Game Review: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix

It has been a while but I am now back with a game review and I have decided to review a HD port of one of my favourite games; Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is about a character named Sora who, along with his two friends Riku and Kairi, wishes to leave their small world and travel to many others. However beings called the Heartless destroy their world and separates the three friends so Sora, now armed with the keyblade that has the power to destroy the Heartless, tries to find them by travelling to many different worlds. He is accompanied by Disney characters Donald and Goofy who wish to find their King, King Mickey, who left on a mission to stop the Heartless. Now I guess I will start off by saying that the main attraction of this game is the whole host of Disney characters and worlds. It is really clever to see how they mixed the stories of the Disney characters with Sora’s mission to stop the Heartless. There are plenty of worlds has well for many Disney fans such as Aladdin, Tarzan and Hercules to name a few, each one of them with their own unique feel and experience. However what a really nice surprise when I first played this game on the PS2 was the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters such as Squall, Cloud, Yuffie and Aeries to name a few. What also makes this game epic was its great combat system; unlike Final Fantasy which uses a turn based method, Kingdom Hearts uses a hack and slash type gameplay which was so much fun. The areas where you fight the Heartless are big and there is such a wide variety of enemies with their own unique abilities that you are going to spend alot of time, and fun, trying to figure out their weakness. This is also true for the bosses, many of them are massive and they can be quite difficult for first timers but hey, who wants a game with easy bosses? Also another great addition to 1.5 which was not in the original PS2 version is the introduction to many secret enemies which drop valuable items and a new boss in Hollow Bastion which was hard to beat. They are also kept all of the great superbosses that are even more difficult than the final boss such as Sephiroth, the Ice Giant etc. Back to the combat it is still as fluid and easy to master as it was in the PS2 version. Your stat growth is similar to Final Fantasy games in that you level up and equip magic, weapons, armour and abilities. You get even more abilities in this game which is a definite plus. You even get to fight alongside Donald and Goofy as permanent party members and from time to time fight with guest characters from the Disney universe, my favourite one to fight with is Beast. Besides to combat this game also offers a wide range of side quests outside of the main story such as fighting in the coliseum, collecting all weapons and mixing all items in the moogle shop to name a few. One of the one I was not bothered about is the gummi ship missions to get to each world but it is only a small thing and I don’t hate it either (it gets better in KH2). As for the cast of characters, they are all just perfect Sora, Riku and Kairi are great original main characters that fit in well with the Disney ones and the the same can be said about the huge cast of Disney ones. They are all just fun to watch and I like each and every one of them! Also graphically this game is ver pretty to look at, it looks largely the same as the PS2 one except with a few touch ups and colour differences in the Heartless. Overall Kingdom Hearts was one of the best games ever to have been made for the PS2 so I am glad we finally got a HD port for the PS3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this game at all in my opinion and I can’t wait for a HD port of Kingdom Hearts 2 which is even better than KH1, at the time I thought it maybe have been impossible to top KH1 but they did! SCORE: 10/10 I have not reviewed Chain of Memories that is included with the game and that is because I have not finished it yet. I know Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 came out in September but I only got it not that long ago and I have only had time to complete 1.5. Maybe I will review Chain of Memories when I finish it.

Game Review: The Devil May Cry HD Collection

For my next game review I thought I would review one of my favourite series, Devil May Cry. This review covers only the Devil May Cry game featured in the HD collection so the fourth instalment and its remake are not included, spoilers a head though I will limit it as much a I can. Before we begin I just want to say that my game reviews will mostly be about older and classic games, I do have a PS3 but I am picky about what games I get but I have played lots of the old classics which is why I have a lot of the HD collections.

The story of Devil May Cry is about a man called Dante who is a jack of all trades and accepts any job from his shop called Devil May Cry. He is also a half demon whose father has a demon called Sparda who betrayed the demons and chose to fight for the humans instead. So Dante has incredible power within him and chooses to also be a demon hunter and protect the humans like his father did.

Devil May Cry focuses on Dante accepting a job from a mysterious lady named Trish who wants Dante to go to MulletIsland and slay the demon king Mundus who is gathering power.

Devil May Cry 2 is about Dante helping a group of humans who fought along side his father Sp and now wants his help to stop a powerful tycoon named Arius from transforming himself in to a powerful demon so he can rule the world.

Devil May Cry 3 is actually a prequel to 1 and 2 and takes place before Dante has even opened Devil May Cry. He battles his twin brother Vergil, who is aided by a man named Arkham, who wishes to open the portal to the demon world that their father sealed.

Overall the combined story of the three games is very good and immersive and Dante is an instantly badass protagonist. Devil May Cry 3 story is particular is the best because Dante is younger and a lot more rash, plus it introduces his brother Vergil who in my opinion is one of the best video games villains of all time. A let down however is in the story of Devil May Cry 2 mainly because it seemed rushed and Dante seems to lack any personality in it. He does not even seem that bothered to be there, he has a lack of lines in cut scenes and the main villain and leading lady are really forgettable.

The game play in the series is a hack and slashes type and is one of the best in genre. Dante’s primary weapon is a sword but in each game you gain more weapons over time for a lot of variety. The environments are really big and when you fight a crowd of enemies you really feel in control of Dante; you can dodge, jump and perform combos with ease, many new comers can pick it up almost right away. There are also a lot of upgrades for weapons and abilities which adds even more ways off battling the enemies. One thing however that is not very welcoming for a newcomer is the series increased difficulty. Even normal mode can prove to be challenging, veterans to the hack and slash genre won’t be that put off but those who are new may have difficulty. Also they have added trophies which make for good challenges.

As I mentioned earlier in the review the standout characters in the series are Dante and Vergil because their stories and personalities are so well written and interesting; in Devil May Cry 3 I looked forward to every cut scene where they interacted with each other. Other great ones include Lady and Arkham for Devil May Cry 3 and Trish from the first game, unfortunately there are none from Devil May Cry 2 who are worth mentioning because I believe the story was just not very good in that one.

The graphics have really been improved in the HD collections; little touch ups that make the visuals a lot sharper and more up to date. The soundtrack they use in the games is very fitting with really fast based rock music for when the battles start and really good orchestra music that goes perfectly with its gothic theme. One thing that annoys me however is that in Devil May Cry 1 and 3 of the HD collection the voices are not in synch in the cut scenes, not in all of them but enough that it is frustrating.

In conclusion the HD collection is a near perfect import of the PS2 games to the PS3, let down only by the poorly written Devil May Cry 2 and the out of synch voices. I highly recommend this to fans of the original Devil May Cry series who wish to play them on the PS3 but I also recommend it to new gamers who want to get in to the hack and slash genre; it is a great series to start with.

SCORE: 7/10

References:
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