Liberal Arts Major
But, I don't think I want to finish the game right now, and I assume that going through the keyhole is the start of endgame
Not the Point of No Return at all.
IIRC, the Point of No Return is made pretty obvious.
</spoiler>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
IIRC, the Point of No Return is made pretty obvious.
Oh.
Darn.
Well, uh... Can you blame me for being fooled? It looked so very endgamey. <_<
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
...For some reason I wasn't considering Goofy or Donald since they're always with you, but yeah, <3 Goofy.
Are you implying that any enemy in KH1 was threatening? Because I can only name one, and as I pointed out, I was reluctantly calling that the best boss in the game. And since they're all pretty much equally non-threatening, it comes down to atmosphere and Darkside wins this by so much it isn't even fair. The Disney bosses are kind of laughable, and that doesn't leave many left around to decide between.
Well, some of the Heartless bosses can LOOK threatening. They all suck, sure, but I just lol at how Darkside looks. At least, say, Guard Armor is a bit intimidating to look at.
No, I meant I'm the only one who could read it because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who has played 358/2 Days here so I'd just be talking to myself. Admittedly, it's still guessable because there's enough clues and such around it, but trust me, 358/2 Days turns it up to another level.
...Unless you're telling me you don't care that it's 358/2 Days.
Whoops, thought you meant something from KH2. >_>
It's hard to believe someone could put in the absurdly conscious effort to be worse than Riku that it would take for this to be possible. But I've yet to play Re: CoM so I couldn't say for sure.
And no, KH2 did not help Riku.
It did IMO. And yeah, Vexen is... uh... Well, let's just say, OPERA LAUGH. >_>
7 deaths - Riku (Destiny Islands)
~5 deaths - Wakka, Selphie, Tidus (Destiny Islands)
3 deaths - Leon & Yuffie
2 or 3 deaths - Maleficent Dragon
1 death - Cerberus
1 death - Parasite Cage v.2
1 death - Genie Jafar
1 death - Last round of Phil Cup
1 death - 3 Large Bodies in Traverse Town (...yep)
...Good gosh you SUCK at this game. ._.
Oh, but I get the Oathkeeper Keyblade, so yay for that. Another Keyblade I'll never use.
Oathkeeper is awesome. But yeah, it always gets shafted because Oblivion comes right after.
There's also a very cute scene of all the puppies gathering around Sora looking thankful.
I love that. =3
Not the Point of No Return at all.
IIRC, the Point of No Return is made pretty obvious.
The game outright says 'hey I don't think you can go back after this' at the point of no return, it's impossible to miss it unless you play the scene with your eyes closed.
Oh.
Darn.
Well, uh... Can you blame me for being fooled? It looked so very endgamey. <_<
Yes I can blame you. The REAL point of no return is far more apparent!
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Really? That's fewer deaths than I have in most games. <_<
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
At least, say, Guard Armor is a bit intimidating to look at.
...
...
...Okay, I'm fairly sure you're not being serious now. >_>
The Heartless Bosses all look like jokes, I couldn't take them seriously if I wanted too, and Guard Armor is one of the worst in that category. I can at least take Darkside semi-seriously because I don't mind his design.
Whoops, thought you meant something from KH2. >_>
I think you could figure it out from KH2, but it's just not the same as watching it actually happen.
</spoiler>
[Spoiler for Kingdom Hearts II, Including Kingdom Hearts II Endgame (Not related to the above.), click to show]
It did IMO.
Turning into Ansem (SoD) appearance-wise is just lolz. And I didn't need Riku trying his hardest to ruin things with Sora. That reunion scene was just oh god why. And then he has to stop me from having Sora just solo the endgame.
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Kingdom Hearts, click to show]Darkside looks more silly than Guard Armor IMO. Maybe I just have a thing for big things wearing armor. I think the problem with Darkside is his skinny legs and the way he peeks at Sora when bending over. Like 'oh are you under there, please stop hitting my fists it's mean'.
But what other Heartless bosses were there? We had Trickmaster, who has to be some sort of a joke, Stealth Sneak, which is a giant lizard, Behemoth, which has the most beady eyes ever, Pot Centipede, which is a bunch of pots with legs, and... MAYBE Shadow Sora? If he counts, he's way above anyone else. >_> As it is, Guard Armor just has no competition besides him and Darkside, and Darkside looks far more silly due to his legs. ...I coulda sworn there were more Heartless bosses, am I just out of my mind or something.
</spoiler>
[Spoiler for Kingdom Hearts II, click to show]It actually made for a plot twist that I found fairly interesting. 'Oh that's not Ansem' really threw me for a loop. I don't know if the justification for it is that great, but I liked the twist in itself.
