Kingdom Hearts: best to worst?

[Audo]

The game was in development for like four+ years. "Rushed", eh. KH3D in comparison was developed in two years. The problem with KH2 was that they had no idea what they were doing, they let the project get out of scope, and they hired terrible writers. I don't think extra development time would have helped it.

 

[Grono]

The game was in development for like four+ years. "Rushed", eh. KH3D in comparison was developed in two years. The problem with KH2 was that they had no idea what they were doing, they let the project get out of scope, and they hired terrible writers. I don't think extra development time would have helped it.

I'll never forget that horrible line when Sora is using Ansem's computer and he exclaims "WOW, IT'S DOING STUFF!" Ugh, so much in that game to pick on

 

[EnchantedDominion]

I'll never forget that horrible line when Sora is using Ansem's computer and he exclaims "WOW, IT'S DOING STUFF!" Ugh, so much in that game to pick on

lol That's probably because Sora comes from a tiny little island without computers and it doesn't look like it has electricity either. He's probably amazed at the talking box that makes pictures.

 

[Grono]

lol That's probably because Sora comes from a tiny little island without computers and it doesn't look like it has electricity either. He's probably amazed at the talking box that makes pictures.

Still a horrible line though!

There's also the weirdly sexual lines like "wow, you're really good!" in the series that get to me xD

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

The game was in development for like four+ years. "Rushed", eh. KH3D in comparison was developed in two years. The problem with KH2 was that they had no idea what they were doing, they let the project get out of scope, and they hired terrible writers. I don't think extra development time would have helped it.

Well, when it got down to really making the game, they definitely did rush it because of the lack of direction it had. I don't think Nomura was really ready to make the game, but SE and Disney were and this is why we ended up getting such a cram-packed Final Mix because of everything that couldn't be realized in the original version could finally be added.

It is a shame that Nojima was a terrible writer for KH2. He clearly had no idea how to write a "light" story and didn't know how to work with the characters given to him. I also blame Nomura to a point as well because he probably didn't put any emphasis on who and what should have been developed. The entire middle of KH2 is filler for the most part, and 4 games are spent pretty much negating most of what happened in KH2.

This is why I'm convinced KH1's rather solid script and story was not due to Nojima but Watanabe and Akiyama's ability as writers. (Watanabe is not so much better, though, but it is definitely a stark difference from Nojima's work in KH2)

 

[Grono]

Well, when it got down to really making the game, they definitely did rush it because of the lack of direction it had. I don't think Nomura was really ready to make the game, but SE and Disney were and this is why we ended up getting such a cram-packed Final Mix because of everything that couldn't be realized in the original version could finally be added.

It is a shame that Nojima was a terrible writer for KH2. He clearly had no idea how to write a "light" story and didn't know how to work with the characters given to him. I also blame Nomura to a point as well because he probably didn't put any emphasis on who and what should have been developed. The entire middle of KH2 is filler for the most part, and 4 games are spent pretty much negating most of what happened in KH2.

This is why I'm convinced KH1's rather solid script and story was not due to Nojima but Watanabe and Akiyama's ability as writers. (Watanabe is not so much better, though, but it is definitely a stark difference from Nojima's work in KH2)

Direct evidence of them rushing the story: Roxas. Roxas' part in the game is fine, but they left literally everything about his character to a whole nother video game lol

 

[BlackOsprey]

... Huh. I honestly had no idea that people hated KHII that much. Maybe I just have low, lenient standards, because I still think that game was pretty great.

 

[Grono]

... Huh. I honestly had no idea that people hated KHII that much. Maybe I just have low, lenient standards, because I still think that game was pretty great.

Nah, it's okay to like KHII! I like it too, I'm just painfully aware of its faults. 'sigh' the life of a critic

 

[namine_ftw]

The whole point of KH1 was that he wasn't the Keyblade's chosen one, tho. That he wasn't special or destined. Why do people keep seeming to forget this point in their KH1 nostalgia?

I was referring to the way he was treated by characters in-game. It's this huge deal that Sora is able to wield the keyblade. In Traverse Town Leon says "it's hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." Ansem Report 9 says that "one legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says he wrought chaos and ruin upon it." This implies that there is only one real keyblade and its single wielder at one time (at least, in the Realm of Light). While Riku originally was chosen, the keyblade went to Sora after Riku gave into darkness.

Given that there were three different wielders and keyblades in KH1 alone... no? Not really?

There was a keyblade for the realm of light and realm of darkness, and Riku was able to wield, but he couldn't keep the keyblade. And like Tartarus said, having 2 active wielders is a lot different than...however many we have running around now. I lost track.

