Update #1 because I forgot to write this a while ago but beat Kingdom Hearts II again. It's crazy because I've been playing this game since it released back in 2005. I remember my mom taking me to pick up a copy. I've played and beaten it at least a dozen time (ironically as fuck I think this was playthrough #13). I experienced it in a brand new way this run through and that's insane to me. It's crazy that a game I've been playing for 15+ years has so much extras that I never bothered with. I'm actually one trophy short of the platinum (beat the game on critical which I'll come back to after beating the rest of the series, didn't want to taint this playthrough with another immediate run of the campaign). So, I have literally never fucked with Drive Forms. Did so for the first time and maxed them all out and holy shit what have I been missing? First off, they're straight up fun as fuck but second I got to experience The Cavern Of Remembrance for the first time which is not just the best thing in this game, but one of my favorite areas across the entire series. It is just the right amount of challenge and fun...until you get to the Data Organization battles ) Luxord and Demyx were the bane of my fucking existence but I cannot describe the dopamine rush I got every time I curb stomped a member. The Mushroom 13 were, again, something I didn't know existed until this most recent series run through but they were an extremely fun challenge that utilized the lesser used drive forms (Wisdom especially) and gave them necessity. The one at Yen Sid's tower can suck every cock in the organization, Larxene's included though. That was my last one for the trophy and I was juggling that broken bitch for about 3 sessions of 2 hour play throughs a piece before I finally got it. As previously stated, I've always hated the Gummi Ship (its at it's best and most tolerable in KH3 Imo) but even that wasn't too bad here and cleaning up the trophies for it was actually kind of fun, especially when you watch some guides to build one that can cheese almost everything. That final boss on The World That Never Was route was still a fucking nightmare though. Finally, as far as new stuff HOLY FUCK LINGERING WILL! I had no idea this existed either. This was a phenomenally fun fight and as shitty as it can be, it's (almost) a fair fight and I had a blast playing it...until I lost for 4 hours straight against him, said "fuck this" and used the negative combo+berserk charge cheese to stunlock him lol it makes him so pathetic but if the game is gonna have that big an exploit and have me lose for hours on end, I'm going to use what I got. That's pretty much all the new stuff which is so much of the game I can't believe I've never done it before, but KH2 was never (and still isn't) my favorite of the series so maybe that's why. I always preferred exploring in the first game or BBS. Kingdom Hearts II is still a little clunky, it has some pacing issues (most of the time your reward for beating Disney Worlds is more Disney Worlds with little to no plot progression for literal HOURS) and I'm really not a fan of the more linear level designs. Halloweentown is basically just a hallway. There's no real incentive to explore anything and chests are laughably easy to obtain. I'm a platforming whore though and this is definitely more of a combat focused game so I get it. KH2 is also the first in the series for me which feels more like an interactive movie. Its always so infuriating when you watch a long cutscene only to be given control back so you can literally walk into the next room and watch more cutscenes and Atlantica might be the worst thing in the franchise here. All the shitty negatives out of the way, the story is absolutely 10/10 fantastic. Even with the retcons, I love the mystery playing out here, you will never hear me complain about Organization 13 taking center stage because they're all wonderful characters. Roxas' and Namines' plight really hit me in the feels in this game as well (also both are excellent characters too never understood the hate for them). The Battle Of 1,000 Heartless, really the entire Radiant Garden mid game sequence is legit top 5 Kingdom Hearts anything ever. The combat is stellar and the Twilight Town prologue is another all time favorite series contender. There's a fuck ton to love, a fuck ton to do and even with the complaints, this is still an excellent game. This playthrough has definitely been elevated by all the new shit I decided to finally explore but I can't in good conscience give this game anything lower than an 8.5/10 (for reference it usually sat at about a 7 for me prior to really digging into it.) I also beat BBS but that's a wall of doom for another time.
