Kingdom Hearts 1 & RPG's in general

[rscaramelo]

I'm more of a sport/racing/fighter gamer. I've been itching to try RPG's but I'm really intimidated by them. It was suggested to me to try the Kingdom Heart series. I bought a used copy of KH1 today and have traded for part 2 here on CAG. Can someone point me in the right direction as far as playing this type of game? Is there a standard guideline to playing a RPG. I'm constantly reading about people being X number of hours into a game but I can't imagine how that works. I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an idiot here. Gimme Madden and I know what to do, Oblivion....huh?

thanks,

RC

[Moxio]

You're making this too hard. RPG's are based on a very simple system: you fight monsters or thieves or whatever, get experience points, and generally level up. This leveling up makes you stronger to fight stronger enemies, and on the way you usually upgrade what equipment you use to fight your enemies.

Kingdom Hearts isn't exactly a traditional RPG, but more of a hack-n-slash/RPG fusion. It's a successful formula and the game is fun.

[Rei no Otaku]

Just play it like any other game, that's all. You're definitely thinking too much into this lol.

[Dr Mario Kart]

You can think of it like a fighting game, only much simpler and turn based(except Kingdom Hearts is action). And with a better story.

[Z-Saber]

He mentioned sports, racing, and fighting, all what we would consider "infinite replay" games. Maybe he's never played something with a determined-length single player mode?

[ne2eire]

Stay in an area gain a few extra levels before moving on. Thats my advice for the RPG newbie. Obviously don't grind to the point where it's painful

[depascal22]

Leveling up is the hardest part about RPG's. Most platformers and action games will prompt you to go to the next level but with RPG's you'll have to hold back and get a few levels just like n2eire said. It'll take a few games to figure out your style. Some people like the challenge of beating a RPG at the lowest possible level. Others are completionists and won't beat a final boss until they find every object, coin, and spell in a game.

[jimbodan]

It depends on how anal you are about RPG's, personally I have to use a guide to play through most RPG's because I try to get every single item/cutscence/etc... and without a guide it's almost impossible to uncover every secret in one playthrough. I also don't like to replay my games. Lot's of other people are totally against guides and like to play through the game many times to try and uncover everything. I'd try and decide what kind of gamer you are and then go from there, if you use a guide it should also eleminate a lot of the guesswork, but at the same time it will spoil some stuff too.

[Pancake Rabbit]

Well I don't like RPG's but I liked the first kingdom hearts. The second one had way to many cutscenes and was pretty boring, I quit that one about 10 hours in and traded it in. I'd say kingdom hearts 1 is probably one of my favorite ps2 games though. I don't remember doing much grinding in it (sitting there and leveling up) so you should be able to just play right through it. If a boss is kicking your butt load up an old save and level up before trying to fight it again.

You should look into Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance if you want a more action oriented game with RPG elements.

[rscaramelo]

He mentioned sports, racing, and fighting, all what we would consider "infinite replay" games. Maybe he's never played something with a determined-length single player mode?

Exactly. I play Madden - 4 quarters - done - save game/season - NEXT. With my limited RPG experience I spend half the time wandering around clueless about where to go or what I need to do or look for. That said, I put in my 1st hour on KH1 yesterday and I enjoyed myself. I may want to get a guide. The guy sending me KH2 is including one. I know they're not traditional RPG's but it's a start.


RC

[Z-Saber]

Exactly. I play Madden - 4 quarters - done - save game/season - NEXT. With my limited RPG experience I spend half the time wandering around clueless about where to go or what I need to do or look for. That said, I put in my 1st hour on KH1 yesterday and I enjoyed myself. I may want to get a guide. The guy sending me KH2 is including one. I know they're not traditional RPG's but it's a start.


RC
Just use an FAQ.

And I find it odd that you've never played a typical linear video game. It's almost impossible to believe. I mean, what about Super Mario Bros.? Zelda? Mega Man? Contra? Any old school arcade game? Or even more recent stuff like God of War, Resident Evil 4?

I guess we'd file you inbetween "Casual gamer" and "Non-gamer." No offense intended.

[rscaramelo]

I had virtually every system from the 2600 to the Genesis. I stopped playing when I graduated college (1994) and didn't find time until about 2002 to get back in with the xbox. Back in the day I did the Early Mario stuff, Contra, arcade ports etc. I loved the NES and the Genesis but the C64 was tops. In gaming, I'm an old fart.

Once I got back in, some of the stuff was so complex and my controller had all these extra buttons so I stuck with sports and MK type of fighting games. Modern RPG's have their own language and are really different from sitting down to play anything on the Genny or NES.

Anyways I never claimed to be "hardcore" but I'm definitely a gamer.

RC


Just use an FAQ.

And I find it odd that you've never played a typical linear video game. It's almost impossible to believe. I mean, what about Super Mario Bros.? Zelda? Mega Man? Contra? Any old school arcade game? Or even more recent stuff like God of War, Resident Evil 4?

