Square Enix KINGDOM HEARTS Re:coded 91034 Nintendo DS/DSi Games
Features:
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The latest installment in the beloved Kingdom Hearts series, Re:Coded unites Sora, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and a host of familiar faces from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy once again for an exciting new adventure
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All-new features include a new character growth system created specifically for the Nintendo DS release, building on the series' immersive blend of action and role-playing elements
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Guide Sora like never before through exciting new boss battles
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Players can design their own avatar using over 800 unlockable parts and trade playable maps with friends
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Varied gameplay inspired by side-scrolling, shooting and classic Final Fantasy games
Average Customer Review:
( 63 customer reviews )
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27 of 29 found the following review helpful:
Yes, it belongs in the series, BUT it's not the greatest.Feb 20, 2011
By M.D.C.
"The Franchise"
The problem I think some are having is that this doesn't really feel like a full Kingdom Hearts game. And truth be told, it's not. It's a pale shadow of its brothers. 358/2 Days is definitely the superior. But this game belongs in the series, for one reason: it ties directly back to Birth By Sleep and extends that story slightly. You also get to see a little more of Castle Oblivion and experience more of the characters that you know and love. What holds the game back, in my humble opinion, is some of the repetitive tasks you must endure to get to the endings. There are also points that make little-to-no sense - some of which are just downright frustrating.
When you fight it's just like any other Kingdom Hearts game. You'll go to a lot of the same areas you're used to and fight Heartless as always. But the game is basically portrayed as a digital version of Jiminy's journal, where you are having to "Fix" the code to get the story back to what it should be. There are a lot of code blocks and such all over the place, and there are hidden backdoors that contain alternate worlds in which you have to fight and put things back the way they were. It's an intriguing approach, and in some ways can be fun, except that you do this a LOT. It gets rather repetitive, and in some cases it feels like you're not really making any progress.
Near the end of the game, you'll find yourself at Castle Oblivion and this is where the true frustration begins, as you will need to complete each scenario three times in order to get the best ending. This isn't hard for most of them, but the very last one, which involves Maleficent and Pete, is aggravating. It's impossible to explain how infuriating it really is dealing with this and knowing that you're forced to unlock all of the scenarios - it basically involves approaching the scenario three different ways, but with the last scenario there only appears to be two different ways of going about it. I wasted many hours trying to figure it out before I went on to Mimana: Iyar Chronicle.
IF you were expecting to fight through with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, or even Riku, don't. There is a brief bit where Donald and Goofy do help out and I believe one boss fight where Mickey shows up, but other than that you're on your own. Also, there are about a third of the Disney worlds represented here and not much depth; no Pirates, no 1000 Acre Wood, no Dalmatians, and no flying around Never Never Land. If the primary appeal to you is the ability to explore the land of Disney, you might skip this game, as it has just enough to be called Kingdom Hearts, but again, nowhere near that of its brothers.
I want to stress that the first parts of the game were extremely unfun. Later, the game got more entertaining once I powered Sora up. It was still repetitious, mind, but the fact that it tied back to Birth By Sleep appealed to me. It also allowed me to try Kingdom Hearts in an entirely different fashion with a better control scheme. Having the DSi XL helped, as the larger screen enabled me to experience the game better than the smaller one by a wide margin.
Definitely recommended you at least try the game before bashing it. Most that don't like it are comparing it to the other Kingdom Hearts games and in truth, it's pathetic if compared that way, but if you judge it as a standalone game, it's really not that bad at all. Superior to Chain of Memories in terms of the battle engine, superior to 358/2 Days in terms of graphics only.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A "Simple and Clean" gameMar 23, 2011
By RedJoker25 First, the story. The main story is interesting enough; visiting data-worlds trying to "fix" a journal makes perfect sense (not). Still, it gets the job done, and the job was to create a situation for Mickey to learn "the truth" as the characters put it. The side stories (the individual worlds') are sometimes rehashes and others not. Destiny Islands is still the same helpless place it always was, while Wonderland deals with collecting memories instead of evidence. Hollow Bastion (I) reuses the "Lost Keyblade" story, but in a different way. Olympus is still about bashing Hades, but Castle Oblivion is now relatively non-linear (there are 3 endings for each "world").
Gameplay: Admittedly, the camera took some getting used to, but once I found that I was generally too busy hacking at Heartless to care during battles and had all the time in the world afterward, I couldn't have cared less. Thundaga certainly doesn't. I also found a setting to let the camera follow Sora around, which was more than enough for my tastes. The level/"cheat" system is new, although how much cheating in your favor can really be done is debatable. Commands are decent, the Storms being my favorite. Abilities are okay as well, except you can't tell what they are until you activate them, which requires precious chips that could go towards better abilities on a different route in the Stat matrix. The range of Keys/Finishers available shows enough variety to pick a play style, especially since Keys have to be leveled through usage; you have to at least TRY (and fully level) all Keys to get one of the trophies, which means you may find yourself liking something more than your normal style. The additional game modes were fine, except for the lack of a save feature.
Music: Same old KH music, which means oldies but goodies.
Graphics: I was surprised at the general cutscenes (the stiff ones), but only because I never watched any videos/saw any pictures. As I expected, voiced scenes came in between worlds much like Re:Chain of Memories. Still, I guess what they saved in dialogue scenery was made up for in game scenery. Wonderland, Agrabah's cave, and Castle Oblivion were vastly different, but other than that, worlds largely resembled their previous counterparts, which is impressive for a DS game.
Overall: A very nice game. Simple for most of the game's plot and cleanly executed, save for a few wanted...save points. There's enough to keep perfectionists occupied for a while and KH fans happy with the plot. Even newcomers to KH would find the game decent. Even if they don't understand the big picture, most worlds have their own story that doesn't depend on it, which is the beauty of the series. I won't say anything about the Avatar section because I don't have any experience with it, but the Single Player mode is definitely worth the time, effort, and money.
Rating: 5/5
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Better Than 358/2 daysMar 07, 2011
By True KB I admit, I loved 358/2 days. I loved all the KH games. But this game was great. There was no "go to the same level-fight the same boss" thing. Almost everything was new and original. The graphics were on par at all times.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Re:Coded is a solid title, but lacks the heart of previous gamesFeb 11, 2011
By Atlanta Mom I have been a Kingdom Hearts fan since the series came out. I was truely impressed by the last release (Birth By Sleep) and I was waiting anxiously for Re: Coded. Once I got the game in my hand I was honestly disappointed. There were very few cutscenes and the dialoge was lackluster. The only thing that kept me playing for completion was the new gameplay mechanics, and the possibility of a interesting ending. The gameplay kept me engaged, but there were some parts where I just wanted to put the game down because of all the repetition. Basically the mechanics are fun, but that fun will wear out with time. I finished the game and the ending was simply disappointing. Re: Coded has made me feel like the developers are lost in their own story and now they just want to take cash because it has been such a popular series. If they keep releasing titles like this into the series it will die before we even see Kingdom Hearts 3. I would rather see the series have fewer installments and have them be strong than let another title like this be released. It should have either stayed on the cell phone format or they should have made it a stronger game for the DS. Yes, I did have some fun but I don't think I will ever go back and reccomend or replay this game, and I have replayed most of the Kingdom Hearts games.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Good. Not great.Aug 24, 2011
13-year-old's review: I thought that this game was pretty good. Fighting was good, story was tight, and I think it was a great game over all.But, it had some setbacks. It was not as good as 365/2 days. The story wasn't as tight, and the worlds were more exciting in Days. You don't get to explore as much, but graphics were stellar. over all. Get this game!!! It's still a great one to play.
based on 63 reviews
( 63 customer reviews )