Update #1 because I forgot to write this a while ago but beat Kingdom Hearts II again. It's crazy because I've been playing this game since it released back in 2005. I remember my mom taking me to pick up a copy. I've played and beaten it at least a dozen time (ironically as fuck I think this was playthrough #13). I experienced it in a brand new way this run through and that's insane to me. It's crazy that a game I've been playing for 15+ years has so much extras that I never bothered with. I'm actually one trophy short of the platinum (beat the game on critical which I'll come back to after beating the rest of the series, didn't want to taint this playthrough with another immediate run of the campaign). So, I have literally never fucked with Drive Forms. Did so for the first time and maxed them all out and holy shit what have I been missing? First off, they're straight up fun as fuck but second I got to experience The Cavern Of Remembrance for the first time which is not just the best thing in this game, but one of my favorite areas across the entire series. It is just the right amount of challenge and fun...until you get to the Data Organization battles ) Luxord and Demyx were the bane of my fucking existence but I cannot describe the dopamine rush I got every time I curb stomped a member. The Mushroom 13 were, again, something I didn't know existed until this most recent series run through but they were an extremely fun challenge that utilized the lesser used drive forms (Wisdom especially) and gave them necessity. The one at Yen Sid's tower can suck every cock in the organization, Larxene's included though. That was my last one for the trophy and I was juggling that broken bitch for about 3 sessions of 2 hour play throughs a piece before I finally got it. As previously stated, I've always hated the Gummi Ship (its at it's best and most tolerable in KH3 Imo) but even that wasn't too bad here and cleaning up the trophies for it was actually kind of fun, especially when you watch some guides to build one that can cheese almost everything. That final boss on The World That Never Was route was still a fucking nightmare though. Finally, as far as new stuff HOLY FUCK LINGERING WILL! I had no idea this existed either. This was a phenomenally fun fight and as shitty as it can be, it's (almost) a fair fight and I had a blast playing it...until I lost for 4 hours straight against him, said "fuck this" and used the negative combo+berserk charge cheese to stunlock him lol it makes him so pathetic but if the game is gonna have that big an exploit and have me lose for hours on end, I'm going to use what I got. That's pretty much all the new stuff which is so much of the game I can't believe I've never done it before, but KH2 was never (and still isn't) my favorite of the series so maybe that's why. I always preferred exploring in the first game or BBS. Kingdom Hearts II is still a little clunky, it has some pacing issues (most of the time your reward for beating Disney Worlds is more Disney Worlds with little to no plot progression for literal HOURS) and I'm really not a fan of the more linear level designs. Halloweentown is basically just a hallway. There's no real incentive to explore anything and chests are laughably easy to obtain. I'm a platforming whore though and this is definitely more of a combat focused game so I get it. KH2 is also the first in the series for me which feels more like an interactive movie. Its always so infuriating when you watch a long cutscene only to be given control back so you can literally walk into the next room and watch more cutscenes and Atlantica might be the worst thing in the franchise here. All the shitty negatives out of the way, the story is absolutely 10/10 fantastic. Even with the retcons, I love the mystery playing out here, you will never hear me complain about Organization 13 taking center stage because they're all wonderful characters. Roxas' and Namines' plight really hit me in the feels in this game as well (also both are excellent characters too never understood the hate for them). The Battle Of 1,000 Heartless, really the entire Radiant Garden mid game sequence is legit top 5 Kingdom Hearts anything ever. The combat is stellar and the Twilight Town prologue is another all time favorite series contender. There's a fuck ton to love, a fuck ton to do and even with the complaints, this is still an excellent game. This playthrough has definitely been elevated by all the new shit I decided to finally explore but I can't in good conscience give this game anything lower than an 8.5/10 (for reference it usually sat at about a 7 for me prior to really digging into it.) I also beat BBS but that's a wall of doom for another time.
