first off, this is not a rant and i don't mean to intentionally bash a game on its own forum, i am merely talking about my experiences with this game and wanting to discuss some of my thoughts about it. Secondly i am a long time Kingdom Hearts fan and have played and loved ( Days was a little iffy for me) all of the games prior. I just recently acquired a copy of this game after two agonizing years of being without a 3DS to play it on. I honestly came into it not expecting much (judging by what i've heard about the game from others) but was delighted to find that it was quite entertaining, fun, and innovative. Ah yes, and there will be many many spoilers in this post.
The Story:
Im not gunna lie, i really did not like the story of this game. Maybe it was due to the poor writing in this game ( i couldnt even take the "dramatic" final cutscenes seriously due to the ineffective writing) or maybe it was because they randomly played the time travel card in a series that can already be confusing as it is. Now i have never really had a problem with the storylines of KH games (although i see how you could find them confusing) but upon entering The World That Never Was in DDD i no longer had any idea what was happening in the game. This confusion was partly cleared up later in that world, but it still annoyed me that the plot was not told in the most logical way possible. To make matters worse the story deals with hard to grasp concepts like time travel and Inception-esque dreams within dreams. These deep ideas needed to be presented in a more easily digestible fashion. Perhaps the story could have benefited from more elaboration and less pointless character cameos ( frequent YMX sightings and seemingly pointless Vanitas appearance) Perhaps they could have spaced out the time travel talk throughout the last couple of worlds instead of making it a dramatic realization? I dont know, i dont even like that time travel was included in the game, but im not going to argue.
Characters
I hated Sora honestly. Ive never hated him or had any issues with him in any other game, but in DDD he is either being a complete idiot or trying to befriend every single freaking person he sees. This annoyed me to no end. Especially times when he would instantly forgive people that betrayed him (Neku) or when he would instantly buddy up to everyone he meets ( Neku). honestly all of his dialogue with Neku was painful. I enjoyed Riku because he somewhat balanced out Soras out of control optimism with his laid back demeanor ( or maybe it was just because he had less dialogue for the writers to screw up). I enjoyed finishing the game with him and i was satisfied with his character arc mostly being resolved. I was also fine with Lea getting a keyblade (as I know some where not) i personally did not see any problems with that.
Disney Worlds:
The Grid was awful in my opinion, and just really not fun at all. As was La Cite De Los Cloches (or whatever it was) but to a lesser degree. I really enjoyed Pranksters Paradise and Symphony of Sorcery, i thought they were a return to form for Sqaure's execution of Disney Worlds. Symphony of Sorcery was stunning and fantastical and i really enjoyed the polarity between Riku and Sora's Pranksters Paradise experiences. They made The Grid and La Cite look dead and empty by comparison. The storylines of each world left a lot to be desired, but by now i should just expect that they're never going to be as good as the storylines were in the first two games.
Non Disney Worlds:
Traverse Town was a welcome sight for me and i absolutely loved zipping around it with Flowmotion. I thought all of the newly added areas fit in with the rest of the world and did it justice (except District Four which seemed really out of place for me). The scale of that world seemed a little off, but that's to be expected on a handheld re-creation. The World That Never Was was gorgeous in my opinion, i enjoyed it more than any other world just because of how epic it was to jump from skyscraper to skyscraper blasting away at dream eaters, making your way across the vast dark city. I honestly liked it more here than in its original KHII form.
Flowmotion:
Not as fun or useful as i expected it to be. By the end of the game i hardly used it unless the game prompted me to, or i thought i could use it to find a chest or something. In the end i thought it was a novelty, not bad in any way, but not particularly riveting or game changing. I did not think that the Flowmotion attacks were overpowered or anything, and honestly if you feel this way then just dont use them, its not that hard. On the contrary, by the end of the game i thought these attacks were useless and did next to no damage without Turbo activated.
