Video Game Review #192: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

PSP

Nostalgia Factor:

As you can probably tell by all the Kingdom Hearts reviews I have been posting lately, I am playing through the series in order, one game at a time. Birth By Sleep is the final game on the 1.5 + 2.5 Remix disc that I have for the PlayStation 4. I had never played Birth By Sleep before, but I had read a lot of mainly positive reviews about the game. As a result, I was really curious to see what the game was all about.

Before we continue, I wasn't sure whether to count this as as a PS4 game, since I played it on this console, a PS3 game, since the version I was playing was the PS3 Final Mix HD version of the original PSP game, or as the original PSP game itself. I decided on simply counting it as the PSP game. Sure it was remastered in HD for the PS3 (which was then ported to the PS4), but the game itself wasn't created solely for the PS3 or the PS4. It's a PSP game. I like to give shout outs to the original versions of games whenever possible. Plus, the PSP doesn't get a whole lot of credit in general. Why not let it shine here, if only for one brief moment?

Story:

I like to think I’ve done a relatively good job in keeping up with the storyline to this point in the Kingdom Hearts series. I may not know every single little plot detail there is to know, but as far as basic facts go, I think I’m following the story okay. But I have got to be honest with all of you. This is the game where I kind of stopped caring about things. I don’t know if it is the game’s fault or the fact that I’ve been playing so many Kingdom Hearts games in a row and I am getting tired of the series. Maybe it is a combination of the two. Whatever the case may be, I had a hard time watching the game’s cutscenes and I would often zone out and start looking at my phone as the cutscenes played. I’m going to do my best to recap things for you, however, and if it is not 100% accurate… well, I don’t really care.

The first thing you should know about Birth By Sleep is that it is a prequel that takes place about ten years prior to the original Kingdom Hearts title. The game starts out with a tutorial where you take control of three brand new characters and learn basic combat skills. These characters’ names are Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. Once the tutorial is complete, you are given the choice of which character you would like to play as. If you want to truly complete this game, you will play through it at least one time with each character, as each character has a slightly different (yet intertwined) storyline with the other characters.

After you make your selection, the game truly begins. It starts with all three characters taking place in a trial that will determine which of them becomes a Keyblade Master. Apparently there used to be some kind of secret order of Keyblade apprentices out there that would train their whole lives for the honor of being promoted to master. None of this was ever touched on in the previous KH games, so immediately I was very confused and had a million questions. Who are these people? Where did they come from? How long have they been in existence? How does this relate to Sora? I thought Sora was unique. How many Keyblade Masters exist out there? No matter what you do, however, the outcome of the trial is always the same: Aqua wins. This is where the game splits off down three separate paths depending on the character you selected.

Terra is tasked with investigating the disappearance of a Keyblade Master named Xehanort, along with investigating the sudden appearance of a group of monsters called the Unversed that have started terrorizing all the worlds. If you picked him, this is your quest. If you pick Ventus, his quest takes him on Terra’s path as Ventus looks to track down and help his friend. If you pick Aqua, her quest takes her on a journey to find Ventus and bring him back and to make sure Terra accomplishes his task, while also monitoring the “darkness in his heart”.

This is where things start to fall apart and become a bit too convoluted for my tastes. Just like in previous Kingdom Hearts games, characters talk to one another in a cryptic fashion that doesn’t really explain or tell you much of anything. They also have weird and confusing names too. This makes it really hard to piece things together, especially when you aren’t paying that close of attention to begin with. You jump around from Disney world to Disney world, fighting enemies and watching boring cutscenes. Like I said before, I started to zone out for a while. There is some kind of big grand plot going on behind the scenes where one of the Keyblade masters is trying to forge the most powerful Keyblade of all time. Apparently Terra and Ventus fighting one another creates this Keyblade? I don’t know. There are other things going on too. You encounter young versions of Riku, Sora, and Kairi, and their hearts are somehow tied to Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. How they are, I don’t really know.

The game also alludes to Ansem and the creation of the Heartless and the Nobodies. Roxas ties in to things somewhere in there too. I’m a Game of Thrones fan and I have no problem with lots of characters and grand over-arching plotlines. But things have to be well-explained and make at least some modicum of sense. When there is just a bunch of outlandish stuff happening while the characters mumble cryptically to one another, that doesn’t equate to good story telling in my opinion. In fact, I think the game’s story is a complete mess at times, as evidenced by the fact that I completely gave up on trying to follow it. I know this game ties into Kingdom Hearts III somehow (I’m sure Terra, Ventus, and Aqua play roles in that game), and I am hoping that my limited knowledge of WTF is going on isn’t going to hurt my enjoyment of that game too much.

Gameplay:

While I found this game’s storyline to be a bit lacking, I can’t say the same for its gameplay. It is pretty fun to play. I don’t think it is as good as Kingdom Hearts II, but I still enjoyed playing it. I tried to just ignore the game’s storyline and focus on what the series does best: fighting enemies and exploring Disney worlds.

