Just realised I've posted in this thread twice and haven't ranked the games yet so, from best to worst, here goes:
- KH2
- KH1
- 0.2
- Days / ReCoM
- Re:coded
- BBS
- 3D / KH3
KH1 is really just lightning in a bottle that's never quite been captured again. It does everything perfectly, fun gameplay that feels satisfying, good character writing, strong worldbuilding, a good plot. If I have to be honest, the only reason it's not number one is because Leon is just so much hotter in KH2.
Re/CoM was quite fun as a GBA sprite game, I haven't played much of it but decided to try it out after Recom just made me lose my head one time too many, and found out that the card system and the way the worlds are laid out works much better on a 2D GBA than a fully 3D PS2 level production. The story is brilliant by the way, I found way more enjoyment just watching all the cutscenes as a movie than struggling through the awful level design. The card system is fine enough on PS2 as well, but I couldn't abide the way the rooms were set up.
KH2 my beloved <3. Look, I know people like to say it's writing isn't up to par with it's predecessors. Maybe that's true in their eyes, I dunno. I can't ever bring myself to say it though. It feels like the logical next step that a franchise like this should take.
MORE Final Fantasy,
MORE Disney,
MORE original KH content, yes please! And it's not like we're getting more with no substance, Auron is literally the shining example of the franchise in how to do a "one-and-done" cameo, and the other ones weren't bad either, yeah, even Setzer (Vivi being the sole, sad exception). When it comes to keeping the player entertained, KH2 definitely doesn't miss the mark. People also say the FF characters were less relevant in KH2.
Really? Honest to goodness, the strength of the original and FF characters is the ONLY thing that makes me rate this game as highly as I do. The introduction that KH1 gave us is used as a springboard for an entire world dedicated to them, their problems, their daily lives, and how they co-exist with the fantastical crap at the forefront of KH2. It's brilliant man, it might be a B-plot but that doesn't make them
less important. I feel like I learnt way more about them in this game than in KH1. I could go on and on (and maybe I will if someone wants me to) but I'll end it here and say that KH2's underrated strength is having a massive cast where everybody with a voiced line (and even some unvoiced NPC's) feels like they contributed to the game. It's frustrating to see pieces of media with massive missed potential, and KH2 as a standalone and as the end to a trilogy delivered on making me feel like no one character wasn't given some time in the sun, even the Struggle Promoter.
358/2 Days is a game that's ridiculously divided the fandom (although maybe not so much nowadays? Where were all these Xion fans when I was a kid on forums defending her huh). I like it man. It's OK. I think the gameplay was fun, if a bit tedious at times, and I found it more intuitive than BBS and 3D. Although, I did get stuck on Leechgrave for literally 8 years, and then when I came back to it, I beat it in one go, so how much of that difficulty was down to me being a dumbass 12 year old is up in the air. And I really like Xion. I don't care that her whole scthick was to be a tearjerker, I just think it was nice to see someone with zero sense of self and identity slowly grow into her own person, and I like how it felt like a mutual thing between her and Roxas. I couldn't care less for Axel, if anything, this was the game that made me dislike him. All of the character dialogue between every character was great and very entertaining, and I really liked how absolutely SHITTY the seasalt trio is to each other. The clocktower scenes between all 3 of them always felt so awkward, and it was glaringly obvious to me as a kid that Roxas was the glue binding them together. It felt like a real dynamic to me, and I wish Axel and Xion's conflict was explored further. Anyway, I enjoy this much maligned story for pretty much the reasons people dislike it.
BBS is just something meh to me, it's not
bad, it's enjoyable, I like all 3 protagonists for the most part, I like Eraqus, I like Vanitas a lot too, I
really like Zack and I want to revise my earlier statement, Zack is the shining example for a "one-and-done" cameo. The gameplay is fine too but it always felt too limiting to me, I did enjoy d-links a lot though. I think the story is probably just as good as Days, but maybe this is the downside of having an almost fully voiced game, quite a few performances left a lot to be desired, and did have an impact on my enjoyment. It's a solid 7/10
Re:coded. Game has good gameplay. More news at 10. I also really enjoyed the little text box dialogue Sora has with the Destiny Island Crew, who don't get ANY time to shine. While the gameplay is fantastic, it was those little flavour texts that edge it over BBS for me. Make no mistake though, it's a game carried by the gameplay. Also, Jesse McCartney outdid himself here. Fun stuff!
3D is just ahh... is it even worth talking about the game now? Didn't we already rake it over the coals enough 10 years ago? The gameplay is just so frustratingly bad and I don't really let that impact my opinions on KH games, but it HAD to here. I did not enjoy 3D at all, and then I gave up to play it on beginner, and it STILL was not fun. More manageable at least though. The last 20 minutes or so of this game is simply stand out stuff in the franchise as a whole, like, come on, who WASN'T hyped with "This leads to Kingdom Hearts" with the faded III after the message? Fantastic stuff. Also, the TWEWY cameos realy were great, I loved Shiki interacting with Riku, I don't think we ever get to see him flustered, so that was nice. I was really quite unhappy at the time though on what I felt was a disrespect to Xemnas' character.
0.2 I am not bothering to write the whole name here, but I wholeheartedly agree with
@KingdomKurdistan
0.2 is wonderful, literally does not put a step wrong in ANYTHING, and this tech demo, more than anything else ever could, gave me the feeling that, yes, KH3 would be worth it. The writing is great, the level design is the best its been since KH1, the cinematography is also brilliant, the gameplay is GOOD, as much as you could expect for a tech demo. The opening CGI is also actually the best the series has ever had. I don't mean to prop 0.2 at the expense of others but I feel it has to be said, KH3's cannot compare, at all, really. It's only better than KH1's and that's not a hard task at all.
KH3 just made me mildy annoyed. I don't really care to talk about it much anymore? It wasn't particularly stand out in anything I feel, except the gummi ship. I genuinely get a kick out of that, it's so crazy fun. The gameplay is also of course, good. I just think it has the worst plot and writing in the series by far, and the SDG dynamic is good too but then there's just some parts where the bullying of Sora goes too far and it's weird? Like, I feel like it came outta nowhere. There's always been some ribbing between the three, but not to this extent. Also Leon's haircut is DISGUSTING. 0/10! I'm prepared for this to be screenshot and taken out of context so I feel confident in saying it.
Chi/Unchained/Union X/Back Cover/Dark Road are simply not worth ranking, and Melody of Memory is unranked because it's a fantastic rhythm game that I greatly enjoy, but I don't feel good pitting it against the "proper" games, for various reasons, but mostly because I value story quite a lot unless the gameplay is particularly good or egregious, and MoM has a rather lacking story, which tbh, I never wanted it to have one anyway.