Spirits:
Spirits were one of my favorite parts of this game. I thought that raising and collecting different Spirits to get commands and growth abilities was very fun and innovative. Some have said that this gameplay element was forced upon the player that wanted to get powerful commands but didnt want to play a nintendogs/KH hybrid, but you do not HAVE to raise dream eaters to get powerful commands. I mean i found Salvation in a chest for gods sake. You will be perfectly fine if you only raise a few dream eaters and get your commands from chests (although your experience will be much less rewarding). I remember finally creating Keeba Tiger and squealing with delight because i knew that i now not only had a new badass companion, but also had the Dark Aura command on the horizon. I liked being challenged to obtain the most powerful commands, in my opinion they were way too easy to come by in BBS and was glad to see this change
Difficulty Level (Common Enemies)
Jeez those Dream Eaters are tough! These were in my opinion the most challenging common enemy type in the series to date. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that these guys always kept me on my toes and made sure that i couldn't steam roll over them like I could to the Unversed or Heartless (in KHII) Although some of these dream eaters were hard due to cheap combo attacks ( Zolephant, flower thingy, Drill Sye, etc.) many of them were just plain challenging ( Ryu Dragon, Keeba Tiger, Skelterwild) i really appreciated this difficulty boost, and it really enriched my experience even if it was mildly frustrating.
Difficulty Level (Bosses)
I was so disappointed with the bosses in this game. I heard talk of truly epic battles with enigmas like "The Anti Black Coat Nightmare" and "YMX", but most of these fights were really disappointing. I never died to a single boss in Sora's story ( I was on Proud mode by the way) and died one or two times to each of Riku's bosses (excluding the mole thingy, chernabog, and the final bosses). The Dream Eater bosses were usually pretty lame and predictable in my opinion (although i did like the Clawbster), but i have always had more of a problem with the human enemies in the series. This was not the case in DDD. The final bosses of this game were a joke for me. The Xemnas and Ansem fights are SOOOOO overdone by this point in the series i mean it feels like we have fought them in every godamn title. Neither of them were challenging seeing as though they pretty much followed the same tired attack patterns they had in previous entries. Anti Black Coat was the only one i died to, but that was because i was startled by his attack that leaves you at one health (as story bosses usually do not possess this power in previous games if my memory serves me well). YMX caught me in the time loop a few times which was frustrating, but with Dark Roll and Dark Block this fight was a joke. The Ventus Armor fight was, much to my displeasure, the easiest of the bunch. These fights were a huge let down after BBS's difficult main story boss fights.
Bosses Design:
The bosses are probably my favorite part of KH and the main thing i look forward to when i start a new KH game. it honestly doesnt matter to me whether a boss is hard or not (although it does make me slightly more inclined to enjoy it) as long as their design is stylistically appealing, fresh and innovative, and visually impressive. Vanitas from BBS is a good example of what i like from a boss, he has a fighting style that was new and fresh, he looks badass, and he has attacks that are memorable. the only boss from DDD that fullfilled this to some extent was Young Master Xehanort. Although he was pretty much a mix between Terranort and the Mysterious Stranger (or whatever its called) the addition of the infinitely looping battle was fresh and memorable. I think this is the only battle i will actually care to remember from this game, all of the others just fell short in my opinion. None of them seemed to have desperation attacks or any moves that were visually impressive in the the slightest, the most they had were some rather obnoxious combo attacks. The second Ansem fight was the only one that actually impressed me in an aesthetic sense. The long corridor of darkness was stunning and daunting, the best part of the whole fight for me.
Sora/Riku playstyles:
i thought that they could have done more to make each character distinct from one another like they did with Aqua, Terra, and Ventus from Birth By Sleep. They both felt mostly the same to me, although Sora did have more overpowered magic attacks (sparkga, salvation) while Riku had more utility (dark roll, dark block, vanitas esque slide attack). This is more of a minor gripe though, in the end it didn't really matter.
Overall Direction:
Although the gameplay was fun and interesting, by the end i just wanted my psp back so i could go play Birth By Sleep again after four years. In my opinion this game was a step down from BBS, which was my favorite handheld title and my second favorite title overall. Dream Drop Distance had a tough job to do, it had to follow BBS ( which i think is commonly agreed upon to be one of the best games in the series), introduce and pull off a ton of new gameplay mechanics, and properly set up the long awaited third game. Do i think that it succeeded in these areas? no I do not. Do I think it was a fun and interesting game? Hell yes. I had a lot of fun playing it despite its short comings. Although i had fun with the spirits, i would not like to see that feature to return in future titles. I honestly dont care if Flowmotion returns in future titles as it was a mere gimic for me in DDD. In the end i think that the series needs new writers desperately (Ones who can make me love Sora again), and more immersive worlds and boss fights. If they can pull that off for Kingdom Hearts 3, these last 10 years of waiting will be worth it.
