OP also said he tried to play KH1 before and fell off after 2 hours.
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Jumping into Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Help me enjoy this series.
- Thread starter jman1954goat
- Start date
OP
OP
Alright jumping into kingdom hearts 1 on final mix proud.
I remember back in 2013 loving the starting island but getting bored in traverse town (about 2 hours played). we will see how it goes this time.
I remember back in 2013 loving the starting island but getting bored in traverse town (about 2 hours played). we will see how it goes this time.
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I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this.
I hope you enjoy it more this time around. If it helps, the game picks up after you leave traverse town.
OP
OP
This is correct but I'm willing to give the game another chance. well see.
For sure. I really hope OP, after following the terrible advice in this thread, does enjoy Kingdom Hearts 1 and I'm wrong. I love KH and want more people to enjoy it.
Best tip for Traverse Town. When you're told to go explore you just have to visit the third district before returning to the start.
As basically everyone else has already said, release order is best for this series.
One thing I'll say - the story isn't really that confusing if you're experiencing all of it the way it was intended (i.e. by just playing the games). It can get very convoluted at times, but it only really breaks down whenever a non-fan is getting a regurgitated retelling of it. If you have a tolerance for cheese and tropey anime stuff, Nomura's wild ride is well worth it.
One thing I'll say - the story isn't really that confusing if you're experiencing all of it the way it was intended (i.e. by just playing the games). It can get very convoluted at times, but it only really breaks down whenever a non-fan is getting a regurgitated retelling of it. If you have a tolerance for cheese and tropey anime stuff, Nomura's wild ride is well worth it.
1. Release order
2. Play on standard then look up the secret endings on YouTube as there are secret endings for most KH games that only unlock when you beat the game on hard.
3. Just have fun!
4. Just go with the flow. Don't overthink things.
5. Yes. The recaps provided in the new collections of re:Coded and 358/2 days are sufficient enough in showing what you need to know from those games.
If you have to play them in order, then just play them in release order (watching the 358/2 video especially spoils the hell out of KH2). All the videos are good enough for showing you the general feel of the games you'd be skipping.
That said, Kingdom Hearts 1 also kinda sucks and might scare you off of better games, so it might be worth just watching a video of that one and then move on to Re:CoM.
That said, Kingdom Hearts 1 also kinda sucks and might scare you off of better games, so it might be worth just watching a video of that one and then move on to Re:CoM.
Can't believe people here are saying skip chain of memories.
That's the reward for slogging through KH1! :P
But anyway, my advice for real:
-Play all the games in the collection in release order, BUT, if you don't click with a game after a few worlds, it's ok to watch cutscenes online and go on to the next. Despite sharing a common base, the games are all pretty different? Every game is *someone's* favourite, and someone's least favourite. I think KH1 is the worst one (aside from the mobile game), others say the series peaked with it and it's all downhill from there. You don't know where you're gonna fall on things!
-Difficulty wise, go for what you find fun, but for KH2 and KH3 specifically at least consider critical (the hardest difficulty). It's not mandatory? but the extra abilities you have access to at the beginning makes a big difference, if that seems like your thing.
-On a similar note, if you enjoy a game, the post game content is typically worth it, since a lot of good fights are in the form of super bosses. Don't feel the need to rush through the series. (Not all games have a post game, but most do)
-For almost every game in the series, keep an eye out for these abilities: Second Chance, Once More, and Leaf Bracer. Or in KH3, withstand combo. They're the best abilities in the series pretty consistently, they make it so you die less to bullshit (to one shot attacks, long combos, or "an attack when you're busy trying to cast cure").
That's the reward for slogging through KH1! :P
But anyway, my advice for real:
-Play all the games in the collection in release order, BUT, if you don't click with a game after a few worlds, it's ok to watch cutscenes online and go on to the next. Despite sharing a common base, the games are all pretty different? Every game is *someone's* favourite, and someone's least favourite. I think KH1 is the worst one (aside from the mobile game), others say the series peaked with it and it's all downhill from there. You don't know where you're gonna fall on things!
