So the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix is out, and I have the opportunity to buy that.

The Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix is going to be released, so I'll get that.

I can also get Birth by Sleep on PSP.

And Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming out, so I was wondering if I should buy them all together and have a series marathon. Is it worth getting into these games. THANKS!

nah

hmmm, for some reason I play them for the wrong reasons. So I'm the worst person to ask, but I played majority of them and they are pretty good Action RPG and gets better one high level play..... but I'm bitter that I can't have Scrooge McDuck as a party member.

Not really. People criticise final fantasy for its hokey melodramatic story, but Kingdom Hearts is 10x worse.

I enjoy the games, though I have no idea why they made the story so complicated. Still if you like flashy action rpg's and Disney or final fantasy i think you'll like it. By the way I think 2.5 comes with BBS Final Mix so unless you really want a mobile game you shouldn't need to get it on psp.

@dasacant2:

Oh, thanks for that info.

I love all the games I have played, and I will but the shit out of 3 when that releases. That said, I love them for what they are, not what they want to be. The story, interesting as it is in my opinion, is overly complicated. The gameplay is perfectly fine, but nothing spectacular. And even though I'm perfectly aware of all this, I love the hell out of the games. It just feels amazing to play them and being immersed in a lot of fun ideas and different disney universes mixed in one game. I bouth the 1.5, and will but 2.5 as well, because KH is by far on my top 10 when it comes to games.

The games are not for everyone though, now that. I think that is a perfectly normal thing to say about games nowaday, but I feel like KH is a harder fit than most other games. All just my humble opinion, ofc!

Yes, but only if you're a fan of disney, and can get past some of the more insufferable parts of the Jrpgness. I find the gameplay mechanics and progression to be quite enjoyable and think it still holds up quite well to this day in that respect. In general, Kingdom hearts is not a series for everyone. Some people adore it for it's ties to Disney and others loathe it for it's extremely abstruse story and characters. Being the huge classic disney fan that I am, I love the series. I'd personally suggest spacing out your playthroughs of the games though. Kingdom hearts 3 won't be coming out for a while, so you got plenty of time to get through them. I can imagine getting burnt out fast if playing these games in immediate succession.

Anybody who says any variant of "no" is an awful person who must never be trusted.

The first one was great.

There are better action RPG's out there. There are better stories and characters out there. But I dunno, it's ok. If you really like Final Fantasy, Disney or both then you might as well give it a shot.

In the same situation, I tried to play the PS2 versions but other games got in the way. But once the 1.5 Remix came out I decided to give it ago. I've only played Kingdom Hearts 1 so far and had a blast with it to be honest, I haven't touched the other two games yet but certainly will as I'm spacing them out. I recommend at least giving 1.5 Remix a try to see if it's your sort of thing. Plus with 2.5 coming out and 3 hitting at some point, there's no better time than ever to give it a try.

It depends. The story gets super complicated and obtuse so I wouldn't recommend playing the series for the story. The whole Disney meets Final Fantasy aspect is probably the most interesting part. The combat was fun for the time but it pretty clunky in this day and age. I don't know if the HD versions offered any sort of improved controls cause the first game especially can be a real pain at times. I would say the first game is like a 3/5 and I haven't beaten any of the others but what I played of 2 I thought was okay but the story just went off the rails, and I tried Chain of Memories and that shit is bad.

Definitely worth playing the first one (or rather 1.5), I think.

But "getting into" the series is a bit weird, considering how convoluted the connective tissue of the story gets. If you find yourself enjoying the gameplay or the retelling of Disney stories aspects, though, you can't go wrong with playing the rest of them. Though this is coming from somebody whose childhood was Kingdom Hearts, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt...

The original Kingdom Hearts is one of the reason I bought a PS2. I thought it was such a great idea. The first game is really good, it's a lot of fun to jump between worlds and to see all the Disney and Square characters. That being said the second one while also fun the story is a jumbled mess and I've tried the PSP one and the DS one and they are kinda the same mess.

YES

If anyone says the story is "complicated" or any variation, feel free to ignore them.