The reunion scene? He tried to leave it! If anyone ingame, I'd blame Sora for that one. He's the one who grabbed his hand and started CRYING. I don't care how much you hate Riku, either point at Sora or point at the writers for wanting to support yaoi fangirls. I do the latter myself.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
BOSS FIGHT:
BEHEMOTH
Seriously? All that buildup for this ****ty anticlimax boss. What the hell happened to Ansem? This doesn't even make sense. Oh, and I got the Omega Arts item off its corpse, for whatever reason. Unlike the other Arts items, this one is a piece of equipment.
Anyway, back in the castle, Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie have showed up. They congratulate Sora on whatever he just did and blah blah blah the worlds will be restored but separated again so they'll never see each other again. And gummi ships won't work because of the barriers between worlds, so apparently gummi technology exists even though it was presumably fairly recently that the Heartless broke those barriers, but whatever, don't question it. Sora seals the keyhole and we learn that Ansem is off in... somewhere else, who knows. The princesses are sticking around in Hollow Bastion to prevent it from being destroyed, and they upgrade Fira to Firaga. Oh, somewhere around here I also learned that Hollow Bastion is the Final Fantasy world. So yeah.
Okay, back in the library, Aerith gives me the rest of Ansem's Report, saying Maleficent must have collected it. Well, it's supposed to be the rest, but I'm still missing #8, so lol. Also in the library is Belle, who happily reunites with Beast and gives me the Divine Rose Keyblade.
So, the Hades Cup is now available at the Coliseum. This is 49 matches, though every ten matches counts as, like, a save point, and you can restart from there if you lose. There is nothing notable about the first 28 matches or so. Refight a couple bosses, like Cerberus, have Thundara and Blizzara upgraded to Thundaga and Blizzaga, get the Genji Shield for Goofy, etc. Match 20, though...
BOSS FIGHT:
CLOUD & LEON
First time I lost in the Hades Cup was here. Mainly because I was a ****ing idiot and forgot that Aero exists. Derrrrrp. With Aero, the battle is a... breeze. My reward was the Lionheart Keyblade.
Then, there's another new fight at match 10:
BOSS FIGHT:
HADES
This is actually a really cool boss fight. He has two forms that he can alternate between, blue and red. As far as I can tell, the only real difference is that red form is a lot nastier. He also likes to use a spinning flame attack - all you have to do to dodge it is run in a circle close to Hades, but your teammates can't really cope with that, so they just get hit over and over. I died here once because I didn't expect that flame attack to be capable of 3HKing me and I hadn't yet figured out how to dodge it (or rather, I assumed it had a range of less than the entire battlefield). So yeah. Overall, though, a pretty fun fight.
And after the battle, Sora frickin' *****slaps Hades into the Coliseum lobby or something, and he gets beaten up by random people. "lol" As a reward, I got Ansem's Report 8.
Once again, nothing worth noting until the final match:
BOSS FIGHT:
ROCK TITAN
...Though it's a stretch to say this guy is "worth noting", because all you do is hit him until he dies. I finished this fight with full HP, full MP, and full... orange bar that restores MP, whatever you want to call that. Yeah, he was that easy.
My reward for beating the Hades Cup is the Trinity Limit ability which I will probably never use and the ability to take on Ice Titan in the Gold Match. There's also a cutscene of Donald using Blizzard to put out Hades' fire-hair, lolz. As for Ice Titan... yeah, sure, let's give it a shot.
BONUS BOSS:
ICE TITAN
This is the worst boss in the world. I mean, it's a cool concept, but Christ, the camera is so awful. The Kingdom Hearts guys really should have considered outsourcing their camera programming to Sonic Team. It would be a step up. One would think that if A) there's a giant ****ing boss in the center of the area and B) the boss will always be in the center of the area and C) the player is locked onto that boss and D) defeating the boss requires reflecting its projectiles back at it and E) there is absolutely no reason, ever, to not be looking at the boss, the camera would be programmed in such a way that it doesn't spend 75% of the fight focusing on the wall behind you. But apparently not. Making video games is hard!
--
But what other Heartless bosses were there? We had Trickmaster, who has to be some sort of a joke, Stealth Sneak, which is a giant lizard, Behemoth, which has the most beady eyes ever, Pot Centipede, which is a bunch of pots with legs, and... MAYBE Shadow Sora? If he counts, he's way above anyone else. >_> As it is, Guard Armor just has no competition besides him and Darkside, and Darkside looks far more silly due to his legs. ...I coulda sworn there were more Heartless bosses, am I just out of my mind or something.