I’ve reviewed so many Kingdom Hearts games lately that I am not going to sit here and recap YET AGAIN how the game’s combat and controls work. If you’ve played any of the other games in the series, you know the drill. There are a few wrinkles thrown into the gameplay, so I’ll at least explain those.

All three of the game’s characters have a different fighting style. Terra is slow but powerful. Ventus handles similarly to Sora. Aqua is the most unique, as her attacks are very weak and she relies mainly on magic to get through battles. As you play, you acquire D-Links to the other characters. So if you are playing as Ventus and you are having trouble with a tough boss character, you can use the D-Link to switch your fighting style over to Terra. Maybe you’ll have better luck with him. D-Linking also fills your health gauge, so I often would use it just to save myself from annihilation when I was out of magic and health potions.

Each character also has a special Shotlock attack. You activate this by holding the R1 trigger button. This brings a big target on the screen. Move this target around and lock on to as many enemies as possible. Hit X and your character goes into a frenzy and attacks everyone you have targeted. This attack comes in handy big time and become one of my favorite additions to the game.

There are several gauges and drives on the screen and it can be a bit overwhelming at times. You got your health gauge, the D-Link gauge, the Shotlock gauge. There is also a command menu on the bottom left side of the screen with several gauges attached to all the special moves. You use the up and down arrows on the D-Pad to select from the command menu. You can program this menu when paused, outside of battle. I tried to keep my menu full of various things like special attacks, spells, and potions. When you use one of these special attacks or spells, it drains a gauge and you have to sit there and wait for the gauge to refill before you can use it again. But the cool news is that as long as that gauge keeps refilling itself, there is no limit to how many times you can use the same attack or spell.

Last but not least, there is a gauge similar to an overdrive gauge that fills up when you deal out damage. When this gauge fills up, you become extra powerful for a limited amount of time. A cool feature is that if you use an ice spell (for example) before the gauge fills up, your overdrive becomes an ice-based overdrive that deals ice damage to characters. If you keep using magic while in overdrive mode, you can kick your overdrive into an even more powerful extra gear. This is especially helpful when you are playing as Aqua, since her attacks are normally pretty weak, but her gauges fill up super fast.

Structurally, this game plays out in a similar fashion to all the other KH games. Fight through the Disney levels, make it to an original area at the end of the game, fight a bunch of bosses, and watch the credits roll. I do have to give Birth By Sleep credit for mixing things up though. The three characters, the different fighting styles, all the changes to the combat system, there are even a couple of worlds composed primarily of mini games for you to check out. I commend them for a valiant effort at trying to keep things fresh. I just wish the game’s storyline held up its end of the bargain.

Graphics:

This is a good looking game. Nothing special though. It looks just like the last few games in the Kingdom Hearts series. I know I played the HD version of the game and not the original version on the PSP, but even still, I have to say that this looks good for a PSP title. I thought it would be a lot more primitive looking, even with the fresh coat of HD paint. But it looks good!

I guess that’s really all I have to say about that.

Sound:

If there is one thing Kingdom Hearts has always done right, it is giving us quality audio to listen to. The musical score in this game is great, as always. It could be because I haven't seen many of the Disney movies featured in the game (Cinderella, Snow White, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, etc), but I actually didn't enjoy the music quite as much as I did in past games. It's always easier to groove along to songs that you know and love, and I didn't know or love any of these songs. It is still an excellent score though.

Voice acting is also very good. With the exception of Aqua, who sounds stiff and robotic most of the time, all the voice actors bring their A-games. Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill lend their voices to this game, which is freaking awesome. Once again, another impressive audio showing from the Kingdom Hearts series.

Overall:

I had a pretty good time with this game. It wasn't my favorite game in the series, but I still thought it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed how they attempted to change things up in regards to the formula of the game. The three characters, the three different fighting styles, the three different storylines, all the changes to the combat system. The series was starting to get a bit stale in my mind, so I am glad they injected some life into it.

I also enjoyed seeing so much variety in the Disney stages. All the old Disney movies represented here really made this game feel like a genuine prequel. I don't know if that was the intent or not, but hey it worked for me. Too many Kingdom Hearts games simply rehash Disney stages that you have already seen before, but the only repeats in this game are Olympus Coliseum and Neverland. Even then, they change the format of the stages so much that it doesn't feel like your average rehash. Radiant Garden also makes a return, but again, they changed up so much stuff that it is like visiting the stage for the very first time.

The game is fast moving, fun, and very hard to stop playing. Each Disney stage only takes about a half hour to an hour to complete, so it constantly feels like you are zipping around and seeing new things. Even though you visit all these stages three different times with the three different characters, none of the stages ever get stale or overstay their welcome. I could do with never having to play "Fruitball" again, however.

My major complaint with this game is with its storyline. It is just a bit too convoluted for my taste. Right off the bat I had too many questions with what was going on, and very few of these questions ever got answered. Or they did, but they were answered in such a manner that only served to confuse me even more. I think I understand the very, very basic gist of this game's storyline, but beyond that - heck if I know. If this game does tie into Kingdom Hearts III, which I think it does, I hope they offer some kind of recap at the beginning of the game to help me understand what is going on.

