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Kingdom Hearts (2002)
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing..."
Unbelievable. That's the only way I can truly explain this game. The unlikely combination of Square and Disney has unquestionably paid off more than anyone could've possibly foreseen, and for good reason. This game isn't just good - it's practically flawless in every respect.
The idea of immersing the player in familiar Disney environments was a fantastic one. And that's exactly what the game does, too - immerse the gamer. Some of the worlds are so complex, so intricate, you'll feel like you're put right into worlds like Agrabah, Atlantica, Halloween Town, and my personal favorite, Hollow Bastion. Helping this along is the absolutely beautiful animation that pervades every scene.
The game-play itself is great fun and leaves a lot of room for the gamer to improvise, strategize, etc. For instance, would it be best to attack physically, or try a long rage magic attack? Should I use up Magic on Aero or heal myself with Cure? Is a summon the way to go? Strategy like this can become really necessary against some of the games' tougher bosses, like the Chernabog, Riku II, and the Dragon.
This brings me to the difficulty of the game. On the game's Normal mode, it's a challenging, yet doable game for those just wishing to have a good time. If you wish for a stiff challenge that might have you uttering an explicative or two along the way, try Expert mode. Unlike the later Kingdom Hearts II, which is far too easy, the game modes on this game adequately fit with a good mix of enjoyability and challenge.
The story itself is simple, yet intriguing. Familiar Disney villains play excellent roles, especially Maleficent. But in the game's latter bits the game takes an even greater twist for the sinister with the introduction of the game's main antagonist, chillingly voiced by Billy Zane. I swear, I still get chills listening to the guy's opening monologue.
The characters are even extremely well developed. Osment does an excellent job voicing Sora, but the most memorable character has got to be Riku. His transformations are shocking and really drive the story along. Unlike the second game, the characters personalities truly shine in this game, and there's really no character I can say that I don't like in this game.
All in all, this is my favorite game of all time. It's Square's greatest masterpiece, and a definite must-play for all PS2 owners.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2003)
Absolutely Brilliant!
When I first saw that there was a Kingdom Hearts game for Gameboy Advanced, I said "Oh that's cool" and went about my business, thinking it was some random unnecessary game that Square had pumped out to earn a few extra bucks. Then I learned that the plot to it is actually rather essential to the second game, so I decided to pick it up and give it a try.
Wow. That's all I can say. I was blown away by the intelligence of the plot I was witnessing. There were so many twists and turns, and it really kept me guessing up until the spectacular conclusion (both of them). What's even more impressive is how well developed all the characters are. The members of the Organization each have their own distinct personalities and cease to be mere stereotypes that are all too often the villains of gameboy games. You truly cared about their existence, and it was always a major accomplishment if you took one of them down.
The gameplay itself is fairly creative, and a great adaptation to the GameBoy system. The card system allows one to pull off a plethora of attacks, and building your deck really takes quite a bit of strategy to do correctly. The only negative that I really see is that all the rooms you travel through really have more or less the same layout, so that can get a little repetitive. But, being the movie buff that I am, plot line matters more to me than anything. I more than got what I was looking for - it's a shame Kingdom Hearts II didn't have plot and character development this good...
A must play for all Kingdom Hearts fans.
Bully (2001)
Quite simply...the worst movie I've ever seen
This was without a doubt, the worst movie I have ever seen. And that's sad, i've watched some pretty bad movies. Let me put this in perspective for you, I watched bully right before "Wrestlemaniac", and without question, bully was worse.
It's truly rare that I can say that there is absolutely nothing good about a movie. I mean, the nudity was this movie's ONLY slightly redeeming factor, but it was used to such an excess that it was entirely ridiculous. Every time any character is alone they're automatically naked. Sometimes it doesn't even take THAT.
The cinematography is so juvenile it's hard to put into words. The defining scene of this movie's cinematic genius was a circular spin reminiscent of That 70s Show. But the camera was moving SO FAST that it hurt to watch. Not only that, but it really didn't have a reason to, because half the characters weren't doing anything in this scene! Only 2 or 3 actually had lines, and the others just stood there wasting my time by making a different unbelievable facial expression every time they came on screen. I think the goal was to make it look like one continuous 4 minute scene, but since the film kept jumping at parts it was pretty obvious that it WASN'T.
