As promised, here's the final thoughts on Re:Coded! May be some spoilers, but the commentary had all that, too...


Graphics

I actually think that, considering the DS's capabilities (and that this was originally for cell phones) the graphics were pretty good. I think it was a wise choice to do most of the cutscenes TWEWY-style, since then we can actually see character reactions and it's not as stiff and awkward as the acting in Days. Considering how many different engines they had to switch between, they handled the art of it pretty well. Maybe it was the worlds they picked this time, but there was also a little less of that "empty world" feeling...the levels were all tighter and less open, and in a few places they at least attempted to explain the lack of NPCs. And Traverse Town First District actually had them! So, while it's not the eye-popping art they had on the PSP or the console games, it was well done enough for the DS and I have no complaints with it. I'll be interested to see how the art is for the 3D game, since that'll also be on a DS-like system, but with (supposedly) more processing power.

Also, um...where were the rest of the KH1 worlds? We skipped 5 out of 11 of them! I guess there just wasn't room to include them all? Still, weird that this is supposed to be all about the KH1 journal and all those were missing. At least CoM included most of those. No, I'm not bitter about Deep Jungle being forgotten forever. :|



Gameplay

This gameplay was...odd. It was both fun and frustrating. It didn't have the useless grinding feel that Days had, but it wasn't the total fun romp that BBS was. I think it would be most enjoyable for "hardcore" gamers, actually...because of the way it was structured, there was constant learning on the fly and adjusting to new gameplay styles, so it really kept you on your toes. Some parts of that were more fun than usual (once I got the hang of it, the turn-based Coliseum was really enjoyable) and some were intensely frustrating (the rail shooter boss battle and certain sections of the side-scrollers.) This made the bosses all really difficult...I think these were the most difficult bosses of any KH game I've played, even Days, because it was near impossible to prepare for them.

I think there were a few moments of fake difficulty, though...I liked the "system area" places where you could just fight enemies and do some puzzle solving, but I really did not appreciate being forced to bet your points at the start of every one. It especially made things annoying if I kept dying in a certain area and was forced to keep betting away my points over and over again. Overall it was fun, just tricky.



Characters

Data Sora
I actually found it interesting that Data Sora didn't have the exact same personality as his counterpart...that just because he was from an entirely different environment. It was subtle, but there. He was a lot more responsible, more focused on his tasks and more concerned about keeping people safe. He handled bad (or even devastating) news in a pretty mature fashion. There was a little bit of wavering at the end in Castle Oblivion, but even then Sora remained pretty stalwart. Not that real Sora wasn't all of those things, but real Sora seems a bit more laid-back than Data Sora. Data Sora kinda talked to the duck triplets like he was their babysitter at points. XD

Data Riku
Data Riku was much the same...similar to real Riku, except like Sora, he was more responsible and more concerned about keeping things safe and secure. Still had that MUST DO EVERYTHING MYSELF mentality, but that's not surprising. I think part of that may have been Riku's unique situation, considering he was...journal data, that was protecting journal data? Honestly, I never could quite wrap my head around how that was working. 8(a

Why was there practically no Kairi? It's not like she wouldn't be in the journal at all, at least after Hollow Bastion they know what happened to her and where she is! Kind of the whole reason Sora's Heartless (and all the Nobodies) existed at all was because Sora ripped out his own heart to save hers! Come on series, stop shafting her! 8|

Villains
Villains were pretty lacking in this game, I have to say. :/ Sure, Sora's Heartless was friggin' scary there at the end, but didn't have much emotional impact. It was just RAWR, I'M YOUR HEARTLESS, I EETCHOO and you took him down. And Pete and Maleficent were...not threatening at all. They really need to get Maly off of this real estate kick, because she's just not as threatening as she was in BBS and KH1.

Everyone else
Lots of DISNEY CHARACTERS WOO! I was glad that we got to see more of Mickey and co. in this story, since everything really does swing into action because of Mickey and Jiminy's decisions, and a lot of big things come about because of them. Mickey and co. were definitely one of the best parts.

Honestly, this game also reminded me HOW MUCH I WANT DONALD AND GOOFY BACK. Holy crap, even getting a taste of that in Hollow Bastion where Donald and Goofy had to fight for Sora put me on a nostalgia binge and made me happy. Come on series, I know that for many of these handheld games it's easier on the engine to have Sora solo, but those three BELONG as a fighting trio! The game just felt so much more right when it was the three of them together, between their banter and their fighting styles. This just makes me want them back as a full trinity again even more. NEEDS MOAR DONALD AND GOOFYYYYY

I was secretly really amused that Cid seems to have adopted the duck triplets. I think Cid + any Disney character = adorable hilarity.



Story

Honestly? Even after playing through everything, I...still am not sure how I feel about the story. I think it was tougher to enjoy the funny moments or emotional moments because it was so dang confusing. This really was Inception-style levels of reality to keep track of. I can totally buy the "computers are just magic" system they seem to have set up in the series, but it would be nice to have a liiiittle more structure. It seems like they were just making up rules as they go same way you learned new rules for gameplay as you go (especially at the point where they had to go inside Data!Riku).

I didn't dislike the story so much as I...don't know what to do with it? It just raises a lot of questions...how DOES all this affect the real world? Since it seems very easy to switch between data reality and real-reality, are there any other problems/solutions this can create for everyone? Especially since there is this data that DiZ hid in Sora's heart? And supposedly now Data Sora has a heart, too? They strongly suggested it but never confirmed outright.

That said, there were some good funny and emotional moments...I liked all the Disney interaction. I liked Data!Sora and Data!Riku's conversations. I liked the fact that Sora's Heartless was brought up again, if in a very strange way. I especially liked that there was closure concerning Namine, at least until Sora saves everyone.


So overall, I don't think it had the superfun gameplay or emotional gutpunches that BBS had...in fact, I've probably been spoiled on BBS for this. XD But it was an interesting little distraction for the time being, and because I'm a crazy completionist it will probably keep me occupied for a long time until the 3D game comes out, and that's good enough for me. XD If you like challenging games with a wide variety of tasks, you'll probably enjoy this one.

And if anyone else nearby gets it, I wanna exchange the avatar stuff, because they're cuuuuute.

Drawing: Worked more on the Okami boards today; it still needs adjustments...

Writing: Nuttin'