If I had to rank this among the Kingdom Hearts games I have played, it would be below Kingdom Hearts I and II, but ahead of Chain of Memories. I had fun while I played this game, but at the same time I was very glad when I was done with it. I don't know if this is because of the game itself, or just because I was "Kingdom Hearts'd out" after playing through so many games in the series in a row. I am glad I played the game and I did enjoy my time with it, but I am not sure if I will ever play through it again.

Final Score:

B

If you liked my review of this game, please check out some of my other game reviews:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts II

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy X

Video Game Review #191: Detroit: Become Human

Detroit: Become Human

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

This was my first time playing Detroit: Become Human, so I don’t have any nostalgic feelings for it. I’ve always been a fan of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, which were made by the same people who made this game, so giving Detroit a shot was a no-brainer for me.

Story:

Detroit: Become Human takes place in the near future. Life-like androids are being used by humanity to do their dirty work. You’ve got housekeeping androids, security androids, personal assistant androids, construction androids, sex androids, you name it, you’ve got an android for it. As a result, people are losing their jobs and sinking into poverty, making them resentful of their android replacements.

The game follows three different androids whose paths eventually converge towards the end of the game. Conner is a detective who tracks down androids who behave abnormally. Kara is a housekeeper who goes rogue when her owner starts beating and abusing his young daughter. Markus is a personal assistant who also goes rogue when he witnesses his owner being abused by his drug addicted loser son.

This is a choice-based game, so what happens with the story changes depending on the choices you make. For example, on my first playthrough, I stood by as Kara while her owner beat and abused his daughter. He eventually killed her and when he was done, he killed Kara too. Game over for Kara. If I would have continued playing, it would have been without one of the game’s three main characters. This was still relatively early in the game, so I decided to reload the chapter rather than play the rest of the game and miss out on so much content.

My story ended up with Markus leading a violent android revolution, with Conner attempting to put an end to it, as I never helped him find consciousness. Kara and the little girl escaped to Canada, where they lived happily ever after, or so I’d like to think. Apparently there are hundreds, maybe thousands of different ways the game can go depending on your choices. Two people can play this game and have completely different experiences from one another. I am very curious to play this again someday and see just how different things can get.

Gameplay:

If you are coming here for a rich, rewarding gameplay experience, you may be disappointed. This game is all about its story and the choices you make. Think of it more like an interactive movie than something like Assassin’s Creed or Uncharted. You’re not going to be doing much running, climbing stuff, jumping, or shooting. Typical gameplay consists of walking around, talking to people, looking at things, and making decisions. There are occasional QTE action sequences that require you to react and push buttons quickly, but that’s about it as far as action goes.

Everything handles relatively well, however I did find that the characters feel very stiff when you are controlling them. Try to walk around a desk and you’ll get hung up on the edge of the desk rather than just sliding around it. Try to step over something, and you’ll get stuck. You just have to walk around obstacles. It takes a little getting used to, but you do get used to it. Another complaint is that the characters move sooooo slowly. Occasionally they will run depending on the circumstance, but most of the time they don’t. It is quite aggravating sometimes.

Graphics:

This game is gorgeous. There is simply no way around it. Characters are lifelike and well-detailed. I was stunned when I saw some of the actors doing interviews about the game, and how closely they resembled their artificial counterparts. Outside environments are immaculate. It is the future and things look shiny and futuristic, but at the same time they don’t look too outlandish or unbelievable. Interiors look great as well. There are small personal touches everywhere you look. Houses look like people actually live there. Offices are designed practically and look like they could function in real life. To top it off, everything is rendered in near photo-realistic graphics. I could just wander around and look at stuff all day long.

It is one of the best looking games I have played in recent memory.

Sound:

If you are going to have a video game based on cinematics and storyline, you better have good voice acting to go with it. Thankfully, this game does. The voice actors behind Connor, Markus, and Kara do an excellent job  bringing their characters to life. Some of the performances in this game are better than you would see in big budget Hollywood movies, and that is not an exaggeration. Supporting actors like Clancy Brown, Minka Kelly, and Lance Henriksen also lend their talents to the game.

As far as music goes, nothing really stood out to me as particularly catchy. But I never had a single complaint about the music either. It fit the tone and the atmosphere of the game 100%

Overall: 

The key to enjoying this game is knowing what to expect before you fire it up. If you are expecting something like The Last of Us or God of War, you are going to be sorely disappointed. If you enjoyed Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, or basically any Telltale game, you are going to love this. In fact, comparing Detroit to a Telltale game is almost an insult to it. Its graphics are a bajillion times better, everything is much more interactive, and the choices you make actually impact the entire course of the game.

The length of the game is pretty short, however. I don’t remember my exact hours total, but I think it was somewhere in the area of ten hours. There is a ton of replay value to be had here though. You can play through this game a countless number of times and see things that you never would have seen or noticed before. I did not do that, however, because I had only rented this from GameFly and I wanted to send it back as soon as I was done with it so I could get Red Dead Redemption II (which just arrived at my house a day or two ago, BTW). I guarantee you, though, if I had actually bought this game I would have played through it a couple of times by now.

