Kingdom Hearts for PS2
Okay all you Kingdom Hearts fans (
knittykittycook, I'm looking at you...), please tell me something.
Am I too dumb to play this game?
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the concept. I love running around randomly, and then--oh! There's the white rabbit. I'd guess I'd better follow him. I love that Jafar, Maleficent, Hades, Oogie-Boogie, Ursula, and probably some others are all teaming up against me. I love that the 99 dalmation puppies got lost and I have to find them. I love that Merlin will let me practice my magic in his house and that he lives with my fairy godmother. I love how I could run out of the Coliseum and just hope that Hercules could handle that horrible creature on his own. I love that my key/sword has different keychains that give it different abilities. I even love how I'm teamed up with the incompetent Goofy and the incredibly weak Donald and that they protect me as best they can. What I don't love is how it takes me four and five continues to beat a boss, and how I feel like I never know what's going on.
I've played a few rpg's before. (If you've never heard of Lagoon, (and why would you have?) you need to go play it so that you, too, can be a better person.) I've played the Monkey Island series, which I love, and most of the Paper Mario series, which I love. Granted, that's quite a spread for ability and target-demographic, but I "got" those games. They made sense to me, and while I didn't always know *how* to do the next thing, I usually at least knew *what* I was supposed to do. That is the aggravating thing about Kingdom Hearts. I find myself usually have know clue about the *what,* so I wander around aimlessly, killing the same baddies over and over until I happen to turn up where I'm supposed to be.
So tell me, is it me? Am I not reading or listening carefully enough? Should I know what's going on and what I'm supposed to do? Or is the game designed to keep you guessing? I've only been playing it for a few days, and already I've checked a walkthrough twice. If you know anything about me, you know that I DON'T DO THAT. I hate that it's so easy to just look something up instead of toiling away at it and figuring it out for yourself. I never looked up a single thing for all 4 monkey island games (granted, I played most of them before such things as walkthroughs) and I liked it that way. Where's the fun in just following someone else's path? But this game! After 45 minutes of running around with no purpose, it gets a little old. So I've already cheated. And the thing is, when I looked up how to get on with it, both times, I went, "how was I supposed to know that?!" So unless I'm just completely missing some key elements of dialog, which is entirely possible, even the walkthrough didn't give me an epiphany. I was hoping for one of those "Oh, THAT'S what that is" moments, where it all becomes clear, and you can't believe that you didn't get it before, because it's so obvious now! I have not gotten that from this game.
And yet, as I told Michael, it's like a car wreck and I can't look away. Now I need to finish it. Like I said, I am enjoying it, but I just feel really dumb and battle-challenged while I'm playing it. I'm just wondering if it's me, the game, or a combination of both.
knittykittycook, I'm looking at you...), please tell me something.
Am I too dumb to play this game?
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the concept. I love running around randomly, and then--oh! There's the white rabbit. I'd guess I'd better follow him. I love that Jafar, Maleficent, Hades, Oogie-Boogie, Ursula, and probably some others are all teaming up against me. I love that the 99 dalmation puppies got lost and I have to find them. I love that Merlin will let me practice my magic in his house and that he lives with my fairy godmother. I love how I could run out of the Coliseum and just hope that Hercules could handle that horrible creature on his own. I love that my key/sword has different keychains that give it different abilities. I even love how I'm teamed up with the incompetent Goofy and the incredibly weak Donald and that they protect me as best they can. What I don't love is how it takes me four and five continues to beat a boss, and how I feel like I never know what's going on.
I've played a few rpg's before. (If you've never heard of Lagoon, (and why would you have?) you need to go play it so that you, too, can be a better person.) I've played the Monkey Island series, which I love, and most of the Paper Mario series, which I love. Granted, that's quite a spread for ability and target-demographic, but I "got" those games. They made sense to me, and while I didn't always know *how* to do the next thing, I usually at least knew *what* I was supposed to do. That is the aggravating thing about Kingdom Hearts. I find myself usually have know clue about the *what,* so I wander around aimlessly, killing the same baddies over and over until I happen to turn up where I'm supposed to be.
So tell me, is it me? Am I not reading or listening carefully enough? Should I know what's going on and what I'm supposed to do? Or is the game designed to keep you guessing? I've only been playing it for a few days, and already I've checked a walkthrough twice. If you know anything about me, you know that I DON'T DO THAT. I hate that it's so easy to just look something up instead of toiling away at it and figuring it out for yourself. I never looked up a single thing for all 4 monkey island games (granted, I played most of them before such things as walkthroughs) and I liked it that way. Where's the fun in just following someone else's path? But this game! After 45 minutes of running around with no purpose, it gets a little old. So I've already cheated. And the thing is, when I looked up how to get on with it, both times, I went, "how was I supposed to know that?!" So unless I'm just completely missing some key elements of dialog, which is entirely possible, even the walkthrough didn't give me an epiphany. I was hoping for one of those "Oh, THAT'S what that is" moments, where it all becomes clear, and you can't believe that you didn't get it before, because it's so obvious now! I have not gotten that from this game.
And yet, as I told Michael, it's like a car wreck and I can't look away. Now I need to finish it. Like I said, I am enjoying it, but I just feel really dumb and battle-challenged while I'm playing it. I'm just wondering if it's me, the game, or a combination of both.