There's Trickster. That thing looks silly, but it's a sort of threatening-silly. Unlike Stealth Sneak/Behemoth/Pot Centipede, which are just silly-silly.
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
</spoiler>
[Spoiler for Kingdom Hearts II, click to show]
It actually made for a plot twist that I found fairly interesting. 'Oh that's not Ansem' really threw me for a loop
...
Ansem SoD wasn't Ansem either! I just didn't feel like saying "Xenahort's Heartless." And that didn't really throw me or anything, I was just like, "Oh, okay, that was a kind of pointless development" and that was before I started thinking about it too hard, which made things much, much worse.
The reunion scene? He tried to leave it! If anyone ingame, I'd blame Sora for that one. He's the one who grabbed his hand and started CRYING.
As I explained at the time, this was incompatible with my Alternate Character Interpretation of Sora, as far as I'm concerned the scene never happened. I still blame Riku, because there was no point in having him around! There was also no reason to bail Riku out of his transformation either, that was also lolz. I mean, Riku is terrible either way, but there's no need to just bail him out there.
Sora should have just chewed him out for his stupidity and gone, "Yeah, okay, time to leave this job to people who aren't so incompetent we have to give in to DARKNESS and then lose to it, especially when you still get owned by us even with it. Why don't you go stand to the DARKNESS side and whine about DARKNESS how we won't SUBMIT to your DARKNESS request and how if we don't the DARKNESS will consume us and SUBMIT."
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
I still lol at you having to resort to Aero. WUSS. <_<
This is actually a really cool boss fight.
I thought it was hot. *Rimshot*
But yeah, Hades is rather amusing to fight.
BOSS FIGHT:
ROCK TITAN
Hey look easiest boss fight in the game, which says a lot!
BONUS BOSS:
ICE TITAN
I dunno what you're talking about, the camera was fine for me. Easiest of the optional bosses.
There's Trickster.
Who the heck is Trickster? Do you mean Trickmaster, and if so, which name is it really? Am I that out of shape that I can't remember the Wonderland boss' name?
Oh, I forgot to mention Parasite Cage. It looks dumb too!
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Oh, no, it is Trickmaster, my mistake. I just somehow missed that you mentioned it already, probably because I had the wrong name. >_>
But yeah, Trickmaster is totally the most threatening Heartless boss. It's at least kind of menacing.
(There's also Opposite Armor but that so doesn't count.)
--
I dunno what you're talking about, the camera was fine for me. Easiest of the optional bosses.
The problem is that the camera is an actual, physical object (for some reason), and there's a wall right behind where you need to be standing for the boss fight. So the camera's like, "screw THAT" and refuses to cooperate. It's not just me, either, this is mentioned in the Ice Titan FAQ on GameFAQs. >_>
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
And there were no problems with Ice Titan, that battle was a joke.
</spoiler>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Says the guy who brought up Darkside. <_<
And there were no problems with Ice Titan, that battle was a joke.
Can we please get off the damn "lol KH is so easy" wagon for one minute? I'm not even talking about difficulty! I'm talking about the camera being worse than the camera in a 3D Sonic game. It would actually be impressive if it weren't so depressing and obnoxious!
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
Oh, no, it is Trickmaster, my mistake. I just somehow missed that you mentioned it already, probably because I had the wrong name. >_>
But yeah, Trickmaster is totally the most threatening Heartless boss. It's at least kind of menacing.
(There's also Opposite Armor but that so doesn't count.)
Opposite Armor I ignored because it's Guard Armor upside down. And you have got to be trolling me right now. Trickmaster is an accordion the size of normal Sora that juggles sticks on fire that he has to light with a stove. What the heck about that is even close to menacing?
Also, I am a total idiot and forgot the two secret boss Heartless. They blow the others out of the water in threatening appearances, for what it matters in this game.
And... yeah, I don't recall that at all about the camera. Need to replay.
</spoiler>
[Spoiler for Kingdom Hearts II, click to show]The whole 'it was really Xenahort's Heartless' thing was also a twist IMO. I mean, think about it. The first game's plot twist was 'Ansem is evil'. They throw a lot more loops in Kingdom Hearts II and I didn't expect them to actually be doing it. Too low of credit? I mean, it's not poetry or anything, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
Anyhow, I guess I should have specified the two separate twists. 'Ansem is Riku' and 'Ansem is not Ansem'... ...Wow that sounds dumb when I phrase it that way. It went something like 'Okay what is Ansem doing. ...It's not Ansem, it's Xenahort's Heartless. What. Well okay let's adjust to-Wait it's Riku, what the bloody heck are we going on with now?"