I guess we'd file you inbetween "Casual gamer" and "Non-gamer." No offense intended.

[Z-Saber]

Modern RPG's have their own language and are really different from sitting down to play anything on the Genny or NES.
As far as I know, most modern RPGs are almost exactly like they were back in the 8 and 16-bit eras.
For example, Dragon Warrior VIII is as old-school as they come. The Final Fantasy series adds more minigames and tweaks around the battle system, but are relatively unchanged.

[rscaramelo]

We can disagree :) . RPG's were never really my thing before but I did play some. They're so much deeper and complex now. I almost think I should keep a notebook while playing :lol: .


RC

As far as I know, most modern RPGs are almost exactly like they were back in the 8 and 16-bit eras.
For example, Dragon Warrior VIII is as old-school as they come. The Final Fantasy series adds more minigames and tweaks around the battle system, but are relatively unchanged.

[graf1k]

You are pretty much where I was a couple years ago. I didn't understand RPGs at all and every time I heard people talking about RPGs I thought two things: 1) Boy that sounds interesting and cool, and 2) Jesus, that sounds more complex and difficult than Calculus.

Coming from where you are coming from gaming wise, I would suggest action RPGs to ease you in as it's mostly reflexes when fighting, which I personally find easier than a turn-based battle system. I started with the KOTOR games and then graduated to Oblivion. Now RPGs don't seem so mysterious and complex anymore and I can't wait to play more. I've already bought more than I can hope to play in probably the next 2 years, one of which is Kingdom Hearts 2. I would suggest a guide for your first couple of games at the very least and depending on how in depth you want to go, a guide for most of the longer ones isn't a bad idea. Looking back on it, I probably could have beaten Oblivion without a guide, but then your missing like 90% of the game. Guild quests, random quests around towns, all of which IMO are far superior to the main quest.

[Z-Saber]

I'd argue that KOTOR and Oblivion are far more complex than any modern JRPG.

[graf1k]

Wow, really? That makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that once I finally pick which of the many JRPGs I've bought recently will be my first, I should have no problem. Sad that they might not be a fulfilling as Oblivion.

[Strell]

We can disagree :) . RPG's were never really my thing before but I did play some. They're so much deeper and complex now. I almost think I should keep a notebook while playing :lol: .


RC

Nope. The older generation of RPGs were far better. This generation is FF7 clones left and right, with new makeup and emo-ness.

There's only a few I'd even consider. Namely, Paper Mario on the GC. Absolutely owns.

Beyond that, Kingdom Hearts is incredibly boring. It's just running around in some area for 10 minutes to find someone, who moves to a different area. You do this 4-5 times and fight a boss, then move onto another planet. Very boring.

From the sound of it, you could play Diablo til the end of time and be happy.

[omegaweapon7]

Beyond that, Kingdom Hearts is incredibly boring. It's just running around in some area for 10 minutes to find someone, who moves to a different area. You do this 4-5 times and fight a boss, then move onto another planet. Very boring.

From the sound of it, you could play Diablo til the end of time and be happy.

sign....you just freaking described every mario, zelda, action advanture...etc game ever made.

example:
Beyond that, mario 1 to 56 is incredibly boring. It's just running around in some area for 10 minutes to find a princess/browser/flag, who moves to a different area. You do this 4-5 times and fight a boss, then move onto another world. Very boring.

see? mario follows the same guideline, but it doesnt mean its boring.

[Strell]

sign....you just freaking described every mario, zelda, action advanture...etc game ever made.

example:
Beyond that, mario 1 to 56 is incredibly boring. It's just running around in some area for 10 minutes to find a princess/browser/flag, who moves to a different area. You do this 4-5 times and fight a boss, then move onto another world. Very boring.

see? mario follows the same guideline, but it doesnt mean its boring.

Gosh, with incredible logic like that, I feel so bad to have questioned one of Square's games.

Gosh. Gosh.

I can hear you signing in disbelief all the way from here. It is an advanture for the ages!

[rscaramelo]

I've had Oblivion for 360 sitting unopened with a guide for awhile. I may just skip KH and crack it open ;) .

When I was a kid, I played Sonic more than Mario. When you break it down to being the same idea of collecting stuff then going against a "boss", I'm alot less intimidated. I guess for me when you go from some old cute characters to the artwork and graphics of the modern stuff, you make assumptions about the depth and difficulty.

thanks for the help,

RC

[ne2eire]

Oblivion is quite a deep game. If you don't take your time you can get very frustrated since the game is so open ended.

[graf1k]

I'm not sure how being open endedness can be frustrating unless your goal is solely to beat the game. In fact, I found the open-endedness fantastic. If I ever got stuck on or bored with a quest, I just moved on to another one or just galloped across the countryside raiding any dungeon/cave/mine/oblivion gate/aylied ruin I came across. And the way the game keeps track of all your quests (active & complete) makes it pretty easy to jump from one to another without forgetting where you need to go (99% of the time anyway).