<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Pretty decent game so far, but some serious issues. First, we'll get to the good points. It's got great graphics, particularly for a PS2 game. Very, very pretty. The voice acting is amazing in this game. They hit every Disney character spot on, and I don't mean exactly like the new renditions. They sound exactly like you remember them growing up. It's really amazing. The idea behind the game is pretty neat too, going to all of the different Disney worlds. It's very neat visiting all the areas from the Disney movies and getting involved in many of the storylines. And they're all very well done. Goofy and Donald actually help you quite a bit in this game, unlike the vast majority of computer-controlled assistance characters. It's quite common to let them beat up on a boss a bit so you can figure out what to do. Also, the fighting was quite simplified, which is good. You simply attack and Sora - your character - does all the combo stuff and actually jumps up automatically to hit something. This takes some of the frustration out of the fighting, a very good thing. Also, most of the time, the enemies don't come back after you've beaten them and you're still in that area, so if you have to go back and forth to solve whatever puzzle you have to solve, it's not quite as frustrating as it would have been.
Now for the issues. First, the game has a serious lack of even giving you a hint of what you're supposed to do next. Not always, but most of the time. You just wander around until you hit the next story sequence. By far the worst one so far is in Deep Jungle. I was in Tarazan's cabin and the big gorilla came in after that dumb fuck shot at the baby gorilla. So the big gorilla leaves, and I go out after him. I climb out on top of the cabin and nothing (except a chest). So I sit there, searching around the cabin, trying to find out what to do next. Nothing. Then I fall down and end up back at the cabin. Oooooooooo, THAT's what I'm supposed to do next. How the hell i was supposed to know that is beyond me (I saved there and turned it off, so I haven't gone back to the treetops to see the gorillas yet). And that's not the only time. I beat everything in the upside down room in Wonderland and have no clue what to do next. I'll just go back there later I guess. I've played enough RPGs and action games in my time that it shouldn't be that tough, particularly for a game skewed towards children (in other words, I ain't that stupid) and one who's difficulty of battle is quite simple; it's an issue of balance. Also, there's a little too much emphasis on the jumping aspect for an action RPG, IMO, and it's not very well done. Of course, the platforms are JUST within your jumping range half the time, but the jumping is a little too awkward to be so fine. Also, Sora has a nasty habit of taking a very large step before he jumps, so it's quite difficult to judge the "very edge" idea, which you need more often than not. It just makes the jumping parts last a little longer than they should, especially when you reach the platforms you can't grab on to. And what the hell is it with the ship part between levels? It simply serves to annoy, nothing else. It's seriously the worst idea I've ever seen in a game, a pure time waster. Whoever thought that this would be a good idea should be fired....same with the person(s) who approved of it. Is there ANY redeeming feature to this? I sure as hell can't see one. And you have to go through this ever freakin' time you go from one world to the next. Dear Lord! It's like having to play the snowboarding game from FF7 every time you travelled from one part of the world to the next (that's the closest thing to the shittiness achieved by this ship part that I can think of).
Because the game is fairly simply and very interesting, I'll continue and hope it gets better. I'm hoping that it becomes less of an issue later on when determining what to do next. It would just take some of the tediousness out of the game. I can deal with the shitty ship part and the jumping thing no prob (this is where you appreciate the automatic jumping from Zelda).
So my basic early impressions of this game: like nearly every other Square game for Sony, pretty decent, but really should be better. Thank goodness Chrono Cross and Einhander buck this trend (haven't gone through Vagrant, Legend of Mana, FF8, FF9, or Threads of Fate yet).</div>
Now for the issues. First, the game has a serious lack of even giving you a hint of what you're supposed to do next. Not always, but most of the time. You just wander around until you hit the next story sequence. By far the worst one so far is in Deep Jungle. I was in Tarazan's cabin and the big gorilla came in after that dumb fuck shot at the baby gorilla. So the big gorilla leaves, and I go out after him. I climb out on top of the cabin and nothing (except a chest). So I sit there, searching around the cabin, trying to find out what to do next. Nothing. Then I fall down and end up back at the cabin. Oooooooooo, THAT's what I'm supposed to do next. How the hell i was supposed to know that is beyond me (I saved there and turned it off, so I haven't gone back to the treetops to see the gorillas yet). And that's not the only time. I beat everything in the upside down room in Wonderland and have no clue what to do next. I'll just go back there later I guess. I've played enough RPGs and action games in my time that it shouldn't be that tough, particularly for a game skewed towards children (in other words, I ain't that stupid) and one who's difficulty of battle is quite simple; it's an issue of balance. Also, there's a little too much emphasis on the jumping aspect for an action RPG, IMO, and it's not very well done. Of course, the platforms are JUST within your jumping range half the time, but the jumping is a little too awkward to be so fine. Also, Sora has a nasty habit of taking a very large step before he jumps, so it's quite difficult to judge the "very edge" idea, which you need more often than not. It just makes the jumping parts last a little longer than they should, especially when you reach the platforms you can't grab on to. And what the hell is it with the ship part between levels? It simply serves to annoy, nothing else. It's seriously the worst idea I've ever seen in a game, a pure time waster. Whoever thought that this would be a good idea should be fired....same with the person(s) who approved of it. Is there ANY redeeming feature to this? I sure as hell can't see one. And you have to go through this ever freakin' time you go from one world to the next. Dear Lord! It's like having to play the snowboarding game from FF7 every time you travelled from one part of the world to the next (that's the closest thing to the shittiness achieved by this ship part that I can think of).
Because the game is fairly simply and very interesting, I'll continue and hope it gets better. I'm hoping that it becomes less of an issue later on when determining what to do next. It would just take some of the tediousness out of the game. I can deal with the shitty ship part and the jumping thing no prob (this is where you appreciate the automatic jumping from Zelda).
So my basic early impressions of this game: like nearly every other Square game for Sony, pretty decent, but really should be better. Thank goodness Chrono Cross and Einhander buck this trend (haven't gone through Vagrant, Legend of Mana, FF8, FF9, or Threads of Fate yet).</div>
I was there on that fateful day, were you?