Nope

Pros:

-Its pretty good for an action-RPG, comes close to being great even

-They somehow combined Final Fantasy with Disney and made it work

-Gummi ships are fun to build and pilot

-Each world feels distinct and interesting

-Micky Mouse is basically Yoda

-Birth by Sleep is really good (also the HD remaster should be a part of the 2.5 reMIX, so unless you really want it on your PSP you should just wait for 2.5)

Cons:

-HEARTS HEARTS DARKNESS HEARTS HEARTLESS HEARTS OF DARKNESS

-KH II got reaaal heavy on button mashing and QTE's, also marked a serious step up in melodrama/convoluted story stuff

-KH II also has like... And hour and a half long intro before you see the actual title screen

-Actually most of the KH hate comes from KH II, I think. It's not terrible but it does earn a lot of the criticism it gets and has kind of set the tone for the rest of the series (unfortunately)

-GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK

No.

Actually yes.

I'm not sure.

The story is pretty much the pinnacle of every complaint about JRPG stories, ever, but if you like JRPG stories then you should love this. The games take forever to get to anything resembling "the good part" (five or six hours), but once you do, the combat gets really crazy and addictive in an odd way and you get some cool skills (like falling with style. Peter Pan style.) The levels are usually pretty cool and have a lot of imagination, too. But the combat is also pretty button-mashy and is made to look cool. It's no Devil May Cry, there's not a lot of finesse in it.

You'll probably enjoy its story a whole lot more if you're more concerned about the story's themes and ideas than how its universe works. The story is definitely far more certain of the former, but it seems like the writers just toss any old detail into the universe to get the story beats they want.

I'd say it's in the realm of minutes.

The introduction to KH1 is what I'm talking about. It takes way too fucking long and really, really sucks, but it's nothing compared to the two hour long thing with Roxas in KH2. Both sections are really bad at giving context to the player - what's going on? Who are these people? Why should I care? Why are they misspelling Darkseid's name? It's not that KH2's introduction isn't necessary but, man, it's super boring. They could have done something more worthwhile with it, or they could have detailed Roxas's life through some sort of collectible, the same way they did with Ansem's notes in KH1.

Final answer, @miko1222: You should try them. I think these games have merit, but I also think they appeal to a specific taste that has a curious brand of tolerance for certain irritating flaws.

@believer258:

I was focusing more on Kingdom Hearts 1. It's been a while since I've touched 2 (8 years......oh, god).

I would say yes to Kingdom Hearts 1 or just getting the 1.5 version. If you like it a lot, you can progress to 2 or that eventual HD remake.

As a person who adored the first game, I was kind of disappointed in 2. It was still a fun game, and the worlds are always a blast to see, but something didn't click as hard with me as the first game. But I say play 2 just for the Tron and Steamboat Willie inspired worlds. It's still a great game, from what I recall, but the first game is close to perfect in my opinion.

I only played 2, and watched a good amount of 1.

So no, I don't think you should get into Kingdom Hearts. Unless you're into button mashing or drawn out stories.

And I thought 2 was really good.

I disagree, I've been playing the 1.5 remix, and I kinda wish I hadn't. I played it a decade ago when I was in middle school, and I remember loving it. Fast-Forward to now, and I find it very difficult to play through, it's just very boring. The story is just meh, and I find myself just trying to finish the game rather than enjoy it, which is why I haven't touched it in a few months now.

Moved to the Kingdom Hearts franchise page. Try to keep your topics in an appropriate forum, folks.

NO.

I had a friend in high school who got into those games. He was the kind of guy who was super insecure about his masculinity, but was still usually a pretty cool dude. He'd challenge you to a pickup game of horse to prove a point. Which is better than the assholes who want to fight. Later he'd make some shitty friends in college and we'd lose contact. One time he was showing me the games, I think he was trying to get me into them, and I decided to be an unbearable prick. I dismissed the games as childish and asked why all the guys looked like women. "Mickey Mouse, dude?" He got super defensive. I think I was just pushing his buttons. I definitely didn't have anything against the games. Weird that we're no longer friends.