Mushroom XIII and Lingering Will were new for the rereleases and werent in the original game
Finished Super Mario Galaxy 2. Odyssey is still the best 3D Mario to me and one of my top 3 of all time period, but I see why this was held in such high regard. It’s hard to say whether 1 or 2 is better, both are fantastic and 2 is honestly jus more of the same, a true expansion thru and thru. It didn’t really add any new mechanics or anything other than using Yoshi in certain levels, so it really jus comes down to which set of levels is your favorite. It’s prolly the most consistently difficult 3D Mario tho without question. It didn’t have as many “Holy fuck this is impossible.” levels as 1, but it was more consistently sweaty throughout the whole playthrough. A lot of the endgame levels straight up gave me diabeetus. But nothing too rage inducing like Crash. Definitely not as relaxing as Mario usually is tho. 100 percented it in the sense that I got 120/120 stars, but skipped the additional 120 since they’re jus replays of the exact same levels and playing hide and go seek wit the hidden extra stars. Did the same on Galaxy 1, didn’t feel like I was missing anything other than doubling the length of the game.
Update #2 finished Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Since I first played it last year this game jumped to my #2 favorite game of the series. I think it gets wayyyyy to much shit from the KH community. I get that the big gripe is you have to play the game 3 times to see everything it has to offer but I loved that. Outside of the intro (which you can skip a chunk of after you see it the first time), the big Unversed battle in Radiant Garden and the ending showdown at the Keyblade Graveyard, you’re never doing the same things twice. The Disney Worlds have never felt as consequential as they do here considering most of your visits are to worlds containing a Princess Of Heart and it’s nice that each world is basically divided into three unique sections per each character visit. You rarely tread on the same ground and the only thing that comes to mind off the top of my head is having to fight the magic mirror as both Terra and Aqua. I love that the first half of the game basically has all the characters intersecting while trying to find each other and the second half each one has a personal journey. The showdown at the Graveyard is also like peak KH and everything is super intense and matched up well (aside from Aqua V Braig that was definitely a mis match “well she needs a fight” while Xehanort V Terra and Ventus V Vanitas is happening lol). I never get sick of that sequence where it all just goes to shit for them.
I also really enjoy the combat. Deck commands are a unique way to integrate combat into the game and I enjoyed finding different synth materials to meld them into unique attacks, I got some dope shit this play through. I also like that you can’t just mash buttons to win fights, you have to be patient and think strategically or you’re gonna die every time, hell there’s even a couple of fights where you HAVE to play defensively (aforementioned Braig fight(s) especially as Terra). I enjoy the fuck out of the lore this game offers too, knowing there’s actually an entire legion of keyblade weilders that previously went to war? Yes. Walking into a graveyard and seeing literally hundreds of keys littering the ground? Fuck yes. Give me more of that shit every time.
I guess the biggest thing people complain about are the characters but…I kinda love all of them. Terra isn’t dumb, I will die on this hill. How the fuck is he supposed to know Master Xehanort is evil? We know that thanks to dramatic irony but in this world they’re bought up to revere Keyblade Masters so why would he suspect Xehanort right away?
Ven is a precious stupid little baby and I love him for it, knowing what he’s destined for is super depressing, spear headed by the fact that the second half of his journey sees him “just wanting to make friends.”
Aqua is best girl hands down. Willa Hollands delivery is hilariously bad at points but I think for the most part she does a good job with Aqua and the tragedy that all three of these characters go through that wouldn’t get rectified for 11 years game time and like 9 years irl time is masterful writing. Also for every case of bad voice acting people want to point to for this game, Mark Hamill and Leonard Nemoy are absolutely killing it.
Anytime you interacted with a human member of the organization or the destiny islands trio, I lost my shit they’re integrated into the story perfectly. Needless to say, I enjoy the absolute fuck out of this game. I went in already having played this game twice and I still loved seeing everyone’s stories come together and the depressing ass resolutions to those stories. 8/10. BBS is by no means the best in the series and I get how putting it as my #2 is a pretty hot take but I love this game. Now to move on to arguably the worst KH game….Coded. Ugh.