-Difficulty wise, go for what you find fun, but for KH2 and KH3 specifically at least consider critical (the hardest difficulty). It's not mandatory? but the extra abilities you have access to at the beginning makes a big difference, if that seems like your thing.
-On a similar note, if you enjoy a game, the post game content is typically worth it, since a lot of good fights are in the form of super bosses. Don't feel the need to rush through the series. (Not all games have a post game, but most do)
-For almost every game in the series, keep an eye out for these abilities: Second Chance, Once More, and Leaf Bracer. Or in KH3, withstand combo. They're the best abilities in the series pretty consistently, they make it so you die less to bullshit (to one shot attacks, long combos, or "an attack when you're busy trying to cast cure").
I still love KH1. It is rough in certain spots but its well worth playing. One thing I'll mention is the Alice in Wonderland level is the first level you'll probably visit and it's pretty annoying. You may need to look up help once or twice, but most levels after that are not as puzzle heavy or annoying.
As a series overall, I would say the stories within levels are good but the story outside levels is not just convoluted, its mostly bad. I'm not trying to talk you out of the cutscenes, just be aware that there are very few payoffs.
I'll also echo that you can probably skip Chain of Memories, it is mostly a retread of KH1 made for GBA and the remake is even worse than the original.
Birth By Sleep is absolutely amazing. The combat system is just incredible, and making your own moves is addictive. KH3 is also just a fantastic game from start to finish. The levels are massive and really well done. KH2 and DDD are decent games but to me BBS and KH3 are the best games by far.
As a series overall, I would say the stories within levels are good but the story outside levels is not just convoluted, its mostly bad. I'm not trying to talk you out of the cutscenes, just be aware that there are very few payoffs.
I'll also echo that you can probably skip Chain of Memories, it is mostly a retread of KH1 made for GBA and the remake is even worse than the original.
Birth By Sleep is absolutely amazing. The combat system is just incredible, and making your own moves is addictive. KH3 is also just a fantastic game from start to finish. The levels are massive and really well done. KH2 and DDD are decent games but to me BBS and KH3 are the best games by far.
OP
OP
First impressions Man kingdom hearts 1 is absolutely beautiful I would not guess this was a remastered 2002 game if I did not know.
amazing art direction.
amazing art direction.
Well this just makes absolutely no sense.
No one should ever take this advice.
KH1 isn't even top 3 when it comes to gameplay quality. CoM, KH2, and KH3 are all much better.
If you're a story first guy, definitely don't skip anything and also, ignore all the nonsense about KH's lore and narrative being impossible to understand or having such a high bar of entry that you may as well not even try. None of that is true. There's a lot of anime weirdness, yeah, and it's not the most straightforward thing in the world but KH's overarching plot isn't anywhere close to as difficult to figure out as some people make it out to be.
With all that said, if you're going to take on the whole series it's best to play/watch them in release order (with one optional exception, which I'll mention below) to get the most out of the story. Which means:
Kingdom Hearts 1.5
- Play Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
- Watch Re: Chain of Memories' cutscenes or a story synopsis on YouTube (don't play this one, you'll almost certainly burn out hard)
- Watch the 358/2 Days digest in Theater Mode
Kingdom Hearts 2.5
- Play Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
- Play Birth by Sleep Final Mix (Terra's story --> Ven's story --> Aqua's story)
- Watch the Re: Coded digest in Theater Mode
Kingdom Hearts 2.8
- Play Dream Drop Distance HD
- Play Birth by Sleep 0.2 ~A Fragmentary Passage~
- Watch Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover
Then, after all that, play Kingdom Hearts III and its ReMind DLC.
