KHII difficulty setting question

[Big D]

I just started playing KHII yesterday, and I'm liking it a lot so far. Got a question, though: when you choose a difficulty setting at the start of the game, does your choice have any real impact on the game's content? I mean, if you were to choose "beginner" difficulty, does anything get left out? Are there secrets that can only be unlocked by playing on the hardest setting?

Please respond without spoilers of any kind - this is one of very few games that hasn't had some major plot points ruined for me in recent years, and I'd like to keep it that way. Ta

[Wolf Kanno]

The difficulty setting is a bit of a red herring. The only major changes are that the enemies have more Hp and Sora takes more damage from attacks. The A.I. doesn't get any better or anything. As for the story side of things. All that is affected is the conditions for getting the secret ending.

In Proud mode you just need to finish the game and you get the ending. For the other difficulty modes, you need to complete Jiminey's Journal of doom. This means basically unlocking everything and achieving the high scores stated in the Journal. You need to beat the game's optional boss, complete the Synthesis section, and complete with the high scores all of the Hades Paradox Cup.

If you are just playing for story, I would choose Proud mode and play through that as the difficulty isn't really that great cause Sora is a god with this games combat system. If you don't care, choose any of them and complete the request at your leisure.

[Darkswordofchaos]

The extra ending is a lot easyer to obtain imo if you fight in proud mode

[Tavrobel]

The only major changes are that the enemies have more Hp and Sora takes more damage from attacks. The A.I. doesn't get any better or anything.

This is incorrect. The enemies retain the same amount of HP, but Sora and the enemy both receive and distribute much more damage. The AI does slightly improve, and this becomes painfully obvious not in boss battles, but against regular mobs.

Additionally, in the Beginner mode, you can't unlock the secret video. Normal mode requires completion of the Journal (which implies completion and collection of everything in the game aside from Gummi routes). Proud mode only asks that you seal all of the worlds. If you're a minimalist, Proud Mode is the way to go. The battle numbers may be tweaked higher, but involves a smaller amount of tedium when it comes to the mini-games (which are annoying at best). I'm a violent bastard, though, so yes, I do like hitting things on the head with large steel bars.

SPOILER ALERT: SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE

[Fonzie]

Just do proud, it's not that much harder then any of the other modes.

[Big D]

Thanks, this has all been very helpful. I'll keep going on normal difficulty, I think. Getting the secret ending on the first go sounds appealing, but not if it makes the regular battles noticeably harder. I have a lot less time for playing games these days, and a lot less patience for difficult problems that require a lot of replaying to get through them.

[Tavrobel]

Suffice it to say, KHII's Proud mode is not at all difficult, either (improved AI means little in this game when the right Abilities are abused). But then there are some battles that just plain suck and for very definite and glaringly stupid reasons suck only in Proud mode (OXIII's #9 r.2).

[Darkswordofchaos]

The only fight i found any harder was the gate keeper thing in the first goround of beasts castle infact i beat some of the org XIII members easyer although that might be because i have already beat them

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

What Tav said. Proud mode is far from difficult to be honest. :/

[Wolf Kanno]

The only major changes are that the enemies have more Hp and Sora takes more damage from attacks. The A.I. doesn't get any better or anything.

This is incorrect. The enemies retain the same amount of HP, but Sora and the enemy both receive and distribute much more damage. The AI does slightly improve, and this becomes painfully obvious not in boss battles, but against regular mobs.

Additionally, in the Beginner mode, you can't unlock the secret video. Normal mode requires completion of the Journal (which implies completion and collection of everything in the game aside from Gummi routes). Proud mode only asks that you seal all of the worlds. If you're a minimalist, Proud Mode is the way to go. The battle numbers may be tweaked higher, but involves a smaller amount of tedium when it comes to the mini-games (which are annoying at best). I'm a violent bastard, though, so yes, I do like hitting things on the head with large steel bars.

SPOILER ALERT: SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE

My bad, but now I know...
...AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!!!

Yeah, Proud is really not that bad. I never noticed an improved A.I. to be honest. I think the only time I noticed a difference was in the beginning of the game when you have limited abilities. Once you got to the first Disney world it was a pretty smooth ride.

[sdm42393]

My bad, but now I know...
...AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!!!

G.I. JOE!!

[RedPouch]

KH II has difficulty?


Honestly I didn't even find harder modes to be much different. The only thing that's bad is completing all those side-quests... it can take forever.