He got told three or four times in the story by different characters that Riku was totally fine.
Mickey himself reiterates it shortly before heading to TWTNW.
RTTP: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5
- Thread starter The Bear
- Start date
Mickey himself reiterates it shortly before heading to TWTNW.
I just finished KH2 on PS4 after playing the 1st one. I had played through both on PS2 before. KH2 remains one of my favourite games ever.
I tried playing CoM befotr I started 2, but the fighting system just instantly bores me to death, it's insufferable. Plus the game's structure makes it feel like goong through a series of procedurally generated rooms themed after KH1 worlds... I couldn't stand itnfor more than a few hours, and ended up watching a Youtube video summarizing the confusing plot.
KH really goes to weird places storywise, with characters swapping appearances and names with others, having clones, etc. It just feels so unnecessarily convoluted a'd complicated.
I want to play BBS in a while. Intried it on PSP but didn't really enjoy it back in the day, I think I was becoming a little burned out on the series at the time. I won't make the same mistake, hence the cooldown time I'm giving myself. I might pick up 2.8 sometime before 3 lands (though I also played 3D on 3DS and gave up halfway through, though I don't remember why).
I tried playing CoM befotr I started 2, but the fighting system just instantly bores me to death, it's insufferable. Plus the game's structure makes it feel like goong through a series of procedurally generated rooms themed after KH1 worlds... I couldn't stand itnfor more than a few hours, and ended up watching a Youtube video summarizing the confusing plot.
KH really goes to weird places storywise, with characters swapping appearances and names with others, having clones, etc. It just feels so unnecessarily convoluted a'd complicated.
I want to play BBS in a while. Intried it on PSP but didn't really enjoy it back in the day, I think I was becoming a little burned out on the series at the time. I won't make the same mistake, hence the cooldown time I'm giving myself. I might pick up 2.8 sometime before 3 lands (though I also played 3D on 3DS and gave up halfway through, though I don't remember why).
Roxas also isn't there, and it should be obvious that something was up.
Plus by that point he should know better than to take anyone affiliated with the organization at face value, since they've spent the whole game goading him into doing what they need him to (which he also conveniently remembers in the cutscene where he's reunited with Kairi).
But nah, gotta break down and cry all the same.
We the audience know he's not really there, but Sora doesn't. He's confused, and when you add that to him already being kind of dumb, of course he's going to start getting worried.
It's all just part of what makes the story of KH2 so difficult to digest. I can tolerate the dumb Organization XIII stuff, but having Sora display no emotions to having a sudden emotional breakdown just makes it really tough sell and a really weak moment in the already weak storytelling.
If the rest of KH2 weren't so much better I'd take an even bigger dig, but as it stands it's just one of several funny and stupid cutscene moments.
Well, think about it from Sora's perspective. He knew that she was still alive, she just needed to be rescued. So reuniting with her to confirm that she's safe is good, but it was the expected outcome. Hell, he was even willing to somewhat reconcile with 'Ansem' because he kept Kairi safe. With Riku, he had no idea where he was and, very recently (as recently as like 20 minutes prior with Roxas), was under the impression that Riku could just be straight up dead.
Up until about halfway through KH2, Sora was completely under the impression that Kairi was safe back at the island and then found out that they were holding her hostage. Meanwhile, he's been searching for Riku for what is basically a year and half at that point, with Riku being AWOL under the influence of/potentially trapped in the Darkness. Then, throughout this entire journey, Mickey is being cagey about Riku and a lot of the primary antagonists either allude to or, in Roxas's case, straight up say that they beat Riku. Sora even says it himself:
"I looked for you. I looked EVERYWHERE for you!"
Riku is Sora's Brother-in-arms, so it makes perfect sense to cry when they're finally reunited after all they had to go through to get there.
I'm replaying KH2FM right now and holy shit does it hold up. The combat is actually way better than any ARPG SE has made since then (looking at you FFXV).
The levels are garbage. If you combined KH2 combat with KH1 level design you'd be onto something (I think this is what KH3 will be).