What did you guys think? has this game aged well or gotten better with time? feel free to disagree with me or call me an idiot, but remember these are just my opinions. All i want is to discuss this new (for me) installment in my favorite game series
The Story:
Im not gunna lie, i really did not like the story of this game. Maybe it was due to the poor writing in this game ( i couldnt even take the "dramatic" final cutscenes seriously due to the ineffective writing) or maybe it was because they randomly played the time travel card in a series that can already be confusing as it is. Now i have never really had a problem with the storylines of KH games (although i see how you could find them confusing) but upon entering The World That Never Was in DDD i no longer had any idea what was happening in the game. This confusion was partly cleared up later in that world, but it still annoyed me that the plot was not told in the most logical way possible. To make matters worse the story deals with hard to grasp concepts like time travel and Inception-esque dreams within dreams. These deep ideas needed to be presented in a more easily digestible fashion. Perhaps the story could have benefited from more elaboration and less pointless character cameos ( frequent YMX sightings and seemingly pointless Vanitas appearance) Perhaps they could have spaced out the time travel talk throughout the last couple of worlds instead of making it a dramatic realization? I dont know, i dont even like that time travel was included in the game, but im not going to argue.
Characters
I hated Sora honestly. Ive never hated him or had any issues with him in any other game, but in DDD he is either being a complete idiot or trying to befriend every single freaking person he sees. This annoyed me to no end. Especially times when he would instantly forgive people that betrayed him (Neku) or when he would instantly buddy up to everyone he meets ( Neku). honestly all of his dialogue with Neku was painful. I enjoyed Riku because he somewhat balanced out Soras out of control optimism with his laid back demeanor ( or maybe it was just because he had less dialogue for the writers to screw up). I enjoyed finishing the game with him and i was satisfied with his character arc mostly being resolved. I was also fine with Lea getting a keyblade (as I know some where not) i personally did not see any problems with that.
Disney Worlds:
The Grid was awful in my opinion, and just really not fun at all. As was La Cite De Los Cloches (or whatever it was) but to a lesser degree. I really enjoyed Pranksters Paradise and Symphony of Sorcery, i thought they were a return to form for Sqaure's execution of Disney Worlds. Symphony of Sorcery was stunning and fantastical and i really enjoyed the polarity between Riku and Sora's Pranksters Paradise experiences. They made The Grid and La Cite look dead and empty by comparison. The storylines of each world left a lot to be desired, but by now i should just expect that they're never going to be as good as the storylines were in the first two games.
Non Disney Worlds:
Traverse Town was a welcome sight for me and i absolutely loved zipping around it with Flowmotion. I thought all of the newly added areas fit in with the rest of the world and did it justice (except District Four which seemed really out of place for me). The scale of that world seemed a little off, but that's to be expected on a handheld re-creation. The World That Never Was was gorgeous in my opinion, i enjoyed it more than any other world just because of how epic it was to jump from skyscraper to skyscraper blasting away at dream eaters, making your way across the vast dark city. I honestly liked it more here than in its original KHII form.
Flowmotion:
Not as fun or useful as i expected it to be. By the end of the game i hardly used it unless the game prompted me to, or i thought i could use it to find a chest or something. In the end i thought it was a novelty, not bad in any way, but not particularly riveting or game changing. I did not think that the Flowmotion attacks were overpowered or anything, and honestly if you feel this way then just dont use them, its not that hard. On the contrary, by the end of the game i thought these attacks were useless and did next to no damage without Turbo activated.
Spirits:
Spirits were one of my favorite parts of this game. I thought that raising and collecting different Spirits to get commands and growth abilities was very fun and innovative. Some have said that this gameplay element was forced upon the player that wanted to get powerful commands but didnt want to play a nintendogs/KH hybrid, but you do not HAVE to raise dream eaters to get powerful commands. I mean i found Salvation in a chest for gods sake. You will be perfectly fine if you only raise a few dream eaters and get your commands from chests (although your experience will be much less rewarding). I remember finally creating Keeba Tiger and squealing with delight because i knew that i now not only had a new badass companion, but also had the Dark Aura command on the horizon. I liked being challenged to obtain the most powerful commands, in my opinion they were way too easy to come by in BBS and was glad to see this change
Difficulty Level (Common Enemies)
Jeez those Dream Eaters are tough! These were in my opinion the most challenging common enemy type in the series to date. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that these guys always kept me on my toes and made sure that i couldn't steam roll over them like I could to the Unversed or Heartless (in KHII) Although some of these dream eaters were hard due to cheap combo attacks ( Zolephant, flower thingy, Drill Sye, etc.) many of them were just plain challenging ( Ryu Dragon, Keeba Tiger, Skelterwild) i really appreciated this difficulty boost, and it really enriched my experience even if it was mildly frustrating.