And xp, are you implying you'd rather see the Sora/Riku scenes at the end with Riku still as Ansem SoD? Because that's terrifying. (Mind you, I'd prefer they just went back to Sora/Kairi like they SHOULD HAVE, but there you go.)
...And yeah, I appreciate that he's trying to atone and all that. Maybe my playing of 358/2 will throw a wrench in those thoughts.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
Says the guy who brought up Darkside. <_<
It's not my fault this entire conversation got sidetracked, and no one seems to remember that what I actually said was that Darkside was the best storyline boss.
Then this whole threatening-ness thing came up, and then I just went:
"Are you implying that any enemy in KH1 was threatening? Because I can only name one, and as I pointed out, I was reluctantly calling that the best boss in the game. And since they're all pretty much equally non-threatening, it comes down to atmosphere and Darkside wins this by so much it isn't even fair."
So I've maintained from the beginning that Darkside isn't threatening, but then nothing in this game, bar one optional boss, is.
It just so happens that Darkside kills the competition because of the atmosphere, music, and design and so is the best storyline boss.
But then it's like everyone tried to warp my argument into something I specifically said it wasn't and I can't possibly understand why.
---
Can we please get off the damn "lol KH is so easy" wagon for one minute? I'm not even talking about difficulty! I'm talking about the camera being worse than the camera in a 3D Sonic game. It would actually be impressive if it weren't so depressing and obnoxious!
No, because I also can't recall any camera issues. And certainly not anything as bad as the more egregious 3D Sonic examples.
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Yeah, but then it at like post 335 it went back to "which Heartless boss can be taken at least semi-seriously?" and the answer is totally not "Darkside". Like I said, I'm backing Trickmaster. <_<
Although to address the root of the issue, several Disney bosses kill all the Heartless bosses in terms of threateningness. Cerberus, Maleficent (Dragon form)... I'm blanking on others beyond that but I'm sure they exist!
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEe2s3gZrio
Okay, the guy in this video is kinda fighting Ice Titan like a moron, but it still illustrates my point nicely. Notice how it's impossible to dodge the ice stalagmites because the camera is way too ****ing close to Sora, so you can't see where they're about to spawn even though it's telegraphed? (For that matter, notice how Sora takes up like 1/3rd of the screen. In a fight where you need to reflect small projectiles with good timing. Yeah.) Notice how when Sora runs just a little bit to the right or left, the camera hits the wall and slides, preventing you from seeing the boss/its projectiles. Notice how sometimes Sora gets hit and knocked off-screen.
When Sora starts running around at like 3:22, notice how, because the camera is too ****ing close to the ground, you can't see anything because there's so much crap from the Ice Titan in the way.
Go to 5:05. Defend that camera. I dare you.
I mean, it's a little bit better when you're up in the bleachers, but still.
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
The whole 'it was really Xenahort's Heartless' thing was also a twist IMO.
Which is unveiled like the moment you get the first Secret Secret Ansem Report. Or whichever one goes, "And then his heartless started pretending it was me."
Which was pretty early, IIRC.
I mean, think about it. The first game's plot twist was 'Ansem is evil'. They throw a lot more loops in Kingdom Hearts II and I didn't expect them to actually be doing it. Too low of credit? I mean, it's not poetry or anything, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
I actually did like that they tried making a more complex plot (It's a big reason I vastly prefer KH2 to KH1) but that doesn't mean I give passes to it when it seemed just weird. >_>
It went something like 'Okay what is Ansem doing. ...It's not Ansem, it's Xenahort's Heartless. What. Well okay let's adjust to-Wait it's Riku, what the bloody heck are we going on with now?"
But, since it's established with that Report that Ansem SoD is Xenahort's Heartless, that first adjustment is unnecessary. All you have to do is think of it as "Okay, the KH1 Antagonist" and the only jump from there is that it's really Riku. That it's Xenahort's Heartless honestly didn't change anything for me, because it's not like Ansem SoD was in anyway dependent on being Ansem, to learn he just took a name didn't change his character. Now, if somehow Ansem SoD was actually DiZ's Heartless, and Xemnas was DiZ's Nobody... things may have been radically different because now you'd have a case of the "original" trying to fight against aspects of himself or something. But just hearing that Xenahort changed his name to Ansem to troll DiZ or whatever didn't do much for me.
And xp, are you implying you'd rather see the Sora/Riku scenes at the end with Riku still as Ansem SoD?