The one thing I don't like about the gameplay is having to level up drive forms to get dash, roll, high jump, etc. It makes sense conceptually but after the first couple of levels you pretty much have to grind the drive forms to gain more levels. It's a real pain in the ass.
And regarding critical mode. Yeah, it's good because you deal twice the damage. But I wouldn't recommend it to first timers. Sora basically dies in 1-2 hits every single encounter. You can hit some major brick walls in critical mode if you aren't a pro at the game already. I just played the game at critical and had to start over again on beginner mode because I was just getting my ass kicked too much. And I've actually beaten the game and all the optional bosses on critical mode before back when I imported the ps2 game. Shit is brutal.
The levels are garbage. If you combined KH2 combat with KH1 level design you'd be onto something (I think this is what KH3 will be).
The one thing I don't like about the gameplay is having to level up drive forms to get dash, roll, high jump, etc. It makes sense conceptually but after the first couple of levels you pretty much have to grind the drive forms to gain more levels. It's a real pain in the ass.
And regarding critical mode. Yeah, it's good because you deal twice the damage. But I wouldn't recommend it to first timers. Sora basically dies in 1-2 hits every single encounter. You can hit some major brick walls in critical mode if you aren't a pro at the game already. I just played the game at critical and had to start over again on beginner mode because I was just getting my ass kicked too much. And I've actually beaten the game and all the optional bosses on critical mode before back when I imported the ps2 game. Shit is brutal.
You can actually see shades of this in the Caverns of Remembrance. It's an ugly looking place, but one of the only spots of actual platforming in the whole game (and it works really well!)
I love the series a whole bunch, and I find all the different titles to have great things to elevate them, but right now I wanna bring something up.
I think Chain of Memories actually had an incredibly subtle reveal way, way earlier then when DDD spelt it out, though to be fair the organization wasn't as fleshed out till 2.
it's a perfect circle!
feel free to discuss this with me on the main KH community thread.
I think Chain of Memories actually had an incredibly subtle reveal way, way earlier then when DDD spelt it out, though to be fair the organization wasn't as fleshed out till 2.
So, all throughout Chain of Memories, the plots of all the disney worlds have an underlying theme of memories, with a few explicitly stating that memories reside in the heart. and nobodies' main deal is that they don't have hearts, they only have bodies, and that the best of them only have personality because they can emulate the memory of feeling they had when they were alive. but what do you need to remember? what holds the memories in a person?
THE HEART.
this also explains why all the regular nobodies don't have any uniqueness or particularly strong minds, the ones you face throughout the games have not started to regrow their hearts, and have been subjugated by the organization for use as footsolders, which is why many of them resemble the different organization members, like the berserker for Saix, the assassin for Axel (although I could be mistaken, and they are actually repurposed from Marluxia), the sniper for Xigbar, Dancer for Demyx, Dragoon for Xaladin, Wizard for Xemnas, and of course, the Samurai for Roxas. it also gives credence to the threat of turning one of them into dusks, as those are most likely the basest form of nobody, and the form the subjugated take when completely devoid of their hearts.
there is just one pressing issue though, the Giant Nobody in Roxas's deep dive at the start of KH2, and Marluxia's Nobody "Steed" used in his final boss fights. the first is most likely just an approximation created from the lingering, subtle memory of sora's deep dive in the first game, representing the Darkside he faces.
I wish we could've faced that crazy guy again, he was awesome! the second one most likely involves the prequel mobile game, which I should stress most likely doesn't hold any info critical to the series, and is mostly interesting background fluff to explain minor interesting details.
one of the survivors of the keyblade war was a girl named streletzia, and she was murdered in cold blood, with the purpotrator most likely being Marluxia's somebody, who existed back then as a keyblade wielder. he most likely will lose his life at some point, and become a nobody way ahead of most everyone else, and join the organization super late with an associate nobody, Larxene, and ends up trying to overthrow the organization for his own purposes, which leads to his nobody death in COM.