I think the bigger ???? was the fact that the Mysterious Tower existed in the Sleeping Realm lol.

Good point. If they just had the Fantasia world that would be one thing, but the inclusion of the mysterious tower was...questionable, to say the least.

This applies to literally every world in the series. They really aren't good at making the worlds feel alive and lived in. Definitely one of my biggest complaints that never gets addressed. Even KH3 so far is shown even bigger, emptier worlds (though they claim it will be different, with NPCs being able to assist in battle and stuff, but we'll see...)

I feel like it's definitely gotten worse in later installments. At least the numbered titles had a few NPC's, and you could say that the reason there aren't a lot of people is because of the heartless (I think in KH1 NPC's show up in Agrabah after you finish that world's storyline) . With the later installments, it becomes a glaring issue because certain scenes are supposed to take place in areas with a lot of people, but the player only sees the relevant NPC and the player character (the invisible crowd cheering at the Coliseum springs to mind here). Also, most of the worlds just end up being corridors with a pretty background. I would love to enter some of the shops in Twilight Town, for example, but everything is closed off. Notre Dame bothered me the most personally because it was supposed to be a crowded, lively city and it looked like a ghost town. It was the world I was looking forward to the most, too :/

I'm really hoping this gets fixed in KH3. It's on the PS4, so there is literally no excuse.

You know, thinking about it, they really could've done more with Roxas throughout KH2. Perhaps with Sora having moments similar to how, in KH1 when Kairi's heart was inside him, he would see her in Merlin's house, "recognize" the castle slide in Deep Jungle because of Kairi's memories of HB, or "remember" Kairi's grandmother's tale, etc. It would've fit in with a lot of the Disney worlds there with having characters who felt their identities were "divided" in a sense (Aladdin being a street rat, but soon a prince; Beast being a prince inside, but a monster on the outside; Jack Skellington being the Pumpkin King, but wanting to run Christmas; TRON having to "die" to save Space Paranoids, like Roxas did to save Sora; Ariel and Eric combining two worlds; etc.). I remember writing something similar to how Riku could relate to certain Disney characters in CoM. It's really not difficult; I wonder why the writers never do more with the Disney worlds in that way.

I was expecting something like this to happen when I was playing the game for the first time. As I went through the game I kept thinking, "ok, Sora is going to have a vision of Roxas now, right?" or "Ok, I just encountered an Org member. Roxas is definitely going to pop up in Sora's head now." I thought Roxas would try to periodically take control, or Sora would have headaches or blackouts or something. Or he would have flashbacks when he sees certain Organization members. After all the hype for the "BHK" from Deep Dive, I expected a lot more.

 

[BlackOsprey]

I was referring to the way he was treated by characters in-game. It's this huge deal that Sora is able to wield the keyblade. In Traverse Town Leon says "it's hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." Ansem Report 9 says that "one legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says he wrought chaos and ruin upon it." This implies that there is only one real keyblade and its single wielder at one time (at least, in the Realm of Light). While Riku originally was chosen, the keyblade went to Sora after Riku gave into darkness.

Simpler times, yeah? I think the concept of the Keyblade has changed a ton over time. Back then, it was your standard The Chosen One weapon, a one-and-only Excalibur kind of thing. I guess they decided later on that's not what they wanted it to be like.

There was a keyblade for the realm of light and realm of darkness, and Riku was able to wield, but he couldn't keep the keyblade. And like Tartarus said, having 2 active wielders is a lot different than...however many we have running around now. I lost track.

Hmm, let's see... counting both active and dormant characters, we have thirteen, I think? If all the Seekers of Darkness gain the ability, that brings it up by 12, although that may not count since they're all supposed to be the same guy... and now thanks to KH Chi, the number of wielders could be up in the hundreds, or possibly the thousands.

 

[Audo]

Simpler times, yeah? I think the concept of the Keyblade has changed a ton over time. Back then, it was your standard The Chosen One weapon, a one-and-only Excalibur kind of thing. I guess they decided later on that's not what they wanted it to be like.

There are three Keyblades in KH1 :S
Numerous references to other wielders.
A secret ending with two more additional Keyblades.

Honestly, the minute people saw the ending to KH2 they should have realized that the Keyblade wasn't intended to be that kind of thing. The fact that people are still complaining about it now, four games later is a little ooof. And for those who are in the fandom, Nomura has been saying since KH1 came out that there were numerous Keyblade Wielders. A lot of that "chosen one" kind of language is really just there to set-up the twist at the end where it is revealed that Sora isn't a chosen one and that he is not special lol.

--Do you mean to say that there are other "Keyblade Heroes"?
Nomura: Well, undoubtedly there are other "Keyblade Heroes", but it just so happened that this time, Kairi made it to the world where Riku and Sora were. That's all.

