Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - Living down to every expectation

[rallamajoop]

Despite a lot of objections from me about how we're only going to encourage Squeenix if we keep giving them money for this crap, pinneagig ordered in the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days a little while ago to see how it held up against our first impressions. Neither of us were very surprised when the game proved to be every bit as bad as we'd

Comments

[nekogonya]

I found this on someone's DA account and I was fairly pleased with how you reviewed it.

Kingdom Hearts was the first game I got for my PS2, so its holds a really special place in my heart. But after a while I've grown out of it (mostly due to the fandom), and my interest is passing. I had pretty much zero to no expectations for this game honestly. I wouldn't mind getting back into the games and playing them again, but I didn't have the same sort of excitement I had for Kingdom Hearts II (god I remember when Gamestop had the listing for it, I preordered that ASAP, and I played the game for HOURS as soon as I got it). But there's still that curiosity in wanting to play this new one, because I've played the three games that have been released (and some of Final Mix II) so its more of a completion type thing.

And honestly, when I first heard of this female organization member, I'm MORE then willing to give the benefit of the doubt. I was a little excited to hear about another girl. I know, I know. It's such a shameless tack on. Its like: "OH YEAH, you see...there was this OTHER Organization member we have the WHOLE TIME. Seriously. SERIOUSLY GUYS,". But I really didn't want to jump on the bandwagon of hating her JUST because she was a girl. I felt as though she might have been a bit more well received at first if she was a guy. But it's seriously disappointing to read how she acts. Great. Another poorly written female character.

And about Nomura. Honestly, he is really starting to bother me. I can get being stretched thin, but why even work on all these games at once if you're going to produce shit work? I know it sucks waiting, but I'm MORE then willing to wait for an amazing game. And really, it could be a mix of Nomura taking too much on his plate, and Square pushing him to get the game out because they have money on the brain. Either way, each party makes me unhappy. It sucks to have a game that I was once so fond of get wreaked badly for money.

But who knows, maybe I'll enjoy myself more when I get the chance to play myself? But either way, great review and thanks for your insights! Sorry about the ranty like post :P

[rallamajoop]

I think the main problem female characters have is that female Sues are so much more common than male ones, both in fanfiction and published work like this, so when you see one introduced as member 14 of Org 13 it sends off even more alarm bells. I hear you on the lack of good female characters though, the 'evil organisation with exactly one token female character' thing gets so very old.

Honestly, he is really starting to bother me. I can get being stretched thin, but why even work on all these games at once if you're going to produce shit work?

Very likely partially executive mandate, compared with the fact that the ridiculously long development times for games these days increases the odds they'll have several in the pipeline at once. It's pretty clear they are going out of their way to cash in on their most popular titles, but that's pretty much just how the game industry works. :/

Seriously, Nomura has been involved with plenty of games I've hated before (you should see me rant about FF8 or the all the FF7 sequels sometime), and I'm sure will be again. But the same is true of every creator involved in any series I've ever loved which goes beyond a single installment - it's just not realistic or fair to expect one creator to always cater to your personal expectations. Nomura's also been involved with more video games I've ever loved than any other single creator in the gaming industry, and as I said above, my understanding is that most of the story for this game wasn't even his work.

But who knows, maybe I'll enjoy myself more when I get the chance to play myself?

Yeah - by all means, give it a try, YMMV. I'd just recommend borrowing a copy to try out before you spend money on it, if you have the option to do so.

[nekogonya]

I agree with both of you about good female characters. The one FF game with a female lead is old and harder to get/play and people are less interested because of the graphics*I'm guilty, I'm an art fiend and I like things with detail* though I hear she is very cool. (I don't know if I would count X-2 since it is a branch) so hopefully the character in XIII will be good(Seems a bit like Ashe with being fairly independent and functional though I haven't got much experience with her) I honestly don't think I've ever played a good game with a female lead.

