II
II really feels like a true sequel to I. It's got about twice the content, twice the story, twice the characters, twice the everything. They really expanded on the first game. II has been my favorite since getting into the series for how huge it is, how much meat it has. Even more so with the Final Mix version finally in my hands after seven years of watching it on YouTube. The remixed music is outstanding, especially He's A Pirate (I LOVE fights in Port Royal now) and Desire for All That Is Lost. However, there are some flaws that stand out to me now, especially after having a terrific experience in 1.5.
Button mashing. It's a problem people have had with II for years, but I had never really paid it any mind until now. I spent 1.5 alternating between magic and physical combat pretty equally. Combo, Thundaga. Firaga, Firaga, Firaga, hit. Magic was pretty vital to 1.5, like Aeroga giving you a buffer to help, especially against Chernabog or the special Heartless, or Ursula's first boss battle. However, in 2, your problems can be solved with just hitting X all the time. Magic is so weak starting out that it's useless anyway.
This is another problem I'm finding. I feel so weak playing this game. It's not my levels, but it's just the way you have to play. When you hit someone with the Keyblade in 1.5, you felt the kick, you felt the Keyblade hitting them, and it did damage. Here, it feels like it takes an entire minute to kill a single Shadow or two, when in 1.5 even at the start it took just a combo or two. Hence I feel forced to resort to Drive modes very often to actually deal some damage. The Large Bodies and Fat Bandits are lethal. I never noticed this problem until now with 2.5. It's very frustrating and I feel like I'm going through the motions in this game, as opposed to 1.5 where even though it was a game I had played through about three times, I still had fun fighting and blasting my way through, with no gripes about the combat at all. I just feel so nerfed in 2.5.
II is a solid game, with tons of content and fun to have. But it just doesn't resonate with me this time. I definitely feel like I'm just going through to get the FM stuff like Terra, the Absent Silhouettes, and the Cavern of Remembrance. Oh, the Christmas Town stuff was great!
Lingering issues include the lip lock which if re:coded is any indication, will become a thing of the past going forward; the Pride Lands are still pretty watered down (this perception isn't helped by the fact The Lion King is my favorite movie of all time); the second visits to worlds with the odd exceptions of Agrabah, Beast's Castle, Olympus, Space Paranoids feel like cheap DTV sequels. Though I suppose that's the writer's faults for trying to follow up on a world following the movie plot's completion (especially for Halloween Town and the Pride Lands). The exceptions' plots didn't really end with the first visit anyway, so I guess they don't end until you kill the local Disney Villain.
On that note, I take points off for killing Oogie. Not that he hasn't come back from the dead already, but still. I love that gambling man.
Re:coded
Glad I skipped re:Coded the first time around. The movie was awful. It lulled me to sleep eventually. I really loved that there was hardly any lip lock in these cutscenes and the HD certainly shows, they were beautiful visually. Plot wise, it felt like "Oh boy, let's send Sora through the same Disney Worlds and occasionally talk about data and hearts." Not even having treats from the voice cast (especially the Cheshire Cat finally being voiced, the new guy doing a good job as Genie, and Hynden Walch sounding good as Alice too) made up for it. It's easily the weakest story of the series. At times it felt preachy, which 3D was guilty of too, when talking about hearts and the usual stuff. This is my first time actually going through re:coded on my own gaming systems (as I said I skipped the DS version but watched the secret ending and read the plot summary from Wikipedia) so now I can give it a proper review at least in terms of story.
There were some touching moments - especially the very meta moment when Donald and Goofy tell Sora they miss going on adventures with him, and the Roxas fight - but it… ugh. That felt almost like The Last Airbender at times. Just not recommendable to anyone. I consider myself a diehard fan, but I'm not blind. I smell the crap here.
BBS
Saving it for last, since it's the only game I've wanted in this bundle that I haven't gotten.
II really feels like a true sequel to I. It's got about twice the content, twice the story, twice the characters, twice the everything. They really expanded on the first game. II has been my favorite since getting into the series for how huge it is, how much meat it has. Even more so with the Final Mix version finally in my hands after seven years of watching it on YouTube. The remixed music is outstanding, especially He's A Pirate (I LOVE fights in Port Royal now) and Desire for All That Is Lost. However, there are some flaws that stand out to me now, especially after having a terrific experience in 1.5.
Button mashing. It's a problem people have had with II for years, but I had never really paid it any mind until now. I spent 1.5 alternating between magic and physical combat pretty equally. Combo, Thundaga. Firaga, Firaga, Firaga, hit. Magic was pretty vital to 1.5, like Aeroga giving you a buffer to help, especially against Chernabog or the special Heartless, or Ursula's first boss battle. However, in 2, your problems can be solved with just hitting X all the time. Magic is so weak starting out that it's useless anyway.
This is another problem I'm finding. I feel so weak playing this game. It's not my levels, but it's just the way you have to play. When you hit someone with the Keyblade in 1.5, you felt the kick, you felt the Keyblade hitting them, and it did damage. Here, it feels like it takes an entire minute to kill a single Shadow or two, when in 1.5 even at the start it took just a combo or two. Hence I feel forced to resort to Drive modes very often to actually deal some damage. The Large Bodies and Fat Bandits are lethal. I never noticed this problem until now with 2.5. It's very frustrating and I feel like I'm going through the motions in this game, as opposed to 1.5 where even though it was a game I had played through about three times, I still had fun fighting and blasting my way through, with no gripes about the combat at all. I just feel so nerfed in 2.5.
II is a solid game, with tons of content and fun to have. But it just doesn't resonate with me this time. I definitely feel like I'm just going through to get the FM stuff like Terra, the Absent Silhouettes, and the Cavern of Remembrance. Oh, the Christmas Town stuff was great!
Lingering issues include the lip lock which if re:coded is any indication, will become a thing of the past going forward; the Pride Lands are still pretty watered down (this perception isn't helped by the fact The Lion King is my favorite movie of all time); the second visits to worlds with the odd exceptions of Agrabah, Beast's Castle, Olympus, Space Paranoids feel like cheap DTV sequels. Though I suppose that's the writer's faults for trying to follow up on a world following the movie plot's completion (especially for Halloween Town and the Pride Lands). The exceptions' plots didn't really end with the first visit anyway, so I guess they don't end until you kill the local Disney Villain.
On that note, I take points off for killing Oogie. Not that he hasn't come back from the dead already, but still. I love that gambling man.
Re:coded
Glad I skipped re:Coded the first time around. The movie was awful. It lulled me to sleep eventually. I really loved that there was hardly any lip lock in these cutscenes and the HD certainly shows, they were beautiful visually. Plot wise, it felt like "Oh boy, let's send Sora through the same Disney Worlds and occasionally talk about data and hearts." Not even having treats from the voice cast (especially the Cheshire Cat finally being voiced, the new guy doing a good job as Genie, and Hynden Walch sounding good as Alice too) made up for it. It's easily the weakest story of the series. At times it felt preachy, which 3D was guilty of too, when talking about hearts and the usual stuff. This is my first time actually going through re:coded on my own gaming systems (as I said I skipped the DS version but watched the secret ending and read the plot summary from Wikipedia) so now I can give it a proper review at least in terms of story.
There were some touching moments - especially the very meta moment when Donald and Goofy tell Sora they miss going on adventures with him, and the Roxas fight - but it… ugh. That felt almost like The Last Airbender at times. Just not recommendable to anyone. I consider myself a diehard fan, but I'm not blind. I smell the crap here.
BBS
Saving it for last, since it's the only game I've wanted in this bundle that I haven't gotten.