Despite its brevity, the section stands out by not only acting as a clever, non-intrusive way to teach the player some of its mechanics but also basking in its non-linearity, allowing the player to tackle the gears in any order they see fit. With each gear hit by the player, a new gameplay mechanic is taught, providing them with a constant sense of progression divided into small chunks. There are “clock gears” scattered around the town area (which adds to the feeling of the world being disfigured), which must be hit and activated to wind back time and rebuild the bridge leading to the castle proper. Right from its outset, after a brief sequence of simple platforming and battles with Heartless designed to teach the players some of the game’s most basic mechanics, the area wastes no time before throwing a non-linear objective at the player.
The Worth Within, a mirror area directly referencing the Dwarf Woodlands world in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.Castle Town, from the Castle of Dreams world in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.The first three areas featured in the game were initially featured in the entry Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, but now having been consumed by the darkness and ending up in the Realm of Darkness, they are disfigured and devoid of inhabitants. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 features a total of 4 explorable areas, all situated inside the same realm, the Realm of Darkness, but still each with its own characteristics and aesthetic. Let’s first lay down the groundwork we’ll be dealing with. As such, reflecting on 0.2’s strengths, especially those it has compared to its subsequent full package, is an act I find more warranted than ever.
Comparing it to the later third entry, I can’t help but think that Kingdom Hearts 0.2 set false precedence regarding the world design Kingdom Hearts III would offer, making the latter come across as far weaker by comparison.Īlthough this might seem obvious, perhaps even uncontested, to veteran players who have come across this argument for years at this point, I am under the distinct impression that 0.2 has been somewhat left in the dust ever since Kingdom Hearts III was released. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 takes ample advantage of its meager runtime by making each of its areas full of stark charm and depth. Interestingly enough, 0.2’s brevity is the aspect responsible for this. After all, the former was a mere demonstration of the latter. Regardless of that, upon taking notice of its short length, one could naturally ask themselves how a game of this nature could have better level design than Kingdom Hearts III.
Kingdom hearts 3 full opening movie#
It was included in the Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue collection, which also featured the remastered Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD and the prequel movie Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover in addition to the already mentioned 0.2.ĭespite its short length, taking around 4 hours to beat its main story, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 is a meaty title, packing a relatively large amount of content, which adds a lot of replayability to what’s already an entertaining experience. That being said, upon re-experiencing Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, I found myself noticing a particular flaw in the third main entry in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, which had not been apparent to me previously: the level design.įor those who are unaware, Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, which I’ll henceforth refer to simply as Kingdom Hearts 0.2, is a mini prologue-esque demo of sorts created to serve as a demonstration (though at that point in development it could be argued that it was more of a tech demo) to Kingdom Hearts III. Many of the often pointed out shortcomings of the entry had little to no impact in my experience with it and in no way detracted from its many strengths during my many playthroughs. Firstly, I find it essential to preface that Kingdom Hearts III is currently my favorite entry in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, a feeling which has only been further strengthened by the release of its DLC episode, Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind.
0 kommentar(er)