As for that "optional exception" I mentioned? MrConbon210 brought up a great point in their reply to this post that it's a perfectly viable option and, some would say, better to play Kingdom Hearts II before watching 358/2 Days. Both approaches have their pros and cons; watching 358/Days before playing Kingdom Hearts II means you'll go into KHII with a better overall framework and understanding of its story but there will be less plot surprises; playing Kingdom Hearts II before watching 358/2 Days makes KHII's story a little tougher to piece together but will ensure you're discovering it more naturally and surprised more often by plot developments. There's no wrong answer IMO, so go with whatever approach you feel you'd enjoy more!
As for difficulty, based on the kind of gameplay experience you said you like to have, I would probably play Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix on Standard and the rest on Proud. You may want to consider playing Terra's and Aqua's stories of Birth by Sleep Final Mix on Standard as their early games can be a bit intense on Proud, but they're not insurmountable or anything. Honestly, unless you're going for 100% in each game (which I wouldn't really recommend since you're playing them all back-to-back) there are some difficulty spikes here and there but nothing I can think of that will utterly sideline you.
Or, if you're really that concerned about difficulty, just play the whole series on Standard except Kingdom Hearts III, which is significantly easier than the rest of the series to begin with and almost insultingly so unless you play on Proud. As for builds, unless you're going for 100% and interested in min/maxing I wouldn't worry about it; just go play the games and have a good time. None of them are hard enough that you can get yourself into an un-winnable situation regardless of difficulty.
Hope this helps!
With all that said, if you're going to take on the whole series it's best to play/watch them in release order (with one optional exception, which I'll mention below) to get the most out of the story. Which means:
Kingdom Hearts 1.5
- Play Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
- Watch Re: Chain of Memories' cutscenes or a story synopsis on YouTube (don't play this one, you'll almost certainly burn out hard)
- Watch the 358/2 Days digest in Theater Mode
Kingdom Hearts 2.5
- Play Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
- Play Birth by Sleep Final Mix (Terra's story --> Ven's story --> Aqua's story)
- Watch the Re: Coded digest in Theater Mode
Kingdom Hearts 2.8
- Play Dream Drop Distance HD
- Play Birth by Sleep 0.2 ~A Fragmentary Passage~
- Watch Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover
Then, after all that, play Kingdom Hearts III and its ReMind DLC.
As for that "optional exception" I mentioned? MrConbon210 brought up a great point in their reply to this post that it's a perfectly viable option and, some would say, better to play Kingdom Hearts II before watching 358/2 Days. Both approaches have their pros and cons; watching 358/Days before playing Kingdom Hearts II means you'll go into KHII with a better overall framework and understanding of its story but there will be less plot surprises; playing Kingdom Hearts II before watching 358/2 Days makes KHII's story a little tougher to piece together but will ensure you're discovering it more naturally and surprised more often by plot developments. There's no wrong answer IMO, so go with whatever approach you feel you'd enjoy more!
As for difficulty, based on the kind of gameplay experience you said you like to have, I would probably play Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix on Standard and the rest on Proud. You may want to consider playing Terra's and Aqua's stories of Birth by Sleep Final Mix on Standard as their early games can be a bit intense on Proud, but they're not insurmountable or anything. Honestly, unless you're going for 100% in each game (which I wouldn't really recommend since you're playing them all back-to-back) there are some difficulty spikes here and there but nothing I can think of that will utterly sideline you.
Or, if you're really that concerned about difficulty, just play the whole series on Standard except Kingdom Hearts III, which is significantly easier than the rest of the series to begin with and almost insultingly so unless you play on Proud. As for builds, unless you're going for 100% and interested in min/maxing I wouldn't worry about it; just go play the games and have a good time. None of them are hard enough that you can get yourself into an un-winnable situation regardless of difficulty.
Hope this helps!
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The main cast of Kingdom Hearts for the HD remasters had models ripped from Dream Drop Distance from 2012 as the source code for the original Kingdom Hearts was unavailable.
