion mission Roxas is often shown as being concerned, especially when word gets back about everyone sent there being dead.

Xehanort is a master manipulator, he plays many characters like a fiddle. He even played Eraqus, who knew Xehanort was dodgy. He played on Terra's insecurities, his desire to be recognised and gave him a lifeline for his internal conflict with the darkness within him. Terra doesn't take the villains at their word, he investigates their claims and comes to the conclusion they're up to no good. Ventus and Aqua are just as naive as he is, but they come across the heroes first or see the villains doing villain things. Terra is the one to realise he's gone down the wrong path and wants to atone, but Aqua acts all high and mighty by reminding him of his failures. His whole arc in the second ring of Disney worlds is rejecting darkness and recognising he needs the friends he's been pushing back. Aqua is the one who keeps making things worse between the three of them, proving a spanner in the works who ends up benefiting Xehanort. In Radiant Garden she pushes Terra away and insists Ven go home, once more separating the trio until the fateful clash in the Keyblade Graveyard. She believes Maleficent over her trust in the young man she's grown up training alongside.

Does that include 358/2 Days and re:coded on the DS?

The intro songs have reflected the numbered title they're closest to for plot, so I'm going with Face My Fears. Chain of Memories, re:coded and Birth by Sleep heavily link to Kingdom Hearts 1 for plot, the first two being based on visiting recreations of Kingdom Hearts 1 worlds, so use Simple and Clean. 0.2 being a follow-up to Birth by Sleep carries the Ray of Hope remix for Simple and Clean. 258/2 Days is the backstory of Roxas, a key character for Kingdom Hearts 2, so Sanctuary. Dream Drop Distance ties all the games together to build up to Kingdom Hearts 3, so it uses the orchestral version of Hikari and finishes with Sanctuary ~After the Battle~. As Melody of Memory is Kairi's experience in the aftermath of Kingdom Hearts 3 it'll likely be Face My Fears or Don't Think Twice, both reflecting Kairi's mindset and motivation in searching for a way to restore Sora.

I finished 358/2 Days this morning, now the only Kingdom Hearts games on consoles I haven't reached the end credits on are Chain of Memories and re:coded. The missions could have used some variation, but at least there was only one tailing mission. The Emerald Serenades are a pain to chase because you need to intercept it and can only knock off a fraction of the health bar per intercept and they've got five bars. We all know the pain that the Infernal Engine, Leechgrave and Ruler of the Sky enemies cause. I've really come to appreciate the panel system, it's a unique mechanic and the most immersive resource management system the series has used so far. The customisation is a lot of fun and tests your tetris skills, as well as letting you try different features for things like High Jump, Air Slide and Glide. The way your magic casts are tied to the magic panels you've installed makes you more economical with your magic useage, and you pay more attention to your set-up if you want to make the most out of panel enhancing chains. The character work is mostly great, and it's always worth talking to everyone in the Grey Room to see what dialogue they have, items they give and challenges they give to unlock more missions (even though you can access them later in the game). We don't get much time with Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Zexion and Lexaous because Chain of Memories takes place fairly early on into the game. In terms of individual world storylines some are very well done. My favorite is the Olympus Coliseum because Phil is one of the few characters to treat Roxas as an individual, genuinely wanting him to meet his potential from almost a paternal postion. His final words to Roxas, "don't be a stranger", make it sad we won't hear this ever voiced. Agrabah is amost puzzle box, with successive visits unearthing more areas (practically the whole Cave of Wonders is areas exclusive to this game) until finally Roxas and Xion access the lamp chamber. Halloween Town has a great background plot where Jack's looking for inspiration for next Halloween, Roxas unintentionally giving him some. I do think Wonderland had a missed opportunity with the Bizzare Room, where collectibles only appeared in shrunken form. Maybe something more could have been done with the size shifting mechanic. A very clever touch I noted was that Disney characters from the first game and this one will talk about and are familiar with Heartless, but not mention Sora since the events of Chain of Memories mean it won't be until the start of Kingdom Hearts 2 that the links he's formed are reformed. This game definitely deserves a HD remake, and the only thing I can see being lost with the lack of a second screen is specific sequences when Roxas having flashes of Sora is shown as that Sora scene appearing on the bottom screen. I'd also add in more exploration of The Castle That Never Was as a hub area instead of just the Grey Room. One early and one late game mission do give you more rooms to go about in, but proper exploration would provide more insight into how the indiviudal members operate.

Probably more that the names are thematic to the setting and characters of the games they're in. Roxas is heavily associated with twilight in KH2, the sun setting on his existence and his version of the tutorial Darkside being the Twilight Thorn (the manifestation of Nobody enemy types usually having a thorn type visual and they appear on the Two Become One keychain). Daybreak Town is the main setting of X/Union X and the earliest chronological point in the series. I'd elaborate on this but I suspect it would breach the spoiler policy.

PS4, I want to be playing it on midnight release.

Just noting that even though Pridelands appears, Sora's in normal form which indicates individual world form changes won't be represented.