As far as Quantic Dream games go, I would rank this ahead of Beyond: Two Souls and behind Heavy Rain. Perhaps it is better than Heavy Rain, but it has been a long time since I’ve played that and I need to play it again to see if it has aged as well as I remember. Still though, this is a really good game. If you are into the whole interactive movie thing, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t like this. If you’ve played Heavy Rain and the others before and did not like them, chances are you won’t like this either.

But hey this is my review, and I liked the game. I thought it was very good, and I barely even scratched the surface of exploring branching paths and seeing where the story takes you. If I did, it might have gotten an even better score.

Final Score:

B+

If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:

Beyond Two Souls

Life is Strange

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series

The Walking Dead

Master List: Songs of the Day

Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
Spacehog - In the Meantime

The Toadies - Possum Kingdom
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
10cc - I'm Not In Love

Nirvana - Come As You Are

Sam Cooke - Bring it on Home to Me

Looking Glass- Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome

Arrested Development - Mr Wendall

Lady of Rage - Afro Puffs

Muse - Starlight

En Vogue - Free Your Mind

Snap - I've Got the Power

Gloria Lynne - Speaking of Happiness

Black Keys- Little Black Submarines

Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike

Four Non Blondes - What's Up

ZZ Top - La Grange

Extreme - More Than Words

Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

Hall and Oates - You Make My Dreams

Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman

Uncle Kracker - Follow Me

Enya- Orinoco Flow

The Band - The Weight

Allman Brothers - Midnight Rider

Bob Seger - Turn the Page

Marshall Tucker Band - Cant You See

Extreme - Hole Hearted

Jackson 5 - ABC

Ludacris - Roll Out

Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter

Starship - We Built This City

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven is a Place on Earth

.38 Special - Caught Up in You

The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream

Nirvana - All Apologies

Whitesnake - Still of the Night

Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From my Friends

Smashing Pumpkins - Today

Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls

Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

Positive K - I Got a Man

STP - Plush

Huey Lewis - The Power of Love

Billy Joel - The Longest Time

Three Dog Night - One is the Loneliest Number

Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side

Bob Marley - One Love

Joe Esposito - You're the Best Around

Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible

ZZ Top - Tush

Golden Earring - Twilight Zone

Dishwalla - Counting Blue Cars

Scorpions - Still Loving You

Chairmen of the Board - Give Me Just a Little More Time

Badfinger - Baby Blue

Dire Straits - Money for Nothing

George Thoroughgood - One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer

Sublime - Wrong Way

Alice in Chains - Got Me Wrong

Rush - Tom Sawyer

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone

O-Town - All or Nothing

Def Leppard - Hysteria

CJ - I Want You

Nickelback - Leader of Men

Four Lads - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby

STP - Interstate Love Song

STP - Sex Type Thing

Spin Doctors - What Time Is It?

T-Rex - Get It On (Bang A Gong)

Lenny Kravitz - Dig In

Jim Croce - Bad Bad Leroy Brown

Harry Nilsson - Coconut

Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

Will Smith - Will 2K (Willenium)

Crosby Stills and Nash - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Puddle of Mudd - She Fucking Hates Me

