# Is it worth getting into the Kingdom Hearts franchise?



## Nardo6670 (Apr 27, 2013)

I've never really played a KH game before, though i do have a PS3 that can play PS2 games. 


Is the series worth going into? How are the stories/ gameplays, for the games? Any particular games in the series i should avoid?

I assume the KH game for the 3DS is important too? Or will it eventually be released on consoles?


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## Xiammes (Apr 27, 2013)

Right off the bat I will tell you the gameplay for the Kingdom Heart games are amazing, easily the best hack and slash games I have played.

The story is pretty convoluted, the first game doesn't have this problem, but with each new game of the series the story has more twists and turns then the Metal Gear games. 

So play the games for the gameplay and not for the story.


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## Canute87 (Apr 27, 2013)

Wait until Kingdom hearts 3 come out.


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## Xiammes (Apr 27, 2013)

> Wait until Kingdom hearts 3 come out.



I guess he will be able to enjoy playing it with his great grand children when it comes out.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Apr 27, 2013)

Get Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix when it comes out, Get KH3D and Birth By sleep, both fun games


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## Stunna (Apr 27, 2013)

Depends on one big thing for a lot of people:

Do convoluted stories bother you? Then no. 

I love the series, personally.


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## WolfPrinceKiba (Apr 27, 2013)

The only one I'd recommend playing is KH1. Its story was simple but good , not convoluted like every game after it.


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## Death-kun (Apr 27, 2013)

Wait for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX, coming to PS3 in the Fall. It has KH1 and KH Re:Chain of Memories remastered in HD, and it also has KH 358/2 Days (DS-only game). However, 358/2 is not playable. They basically took all the cutscenes from the game (and remastered them in HD), added even more cutscenes to fill in the gaps caused by not being able to actually play it, and basically turned it into a movie.

Next year we're probably be getting Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX, which will most likely come with KH2, KH: Birth by Sleep and KH Re:Coded remastered in HD, except Re:Coded will undoubtedly be a "movie" like 358/2 Days will be, since it was also a DS-only game. 

You should also get KH 3D: Dream Drop Distance on 3DS since it, chronologically, takes place right before KH3 (which is not out yet). KH 3D is also plot relevant. 358/2 Days and Re:Coded are the only games that are not as important to the plot as the other games are.

So, yeah.


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## Furious George (Apr 27, 2013)

WolfPrinceKiba said:


> The only one I'd recommend playing is KH1. Its story was simple but good , not convoluted like every game after it.



WPK, you're like my brother from another mother. 

Couldn't have said it better.


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## Impact (Apr 27, 2013)

Canute87 said:


> Wait until Kingdom hearts 3 come out.



People still have hope for this game?


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## Canute87 (Apr 27, 2013)

People still have hope a a new chrono game. So yes they do.


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## WolfPrinceKiba (Apr 27, 2013)

Furious George said:


> WPK, you're like my brother from another mother.
> 
> Couldn't have said it better.




I personally liked KH2 despite its flaws but I wouldn't recommend it to others in general. It is in that group of games that are very noticably flawed but can still be enjoyable if you're really into the genre and/or the games unique element(with KH it being the mixture of Disney and FF characters along with Disney worlds). FFX is the only other game that fits into that category for me that I can think of.


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## Impact (Apr 27, 2013)

Canute87 said:


> People still have hope a a new chrono game. So yes they do.



How surprising... 

Well like Wolf prince said I definitely recommend playing KH1, I recently just bought a PS2 because I wanted to play it again after a long time  as for getting into the endless sequels is entirely up to you.


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## Nep Nep (Apr 27, 2013)

It's pretty good, my two favorites are KH1 and Birth By Sleep. The gameplay in Birth By Sleep is a little more fun than the first two games. 

As for 2 it's okay, really I don't play the american version anymore I always play Final Mix for the second game, it has a bit more difficulty and some cool and enjoyable additions. Obviously it's not for those who have difficulty with japanese menus OR don't play it on an emulator with the available translation patches out there, assuming of course you legally purchased a copy of the disc so that your ISO is legal, of course the emulator option is only avaiable if you have a rather powerful computer so yeah. 

Play KH1 and BBS and get KH2FM from Japan if you don't mind the X and O buttons being switched and remembering where menu buttons are as well as ocassionally looking up instructions on the mini games, or if as I said you have a powerful enough computer to place the ISO there and get a translation for it and you can buy a decent PC controller then you've got yourself the ideal way to play KH2.


