The latest installment of Bashing Yet More Things With Keys: Volume 1.
Because I had fun reading along to a friend's notes on Birth by Sleep as she progressed.
So my friends and I went to the NYC launch event for Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded and I picked it up two days early. I have not gotten to play it tons so far but it is...surprisingly fun and cute, you guys. And also makes me do thinky thoughts.
LET'S HIT IT.
-Aw yeah Terra, Aqua, and Ven made it into the "STORY SO FAR" spread in the booklet. That bald dude too. Vanitas 8( RIP GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
-Hmm a new version of Dearly Beloved...it's aiight. Kinda...plinkier? Not my favorite, but it's pretty. It's pretty!
-OKAY LET'S KICK OFF THE INTRO VIDEO LET'S...watch the pinky-swear scene from Re: Chain? :|a What is this.
-"We'll be friends for real" is an interesting bit to kick off a game starring a data version of Sora. On purpose? I am intrigued.
-Aaaaand let's kick off the song, you guys really need to get over your boner for Utada-VEN. HI, VEN! Is that seat comfy? TERRA AND AQUA ALSO. I THINK TERRA CAME FIRST BUT I LITERALLY BLINKED AND MISSED HIM. GOOD THING I WATCHED THIS LIKE THREE TIMES.
-It feels really weird to have Birth by Sleep be in the "oh this is old stuff, you already know what happened here but we're going to do a clip show to entertain you" category.
-This is basically your standard series recap set to music like in Re: Chain but with data "bugs" spraying all over the scene. I wish I had a clean version without the bugs because I'd love to give this compressed version of the entire series to someone unfamiliar with the series and have them try to explain what happened. Anyone want to give it a go?
-HI ROXAS.
-Oh, fuck you, intro editors. Did you really have to have a flash of Xion's death scene as the Days representative bit? And then Axel having ice cream with Roxas in Sora's brain after he dies too.
-The last shot of the intro sequence is Namine smiling on the beach at the end of KH2. I am going :|a some more.
-JIMINY CRICKET, NARRATOR. KH2 was about putting lost hearts back? ...I guess.
-He's wondering who exactly Namine is. What, does he still not know? What.
-Wow that long castle hallway must be even longer for a tiny-ass cricket.
-Ahhh the shenanigans begin. There's a weird message in Jiminy's journal so NATURALLY WE MUST CONVERT IT TO DATA AND EXPLORE IT THAT WAY. THIS MAKES ALL THE SENSE.
-And obviously they must make a data Sora to do it. This is CSI-level bullshit here. This is CSI Miami-level bullshit.
-MICKEY, GET AN IT PERSON FOR THE CASTLE. YOU'RE THE KING; YOU CAN AFFORD IT.
-I wonder why they wanted old-school Sora? ...why do I pretend there was a logical reason for this.
-Yesss Station of Awakening I know what to do here. We be kicking it OLD school.
-As always I choose the power of skull bashing
-DEFENSE IS FOR PUSSIES. I CAST IT ASIDE.
-CHIPMUNKS YOU ARE CREEPY. Way too excited about this whole "make a data clone of Sora and shove him into weird adventures."
-Sora mentioned the Stations to them as a dream? Innnteresting. I always wrote it off as game-required shenanigans that didn't really happen for him.
-LOOK GAME I THINK I KNOW HOW TO KILL HEARTLESS BY NOW. I DON'T NEED A TUTORIAL.
-Okay exploring the tree system...hitting leads to better hitting? /shrug I'm not entirely sure how this works, I think kinda like the command finishers in BBS? I'm just gonna go with it.
-Chips. No, panels! This is basically panel system from Days + the sphere grid from FFX. Good thing I LOVE SPHERE GRID
-I only get two save slots? Cheap.
-Data sora is a little slow.
-OK on the fake Destiny Islands, but immediately I get to smash shit. Yay. I do prefer smashing to fetch quests.
-Jumping into corrupted areas to fix data sectors...so basically, we’re playing hacker sora. Who smashes things. This plan is PERFECT.
-Sora, have you nothing better to do than fight data tidus? And Tidus? You, sir, are no Riku. Get off the little island right now.