Radiohead - Karma Police

Def Leppard - Bringin' on the Heartbreak

Eric Burdon and War - Spill the Wine

Melanie - Brand New Key

Blind Melon - No Rain

Luther Vandross- Never Too Much

Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville

Drifters - Under the Boardwalk

Van Halen - Hot For Teacher

Great White - Once Bitten Twice Shy

Blood Sweat and Tears - And When I Die

The Beatles - Helter Skelter

The Dixie Cups - Going to the Chapel of Love

Rush - Spirit of the Radio

Rufus Wainwright - 11:11

Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life

Beach Boys - Forever

Otis Redding - Dock of the Bay

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

Spiral Staircase - I Love You More Today Than Yesterday

Foreigner - Cold As Ice

Metallica - The Unforgiven

Iron Butterfly - Ina Godda Davida

Patridge Family - I Think I Love You

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears

Genesis - That's All

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky

Olivia Newton John - Physical

Jack Johnson - If I Had Eyes

Association - Windy

Night Ranger - Sister Christian

Gary Wright - My Love is Alive

Jackson Browne - Stay

Barry Manilow - Copacabana

Journey - Separate Ways

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses

Pearl Jam - Corduroy

Fuel - Hemorrhage

Dion - The Wanderer

Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies R Good Enough

Bangles - Manic Monday

Human League - Keep Feeling Fascination

Forest Rangers - The Age of Aquarius

Cutting Crew - I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight

Steve Miller Band - Wintertime

Huey Lewis - If This is It

Tommy James and the Shondelles - Crystal Blue Persuasion

Brian McKnight - Back At One

Tommy James - Draggin' the Line

Collective Soul - The World I Know

Black Sabbath - War Pigs
The Who - The Seeker
Three Dog Night - Shambala
Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride
Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not the One
Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
Candlebox - Far Behind
Guns N Roses - Patience
Wreck XN Effect- Rump Shaker
Michael Jackson - Will You Be There
Rush - Limelight
Enigma - Return to Innocence
White Buffalo - Come Join the Murder
Heart - Never
Days of the New - Touch Peel and Stand
Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Blue on Black
Bee Gees - To Love Somebody
Creed - My Sacrifice
Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger
Ted Nugent - Fred Bear
Ozzy Osbourne - Time After Time
Yello - Oh Yeah
The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You
Andrew Gold - Thank You For Being a Friend
Paul McCartney - Live and Let Die
Bush - Machinehead
Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy
Zoe Poledouris - I Have Not Been to Paradise
Beach Boys - Kokomo
Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
Salt N Pepa - Shoop
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes around
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out
Outkast - Ms Jackson
Ricky Nelson - Garden Party
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me by Now
STP - Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Jill Scott - Golden
Danny Gokey - Come Rain or Shine
Journey - Lovin Touchin Squeezin
King Harvest - Dancing in the Moonlight
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale
OffSpring - All I Want
Nickelback - Too Bad
Snoop Dogg - Gin & Juice
Mary J Blige - Family Affair
The Tubes - She's a Beauty
Queen - Under Pressure
Queen - Somebody to Love
Sakkaratti - Taxi Taxi
Sam Cooke - Twistin the Night Away
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss 65
Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man
Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
Nirvana - Breed
Michael Buble - Cold December
Live - Selling the Drama
Billy Joel - You May Be Right
Simon and Garfunkel - El Condor Pasa
Styx - Come Sail Away
21 Pilots - Heathens
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
Pearl Jam - Black
Enya- Only Time
The Cranberries - Linger
Digital Underground - Humpty Dance
Lou Bega - Mambo Number Five
Scorpions - Wind of Change
The Four Tops - Sugar Pie Honeybunch
The Trammps - Disco Inferno
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
Frankie Valli - Oh What a Night
Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight
Orleans - Still the One
Tina Turner - Goldeneye
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Glenn Miller - In the Mood
Animotion - Obsession
Foreigner - Waiting for a Girl Like You
Ja Rule - Put it on Me
Bush - Glycerine
Tonic - You Wanted More
Toad the Wet Sprocket - All I Want
Barry Manilow - Can't Smile Without You
Santana and Chad Kroger - Why Don't You and I
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Gayla Peevey- I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Rufus Wainwright - Old Whore's Diet
Hues Corporation - Rock the Boat
Genesis - Land of Confusion
Spin Doctors - Two Princes
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgetting
Toto - Africa
Doobie Brothers - Black Water
Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You
Def Leppard - Foolin
Bon Jovi - I'll be There For You
Pearl Jam - Better Man
Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight
Wallflowers - One Headlight
Alanis Morissette - One Hand in My Pocket
Live - I Alone
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Better Than Ezra - Good
Everclear - Wonderful
Tommy James and the Shondells - I Think We're Alone Now
Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
Kandi - Don't Think I'm Not
Blu Cantrell - Hit Em Up With Style
Ja Rule - Livin It Up
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Queensryche - Silent Lucidity
Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness
Doris Day - Dream a Little Dream of Me
Al Green - Love and Happiness
Franki Valli and the 4 Seasons - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Megadeth - Angry Again
Rufus Wainwright - Foolish Love
Guns N Roses - November Rain
Corrine Bailey Ray - Put Your Records On
Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
Smokey Robinson - I Second that Emotion
Def Leppard - Two Steps Behind
Lenka - The Show
All For You - Sister Hazel
Vanessa Bell Armstrong - Shine on Me
Eve 6 - Insider Out
Christina Aguilera - Genie in a Bottle
Van Halen - Panama
Boyz II Men - Motownphilly
Vanilla Fudge - You Keep ME Hanging On
Creed - One Last Breath
Cyndi Lauper - All Through the Night
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give it up part 1
Def Leppard - Photograph
Heart - These Dreams
Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
Guns N Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Fleetwood Mac - Gold Dust Woman
Bon Jovi - Runaway
Guns N Roses - Look at Your Game Girl
STP - Wicked Garden
Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots - Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall
Billie Holiday - Crazy He Calls Me
Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour
Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs - Little Red Riding Hood
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away
Peggy Lee- Johnny Guitar
Fallout 76 - Take me Home Country Roads
Little Richard - Long Tall SAlly
Eddie Cochrane - Summertime Blues
The Doors - Riders on the Storm
Tony Vice - Let's Ride into the Sunset Together
Badfinger - Baby Blue
Guns N Roses - Sympathy for the Devil
Cole Porter - Anything Goes
Ink Spots - The Java Jive
New Song - The Christmas Shoes
Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself
Michael Jackson - Bad
C and C Music Factory - Everybody Dance Now
Onyx - Slam
The Guess Who - No Sugar Tonight
The Shirelles - Will You Still Love me Tomorrow
Counting Crows - Mr Jones
Mr Mister - Kyrie
Des'ree - You Gotta Be
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (hush hush)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Gary Puckett - Lady Willpower
Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come
Carly Rae Jepsen - Call me Maybe
Hall and Oates - Rich Girl
Bill Withers - Lovely Day
Justin Bieber - Love Yourself
Joe Cocker - The Letter
Titanic Soundtrack - An Irish Party Third Class Original
Scorpions - No one Like You
Michael Jackson - Scream
Color me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
Michael Jackson - Childhood
Cosmo Sheldrake - Come Along
Crosby Stills and Nash - Teach Your Children
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
Isley Brothers - Make Me Want to Shout
Adele - Skyfall
Tommy Tutone - 8675309
Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart
Tag Team - Whoomp There it is
The Contours - Do You Love Me
Bill Medley - Time of My Life
Marc Anthony - I need to Know
Ace of Base - All That She Wants
Toto - Hold the Line
Chicago - Saturday in the Park
Loverboy - Turn Me Loose
Dex's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
George Harrison - Got My Mind St on You
Ronettes - Be My Baby
STP - Big Empty
Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women
Badfinger - No Matter What
The Guess Who - These Eyes
ACDC - Big Balls
Drift and Die - Puddle of Mudd
Frankie Yankovic - In Heaven There is No Beer
Alice in Chains - Rooster
SWV - Weak
RedBone - Come and Get Your Love
Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On
Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home
Default - Deny
Mr Big - Be With You
Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden
Dion - Runaround Sue
Muse - United States of Eurasia
Hans Zimmer - He's a Pirate
Tommy James and the Shondells - Mony Mony
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Heat Wave
Titanic Score - Sinking of the Titanic
Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again
Cosmo Sheldrake - Come Along
ELO - Livin' Thing
Elton John - Rocket Man
Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
Bryan Adams - Everything I Do
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap - Young Girl
Candlebox - You
Alanis Morisette - Ironic
Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Queen - Killer Queen
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
Boston - More Than a Feeling
Johnny Cash - Jackson
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Choral OP. 125-Molto Vivace
Billie Eilish - Bad Guy
Head East - Never Been Any Reason
Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me Not to Come
Billie Eilish - All the Good Girls Go To Hell
.38 Special - Hold On Loosely
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Snow - Informer
System of a Down - Aerials

