Kingdom Hearts: Critical

[Hovhannes1998]

Hi everyone! So I'm going to replay every KH game on the 1.5 and 2.5 editions on their hardest mode. I already beat 1 and 2 on Proud, but I'm kind of intimidated about the criticals. Any advice on how to go about this. I will probably pick the shield and sacrifice the sword in 1 and pick the guard bat in 2, but I'm not sure what to focus on in CoM in terms of sleights, hp, or cp. Thanks for the help!

 

[The_Echo]

There is no Critical Mode for KH1. If you've beaten Proud, you're done unless you want to try LV1. I do not recommend it.

Re:CoM also only goes to Proud, and frankly I didn't see a huge difference between any of the difficulties. I typically prioritize HP, but if you're more into building a great deck CP and Sleights should be higher priority.

KHII's Critical Mode is the best of the bunch, very well balanced. You can choose any of the Struggle bats, it doesn't really matter. There aren't many tips other than make sure you use everything you have available to you. The early game will make you sweat, but eventually you'll get into the swing of things. People make Critical out to be harder than it is. The Cavern, data battles and Lingering Will are definitely hard as hell though.

For BbS, definitely take your time and make sure you get Leaf Bracer, Second Chance and Once More as soon as you possibly can. There are specific points where the difficulty spikes out of nowhere and you will do next to no damage. It's entirely doable (and honestly, not that difficult), but it's not as well-balanced as KHII.

 

[Anagram]

Of the lot BBS has the easiest level 1 run. Thanks to leaf bracer, once more, second chance and all them other abilities that you can get extremely early (if you know what your doing) makes it easiest.
Secret bosses like MF will still be a bitch though. Magnega is a godsend also.

 

[DarkGrey Heroine]

Critical mode itself isn't that hard, really. You just have to get used to being more careful and planning your attacks/observing the enemy more, if you really find yourself in trouble. A level 1 run, however, not THAT's fun to do! If you're planning a level 1 run, prepare yourself for long, intense battles, because you deal even less damage and are even more vulnerable. Have patience in the beginning, and then use all your commands/skills/move, everything, to your advantage. Creating yourself strategies is a really nice thing to do, and then when the strategy works, you get the most satisfying feeling ever.

Now, I assume you want to try Critical Mode as it is and not Critical Level 1 (with Zero EXP activated), so I tell you this again: there's really not much a difference between Proud and Critical, unless you play Level 1. ~

 

[kuraudoVII]

Like everyone else has said, Critical Mode is certainly doable if you know how to strategize at points. Birth by Sleep's Critical Mode is very simple if you know how to get all of the hax commands and abilities early and easily.

 

[Hovhannes1998]

I see. Now keeping in mind that my friends (Donald and Goofy) will probably be dead most of the time (as I saw in my KH1 Proud mode play through), is it worth trying to heal them? I just kind of ignored them and waited them to come back (thank God for Tinker Bell). The only time I really felt like I needed my team badly was during the Ansem fight when we were separated, and some boss fights in KH2 when Tinker Bell couldn't come to the rescue.

Also, my first play through in CoM (Standard Mode) focused on sleights mostly, but some sleights didn't work well on bosses, so should I keep that minimum. I think having a ton of CP would be really good to have lots of potions and ethers. I used lots of cards with tons of heartless to train. How much should I train on Critical?

 

[Anagram]

I wouldn't waste the effort or mp to keep saving D&G. Just make use of tinker bell.

 

[The_Echo]

I see. Now keeping in mind that my friends (Donald and Goofy) will probably be dead most of the time (as I saw in my KH1 Proud mode play through), is it worth trying to heal them?

Not really. They're pretty much only worth having for their Limits, otherwise it's better to play as if you don't have a party, in my experience anyway. Your focus should always be on Sora.

Also, my first play through in CoM (Standard Mode) focused on sleights mostly, but some sleights didn't work well on bosses, so should I keep that minimum. I think having a ton of CP would be really good to have lots of potions and ethers. I used lots of cards with tons of heartless to train. How much should I train on Critical?

Sleight progression is the same all the time, so the only way to get to the Sleights you want is to level up through the ones you don't.

I don't think you'll need to grind much on Proud, I don't remember doing it much. As I said previously, I didn't notice a huge difference between any of the difficulties when it came to CoM​.

 

[Hovhannes1998]

I started CoM and I am mostly leveling up my CP so I can keep more cures. I have a few sleights but I'm not using them much. I remember my favorite one being the fire rain but that is still a long way away. I noticed that you can only really get one sleight per floor, so it is currently my last priority. I kind of go back and forth between CP and HP with slightly more focus on CP. It's working pretty well so far.

 

[Anagram]

The only sleight you ever need to worry about is Lethal Frame. It is literally a game breaker. Having something like Tornado or Megaflare helps too since you can clear rooms with them.