-”There’s a road for the taking if you end this world’s aching.” ...Sora you’re chasing terrible poetry.
-I KNOW THAT MUSIC. Do I have to fight a fucking darkside again.
-I LOST. Mostly because I neglected to equip some potions, but still. How humiliating.
-Cleared the world! Mickey and his crew are happy but still not sure what's going on. You guys are terrible computer programmers.
-MORE BAD POETRY. There are "more hurts" apparently. :|
-NEW CUTSCENE. It's bitty!Riku and a jawa.
-Now we are in Traverse Town. I LOVE TRAVERSE TOWN. It is the best for platform exploring and this version isn't letting me down.
-Did I mention this game has auto-jumping? At first I thought that was pretty lazy but there's a ton of jumping from floating block to floating block so it's actually saving me a lot of time.
-Now we are rescuing ducks. Great. Sora's life, man.
-YOU CAN MELD. THEY DON'T CALL IT MELDING BUT IT IS. I predict I will get sucked into this like I was in BBS for a minimum of three extra hours of play that won't be necessary.
This game is surprisingly fun and cute! It's a cell phone game port and it shows; like, even for a Kingdom Hearts game, the plot is contrived and ridiculous but in a charming way. Kinda. I'm still early on, obviously, but while it's pretty KH1-retready, it's also just fun and sparkly and lighthearted good times with hints of more serious stuff to come. The combat is like Days and BBS had a baby, which I approve of most heartily. The camera is kind of annoying because you can't aim it with both shoulder buttons, but I'm getting used to it.
ALSO. In the booklet there's this bit:
"At various crossroads along the path Sora took, one can find traces of other footprints:
A second Sora who should never have been
A girl with power over Sora's memories
A young man who tried his best to save them"
Roxas and Namine are obviously #1 and #2. But #3...Axel? I can't think of who else it would be. I don't know if I'd say he tried to save Namine (unless it's referring to COM again? Hmmm), but the only other person I can think of that possibly fits is Riku, and why would he be listed in this section? Brain immediately starts working overtime thinking of reasons why Axel is important enough to reference. omg Lea come back
THAT'S ABOUT IT. I'm going to go fold my laundry now like I should have two hours ago.
So my friends and I went to the NYC launch event for Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded and I picked it up two days early. I have not gotten to play it tons so far but it is...surprisingly fun and cute, you guys. And also makes me do thinky thoughts.
LET'S HIT IT.
-Aw yeah Terra, Aqua, and Ven made it into the "STORY SO FAR" spread in the booklet. That bald dude too. Vanitas 8( RIP GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
-Hmm a new version of Dearly Beloved...it's aiight. Kinda...plinkier? Not my favorite, but it's pretty. It's pretty!
-OKAY LET'S KICK OFF THE INTRO VIDEO LET'S...watch the pinky-swear scene from Re: Chain? :|a What is this.
-"We'll be friends for real" is an interesting bit to kick off a game starring a data version of Sora. On purpose? I am intrigued.
-Aaaaand let's kick off the song, you guys really need to get over your boner for Utada-VEN. HI, VEN! Is that seat comfy? TERRA AND AQUA ALSO. I THINK TERRA CAME FIRST BUT I LITERALLY BLINKED AND MISSED HIM. GOOD THING I WATCHED THIS LIKE THREE TIMES.
-It feels really weird to have Birth by Sleep be in the "oh this is old stuff, you already know what happened here but we're going to do a clip show to entertain you" category.
-This is basically your standard series recap set to music like in Re: Chain but with data "bugs" spraying all over the scene. I wish I had a clean version without the bugs because I'd love to give this compressed version of the entire series to someone unfamiliar with the series and have them try to explain what happened. Anyone want to give it a go?
-HI ROXAS.
-Oh, fuck you, intro editors. Did you really have to have a flash of Xion's death scene as the Days representative bit? And then Axel having ice cream with Roxas in Sora's brain after he dies too.
-The last shot of the intro sequence is Namine smiling on the beach at the end of KH2. I am going :|a some more.
-JIMINY CRICKET, NARRATOR. KH2 was about putting lost hearts back? ...I guess.
-He's wondering who exactly Namine is. What, does he still not know? What.