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## creative (Apr 27, 2013)

I don't get how people are this concerned still with KH's narrative. you can, honest to god, beat the game without paying so much as two seconds worth of attention to the cutscenes. as for myself, I loved part two because the quick time events were optional but fucking awesome to watch. KH1 did not have said quick time events, but it was all the same incredibly fucking great. that means your job OP is to play KH 1 and 2. pretty sure that HD collection is hitting the states very soon so look into that if you don't want to shell out extra cash for a PS2.

any of the other games like released on the portable consoles and should be considered optional. speaking as someone who's played pretty much all of them minus coded, there all pretty good with the exception of chain of memories. I say chain of memories is the worse because, although intuitive, the card combat system got old really quick and it's very easy to get stuck in a boss fight just because your missing a decent spell card and other such shenanigans.


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## Patchouli (Apr 27, 2013)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzqaeKTqWCI[/YOUTUBE]

Gameplay and music are the only good things from Kingdom Hearts. Get the Final Mix versions and play on Critical mode, otherwise everything will be way too easy.

That said, combat on critical mode is fun. Makes up for the shit-tier story.


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## Xiammes (Apr 27, 2013)

Kingdom Hearts has a great OST, worth the games just to listen to the music.


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## MCTDread (Apr 28, 2013)

I recommend it  I also love the OST of the series.


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## Inuhanyou (Apr 28, 2013)

There are pro's and con's to the series. Its fun enough, but your mileage will definitely vary on the actual library of games. 

A majority of them are spin offs, prequels intequels and not much actual pacing or progression to speak of after a certain point. The story is convoluted(ironically the most recent game in the series basically dialed this up to eleven after already being convoluted as it was), the games themselves are stretched out onto many different platforms that you might not own, and while many of the games are pure filler for filler's sake, there are atleast 5 or 10 percent to each game that are necessary to understand the lore going forward which is a major issue in my opinion.


I'm someone who has a lot of history with the series, begging my mom to buy it for me after seeing a commercial for the first Kingdom Hearts on TV 10 years ago. 

So, i can probably be trusted with it when i say; you should really think hard for a bit about whether or not you wanna sit through this type of game, the kind of game that takes about 30+ hours for each entree. The combat is pretty good all around, characters can decent to good, and if you can stomach disney and doses of Final Fantasy, its all there. On the other hand, the cheese factor can be pretty embarrassing at times, and after a while you might get a feeling of going nowhere fast even if your blowing through the games one at a time.

Considering that i'd recommend picking up Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD remix when it comes out as your launching pad into the series, you have a bit of time to think about it, but again, there are pro's and cons. If you like Disney, you like FF, you don't mind long games, you think you can tolerate a story that wentoff the rails a while back and hasn't come back on as of yet, and are up for pretty good combat and a pretty fun adventure, try it out.


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## Naruto (Apr 28, 2013)

I would think the answer is simple.

Do you like Disney? Do you like Final Fantasy? There's plenty of both.

The gameplay is simple but fun. It's an action RPG.


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## Wesley (Apr 28, 2013)

Do you love Disney?  Do you love Final Fantasy?  Then don't bother.  It's trash  Completely not up to par.  You'd think at least the music would be good...but no.  It isn't.


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## Death-kun (Apr 28, 2013)

You're kidding, right? The music is probably one of the best things about this series.


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## teddy (Apr 28, 2013)

Yeah, the ost is consistently good


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## Naruto (Apr 28, 2013)

Death-kun said:


> You're kidding, right? The music is probably one of the best things about this series.



Well, while the music is pretty cool it certainly is nothing like the usual Disney Soundtracks.

[YOUTUBE]aEryAoLfnAA[/YOUTUBE]

I love KH but I can probably randomly pick any disney classic movie and find a fantastic song that blows anything KH has out of the water.


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## Death-kun (Apr 28, 2013)

Well yeah, most of KH's songs are orchestrated, mostly by Yoko Shimomura. Disney really didn't have much to do with the overall development of the series aside from the characters. 

I think "blowing it out of the water" is an exaggeration, because some of the stuff KH has is downright chills-inducing. However, Disney is definitely a lyrical juggernaut. It's funny that you linked an Aladdin song because Aladdin is probably my favorite Disney movie. 

