Will grinding out levels compensate for poor play?

[blksabbath74]

Just wondering. I recently restarted this with my daughter, who is five. She is an advanced five, and can play the game, but is still five.

Thus far, I've let her play through all the major events, and have just been grinding out levels to give her a better cushion when going up against the enemies. She's managed to lock Wonderland, with minimal help from me, and is currently in the Deep Jungle. She's beaten all the bosses thus far with just the added power of the extra levelling.

It has literally been a decade since I first played this game, and I have only vague memories of everything.

Anyway, am I correct in assuming that keeping the characters leveled, it will somewhat compensate for her lack of skill, and are there any areas where you guys forsee problems?

I am usually in the room, or nearby when she is playing, and don't mind stepping in to help her out. For example, I have to do the vine swinging in the Deep Jungle.

The way I remember Atlantica, I am wondering if that will give her significant problems.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gamerobber7]

If you're leveling up quite a bit then that should help her along but I can foresee her having problems in Atlantica what with the swimming mechanic, Hollow Bastion with the size of the world and the bosses, and maybe Monstro (though if she was able to handle Wonderland Monstro probably won't be too bad).

 

[blksabbath74]

If you're leveling up quite a bit then that should help her along but I can foresee her having problems in Atlantica what with the swimming mechanic, Hollow Bastion with the size of the world and the bosses, and maybe Monstro (though if she was able to handle Wonderland Monstro probably won't be too bad).

One of the things that makes the game very playable for her is that she doesn't mind running around in the same ereas exploring and climbing and jumping on things. That also pushes forward the grinding. I basically got on and got her to level 13 coming into Traverse Town, and from then on, just her slow, playful style of exploration have gotten her to the mid-20s. Every so often I'll jump on and optimize her equipment, but mostly she is happy just jumping from world to world and running around.

Wer'e probably going to knock out Deep Jungle this weekend, because she wants to play in Agribah and Atlantica.

I have completely forgotten the trick of destroying those barrels in the Arena, but am really in no hurry there.

 

[Divine Past]

Depending on how high of a level and the stage. If you get MP rage I believe which basically gives you infinite Cures,the game bosses becomes much easier to whack and smash. If not, then the only bosses who I see giving your daughter trouble might be the ones who attack very quickly(like Riku-Ansem). From my memory none of the other bosses are really quick attackers so I think your daughter can get through it with not too much struggle.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

The only areas I can think that might be problematic for her are: Agrabah (as they don't really tell you what to do when you get there) and Hollow Bastion.

Mainly for HB, in that it has some puzzles (when I first played the game when I was nine, I couldn't find Maleficent for a month, but I had nothing to help me, so that probably won't be as big of an issue for your daughter), and boss battles that require strategy.

For instance, if your daughter doesn't guard, or dodge roll or glide around Riku/Ansem a lot, I imagine she might die easily. I had so much trouble with that fight myself, when I was nine... mainly when it came to Dark Aura, and the fact that Donald and Goofy weren't with you for it. Yeah...

Anyway, hope this helps! And you know what? I just realized my friend Dani first played the game when she was five, so I'm sure your daughter will be just fine, too And it's never too early to view the magic that is KH, in my opinion

 

[Sora1274]

Five should be fine. I really don't mean to brag, i really don't but I beat the game when it came out right when I turned six. I wouldn't call my self "advanced". But an "advanced" five year old should do just fine, at least on the easiest setting (Which is what I did when I was five.).

 

[blksabbath74]

Thanks for the advice, guys. The munchkin managed to lock up the Deep Jungle this weekend, and got pretty far along the Agribah storyline with little or no help from me.

She did have to call me in to jump her over to Merlin's House. However, in a year or two, she should have better hand-eye coordination than me.

 

[blksabbath74]

Just to give you an update, she has locked Wonderland, Deep Jungle, Traverse Town and Agribah and opened up Monstro, Halloweentown and Atlantica mostly by herself.

I've had to consult walkthroughs a time or two when she's gotten hung up. I had to do the barrel training at the stadium for her, after which (at level 30) she walked right through that first series of fights. I had to beat the Cave of Wonders Guardian, but she did both confrontations with Jafar herself.

I'm pretty impressed with the munchkin...

 

[kuraudoVII]

Wow. This thread is actually making me feel kind of old (I'll be turning 23 later this year)

In all seriousness, I think this is a really nice experience. You and your daughter get to have some quality time together over an awesome video game that does its job teaching the both of you the power of teamwork as corny as that sounds. My mother managed to play Mario games with me and my brother when we were kids. Later, when we met our stepfather, he introduced us to the Zelda series. Its always interesting to see how these kind of things can add to family cohesion.

