Poll: Kingdom Hearts

[Simple Bluff]

I've kept up with the entire series since day one, and KHI is still my favourite. I remember really enjoying KHII at the time but when I re-played it a few years later, I discovered something about it that I can never forgive it for. And no, I'm not referring to the terrible one-button quicktime event boss battles. And not the laughably ridiculous identity crisis that they had for a story. Oh God no. I'm referring to the maiming... the butchering of Hollow Godforsaken Bastion.

I recommend you escort all children out of the vicinity. Things are about to get vulgar.

Spoiler

Ok, let's get one goddamned thing straight here. Hollow G. Bastion is... WAS (sniff) the most badass, alpha-as-fuck stage in any videogame anywhere. NO EXCEPTIONS. I mean look at this shit. LOOK AT IT. [http://kingdomhearts.neoseeker.com/w/i/kingdomhearts/1/10/Hollow_Bastion.jpg] It's a twisted, deformed castle of hooks and floating elevators and giant hearts and shit, standing on top of another twisted, deformed castle of hooks and floating elavators and giant hearts and shit bound in spikey-ass ice. SURROUNDED BY WATERFALLS AND I DUNNO WHAT ELSE. And if you put your ear close to the screen you can actually faintly hear the castle whispering "I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND ENJOY EVERY RAPTUROUS SECOND YOU *****."

Now you may bring up the awkward level design, and something about a stupid heart puzzle on the first floor. Well, you're exactly right of course, but SHUT UP. To prove why your facts don't mean shit, let's list off a bunch of better facts that kick your facts' arses.

- What happens when your weapon is lost, your friends abandon you and all hope is lost? Give up...? HAHA fuckno. You recruit the help of a goddamned monster who tore and shred his way through space and time through sheer fucking willpower, grab a sharp stick, and assault the twisty deformed castle anyway.

- You have to try not to be killed by these monstrous motherfuckers.

- SLAY A DRAGON [http://images.wikia.com/kingdomhearts/images/archive/a/a3/20110807090530!Dragon_BBS.png]

- Kill evil Riku. Twice. Except, the second time, he's possessed by THE SEEKER OF DARKNESS (whatever the fuck that means), possess a soul stealing keyblade and can stab you like a million times in two seconds flat when he starts getting bored - and there's no weak ass "reaction commands" to save you here, you fucking pathetic dweeb. Oh and you somehow won...? Well, good for you because SORA DIES ANYWAY.

- When you revisit the level (because you DIED the first time you were here, you loser) you have to fight a giant behemoth who shoots lightning from his goddamned horn [http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/9cN5BnGnD7Y/hqdefault.jpg].

It was all so beautiful. So what happened in KHII? Heh. Well, I'll tell you what happened.

Oh, I'll goddamned tell you what happened.

[a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100929034426/kingdomhearts/images/3/34/Radiant_Garden_Logo_KHBBS.png"]THIS[/a].
[a href="http://www.khwiki.net/images/thumb/8/82/Gullwings_KHII.png/350px-Gullwings_KHII.png"]FUCKING[/a].
[a href="http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/18900000/Hollow-Bastion-kingdom-hearts-2-18928227-700-525.jpg"]HAPPENED[/a].

I mean... you maniacs. You... killed it. "Radiant Garden"...? That doesn't sound terrifying... that sounds pleasant.

And happy.

No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I HATE YOU SQUARE I HATE YOU KHII I HATE YOU I HATE YOU ARRRGGGHHH

...I've been needing to say that since I was fourteen. I... I need a minute.

*deep breaths*

...Ok. In all seriousness, I actually do despise how they treated Hollow Bastion in KHII (and later in BBS). There was that one badass moment where it was basically you versus a million heartless but it's the most insultingly reaction command heavy fight in the game. In fact, that's what ruins KHII - the reaction commands. Although the combat system was more refined, it didn't mean a damn thing when it came to the bosses (particularly the early ones) with the over reliance on the triangle button. That's what makes KHI the more enjoyable game to play. The story in both games were terrible, but in KHI it was terrible in a charmingly childish way. And at least straightforward. KHII was just stupid.

