HomeVideo GamesKingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review

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Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review 1

Kingdom Hearts has always been a much harder franchise to follow than Final Fantasy. This is not due to its storyline being particularly complex to comprehend, but rather that Square Enix liked to shuffle games between consoles. While the two main games were published exclusively on the PlayStation 2, all other instalments jumped between the Gameboy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. Despite not being major numbered instalments, these games do hold some storyline value. Therefore, unless you owned all three consoles, managed to track down copies of each game and fancied playing the fast action-oriented RPG’s on a smaller screen without a controller (A personal peeve of mine); it is possible there would be gaps in your knowledge of the overarching storyline.

With Kingdom Hearts III now on the horizon and many of their earlier releases out of print, Square Enix have spent the past couple of years porting the first six games in the franchise onto one console (PlayStation 3) as a set of four games and two cutscene movie adaptations. Following the first compilation which launched in 2013, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX contains Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. All three of these games have been given a fitting HD makeover and had features introduced that were previously restricted to Japan. But is it worthwhile returning to the crossover worlds of Disney and Final Fantasy? The short answer is: “Yes”.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review 2

Expanding upon the battle system introduced in Kingdom Hearts I and putting the overly-complicated card battle system from Chain of Memories to what will hopefully be its permanent rest, Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix is the meatiest and most satisfying component of this HD collection. Following the three-hour long tutorial which complements a decent and important storyline surrounding Roxas with an irksome attempt at tediously guiding players through each gameplay element as if they hadn’t played the prequel, you will once again be free to explore the various Disney worlds as Sora, Donald and Goofy.

There is a much greater array of Disney Worlds on offer in this game compared to others, with some worlds from Kingdom Hearts I returning (Eg. Aladdin / Nightmare Before Christmas) and some making their very first playable appearance (Eg. Pirates of the Caribbean, Mulan, The Lion King). These game adaptations are by no means a replacement for each films original theatrical release, however they do creatively integrate the original storyline and characters well with Kingdom Heart’s own use of the Heartless, Organization XIII and various other plot devices. Returning levels are not just a simply copy and paste of their original iterations either. Using the example of Olympus Coliseum which was in my mind the most disappointing world previously – it receives a whole new Underworld area with an actual storyline and Auron (Final Fantasy X) as a playable character. This is compared to when the world was little more than a tournament area. Ultimately each level is only a few hours long at most, however the sheer number of them combined with all the other events that take place, can see Kingdom Hearts II easily run into 40-50 hours of game time. Unfortunately, while a couple of Final Fantasy characters receive a boost to party member status, there are no worlds based on any of these games.

Kingdom Hearts II’s gameplay remains completely unchanged from the original PlayStation 2 release, featuring many improvements over Kingdom Hearts I. While it can be perceived by some as button mashing on the lower difficulty settings, there is quite a lot of strategy involved with the system – coupled with a range of spells, summons, limit breaks, skills and the world-exclusive party member to take into consideration. The “Final Mix” extra content expands upon this feature by providing a new “Critical” difficulty mode, additional battles against Organization XIII members and various world-specific changes. The overall experience isn’t greatly changed, but the new additions and amendments do contribute to a more complete and fulfilling experience.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review 3

The second addition to Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX is a HD port and localization of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which was originally released on the PlayStation portable back in 2010. This is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts which takes place approximately ten years prior; following the individual yet intertwining adventures of Keyblade wielders Terra, Aqua and Ventus as they seek to take down the Unversed that have appeared throughout the worlds and locate a particular individual. A variety of different Disney worlds also make an appearance in this game, including newcomers such as Dwarf Woodlands (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty). Although the plot doesn’t contribute as much to the overall storyline as KH II, it was nevertheless a satisfying inclusion to the franchise with plenty of value.

Unlike Chain of Memories, Birth by Sleep doesn’t attempt at being overly elaborate or creative with its portable-oriented battle system. Instead it shares many similarities with Kingdom Hearts II, albeit with a couple of amendments to make it slightly easier and involve less menu scrolling. Rather than consuming MP when using a skill, each character can equip a certain number of “Deck Commands” that each have their own cooldown period. A single command can be a spell, skill or an item; with low level commands having a relatively short cooldown period compared to strong ones which can take a while to recover. There is a good range of skills available between Terra, Ventus and Aqua; with each having their own skills in addition to some shared ones.

Even though it doesn’t have the same longevity as Kingdom Hearts II, Birth by Sleep was still an enjoyable game. The experience was enhanced by Square Enix bringing the game into HD, and localizing all the small Final Mix features that were not included in the original English release.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX | Video Game Review 4

To be completely honest, I am not fond of Square Enix’s decision to degrade the Nintendo DS installments of Kingdom Hearts into short summary films. I am open to video games receiving anime adaptations as they can often offer a different perspective or series of events that take place, however Re:Coded is essentially snippets of a game with all the gameplay taken out from them. This is despite Square Enix evidently taking the time to present all cutscnees in HD. Although it is better than nothing, I wouldn’t have objected to them excluding Chain of Memories (1.5) and Coded (2.5) from their respective collections and them including them in their own bundle, gameplay and all. Perhaps they could have bundled it with Dream Drop Distance and ported every Kingdom Hearts game over to the PlayStation 3.

Although it can easily be considered the least interesting component in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, it was nevertheless a somewhat decent watch. If you opt to skip it however, you won’t miss out on too much compared to skipping out on Kingdom Hearts II or Birth by Sleep.Final Words on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX

With the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III set to be released in the next few years, it was only common sense that Square Enix would port all their games over to an active console. After all, it isn’t a game series you can simply read synopses of online and then be able to fully appreciate. Overall these are three of the better performing installments in the franchise, and while they may have botched one by taking all the gameplay out of it, the other two have been given new life with the inclusion of Final Mix goodies, a HD makeover and the gameplay/storyline that made them memorable in the first place.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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