KH3D thread of spoiler-free gameplay impressions! (Thanks Neogaf!)

[Sign]

To be updated as time goes by~ Thanks to the Neogaf members (for being awesome enough so that I am not completely terrified to search for spoiler-free impressions because they tag everything! )

Originally Posted by Keiician

Ok, once I got cure, battles became easier (hate wasting potions in KH games), but as for now dashing into the wall and using the two hit free flow combo seems to be a godly strategy... I wonder if it'll change later.

Throwing items (don't remember the name of that gimmick) isn't really that much fun. For one it stops time for the duration of aiming, which breaks the flow of the battle. What's even worse, the barrels are usually placed near walls and rotating the camera to face the battle results in the thrown item to be out of view, which prevents from slinging it.

I wonder how the Drop system, allowing us to switch between Sora and Riku will turn out... I guess completing each character's part is required to push the story forward, but haven't gotten that far yet.

The card game is fun and requires a bit of strategy. Completed the training and the beginner cup so far and I liked it.

Originally Posted by RyougaSaotome

I 'completed' the first world of the game with Sora and Riku, with about two hours on the clock while playing on Proud mode. I've barely seen/explored all the areas though plus it was clearly a tutorial beginning.

Combat is fast and you have a whole lot of options available to you. Unlike Keiician, I actually found the Reality Shift (throwing items) mechanic really useful, especially when I was caught between a rock and a hard place. It not only provided me a super quick out, but it also allowed me to damage a large group of enemies at the same time. Yes, it definitely brings things to a grinding halt, but I like having the option. Linking with your Dream Eater is also pretty sweet and I can see myself experimenting a lot with the different forms you can create.

The free flow combat combined with the standard move-list is pretty god-like. In particular, you'll be making use of pretty much everything in the boss battle at the end.

On the whole though, 3D is building on the deck system that BBS used, meaning the combat is rock solid. Having the D-pad below the circle pad does make for awkward moments though when shuffling between moves. Nothing impossible to overcome though.
Music has been excellent and as a TWEWY fan, I was reminded of how much I loved that game. Talk about a nostalgia overload.

I played an hour without the slide pad and an hour with. Both felt fine, though admittedly the Circle Pad Pro took some getting used to due to the last three KH games being on handhelds without dual sticks. I guess somewhere along the line I got used to that.

Some mild slowdown when shit gets real, like in all KH games. As soon as you have a lot going on onscreen, things slow down a bit. Nothing too awful though.

Originally Posted by Keiician

Flick Rush

You select 3 of your Dream Eaters - each has it's own skills, which are the same as in normal game.

The goal is to get the HP of all opposing DE to 0.

Flicking the card up makes the DE use the skill, you can flick more than one to get a higher number. Each card flick takes one portion of the pink gauge and if it's empty you can't attack/defend. The DE with a higher number during an attack breaks the enemy's attack. Mind you, some of those skills have small AoE, so it's possible to miss, even if your number is higher. You can flick more than one card for a single attack, but you have to do it quickly and it takes more of the gauge.

Flicking the card down makes your DE defend and doesn't use the gauge. The thing is, all those skills have execution times, so you have to be very cautious of when to use them.

When you run out of cards (you actually have more than those 4 cards on screen), you can hold the DE icon with your stylus to recharge, but it takes a few seconds.

You can switch between your DEs and I think it also depletes one section of the gauge.

When 2 DE attack with the same number, a lottery game begins - it's basically a match 3 icons flicking contest - the first person whose icon makes the 3 upper icons the same wins and deals "huge" damage (the tutorial says it's huge, but uh, not really).

I think the numeric values on the cards are random - there's no "deck" to be modified anywhere, you just select your DEs.

You also get ranked based on time and the HP your DE have left.

All in all, it's a fun minigame and the only way to play against someone in multiplayer (local only, I guess).



(In response to duckroll: " Is this a multiplayer only minigame? Or can you play it with AI opponents anytime you want? It sounds really interesting, and a lot like Chain of Memories... mmmmm....")

No no, you can play "tournaments". You get a beginner tournament after clearing the training one but I guess you have to progress the story or something to get the next ones.
Oh, you also get ranked based on time and the HP your DE have left.

Originally Posted by RyougaSaotome

I will say this much.