Friend Like Me is better than Prince Ali, though.


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## Hydro Spiral (Apr 28, 2013)

I love the soundtrack (particularly stuff like Hikari, the orchestral credits tracks, & boss battle themes), but I feel like the Disney inspired tracks could be better. The overworld and battle themes that play during any given Disney/movie level, I mean. Not that they're bad, they just don't _quite _live up to the original feel of the stories to me. Notably, Pride Lands(Lion King) and Port Royal(Pirates of the Caribbean)..

Although 3D was perfect in that particular area to me


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## Aruarian (Apr 28, 2013)

Xiammes said:


> *Right off the bat I will tell you the gameplay for the Kingdom Heart games are amazing, easily the best hack and slash games I have played.*
> 
> The story is pretty convoluted, the first game doesn't have this problem, but with each new game of the series the story has more twists and turns then the Metal Gear games.
> 
> So play the games for the gameplay and not for the story.


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## Patchouli (Apr 28, 2013)

*Spoiler*: _My favorite songs from the KH series_ 









































































*Spoiler*: _Remixes aw yiss_


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## Stunna (Apr 28, 2013)

No _The Other Promise?_


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## Patchouli (Apr 28, 2013)

That theme is unfortunately tied to a character that I hate. Worst part is, I don't even hate Roxas for his traits as a character. His name just conjures up memories of the place you get to control him in.

If I could, I'd slap the person who first uttered the words "Twilight Town" in the Square-Enix dev room.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 28, 2013)

Short answer: no
Long answer: [YOUTUBE]vhWaJ-f1CUA[/YOUTUBE]


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## Stunna (Apr 28, 2013)

You hate Roxas?


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## Patchouli (Apr 28, 2013)

You sneaky...I was editing my post to clarify.


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## Stunna (Apr 28, 2013)

Ah, my bad. That's more understandable.


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## Patchouli (Apr 28, 2013)

2 fucking hours of this theme.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSdNxXGUaRU[/YOUTUBE]


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## creative (Apr 28, 2013)

yeah, twilight town fucking killed me. that really was by far one of the worse KH levels.


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## Stunna (Apr 28, 2013)

Twilight Town is fine outside of the tutorial.


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## Reyes (Apr 29, 2013)

Don't play the spinoff games(the ones on the ds) and yeah it's worth it.


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## MCTDread (Apr 30, 2013)

I'm in that rare group of fans that actually enjoyed 358.... Yeah I said it.


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## Ultimania (Apr 30, 2013)

Wait for the HD ReMix, but essentially fuck yes. The Kingdom Hearts series changed my life forever, it's that damn good.

I also enjoyed all of the KH games except for the original Chain of Memories (trying to make a 2D game based on a game series that originated in 3D just didn't work in my opinion). The PS2 remake is pretty sweet though, but hard as fuck.


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## zenieth (Apr 30, 2013)

it's a fine series, if you ignore the story.


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## ~Avant~ (Apr 30, 2013)

Birth by Sleep was the best in the franchise


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Apr 30, 2013)

Actually coming from my perspective, Chain of Memories was freaking brilliant ( Which makes 1.5 HD completely worth it)

I also enjoyed 358/2 days but its replay value kinda runs dry after you unlock everything and dont have friends to play the game with.  So I wouldnt buy it for too much money

You could actually pick up the last story with how much 358 costs and that game is soo much more addictive XD


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## creative (Apr 30, 2013)

MCTDread said:


> I'm in that rare group of fans that actually enjoyed 358.... Yeah I said it.



Obligatory fuck yea post incoming. 358 days was crazy fun with friends and dicking around with different organization members was the shit.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Apr 30, 2013)

^ THANK YOU!
I still have my copy but no one to play it with XD

Honestly I like that better than doing Flick rush with friends

(Flick rush is more of a solo thing for me)


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## Stunna (Apr 30, 2013)

Jaime Reyes said:


> Don't play the spinoff games(the ones on the ds) and yeah it's worth it.


There are no spin-offs. Every single game, regardless of home or handheld console, is integral to the series' story.


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## Bender (Apr 30, 2013)

Very worth it. The hack and slash gameplay, the cutscenes, the plot. It's very exciting. Also if you have Disney series you want to see put in an Animecentric atmosphere this is the game franchise for you. 

Although the wait for games is painful it pays to have patience if you're going to have a passion for a series like this.

