Do I need to play all of the games in order to understand what

You probably won't understand what's going on even if you play all the games in order twice.

>>380521760
Play 1.5+2.5 and 2.8 if you have a PS4.
Play 1.5, 2.5, and 2.8 if you have a PS3.
Give the phone game a quick run through every couple of months and you're good.

>>380521760
the game gets a lot better once you unlock more combat options: Magic like blizzard, thunder, simba summon, and gravity shits all over the trash mobs, and for bosses, make use of aero, genie summon, sonic blade, and strike raid.

>>380521997
>>380522063
Does the gameplay get better in the newer games?
Is there an appeal to the series besides "muh childhood nostalgia" ?

>>380522739
yeah the gameplay is pretty good

>>380522739
yes, absolutely. KH1 is considered very archaeic by gameplay standards, KH2 being hailed as one of the pinnacles of Action RPGS of its generation

>>380522739
The gameplay kind of differs between each game but most of them boil down to Command Menu (KH1/KH2) and Command Deck (BbS/3D/Kind of Days). CoM and it's remake are off by themselves.

>Is there an appeal to the series besides "muh childhood nostalgia" ?
They're fun.

>>380522919
>>380523080
Ok thanks guys

>>380522660
>for bosses, make use of aero, genie summon, sonic blade, and strike raid.

Uhh you mean summon tink and spam x...right?

>>380523791
If you don't have second chance, maybe. Otherwise just slap on leaf bracer and heal when low, its free as shit and you get more damage and iframes by using the tools the games give you. OP wants to make the game fun not boring but effective

>>380523791
>being inefficient
>relying on endgame abilities that come too little too late
Also she can't be used on any fight where you might actually want her like riku 2

>>380525315
>>380524957
>>380523791
Well I'd like to get through the game with a little grinding as possible.
I picked up the shield and dropped the rod, not sure if I screwed myself over since the digital version of the game has no manual I have no idea what that does

>>380521760
Nope. Just read the wiki.

It takes about an hour, but you will understand everything and can then proceed to skip KH1, KH Recoded, and KH COM.

Instead, you can play Birth By Sleep, Days, Kingdom Hearts 2, and DDD, in that order, and understand the entire story AND play the games that have actually aged well.

>>380525648
Picking the shield gives you some decent abilities. I like it because you get the item drop abilities early which makes synthesizing less of a bitch. Also higher starting defense.

Dropping the rob lost you a starting AP.

Most people like to take the rod as it's the only one that gives you a stat you can't max out through consumable items. In short one more max MP at max level.

>>380525648
You get more item slots, defense, and earlier access to defensive abilities. Dropping the rod in that case reduces your magic, which affects damage and MP, but even then you can take advantage of overpowered spells. Be aware that any equipment that raises MP also raises spell damage.

You picked the safest option actually for playing through with minimal grinding.

>>380525315
Malificent dragon mode was pretty fucking useful senpai

>>380521760
short answer is yes, the wiki is a mess but if you dont like the game play its pretty similar at its core, you get more things in the newer ones that makes things smoother but it doesnt change a lot

>>380525648
>since the digital version of the game has no manual

Ever heard of the internet, faggot?

>>380526432
>Dropping the rod in that case reduces your magic,
It doesn't actually. It's the only item that doesn't lower what it raises. It lowers AP.

>>380521760
>KH1 combat is bad
lol fuck off retard the combat is great and identical in 2

>>380522919
What this guy said, at the time I played though I never noticed how bad kh1 really played.

I went back and played 2 though and it holds up remarkably

>>380527407
It may have felt that way if you played them a few years apart, go play them back to back and tell me there isn't a noticeable control improvement going into two

just watch the cutscenes

>>380521760
In a way, yes since as you proceed through the games by release order, they generally expect you to already know what is going on, but you can get away with not playing a few games, mainly the ones that have been converted to movies in the HD collections. I find relying on the wiki to be difficult if you haven't already played the games, but you should consult it to read the secret reports from each game after you beat it, so you'll read the reports from 1 when you finish it and so on.

Since you are still on 1 and want to understand was is going on, I will tell you now to not skip Chain of Memories since that game bridges KH1 and KH2 together without question. It was a common problem for people to skip that game and then go into KH2 which continued to cause problems with them understanding the story.

>>380528113
Reading the reports would help too.

>>380521760

Yes, except for 358/2 and Re:coded, you can just watch the movies for those.

Yes, the combat in KH1 is clunky and awkward, but it's pretty fucking great in KH2.