Difficulty Level (Bosses)
I was so disappointed with the bosses in this game. I heard talk of truly epic battles with enigmas like "The Anti Black Coat Nightmare" and "YMX", but most of these fights were really disappointing. I never died to a single boss in Sora's story ( I was on Proud mode by the way) and died one or two times to each of Riku's bosses (excluding the mole thingy, chernabog, and the final bosses). The Dream Eater bosses were usually pretty lame and predictable in my opinion (although i did like the Clawbster), but i have always had more of a problem with the human enemies in the series. This was not the case in DDD. The final bosses of this game were a joke for me. The Xemnas and Ansem fights are SOOOOO overdone by this point in the series i mean it feels like we have fought them in every godamn title. Neither of them were challenging seeing as though they pretty much followed the same tired attack patterns they had in previous entries. Anti Black Coat was the only one i died to, but that was because i was startled by his attack that leaves you at one health (as story bosses usually do not possess this power in previous games if my memory serves me well). YMX caught me in the time loop a few times which was frustrating, but with Dark Roll and Dark Block this fight was a joke. The Ventus Armor fight was, much to my displeasure, the easiest of the bunch. These fights were a huge let down after BBS's difficult main story boss fights.
Bosses Design:
The bosses are probably my favorite part of KH and the main thing i look forward to when i start a new KH game. it honestly doesnt matter to me whether a boss is hard or not (although it does make me slightly more inclined to enjoy it) as long as their design is stylistically appealing, fresh and innovative, and visually impressive. Vanitas from BBS is a good example of what i like from a boss, he has a fighting style that was new and fresh, he looks badass, and he has attacks that are memorable. the only boss from DDD that fullfilled this to some extent was Young Master Xehanort. Although he was pretty much a mix between Terranort and the Mysterious Stranger (or whatever its called) the addition of the infinitely looping battle was fresh and memorable. I think this is the only battle i will actually care to remember from this game, all of the others just fell short in my opinion. None of them seemed to have desperation attacks or any moves that were visually impressive in the the slightest, the most they had were some rather obnoxious combo attacks. The second Ansem fight was the only one that actually impressed me in an aesthetic sense. The long corridor of darkness was stunning and daunting, the best part of the whole fight for me.
Sora/Riku playstyles:
i thought that they could have done more to make each character distinct from one another like they did with Aqua, Terra, and Ventus from Birth By Sleep. They both felt mostly the same to me, although Sora did have more overpowered magic attacks (sparkga, salvation) while Riku had more utility (dark roll, dark block, vanitas esque slide attack). This is more of a minor gripe though, in the end it didn't really matter.
Overall Direction:
Although the gameplay was fun and interesting, by the end i just wanted my psp back so i could go play Birth By Sleep again after four years. In my opinion this game was a step down from BBS, which was my favorite handheld title and my second favorite title overall. Dream Drop Distance had a tough job to do, it had to follow BBS ( which i think is commonly agreed upon to be one of the best games in the series), introduce and pull off a ton of new gameplay mechanics, and properly set up the long awaited third game. Do i think that it succeeded in these areas? no I do not. Do I think it was a fun and interesting game? Hell yes. I had a lot of fun playing it despite its short comings. Although i had fun with the spirits, i would not like to see that feature to return in future titles. I honestly dont care if Flowmotion returns in future titles as it was a mere gimic for me in DDD. In the end i think that the series needs new writers desperately (Ones who can make me love Sora again), and more immersive worlds and boss fights. If they can pull that off for Kingdom Hearts 3, these last 10 years of waiting will be worth it.
What did you guys think? has this game aged well or gotten better with time? feel free to disagree with me or call me an idiot, but remember these are just my opinions. All i want is to discuss this new (for me) installment in my favorite game series
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