I'll just say I spent most of KH2 moaning and groaning about how it didn't feel like 1 and I didn't enjoy the new systems. So if you take away the gameplay and the story there isn't much for me left other than appreciating the more obscure Disney nods. Much of the remaining saga building off of 2 and I'm out really.
There was a ~10 year gap between me finishing 1 and then coming back and doing 1-2-3 (well, half of 3) back to back. Might have something to do with it.
My take.
Take it game by game. The first game involves the main 3 getting lost in darkness and trying to find each other. It just so happens that disney worlds are the worlds of the universe. You travel between them trying to find each other. Kind of basic if you take it game by game. The keyblades are the weapons that lock and unlock worlds and darkness away so to speak. The villains work together against you and there is a a true evil behind them.
Don't be afraid to play on easy mode. Normal isn't bad either. You can grind enemies until you are stronger if you get stuck.
tips: don't overstress the customization and the weapon synthesis. Over time you will learn as you gain materials from fights. Also mix and match the abilities. It says what they do. There is no wrong way to play. Just try to make use of things so you can find options. I enjoyed getting the different keyblades and exploring finding the treasures. Don't worry about super bosses until post game as you can grind and get strong. Make use of cure or items of course.
If you want to cheap some bosses, use the move strike raid (you cant be hit during it and you throw the keyblade on repeat doing damage). Use dodge roll at times. Later on if you happen to have many elixers (you can make more through synthesis), you can spam them against bosses to always have health and mana if you really need to. Have fun, it is not bad at all. I love them because they are kind of simple.
tips for story: Don't overthink it again. Go world by world, looking for your friends in game. The villains reveal themselves as time goes on. You see how the darkness manipulates folks, disney and non disney characters. You are helping worlds be free from darkness by removing heartless and you are looking for your friends.
A good order IMO:
- KINGDOM HEARTS 1
- KH Chain of Mem(id watch the youtube cutscenes as i dont like the card combat, your call. youtube has the chain of memories movie, takes place immediately after KH1)
- KINGDOM HEARTS 2 - true sequel to KH1, starts strange but gets amazing, Youll learn in it why it starts the way it does.
- KH 358 / 2 Days (which is kind of a prequel to 2, but very interesting. The cutscene movie is on the 2.5 disc / in the collections). It takes place in the year between KH1 and KH2 and also it takes place during Chain of Memories (thus 358 in the title). It explains things from Chain of Memories further.
- KH Birth By Sleep ( a farther prequel to KH1 introducing a new trio which will continue being important to main plot, but also showing how the villain of the games started manipulating things. ).. You play 3 protagonists but it is fun and you experience prequel lore of the disney worlds and overall KH lore.
- KH Dream Drop Distance .. Story after KH2. Sora and Riku, continues the story of 2 and the villains while going into KH3)
- KH Back Cover Story - Overview and knowledge of the general Keyblade War of the past plus ties to KH3.
- KH 0.2 - A Small prologue to KH3 with ties to KH1 and also a short sequel to Birth By Sleep
- KINGDOM HEARTS 3 - The final conclusion to the specific villains who arc in this saga so far.
I have tried to simplify it. They are great. Take it game by game, don't worry about the names of the games. Don't be afraid to youtube the cutscenes for Chain of Memories and of course KH 358/2 which is only cutscenes now.
I've been trying to play through the series on Gamepass for my kids. Previously I'd only ever played KH1 and BbS, and beat both.
I'm stuck on KH1 because it's... so bad? I don't remember it being this janky. Controls are clunky, maps are poorly designed and connected in unintuitive ways, objectives are unclear (in the Tarzan world you just run from one end of the map to the other several times but it never tells you this is your goal), and difficulty is all over the place. Donald is useless as shit, he's dead 80% of the time and has no MP the other 20%.
This is definitely a game that should have stayed a memory. I'm slogging through because my kids adore watching me play through it though.
