Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - PlayStation 4

While I have only put two hours into the Aqua portion of the game, just based on the overall package, this game warrants five stars. I have already played DDD on the 3DS and it is easily one of the best games in the series. Definitely top four. I really look forward to playing through this game again on a console and TV screen compared to the 3DS. It should definitely be a much better experience gameplay wise. The narrative while confusing, is enjoyable. This is also one of only a couple of KH games where you get to play as Riku, who is one of my favorite characters and is also fun to play as. The big highlight of Chain of Memories for example was the Riku story mode, and same goes for DDD. The combat itself is fun too and for those wondering about boss fights and difficulty, its a KH game so there is always a couple fights that will frustrate you. All in all DDD is a great game and worth playing for any KH fan.Now in regards to the Aqua portion of the game, this is essentially the prologue to KHIII and pretty much the MGSV Ground Zeroes of Kingdom Hearts. The game is meant to connect to the story of Birth By Sleep to KHIII and of course the ending of DDD for those who have already beaten it. Yet it is also here to show us what we can expect graphically and gameplay wise from KHIII. The game is running on Unreal Engine 4 and you can definitely see a huge graphical difference between the KH games of past and now. From a gameplay standpoint, its a combination of Birth by Sleep and KHII. The magic gauge is the same as KHII, same goes for the d-pad menu, and the quick menu to easily use your magic and potions. It also uses the gauge thing from Birth by Sleep where you can hold R1 to lock on to a target and shoot a burst of magic or energy at it. All in all the combat is fluid and quick. Controlling Aqua is very fun and moving around each combat area feels right. The magic spells feel really powerful and are cool to use. The game also starts you off with an Aqua who is already at level 50 and the four magic spells are already in their third -aga form which is necessary since this is a keyblade master after all, so I like this touch Square Enix put here. One of my worries about the Aqua portion was that it could potentially be rather short. Yet with two hours put into it, those worries are being simmered down. Square Enix put in these things called up objectives where you need to do specific tasks, some combat related, boss fight related (these are especially missable), and story related. These essentially give the player more things to do. If I finish the the main story with 5+ hours put into it and still some objectives to do then the game is worth it in my opinion. Doing these objectives of course awards you with items you can decorate Aqua with. This is a new system for KH, one where we can actually dress up our character, that I hope makes its way into KHIII. It allows the player to add their twist to the character and just gives you more options and customization. So far I have enjoyed my experience in the Aqua portion and it just makes me more excited for KHIII, it gives me hope Square Enix can pull this off.Now the package comes with an addition movie that I guess gives you the story of this desktop KH that came out in the last year or so. From my understanding it takes place even before the Birth by Sleep and I assume in incremental to the overall story especially in regards to KHIII where games like Birth by Sleep, Chain of Memories, and DDD are now very significant to the story. I like that Square took this approach so that these games are more than just spin offs, but are essential as well.Overall, this is a great package. I picked up the Limited Edition which comes with two pins. It was the same price as the standard so hey, why not? The pins are pretty cool looking too for anyone wondering. Now the big question for some, is it worth the $60? Unless you are a die hard KH fan, then I'd say no. Though worth is subjective. If you base worth around hours you can get out of a game and you don't tend to rush through games, you can easily get 30-40 hours out of this whole package, which some $60 releases fail to do. That being said this game is certainly worth owning at some point for anyone who likes Kingdom Hearts. It is essentially the prologue to KHIII, highlights the gameplay mechanics we can probably see in KHIII, and has one of the best games in the KH franchise which is Dream Drop Distance. A game perhaps not worth it for some now, but worth it eventually.

This game is a solid entry for the KH series and gives you quite the tease for KH3. An HD transfer of Dream Drop Distance is certainly welcomed at glorious 60fps and a mind boggling story with a unique gameplay style never before seen in the series. The real deal of this bundle however is Birth by Sleep A Fragmentary Passage. This is the final stop before KH3 and it's such a tease. The gameplay is familiar but fresh. The graphics just look fantastic, and the story leaves you on edge wanting more. It's everything you'd come to expect in a prologue to KH3, and it was worth every penny in my book. If you're a longtime fan definitely pick this up at some point. If you're either new to the series or been out of the loop since KH2 I would say hold off. It tries its best to get everyone up to speed via cutscenes and journal entries but it relies too much on fan knowledge to keep the plot moving forward. The PS4 transfer of 1.5 and 2.5 is due for late March and I would recommend buying that first before playing this for it gives you both 1,2 and everything around it that leads into Dream Drop Distance and Fragmentary Passage. This was purely designed to set the final stage for what I'm assuming is the final chapter of the series, and a lot is going down.

If you like Zelda, you'll like Kingdom Hearts.I played halfway through KH1 on PS4, and I'm enjoying the narrative much more than in most video games, but the controls are too date for me to enjoy over a full-length title. I understand the series becomes very convoluted storywise as the games progress (there is a 20 minute summary of the full KH story on YouTube I recommend for interested customers not willing to put in hundreds of hours across all the games), but focusing on that ignores the evolution of combat and RPG ideas that Square Enix makes with each KH game. Mechanics change, and it's very interesting to see these changes with each new KH game.Having said that, as someone with limited gaming time these days, I simply don't have the time to invest in very long stories and learning whole new sets of mechanics with each game. It's more work than fun for me, and I would rather learn the latest mechanics, and slowly master them, than dedicating loads of time to historical mechanics.I played each game for over an hour in the two new PS4 releases before settling on this disc only as the best option for me. Dream Drop Distance as far as I can tell represents the best of all the mechanics of previous games (although Chain of Memories is a great execution too), and as a full length title DDD will likely satisfy my urge to appreciate the full series combat-wise.Birth by Sleep 0.2 - A fragmentary passage - is supposedly much shorter and basically a lead-in to the upcoming KH3, which is great by me. Mostly I'm wanting to prepare for KH3, and this blu-ray release does that perfectly. The controls are at their cleanest, visuals at their loveliest in Birth by Sleep 0.2.So if you're wondering whether to buy both this one and HD 1.5 + 2.5, unless you're a diehard KH fan, my recommendation is to save yourself money and time and just go with this HD 2.8 blu-ray.Enjoy.Oh and by the way go play NieR: Automata if you haven't already. It's the best Square Enix title to date in my opinion, much better than Final Fantasy XV in terms of combat, varied gameplay, and story.