So yeah, my vote goes to KHI. May Hollow Bastion rest in the depths of Hell.

My opinion of the other games, while I'm at it:

Spoiler

KH:COM - Pretty good. I liked the combat once I got used to it, and it's the only KH game so far that has a genuinely good story in my opinion.

KH:358/2 Days - Terrible, in nearly every way. Combat is ridiculously tedious, due to flawed enemy AI (play through Wonderland, you'll see what I mean), and the story is so static that it may as well be a vegetable hooked up to life support. The narrative isn't all that terrible, and I sorta liked the levelling up system. But jesus, it's a difficult game to play.

KH:BBS - Very overrated in my opinion. A good game, but overrated. Playing the game through once is enjoyable, but you have to play through three bloody times with (what I saw as) minor differences in order to see everything, and get the true ending. Also "Radiant Garden" was in this game, which continues to make me sick. Not bad overall however.

KH:Coded - I liked this one. The gameplay was the same as BBS, except better because you could use more interesting abilities. Story was crap, and the whole thing felt unnecessary, but I'd play it again nonetheless.

KH:3D - Good, but I wasn't a fan of the wall bouncing system thing. Everything else about gameplay was solid enough - and it was even bold enough to MOVE THE DAMN STORY FORWARD. Although you technically play through the game twice (once as Sora and Riku each) the game forces you to switch between each throughout the game, which keeps it fresh. BBS would have been a lot better if it was like this too.

 

[The_Echo]

Again? I just replayed it last month! I like to spread out my replayings of my favorite games by a bit more than that. Oh, and i still loved it.

Really? Man. Different strokes I guess. Days just feels far too slow for me. And I was never a fan of the combat.

I usually replay the entire KH series every 4-5 months or so. Well, except for BBS and 3D, because I own neither a PSP or a 3DS, but they are at the top of my list!

I've only replayed BbS and 3D once. I decided to do Proud runs, but the final bosses are so intense I haven't finished them yet. D: Other than that, they're probably tied for the best game in the franchise in my mind.

And I've been seriously jonesing for a replay of basically any other KH. But I'm holding out for the HD ReMIXes, which I will be playing a hell of a lot of. I plan to Platinum it all.

rararar I hate Radiant Garden grumble grumble

I'm... I'm sorry, but I kind of don't see what you expected Hollow Bastion to be post-KH1. I mean, Leon and the gang do tell you it used to be their home. Did you think they all lived in this horrible, depressing maze of a castle? The name itself refers to what it was. A hollow bastion. A sanctuary warped and transformed, lost to the overwhelming power of darkness. I think it's cooler that way, especially seeing Radiant Garden in its prime in Birth by Sleep. Comparing Hollow Bastion to that only makes it seem more monstrous and oppressing. A hollowed-out corpse of its former self.

A lot of what you liked about Hollow Bastion were events that took place there anyway, not the actual world. >_>

 

[Simple Bluff]

rararar I hate Radiant Garden grumble grumble

I'm... I'm sorry, but I kind of don't see what you expected Hollow Bastion to be post-KH1. I mean, Leon and the gang do tell you it used to be their home. Did you think they all lived in this horrible, depressing maze of a castle?

Ignoring the fact that this is a series that refused to move it's plot forward for seven years of near annual releases? Yes. Sorta.
What bothers me isn't particularly the world itself, it's the castle. The depressing maze of a castle was always there, minus the spikey icy (spicy?) doppelganger. And it had been evil before the events of KHI. Remember locking the keyholes did not destroy the heartless, it merely impeded their access to the core of the world and restored it's heart - the floating platforms and giant waterfall would disappear, but the castle would still be corrupted by the heartless(this is evidenced by the game itself, when you see the gorge overrun). And although there was no-one around to continue the research, the fallout of Xehanort's experiments could have conceivably lingered on and continued and... done freaky stuff. I dunno. Hey, if Terra's armour can do it, so can a monster invested hellhole.