@Jamie Reyes



They're called side-games NOT spin-offs. -_-


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## CosmicCastaway (Apr 30, 2013)

Definitely worth it.  Just play KH1 and KH2.  Both great games.


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## Bender (Apr 30, 2013)

@MTC Dread

Dude 358/2 Days is godly. Xion is a adorable bruiser. Also seeing all the other characters in action (villies actually) 

is pretty neat


*Spoiler*: __ 



While Sora sleeps due to Chain of Memories




Wait till December 2012 31st to buy the HD remix. 

Comes with Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, KH RE: Chains Of Memories, 358/2 Days (In movie form). 

It's freaking awesome


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## Misao (May 1, 2013)

I'd say give it a shot. I've only played three games though, 1, 2 and birth by sleep. I think there are much more, but to fully enjoy the franchise I'd wait for a HD bundle, with both 1 and 2... I assume it will come someday.


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## Wesley (May 2, 2013)

There have been two games I've played in my life that have physically made me ill.  Mechwarrior and Kingdom Hearts.


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## Tranquil Fury (May 2, 2013)

Wesley said:


> Do you love Disney?  Do you love Final Fantasy?  Then don't bother.  It's trash  Completely not up to par.  You'd think at least the music would be good...but no.  It isn't.



Music is one of the few things not shit, stop trolling, Utada Hikaru's Sanctuary alone is a great song.

@OP: If you ignore the characters and plot, by character I mean anyone not KH exclusive or deeply tied to the plot outside some exceptions then yes it's a fun game.

Reaction commands are cool but overall mediocre hack and slash mixed with some rpg elements. Enjoyable enough and enough quests to do for keeping you occupied.

Play KH 1 and 2 atleast. If you want to understand the convoluted plot then you're going to have to play games scattered across different platforms.

It's one of those "your mileage may vary" things so it's upto your personal preference.


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## Wesley (May 2, 2013)

Tranquil Fury said:


> Music is one of the few things not shit, stop trolling, Utada Hikaru's Sanctuary alone is a great song.



They don't use music to effect though.  You know in Disney where with any given scene there is some kind of music put in place and things flow?  That hardly happened.  Point in case, Jaffar kidnaps Jasmine, Aladdin is angered, yet no music is playing the entire time.  There's stuff like that throughout the whole game.  It's incredibly boring.  I mean, even Goofy and Donald are boring.  GOOFY AND DONALD ARE BORING!

In Final Fantasy music is used to accent a scene's impact.  In Disney that goes double.  In Kingdom Hearts?  It's hit and miss.  Often there's no music at all during some really dramatic moments.


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## the_notorious_Z.É. (May 2, 2013)

I'm one of those that highly enjoyed 358/2 days too.


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## MCTDread (May 2, 2013)

:amazed so many people love 358 in here. 


What could be better than playing as Organization XIII? Multiplayer in 358 was awesome of course . Bummed though that 358/2 Days is in the HD Collection but only in movie form 

I can't wait till they release 2.5 HD cause I think you can fight all the members from Organization XIII in KH II Final Mix.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (May 2, 2013)

358 was certainly better than DDD at face value, ( more content , but once you finished the post game missions you were done.  I did get my money's worth out off 3D) The local multiplayer was more fun too in 358. 

(Most of 3D's replay value comes from dream eaters, and replaying on various difficulty modes)

Did anyone see they upped the frame-rate in 3D (the system update)?


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## Bender (May 2, 2013)

@Wesley

Go away. I thought you would end you troll tirade once Gundam 00 ended. Why are you still at it? You had my respect when you kept quiet bro.


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## Enclave (May 2, 2013)

Yes it's totally worth getting into.  I'd suggest at least waiting though for Kingdom Hearts HD Remix which is coming in September.  Additionally it's inevitable that a Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix will also be made and that game will probably give you KH2, BBS, Coded and 3D in at least movie format so you'll have the full picture.

I suspect the reason they're doing these HD remixes now is because they're ramping up for KH3 being announced in a year or so.



Wesley said:


> They don't use music to effect though.



You're kidding right?  The remix of Simple and Clean that they used at the end of KH1?


*Spoiler*: __ 



Right as Sora and Kairi were saying goodbye




That shit is one of the few moments in gaming history where I get a little bit misty eyed.


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## bigduo209 (May 2, 2013)

Stunna said:


> There are no spin-offs. Every single game, regardless of home or handheld console, is integral to the series' story.