THE HEART.
this also explains why all the regular nobodies don't have any uniqueness or particularly strong minds, the ones you face throughout the games have not started to regrow their hearts, and have been subjugated by the organization for use as footsolders, which is why many of them resemble the different organization members, like the berserker for Saix, the assassin for Axel (although I could be mistaken, and they are actually repurposed from Marluxia), the sniper for Xigbar, Dancer for Demyx, Dragoon for Xaladin, Wizard for Xemnas, and of course, the Samurai for Roxas. it also gives credence to the threat of turning one of them into dusks, as those are most likely the basest form of nobody, and the form the subjugated take when completely devoid of their hearts.
there is just one pressing issue though, the Giant Nobody in Roxas's deep dive at the start of KH2, and Marluxia's Nobody "Steed" used in his final boss fights. the first is most likely just an approximation created from the lingering, subtle memory of sora's deep dive in the first game, representing the Darkside he faces.
I wish we could've faced that crazy guy again, he was awesome! the second one most likely involves the prequel mobile game, which I should stress most likely doesn't hold any info critical to the series, and is mostly interesting background fluff to explain minor interesting details.
one of the survivors of the keyblade war was a girl named streletzia, and she was murdered in cold blood, with the purpotrator most likely being Marluxia's somebody, who existed back then as a keyblade wielder. he most likely will lose his life at some point, and become a nobody way ahead of most everyone else, and join the organization super late with an associate nobody, Larxene, and ends up trying to overthrow the organization for his own purposes, which leads to his nobody death in COM.
it's a perfect circle!
feel free to discuss this with me on the main KH community thread.
Never made it past Tarzan world in KH1, feel almost no desire to go back but I know I should some day.
Gummi sections are Satan.
Gummi sections are Satan.
Love Bear, I'm so glad you made this thread as I'm also going through 1.5 + 2.5 Remix for the first time.
I actually got the game from my ResetEra Secret Santa of 2017 :)
I had never played 358/2 days and after playing it, I feel like it's the biggest filler arc in the history of KH lol
I have yet to play ReCoded though so who knows what that's about.
1.5 was so much fun to experience. I never played any of the final mixes so some of those extra bosses were a big treat.
Played chain of memories and thought it wasn't as bad as most make the PS4 version out to be. The last few battles were very tough though. All of a sudden the game bumps up the difficulty curve and you're not expecting it.
I enjoyed my play through with Riku a lot more because it felt less of a grind. The ability to upgrade attack made things extremely easier. The only difficult fight was the last one and even that one only took me three tries.
All in all, CoM was a bit of a slog but still fun and a nice change of pace from the usual KH gameplay.
I'm now onto KH2 and I'm more in tune with what's going on in the story than I ever been before in my life. I'm no where nearly as confused about the story. The collection does a really good job in educating you about everything that's going on.
I actually got the game from my ResetEra Secret Santa of 2017 :)
I had never played 358/2 days and after playing it, I feel like it's the biggest filler arc in the history of KH lol
I have yet to play ReCoded though so who knows what that's about.
1.5 was so much fun to experience. I never played any of the final mixes so some of those extra bosses were a big treat.
Played chain of memories and thought it wasn't as bad as most make the PS4 version out to be. The last few battles were very tough though. All of a sudden the game bumps up the difficulty curve and you're not expecting it.
I enjoyed my play through with Riku a lot more because it felt less of a grind. The ability to upgrade attack made things extremely easier. The only difficult fight was the last one and even that one only took me three tries.
All in all, CoM was a bit of a slog but still fun and a nice change of pace from the usual KH gameplay.
I'm now onto KH2 and I'm more in tune with what's going on in the story than I ever been before in my life. I'm no where nearly as confused about the story. The collection does a really good job in educating you about everything that's going on.
I've been meaning to jump into this collection on PS4 just haven't had the time to do it yet. I platinumed KH1 on PS3 and it reminded me why I enjoy it the most. it was my first RPG, was the game that made me buy a memory card, and i enjoyed the story. I also remember buying KH2 and then being very surprised to see I'm playing as not Sora and being a lil turned off by 2's opening and then feeling like the worlds were not as fun. but i enjoyed the combat and how they made some improvements to the crafting system and overall felt the game was easier than KH1. wasn't too impressed with the new gummi system but my memory of it is a bit hazy.
