| Kingdom Hearts Coded| Publisher: | Square Enix | Developer: | Square Enix | | Release Date: | January 1 2010 | Rating: | E (Everyone) | | Platforms: | Nintendo DS | | Genres: | Adventure, Role-Playing Game, Puzzle, Third-Person |
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| 3.65 out of 5 Good game, subpar story? Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded promised a lot. It's the first game in the series to take place after Kingdom Hearts 2. Therefore, it's the first game in the series to maybe, actually, solve some of these mysteries that have been piling up through 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep. With that to draw fans, does it deliver? Or are its promises merely empty illusions?
Sadly, the story doesn't live up to expectations. It's basically a 30+ hour excuse to drop one plot point that could have been handled in a cutscene for the upcoming Dream Drop Distance. The game solves the mysteries it sets forth in its own opening moments, but in relation to the other Kingdom Hearts games? It's sadly disappointing.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, I think it really shines. Re:coded borrows and tweaks the Command system from Birth By Sleep, and it really streamlines the combat. Where Days tried to capture the feel of Kingdom Hearts 2 on the DS, I feel that the command system suits the system's limitations more. Level-wise, my favorite parts of the game were the system sectors. As a fanfiction writer, I couldn't help but think, though, that Rockman.exe would have far better luck with this whole system-debugging thing than Sora. The non-digital Sora, in the second game, showed that he was barely able to use computers (or the computer in Hollow Bastion was just freaking complicated, who knows?) Why would a digital copy of him have better luck? However, even the system areas got old after the seventieth floor of the Avatar Area. Seriously, how many other unlucky souls managed to get that trophy... in one go?
Mechanics-wise, incorporating Birth By Sleep's command system was a wise move, as mentioned before. The whole memory bit was a bit unnecessary, though - even with eight command slots unlocked I was wandering around more often than not with only five or six commands due to memory usage. I sort of wish that once you got a slot it was yours to keep, like Birth By Sleep. Otherwise, it was fantastic! The command system is one thing I'm hoping the series retains in the future.
My absolute favorite part of the whole deal, however, was the cheats. The notes that the dev team took from The World Ends With You really stood out with the cutscene styles and the cheats. Let's see, lowering your HP to increase item drops? Wonder what pin - sorry, command - I'll get next? Being able to choose the game's difficulty at any time was also wonderful. It's a feature that I got spoiled to in Tales of -insert name here-, and it makes the game as easy or as hard as you want it. Fight common Heartless on critical mode with ten percent HP? Go for it! Uh-oh, boss battle. Time to turn the tables on them - beginner difficulty is go! Or you could go for true punishment - boss battles on critical mode with only one hit point to your name. These cheats - even just the difficulty one - is something that I hope Re:coded contributes to the following games in the series.
The last garnish to this game that must be addressed is the Avatar Mode. Yes, it's an unnecessary addon and yes, it doesn't do anything to advance the story, but it does let you trawl through a hundred-level dungeon in search of the holy grail... or not. Seriously though, the later floors are great for farming experience and, with the right combination of cheats, commands. As a reward for completing those sector challenges you also get avatar parts to dress your Avatar up. Make a one-winged angel of your own, or dress a character up as someone else. Sora's body, Riku's hair, Ventus' Keyblade? Unlock those parts and you can do that. The downside to this is that in order to get these floors, you have to leave the game on in tag mode. In theory, you have to walk around with the game in your pocket and hope other people are doing the same thing. In reality, we can thank The World Ends With You for another mercy. The game will automatically generate tags if solo players can't find friends with the same game.
Overall, the game was average. Not outstanding, but not completely terrible either. I didn't mind adventuring through the same areas, and plenty were redesigned enough to add variety. You cannot tell me that this game's Cave of Wonders was the same as Days'. The story in and of itself was good, if you don't try and think of it as part of the series' overall story. As a self-contained game it's not that bad, and I'm sensing a few ties to Birth By Sleep Volume 2 with a few scenes in the game. It's trying to justify this story in relation to the overall Kingdom Hearts mythos that brings a lot of trouble. As I said, the "surprising" revelation could have been handled in the opening scenes of Dream Drop Distance, and if you've seen that game's trailer... well, you've seen the important part of this game's secret movie. That was, frankly, disappointing.
Here's hoping that Dream Drop Distance or Birth By Sleep Volume 2 can advance this story! I would take a non-numbered sequel over another side game any day. |
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