I f there was a list of companies that need to be lashed for abusing people for money when they know it will work Square Enix would be second only to Exon(gas). They're pushing KH down the path of FFVII, once a great game now a fandom that makes me feel I need to specify I'm only a fan of the PS game. They at least get the benefit of time on KH though, they had years to come up with valuable VII content(and managed to SOME extent)

If Sqeenix keeps releasing such low quality games, especially that ruin their old stories and characters, their credibility will be gone. They got fans by being good and those fans were willing to wait a long time(whilst moaning and groaning) and had a reason to celebrate when a new one came out.

Sorry to rant, it's just so ludicrous.

On a side note, you really preferred the KHII story telling to the first game? I thought it had nice elements and a lot to work with but they failed to accomplish anywhere near what they should have while succeeding in destroying the parts of the first game that I thought were more touching or interesting. (It wasn't like just because it's Disney it has to be happy all around but it can be hopeful) where KHII was more except when it does have to be totally 100% happy unless of course you're paying attention and realize Roxas and Namine probably don't have such a happy ending(IMO, just saying). I don't know if you played Final Mix and it maybe dealt with some of that

Thanks for your time! (I'm anon as I have no account, srry)

[rallamajoop]

The one FF game with a female lead is old and harder to get/play and people are less interested because of the graphics*I'm guilty, I'm an art fiend and I like things with detail* though I hear she is very cool.

You mean FF6? Played it ages back, didn't particularly grab me compared to some of the later installments to the series, but I remember liking Terra, and I did like that she and Celes got such major roles. Like you, I'm hoping FFXIII is good - Lightning's definitely got potential.

If Sqeenix keeps releasing such low quality games, especially that ruin their old stories and characters, their credibility will be gone. They got fans by being good and those fans were willing to wait a long time(whilst moaning and groaning) and had a reason to celebrate when a new one came out.

*shrug* Games are so expensive to produce these days, I think it's unrealistic to imagine money isn't always going to be a driving force. Sequels are considered 'safe', because they've got the proven formula and an established fanbase. A lot of the same logic is true of the movie industry, and the strange-but-true fact is supposedly that even they only manage to turn a real profit out of about one movie in ten.

The other point is that even though I only like about half of Squeenix's games/movies/etc, they still make them a profit. Even Days is getting good reviews and selling well (presumably to the same crowd who writes Mary Sue fic, or people who haven't seen enough Sues to be sick of them). So did all of the FF games/sequels I didn't like. The only real reception-and-finacial dud of theirs I can think of is that dismal Final Fantasy Movie, and that was years ago now. They've been going strong ever since.

Squeenix has always produced more games I had no interest in as games I liked, and every game series I've ever liked has had at least one dud installment (IMO, other fans may disagree). Insulting as many of the bad sequels are to me, people like me aren't their only target audience. And I'm still looking forward to several games they've got in production.

On a side note, you really preferred the KHII story telling to the first game?

Well, like I said, the difference in tone between KH1 and 2 is so huge it does verge on emotional discontinuity, so if KH1 worked better for you than it did for me, I can see how KH2 might not. KH1 was a very silly, kiddy sort of game (moments like when Donald and Goofy abandon Sora the second Riku gets the keyblade off him stand out as particularly ridiculous), whereas KH2 took itself a lot more seriously - the animation improved, the quality of the voice acting (in the Japanese versions, if not the English ones) went through the roof, and the story made me genuinely like a lot of Disney character who'd made me cringe in the original. Since I'm coming to the series from the perspective of someone with very little interest in Disney, it was essentially just more the kind of game I was looking for.

Certainly Roxas and Namine's endings weren't 100% happy - neither was Axl's. But in context, I think the point is that just by getting to continue existing together in any form was a happier ending than either of them had ever counted on getting. An 'everyone lives happily ever after' ending to a story like that would have felt superficial and unrealistic to me, so I considered that a plus, not a negative.