Started to play Chain of Memories but i didn't care for the card system for battles, and i started to play Birth By Sleep but felt like it would be better to wait for it on PS4 because I don't like the Dualshock 3 and having to use my PS3 felt like a chore.
Fun fact my Original 20GB PS3 died twice while playing KH1 or maybe just once and then the second time was shortly after then i went and bought a slim PS3 (not the grill).
Started to play Chain of Memories but i didn't care for the card system for battles, and i started to play Birth By Sleep but felt like it would be better to wait for it on PS4 because I don't like the Dualshock 3 and having to use my PS3 felt like a chore.
Fun fact my Original 20GB PS3 died twice while playing KH1 or maybe just once and then the second time was shortly after then i went and bought a slim PS3 (not the grill).
To be fair, Mickey was being all shady about what happened to Riku.
Tbf, Mickey just wanted to keep his boyfriend to himself.
Agreed. It should have been the movie and Re:Coded the playable game.
Is the fight with the hooded keyblade wielder in The Town That Never Was supposed to be crushingly difficult? Because its annihilating me. I've mostly breezed through the game, only to hit this seemingly insurmountable roadblock right near the end.
Great write-up Bear! I agreed with pretty much all of your assessments, but I think you committed an atrocity by not discussing the music further D: Sometimes, it feels as if the music is the true story of KH, and the story is just dressing for the real show
If you're talking about the dual-wielding keyblade user in The World that Never Was, that fight is a definite difficulty spike throughout KH2. It's not just you, so keep trying :] If you can successfully complete the reaction command that can initiate throughout the fight, you can destroy him
If you're talking about the dual-wielding keyblade user in The World that Never Was, that fight is a definite difficulty spike throughout KH2. It's not just you, so keep trying :] If you can successfully complete the reaction command that can initiate throughout the fight, you can destroy him
if your having issues don't forget about drive forms, Leveling up limit will not only get you a better dodge roll but also let you stay in limit form longer. Also going into drive refill both your Health and MP
He's got some crazy tricks, but also a lot of recovery between his attacks. Even if you don't abuse limit form (which is probably the safest way to kill him), hit and run is a viable strategy as well.
I'm going through KH1 on PS4 now and it is moving quite faster than I remembered. I'm at ~15h and just got to Hollow Bastion.
- The camera is really, really bad in places. And this is from someone who normally doesn't understand when that complaint is placed against a game or who can easily work with/around a bad camera. Sometimes it will just refuse to move or just jump between spots when there should be plenty of room for it.
- There are times in a few worlds where I'm pretty sure they give you no hint or discussion about where to go next that kinda caught me off guard and I had to go off of memory or try and brute force it. Tarzan's Jungle in particular.
Otherwise I'm having a good time. KH1 I've gone through 2 or 3 times now, and is one of if not the only "action rpg" I enjoy playing from a game play perspective. Plan is to at least finish 2 before 3 comes out as I've only ever put a few hours into it. I doubt I'll ever get to the other ports.
- The camera is really, really bad in places. And this is from someone who normally doesn't understand when that complaint is placed against a game or who can easily work with/around a bad camera. Sometimes it will just refuse to move or just jump between spots when there should be plenty of room for it.
- There are times in a few worlds where I'm pretty sure they give you no hint or discussion about where to go next that kinda caught me off guard and I had to go off of memory or try and brute force it. Tarzan's Jungle in particular.
Otherwise I'm having a good time. KH1 I've gone through 2 or 3 times now, and is one of if not the only "action rpg" I enjoy playing from a game play perspective. Plan is to at least finish 2 before 3 comes out as I've only ever put a few hours into it. I doubt I'll ever get to the other ports.
Only managed to read this now, grizz :B Thanks for the detailed writing.
Yeah, going for the platinum in the PS3 version of 1.5 made me dislike CoM, as I had to beat the game 6 times (gave up on the fourth one), and as I kept seeing the same attacks and the same rooms I'd get tired.
Not only that, but Aqua's 360º block turned her into my favorite character in that game. I'd feel powerless whenever I'd go back to Terra in another playthrough.