No, but that doesn't mean I think Riku should have gotten bailed out of his mistakes like that. I mean, at least looking like Ansem SoD could be considered a consequence for all his stupidity regarding his obsession with darkness in KH1, but then he gets bailed out in KH2 by getting his old form back. I also don't think Sora should have been so quick to just forgive him for everything, and I think if Riku was stuck at Ansem SoD there may have been a better chance of that because it'd be too easy to have things go in that direction.
Because that's terrifying.
Yes, it is.
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Liberal Arts Major
Yeah, but then it at like post 335 it went back to "which Heartless boss can be taken at least semi-seriously?" and the answer is totally not "Darkside". Like I said, I'm backing Trickmaster.
And by "semi-seriously" I still say Darkside. Because all the others still look like jokes, whereas atmosphere is enough to get me to almost be serious with Darkside. They're still not threatening.
Although to address the root of the issue, several Disney bosses kill all the Heartless bosses in terms of threateningness. Cerberus, Maleficent (Dragon form)... I'm blanking on others beyond that but I'm sure they exist!
No, because back in the beginning I said all the Disney bosses were jokes too, again, I had went over this a long time ago. >_>
Notice how it's impossible to dodge the ice stalagmites because the camera is way too ****ing close to Sora, so you can't see where they're about to spawn even though it's telegraphed?
You should not be that close to Ice Titan. You should try to maximize distance at all times. After you're done attacking him after he's stunned, you concentrate on fleeing as far away as you can to reset for the next cycle of deflections. I can't have much sympathy if you hang out that close to Ice Titan and get hit, because obviously the odds of getting hit go up the closer you are.
(For that matter, notice how Sora takes up like 1/3rd of the screen. In a fight where you need to reflect small projectiles with good timing. Yeah.)
That's considered a "good timing" fight? It's quite forgiving, IIRC. That said, the closer to Ice Titan you choose to stand, the better your timing needs to be - another reason why you should be getting as far from him as you can.
Notice how when Sora runs just a little bit to the right or left, the camera hits the wall and slides, preventing you from seeing the boss/its projectiles. Notice how sometimes Sora gets hit and knocked off-screen.
Notice how those are occurring in places you probably should not be in when you're fighting Ice Titan.
When Sora starts running around at like 3:22, notice how, because the camera is too ****ing close to the ground, you can't see anything because there's so much crap from the Ice Titan in the way.
Trying to dodge Ice Titan's attack by running under Ice Titan is not exactly a tactic I can support. It's also probably the issue in this case.
Go to 5:05. Defend that camera. I dare you.
You can rotate the camera, and besides, again, you need to get away from Ice Titan as fast as possible. You glide away from him, not run under him.
Honestly, there's a skill you'll get later that I'd rather have first before fighting Ice Titan for the purposes of getting away from him faster, but still.
I mean, it's a little bit better when you're up in the bleachers, but still.
Hey, it's almost like the bleachers are far away from Ice Titan.
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
I know, but I wasn't involved in the discussion then, so I'm taking the opportunity now to say "no u". <_<
You should not be that close to Ice Titan. You should try to maximize distance at all times. After you're done attacking him after he's stunned, you concentrate on fleeing as far away as you can to reset for the next cycle of deflections. I can't have much sympathy if you hang out that close to Ice Titan and get hit, because obviously the odds of getting hit go up the closer you are.
I did say the guy in the video was fighting him in a dumb manner!
That's considered a "good timing" fight? It's quite forgiving, IIRC. That said, the closer to Ice Titan you choose to stand, the better your timing needs to be - another reason why you should be getting as far from him as you can.
Ehhh the timing can be pretty tricky sometimes. Not to deflect the icicles in general, but to deflect multiple waves at once without getting hit? Sure.
Notice how those are occurring in places you probably should not be in when you're fighting Ice Titan.
Trying to dodge Ice Titan's attack by running under Ice Titan is not exactly a tactic I can support. It's also probably the issue in this case.
Yeah, again, the guy playing the game is not very good. The camera is still indefensible.
You can rotate the camera, and besides, again, you need to get away from Ice Titan as fast as possible. You glide away from him, not run under him.
You can't rotate the camera while locked onto an enemy. Or if you can, I really, really need to find out how.
Honestly, there's a skill you'll get later that I'd rather have first before fighting Ice Titan for the purposes of getting away from him faster, but still.
Honestly, based on the two YouTube videos I've watched, I just need to level up until I learn MP Rage. It apparently makes the fight a complete joke, terrible camera or no terrible camera. <_<
Hey, it's almost like the bleachers are far away from Ice Titan.
But going there presents its own set of problems, namely: the camera is much more likely to do whatever it can to not let you see the boss if you're moving (like, moving at all) and the ice stalagmites are damn near impossible to dodge because, when you can see the ground at all, you still can't see anything to your right or left, so you either have to guess and hope or try to dodge in a small circle, which is tricky.
