Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Review (PS4)
Kingdom Hearts is a series that you’d be excused for if you get a little confused with the timeline or what exactly is going on, but that hasn’t stopped it from being a fantastic series that tells an engaging, magical plot, and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is no exception!
Aqua, one of my personal favourite characters in the series, takes the lead role in the brand new game included in this collection, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth By Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, which is set after the events of Birth By Sleep and during the first Kingdom Hearts. Brief and clocking in at a little over two hours if you skip the side content, mainly consisting of finding items and defeating hordes of enemies, Aqua is trapped in the Realm of Darkness and is fighting to find a way out and to be reunited with friends Terra and Ventus.
It looks and feels great, and it certainly leaves you wanting more.
It isn’t a stretch to say that A Fragmentary Passage is more of a tech demo as to what Kingdom Hearts III will be like more so than it’s own thing, and this collection is lacking in the ways that the other two collections were not — both of those had two full games along with HD cutscenes from another game. Other than learning that Aqua is in the Realm of Darkness and what Mickey Mouse was doing during the events of the original Kingdom Hearts, there isn’t much information to glean from the new content — though it looks and feels great, and it certainly leaves you wanting more.
Dream Drop Distance, which was previously exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS, is arguably the biggest reason to be picking up Kingdom Hearts 2.8. Dream Drop Distance takes place towards the end of the Kingdom Hearts timeline and plays a vital role in the series’ overall lore and story, so it’s an enticing game to now have on PS4. Sora and Riku are put through the Mark of Mastery exam from Yen Sid to prove that they are Keyblade Masters, and they are tasked with awakening seven worlds and bringing them back to the realm of light.
You play as both Sora and Riku and whilst you can switch between the two at will, you’re eventually forced to switch between the as part of the games ‘drop’ mechanic — yes, this can sometimes be a tad frustrating! Regardless, it’s odd to think that this was once 3DS exclusive considering how important to the overall story it is, and those who missed out will love revisiting the characters and gameplay that they know, and it’s a solid, engaging entry in the series. It introduces a few new cool features such as creating and using monsters in battle, and you can play with them and train them too, as well as use Reality Shift to pick up and sling items at enemies and get around quicker with the series’ freeflow system to swing around poles and other pieces of the envrionment — you can attack from this, too.
More Kingdom Hearts is never a bad thing!
A Fragmentary Passage feels incredibly smooth and responsive, and it’s exciting to know that Kingdom Hearts III will feel even better. Dream Drop Distance feels a little dated in comparison, which is likely partially due to it originally being on the 3DS, but it’s still definitely worth playing — more Kingdom Hearts is never a bad thing! Both instalments stick to the series’ ARPG roots where you can access physical and magic attacks, as well as items, from a menu in real time. Being able to revisit Disney worlds has been a delight, and seeing familiar faces once again is wonderful. For those looking for something more, replay is invited through the Proud and Critical modes which’ll push your skills and reactions to the limit.
Graphically, A Fragmentary Passage looks amazing although it doesn’t seem quite up to scratch with the most recent builds of Kingdom Hearts III. Regardless, it’s beautiful and I yearn for more. Dream Drop Distance (dropping, of course, the “3D” from its 3DS title) looks notably better than it did on 3DS, but there’s only so much you can do considering it isn’t a full-on remake — I’m pretty amazed that it looks like it could have always been a high-end PS2 game though rather than 3DS game here, though. Kingdom Hearts has a lovely aesthetic and it isn’t lost in either game, and it proves to be an absolute delight for the eyes — HD Aqua too, yay! You can unlock customisation options too such as headgear and other items, and you can change the colour of her main outfit.
An absolute delight for the eyes.
If you can’t get enough of the visuals then the Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover movie is for you, and clocks in at a little over an hour. This tells the story of the Foretellers and expands the series’ lore, and takes place in the distant past. This is brand new content and it’s nice to kick back and watch a movie based on one of my favourite series’ — don’t worry, I realise the other collections had movies but they were in the form of HD cutscenes from other games in the series, rather than new content. Fans will be able to glean a lot from X Back Cover but even though this takes place at the start of the series’ timeline, it’s definitely not where you want to start! This also ties into the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, so it’s nice to be able to experience that game’s story without playing it, if mobile games aren’t of interest to you.
The original voice-talent return to reprise their roles and it’s wonderful hearing their voices again — I’ve always adored Willa Holland’s Aqua! Jason Dohring returns as Terra whilst Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher and Alyson Stoner breathe new life into Sora, Riku and Kairi — they may not get to say too much in A Fragmentary Passage, but it makes me happy to hear from them again (sadly, if you were looking to see Hayden Panettiere reprise her role as Kairi then you’re out of luck). The Disney characters are as colourful as ever, and you get a good helping of Mickey Mouse here! Other than that the music is as catchy as it always has been, featuring sweeping orchestral tracks that plays at your nostalgia — the new remix of Simple and Clean is outstanding.
A brief but precious look at what the future holds for Kingdom Hearts.
Other than Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is a brief but precious look at what the future holds for Kingdom Hearts. I certainly feel satisfied with what’s on offer but there’s a notable lack of content compared to the previous collections, although this one does boast more fresh content — however, the new content can be breezed through in a few short hours. If you’re a big fan of the series then chances are you’re already sold on the promise of more Kingdom Hearts but please, don’t use this as an entry point to the series and play through the 1.5 and 2.5 HD remixes first, and both are releasing in one collection at the end of March — they’re also already available on PS3. I’m eagerly awaiting Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue clearly shows that Square Enix still know what they’re doing with the series.
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