The plot line...where do I begin? It's so pointless, I can barely put it into words. It seems like we just progress from sex scene to sex scene with barely anything substantial connecting them, until we finally reach a murder. "He makes me feel bad." and the next line is "Let's kill him." Ughhhhh...not only that, but for whole sections of the movie the plot line is entirely lost and we're pulled off into useless scenes, like the mortal combat one. In addition, everyone in this movie is CONSTANTLY on drugs. I don't just mean they're drug users, I mean in EVERY SCENE OF THIS MOVIE, they're doing drugs...it's overkill.
I'll just toss the acting and script into one. The acting wasn't believable for a moment - every character just flat and one-dimensional. Every time they attempted to throw in character development it was just pointless, absurd, and out of place. Blue-haired girl's story about her grandmother really didn't contribute anything to her character, and is the only bit of development she gets. YET WE SEE HER IN NEARLY EVERY SCENE. As for the script...I don't even know what to say. When you have lines like "Kill him, like, kill him in real life?" in your movie, you know you've hit rock bottom. For the first 30 minutes of the movie, I don't think we really saw any dialogue whatsoever, aside from an occasional comment between sexual moaning.
The one positive thing i will say about this movie was that it was good for a laugh. I mean, if you have a bunch of sarcastic people around you, this can be a truly fun time, but it's only because the movie is so unrespectable.
*****RANT OVER****** 0.8/10
Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
Not even close to the original
When I first finished this game, I liked it. I thought it was good.
I was a blind moron.
After going back and playing the original (my favorite game of all time), the second not only pales in comparison, its a downright ABOMINATION. We waited 4(?) years for this game, and all we really got was a gigantic step backward. After the Game-Boy game (Chain of Memories), I was convinced that this new one for PS2 would be darker than the original, a concept which i liked.
Instead Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of the most childish games I have yet witnessed. People like Sora have actually regressed in mental capacity, and often redefine what it means to be a moron. I almost punched myself in the face when Sora nearly jumped out of his skin about getting a library card.
Once again, the gamer journeys through several Disney realms. Unfortunately, these worlds are not only graphically a step backward from the original, they are also a step backward in complexity. Many are simply a straight street with two turns included. Yawn. In Kingdom Hearts 1 we had realms like Hollow Bastion, which you could explore for quite a bit of time, taking in the visual beauty. No such luck in Kingdom hearts 2.
Kingdom Hearts 2's plot line is also randomly lost for huge portions of the game. It seems the Disney worlds exist only to fill time, as if the designers ran out of ideas half way through the game. They are completely irrelevant to the plot line: for some reason gamers are stuck not only fighting Disney villains with no clear tie with the REAL villains, at one point you're actually stuck in a world where all you really do is SING. In fact, you actually fight a boss with music. I was so embarrassed that I was playing a game like this that at one point I actually had to make sure that everyone in my household was GONE, just to continue playing.
The side-quests really hold no real value. They're flat out boring and are guaranteed to put you into a coma within 20 minutes. The only conceivable reason i can see to complete these is to see a secret video at the end (which you can also see simply by playing the game on hard mode - which isn't even that difficult).
As one final criticism, this sequel is incredibly easy. Don't bother playing it on Normal mode; a better challenge is actually found just opening the case for the game. At one point I actually TRIED to get hit by a boss' attacks, just to see if I was actually being damaged. I can only imagine what Easy mode is like. Hard mode is like Normal mode from KH1.
So after all my criticisms, how does this game get a 4/10? Well, I'm a giant Kingdom Hearts-fan, so that helps. Also, the main villains for this game (when they're ACTUALLY impacting the game at all) are extremely entertaining, and are lots of fun to battle. Unfortunately, most seem to be found only at the end of the game (a world that i particularly enjoyed). The Drive forms are a cool add-in, and leveling them up takes unique strategies.
All in all, however, this is one to be skipped.