I recommend playing the original GBA version of Chain of Memories, as the remake version flat out cheats and is shitty KH1 combat + cards, and to play the PS4 version of Dream Drop.

But yes, you do have to play all the games to understand what is going on.

>>380527407
they're worlds apart

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How long does it take to go through GBA CoM at a normal pace?
Should I just play Re:CoM?
I don't understand this game at all.

>>380521760
Is Re:Coded important at all? Isn't it literal filler?

>>380529506
Only the last couple of hours matter.

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A paopu fruit?

>>380529506
Dunno about GBA's time, but ReCom takes about 12-15 hours for Sora and 8-10 hours for Riku.

>>380529506
>CoM

Dude, save those joker cards for the last worlds. In the last 2 worlds there are closed doors that need more than +50 numbered cards and one with 99 numbered cards. You can use a joker to skip a 99 card door or a +50.

Also, save at least one card from 1 to 9 in red, blue and green because you will need a certain numbered card at a certain color to open damn doors.

>>380529506
CoM is best played on the GBA, its much faster paced, but the RE version has voiced cutscenes if that's important to you. You should probably just read a plot synopsis to understand what happens if you just want to get into kh2 as quickly as possible though

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>>380521760

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>>380532675
Reading that image, does the creator of the image not know what retcon means?
0.2 didn't retcon KH1S ending at all.
Maybe I missed something, but that's retarded.

>>380534520
I guess Aqua also being there is something of a retcon, since there was no way Nomura had thought that far ahead back in 2002.

But even then, she didn't really do anything significant except for maintaining the status quo by breaking Mickey's clothes and going back into the Realm of Darkness proper.

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>>380521760
Don't even try to comprehend the actual plot

>>380535267
See that's what I thought. Guy is just stupid.

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>>380535275
Fucking hell.

1 - necessary
Chain of Memories - Chain of Memories is important storywise, but it's not that fun, except for Riku mode. I'd say you should play it but if you can't stand the battle system no one would blame you for watching it instead.
Days - Just watch it
2 - necessary
Birth By Sleep - It's basically Kingdom Hearts 0 so necessary
Re: Coded is unnecessary except for the ending, you don't even need to spend the time watching it, just skip to the ending
DDD is necessary

Did the new patch fix the PS4's shit? Also, do saves/trophies/theme unlockables transfer from the PS3 versions? I

>Release a game on every fucking platform in existence
>Expect people to follow the story like it was confusing needlessly 2deep8u shit already

>>380537307
>What are the collections?
There is no excuse.

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The lighting in the trailer looks so much better than the screenshots we got previously

>>380538086
So is it confirmed that Second Form gives Sora abilities from KH2? During that scene from your screen shot, we see him do an Aerial Spiral followed by a Magnet Burst.

>>380527834
I literally am playing them back to back, and I still prefer KH1 over 2

>>380531675
>this explanation
Not that anon but I am now never going to play CoM. That sounds like pure cancer.

>>380538384
Sure as hell looks like it

>>380538809
I agree.

I tried playing KH2 again recently and it wasn't as good as I remembered. Especially those cutscenes- I cringed at them like you wouldn't believe.

>>380539868
The best part about 2, for me, are the drive forms. Everything else I do not care for, like some of the worlds and their lame mini mission shit

>>380540238
Things that annoy me about 2 is the shitty design of the worlds that are designed for combat and nothing else. On top of that, there's the fact that many of the spells, like Blizzard, are pretty much useless considering that the elemental damage they deal is so minor.

The combat relies too heavily on reaction commands and set-pieces as well. The final fight against Xemnas is inferior to the fight against the Seeker of Darkness because the former is basically 6 phases of gimmicky set-piece fights.

>>380541190
I heard if you play it on critical mode that magic is really good so much so that it is a waste to use cure.
It seems like that the game.on lower difficulties is too easy to actually make full use of the combat system.

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After this E3, KH3 is the main game I'm looking forward to. I hope it's not 2019.

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>>380541776
Expect a release window/date at D23

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>>380538384
>KH1 and KH2 get callback drive forms
>Tfw no drive form that has you attack with cards and sleights from COM

I'd kill to have lethal frame and elemental raids again.

>>380541684
Well, in critical mode you inflict more damage. Even in critical you can get by most worlds just using the keyblade

>>380521760
Yes, but if KH1's gameplay is pissing you off that much, you can try watching a playthrough on YouTube.

I would then also recommend doing the same for Chain of Memories, seeing as that's probably going to piss you off worse.

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>>380521760
>and the gameplay is horrendous by modern standards
Get gud
The gameplay gets a lot better at around... Monstro or Halloween Town