Video Game Review #195: Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

I’ve never been a colossal fan of the Red Dead series. Not to say that I don’t like the series, it just hasn’t meant a lot to me over the years. To this day I have never even played the first game in the series, Red Dead Revolver. I did play through Red Dead Redemption one time back in 2010, but honestly I remember very little about my  time with the game. I recall it being similar to Grand Theft Auto, but with a western setting. I also remember lots of long and tedious horseback riding scenes. That’s about it.

When Red Dead 2 hit store shelves late last year, it was to great critical acclaim. Best game ever! A modern masterpiece! I was in no major rush to play the game, however. Unless it is a series I am absolutely nuts over, I am not the type of person to run out and play a game right away. I knew I would play it eventually, when the time was right. Well, the time was finally right here in the summer of 2019. What are my thoughts on Red Dead 2? Read on to find out.

Story:

This game is a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption. The year is 1899 and the age of outlaws in the Wild West is dying. Cities are being built, civilizations are rising. Organized law enforcement is spreading across the United States. It’s not a good time to be an outlaw. Which of course, is exactly what you are in this game.

Dutch van der Linde is the leader of the appropriately named van der Linde Gang. This once feared group of outlaws used to be a force to be reckoned with in the Wild West. But things change. After a disastrous ferry heist in the town of Blackwater, the van der Linde Gang is forced to pack their bags and flee, leaving their accumulated wealth behind. Realizing that the age of outlaws is about to end, Dutch decides that his gang needs to save up enough money so that they can disband, shake the law, and retire from the life of crime.

You take control of a gang member named Arthur Morgan. Arthur is Dutch’s right-hand man and most trusted advisor. Your group sets up camp, and as Arthur, you head out to find work and take on missions that will help the gang out.

All right. So that is the basic setup of the game’s story. What about the rest of the game? Long story short, things don’t always go according to plan. Some missions are succesful, others go disastrously wrong. You’re forced to relocate your camp while evading the law several times throughout the course of the game. Dutch always seems to promise “just one more job, one more big score” but these turn out to be empty promises. As gang members die, plans go south, and money starts to dry up, things begin to fall apart within the van der Linde Gang. I don’t want to spoil too much of where the story goes, but it is very organic and natural feeling, and fascinating to watch and be a part of.

Once the story really gets rolling, you will see that there is more to it than just robbing banks and pulling off heists. The van der Linde gang is composed of twenty some members, all of which you can interact with, and all of which play a part in this story. One of them you will recognize as John Marston, protagonist of the first Red Dead Redemption. Getting to know these characters is a big part of the game’s appeal. You don’t just look at this group as a gang of evil thugs, you look at them as people.

And your character, Arthur Morgan. At first I wasn’t really sold on him and I just viewed him as a generic gruff cowboy type that was more of a player avatar than an actual interesting character. The longer I played, the more he began to grow on me. For being a criminal, he’s got a good heart and a pretty reasonable moral code (depending on how you decide to play him, I guess). By the time the game ended, I had become very attached to Arthur’s character.

This is definitely a well-written game with great, memorable characters and an engaging storyline. One of the best parts of playing was seeing what kind of trouble the gang was going to get themselves into next. Unlike many games, this one’s ending is very satisfying. The lengthy epilogue not only provides a sense of closure to this game’s storyline, but bridges things into the events of the first Red Dead. Like I said in my intro, I don’t really remember much about my time with that game. After playing Red Dead 2 and being introduced to several characters that I KNOW are in the other game, I can’t wait to give it another shot and see what happens to these characters in the future.

Gameplay:

This game has so much depth to it that I could write about its gameplay for hours on end, and still probably miss a lot of important things. I’m not that thorough, however, so I am just going to try to make this as basic as possible.

You control Arthur Morgan from a behind-the-back perspective. You can walk, run, jump, shoot, talk to people, all the kind of stuff you’d expect from a game like this. A basic day in the game consists of you waking up in your camp. You wander around camp, talk to people, get the overall mood of the group. You can do things in camp like donate items to the group, donate money you’ve earned, eat, shave, sleep, upgrade camp equipment, do chores, and take on “fetch” missions for people in the group. You can even go fishing and hunting and bring the spoils of your journey back to share with everyone.

Open up your map to check out missions or tasks in the area. Story missions are marked by a yellow indicator. Side missions and “stranger” missions (where you assist random strangers) are marked by white indicators. The white indicators may disappear after a while, so I always prioritized these over the story missions, which I knew would be around forever. Mark the misison on your map, hop on your horse, and head off to find the mission.

Something interesting about this game are the randomly generated events you encounter as you ride around the countryside. These are similar to stranger missions, but much shorter. For example, you’ll be riding through the woods when you’ll hear someone shouting for help. A small white dot appears on your map. Go to the dot, and you’ll encounter an individual in need of some kind of assistance. It could be someone getting robbed, someone looking to rob YOU, someone getting attacked by wolves, someone who needs a ride because their horse died, someone trying to escape from bounty hunters, the possibilities are endless. You can either help the person out, screw them over and rob them, or ignore them completely. These missions don’t add anything to the game’s main story, but they do add a lot of depth and authenticity to the world of the game. There is a LOT of lengthy traveling in this game, so I am glad they threw in these little events to help break up the monotony of traveling from place to place.

As  far as actual missions go, there are a wide variety of mission types. Rob a train, rob a bank, rob a doctor’s office, rob a stagecoach, rob a mansion, rob a…. okay I am messing with you. You do rob a lot of stuff, but that isn’t all you do. Other missions include burning a tobacco field to help spark a war between two rival families, rescuing people in your group when they are kidnapped or captured by law enforcement, taking on actual legal jobs for people, delivering things, taking on bounties, escorting people from point to point, and attending a fancy party to make friends in high places. There are a bajillion other missions out there to take on, but none of them are immediately coming to mind. Take my word for it that the mission types are varied enough to keep your interest for hours on end.

When you aren’t taking on missions, it is up to you to do… well, whatever you want. Go to a saloon and have a drink. Go to a hotel and take a hot bath (for a little extra money, you can even pay to have an attractive woman scrub you clean). Go fishing. Go hunt for legendary creatures. Go door to door, meeting people and seeing who you can shake down for money. Collect furs, herbs, and other resources that you can either use for yourself, donate to the camp, or sell. Play poker. Play Five Finger Fillet. Play blackjack. Play dominoes. Just ride around on your horse and explore. There is SO much to see and do in this game.

Red Dead 2 pays very close attention to small details. Use your gun too many times, or fall off your horse into a pile of mud and it will make your weapons dirty and inefficient to use. Open up the in-game menu to clean and maintain your weapons. You also have to eat to keep your health and stamina up. You have to feed your horse for the same reason. You bond with your horse as you play, making it faster and more responsive to your commands. I found myself clicking L3, which is the button where you talk to your horse, quite often as I played. Eaaassssy boy. You can also brush and pet your horse to raise your bonding level with it. A lot was made of this horse bonding system in the previews I read, but really I found that it didn’t make too much of a difference what bonding level my horse was at. Same thing with maintaining my weapons too. I probably could have just ignored both of these aspects of the game and had a very similar (maybe slightly tougher) time playing as I did while being on top of maintaining things. The point I am trying to make – you can do these things but you don’t necessarily have to do them to get maximum enjoyment out of the game.

Now we segue into what I didn’t like about the gameplay. And there is a lot here to unpack. But you know what I am going to save that for my overall comments, which seems to have turned into the place where I do all my bitching whenever I write a game review. Stay tuned. This is gonna be good.

Graphics:

Undeniably, this game looks really good. Gorgeous landscapes, detailed characters, small personal details everywhere you look. The grass sways in the wind, the muddy ground splashes beneath your horse’s hooves, the weather changes in a realistic manner. You could just ride around looking at things, not even taking on any quests or missions. This game looks so dang good. Interestingly enough, the game’s good looks don’t really translate well to screenshots. I always think this game looks so dull whenever I see screenshots of it, even the ones I took myself. You almost have to see Red Dead 2 in motion to get an understanding of its full scope. Its graphics are magnificent.

Sound:

The game’s sound is also terrific. I love the voice acting in this game. Okay? I just love it. Arthur Morgan’s in particular. There is something very soothing and comforting about his voice that I just can’t put my finger on. When I am home alone and I talk to myself or to my cat, I do it in his voice. All the other voice work is really good too, and this voice work really adds a ton of personality to the characters of the game.

The world of Red Dead 2 sounds alive. Take a relaxing horse ride through a wooded area at night, and you can hear the wind blowing, the crickets chirping, and the distant sound of cows mooing in the background. All the little towns and cities sound alive with the voices of people and the clanking of machinery. Saloons are raucous, churches are appropriately quiet. The sound of water from the game’s various rivers and lakes is very realistic. The ambient music that plays from time to time always fits the mood of the game. You will notice a lot of really cool small details, like the way your gunshots sound different depending on where you are when you fire the gun. If you are inside a busy saloon, your gunshots crack and are really loud. When you are outside in a spacious area, the sounds of your shots echo and are carried by the wind.

There is literally nothing I can complain about when it comes to this game’s sound.

Overall:

Red Dead 2 gets a lot of hype from reviewers. So many people I know consider this to be an all-time classic and one of the greatest games ever made. Because of this, I came into Red Dead 2 expecting it to completely blow my mind and be a virtual lock for an A+ final score. So would this game live up to its lofty expectations?

Yes and no. To give credit where it is due, the scope of this game is amazing. The world of the game is massive, it is gorgeous, and it is SO realistic with its small details. The amount of work that went into creating such a giant and realistic world is impressive, even more so when you consider that I didn’t run into any technical glitches or crashes that wrecked the game for me, like I saw plenty of in Fallout and Skyrim.

There is so much to see and do in the world of Red Dead. The story of  the main quest is great. The characters are great. The missions are fun and varied. There is a lot to love about this game.

But now we turn our attention to the negative.

The pace of the game is slow. It’s reaaalllllly freaking slow. I would always groan whenever I’d have to come to camp, because things slow down so much when you are in camp. You can’t ride your horse, so you have to get out and walk around on foot. That’s fine. But you can’t run in camp either, so you are stuck walking around at an absolute snail’s pace. Things slow down like this occasionally during missions as well, and it is just infuriating to me. I get trying to be realistic, but it often seems like they slow things down just to artificially make the game feel longer. I’m sure if you were to ask one of the designers of the game, they’d say something about immersion, but to me it did the exact opposite. It irritated the living crap out of me.

A lot of the things you do seem unnecessary and pointless. I already mentioned the horse bonding and the gun cleaning. You also have to feed your character and make sure he gets sleep. You have to do chores around camp, like chopping wood and carrying bales of hay around. There are several missions where you have to go out fishing for long periods of time. I get bored easily by fishing in real life. As you can imagine I wasn’t a huge fan of being forced to fish in a game that I play in order to try and escape from the real world.

My major complaint is all the lengthy travel time. Let’s say you just finished a mission on the very edge of the game map, and the next mission available to you is back at camp. You have to travel allll the way back to camp, hop off your horse, walk like a snail through the camp until you get to the mission marker, watch a custscene, slowly walk all the way back through camp to get to your horse, hop on the horse, mark where you need to go on your map, notice that it’s alllll the way on the other side of the map, and then ride to the next mission marker. It took you ten minutes to get to camp to begin with. Now you’re going to be riding another ten minutes until you get to where you need to get for the mission. A lot of times you can’t even travel at top speed. You’ll have companions traveling with you, and you need to go at their speed or risk leaving them behind and failing the mission. All the traveling is so obnoxious to me. It made things feel like an absolute chore at times.

The combat system seems outdated. The whole lock-on gunplay thing doesn’t seem to have evolved much since the days of Grand Theft Auto Vice City or San Andreas. You barely even have to aim at your enemies. Just look in their general direction and pull out your weapon and you will lock onto them. Now all you need to do is shoot. Most missions were a complete breeze to me, and the dead-eye slow motion mode made things even easier in my opinion. If you are looking for a challenge, this game doesn’t offer much in terms of difficulty.

That said, I did experience some moments of frustration. Often I would want to just talk to somebody, but if you have your weapon selected, you will point your gun at them and it will cause an issue. They could try to fight you, or run from you, or sic the police on you. So many times I ended up “Wanted” with a bounty on my head over some stupid mistake or wrong push of the button. One time I was in Saint Denis, and I was a few steps from a mission marker when I accidentally bumped into someone with my horse and knocked him down and trampled him. All of a sudden I am wanted for murder, the mission marker disappearing until I shook my wanted status. I tried to escape, but I ended up getting in a gunfight with the feds and racking up a massive bounty that I had to pay off at the post office. A 20 minute detour that cost me money and reputation points, when I was soooo close to the mission marker. Really, really annoying. I hated going through Saint Denis because I always seemed to get in some kind of trouble with the law that would sidetrack my progress through the story missions.

As you can see, I had a lot of issues with Read Dead 2. Overall I liked the game, however. Is it a perfect game, deserving of one of my rare A+ final scores? No. Too often this game felt like a chore. Too often things dragged on and on and on unnecessarily. Too many times something annoying would happen that would put a price on my head and hinder my ability to advance the game’s story. Too many long horse rides, fishing expeditions, and boring conversations that were almost enough to put me to sleep. This game definitely has its flaws.

That said, I still enjoyed it. The creative missions kept me interested. You bust a man out of prison in a hot air balloon, for cripe’s sake. But what really kept me going was the storyline. Watching the van der Linde gang fall apart after failed mission after failed mission. Watching Arthur’s reactions to the shit-show around him, and how much the tone of the game changes late in the game when you *spoiler alert* find out Arthur has something very wrong with him. Tuberculosis. His diagnosis adds an extra layer of desperation and finality to the journey of the gang.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a good game, maybe even a great game. I can’t argue with that. But is it a masterpiece? Is it one of those games that will go down as one of the best of all time? In my opinion, no. I do plan to play this game again sometime in the future, so maybe my mind will change on my second playthrough, knowing what to expect from the game this time around. But for now I simply consider this a really good, really detailed and well-made game with a great story and a memorable cast of characters. I REALLY want to play Red Dead 1 now and see how this journey ends because honestly, I don’t remember any of it. And I am invested now.

Final Score:

A

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Video Game Review #194: The Order:1886

The Order: 1886

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

Nothing to get nostalgic about here, as this was the first and only time I have ever played this game. I first became aware of The Order: 1886 a few years ago, when it was featured as a cover story for Game Informer. I thought it looked pretty cool back then and I made a note to myself to check the game out someday. Well, someday finally came.

Story:

*sigh*

I know that this game’s storyline is one of its major selling points, and when people try to pick a bright spot from the game they usually point to its story. Not me. I have a very short attention span and if a game doesn’t grab my attention in the first hour or two, my mind wanders off and I completely lose track of what is going on. That is what happened here.

Not to say that this game has a crappy story. If you pay attention and have a good idea of what is happening, you might actually enjoy this. I just… couldn’t. Things moved too fast at the beginning, with little to no explanation of what was going on. I didn’t know who my character was, I didn’t know any of the backstory of the game’s world, I had no idea what was happening. After a little while I stopped paying attention completely, and simply played the game for its shooter-based gameplay.

Here is what I know about the game: it takes place in an alternate history steampunk London. That’s about all I was able to gather before I started to zone out. Informative, I know!

Here is what I think happened the rest of the game: You control a man who is part of an ancient order that is out to protect London’s interests. I believe this group is actually the Knights of the Round Table, still in existence in 1886. They’re battling against a rebellion, while at the same time fighting evil mutant creatures that occasionally pop up from time to time. Some kind of conspiracy is unveiled involving the werewolf creatures. Your character’s family is somehow involved. Corruption within the Order? I don’t freaking know. Like I said, I paid little to no attention to the game’s story once I lost interest in it.

It’s kind of a shame I wasn’t paying closer attention, because the final moments of the game deliver a big moment that probably would have been quite emotional if I actually cared what was going on. Oh well.

Gameplay:

There’s no other way I can describe this game than as a Gears of War clone. You run through linear hallways and outdoor areas, shooting enemies and ducking for cover. Get shot too many times and you die. If you need to recharge your health, just wait in cover and your health will start to regenerate over time. It looks just like Gears of War. It handles just like Gears of War. The weapon selection menu thingie operates just like the one in Gears of War. If I didn’t know anything about this game coming into it, and someone had told me it was a prequel to Gears of War, I might have believed them. It’s just so damned similar. The only things that are different are the characters, the setting, and the enemies. As far as gameplay goes, it is nearly identical.

That said, I didn’t enjoy this game as much as I did Gears of War. I can’t even really put my finger on what the difference is. It could be because I didn’t care for the game’s storyline, but at the same time I didn’t care about the story in Gears of War either and I still enjoyed that. Maybe it was more of a setting thing? I don’t know. All I know is that this game felt like much more a chore to play. Even though it is a game you could beat in one sitting if you were really dedicated, it felt a lot longer than that.

I think maybe the fact that there is SO MUCH story is what I found off-putting. Be prepared to watch a lot of cutscenes and be prepared to spend a lot of time walking your character down hallways as he talks to other characters. If you don’t care about the story, like me, you will find these sequences to be very boring. Even though the shooting sequences are fun, many of them are few and far between. This could be a huge reason why the game felt like such a chore to me.

Graphics:

The graphics are the best part about this game. I may not have been too infatuated with the rest of the game but at least it looks pretty darn good. I do have to give it credit for that. The characters are lifelike, distinct, and well-animated. The outside environments are breathtaking. The inside environments are extremely well-detailed, down to all the little things like food sitting on a table, the wall hangings, the type of bricks that are used in the walls, and the way the lighting effects play a role in this. So much work was put into making this game look beautiful, and it definitely shows.

I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2 at the same time I was playing this, and I can safely say that this game, which came out a few years ago, looks just as good as Red Dead 2. That’s high praise from me. If I do have to offer some kind of criticism it would be that things are a bit too gloom and doom-y for my taste. I would have liked to see some more color in this game.

Sound:

Everything checks out in the sound department too. Don’t get me wrong, the audio quality of the game isn’t quite as good as its visual quality, but it is comparable. The sound effects, such as the sounds of explosions and gunfire, are terrific. The music is not memorable in any way, but it does its job.

The voice acting seemed good. I’d offer more praise for it, but like I said I rarely paid any attention as to what was going on when the characters were talking. I’m sure it is great. It sounded good from what I did hear.

Overall:

I have very mixed thoughts about this game. Its story sucks, but its graphics and sound effects are very good. These things kind of negate each other a bit in my mind. What really matters to me is if the game was any fun or not. So, was it?

Sort of. If you’ve played Gears of War you should know what to expect out of this game’s combat. If you haven’t played Gears of War, picture Uncharted’s combat but with stiff, awkward controls and less maneuverability. All you do is run down narrow hallways or open outside areas, ducking for cover and peeking out to shoot your enemies. When you’re not doing this, you’re watching big long story sequences involving the characters gabbing away at one another.

To me, this kind of combat isn’t exciting enough to carry a game, especially when you’re spending SO MUCH time watching long story sequences. Why did Gears of War work, despite having a very similar formula to this game? For one, there weren’t as many boring story sequences in that game. Its play/sit there and watch ratio is a lot more even than it is here. Gears’ weapons, its enemies, its futuristic setting, and its characters were a lot “cooler” than anything you see here as well. Combat sequences were more plentiful, and mowing down crowds of enemies at a time made you feel like a real badass, especially when you’d whip the chainsaw out and get up close and personal. In general, things moved along fast enough in Gears of War to keep me interested.

None of that happens here. This game is slow, it is boring, the setting is very “meh” to me, the characters are not memorable, and you do too much idle watching rather than actually playing. The combat is okay, but at the same time very unoriginal and uninspired. I was just going through the motions as I played this game. I probably would have had a lot more fun if I’d been a fan of the game’s story, but I just wasn’t, and there is no way around that.

I stand by my statement that the game felt like a chore to play. There is some fun and enjoyment to be had in combat, plus the production values of this game are very high. If anything, it was a very easy platinum trophy for my collection. I am not going to give it TOO low of a score for those reasons. It’s not like the game is a complete failure or anything. There are some bright spots to be found here, for sure. But I’d be lying if I said the game was great, or even above average. It’s just very forgettable.

Ask me in ten years what I thought of The Order: 1886 and I will probably not be able to tell you much of anything. That should tell you right there whether you want to check this game out or not.