Not that you shouldn't go there immediately and stay there the whole fight (except maybe to attack him when he's stunned), but still.
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
</spoiler>
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Advanced
please ban this user
---
"A man chooses. A slave obeys." -Andrew Ryan, Bioshock
Advanced
ICE TITAN
I remember when I was fighting him I didn't remember how to bounce projectiles back at all so I took off an entire health bar or two of his by just hitting him in the fact for piddly damage.
Then he changed patterns and I quickly had to remember how to deflect shit.
---
"A man chooses. A slave obeys." -Andrew Ryan, Bioshock
Liberal Arts Major
I don't think this is a likely outcome from that.
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
In the Hollow Bastion part of End of the World, there's a big computer thing you can examine to receive a long, boring, cryptic message, presumably from Ansem. It's really not even worth reading. It's just a big string of "The darkness of the inner darkness will open the door to light. The door to light is locked by a heart that requires a key of the heart to unlock the keyhole of darkness." Blah blah blah. The only thing of note in the entire message was that "Kingdom Hearts" got name dropped for IIRC the first time.
At the end of the World Terminus, there's a big stream of fire. Jumping into that takes us to a vortex of darkness swirling around a... volcano or something. And inside the volcano is a huge figure. Wait. Is that. Could it be...
BOSS FIGHT:
CHERNABOG
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
...Unfortunately, he's the easiest boss in the world. I mean he's just so goddamn easy. You just fly (yeah, you're flying for this fight) behind him and attack his neck over and over and he can't do anything to you. It's so pathetic. I mean, this boss is basically the same concept as Ursula 2, but she can actually hurt you. They really should have switched the difficulty of the two fights... or included Chernabog only as a bonus boss or something. Anything to do him justice.
For beating Chernabog, we learn the Superglide ability. At some point during all this, I also leveled up enough to learn MP Rage, which is... hugely unfair, but whatever, that's never stopped me before!
The next few rooms involve jumping into portals of light. Eventually I'm brought to a room with a heart shaped door. Pieces of the door break and fall away as I kill the waves of Heartless that keep spawning in. Eventually the entire door is open, so I head through and end up in the Final Rest. There's a save point here, and examining the door triggers a voice telling Sora that this is his last chance to bail before endgame. So I bail. lol. <_<
Also, it's worth mentioning that I fought like... three Behemoths during that whole sequence. Fastest degraded boss ever? I think so!
</spoiler>
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
And Superglide is what I was talking about before during Ice Titan.
</spoiler>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
He talks with Ansem's voice about how the island was a prison, Riku sought to escape from his prison, thus opened his heart to darkness. Then he transforms back into Ansem (I guess it's a transformation? I dunno, you get the idea). Blah blah blah, all hearts contain darkness, so they all return to darkness, god this guy is such a horrible character. I can totally see how CATS led him for so long. But whatever. Sora says that Ansem is wrong, that all hearts contain a light that never goes out. Blah blah blah. Ansem does the generic villain rise into the sky thing that every JRPG final boss when it's battle time. Also, a critter appears behind him. Looks sorta like Garland circa Dissidia. God, what I wouldn't give for the final boss to be Chaos possessing Gaston or something. That would be such a step up. ("Nooooo onnnnne... Spars like Gaston! Leaves a scar like Gaston! No one's HP bar goes as incredibly far as Gaston!")
BOSS FIGHT:
ANSEM
...what a joke. He just can't damage you at all. If he did like... 2.5x damage with every attack, he might actually be a threat. Maybe.
So Ansem flies off and tears Destiny Islands apart, revealing the inner DARKNESS. Sora pursues, but Donald and Goofy get blocked by a barrier, leaving Sora to fight solo against... Seriously? This loser again?
BOSS FIGHT:
DARKSIDE
what a waste of time
BOSS FIGHT:
ANSEM
Well, he's just as pathetic this time around, but without Donald and Goofy, he's got even less of an excuse for being such a pushover.
Ansem takes us to a dark void and says that this is Kingdom Hearts, the place from which all worlds are born. He says there isn't even the slightest glimmer of light here. Then he drops us onto a huge battleship... which is near a giant demon. Or something. I really don't know what's going on anymore. Sora starts falling through the darkness, but then he hears Riku telling him not to give up, and so he FLIES AWAY! Then Ansem takes off his shirt for some reason and it's BATTLE TIME.