Kenny Loggins - Danny's Song
Winger- Seventeen
Salt n Pepa - Push It
Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line
Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode
Sean Paul - Get Busy
Smashing Pumpkins - Zero
Whitesnake - Is This Love
Bob Seger - Like a Rock
Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Michael Kiwanuki - Love and Hate
Styx - Blue Collar Man
Paul McCartney - Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time
Frederic Chopin - Prelude in E Minor op 28 no 4
Yes - I've Seen All Good People
The Rolling Stones - Get Off of My Cloud
Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
INXS - Afterglow
William Shatner - Bohemian Rhapsody
The Youngbloods - Get Together
Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
Mr Trololo
Deep Purple - Hush
Witcher Soundtrack - Toss a Coin To Your Witcher
Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
Pete Yorn - June
War - Low Rider
Frank Sinatra - Blue Moon
Steve Miller Band - The Joker
Andy Williams - Happy Holidays
George Thorogood - Move It on Over
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Rick Derringer - Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
The Black Keys - Tighten Up
Apparat - Goodbye
Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
The Offspring - Self Esteem
Barry Manilow - Daybreak

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Doobie Brothers - Takin' it to the Streets
Leo Sayer - You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin
Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
Bobby Brown - My Prerogative
Frank Sinatra - My Way
Eagles - The Long Run

ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses

The Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Nena - 99 Luftballoons

Godsmack - Serenity

Quiet Riot - Come on Feel the Noise

Jim Croce - I Got A Name

The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun
The Black Crowes - Hard to Handle
Otis Redding - Hard to Handle
Aaron Lewis - Turn the Page
Three Dog Night - An Old Fashioned Love Song
Frank Sinatra - You Make Me Feel So Young
Jay-Z - Can I Get A...
Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
Braveheart Soundtrack - For the Love of a Princess
Sugar Ray - When It's Over
Sugar Ray - Someday
50 Cent - In Da Club
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
RATT - Round and Round
The Supremes - Come See About Me
REM - Stand
Faith No More - Epic
Pete Yorn - For Nancy
The Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing
Collective Soul - Shine




readd:

Los Del Rio - Macarena

Radiohead - Idioteque

Video Game Review #190: Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts II

PlayStation 2

Nostalgia Factor:

I remember being so hyped for Kingdom Hearts II when it first came out. It is one of the few games that I went out and bought on day one. I remember having fun with the game, but at the same time I can’t say I really understood it. It seemed like there were a lot of things that happened between the first game and its sequel that weren’t explained properly. I enjoyed the game, but I didn’t quite connect with Kingdom Hearts II like I did with its predecessor. I’ve played through the first Kingdom Hearts game at least five or six times in my lifetime. Kingdom Hearts II? I’ve played through it twice.

Now that I’m playing through all the Kingdom Hearts games in order, it is time to give KHII another shot. Would I still consider it a fun but somewhat incomprehensible game? Would I enjoy it more, now that I have a slightly better grasp on its story after playing Chain of Memories? Would it surpass my enjoyment of the original Kingdom Hearts, or would it continue to play second fiddle to a game I consider an all time classic? One of these things happened. I’d tell you now, but that would spoil my whole review, and what would be the fun in that?