Y'know, I wouldn't have minded so much if they just left it there, sitting in the distance. But when you eventually go there, and fix it's computer, it makes sparkly lights appear. And then proceeds to give it the cheesiest name it could possibly come up with. I mean, that's too far.

The name itself refers to what it was. A hollow bastion. A sanctuary warped and transformed, lost to the overwhelming power of darkness. I think it's cooler that way, especially seeing Radiant Garden in its prime in Birth by Sleep. Comparing Hollow Bastion to that only makes it seem more monstrous and oppressing. A hollowed-out corpse of its former self.

I like your way of looking at it, it certainly is a refreshing perspective I've never considered. But I personally don't see it the same way. It should be noted that the world was known as Hollow bastion when Xehanort overthrew Ansem The Wise which, again, happened some time before KHI. Hollow Bastion wasn't Hollow Bastion because everything fucked up, everything fucked up because of Hollow Bastion. As I noted above, Sora technically never actually fixed that stuff.

(sniff) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nlCNVewMjA]

 

[Austin Howe]

Most of why I prefer the original has mostly to do with the fact that the sequel is when the game starting introducing the truly weird metaphysical stuff that would eventually end up clouding the series ability to just tell a story. The stuff we're supposed to know basically undercuts all of the emotional and thematic content of the handheld titles.

 

[Leemaster777]

I've always preferred 1 over 2. In a JPRG, story is almost always king. And frankly, KH had a better story than KH2. Now, KH2 was good, don't get me wrong, but KH was just much, much better in my eyes.

Was KH2 improved in the gameplay department? Yeah. But the intro sequence with Roxas DRAGGED for way too long, revisiting every world a second time was nothing short of shameless padding, and Atlantica sucked flat-out.

It isn't any one major factor that makes me prefer KH. It's just a collection of little annoyances that add up.

Also:

Speaking of 358/2 Days, I actually loved that game. It's one of my favorites in the series. I hate how people treat it like some unwanted bastard child or something.

358/2 Days is riddled with problems. The mission-based structure doesn't work, it repeats itself endlessly, and the secret boss is just a palatte swapped normal enemy. Gameplay-wise, it's only saved by the fact that the combat is actually okay, and the leveling system is neat.

Storywise... it's probably the best of all the games. It's the only game in the series that actually managed to get emotions out of me from it's ending. That's... actually really uncommon for a videogame.

Frankly, I think the best decision they made when making the Kingdom Hearts HD pack was making 358/2 Days a giant cutscene.

I think Re: Coded had the BEST gameplay out of the whole series. Story wise it was dumber than a sack of bricks. How does a book become riddled with computer bugs? And on top of that, why the hell should I care?

Coded I have the exact opposite opinion on. The story is easily the weakest of all the games, and is almost entirely unnecessary and pointless.

But the gameplay? Love it. Combat is great, the "behind the scenes" computer segments are interesting, leveling is everything that was good about 358/2 Days, and the segments where they completely switch up gameplay (with on-rail shooters, platformers, or traditional turn-based RPGs) are actually my favorite parts of it.

If you took 358/2 Days's story and pasted it onto Coded's gameplay, you've have a recipe for possibly the best game in the series.

 

[staika]

I actually replayed both of them recently. I think that the first one had the better story while the second one had the better combat. Between both of them I enjoyed the second one more, the combat was better and I liked the story in it just not as much as the first one. I haven't played the other games though but they interest me and I might have to go play them soon just to try em out.

 

[Kotaro]

I've played all of them:

Kingdom Hearts - I didn't like it. Too much emphasis on platforming in an engine that wasn't well-suited for it.
Chain of Memories - Ew, no. Re:CoM was a bit better, but still the game in the series that I dislike most.
Kingdom Hearts II - Love this one. Improved on everything from the first one.
358/2 Days - Not very good from a gameplay standpoint, but I love the story here.
Birth by Sleep - Best in the series, imo. No question.
Re:coded - Eh, it's okay.
Dream Drop Distance - Really, really good. Not quite Birth by Sleep, but it comes very close.