 

[blksabbath74]

Wow. This thread is actually making me feel kind of old (I'll be turning 23 later this year)

In all seriousness, I think this is a really nice experience. You and your daughter get to have some quality time together over an awesome video game that does its job teaching the both of you the power of teamwork as corny as that sounds. My mother managed to play Mario games with me and my brother when we were kids. Later, when we met our stepfather, he introduced us to the Zelda series. Its always interesting to see how these kind of things can add to family cohesion.

I also like the fact that it forces her to read...

We had a banner weekend of progress...

This Saturday, she beat Monstro, although I DID talk her through the progression of his stomach chambers to find Pinnochio. Then I kicked her outside to play. That evening she beat Oogie Boogie, although I actually had to do the Oogie Boogie boss fight.

Sunday she finished Halloweentown by herself, got through the first Ursula battle, with me coaching her on which spell to use of the cauldron, and went through Neverland through to the Anti-Sora battler, which she played 3 times before finally beating.

Pretty awesome.

We also played a game of the KH Card Game, which she won because I had inadvertantly not included enough world cards in my deck to win...but a win's a win...

As a parent, I love that the game forces her to read.

 

[kuraudoVII]

I also like the fact that it forces her to read...

We had a banner weekend of progress...

This Saturday, she beat Monstro, although I DID talk her through the progression of his stomach chambers to find Pinnochio. Then I kicked her outside to play. That evening she beat Oogie Boogie, although I actually had to do the Oogie Boogie boss fight.

Sunday she finished Halloweentown by herself, got through the first Ursula battle, with me coaching her on which spell to use of the cauldron, and went through Neverland through to the Anti-Sora battler, which she played 3 times before finally beating.

Pretty awesome.

We also played a game of the KH Card Game, which she won because I had inadvertantly not included enough world cards in my deck to win...but a win's a win...

As a parent, I love that the game forces her to read.

I can definitely understand what you mean about the reading aspect. One of the first games that my brother and I played that was text heavy was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars; people would tend to think that Pokemon would be our first RPG, but we got this game a couple of years before Pokemon was released over in the US.

Gotta say, she's been doing pretty well. Kids that start out playing video games at an early age can surprise people on how well they can do. I don't know whether or not I would have done quite as well playing the first Kingdom Hearts at her age. Mario RPG aside, most of what I played were platformers which play a tad bit differently from action-RPGs.

 

[The_Echo]

Is she playing on Beginner? I hope so.

Anyway, yeah. If you grind enough you'll have an easier time. More HP, more strength/defense, more Abilities. It'll be easier.

 

[blksabbath74]

I can definitely understand what you mean about the reading aspect. One of the first games that my brother and I played that was text heavy was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars; people would tend to think that Pokemon would be our first RPG, but we got this game a couple of years before Pokemon was released over in the US.

Gotta say, she's been doing pretty well. Kids that start out playing video games at an early age can surprise people on how well they can do. I don't know whether or not I would have done quite as well playing the first Kingdom Hearts at her age. Mario RPG aside, most of what I played were platformers which play a tad bit differently from action-RPGs.

Yeah, she'll already suprise me. First day we were playing (I had to get the star fruit in the race with Riku) I left her playing, walk back in the room a little while later, and she is spanking that first boss in district 3.

Later, I was trying forever to jump around on those rocks behind the waterfall in the Deep Jungle, and then I left her with it, and a few minutes later , she's like Daddy, I'm locking the world, I found the keyhole.

Basically, my plan is to get her really good at the games, and then I can just watch her play them.

Is she playing on Beginner? I hope so.

Anyway, yeah. If you grind enough you'll have an easier time. More HP, more strength/defense, more Abilities. It'll be easier.

Yeah, she is on the easiest setting. She can figure everything out, for the most part, but just needs an HP cussion, which she has. I had to do Oogie Boogie and the Cave of Wonders Guardian. That is about it.

As far as the grinding, once I got her to the point that Goofy and Donald can handle most of the small fry heartless, the grinding started taking care of itself. She likes to just run around and explore all the worlds and just play, and even if she doesn't stop to fight anything, Donald and Goofy steadily rack up the XP...

 

[kuraudoVII]

Yeah, she'll already suprise me. First day we were playing (I had to get the star fruit in the race with Riku) I left her playing, walk back in the room a little while later, and she is spanking that first boss in district 3.

