Kingdom Hearts 9/17

Update...wow, someone already finished it?  That\'s dedication,  I\'m still going to take my time as I don\'t see anything else worth playing for the next month or so.

Okay, I\'m at about 7 hours and must say that Kingdom Hearts has me on a hook.  When I hit hour 5 it just seemed like everything started coming together...speaking on gameplay.

I recently got some abilities that make the game so much more enjoyable. I\'ve acquired a dodge roll, chain combo, and jackpot (more money and healing spheres), that are particularly useful.  The battles are becoming a breeze and I\'m actually having fun in them...except for the boss battles.  No matter how strong I am it seems that the bosses always take me down to the wire.   Although I do feel a sense of accomplishment once I beat them.

I also ended up changing the settings for Donald and Goofy...Donald was always wasting all his MP at the start of every battle, so was Goofy.  After I changed their settings to "Conservative", the game has been much more pleasant.  However, I still think Donald dies way to often.

The Gummi ship has also managed to catch my attention.  Once I found out I can build my own ships and upgrade existing ships I was all of a sudden fond of it.  It\'s not necessary to delve into it, but it could be fun for some people.  I still think it was a major after-thought though.

Trog, I completely agree with you that Square had managed to capture the nostalgia of those Disney films and pack them into this game.  As I said in an earlier post, alot of care went into this game.

So, if any of you have the game and aren\'t to fond of it...play it for a little while longer.  Like I said, when I hit hour 5 the game became a gem.

I really don\'t think there will be anything else to comment on until I finish the game, so this will be it for a while.

**** A note about possible spoilers ****

I shall try my hardest to avoid any spoilers, I will mention the different lands and suck, but they shouldn’t be any surprise being that they are all shown or described in most of the previews/reviews of the game.  With that said, here is my full review of the game.

KINGDOM HEARTS

I absolutely love this game.  Traveling to some of the most favored of Disney places, defeating some of the most evil villains ever created.  Details are amazing, from drinking potions in Wonderland to grow/shrink, to the ticking crocodile chasing Captain Hook.  Voices are near perfect, using phrases that you would expect by watching the movies.  In the beginning all of the arch-villains meet together in darkness, though I could not see them, I recognized them all by their voices.

Seeing all the characters in 3d was a real treat as well.  The worlds were amazing as well, swimming with Ariel at Titan’s throne, flying around Big Ben, ringing the screaming doorbell of Jack Skellington’s house, and fighting the most evil of Disney’s villains, Maleficent.

Sure it’s toned down from FFX, but that wasn’t the intention of the game.  And yes, Goofy is quite, well, goofy, but nothing anyone can’t handle.  Anyways, here are my. . .

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FINAL STATS:
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Level 57   EXP: 198,731
HP: 69
MP: 6
AP: 31
STR: 51
DEF: 40

Time of final save point:  40 hrs. 28 min.

Dalmations: 99 [complete]
Postcards: 10 [complete]
100 acre woods: 6 [complete]
Trinities: 46 [complete]
Ansem’s Repots: 10 [complete]
Synthesis items: 11 [missing 14, including the Ultima Weapon]
“Hidden” Bosses defeated: 0 [out of the 4 that I know of]

I’ll be working on these stats for a little while, I must have/do EVERYTHING!