It should also be noted that in Japan, Sora is referred to as a "Keyblade Hero" and not a "Keyblade Master" as he is in KH1. Also of note is that Japanese doesn't really have things like "a X" or "the X". So a line like "It's hard to believe that you, of all people, are The Chosen One" doesn't actually exist in the source text and was more likely something like "It's hard to believe that you, of all people, were chosen."

A lot of this "There is only one Keyblade. One chosen one" kind of thing is a direct result of the translation and not something actually present in the source text. To keep in mind.

and now thanks to KH Chi, the number of wielders could be up in the hundreds, or possibly the thousands.

more like thanks to KH2 where the Keyblade War is first mentioned.

 

[Launchpad]

KH1 (super fun, thorough, clearly well thought out, horrid camera and you'll-get-used-to-it-eventually tier platforming, but definitely the best)
KH:CoM (Fun on the GBA, horrid on PS2, interesting story with neat new characters who are fun to kill)
KH2 (Hate the story, worlds, and level designs, but the gameplay is good on high difficulties, yo! It still had staggering, which is very important)
KHDD (Boring story, butchered my Hunchback world, non-staggering enemies, but some bosses are fun and the worlds are really cool and vast... definite fun on the go)
KH:ReCoded (boring ass story again, fun gimmicks, short enough to enjoy, nothing obnoxiously stupid)
KH:BBS (holy fuck there is not one enemy in this game that is fun to fight, not one world that is fun to explore, and the jumping is so shitty, the command deck sucks, why do you guys love this game)
KHays (ugh)

 

[Nazo]

1. Kingdom Hearts II
2. Kingdom Hearts
3. Birth By Sleep
4. Dream Drop Distance
5. Chain of Memories
6. 358/2 Days
7. Coded

That's my overall list. In terms of specifics though, CoM has my least favorite gameplay of the series. I enjoy the ability to attack as I see fit, and the card system restricts that. I want to run up and go guns blazing on enemies, but you have to be strategic and thoughtful in CoM. And while I love that aspect of the system, I much prefer the ability to attack unrestricted in all other games.

Coded has the worst story in my opinion, which is why it's my least favorite as I play KH for the story first and foremost. The movie version of it in 2.5 made it way better, plot-wise, but the original DS game was just really odd and felt overly complicated for such a simple conclusion of telling Sora about saving those in his heart.

Days has a lot of problems as well, but I love the atmosphere and story of it. Playing as Roxas and being within the Organization and all that is awesome. I place it lower than CoM because its story is slightly less interesting in my opinion, but its story is way better than Coded, so it goes above that, despite Coded having much more fun gameplay.

 

[Wander]

1. KH2 (FM on Critical Mode is still the most fun I've had with a KH game, not really much story to speak of besides the very beginning and end)
2. CoM (Both versions were fun, really liked the characters)
3. KH1 (Controls are ass but you'll get used to it eventually, story was whatever personally)
4. DDD (Fun if not frustrating at times, Dream Eaters were cool bonus points for best opening cinematic, again story is whatever)
5. BBS (Had fun melding commands, story and characters were ass don't understand the praise at all)
6. Coded (It was fun, got old fast though)
7. Days (why. Roxas still favorite character but why.)

 

[namine_ftw]

The fact that people are still complaining about it now, four games later is a little ooof.

People keep complaining because every game brings in more unnecessary keyblade wielders. If it doesn't bother you then that's fine, but other people don't have to like it. I was fine with BBS and the KH2 secret ending because that takes place in the past. The BHK obviously had a connection to Sora, which was a good reason why he could wield. I'd rather have the keyblades used in present day be kept to a minimum, personally. Having multiple keybaldes used in the past is fine, but I'd prefer the modern wielders to just be Sora, Riku, and Mickey. I don't like how pretty much every KH original character on the side of her heroes has a keyblade now. It seems...lazy. Lea and Kairi could have contributed in other ways (Lea was what annoyed me the most, tbh).

It should also be noted that in Japan, Sora is referred to as a "Keyblade Hero" and not a "Keyblade Master" as he is in KH1. Also of note is that Japanese doesn't really have things like "a X" or "the X". So a line like "It's hard to believe that you, of all people, are The Chosen One" doesn't actually exist in the source text and was more likely something like "It's hard to believe that you, of all people, were chosen."

A lot of this "There is only one Keyblade. One chosen one" kind of thing is a direct result of the translation and not something actually present in the source text. To keep in mind.

Huh, that's interesting. I didn't know that about the language, and I don't read the Ultimanias. I only have the English games to go by.

more like thanks to KH2 where the Keyblade War is first mentioned.

