Kingdom Hearts III Keyblade-All

Seen the pre-order at a £34.99 & decided to take a chance on Kingdom Hearts 3. I think it looks very charming & looks pixar quality in the visuals department at times.

With an all-star cast of famous characters, familar & unfamiliar magical worlds, I just hope its a bunch of fun with a somewhat cohesive story. The combat was a bit shallow in the original (the only one I played) so it will be nice to see that a lot more fleshed out.

I really hope the long dev time pays off, quite looking forward to this.

Never played anything Kingdom Hearts. But definitely expect I'll give this one a try.
From what I understand, it is impossible to follow the story regardless, so I just assume I haven't missed anything important.

I won't be buying at launch, but I'm very curious to see how this turns out. I have the HD Remix sitting near the top of my pile at the moment.

Thank you Gametrailers, me you rest in peace.

Kingdom Hearts 3 - The First 2 Hours of Gameplay (Livestream!)

Edit: Skimming. Thanks Antichulius and the Video thread from EE.

Finally started playing last night after watching a 3 hour compilation of the plot points from all the games, along with reading through the wiki at the same time, because I couldn't remember all the different plot beats.
Only got an hour in, and of that hour, I actually did some gaming for maybe 20 minutes... the rest was cut scenes.
The new aesthetic is going to take some getting used to. I know they eventually visit the Toy Story world, but everything already looks like it's made out of plastic anyway.
Anyway, looking forward to playing more when I get a chance!

I am a good bit through Olympus (the first area) with Hercules & the rest of the cast. The aesthetic is nice, the gameplay feels pretty good, a definite improvement on the first game but the dialogue is terrible so far, so simple, dumb & one dimensional. The only character with a bit of flair & personality is Hades.

I realise it's only early on & I can take a disjointed story if the dialogue was fun, charming & engaging but its at the other end of the spectrum. I really hope other characters are better written, Hades gives me a bit of hope that a few more can be entertaining.

There are a couple of things gameplay/design wise that feel a bit archaic. The fact you can jump over a lot of walls but there some that have those invisible barriers. You also do that thing were you jump to grab onto a ledge & you just sort of float beside it sometimes.

The cutscenes are constant, it breaks the flow of the gameplay, the transition could be much smoother, the cutscenes less frequent.

Not a great start but I'll press on to see if things improve.

Kingdom Hearts III - Easy Allies Review

2002: I play Kingdom Hearts on the PS2. My first born child was 6 months old, I was a substitute teacher. My wife and I, both Disney fans, play through the game and have a good time. Years pass. Steady job. Two more kids.

I have not really played a Kingdom Hearts game since. Maybe I played one or two of the spinoffs for a bit, but I remember nothing - hey, it's been a long time! Also, I have literally bought the games again, at least once if not twice, intending to replay them, and then ... nothing.

I thought my heart was closed, but then I watched a gameplay video a few days ago, and wow - it sure looks pretty.

I began by watching the "Memory Archive." That's ... something.

Then I started playing, and I just have this goofy (sorry) smile on my face. For example, Sora, Goofy, and Donald launch off to the first world, and then a title card appears:

Spoiler:

Kingdom Hearts II.9

This game is gonna be a ride.

Heh, I was in high school when 1 came out. I was visiting my grandfather, and we went to an electronics store, where I saw a copy, and he bought it for me. I remember being somewhat annoyed that I had to wait until I got home after the weekend to play it.
I remember seeing all the hype build up going into the first game, in magazines and whatnot, and thinking that the concept seemed dumb... yet I bought it (well, my grandfather did) anyway, and have played every game since (haven't necessarily finished them all, though)

So quiet in this thread.

I'm up to the third Disney world, 12 hours in, and its been a lot of fun. The combat is interesting and chaotic, and visiting the worlds and characters is delightful. I've been listening to Waypoint's "Lore Reasons" series, and the overall plot is starting to come together.

Minor collectable spoiler:

Spoiler:

There are collectable minigames that look just like Nintendo Game & Watch games from the 80's. They are quite fun to play through once.

For me, getting KH 3 was a bit of a risk, but so far, I'm enjoying it!

KH3 is really struggling to hold my interest, the beautiful score seems in total contrast to ancient design choices, floaty jumping, the dodge just not feeling as effective as it should be (maybe because of the camera at times) & as I've said the dialogue is so bad.

The part I'm at now is the stepping stones in the colosseum which is infuriating to get through. Having to use your focus to shoot up to the floating bits of rubble for the camera to reset from looking up to straight ahead once you get there leaves you falling back to the ground before you can even get your bearings. There doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown so that you have time to aim at the next floating block to get you to the top of the colosseum.

I need to give the game more of a chance but its really wearing thin, Goofy & Donald are two irritating side kicks into the bargain.

Not really that positive from my own point of view but I'm glad your enjoying it Aristophan.

Aristophan wrote:

Minor collectable spoiler:

Spoiler:

There are collectable minigames that look just like Nintendo Game & Watch games from the 80's. They are quite fun to play through once.

Spoiler:

I wonder if those are the same games that Kindgom Hearts Unchained X has. Are they things like a fishing game, escaping from a giant, etc?

Taharka wrote:
Aristophan wrote:

Minor collectable spoiler:

Spoiler:

There are collectable minigames that look just like Nintendo Game & Watch games from the 80's. They are quite fun to play through once.

Spoiler:

I wonder if those are the same games that Kindgom Hearts Unchained X has. Are they things like a fishing game, escaping from a giant, etc?

Spoiler:

There was an escaping the giant game, a flying catching mail game, an egg collection game, and others.

Spikeout wrote:

I need to give the game more of a chance but its really wearing thin, Goofy & Donald are two irritating side kicks into the bargain.

Not really that positive from my own point of view but I'm glad your enjoying it Aristophan.

I also had some control issues, but I've gotten used to them. The air dash thing can be frustrating still. If Goofy & Donald seem to be annoying to you now, I don't think there is going to be any significant change.

Spikeout wrote:

The part I'm at now is the stepping stones in the colosseum which is infuriating to get through. Having to use your focus to shoot up to the floating bits of rubble for the camera to reset from looking up to straight ahead once you get there leaves you falling back to the ground before you can even get your bearings. There doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown so that you have time to aim at the next floating block to get you to the top of the colosseum.

That part gave me trouble at first but it’s not as infuriating (part of the problem for me is a lot of pieces that it seems like you should be able to jump to, you can’t) as it seems...you don’t actually need to target *any* of the floating debris bits. There are targetable “anchor” bits on two intermediary platform type things, the first of which can be targeted from the ground.

Aristophan wrote:

I also had some control issues, but I've gotten used to them. The air dash thing can be frustrating still. If Goofy & Donald seem to be annoying to you now, I don't think there is going to be any significant change.

Yeah I'm getting more used to the controls but it still feels a bit loose, the decision not to allow you to change the jump to 'X' & the keyblade attack to 'O' is also frustrating.

I really want to see more of the Disney worlds, especially Toy Story so I'll keep plugging away & put up with Donald & Goofy.

juv3nal wrote:
Spikeout wrote:

The part I'm at now is the stepping stones in the colosseum which is infuriating to get through. Having to use your focus to shoot up to the floating bits of rubble for the camera to reset from looking up to straight ahead once you get there leaves you falling back to the ground before you can even get your bearings. There doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown so that you have time to aim at the next floating block to get you to the top of the colosseum.

That part gave me trouble at first but it’s not as infuriating (part of the problem for me is a lot of pieces that it seems like you should be able to jump to, you can’t) as it seems...you don’t actually need to target *any* of the floating debris bits. There are targetable “anchor” bits on two intermediary platform type things, the first of which can be targeted from the ground.

Yeah it turns out you basically just held the R1 & triangle buttons & it sort of just auto zipped to each platform to get to those anchor parts.

Pro-tip,

Remap the X button to []. I tried that this weekend and the combat feels much more like a modern video game (with jump on X and attack on [])

Is it just me or does this game seem to be strangely balanced? I am now at the end of the

Spoiler:

Pirates of the Caribbean

world and am way overleveled based on the level recommendation. Most of the enemies require a few hits and no big deal but I get my butt kicked by two certain enemies--the sand pit guys and the chain swinging guys.

Overall, I'm enjoying the game even though it feels like they threw in several different mini-games in throughout the game to both pad the length (we didn't wait 10 years for a short game!!) and provide some variety to the button mashing of keyblade battles.

No spoilers, but I am really sour at the Toy Story world story, especially how it ended. Do we revisit the worlds, or are we done with that story?

Take this with a grain of salt, as I have not finished the game.

You can go back to the Disney worlds for collectables, etc., but I do not believe there is any more story. There is a place that you can see the story summary for each area, and there is a Mickey icon when that section is complete. Each time I have completed a Disney world, I have received that icon.

I finished the game tonight, and I'm walking away as a fan of the series. The ending was very satisfying, and I found myself smiling as I played. Now I need to decide whether to go trophy hunting or not. I'm so old school, but I really wish there was a printed strategy guide.

I finished the game about a week ago. In short, I think all the worlds are fairly lifeless and nonsensical (I am not sure why I am traveling to the worlds, nor why I am going to these worlds specifically). The endgame is really interesting, but very lore dump-y (with a character even joking about tying up loose plot threads). The boss fights are some amazing spectacle, and I think there is a good game here that could have been excellent, but needed some more editing and a more coherent story throughout.

Well, I did end up spending the week grabbing the rest of the trophies. I completed the story in 40 hours, and the Platinum in 60. I've had a lot of fun with this game. I can see the flaws, but I don't really care.

How difficult was the Platinum? I've been thinking about it, but it seems like a lot of hunt and peck and collect.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

How difficult was the Platinum? I've been thinking about it, but it seems like a lot of hunt and peck and collect.

Pretty much it, but since I'm the type of gamer who likes checking things off of lists, it was right up my alley. I have a computer screen next to my TV, so I would load up a walkthrough video for Lucky Emblems or Treasures, and follow along. I had to spend more time on the Gummi Ship, and this guide was helpful. The most grindy thing was getting all the materials to synthesize everything. There were new battle areas, and a new boss, but I managed each of them on my first time (normal difficulty). The most difficult part was getting a high score on several minigames. Again, videos helped. The last trophy I collected involved getting Sora to 99, but by the time I had to grind out a few battles, it really only took me about 15-20 minutes to go from 70 to 99.

The ultimate weapon you collect is very cool, and the trophy hunt also rewards a few other fun keyblades.

Still plugging through this, definitely my most disappointing game in quite awhile. The combat is pretty fun with all the crazy attacks and effects, but everything else is not nearly as good. The story is all over the place and makes absolutely no sense, the worlds are big and beautiful but lifeless, the side activities are bland and boring, the dialog is sophomoric at best, and the cutscenes are absolutely mind-numbing. I can’t help but feel let down after waiting all these years to play it. I’ll keep working towards the end, but it’s going to take awhile. I do think there’s a good game in here, but the first two were so much better.