-Wow that long castle hallway must be even longer for a tiny-ass cricket.
-Ahhh the shenanigans begin. There's a weird message in Jiminy's journal so NATURALLY WE MUST CONVERT IT TO DATA AND EXPLORE IT THAT WAY. THIS MAKES ALL THE SENSE.
-And obviously they must make a data Sora to do it. This is CSI-level bullshit here. This is CSI Miami-level bullshit.
-MICKEY, GET AN IT PERSON FOR THE CASTLE. YOU'RE THE KING; YOU CAN AFFORD IT.
-I wonder why they wanted old-school Sora? ...why do I pretend there was a logical reason for this.
-Yesss Station of Awakening I know what to do here. We be kicking it OLD school.
-As always I choose the power of skull bashing
-DEFENSE IS FOR PUSSIES. I CAST IT ASIDE.
-CHIPMUNKS YOU ARE CREEPY. Way too excited about this whole "make a data clone of Sora and shove him into weird adventures."
-Sora mentioned the Stations to them as a dream? Innnteresting. I always wrote it off as game-required shenanigans that didn't really happen for him.
-LOOK GAME I THINK I KNOW HOW TO KILL HEARTLESS BY NOW. I DON'T NEED A TUTORIAL.
-Okay exploring the tree system...hitting leads to better hitting? /shrug I'm not entirely sure how this works, I think kinda like the command finishers in BBS? I'm just gonna go with it.
-Chips. No, panels! This is basically panel system from Days + the sphere grid from FFX. Good thing I LOVE SPHERE GRID
-I only get two save slots? Cheap.
-Data sora is a little slow.
-OK on the fake Destiny Islands, but immediately I get to smash shit. Yay. I do prefer smashing to fetch quests.
-Jumping into corrupted areas to fix data sectors...so basically, we’re playing hacker sora. Who smashes things. This plan is PERFECT.
-Sora, have you nothing better to do than fight data tidus? And Tidus? You, sir, are no Riku. Get off the little island right now.
-”There’s a road for the taking if you end this world’s aching.” ...Sora you’re chasing terrible poetry.
-I KNOW THAT MUSIC. Do I have to fight a fucking darkside again.
-I LOST. Mostly because I neglected to equip some potions, but still. How humiliating.
-Cleared the world! Mickey and his crew are happy but still not sure what's going on. You guys are terrible computer programmers.
-MORE BAD POETRY. There are "more hurts" apparently. :|
-NEW CUTSCENE. It's bitty!Riku and a jawa.
-Now we are in Traverse Town. I LOVE TRAVERSE TOWN. It is the best for platform exploring and this version isn't letting me down.
-Did I mention this game has auto-jumping? At first I thought that was pretty lazy but there's a ton of jumping from floating block to floating block so it's actually saving me a lot of time.
-Now we are rescuing ducks. Great. Sora's life, man.
-YOU CAN MELD. THEY DON'T CALL IT MELDING BUT IT IS. I predict I will get sucked into this like I was in BBS for a minimum of three extra hours of play that won't be necessary.
This game is surprisingly fun and cute! It's a cell phone game port and it shows; like, even for a Kingdom Hearts game, the plot is contrived and ridiculous but in a charming way. Kinda. I'm still early on, obviously, but while it's pretty KH1-retready, it's also just fun and sparkly and lighthearted good times with hints of more serious stuff to come. The combat is like Days and BBS had a baby, which I approve of most heartily. The camera is kind of annoying because you can't aim it with both shoulder buttons, but I'm getting used to it.
ALSO. In the booklet there's this bit:
"At various crossroads along the path Sora took, one can find traces of other footprints:
A second Sora who should never have been
A girl with power over Sora's memories
A young man who tried his best to save them"
Roxas and Namine are obviously #1 and #2. But #3...Axel? I can't think of who else it would be. I don't know if I'd say he tried to save Namine (unless it's referring to COM again? Hmmm), but the only other person I can think of that possibly fits is Riku, and why would he be listed in this section? Brain immediately starts working overtime thinking of reasons why Axel is important enough to reference. omg Lea come back
THAT'S ABOUT IT. I'm going to go fold my laundry now like I should have two hours ago.