I don't know if it was on this forum or other KH forums, but I remember there being all this speculation about keychain-less blades vs. the ones with keychains. The ones without keychains (like the Heart Unlocker in kh1) were for some reason assumed to be incomplete or "fake," while the ones with keychains were considered to be special, or the "true" keyblades. The way they were positioned in the Sunset Horizons trailer made it seem like those three were a big deal.

That was all speculation though; obviously, this turned out not to be the case. But just because there were multiple keyblades in the past does not mean that there needs to be, or should be, such a large amount of keyblades used in the present.

Simpler times, yeah? I think the concept of the Keyblade has changed a ton over time. Back then, it was your standard The Chosen One weapon, a one-and-only Excalibur kind of thing. I guess they decided later on that's not what they wanted it to be like.

This is what I would have preferred: just one keyblade per realm. Ymmv, of course.

 

[Hakan Xatos]

Okay let's see here

KH2 Final Mix - Although seemingly easy at times it has a good combination of story, gameplay and boss battles. A very well rounded title.

KH DDD - Probably my favorite gameplay of any KH game. Flowmotion really impressed me and I could use it flawlessly. Story was great in my opinion. Thought the time traveling was a neat and unique thing to add. However the dreameaters were "eh.." Flick Rush was okay. Also lack of many original secret bosses. Real disappointed.

KH1 Final Mix / Re: Com - Glad these two were put on the same disc. KH1 is a classic. Controls may not have been the best, but with good difficulty, story, worlds and secret bosses its very fun to play and replay. Also KH1 had a darker tone that I liked about it. Re: Com is just pure fun. I loved the GBA game a lot and when I beat Sora's story I was ecstatic that you could play as Riku. Card system was a welcome change in pace that works great. Story was great with the introduction of Org 13 and Namine. Card collecting is a nice challenge. The bosses were well done (No secret bosses though ). Then you have Riku's dark mode and card duels for just enough change to make it unique from Sora's story. Wished they kept Riku's dialogue from the GBA game. However not good if you're not in the mood for grinding levels or want boss repeatability.

KH Re: Coded - Just a fun game. Alright the story is weak. Now the gameplay was great! Each world had unique levels that were all fun. Command deck was good and the way you leveled up your keyblades was really cool. Surprisingly a lot of replay ability. You could go all the levels in the coliseum all FF style, speed runs, trophy collection, secret bosses and the bug portals. I really like this game. Simple but plain fun. Had over 100 hours on it.

KH BBS / Days - BBS had the best graphics on handheld before DDD, great secret bosses and Mirage Arena. Did not like the form guage that increases with every hit. I like choosing when I go into a form. Never found D-Link useful. Worlds were alright but very short. The story made me hate Eraqus because he could've prevented everything. Gameplay wise I hated Terra and liked ventus the best. The three stories were very redundant and I lose interest halfway through the next character. Days had a good storyline, great characters, but severely lacked in gameplay and replay ability. However replaying levels as so many different characters was fun and I liked the chip system.

 

[Rau Le Creuset]

---the ones I love----
1) KHII (as flawed as it was it was the reason I fell in love with KH. It was totally the side stories of Diz/ATW, Axel, Riku, and Roxas that pulled me in. Could have cared less about Sora.)
2) KHI (even though playing it now frustrates me with how positive Sora is during the whole game. You can't deny how solid it is in terms of gameplay, story, and Disney. Easily the most balanced between square and Disney)
3) Days (Angsty Roxas is my favorite Roxas. I just ignore Xion and focus on Axel)
4) BBS (I didn't like how you had to play it three times but I loved the characters. I like to see villain backstory but I wish this took it even further)
---the ones I dislike--
5) COM ( while I enjoyed the story I hated how it felt like you were replaying KH I when you played in the floors/worlds. I wished they could have made it without the worlds. I didn't understand why.)
6) DDD (this game made things more convoluted then the story ever needed to be. I wanted to love it. After 10 years of not moving forward in time in the story this just made things go from confusing to totally screwed. I hated it. I wasn't a fan of the dream eaters. The game felt horribly empty. If it wasn't for the plot development between BBS and KH I this would be last. )
7) Recoded ( now thinking about it. I don't have too many bad things to say about it other then what I said about com and reliving kh I. I enjoyed the ending though. A lot)

unpopular opinions are plenty here

I knew if I looked hard enough I wouldn't have to type anything! Unpopular opinions ho!

 

[RoomKey]

I still don't get the hate you guys have for KHII. I really liked it.

Anyways, my reasoning for my list is:

KHI: Easily the best in the whole series. Great story, great gameplay, right amount of difficulty, and just overall a classic.