That's actually pretty good. I remember my brother and I died twice to that boss when we first played the game. Mind you, this was in Normal mode in the vanilla version of the game and we chose the sword and dropped the shield so our defenses were godawful. Still, that's some good progress.

 

[blksabbath74]

That's actually pretty good. I remember my brother and I died twice to that boss when we first played the game. Mind you, this was in Normal mode in the vanilla version of the game and we chose the sword and dropped the shield so our defenses were godawful. Still, that's some good progress.

Well, after the Heartless came to Destiny Island, while she was taking a nap, I sat down and ground Sora up to level 13 before she faced Darkside, and she does ALOT of running around, so she was probably level 15+ in that first Traverse Town fight. Apparently she didn't have any trouble with Leon either.

She still can't beat Leon & Yuffie in the Pegasus Cup, but she's close.

Alot of it is just being at higher level though...currently low 40s...

 

[zspek09]

Very impressive! And yes, the control scheme for Atlantica is pretty tricky, and will probably pose as an issue to a child who has already established a dexterity to mainly utilizing the left analog for movement (assuming she is playing the original KH and not the HD Remix which allows for camera control with the right analog). Although, if she is playing the HD version and is currently moving the camera herself (it wouldn't be on auto) then there is a fair chance she will be able to adapt to the control scheme of Atlantica.

 

[blksabbath74]

Very impressive! And yes, the control scheme for Atlantica is pretty tricky, and will probably pose as an issue to a child who has already established a dexterity to mainly utilizing the left analog for movement (assuming she is playing the original KH and not the HD Remix which allows for camera control with the right analog). Although, if she is playing the HD version and is currently moving the camera herself (it wouldn't be on auto) then there is a fair chance she will be able to adapt to the control scheme of Atlantica.

She's had suprisingly little difficulty with learning the controls in Atlantica. Sometimes she'll have to come to a full stop and move up or down, or get reoriented, but then, so do I. She's had a little difficulty fighting in Atlantica, but I showed her how to target, and she can do it if she wants, although her normal MO is to let Donald and Ariel handle the fights unless something is actively beating on her.

That's her MO in general, though.

Now, the extra levels have been crucial to pad her HP and stats, and I absolutely HAVE to leave Donald in to take care of healing, but she has really progressed through the game at an increasingly fast pace.

IIRC, all we have left to do is;

- beat Final Boss Ursula in Atlantica
- complete Neverland (Hook and Riku, IIRC)
- Hercules Cup in Olympus Stadium
- Clean up random dalmations & trinities
- ALL of Hollow Bastion
- End of the World

Having said that, I'm betting that we grind it up to max out the levels, complete the Ultima Keyblade, and keep playing for a long time before we actually finish.

 

[Blackdrazon]

To your original question, I usually beat the game at Normal in the 60s with the Oathkeeper and max level spells, so in Beginner at max level with Ultima and max spells (except Stop, because Phantom, and because who cares about Stop), she should be okay. And if she can do this game, she can probably do all the others but CoM, so there's good opportunities going forward, too!

It's Anti-Sora and Hook in Neveraland, Riku bolts before you can fight him.

 

[blksabbath74]

To your original question, I usually beat the game at Normal in the 60s with the Oathkeeper and max level spells, so in Beginner at max level with Ultima and max spells (except Stop, because Phantom, and because who cares about Stop), she should be okay. And if she can do this game, she can probably do all the others but CoM, so there's good opportunities going forward, too!

It's Anti-Sora and Hook in Neveraland, Riku bolts before you can fight him.

Oh, that's right, you don't really face Riku until Hollow Bastion...

Well, she's already beaten Anti-Sora. I don't remember Hook being too difficult. She's currently using Pumpkinhead. I probably will not let her play ALL weekend again any time soon, but I could see her finishing Atlantica in her next sitting and Neverland in the sitting after that.

Hollow Bastion is obviously alot bigger, and more difficult, so no idea how long that might take her.

I don't know that we'll ever completely max everything out, it will just be up to her, but mostly, she just wants to run around and play.

However, she IS itching to start KH2.

 

[blksabbath74]

So, weekend update, my daughter managed to complete and lock Atlantica and Neverland over the weekend and get as far as the Malificent fight in Hollow Bastion.

I forgot how awesome glide was, especially for her. When I played last, I was just worried about getting thouse few final chests and trinities, but she's revisiting every single world just for the porpose of flying around in it.

She also took the Hercules Cup as far as Herc himself (she had a real problem without Donald and Goofy) and got the Metal Chocobo.

Malificent DID kick her butt, but was almost defeated, so maybe next weekend.

Still pretty impressive. Lots of fun had by all...