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As much as I prepared myself to tear this game apart, I find myself in a place of slightly confused euphoria upon finishing Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. I spent a good deal of my time somewhere between confused and angry while playing Kingdom Hearts, and I believe I can identify the source of my frustration. Kingdom Hearts, while being a technological feat and JARPG juggernaut, lacks in clarity. Clarity, oh so important clarity, is painfully absent where it is needed most in this title. Where to go, how to get there, and what to do when you get there is left up to deduction for the player. This impacts the overall experience as a lack of clarity permeates nearly every system in the game, but it is most noticeable in combat and while navigating the world of Kingdom Hearts.
Navigation is a complete disaster. Most of the Disney themed zones in Kingdom Hearts consist of a handful of narrow corridor areas made to feel more expansive through use of vertical space. This results in most of the zones feeling labyrinthine and confusing to navigate. It can be difficult to remember which area links to another and by which portal the link is made possible. Progressing the story forward is often achieved by walking into the correct area through the correct portal in the correct sequence. This process is usual started by stumbling into the correct area, and how long this takes will depend on the whim of the player. A simple map could remedy the navigational issue I believe to be present here, and it would have significantly cut down on the time I spent mindlessly wandering the area corridors. Some of the enemy designs are also poorly suited to the narrow environments, large enemies are problematic when stuffed into narrow corridors.
Clarity in combat is something we’ve come to take for granted in modern action titles. Action games see a hero use light and heavy attacks to dispatch foes while avoiding harm with perfectly timed dodges and blocking. I spent over ten hours with this game before I stumbled upon a method to block enemy attacks. Simple actions such as rolling and blocking are locked behind an ability progression system, and I have not the slightest clue as to why. Many of the other unlock-able abilities provide significant boosts in offensive or defensive power, while a simple button action for rolling and blocking behind the same system contributes to a feeling of unbalance that dominates an otherwise enjoyable combat experience. Even the base healing ability is locked until after the third world zone, and that contributes to the beginning hours of the game feeling especially one sided in favor of NPC enemies. Unfortunately, this feeling of unbalance does not improve over the 30 to 40 hours it will take to finish Kingdom Hearts. At some point in the game a magic spell is unlocked that significantly reduces the damage the player takes over its duration. I failed to notice the single box of text that notified me of the addition, and the effects of this spell were not explained. It was with great frustration I found myself repeatedly killed by standard field enemies, and most boss encounters felt like an insurmountable challenge only possible to complete with enough luck. Had the game explained I had a damage mitigation ability, I wouldn’t have taken as much damage or found myself staring hopelessly at as many Game Over screens, and that just feels bad. I powered through almost the entire game before a friend stepped in to explain the inner-workings of combat. After a very literal face palm, I found combat to be much easier with adequate knowledge. I’m left wondering how long the game would’ve taken me to beat had I started with this knowledge courtesy of an extensive tutorial. The controls will also feel a bit loose to players of modern ARPGs, but they were tight enough not to be a major problem.
Being able to beat most of the bosses in Kingdom Hearts without knowledge of damage mitigation reinforces my observation of poor boss design. I beat most of the bosses by loading up on healing items and pressing the attack button until the boss stopped moving, and that shouldn’t be possible with a well-designed enemy in an action game. While they vary widely in visual design, most fights consist of beating a target-able area with Sora’s over-sized key. Towards the end of the game, the bosses become much more reactive to player action. As the bosses improved in design, I started to struggle more with my brute force tactics. Ultimately, this is a good thing for the game, but it comes in a bit too late to matter.
While I wasn’t occupied by being brutally murdered by off-screen enemies launching unavoidable attacks to interrupt my much-needed healing spells, I found my walk-through digital Disney World quite pleasant. The graphical presentation of the environments has been touched up to display nicely on my 4K theatre display. The character models vary in quality but are still quite impressive for slightly enhanced PS2 graphics. The sound effects and score are of the standard expected in a Square-Enix title, and Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean is still quite the ear worm.