KHII: Great second chapter to the original. Love the addition of more fast paced action and brand new worlds! Although, I personally don't feel it shared the same sort of atmosphere as the first, and the ending wasn't as good (though still a great ending).

KHDDD: I really loved the gameplay of this one, the story was also neat! I actually didn't mind the time traveling addition, as we had already seen that done before. What ticks me off is their younger selves thing. Not that they're younger, just that they don't look like their KHI selves (especially Riku)

KHBBS Great story, great battle mechanics, but it ticked me off that I was going to the same worlds every time. That really bothered me. The character were great, though. But Aqua's and Terra's voice acting sucked >.<

KHDAYS: I love the story and the characters, but the repetive missions and limited worlds kinda bothered me. I hated missions like defeating the emerald serenade, but some missions were really fun! I liked the gameplay, though. Mission mode sucks though, since I don't have any else who plays KHDAYS D: I unlocked Mickey and Sora for nothing!

KHCOM: I won't lie, I actually dug the card gameplay, but the worlds sucked. I always skipped their cutscenes (except Destiny Islands and Twilight Town) The bosses were fun, though. I also LOVED the Castle Oblivion scenes.

KHCODED: Horrid story but I liked the gameplay. The Castle oblivion bit at the end was fun, too (Roxas!!! )

 

[FEZeldalord12345]

From favorite to least favorite:
1.Birth By Sleep. There are two main factors as to why this is my favorite. First off is the presence of debuffs. This is a HUGE factor to me in terms of enjoyment of RPGs. The most we got in the past games is Stop in KH1, which was nice, and Magnet in KH2 which was...OK. Here, we have Sleep, Stop, Mini, Poison, Slow, and I loved experimenting with all of them. The other reason is because of Terra's story. The worlds felt like they more relevant to the story. Not so much the 2nd half, but more of the first half. They kind of dropped the ball with Aqua's story, but I can't ignore what I love about it.

2.Re:Chain of Memories. This is so high up on the list because of my impressions after playing KH1. Here, I actually cared about Sora! I was curious as to what was going to happen since it seemed like it was going to go into more detail about what happened on Destiny Islands, which we thought we knew about. I just couldn't help but feel bad for Sora. As for the card mechanics, I had to force myself into it at first, but I grew to really enjoy it.

3.Kingdom Hearts 1.(Only Final Mix) When I first played Kingdom Hearts 1, I didn't think anything special of it. Didn't care much for the story and the battle mechanics were OK. Then I started exploring, and I realized just how much I was missing out on Final Mix's content. I love the unique enemies and how you obtain all of the synthesis ingredients, such as with the White Mushrooms. I daresay this game has the best farming mechanics out of any game I've ever played. I haven't played the original, and from what I know about the differences between the two games, I don't want to.

4.358/2 Days. This game had so much potential. I cared more about the bonding between Roxas, Axel and Xion FAR more than I could ever care about Sora, Riku and Kairi, but the plot is really lacking. It would've been much more interesting to see more objectives, along with more missions for Roxas to go on along with other members of the Organization. I admire the potential of this game more than the game itself, but I do like what we got. I enjoy the panel system since I'm a sucker for different methods of customization, and I really some of the song remixes here.

5.Kingdom Hearts 2. Unfortunately, even Critical Mode didn't do THAT much to save the game for me. There are 2 main problems. First is the gameplay. Critical Mode did make it more fun, I'll admit that. However, my main issue, admittedly bias, is that the game chose to be an action game first and an RPG second. KH1FM had a lot of abilities that made me take my stats and equipment into account, along with farming for certain items to increase certain stats. Here, it's just a mindless process of beating the crap out of anything. While that is fun, the RPG elements are really lacking. Boosts from armor and accessories felt negligible outside of gaining AP, and they completely got rid of tech points/weaknesses! Why would they do that?!? As for the story, I love the ideas, but the pacing is terrible. There's the Organization's goal, Axel's plot, Roxas's story, the Disney worlds's stories, Riku, DiZ, it's all over the place. I wouldn't mind it if it were told better, but it wasn't. I do enjoy Critical Mode since it gives a thrill to the battles with the risk of dying, but that's it. I've yet to go through the Cave of Remembrance, though.(currently working on Mushroom XIII first) I have had fun with certain bosses, and I feel like the Data battles will be interesting.

As for Coded and Dream Drop Distance, I've yet to play either of them.

 

[Veritas7340]

1) Kingdom Hearts I

2) Birth by Sleep

3) Chain of Memories

4) Kingdom Hearts II

5) Days

(Haven't played DDD or Coded)