The game completely assumes you're familiar with the entire series; Coded, 358, BBS etc. There is a really gigantic glossary included in-game which is certainly useful, but I think it goes without saying that you should NOT play this if you skipped 2 or even BBS.

Originally Posted by Keiician

18 hours in, 2 worlds to go if there isn't something weird and long in the end.
Like the game so far, but the free flow actions kind of make the objects that could be used for platforming useless, since you can just dash in the wall, gain free flow magic speed and keep doing it until you're near the ceiling. I like the system, because platforming elements weren't always top notch in those games, but it feels kind of weird, like playing on cheats or something.

And I kind of don't like the forced Drop mechanic, where I have to decide if I have enough Drop gauge to engage in a long fight and not be kicked out of it.

Originally Posted by Keiician

One more thing I don't like - breeding and taking care of those damn spirits. It's the only way to get abilities, but the 3 minigames get old pretty quick, petting them isn't very interesting as well - especially those snake-like spirits which moonwalk out of the screen which takes ages.
This could've really been handled better, although I like the idea of linking during fights. With Sora, mostly, since you're invincible during that period. Riku-linking is kind of risky, because you start flying all over the screen and enemies get annoyingly strong in the later part of the game - when I get killed it's usually by some random projectile. Also, who gave half of the enemies combo-projectile attacks? You get hit and hit and hit and hit and lose half of your HP because of a "one" attack.

Originally Posted by Keiician

My overall impressions on the game are positive, although the battles were a bit too chaotic, mainly because of a big number of enemies you usually face at once.

Free flow actions are a nice addition - they're useful during both battle and exploration, but render the objects made with platforming in thought basically useless. You can just freeflow into a wall and go higher and higher etc.

Reality shifts were hit or miss - loved some, found some boring. Nice touch though.

What I didn't like, aside from the level of clusterkupoedness the story has reached and the above problem with battles is the Dream Eater system. Hell, I didn't like them at all - both enemies and friendly spirits looked totally out of place during the whole course of the game.
My main gripe though was having to play with those damn things using the same minigame over and over, as it was by far the quickest way to unlock link points needed for unlocking the skills.
In total, those 3 minigames got boring after 5+ tries and petting the Spirits for intimacy/exp/link points quickly became tedious, because of the small boosts it gave.
Not only the system as a whole could've used some more work, but also the Dream Eaters following you had an annoying habit of popping out behind you when they were too far. Trust me, running long distances with a pink pop covering 1/3-1/4 of the screen pretty often quickly got annoying.

All in all, I think it was a good game and didn't feel like a cheap tie-in with features cut just so it can fit the portable system

Originally Posted by RyougaSaotome

...it feels like there are a lot more large areas that are a bit more intricately designed. Some of them are just open, but many times there's lots of things inside to platform across/Free Flow around.

There were definitely some areas in the first world early on that threw me off guard. BBS did a good job of hiding the fact that most of the 'rooms' were small, but 3D immediately tosses that out of the window.

Also, I totally agree about the Dream Eaters. They feel really out of place, save for a few of the bosses which I think work fine aesthetically. It's a shame considering I've always really dug the enemy design in KH. 3D falls short on that.

I'm just around half way through and I'm also happy to report that this feels like a proper title in the same ways that BBS did. It doesn't make the same mistake as the DS titles.

Originally Posted by Keiician

As for the Drop mechanic - you're kicked to the beginning of the fight.
If you're exploring a zone, I'm pretty sure you're kicked to the beginning of it, UNLESS you're in a fight. So when my Drop gauge was running low while running around, I always looked for a fight, so I can drop back straight to it later.
It is annoying, but you can roughly estimate how long it's until the drop, so if you think you won't be able to defeat a boss, just drop at the beginning of the fight and come back to it later.

 

[Recon]

3D is building on the deck system that BBS used, meaning the combat is rock solid.

That's something I really needed to hear. Birth by Sleep contained my favorite battle system. These impressions are really great for those trying not to be spoiled. Thanks again.

 

[Zephyr]

Cure will always sound like an amazing spell to use lol. I'd like to assume the Reality Shift is like our overdrive/limit break/etc. I love the recently revealed TWEWY tracks and I wonder how they will blend in Traverse Town once heard in-game.

Has anyone reviewed how the leveling system works? It looks to work similarly to the Crystarium system.

