I'll respond to the PM later. Still brainstorming what I want to fix. I can totally understand the obnoxious grinding feedback loop these games make. Though I didn't know Ito was a director for this game, I can totally tell based on how the gameplay structure is. Another one of his "looks easy so anyone can get into, but the mechanics can go so deep that it's a meta game itself". I am laughing we're talking about the grind aspect because I did just spend a part of my day grinding Speed XP medals so I can max out the base level of all my Green Speed Medals, including a few new ones I just picked up. In KH1FM news, after two nights of grinding for it, I obtained the Defender Shield and Wizard Relic staff for my compatriots, as well as close to seven extra levels and a ton of cash I'm using for the last weapon upgrades and synthesis materials. I also just obtained Oathkeeper and once I seal Hollow Bastion's keyhole, I'll finally unlock the end game stuff. I'll lickely do what I always do, which is grind in the Hades Cup while gathering the last bit of Synthesis Materials I need which will require a quick peek at End of the World. Then I'll hit up all of the optional bosses while finishing up the solo and time challenges for the Hades Cup. I'm leaving the Unknown as the final optional boss fight since he's the new guy in town. Not exactly looking forward to Sephiroth and Phantom fights though. I also still need to grind the last few synth items I need from two of the game's new enemy types. My level boost gained from trying to get the weapon drops has me feeling a bit more in control of the game so I can be a bit reckless now, but I'm sure most of those optional bosses as well as the last zone exclusive enemies will have me realizing pretty quickly I'm still working without a safety net. Should be interesting to see nonetheless and then I can jump into CoM:Re.
I agree, though my personal reasons for whining in this cases is just that I have this automatic repulsion to games that use the mobile/MMO format, in that they try to suck you in and addict to grinding so much. KH is still one of the better games in this format, but I still kinda need to force myself to play it. Bye, did you know Hiroyuki Ito is a co-Director on this game? I’ll send you my feedback on the story in a magnet message, I kinda feel that’s be better
Btw, thanks again for the edits, I've been reading over them and seeing what I can do to adjust the issues I have. I did have one question for you, did you like the story or was it too cheesy?
Oh yeah, I love most of the villains from KH. They've never had an issue with them outside of just all of their plans making the cosmology of the setting more confusing. I was simply making an observation that this may be the reason why some fans who came in for the Disney love are feeling a little left out. Funny enough, I'm stuck in Agrabah as we speak. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've done a single Union X Raid Boss there ever, it's almost always Wonderland, Cinderella, or Beauty and the Beast with the occasional Hades realm of Hercules. I've learned that levels are largely meaningless since they only affect HP and which costume boards you've unlocked. I'm kind of stuck in the grind part because I need XP Medals for my Medals or I need materials to upgrade my Keyblades past the Lv. 25 tier. If I'm going to give the game one prop, its that it does a good job of making sure the side optional content is quick and fast unlike other mobile games I've played. The grind is also a bit more reasonable but that might be due to still being a bit away from taking full advantage of how deep the Medal Min/Max goes in this title because one guide I looked up showed me that I'm still approaching the game as a novice. The one thing I do appreciate about the game is that the "Energy" mechanic is reserved purely for the side content and if I want to just play through the plot, I'm free to do so for however long I wish. I know a lot of people whine about SE's mobile titles, but they honestly do a pretty good job with them.