BOSS FIGHT:
ANSEM
Such a dumb fight. It's really atmospheric and all, but I just flew over there and hit him until he died while he pulled off fancy acrobatics that never hit me and summoned lasers that did hit me but did such negligible damage that I just ignored them.
Sora flies towards the ship and is transported to a weird dark room with a bunch of shadows. I kill them all then kill a weird ball of light. Uh. Okay. That was pointless, but sure, whatever.
Now we're back at Ansem's ship. I attack a bunch of weird doodads on it and then enter a portal of darkness. Back in the dark area, I kill a bunch of Darkballs while Goofy joins me only to get hit repeatedly. Another ball of light gets destroyed, we're put back outside. Destroy the ship's giant demon head, back into the abyss, destroy a bunch of Invisibles, destroy the ball of light, back outside... Can this fight be over yet?
Half his ship explodes and the barrier for the... control room or whatever... goes down, allowing us to ATTACK HIS SHIP DIRECTLY!! The heart symbol on Ansem's chest disappears, so let's kill him.
BOSS FIGHT:
ANSEM
You know, I am really starting to get sick of looking at this guy's stupid face. I cast Aeroga and just don't even bother dodging anything.
So Ansem's ship explodes. Ansem says the Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness. Then he tells Kingdom Hearts to fill him with the power of darkness.
Sora: "You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts... is light!"
And then the HEALING RAYS OF THE SUN blast Ansem. Sora and company go and try to push the door to Kingdom Hearts closed, but they can't do it. Goofy peeks inside and sees a bunch of Heartless, but they still can't get it closed. Then Riku shows up on the other side of the door to help, but they still can't do it. And now a couple Darksides have appeared and are about to attack Riku... but then King Mickey wipes out them out! He has a Keyblade too! He tells the party to close the door now. In the most pointless sacrifice of all time, Riku stays on the other side of the door to shout encouragement to Sora rather than just... take like two steps forward and then not be shut inside. Oh well. They get the door closed and Sora and Mickey double Keyblade seal it. Sora sees Kairi and runs off. The worlds start falling apart or something, but Sora says he'll always be with her, no matter what.
i had been waiting 35 hours for simple and clean
So it cuts to Kairi on Destiny Islands, which is being restored all around her. There's also a reverse meteor shower that shows all the worlds being restored, I guess. Kairi wanders around the island, eventually heading into the Secret Place. She looks at all the carvings, eventually seeing the one of her and Sora, where Sora added himself giving her a paopu fruit. She smiles and sheds a single tear and then adds a carving of her giving Sora one. ...Ehhh, I guess I'll say d'awwww. It seems a little forced, but whatever.
Oh boy, credits. These sure are some entertaining credits. They just keep going and going.
After the credits finally end, there's a scene of Sora, Goofy, and Donald walking down a dirt path. Donald asks what they're supposed to do now. Sora says they need to find Riku and King Mickey.
...So.
The whole game was just filler.
We still haven't accomplished the first thing we set out to do.
augh
Anyway, they don't know where to start, but then Pluto shows up with a letter from King Mickey, so they chase after him. Then there's a message, presumably from King Mickey, that says Sora will be the one to open the door to the light.
I also got the Another Side, Another Story cutscene, but it was completely incomprehensible. Cloud was walking through Midgar one day after stealing Altair's outfit when suddenly Heartless showed up, so he drew his dual Keyblades to fight them off while Yazoo watched from the rooftops. Or something. Don't ask me.
Anyway, now that I have MP Rage and Superglide, I can take this guy on for serious:
BONUS BOSS:
ICE TITAN
Okay, equip: Blizzaga Ring x2, Ribbon x1, Oathkeeper. Make sure MP Rage is on, have Cura and Graviga on shortcuts. Let's do this.
...Man, with MP Rage and the Blizzaga Rings, this guy is such a joke. The camera's still horrible but it doesn't matter because you can just tank absolutely everything and never be in any danger of dying.
</spoiler>
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
The Ansem fight(s) dragged on way too long. The whole part in space or whatever was just 'augh.' And never should have happened.
I also got the Another Side, Another Story cutscene
When I saw that you went after Ansem there I wasn't sure you would.
However, the Deep Dive cutscene is the best thing in the series. By far. Nothing else even comes close.
</spoiler>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Deep Dive is the Final Mix secret cutscene, right?
...I'm going to have to go to YouTube for this, aren't I? <_<
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As is... sort of customary, in that I did it for a couple Sonic games, I now present to you: Kenri ranks every Kingdom Hearts world (the "I'm right and you're not" edition)!