That's what I hate about KH, almost every title needs to be played to understand the story as a whole.

That's not to say I don't like the series, because I really enjoyed KH1 and KH2. However the fact I need to own or at least use multiple systems to get the full experience pisses me off.

I know it's a business decision to offer something of the franchise that can attract buyers to any device it's on, but that one decision is still very short-sighted and has worn-out fans who has tried keep up in the past. And no, it doesn't make it easier to welcome in new fans who've never heard of KH before now and might want to try out the games.

*Sighs* I know SE is doing HD Remixes now with all the story stuff to catch-up on, but they should've done it much sooner to keep things relevant. But yeah, I'm a little frustrated at all the ridiculous decisions SE has made around the franchise as a whole, and going through  the wiki and YT playthroughs/cutscenes doesn't help matters.

*/minor rant*


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## Enclave (May 2, 2013)

bigduo209 said:


> *Sighs* I know SE is doing HD Remixes now with all the story stuff to catch-up on, but they should've done it much sooner to keep things relevant. But yeah, I'm a little frustrated at all the ridiculous decisions SE has made around the franchise as a whole, and going through  the wiki and YT playthroughs/cutscenes doesn't help matters.
> 
> */minor rant*



I totally get the point of your rant, it would annoy me as well it coming out on so many systems if I didn't own those systems (well, I didn't own the 3DS but I didn't mind buying that system since I got it for 42 cents).  That said, I don't think it would have been a good idea to release the remixes sooner.  I highly suspect they're gearing up to announce Kingdom Hearts 3 in the near future and the remixes are probably to kinda get people excited and to get people caught up on the story (Squenix probably knows a lot of KH fans never played the portable games).


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## Bender (May 2, 2013)

@Bigduo29

*bro fist*

Dude, I understand  completely what you're saying. All the Simple and clean video censoring on youtube pisses me the fuck off. 

A dude tries to find a nice looking KH Final Mix playthrough and on the first video he can't watch Simple and clean with the intro because SE are being a bunch of dickheads. I know this is their way of saying "Go out and buy KH" 

But "fuck that". I want my goddamn KH Final Mix! It's bad enough not being able to find an english patch online (imported KH II Final Mix-PM for details on how to do).


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## Enclave (May 3, 2013)

Bender said:


> @Bigduo29
> 
> *bro fist*
> 
> ...



Eh, no point in importing it.  It'll probably be released on the PS3 as an HD remix in about a year.


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## Lishenron (May 4, 2013)

Ask Krory.

but in all seriousness, yes it's worth it. especially KH1.


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## Akira Kurusu (May 4, 2013)

St NightRazr said:


> 358 was certainly better than DDD at face value, ( more content , but once you finished the post game missions you were done.  I did get my money's worth out off 3D) The local multiplayer was more fun too in 358.
> 
> (Most of 3D's replay value comes from dream eaters, and replaying on various difficulty modes)
> 
> Did anyone see they upped the frame-rate in 3D (the system update)?



I agree with multiplayer being superior on Days, but i still vastly prefer KH3D more. Especially when you get to slash Dream Eaters with Riku sporting a full moveset. 

I did, it runs notably more smoother than before the update. Minus some hiccups that aren't all completely gone.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (May 4, 2013)

Oh I prefer 3D over all as well^


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## MitsukiShiroi (May 4, 2013)

YES. Stick to 1 and 2 though, imho. 1 was pure fun but two had a good storyline too and I'm a sucker for Organizations.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (May 4, 2013)

You're holy opinion can go sit down Mitsuki


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## MCTDread (May 4, 2013)

Didn’t Birth By Sleep have multiplayer?


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## Hydro Spiral (May 5, 2013)

^The Mirage Arena, yeah.


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## FoxxyKat (May 5, 2013)

I enjoyed KH 1 and 2, but SquareEnix has taken so fucking long w/ KH 3 that some years ago, I just gave up and lost interest, but maybe by the time you've beaten the many KH games they've come out with, they'll have KH 3 out.


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## dragonbattousai (May 6, 2013)

Kingdom Hearts is a great series.  Yes, the flaws are in the story, but its the characters you grow to like.  The music is amazing.  Yoko Shimomura delivers some great musical pieces, especially the music done up for Roxas in KH2 and the characters in Birth by Sleep.


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