Yeah, it's... awkward. All you get is one running after the other, but the game doesn't show you why they feel like doing that. It's a weak link between them all that I never saw being expanded upon; maybe Aqua says something about it in 2.8.
Yeah, going for the platinum in the PS3 version of 1.5 made me dislike CoM, as I had to beat the game 6 times (gave up on the fourth one), and as I kept seeing the same attacks and the same rooms I'd get tired.
Not only that, but Aqua's 360º block turned her into my favorite character in that game. I'd feel powerless whenever I'd go back to Terra in another playthrough.
Yeah, it's... awkward. All you get is one running after the other, but the game doesn't show you why they feel like doing that. It's a weak link between them all that I never saw being expanded upon; maybe Aqua says something about it in 2.8.
Just started up the first one last night and I'm currently 4 hours in on Tarzan's world. Been years since I've played a KH game so I just choose Final Mix mode but I'm finding the game kinda easy so far. I love a challenge and I'm wondering if the game becomes more challenging as it goes on or if It would be worth restarting and choosing Final Mix Proud Mode?
I'm not going for Platinum or anything, just wanna have a fun and challenging time
I'm not going for Platinum or anything, just wanna have a fun and challenging time
Actually in KH1 the start is arguably the most challenging part (Traverse Town boss->Tarzan boss since you have no cure) minus a few bosses later on (of which for example Ursula 2 is completely skippable).
It's up to you of course if you can be bothered to restart at that point. At least the PS4 version allows skipping cutscenes and has short load times so that's something.
The Traverse Town boss is supposed to be hard? That was pretty easy for me, maybe because I grinded a bit before it. Cloud is the only boss that killed me and that's because I didn't equip any potions and the only other part that gave me any trouble was the boss in Wonderland which was pretty tough. I do remember as a kid I died a lot in late game but I'm not sure if it's because I was just a kid and sucked at it or if It was actually difficult.
I'd say Traverse Town boss is the first real roadblock in the game that can be challenging and you cannot get around without just by learning the fight or grinding levels. He isn't that hard in normal mode but I wouldn't be surprised if many players died multiple times on proud, especially if they didn't grind a few levels.
The thing about late game is that you have so many tools at your disposal that can make a big difference in making progress easier. For example Ursula that I mentioned is one of the more difficult bosses but you can leave her be, continue the game in other worlds and come back later. You have stuff like Tinker Bell summon, Second Chance ability and Aero magic that can mitigate a huge amount of damage. Also if you bother to look up where to get materials and grind a bit you can get both very powerful accessories, healing items (and at that point you have tons of item slots for your party) and level up fast.
In early game you are much more restricted in terms of how to approach a roadblock. In particular this shows on Proud mode.
Loaded question but I'd say the game is at it's best post Tarzan world. That said if you don't like almost anything after you hit the Disney worlds the game probably isn't for you.
Some of the abilities that make the game more fun imo are locked behind the coliseum, so doing that helps a bit. Otherwise, having just replayed it recently and having immense nostalgia for it, it's one of the weakest in the series. You pretty much get the general game feel after completing traverse town after deep jungle.
Its kinda hard to me take someone seriously when people says that Re:CoM gameplay is the best and KH2 action button spam festival not much mentioned.
Well...different tastes and takes I believe. I for one can't stop recommending Birth By Sleep. I'm glad I bought 1.5+2.5 just for it.
Well...different tastes and takes I believe. I for one can't stop recommending Birth By Sleep. I'm glad I bought 1.5+2.5 just for it.
I'm at alice... Just getting there was a real snooze fest... Is part 2 way better?
2, especially on its' "hardest" difficulty(critical) is one of my favorite action RPGs. It's soooooo much better.
Lately I'm so tempted to buy the KHIII preorder bundle to play again 1 and 2 and, maybe, finish BBS and DDD for the first time (quit playing both, guess portable KH isn't for me). But I honestly don't know if I'll be able to play them all before KHIII drops, and I could be suffering for too much KH fatigue.
...still, I played those games a lifetime ago, it would be weird to jump in KHIII without knowing everything.
...still, I played those games a lifetime ago, it would be weird to jump in KHIII without knowing everything.