I'm probably going to post this over a couple of days because I love nothing if not needlessly drawing my projects out. >_>
13. Destiny Islands
A simple tutorial area that introduces you to complex mechanics like "pick up the items" and "hit the bad guys". There's nothing really notable about it; it goes on kinda long but I do like the music.
The best part: Fighting Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie
This is a special fight that really gets you good at the game before the real game even begins. Unlike the fight with Riku, it's not based on BS but rather on legitimate strategy, dodging, and multitasking. It's a shame there was never a real Sora alone vs. 3 bosses fight in the main game.
The worst part: Fetchquests
You know what makes me excited for the rest of a game? Fetchquests. Especially with the possibility of MORE fetchquests to come!
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12. Wonderland
Wonderland is the first real level you go to, and it introduces you to recurring themes throughout the game, such as a character from the world becoming your partner, fighting a real boss at the end, and... oh, wait. No, it doesn't do any of that. Well, it has puzzle solving! The rest of the game is filled with puzzles, right? ...Right?
The best part: It ends
Just not nearly fast enough.
The worst part: "I bet if I move this teddy bear to the other chair, it'll cause the level to change, allowing me to progress! ...Somehow!"
I think Sora being able to lock onto random objects and see the "Examine" option pop up must be canon. As in, it must be something that actually happens, in-universe, not just a game mechanic. Because otherwise, how the hell did he figure out ANY of this world's puzzles?
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11. Traverse Town
Traverse Town, the world that can't decide if it wants to be a town/hub or a real level, so it just does both really poorly. You have two big visits here, first in the beginning of the game to meet Donald and Goofy, then again a bit later to seal it. Neither is exciting. At all. It really should have just gone all the way and been a real town. What exactly does it bring to the game by being partly a level? "Here, fight these enemies"? Not like we're not getting enough of that in the other worlds!
The best part: Leon
He hangs out here most of the time and makes the world just a little bit better in the process.
The worst part: Would you Heartless please go away?
I just want to go to the Dalmatian's House without being drawn into a million fights. Goddamn.
</spoiler>
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
That's like an extended version, well that's not entirely accurate, but yeah.
I meant what you saw as well, I basically consider them essentially the same thing... even if they're not.
...I'm not claiming I'm being very rational here.
That said, you should probably see both, well, you already saw one of them, so uh... yeah.
</spoiler>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
And coming in just ahead of Wonderland and Traverse Town is Monstro, which is basically canon filler. What happens in this world? Nothing. There's a lot of dialogue, but none of it is important, at all. And the actual events aren't any better. Pinocchio and Geppetto have some plot happen to them completely independant of Sora and company, and there's not even a keyhole here. Even just slapping on a two second clip of Sora sealing a keyhole in Monstro would have made it so much more satisfying. It doesn't help that the whole world is boring to look at, too. The only reason it's ahead of Wonderland is because it at least makes sense.
The best part: You learn High Jump
And it's like, man, finally.
The worst part: Riku appears. A lot and often.
And you might say Pinocchio is worse, but then, well, you'd be wrong.
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9. End of the World
Endgame. It's okay. The best part is the part where you visit all the other worlds again, which is... telling. And then there's everything after Final Rest, which is just... why am I doing any of this? Who the **** is Ansem and why do I care about beating him? I took down the main villain like an hour and a half ago. Ansem only showed up after that. By all rights the game should have been over at that point.
The best part: Chernabog
It might have been the easiest boss fight ever (and yet, somehow, only the fifth easiest in this game), but still. Chernabog. I think "yessssssssssss" sums it up.
The worst part: Ansem
"Hi, my name's Ansem. I'm going to fight you 36 times in a row and the game's going to act like it's more climactic than the battle with Maleficent."
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8. Atlantica
The game's water level. It... sucks. But it doesn't really suck because it's a water level. I mean, water levels in 3D games are pretty much all terrible, so Kingdom Hearts tried something different. Basically, you move normally as if on land, but you can descend and ascend with Square and Circle. It's not a perfect solution, but they tried. It's at least reliable, unlike normal swimming mechanics. The world's plot is... okay, but it seems like it would have been over in about eight seconds if Triton had been willing to listen to reason. Ah, well.
The best part: Ariel
Hey look, it's a surprisingly competent female character who can fight just as well as the heroes AND isn't evil! In a JRPG based on Disney. Amazing. Not going to see another one of those any time soon, I bet!
The worst part: The goddamn mother****ing dolphin
I ****ing hate this dolphin. Oh my god. Without the goddamn dolphin this world would jump from #8 to like... #6 or #7. It's THAT terrible. If you only had to clear out the entire world of Heartless once, it would be awful... Learning I had to do it again nearly made me ragequit the entire game.
</spoiler>
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic