- Joined
- Oct 13, 2013
- Messages
- 151
For the longest time, I defended the idea that KH1 was superior to KH2. More exploration, more original plotlines, lighter and less confusing story. But when I played it again after so many years in the 1.5 HD collection, I began to realize I just wasn't enjoying it as much.
Combat feels slow and clunky.
The camera is too close and jittery.
Until you get superglide, it's slow to get around.
AFAIK, there's no way to shorten summon animations, and most of them are useless anyway.
The Gummi missions just suck. They're slow, boring, and don't offer any real variety. KH2's meanwhile is like a freaking Star Fox game.
The 100 Acre Woods minigames aren't fun. Like, at all. The world is just slow and boring. The whole time, I feel like I'm playing an actual Winnie the Pooh PS2 game made for toddlers. KH2's minigames there were WAY more fun and exciting, to where I actually cared about getting a high score. These are just slow and boring.
Exploration just isn't fun. There's a lot of platforming, some worlds are confusing to navigate and it can take a lot of backtracking to get where you want to go.
Wonderland is too confusing to navigate. I realize it's Wonderland and it should be a little weird, but making it so you can't explore most of it until you come back later is a bit much.
Deep Jungle requires a LOT of backtracking to get where you want to be, and the vines are annoying.
Monstro is EXTREMELY confusing, the absolute worst world in the game. I had no idea where to go, and without High Jump, one slip can make you have to backtrack through everything you just went through.
Atlantica, do I even need to say it? The swimming controls are some of the worst I've ever seen in a video game. KH2 did it way better and you don't even fight enemies there.
Halloween Town has only one single save point, ONE, at the very beginning. Which means if you want to start searching for chests, you gotta go allllll the way back to the very start if you want to get out. Oogie's Manor is also a serious pain, because like Monstro, one wrong step will send you all the way back to the bottom. And with the camera the way it is, jumping and hitting Gargoyles is a big mistake because you won't even be able to see where your feet land.
I'm all for exploration, but KH1 seems to hide it under backtracking, awkward platforming, and weird controls. Yes, KH2's worlds are more linear, but I feel this makes for a more enjoyable experience overall, especially with so many ways to get around now, whether by aerial dodging, quick run or even skateboard.
Finally, the plot is... Well I appreciate it for not being as confusing as later games, and I personally like the voice acting better here, but with later games being darker and more complex, the plot in KH1 comes off as juvenile, for lack of a better word. All the characters are two-dimensional compared to later installments. Sora is just that happy-go-lucky kid protagonist. Riku is just a brooding antihero. Kairi is just a damsel in distress (WAY more than in KH2, here she's basically Sleeping Beauty), and "Ansem" is a cheesy Disney villain that won't shut up about darkness. No wonder Billy Zane didn't reprise his role. When I first played the game back in 2002, I loved the plot because I was about 9 years old at the time, and seeing ANYTHING Disney having a darker tone, with all this talk of light and darkness and these surreal, foreboding cinematic shots, was so cool to me. I still think KH is the darkest thing that involves Mickey Mouse, and I still like it for that reason. But looking back at several Disney films, KH1 is really no darker than those. It just happens to involve Mickey.
When playing 2.5 HD only a few months after playing 1.5, I saw just how much the game improved over its predecessor. It feels like they looked at every little flaw I saw and corrected them the best way they could, while adding twice as much content at the same time.
So let me ask this. KH2 has a better camera, better controls, better combat, better AI, better story, better Gummi missions, better minigames, more worlds, more bosses, more difficulty, more content and more things to do in general. Yet so many people say that KH1 is better. I ask you, why? Is it nostalgia? Or do you truly believe that KH1 is the better game? I'd love to hear your reasoning.
Combat feels slow and clunky.
The camera is too close and jittery.
Until you get superglide, it's slow to get around.
AFAIK, there's no way to shorten summon animations, and most of them are useless anyway.
The Gummi missions just suck. They're slow, boring, and don't offer any real variety. KH2's meanwhile is like a freaking Star Fox game.
The 100 Acre Woods minigames aren't fun. Like, at all. The world is just slow and boring. The whole time, I feel like I'm playing an actual Winnie the Pooh PS2 game made for toddlers. KH2's minigames there were WAY more fun and exciting, to where I actually cared about getting a high score. These are just slow and boring.
Exploration just isn't fun. There's a lot of platforming, some worlds are confusing to navigate and it can take a lot of backtracking to get where you want to go.
Wonderland is too confusing to navigate. I realize it's Wonderland and it should be a little weird, but making it so you can't explore most of it until you come back later is a bit much.
Deep Jungle requires a LOT of backtracking to get where you want to be, and the vines are annoying.
Monstro is EXTREMELY confusing, the absolute worst world in the game. I had no idea where to go, and without High Jump, one slip can make you have to backtrack through everything you just went through.
Atlantica, do I even need to say it? The swimming controls are some of the worst I've ever seen in a video game. KH2 did it way better and you don't even fight enemies there.
Halloween Town has only one single save point, ONE, at the very beginning. Which means if you want to start searching for chests, you gotta go allllll the way back to the very start if you want to get out. Oogie's Manor is also a serious pain, because like Monstro, one wrong step will send you all the way back to the bottom. And with the camera the way it is, jumping and hitting Gargoyles is a big mistake because you won't even be able to see where your feet land.
I'm all for exploration, but KH1 seems to hide it under backtracking, awkward platforming, and weird controls. Yes, KH2's worlds are more linear, but I feel this makes for a more enjoyable experience overall, especially with so many ways to get around now, whether by aerial dodging, quick run or even skateboard.
Finally, the plot is... Well I appreciate it for not being as confusing as later games, and I personally like the voice acting better here, but with later games being darker and more complex, the plot in KH1 comes off as juvenile, for lack of a better word. All the characters are two-dimensional compared to later installments. Sora is just that happy-go-lucky kid protagonist. Riku is just a brooding antihero. Kairi is just a damsel in distress (WAY more than in KH2, here she's basically Sleeping Beauty), and "Ansem" is a cheesy Disney villain that won't shut up about darkness. No wonder Billy Zane didn't reprise his role. When I first played the game back in 2002, I loved the plot because I was about 9 years old at the time, and seeing ANYTHING Disney having a darker tone, with all this talk of light and darkness and these surreal, foreboding cinematic shots, was so cool to me. I still think KH is the darkest thing that involves Mickey Mouse, and I still like it for that reason. But looking back at several Disney films, KH1 is really no darker than those. It just happens to involve Mickey.
When playing 2.5 HD only a few months after playing 1.5, I saw just how much the game improved over its predecessor. It feels like they looked at every little flaw I saw and corrected them the best way they could, while adding twice as much content at the same time.
So let me ask this. KH2 has a better camera, better controls, better combat, better AI, better story, better Gummi missions, better minigames, more worlds, more bosses, more difficulty, more content and more things to do in general. Yet so many people say that KH1 is better. I ask you, why? Is it nostalgia? Or do you truly believe that KH1 is the better game? I'd love to hear your reasoning.
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