Story:

This is the section of the review I am dreading the most. As I have stated in my previous two Kingdom Hearts reviews, I am by no means an expert on this series’ storyline. Most of this recap is going to be either educated guesswork or pure speculation on my end. Sue me if I don’t get every little detail right, or even if I screw up major important plot points. The game is (intentionally?) vague regarding its storyline, and someone with such a short attention span like me is bound to zone out and miss key details during the game’s cutscenes. With that disclaimer in mind, we shall proceed.

This game picks up with the player in control of a boy named Roxas. Roxas lives in Twilight Town, where he likes to hang out with his buddies in his free time and eat sea salt ice cream. Funny things are happening in Twilight Town. Roxas and his pals have not only lost all the photographs they’ve taken over the summer, they’ve also forgotten the word photograph completely. Roxas is seeing odd visions of Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s adventures from the first game, except he has no idea who these people are or how they relate to him. He’s also seeing mysterious black cloaked figures around town, in addition to dancing, silver Hearltess-like creatures. As you play, Roxas is led to a seemingly abandoned house on the edge of Twilight Town. He breaks in, where he finds Sora, Donald, and Goofy in suspended animation pods. Roxas vanishes into thin air, and Sora and his pals emerge from their pods with no memories of where they are or how they got there.

I didn’t really understand what was going on the first time I played this game, but now after playing Chain of Memories I have a better idea of what was actually happening. Sora and his friends were in stasis after the events of Chain of Memories, where they were having all of their old, deleted memories restored. Twilight Town was just a simulation that was helping to merge the personalities of Roxas and Sora, and to help integrate the two personalities together. I think.

After emerging from stasis with their memories intact, Sora, Donald, and Goofy seek out powerful sorcerer Yen Sid. At Yen Sid’s tower, they learn that Organization XIII, the men in the black cloaks, are up to no good. Also, Maleficent has returned, this time working with villainous Disney character Pete in order to overrun the worlds with Heartless. Sora and company is dispatched to not only put an end to Maleficent and her plans, but to also find out what Organization XIII has been up to. Thus begins your adventure, traveling from world to world and fighting Heartless, sealing Keyholes, and taking down devious Organization XIII members.

The goal of Organization XIII is a bit too complex to explain fully, but I’ll try my best. The Organization is made up of Nobodies, which are bizarrro world clones that get created when someone becomes a Heartless. In order to regain their missing hearts, they are manipulating events so that Maleficent summons forth hordes of Heartless, and Sora then kills them with his Keyblade, freeing the hearts from Heartless control. But then these hearts are intercepted by Organization XIII, who attempt to use these hearts to gain access to Kingdom Hearts and reunite their Nobody bodies with their original hearts. I think.

Anyway, the game ends with Sora and company storming the Organization’s hideout and destroying their leadership. The ending shows Sora, Riku, and Kairi back home on Destiny Island, finally able to enjoy some god damn peace and quiet. A letter from King Mickey arrives, and everyone gathers around it, their faces in complete shock. Game over. Wait, what??? What did the letter say? No wonder people have been so hyped for Kingdom Hearts III. I didn’t remember from my previous playthroughs of the game that things ended with a cliffhanger.

I’m sure I’ve either missed or misinterpreted some of the game’s events, but I am okay with that. I consider myself more of a casual fan than anything else, to be honest with you. I am not even close to being dedicated enough to fully understand Kingdom Hearts’ plotline. Is anyone, really?

Gameplay:

This game handles and controls in a very similar fashion to the first Kingdom Hearts game, which is a good thing. That’s not to say that enhancements haven’t been made across the board to make combat a more fun and enjoyable experience. Things just feel more smooth and natural. The camera is zoomed out a little bit more, and it doesn’t get in the way like it did in the first game. Battles are faster paced. It’s easier to lock on to your enemies. The game gives you a lot of triangle button prompts as you fight, which give you the option to activate special attacks. There is also a brand new Limit gauge added to the game that fills up in battle. When the gauge fills up, you can activate your Limit, which puts Sora into a super powerful, super fast destruction mode where you can make quick work of your enemies.

Combat is DEFINITELY a lot more fun in Kingdom Hearts II than it was in the first game. In fact, the entire game has a faster, more fun pace than the original. There were times the first Kingdom Hearts felt like a slow paced slogfest, and never at any point did I get that feeling with Kingdom Hearts II. The worlds are fantastic too. I absolutely loved seeing Pirates of the Caribbean, Tron, and the Lion King added to the mix.

The game is also a lot easier than its predecessor. Outside of a few challenging boss battles (the one against Roxas in the World That Never Was took me a countless number of attempts to beat), the game really isn’t that difficult. In fact, the string of battles at the end of the game is laughably easy. I didn’t even die once. I still have nightmares about the Ansem battle at the end of Kingdom Hearts I. By comparison, this game’s ending boss battles are a walk in the park.