Man, what's wrong with me?

Edit: We're still friends on Xbox Live. He's usually on there playing various FPS games. He did message me once while I was playing Brothers to ask how it was. I wanted to finish the game before I answered him, but then forgot and never got around to replying.

I'm basically going to concur with what people have said about the series weaknesses but I'll add a couple things.

First, Birth By Sleep is not only the best in the series but it is one of the best handheld games ever when it comes to battling in real time (in my opinion). The mix of different mechanics that are all fleshed out is great. Getting your head around it at first will be difficult to truly enjoy it, but once you do it's fantastic. It's truly incredible in-and-of itself. That said, it is linked to one of the weaker ones in the series in terms of setting (i.e. the worlds are much weaker compared to others in the series)

That said, I recommend it to players who want a fund to play handheld game and are okay with a crazy story. (Though I think the main characters are the best voice-acted and written of the whole series).

As for the rest, KH 1.5 HD is a good package. Know that the upscale isn't great (it isn't bad, but its not great), while noticeably improved compared to the original, it's still not very good to look at. Also, the original game has aged the worst in terms of mechanics. That said, it has an okay story. It doesn't go as insane as later ones and is quite enjoyable. I think of it as a child's idea of a good story - but then again, the whole thing was clearly made for appealing to children in the first place (meaning people who play it as children are unsurprisingly the most affected by it). Though I do think the extra level of references to philosophy is a little out of place (I happen to like it, but it is weird).

That said, the original game is still a good game. The story has its good moments, the settings are quite interesting, and the characters you meet along the way are quite fun (especially if you have some fond memories of Disney or Final Fantasy Characters - though there are much more Disney references than Final Fantasy ones).

Also, if you like Anime then the package comes with a retelling of 358/2 days story in the form of an anime-like series of cut-scenes (in an episodic format by say - which is how the game worked). 358/2 days was a pretty bad DS game, but the development of the main characters was fairly well done which makes the way they represent it in this pretty great (if you are okay with all the tropes that go along with it).

I'd recommend the series, but be prepared for some pretty archaic mechanics in the original.

Also, the music in these games are goddamn incredible!

@sparky_buzzsaw:

Oh, thanks.

I wasn't really sure on where to put this forum when I created it, but I know next time.

I dunno... That first one sure was fun, then that second one was pretty good. Then... Oh man people really like those games. They really did have an awesome premise. Take all the awesome stuff about Disney and all the awesome on paper stuff about Final Fantasy and make a really whimsical adventure about a kid beating the crap out of dudes with Donald and Goofy and they go to nostalgia land and MAN it was fun. I loved the first game, it was what I wanted out of an adventure as a child. Then the second one came out, and I liked it-but... Man they really got far up their own ass. They started taking these cardboard characters and tried to drain out as much personality as they could. Then they try to go into this way too complicated story about... I don't even know what. It was so serious and so far off from what I wanted that I just stopped paying attention to it. The gameplay was fun, but it just wasn't the same kind of whimsy that I really liked out of the first one. Then more and more came out and it just kept going deeper into the stuff that I hated about the second game. Since then I've given up on the series and have absolutely no intention of ever going back. I don't recommend going into Kingdom Hearts, that first one is good and the second one plays well, but it just goes so far up it's own ass that it sucks away any enjoyment that you might get out of it.

It's the first game I ever beat, so mine would probably be a biased answer (also notice the avatar).

I definitely recognize the weaknesses of the games and didn't bother delving into anything past KH2 other than watching some cutscenes, but man, when you're a kid...

It's got the Disney worlds, cool looking Final Fantasy characters, an anime style (I was into DBZ, Yu-Gi-Oh, Poke-Digi-Mon, etc), and the game just looked really good and was approachable (for me) from a gameplay standpoint. These are probably some of the things that drew me in when I was around 11 or 12.

Fun fact: it's the only rated E game that I know of where a character commits suicide.

It's worth a try, absolutely. Not everyone is going to love it (hell, not everyone is going to even like it if the replies in this thread didn't tell you that much), but there's a reason why it got a sequel, a bunch of spin-offs and why the E3 reveal for the upcoming sequel got so much buzz.

They're fun games to put it simply. A pretty cool action RPG that also likes to play fan service to Final Fantasy fans and/or Disney fans. If you are either, then you'll most likely get something out of the game. If you are both, even better. Nonetheless, the game has a pretty fun combat system and the story isn't too bad (until you get to the spin-offs, but you really don't have to).

Of course as other people have expressed, it's obviously not a perfect game. But if you think there's even a small chance you'll find enjoyment in the game, then by all means purchase 1.5, see for yourself now if you know 2.5 and 3 will be something you want down the line.

@dixavd:Thanks for the info. I think I'll be getting into the series.

I've played every one except the 3DS one, cuz that's where it got too ridiculous for me (I have a VERY high tolerance for crazy JRPG bullshit). If you wanna try it, more power to you. But reflecting on those games, the story got bad midway through 1 and everything that followed was nonsense. I firmly believe that at SquareEnix, they have like 10 whiteboards dedicated to character/plot webs for that series alone. While I used to love the series, I'm kinda lukewarm to it now to the point where I'm not sure if I'll even get 3, even though that's theoretically what I've been waiting for for about 7-8 years now. Good luck if you decide to get into it!

If you're sold on the idea of Final Fantasy and Disney together, then yes. But only play the main games in the series. Don't bother with the portable ones. I recently played through the first two about a year ago and still loved them. It really doesn't matter how old you are. I'm 21 now and it was just as much fun as when I was 11.

When the games came out, I would definitely say yes, but now, I don't know. I think I'll go with yes still. It really depends. You'll have to want to be into the style. Honestly, gameplay wise it isn't terrific, so I didn't play it for that (which is probably not a good thing), but I like seeing the mix of Disney and Square. I don't know if I would consider the voice acting to be amazing either, but it has a lot of famous people voicing the characters in it. The first game I thought had a charming, sweet story, and the second was decent as well.

I really like a lot of the music, especially for the places that have nothing to do with Disney. Kingdom Hearts is weird for me, because the last time I truly had a lot of interest in it was in 05, and a lot has happened since. I didn't get into the side games on handhelds, so it kind of turned me off in a way, and as weird as it'll feel to go to three after all this time, I am still excited to do so to finish Sora's story. In 08, around the time I was moving to a new house (the one I live in now), I had retried KH2, and just couldn't get into it. I remember feeling that the dialogue was too Japanese feeling. I think currently, I could probably go back and not mind though.

It'll be unfortunate to me if they rely heavily on the story from the handheld games.

The first one is a really solid game.

After that opinions diverge sharply.

First one is decent. Past that not really. It's enjoyable enough to play.

Yes. People who complain about the story are haters and the gameplay is pretty good. The optional bosses are always very challenging and require a special strategy to beat.

@golguin:

To be fair, in KH1 there also was that special combination of passive abilities you could have (MP Rage, MP Haste, Leaf Bracer, Second Chance) that kind of broke most of the fights, glad they fixed that in all the sequels.

I am biased in favour of the KH series, KH1 was a big game of my childhood. It does blend Disney and FF in a way that is interesting, and the story is interesting and does have you fight and play as some interesting characters. Interesting, interesting, don't know any other words. Does get a bit too complicated for its good sometimes (its also kind of annoying how the whole franchise jumps around platforms a lot, even going between Sony and Nintendo, always found that a bit weird). Pretty good action RPG combat, that got really ramped up in 2 onwards, especially with the 'Reaction Commands'.

You are also free to marvel at how well the main characters, especially Sora, are designed, combining a lot of FF characteristics (face, hair, etc), with the proportions of a Disney character.

Gummi Ship stuff is infinitely more fun in 2 than in 1.

Edit: Feel free to skip Chain of Memories though, I found that the card system combined with the gameplay of an Action RPG to be not great and kind of annoying.

Gummy Ships are abominations.

I got to Level 99 in Kingdom Hearts II.

I have no idea what goes on in any of the other ones.

Those are my thoughts.

Yes