Update #2 finished Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Since I first played it last year this game jumped to my #2 favorite game of the series. I think it gets wayyyyy to much shit from the KH community. I get that the big gripe is you have to play the game 3 times to see everything it has to offer but I loved that. Outside of the intro (which you can skip a chunk of after you see it the first time), the big Unversed battle in Radiant Garden and the ending showdown at the Keyblade Graveyard, you’re never doing the same things twice. The Disney Worlds have never felt as consequential as they do here considering most of your visits are to worlds containing a Princess Of Heart and it’s nice that each world is basically divided into three unique sections per each character visit. You rarely tread on the same ground and the only thing that comes to mind off the top of my head is having to fight the magic mirror as both Terra and Aqua. I love that the first half of the game basically has all the characters intersecting while trying to find each other and the second half each one has a personal journey. The showdown at the Graveyard is also like peak KH and everything is super intense and matched up well (aside from Aqua V Braig that was definitely a mis match “well she needs a fight” while Xehanort V Terra and Ventus V Vanitas is happening lol). I never get sick of that sequence where it all just goes to shit for them.
I also really enjoy the combat. Deck commands are a unique way to integrate combat into the game and I enjoyed finding different synth materials to meld them into unique attacks, I got some dope shit this play through. I also like that you can’t just mash buttons to win fights, you have to be patient and think strategically or you’re gonna die every time, hell there’s even a couple of fights where you HAVE to play defensively (aforementioned Braig fight(s) especially as Terra). I enjoy the fuck out of the lore this game offers too, knowing there’s actually an entire legion of keyblade weilders that previously went to war? Yes. Walking into a graveyard and seeing literally hundreds of keys littering the ground? Fuck yes. Give me more of that shit every time.
I guess the biggest thing people complain about are the characters but…I kinda love all of them. Terra isn’t dumb, I will die on this hill. How the fuck is he supposed to know Master Xehanort is evil? We know that thanks to dramatic irony but in this world they’re bought up to revere Keyblade Masters so why would he suspect Xehanort right away?
Ven is a precious stupid little baby and I love him for it, knowing what he’s destined for is super depressing, spear headed by the fact that the second half of his journey sees him “just wanting to make friends.”
Aqua is best girl hands down. Willa Hollands delivery is hilariously bad at points but I think for the most part she does a good job with Aqua and the tragedy that all three of these characters go through that wouldn’t get rectified for 11 years game time and like 9 years irl time is masterful writing. Also for every case of bad voice acting people want to point to for this game, Mark Hamill and Leonard Nemoy are absolutely killing it.
Anytime you interacted with a human member of the organization or the destiny islands trio, I lost my shit they’re integrated into the story perfectly. Needless to say, I enjoy the absolute fuck out of this game. I went in already having played this game twice and I still loved seeing everyone’s stories come together and the depressing ass resolutions to those stories. 8/10. BBS is by no means the best in the series and I get how putting it as my #2 is a pretty hot take but I love this game. Now to move on to arguably the worst KH game….Coded. Ugh.
I recently bought Coded. Never played it, but watched the movie. Only KH I didnt play aside from the phone games. I should play ot soon
>Stand is now an additional cost when it used to come wit the console. >Digital is now $50 more. Reasoning was that it comes wit higher stock storage (1TB now.) but to my understanding, both new models now lack the additional NVME slot, meaning you can’t upgrade using your own SSD anymore, so it’s actually a downgrade.
And that’s not to mention that the disk model isn’t even smaller in all reality. It’s more narrow at the top, but the bottom is still the same width, which is the part that’s actually mounted and next to other real estate.
It’s an okay option I guess if you don’t have a PS5 yet, but even then I would prolly look for an OG model instead if the new ones truly don’t have the extra SSD slot.
I only did it to do something different. I did Demons Souls and Dark Souls with STR builds and great swords, Dark Souls 2 with a DEX build and katanas, Dark Souls 3 with pyromancy, and Bloodborne with a mix STR/DEX. So I wanted to try sorceries/incantations. Easy mode as fuck
I did about 20/30 hours with a STR build, but respecced into INT/FTH to try a magic focus. Mist spells are just cheap as hell
Comments
The Mushroom 13 were, again, something I didn't know existed until this most recent series run through but they were an extremely fun challenge that utilized the lesser used drive forms (Wisdom especially) and gave them necessity. The one at Yen Sid's tower can suck every cock in the organization, Larxene's included though. That was my last one for the trophy and I was juggling that broken bitch for about 3 sessions of 2 hour play throughs a piece before I finally got it.