How often do things fall off Gamepass? There's like a dozen Kingdom Hearts games here and need to know if I should focus on just the main numbered entries or have time to get through them all?
I'm stuck on KH1 because it's... so bad? I don't remember it being this janky. Controls are clunky, maps are poorly designed and connected in unintuitive ways, objectives are unclear (in the Tarzan world you just run from one end of the map to the other several times but it never tells you this is your goal), and difficulty is all over the place. Donald is useless as shit, he's dead 80% of the time and has no MP the other 20%.
This is definitely a game that should have stayed a memory. I'm slogging through because my kids adore watching me play through it though.
How often do things fall off Gamepass? There's like a dozen Kingdom Hearts games here and need to know if I should focus on just the main numbered entries or have time to get through them all?
1. Release order
2. Eh depends, I'll say Normal unless you find it a cakewalk
3. Don't worry about it
4. Take every at face value
5. Movies are fine
I highly recommend playing Kingdom Hearts 2 and THEN watching 358/2 Days. If you watch 358/2 Days you know more than you are meant to going into Kingdom Hearts 2.
I'd do 358/2 before KH2. People say it ruins the opening but all it does is give context for important characters that otherwise you have no investment in. 358/2 pretty much sets up the arcs of some of the pivotal characters in KH2. Without watching the movie you would just be seeing the end of their stories and not know exactly how they got there. There's still an air of mystery too in terms of trying to piece together how certain characters will get out of certain situations.
KH2's story does not work on its own. It requires CoM and 358/2 to fully be appreciated as it ties all the threads in those games together.
KH2's story does not work on its own. It requires CoM and 358/2 to fully be appreciated as it ties all the threads in those games together.
im gonna disagree. 358/2 may make KH2 more "understandable", but KH2 strenghts 358/2 more than the other way around. KH2 provides enough context to understand stuff and have impactful moments with 358/2's cast, while 358/2 completely drives everything home once you have the full knowledge of their fates and KH2's general plot. The emotional payoff of 358/2 wouldn't be as effective if you played/watched it before KH2.
I went through the entire series earlier in the year and I'm glad I stuck to the recommended order instead of following the ingame menu.
I would say play them in release order (and please, 358/2 Days after KH2). Don't worry about gameplay stuff it's all very simple and easy, and yes the cutscenes cover everything you'll need.
I would also tell you to play Re:CoM specially because it's a much better game than KH1 (which aged horribly and really feels like trash in many aspects), but it could be a huge burn to play both one after the other, so maybe do as others are suggesting and watch a summary of Re:CoM, and play the more essential KH1 that sets the concept of the franchise.
I would also tell you to play Re:CoM specially because it's a much better game than KH1 (which aged horribly and really feels like trash in many aspects), but it could be a huge burn to play both one after the other, so maybe do as others are suggesting and watch a summary of Re:CoM, and play the more essential KH1 that sets the concept of the franchise.
Eh, I'm glad I followed the in game menu. Characters just show up in KH2 and then leave. You have no idea what exactly drives characters like Roxas or Axel. The Organization is BARELY touched upon in the second game while 358/2 really gives you a grasp on who they are. This leaves people not just confused but also disinterested in the actual plot past the Disney worlds because there's nothing there to invest yourself into. Everything in KH2 in regards to the plot is mostly surface level and assumes you have a read on everyone when you clearly don't. There's still a sense of intrigue even watching 358/2 before KH2 because if anything 358/2 leaves you with many unanswered questions. The key difference is those questions are rooted in characters you care for instead of general cluelessness.
Like I don't see how Axel's part in KH2 works without 358/2.
That's definitely a valid option, and you can go one way or the other! Personally, I've found going 358/2 Days --> Kingdom Hearts II has helped me enjoy and appreciate the latter's story more, but it's true that there are less surprises that way and that approach might be better suited for replays (which is when I tried that; my first time I played KHII first).