 

Graphics:

This game looks better than the first Kingdom Hearts. The characters are more detailed. The worlds are prettier. I like how Sora and his friends’ appearances change when you visit new worlds. Sora looks super cool in Halloween Town this time around, and I’m in love with how the characters look when they visit Pride Rock, Timeless River, and Space Paranoids. The first game I think still holds up appearance wise, but Kingdom Hearts II improves upon its look in many ways.

The ways in which some of these worlds are brought to life are absolutely brilliant. I just like how colorful and vibrant everything is. It is really like you are playing through a living and breathing cartoon. And no two worlds look alike. Jumping from world to world with all these different visual styles is actually quite refreshing. You’ve got the bright and lush Oasis of Pride Rock, the gothic beauty of Beast’s Castle, the uber charming old school black and white cartoon world of Timeless River, the realistic and gloomy look of Port Royal, the neon computer world of Space Paranoids. There are so many different looks packed into one game, and they all look absolutely terrific. Let’s not forget the cool, trippy effects you see when flying through space, or visiting many of the game’s original locations.

Considering this game is 14 years old, its graphics have held up remarkably well.

Sound:

I have one complaint about this game’s soundtrack, and it is that dang “Sanctuary” song. I heard it in the first Kingdom Hearts game, I heard it in Chain of Memories, I think I even heard it in the 358/2 Days movie that was included on my Kingdom Hearts collection disc. This song doesn’t appear just once in each game either, you have to listen to it multiple times. Four Kingdom Hearts games into the series, and I am completely sick of it. Please tell me they drop this song in future titles. Please?

Other than that, everything sounds good. The voice acting is great. The sound effects are great. The music is great. I love the mix of new music and classic Disney tunes that each stage showcases. When I was playing the Port Royal stage and a battle broke out, accompanied by the classic Pirates of the Caribbean theme song, I couldn’t help but get the chills. I love that song and it completely put me in the mood to kick some Heartless behind.

Overall:

All my life I have been in the original Kingdom Hearts’ corner. My reasoning was that it had more sentimental value to me, its plot was a lot more simple and understandable, and that it was a super cool and original idea for its time. I always liked the sequel, but I always looked at it as simply more of the same, albeit with a much more confusing storyline. But I was wrong. I was dead wrong. This game is MUCH better than the original Kingdom Hearts, and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize this.

Sure, the introduction sequence with Roxas can be a bit time consuming and bland. But I liked it this time around. It was cool how they worked classic Final Fantasy characters like Seifer and Vivi into the game. It held my interest. Playing Chain of Memories and understanding things a little bit better surely didn’t hurt matters either.

Kingdom Hearts II takes a little while to really get going, but once it gets going, it gets going. The pacing is better, the combat is a lot more fun, and you don’t overstay your welcome on any of the game’s worlds. I like how you only spend an hour or two on each world, and then move on to the next one. The faster pace helps quite a bit. There were days where I played the game for hours and hours on end, wanting to move on and see what the next world had in store for me. Super addicting. Super fun. The more I look back on the first game, the more I realize that its slower pace was holding it back as far as its fun factor was concerned.

My main complaint about this game is in its cutscenes and its storyline. You knew this was coming. When I re-played through the first Kingdom Hearts game, I was actually surprised at how few cutscenes there were. I for some reason had it in my memory as this game where you watch a bajillion cutscenes and do more watching than playing, like the Metal Gear series. That wasn’t the case in the first game. In this game, it DEFINITELY is. You do so much watching in this game. It would be okay if the storyline was interesting and made more sense, but it doesn’t. So many of the Organization XIII scenes are just characters talking incomprehensibly in riddles back and forth at one another and then disappearing. I stopped caring about Organization XIII after a while as a result of this. People really like to tell Sora what to do, too. I thought the section of the game where you visit Yen Sid and the Fairies was NEVER going to end. Every time you were ready to embark on your journey, they’d say “oh just one more thing!” and then you’d get dragged into another ten minutes of talking. It was really, really infuriating. This kind of thing happens multiple times throughout the game too, and it never gets any less irritating.

Outside of that, I have no problems with the game. It takes a while for things to click, but once they do, you are in for a super exciting ride. Kingdom Hearts II is fun, its colorful, and it is full of awesome and creative Disney worlds that are a blast to explore. Once this game got its hooks stuck in me, there was no looking back. I played this game every spare second I was home from work. It is just so addicting and so fun. Even the long drawn out cutscenes weren’t enough to make me lose interest in the game. I just wanted to keep going and going until I had seen and done everything there was to see and do.

My opinion has definitely changed on Kingdom Hearts II. It’s better than the original, and it really isn’t even that close. I don’t want to give this game an A+ because honestly it does have some pretty annoying flaws. But the gap between A- (which is what the first game got) and this game’s A is a lot bigger than it seems. This is clearly the best Kingdom Hearts game that I have played, and the rest of the games in the series have their work cut out for them if they are going to top this.

Final Score:

A

If you liked my review of Kingdom Hearts II, check out some of my other game reviews:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus

Final Fantasy X

Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage