Initial Thoughts On Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX and More

For the past seven years, if you were to ask me what my favorite game was I would always answer with Kingdom Hearts II.  Two years after its release, I spent the entire Summer of 2007 playing KHII as much as possible, getting every item I could find, chronicling every secret imaginable, and trying desperately to understand a ridiculously winding plot (I've given up on the latter at this point).  Needless to say, after all the hours I invested into that game, it has built some fairly impressive amounts of nostalgia in my brain.

Last year, before the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, I wrote an article called, "Virtual Impotence." In the article I mention the disappointment when a game doesn't live up to the polygonal glory of which you have built it up in your mind and how damaging it could be.  Because of this, I had immense apprehension about finally being able to play Kingdom Hearts II again.  What if it wasn't as good as I remembered?  What if it wasn't good at all?

Well.

I have put around seventeen hours into Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, and I can comfortably say it is still my favorite game, which is a relief.  But, that's not to say it doesn't have its fair share of issues.  At its best, Final Mix is an astoundingly beautiful game that hardly looks like it's nine years old.  The action is fast, frenzied, and addicting.  Each individual world is meticulously designed to be faithful to the film it borrows environments from and the characters that inhabit the worlds are wonderfully voiced, for the most part.  At its worst though is a game with some finicky mechanics, a confusing difficulty setting, and a prologue that is so mind-numbingly boring that it negates its own initial appeal. 

I am doing my best to look at the game critically before I look at it nostalgically so I can give a fair and accurate review of the game.

Onto another subject, my band leaves for tour December 14th, so my review will NOT include Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix.  I simply don't have enough time with school, work and band to finish Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, watch the Re:coded cinematic "movie," and write what I believe is an honest and accurate review.  Also, I'm not sure I will have the review out within the self-appointed deadline of one week after launch.  For all this, I apologize, but it will absolutely be live before the 14th.

Look for a 2/3 review of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX next week!