THE APPETIZER THAT OUTSHINES THE MAIN COURSE
Also for: Windows, Xbox One
Maybe this game isn't substantial enough to really warrant a review of its own, but
who the heck cares. Originally meant to be a prologue integrated
into the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III, this game would instead end up
a six-hour, standalone part of the Kingdom Hearts 2.8-prologue bundle. This package - which also includes Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD and an animated movie - chronicles all you need to know of the story leading up to Kingdom Hearts III.
Cutting it up this way was probably a sound financial strategy from developer Square Enix, although from an artistic standpoint I believe it would have served its purpose better as the opening to Kingdom Hearts III. Production of the third main entry simply grew too big. It was long overdue,
and fans were eager to see some results.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A fragmentary passage found
its place as a tech demo showcasing what to expect from the upcoming action-JRPG. Fans got their juices flowing, which can be heard by viewing hyped-up Let's Plays of the time. It served the same function as Ground Zeroes did for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Square Enix only released it in a slightly less cynical manner.
In this novella of a game you control Aqua, one of the Keyblade Masters from
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. After the events of that game, she
wanders aimlessly through the Darkworld, hoping for anyone of her allies to
appear and show her the way back into the light. Her journey is like a fever
dream; weird, unpleasant and seemingly endless.
With the power of the PS4 hardware, it is also intensely beautiful. Whereas
previous entries had simple world designs, this game has a much more advanced layout. You start on a path leading into a city surrounded by a dark void, where time itself has stopped. Torn fragments of
the streets and buildings are suspended in mid-air. You launch upwards and
leap from platform to platform, aided by the enhanced controls, and fight some of the classic, villainous Heartless. From there on the game only gets weirder.
A few visually inspired locations, simple puzzles and unremarkable boss battles stand between you and the endgame. Through Aqua's ruminations you get some quick, unintentionally funny lo-res flashbacks of previous events. And then the infamous closing cinematic explains why Mickey Mouse appears without a shirt at the end of the
first Kingdom Hearts. Newcomers won't understand what's happening, but
for franchise veterans this game is a good way to refresh their memory.
I might as well come clear and spoil that I've already finished Kingdom Hearts
III as I write this review. And boy, does this appetizer outshine the main
course. Devoid of almost all the Disney fluff (only Mickey Mouse and, to a lesser degree, master Yen Sid is present), this game goes straight for the melodramatic encore. The cutscenes still intrude upon the gameplay, but at least they don't drag. All Kingdom Hearts games would have benefitted from such high pacing.
On her own, Aqua is technically a formidable fighter, but without allies in the Darkworld she loses the better half of what makes her so strong. She
starts out at level 50, and her skills are intact. This makes the game a quick and painless playthrough. Many Flowmotion-moves remain from
Dream Drop Distance, making exploration a lot easier. You double-jump, bounce off of walls and slide through the air to reach hidden chests. And if Square Enix ever decide to steer the franchise into the open world-genre, they've invented a cool way to utilize the blizzard spell for fast traversal.
Aqua's combat is a replica of Sora's from the first Kingdom
Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The simple command menu is back, allowing you to
choose between a fixed number of commands in real-time. And through a handful
different shortcuts, you can streamline the way you cast your favorite spells or
consume your favorite items. From a gameplay standpoint any of the main
games are good introductions into the franchise, and now A fragmentary passage
joins their ranks. From a story perspective, however, they're all equally bad.
This game represents Kingdom Hearts at its best-ish. It's too short to leave a
lasting impression, but also not long enough to start wallowing in the awfully angsty writing. Anyone following the chronological road to Kingdom Hearts III
will likely get their hopes up for great times ahead. It is both weird and
straightforward, like music for the soul, skipping past the prefrontal cortex
of the brain to reach the mysteries of the outlandish dream machine within. Just disregard the story and you'll be fine with this one.
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