 

[sub6snoopy]

I needed to hear those. Thank you all for posting your impressions. I am now excited for the minigames, I was a little uneasy about them at first. and it's great to hear the battle system is a lot like BBS. I can't wait.

 

[kupo1121]

I'm really disappointed from the person who said you needed to play them all to understand this. One of the KH's series big problems with reviewers seems to be how it doesn't catch people up, and I hate how that little thing decreases its score I played them all, so I guess it doesn't affect me, but I still dislike how even with the glossary to catch you up, it still doesn't help 100%

 

[SeaSalt]

this is a great explanation of the game so far without spoilers.

i mean, who else here can relate to not wanting to click on those spoiler threads and the pressure of knowing most people on these forums know the whole DDD story already???

 

[Narukami]

This game is all about the free-flow action for me now. Using that dive bomb attack when you're in the air seems like a perfect finisher for ANY boss battle.

Can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[Sign]

i'm just saying this because for some reason that i can't understand it flew way over people's heads but these are player impressions and don't really mean anything other than to provide an alternate view of the game as perfection doesn't exist and something that is flawed in some way, to some person is completely fine

Originally Posted by Keiician

18 hours in, 2 worlds to go if there isn't something weird and long in the end.
Like the game so far, but the free flow actions kind of make the objects that could be used for platforming useless, since you can just dash in the wall, gain free flow magic speed and keep doing it until you're near the ceiling. I like the system, because platforming elements weren't always top notch in those games, but it feels kind of weird, like playing on cheats or something.

And I kind of don't like the forced Drop mechanic, where I have to decide if I have enough Drop gauge to engage in a long fight and not be kicked out of it.

Originally Posted by Keiician

One more thing I don't like - breeding and taking care of those damn spirits. It's the only way to get abilities, but the 3 minigames get old pretty quick, petting them isn't very interesting as well - especially those snake-like spirits which moonwalk out of the screen which takes ages.
This could've really been handled better, although I like the idea of linking during fights. With Sora, mostly, since you're invincible during that period. Riku-linking is kind of risky, because you start flying all over the screen and enemies get annoyingly strong in the later part of the game - when I get killed it's usually by some random projectile. Also, who gave half of the enemies combo-projectile attacks? You get hit and hit and hit and hit and lose half of your HP because of a "one" attack.

 

[Chuman]

May I ask, are there any impressions for the Circle Pad Pro support?

 

[Sign]

May I ask, are there any impressions for the Circle Pad Pro support?

Generally the same thing everywhere: it's fine with or without it, just took some getting used to after playing the past few titles without the second analog.

 

[Dantesque34]

Everything seems pretty intuitive, which is nice. When I imported BbS, all of the translation guides and system information were online already, so everything was at my fingertips. Not so much this time, but I'm working it out slowly. One thing's eluding me though - does anyone know how to increase the multiplier beneath the Drop Gauge, and what it does in the first place? I've managed it a couple times, but I don't know what I did.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Everything seems pretty intuitive, which is nice. When I imported BbS, all of the translation guides and system information were online already, so everything was at my fingertips. Not so much this time, but I'm working it out slowly. One thing's eluding me though - does anyone know how to increase the multiplier beneath the Drop Gauge, and what it does in the first place? I've managed it a couple times, but I don't know what I did.

I feel like the multiplier is used for your Drop Bonus.

 

[Dantesque34]

I feel like the multiplier is used for your Drop Bonus.

I figured as much. Do we know how it increases?

 

[kupo1121]

I figured as much. Do we know how it increases?

Is there even a way that it can increase?

 

[Sign]

updated the OP

 

[Gexus]

Could anyone tell me, without being spoilerific how the story is? In other words, is it good or is it too much convoluted? The ending was supposedly changed, is it a crappy ending?

 

[Sign]

I'm hearing it's a good story but extremely convoluted, the ending most of all.

 

[MasterZeR0]

Without spoiling anything, it's definitely pretty convoluted. Like Sign said, the ending will leave your mind in semi-tattered pieces. Lol

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

A really amazing convoluted mess of epic proportions. To me, I compare it to listening to Destati from Yoko Shimomura's Drammatica album backwards layered three times over at different points to make this perfect sounding weird thing.

In short it is really good but have an aspirin ready.

 

[Gexus]

But for a typical KH fan, it leaves your mind in semi-tattered pieces ...in a good way?