As previously stated, I've always hated the Gummi Ship (its at it's best and most tolerable in KH3 Imo) but even that wasn't too bad here and cleaning up the trophies for it was actually kind of fun, especially when you watch some guides to build one that can cheese almost everything. That final boss on The World That Never Was route was still a fucking nightmare though. Finally, as far as new stuff HOLY FUCK LINGERING WILL! I had no idea this existed either. This was a phenomenally fun fight and as shitty as it can be, it's (almost) a fair fight and I had a blast playing it...until I lost for 4 hours straight against him, said "fuck this" and used the negative combo+berserk charge cheese to stunlock him lol it makes him so pathetic but if the game is gonna have that big an exploit and have me lose for hours on end, I'm going to use what I got.
That's pretty much all the new stuff which is so much of the game I can't believe I've never done it before, but KH2 was never (and still isn't) my favorite of the series so maybe that's why. I always preferred exploring in the first game or BBS. Kingdom Hearts II is still a little clunky, it has some pacing issues (most of the time your reward for beating Disney Worlds is more Disney Worlds with little to no plot progression for literal HOURS) and I'm really not a fan of the more linear level designs. Halloweentown is basically just a hallway. There's no real incentive to explore anything and chests are laughably easy to obtain. I'm a platforming whore though and this is definitely more of a combat focused game so I get it. KH2 is also the first in the series for me which feels more like an interactive movie. Its always so infuriating when you watch a long cutscene only to be given control back so you can literally walk into the next room and watch more cutscenes and Atlantica might be the worst thing in the franchise here.
All the shitty negatives out of the way, the story is absolutely 10/10 fantastic. Even with the retcons, I love the mystery playing out here, you will never hear me complain about Organization 13 taking center stage because they're all wonderful characters. Roxas' and Namines' plight really hit me in the feels in this game as well (also both are excellent characters too never understood the hate for them). The Battle Of 1,000 Heartless, really the entire Radiant Garden mid game sequence is legit top 5 Kingdom Hearts anything ever. The combat is stellar and the Twilight Town prologue is another all time favorite series contender. There's a fuck ton to love, a fuck ton to do and even with the complaints, this is still an excellent game. This playthrough has definitely been elevated by all the new shit I decided to finally explore but I can't in good conscience give this game anything lower than an 8.5/10 (for reference it usually sat at about a 7 for me prior to really digging into it.) I also beat BBS but that's a wall of doom for another time.
The Disney Worlds have never felt as consequential as they do here considering most of your visits are to worlds containing a Princess Of Heart and it’s nice that each world is basically divided into three unique sections per each character visit. You rarely tread on the same ground and the only thing that comes to mind off the top of my head is having to fight the magic mirror as both Terra and Aqua. I love that the first half of the game basically has all the characters intersecting while trying to find each other and the second half each one has a personal journey.
The showdown at the Graveyard is also like peak KH and everything is super intense and matched up well (aside from Aqua V Braig that was definitely a mis match “well she needs a fight” while Xehanort V Terra and Ventus V Vanitas is happening lol). I never get sick of that sequence where it all just goes to shit for them.
>Digital is now $50 more. Reasoning was that it comes wit higher stock storage (1TB now.) but to my understanding, both new models now lack the additional NVME slot, meaning you can’t upgrade using your own SSD anymore, so it’s actually a downgrade.
And that’s not to mention that the disk model isn’t even smaller in all reality. It’s more narrow at the top, but the bottom is still the same width, which is the part that’s actually mounted and next to other real estate.
It made it tolerable for me lol.
I want to play that game again, but it was such a grind that idk if i can.
I did about 20/30 hours with a STR build, but respecced into INT/FTH to try a magic focus. Mist spells are just cheap as hell