[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Berserker

So judging from the first impressions this one got a substantially lower score than KH1? Meryl if you give this one a 8,5 what would you give the first one? Is it more of the same but tastefully done or did they try new things but failed(a little).

I'd say KH1 was better in terms of "creativity" because, well, it was the first game and there were many larger areas that SquareEnix were able to add. Despite the horrible camera angles, I'd still give KH1 an 9.0 because it's still great.

In the second game, yes, they improved the camera, but there doesn't seem to be anything else to it. Like I said, I loved the many areas they included (the "Tarzan" world ground exploration/vine-swinging, "Alice's" forest and house, etc.) in the first game, but in the second, there's not much of this. For example, in the "Mulan" area, you literally follow a path to get from Point A to Point B. The same goes for "Pirates of the Caribbean"...the only levels that were a bit more non-linear was "The Underworld/Hades": there were different entrances, paths, but the scenery was rather dull (not that I blame it...it is the Underworld ) and "Steamboat Willie's": wider land, different paths, along with 4 mini-areas through the paintings/theater stages. And even some of the levels that possess these qualities (such as the "Beast's Castle"), it just doesn't seem all *that* interesting to me.

But, like I said, my views might change once I get to explore others worlds, such as "Tron" or the "Lion King", and find out whether the story remains powerful and concludes well. I don't doubt that the story would still be emotionally heartfelt (oh man, there was this was one scene a little further from the beginning that I just started tearing up... ).

Also, on the plus side, the new abilities and transformations are awesome and the new reaction commands add a very, very nice touch to the gameplay. It's refreshing and draws away from the usual "slash, slash, finish" combo...it's especially very cool during one of the major fights at "Hercules'" Colliseum.