Final Score:

D

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Video Game Review #193: Fighting Force

Fighting Force

PlayStation

Nostalgia Factor:

I remember there being a lot of hype for this game when it was released in 1997. Magazine covers, commercials on the TV, word of mouth, Fighting Force was everywhere. I, for one, was very excited for it. I didn't have money to buy anything at the time, so I ended up renting the game for the weekend. I recall being glad that I rented it and didn't buy it, because the game was very short and I beat it in one sitting. I mean, I probably played through the game a couple of times just to get my money's worth out of it, but to be perfectly honest with you I remember very little about my time with it.

Fast forward 22 years later to the year 2019. Aside from seeing this game for sale on the PlayStation Network and being vaguely interested in buying it, I haven't given Fighting Force much thought since 1997. That changed when my friend at work told me that she found a copy of this game while cleaning at home, and asked if I wanted to borrow it so I could review it for my blog. Heck yeah, I'd play it. I didn't remember much about the game, other than it being short and relatively fun. But that was perfect. I've been playing a lot of longer games lately, and Fighting Force would be a nice change of pace.

Or would it?

Story:

My friend didn't have the instruction manual for this game anymore, so I don't really know what is going on with its story. The game itself gives you absolutely nothing. No dialogue, no cutscenes, nada. It just throws you right into the action. Fighting Force is all about beating people up and destroying things, so I don't think the story really matters anyway.

All you do is beat up a bunch of bad dudes until you get to the end of the game, where you take on the head honcho, Zeng. Beat Zeng, and he goes to jail and the game is over. The end.

Gameplay:

The game begins with a character select menu, where you are given the choice of picking between two girls and two guys. Each character has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. One of the characters, based on his size, is clearly very strong but slow at the same time. The other guy looks more well-rounded. The girls are most likely weaker, but faster. I don't know all of their strengths and weaknesses, as I only played through this game twice with two different characters. I intended to give each character a shot, but once you make your selection at the beginning of the game, you can't switch out your character for a new one. Yup, you're stuck with them for the entire game! Most games of this nature give you the option to pick a new character when you die or have to use a continue, but not this one.

As far as gameplay goes, Fighting Force is clearly inspired by classic beat-em-ups such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage. You go through levels, beating people up until there is no one left to beat up anymore. You have your standard punch and kick attacks, in addition to being able to throw your enemies. You can also jump, but I never found much use for doing so in the game. Hold the trigger button and your character goes into a sprint. Hit the kick button as you are sprinting, and you do a special jump kick attack that knocks your opponent to the ground. I found myself spamming this attack more often than I would like to admit, since enemies are constantly surrounding you on all sides, making it hard for you to engage in one-on-one combat.

What sets Fighting Force apart is the ability to destroy things in your environment. See that police car over there? Go up to it and smash the hell out of it. It'll eventually break apart, allowing you to use the pieces to attack enemies. You can pick up barrels and throw them, pull metal pipes off of walls, destroy crates, boxes, telephone booths, and fire extinguisher containers for weapons, and you can even destroy vending machines and drink the soda cans they drop to regain a little bit of health. Make sure you are destroying everything in the environment, as you get bonus points at the end of each stage that can go towards extra lives for your character. You are going to need them! In addition to using the environment to craft weapons for you, enemies sometimes come into battle carrying things like broken bottles, knives, and guns. Knock them down and take their weapons and use them against them!

Every so often you will fight a boss character. These characters take a little bit of trial and error. I found them to be the toughest things about the game, as they can drop your health bar to zero FAST if you aren't on top of your game. The game saves very sporadically, only every few levels or so. It can be very, very frustrating to get killed by a boss and have to reload your last save. Likely, you are going to have to play through the last several levels of the game to get back to that boss character. While this game is relatively short, most of the time I spent playing it was replaying old levels again after I would run out of lives in the boss fights. Very annoying, very repetitive, and very unnecessary. Why can't there be a save point after every level? It felt like a cheap way of artificially lengthening the game, from my perspective.

One thing I should mention before I move on is the fact that this game occasionally gives you the option to choose where you want to go next. For example, one area gives you the choice of whether you want to move on to the Bronx, the mall, or the park. Pick the park, and you miss out on the Bronx and the mall stages. This gives the game a little bit of replay value, as you want to play through multiple times and see what each area looks like. I only had the energy to explore two of these paths, however, as the thought of playing through this very repetitive game a third time held no appeal to me whatsoever.