Yeah, he's one of the most entertaining music theory channels out there, if you ask me. I can't really tell for sure because of my background, but I feel he does a pretty good job explaining some complex concepts in very simple terms. I kind of feel like 8Bit Music theory, for example, as much as I love him, kind of fails to achieve that - but maybe he doesn't set out to do that after all since he's pretty much just doing musical analysis. As for Union X, I'm taking another break because I just need to get mentally prepared for another 50 years in Agrabah (why is it always Agrabah? Why is it in so many games? Same with Wonderland, tbh). I'm only level 80, so that number feels kinda overkill if you ask me Let me just tell you this - the missions around here do have some interesting story bits, but it's not like stuff really starts going down yet. There's one very interesting aspect that I think is worhtwhile, but overall the status quo remains firm so far. And yeah, agreed about the villains, but I also feel like the OG KH villains have really grown into their own. Even in I Ansem was cool - though he was pretty flat then, Billy Zane's performance as him really stole the show, if you ask me. Then we got the Organization which, true, never really lived up to the potential they presented in CoM, but games after II have really gone on to add some much needed depth to them and they're still one of my favorite aspects of the series. And then there's Master Xehanort who's a delicious ham that I always look forward to seeing more of. While it's a shame that we can no longer have the legendary Leonard Nimoy to voice him, they got Rutger Hauer as a replacement and I think that's a really fantastic choice. Heck, I even really like Young Xehanort, though it's mostly for his implications than his personality per se. I'm also kind biased because his voice actor is a gigantic dork who is really all into this madness (his Twitter handle is "Duly Norted") and that's really improved my enjoyment of the character. Xemnas is really the odd one out, since I kinda feel the writers never really knew what to do with him, though his Cold Ham performance is still very memorable.
I remember you sending me that video where the guy dissects most of the Star Wars score because his music teacher basically pointed out that John Williams mostly adapted the music tracks George had used as stand ins for all the scenes. As for Union X, I'm on Mission 151. I would likely be farther if the story missions were less tedious and I didn't get sidetracked by being a munchkin about developing my keyblades and medals. I'm almost at Lv. 300 for instance. I hear the story picks up around the 200 mission range. I am psyched cause I finally obtained a Roxas medal. Everyone I know who plays is tripping over his themed medals but I only just got my one. In Final Mix news, I'm just before the fight with Ansem possessed Riku. Finally got a third accessory slot for Sora and what a difference it makes. I can finally take a little more punishment now. Since I'm kind of going for a completionist run here, I'm farming the Defenders and Wizards to get their rare weapon drops, especially since I know all the heartless get a boost in stats once I finish this scenario, and partly because I could use the extra fire power when I try to tackle the Hades Cup. My team is like Lv. 55ish, which is pretty high for this point in the game, but since I'm on Proud Mode, it means I finally reached the point where I can be a little more reckless in battle and not worry about watching Sora's health all the time. I also completed the Time Trail run of the Herc cup and won the final magic based physical finisher which is gravity based. I've decided that the reason why the sequels never quite felt like the Disney worlds wer as well integrated as the first game really stems from the fact that all of the Disney villains are demoted to second tier threats once the original antagonists like Ansem, Org. XIII, and Xehanort show up to be the Big Bads I mean it was actually kind of fun seeing some of my favorite Disney villains team up in this entry whereas in the sequels, I have to try and remember if the villains actually do show up. I mean I never realized that Gaston never appeared in any of the B&tB scenarios until Union X/chi.
Btw have you made it to mission 250 yet? I have. It was not what I expected and now I’m back in Agrabah again, which sucks, but at least the story but was interesting in a completely different way than expected.
Nifty. Reminded me of another video I know.
Thought you would enjoy this:
Oh no, they're definitely acting and written for their age. I simply laughed because Riku's scene with Ansem could almost be looked at like: Riku: I'm hungry Ansem: Hey kid, I heard you were hungry, if you come with me to my non-descript white van, I have lots of candy in the back. Riku: You look pretty legit creepy man in a burlap sack, let's go! Have we discussed the fact that Xehanort almost always looks like an untrustworthy villain and yet everyone in the series doesn't think twice about it and trusts him anyway? Maybe it's the Disney showing. Yeah the banter was the easy part for writing them, as for the mystery, it really depends on the type of format you're doing. Unfortunately, these types of stories often need an Audience Surrogate so the info dumps don't feel out of place, or you can go Agatha on it and simply leave the actual explanation/info dump to the very end. It might be challenging since both brothers are part of the trade.