 

[Miss G.]

Fan of the entire series but I sucked at the console entries and couldn't bother with Re:Coded. I watched my brother play through them (with the exception of Re;Coded since my skin tends to crawl badly when I see glitches and similar visual things or even remember seeing them) so I've still experienced the whole series in some fashion. KH2 was the best in terms of mechanics; on console, anyways. I have played and beaten Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, and Dream Drop Distance, though.

Birth By Sleep is my favorite because Aqua, especially when I thought they could never make a female Kingdom Hearts character that I could both love and WANT to play as instead of wishing she would die for my preferred slash ship like I felt with Kairi (though I've matured enough since those days to just tolerate her). And also because of the gameplay/battle mechanics. Saddened that I'll more than likely have to play as Sora instead of her for the whole of Kingdom Hearts III... Though if they make her like Mickey in terms of just being badass off to the side and coming to the rescue if you need it, I'd be ok with that.

I love the story throughout the game's universe, but these two kinda stood out to me in more irritatingly thought provoking ways;

Chain of Memories: LOVED it. Was the first Kingdom Hearts anything that I beat. It did make me hate Namine more than I hated Kairi (for OTP reasons -SoRiku-) until I realized something - She was a take on Self Insert Mary Sues. Then I realized this story was more brilliant than I initially gave it credit for. She does what many sue-thers do:
-add in a character thats a re-skin of the main love interest girl
-add a backstory explaining why we've never heard of this character before and why the main character even knows them (she was a childhood friend and all the guys fought over her but 'sadly' she moved away before the canon starts)
-twist things to revolve around her even though she is in no way more important than the character she's trying to replace
-finally ends up having to put things back in order because it was all a lie she concocted in the first place; she done effed up a good thing. Now the REAL story can continue as it was meant to.

Same thing with 358/2 Days: I loved the story and I thought what happened to Xion was a great take on the follies of Mary Sues that get added to canon like what so often happens in bad fic where they introduce a character that
-was never there but was jammed into the story in some contrived way and a little blurb written somewhere to say she WAS there but was kept in secret until now for no adequately explained reason
-is a Mary Sue clone of an established character but a different gender so its not COMPLETELY a ripoff- honest
-becomes the third to an established/main duo like Axel and Roxas' and is also the '14th' member of Organization 13 as if either of those makes any sense in practice
-dies too young and in a needlessly over dramatic fashion that makes her forgotten to the canon characters thus further cementing the fact that she was completely irrelevant to anything to begin with and the story goes on like was SUPPOSED too.

Even though these we're still great games in spite of that, I hope thats the last of the Sues in this series.

 

[Nilnot]

Kingdom Hearts is a series that I have always loved (besides Chain of Memories - disliked that battle system) for its gameplay, story, and style. I know it isn't without faults, but what is? From the time I first played Kingdom Hearts, I felt a huge connection to Sora simply through the beginning section in the Destiny Islands that introduces the dynamics of his friendships with Riku and Kairi. I'm a shameless fanboy for this series. I liked Kingdom Hearts II, but for different reasons. The game doesn't get as dark in atmosphere as the first, at least not visually, choosing to enhance the action instead. I think both games did what they were trying to do well and, in my slightly biased eyes, deserve equal merit. (p.s. couldn't stop myself from saying something, but I noticed a comment saying that Sora is an uninteresting protagonist with a bland personality... I think you, my friend, are pointing out an age-old storytelling technique in which a main character's personality is slightly dampened compared to other characters to allow the audience/player/you to project yourself onto them and engage yourself with the story and characters around them, such as the Roxas you like so well. Isn't that nice of them?) [p.p.s. to the one who said that the story was ruined by increasing complexity... Why don't you just enjoy a story you can more easily follow? I'm sure there are some Clifford the Big Red Dog books you would find quite engaging. ]