I'll make the thread since no one else has in a week. I've only played the first half hour or so since I need to still beat BBS(on Aqua's campaign, almost done). I thought the Ursula fight at the beginning was a little random and out of place since they're supposed to be in the waters of the Destiny Islands, plus bringing a Disney villain into the segment of the game's story kind of muddled up the original KH feel that it had going, at least in my opinion. There are three branches of KH, as far as I'm concerned: Original(Sora, Riku, Xehanort, etc.), Final Fantasy(Leon, Cloud, Yuffie, etc.) and Disney(Ursula, Aladdin, Mulan, etc.) Mickey, Yen Sid, Goofy, Donald, Jiminy, etc. are exceptions that can exist anywhere. Original and Final Fantasy can be anywhere in the universe as well. But I feel that all the other Disney stuff needs to be in their respective worlds. I'm the type of KH fan that wants the series to be MORE FF/Original and LESS Disney. But I digress, one man's opinion. I did think the Ursula portion was at least a pretty competent tutorial(which I played for fun despite being a grizzled KH vet). The combat is as fluid as ever, the graphics are pretty great for the 3DS. I very much enjoyed seeing Neku in Traverse Town, hearing TWEWY music blasting from his headphones was some pretty upbeat nostalgia. Flowmotion seems a little unnecessaary, at least right now, but good for SE for at least trying to put some pizazz in the tried and true formula. I stopped there, just wanted to try it out, but I'll be eager to return after finally beating BBS.

Your thoughts?

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Human After All

Xbox Live Gamertag: DaftLink I17
PlayStation Network ID: DarkLinkI17

I'll try not to be spoilerish.

The story was great, especially the ending. Surprising things, but not as much as BBS. Don't get me started on BBS It was also funny to me how many things alluded to Days, Coded, and BBS and how 3D pretty much proves that those three "Spin-offs" will really have an importance in KH3 and also how people who have only played 1 and 2 will be completely lost! More so than playing 2 without playing COM. LOL people LOL Good luck figuring out KH3! Not attacking just laughing at you No, I'm just kidding about that, but seriously, to those of you who only play the console versions and refuse to play the portable titles, please don't say that the story is too hard to understand. It isn't. You haven't played all the games, so of course it doesn't make a lot of sense even if you do know a little of what happens. It's just not the same as playing the games themselves. Sorry.

I really liked the battle system and I thought it was cool that those special battles that would pop up were named after FF characters. When I first saw that, it said Squall, and I thought Leon would come out and help me, but he didn't sadly...

I liked how they took a chance and added TWEWY characters, but I do wish they would've had at least one FF character. I miss Leon and Aerith.

It was too short though. I beat it in only two days and put 17 hours into it. Disappointing.

The music was amazing! I loved how they made Young Xehanort's theme sound like MX's theme but "hipper" because he's a younger version Genius! The remixed versions of past songs were great and my favorite world theme was from the Three Musketeers world. Loved it!

Overall, I didn't like Riku's new hairstyle, but I liked the game and it was a great installment and a great way to lead into KH3.

(I hope I didn't sound mean in the first paragraph. I just hate it when people say the story is a "convoluted mess" when they refuse to play the portable titles. I've played all the games and the story makes perfect sense to me. I'm just afraid that by saying those things, it makes the series look bad. It gets on my nerves because KH is a great game series and it doesn't deserve that kind of criticism from people who haven't invested in the whole series. That's just how I feel, so don't be mad at me please )

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Thanks for the input! I'm quite looking forward to playing it when I finally beat that freakin' Aqua campaign.

17 hours sounds about alright for a portable/spin-off KH game. KH3 is where it really needs to be like 50 hours.

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Human After All

Xbox Live Gamertag: DaftLink I17
PlayStation Network ID: DarkLinkI17

I'm so mixed on KH3D so far. I'm enjoying a lot of new features but at the same time, there's a lot wrong with it. The story so far isn't very engaging. Though I'm only on the 4th world. I'm VERY upset that there wasn't more of the TWEWY characters than just the first world. I donno if they return later, but it was very disappointing. On a side note, I nearly got teary eyed when I seen Rhyme >_<

Pros: Love the flowmotion, it adds a lot of speed and fun to the gameplay. The environments are much more well designed, detailed, and larger (no more square empty rooms). Graphics are pretty great, and the animations are smooth. 3D is some of the best on the console, especially doing the trick Brandon talked about on the podcast! Drop system is.... interesting. It definitely adds a unique storytelling to the game and the ability to power up the next up is actually useful for tough bosses.

Cons: Flowmotion is great but it also breaks the game. As platforming is a breeze with it. Dashing a wall and following it with a jump over and over allows you to easily explore every nook and cranny. I often found myself finding chests, then later opening a door to get to that chest the 'normal' way. I despise the pet system, though I've never liked pet systems. I'd rather have characters with life and personality rather than lifeless objects that half the time only serve to make me mistake them as enemies. The drop system can be VERY frustrating, especially when you nearly beat a boss, and time runs out. You have to start the boss completely over when you go back. Yes, Drop-Me-Nots can add time, but that assumes you have them equipped (Which is a waste of a command slot and hinders command fluidity). Which reminds me of my last con, the controls. Switching commands on the fly in this game is very crummy. Taking a tough hit, trying to dodge away, while at the same time scrunching my finger to hit the D pad to swap to Cure is impossible.

I'd also like to point out that I don't use a circle pad pro. Unless it helps with the command switching issue, I have had no problems playing this game without CPP.

Despite my complaints, the game is still solid. I've already gotten my moneys worth and it's the best action RPG on the 3DS by far (well, besides Zelda). I'll give my full thoughts later when I get further in.

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