Graphics:

Most modern gamers will probably get a good chuckle out of this game's chunky, pixelated graphics. But not me. I don't know what it is about this era of gaming, but I just love this graphical style. I find it to be incredibly charming and fun. It is probably because I grew up playing games in this era, when graphics like these were considered state of the art. I know they don't look great now, but I still love 'em.

Not only do I love the game's pixelated graphics, I love its color scheme too. That fight at the top of the office building, with the potted plants and the broken windows and the papers blowing in the breeze? Perfection. The levels with the darker colors aren't as cool in my opinion, but they are still charming. I guess that sums up my thoughts on this game's graphics: charming.

Sound:

I'm pretty sure the copy of the game that I played was glitched, as there wasn't any music playing for the entire duration of the game. I know the game has music. I looked up some gameplay videos online and saw that there was music playing during the stages. But I didn't have any music. It is probably because I was playing a PS1 disc on a PS3. I always play PS1 discs on the PS3 and have never had a problem before, so I don't know what the deal was. Whatever. It happened.

The sound effects for the game are pretty good. All the punches, kicks, smacks, grunts, groans, and explosions all sound over the top and perfect for this genre of game. I have no complaints in this area whatsoever.

Overall:

There is a lot to like about this game. I enjoy the genre. I love the graphics and the sound effects. I like how it is a throwback to when video games were simple and didn't have to rely on complex storylines to keep you entertained. Fighting Force keeps you entertained with its gameplay, and nothing else.

I had some fun with this game. I really did. But as you all know this area of my review is where I drag out all of my criticisms, no holds barred. And unfortunately this game has a lot to criticize.

The controls aren't great. There is a little bit of a delayed reaction sometimes when it comes to you pressing the buttons and your character responding on screen. Animations are clunky and it is hard to perceive depth at times. This will often result in you missing with your attacks and kicking and punching at the air while your enemies walk around you and hit you from the side.

As I said before, enemies often crowd you from all directions, which makes it very hard to engage in one-on-one combat. You'll be in the middle of punching an enemy and someone will hit you from behind and break up your combo. Then all of a sudden four people are pounding on you at once and you can't get away, and half your health bar is gone. It is really irritating. I often resorted to spamming the jump kick move, as it knocks multiple enemies down at a time and gives you a few seconds to focus on fighting people one-on-one before the others get back up from the ground and start coming after you again. This method has its flaws, though, as the kick misses a LOT. When it does connect, it doesn't do a whole lot of damage either. Since I had to resort to using this attack so much in the second half of the game, it made the game feel MUCH longer than it really is, since battles would take so long to complete. And if you happen to die in that battle and have to start the stage over again... oh boy. This happened to me multiple times and it made me rage uncontrollably each time. Even that anger isn't as bad as the anger I felt when I'd run out of lives and have to reload a save and play through multiple levels again that I'd already beaten before. So, SO obnoxious.

I had a tough time with this game, and I don't remember it being so tough when I played it back in '97. There are a lot of enemies to kill, and a lot of them can do some major damage. My most hated part of the game goes to the underground laboratory part where you have to fight an ungodly number of respawning enemies. What makes this part so terrible is the fact that there are certain enemies who regenerate health whenever they take damage. So you have to try and beat them fast, which can lead to you making a lot of dumb mistakes. I HATED this part of the game, as I died and had to restart the area (and the obnoxiously long subway area before it) multiple times on my two playthroughs. It makes me mad just thinking about it!

I really wanted to like this game. I had an.... okay time with it. Its repetitive nature and its difficulty spike in the second half of the game are keeping me from loving it. As a nice little walk down memory lane, I am glad I revisited Fighting Force. Thank you, Amy, for loaning me this game. I'm glad I played it and got the chance to review it. Truth be told, however, I am never going to play this game again. And I am totally okay with that.

Final Score:

C-

If you liked my review of Fighting Force, check out some of my other game reviews:

Double Dragon

Batman Returns

X-Men

Golden Axe

Gex: Enter the Gecko

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

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