I played Kingdom Hearts Final Mix as a part of the The Story So Far Kingdom Hearts bundle. I’m left feeling lukewarm on this title, but there are still many more games to experience in this 9-in-1 bundle. Kingdom Hearts the Story so Far is available for $40, and it has easily been worth the price of entry so far. I look forward to playing the other Kingdom Hearts titles leading up to the much-anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3. Thanks for reading!
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix: Play it, if you've the patience for an older game!
Navigation is a complete disaster. Most of the Disney themed zones in Kingdom Hearts consist of a handful of narrow corridor areas made to feel more expansive through use of vertical space. This results in most of the zones feeling labyrinthine and confusing to navigate. It can be difficult to remember which area links to another and by which portal the link is made possible. Progressing the story forward is often achieved by walking into the correct area through the correct portal in the correct sequence. This process is usual started by stumbling into the correct area, and how long this takes will depend on the whim of the player. A simple map could remedy the navigational issue I believe to be present here, and it would have significantly cut down on the time I spent mindlessly wandering the area corridors. Some of the enemy designs are also poorly suited to the narrow environments, large enemies are problematic when stuffed into narrow corridors.
Clarity in combat is something we’ve come to take for granted in modern action titles. Action games see a hero use light and heavy attacks to dispatch foes while avoiding harm with perfectly timed dodges and blocking. I spent over ten hours with this game before I stumbled upon a method to block enemy attacks. Simple actions such as rolling and blocking are locked behind an ability progression system, and I have not the slightest clue as to why. Many of the other unlock-able abilities provide significant boosts in offensive or defensive power, while a simple button action for rolling and blocking behind the same system contributes to a feeling of unbalance that dominates an otherwise enjoyable combat experience. Even the base healing ability is locked until after the third world zone, and that contributes to the beginning hours of the game feeling especially one sided in favor of NPC enemies. Unfortunately, this feeling of unbalance does not improve over the 30 to 40 hours it will take to finish Kingdom Hearts. At some point in the game a magic spell is unlocked that significantly reduces the damage the player takes over its duration. I failed to notice the single box of text that notified me of the addition, and the effects of this spell were not explained. It was with great frustration I found myself repeatedly killed by standard field enemies, and most boss encounters felt like an insurmountable challenge only possible to complete with enough luck. Had the game explained I had a damage mitigation ability, I wouldn’t have taken as much damage or found myself staring hopelessly at as many Game Over screens, and that just feels bad. I powered through almost the entire game before a friend stepped in to explain the inner-workings of combat. After a very literal face palm, I found combat to be much easier with adequate knowledge. I’m left wondering how long the game would’ve taken me to beat had I started with this knowledge courtesy of an extensive tutorial. The controls will also feel a bit loose to players of modern ARPGs, but they were tight enough not to be a major problem.
Being able to beat most of the bosses in Kingdom Hearts without knowledge of damage mitigation reinforces my observation of poor boss design. I beat most of the bosses by loading up on healing items and pressing the attack button until the boss stopped moving, and that shouldn’t be possible with a well-designed enemy in an action game. While they vary widely in visual design, most fights consist of beating a target-able area with Sora’s over-sized key. Towards the end of the game, the bosses become much more reactive to player action. As the bosses improved in design, I started to struggle more with my brute force tactics. Ultimately, this is a good thing for the game, but it comes in a bit too late to matter.
While I wasn’t occupied by being brutally murdered by off-screen enemies launching unavoidable attacks to interrupt my much-needed healing spells, I found my walk-through digital Disney World quite pleasant. The graphical presentation of the environments has been touched up to display nicely on my 4K theatre display. The character models vary in quality but are still quite impressive for slightly enhanced PS2 graphics. The sound effects and score are of the standard expected in a Square-Enix title, and Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean is still quite the ear worm.
I played Kingdom Hearts Final Mix as a part of the The Story So Far Kingdom Hearts bundle. I’m left feeling lukewarm on this title, but there are still many more games to experience in this 9-in-1 bundle. Kingdom Hearts the Story so Far is available for $40, and it has easily been worth the price of entry so far. I look forward to playing the other Kingdom Hearts titles leading up to the much-anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3. Thanks for reading!
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix: Play it, if you've the patience for an older game!