Here are my quick thoughts on 2.8 so far. I know, not the most original thread ever, but I really want to see if what I wrote here changes at all when I continue to play Dream Drop Distance.
Spoiler ShowDream Drop Distance
Overall, I've finished two worlds each so far, and, I've got to say, I'm really, really, impressed. These areas are gorgeous and expansive, and the flowmotion, in my opinion, doesn't kill gameplay flow or exploration at all. These areas are seriously massive for Kingdom Hearts, and it took my breath away the first time I went through the Traverse Town post office and saw just how big this area was. The voice acting for most of these characters is really good, although I've got to say that the voice acting for Sora is quite awful so far, and I really hope he's going to do better for Kingdom Hearts III. I swear, every world he's like "WOWEE, ZOWEE, WOW! " and it's really irritating me so far. The gameplay is great (although can I not command meld in this game?), and the idea of the spirits is great, I just hope it holds up until the end of the game for me
Spoiler Show0.2 Birth by Sleep
Finished it in two hours on beginner's mode since I'm a scrub, and it was pretty good! The visuals were great, the level design was the best in the series, and the gameplay was fantastic, I just wish the story was consistently great the whole way through. I felt sometimes that it was really, really meh, and sometimes it was really, really good, so I guess that's just me being a roller-coaster. Also, I know this has been said by everyone, but Alyson Stoner as Kairi is the WORST. Also, would it kill you to let us explore Destiny Islands again, Enix?! Seriously!
Spoiler ShowBack Cover
Back Cover was fine, I guess, and I already wrote a full review of it a week or so ago, but I'll just say again that it was a good story that ended too soon and left a lot to be desired with its cliffhanger ending. I don't think it opened up many questions, but I also don't think it made too much of an effort to connect with the series as a whole either. Overall, the X game & movie duo just seems to be filler that'll loosely connect to the main story eventually, and I wasn't too impressed by it, but I wasn't disappointed by it either.