First Impressions: Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

In preparation for the release of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, I have been frantically trying to catch up in the Kingdom Hearts series. A few weeks ago, I was about 10 hours into Kingdom Hearts II, but playing through it was a very slow process: I thought the combat uninspired and the storyline stale.

So I'm afraid to say I quit. I hoped that the two Kingdom Hearts entries on Nintendo DS would impress me.

Enter Kingdom Hearts Re:coded for the Nintendo DS. I'm glad to report that Re:coded is a really excellent RPG.This may seem strange if you know the game's basic story: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket are trying to repair Jiminy's journal from the first Kingdom Hearts adventure. To do so, they enlist the help of a digital Sora. The player will traverse all the same worlds that are in the first Kingdom Hearts game.

In theory, it may seem kinda lame, but rest assured Re:coded and the original Kingdom Hearts are far from the same game. Button-mashy combat that is a staple of the series is present in Re:coded, but a variety of other play styles are thrown into the mix with pleasing results. A well-designed platforming stage at the end of Traverse Town is one such example. My favorite gameplay deviation has to be the turn-based battle system in Olympus Coliseum.

Re:coded has really impressed me up to this point, so I can't help but be optimistic about Dream Drop Distance.