Kingdom Hearts Unchained X

“Touch to Start”

                “Kingdom Heart’s Unchained X” (Chi pronounced Key, don’t ask) is an online game set before the Keyblade War mentioned in “Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep”. When I first heard about it I wasn’t sure what to think, but it’s free, so I knew I was going to get it. In the Japanese version of the game they use cards, which was changed for the American version to medals, probably do to the fact that cards might have brought back horrible memories of “Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories”. What’s more, because it’s online, they can keep it going for as long as they want, even after “Kingdom Hearts 3” comes out. I hope they do, because this game is incredibly fun.

Characters

                So in this game, unlike in previous “Kingdom Hearts” games, you make your own avatar right from the get go. You can name it whatever you want: Soriku, James Pooplots, or Destroyer of Worlds, really, it doesn’t matter. This guy or girl is your companion throughout. You can change him into a her, change your name, or do whatever you like. The game is very open. It gives you all kinds of outfits (both male and female) to choose from. Honestly, the amount of collectables in this game is staggering, even overwhelming at times.

                The only other character that you meet (as of level 130) who is not a “Disney” character is Chirithy, a cat like creature that helps to progress the otherwise lacking story along. That sounds like a complaint, but I assure you, it’s not. Chirithy is there to help give the game some context. He/she/ it will tell you stories of the past or present. He/ she/ it will find out information while you wail away on heartless in the area. Chirithy will lead you to new worlds or even help you traverse words by giving you hints where to go next.

                There are, of course, “Disney” characters as well. As of yet, I’ve only met a few, but if the game keeps updating, that could change. When it originally came out the levels capped at 200. Now It’s something like 300+. As Far as I have seen there are only good “Disney” characters. There have been villains via Medals, but there haven’t been any villains in their respective “Disney” worlds. Again, I’ve only just finished level 130, so I have a ways to go. I will try to keep this blog up to date as I go, but with my wonky update schedule, and the sheer amount of content that this game provides, that could prove to be impossible. We shall see.

Story

                The story is a bit lacking though only in the respect that it’s so spread out. Stealing the main synopsis from Wikipedia it says:

                “ Kingdom Hearts χ opens in pop-up book format, showing Kairi and her grandmother in Radiant Garden. Kairi's grandmother is telling Kairi her favorite story of light and darkness. In the Dive to the Heart, the player is asked to choose between five unions, known as Anguis, Leopardos, Unicornis, Ursus and Vulpeus. Once the player has chosen, Darkness surrounds them - though they summon forth a Keyblade, which is described to them as being "...the power of Light meant to drive away Darkness". The player is enveloped in light and suddenly finds themselves in Daybreak Town. Upon the player's arrival, a massive Corridor of Darkness opens, releasing a Darkside Heartless into Daybreak Town. Although the player summons their Keyblade to defend themselves, they are easily overcome by the large Heartless. Before the Heartless can finish them off, the player is saved by their respective Foreteller; who forces the Darkside back into the Corridor of Darkness and follows it in order to destroy it.”

                So, as you see, there’s a lot of content, but because it’s so spread out it comes in increments. When you go to a new world it feels more like this:

See random character from random world.

“Oh hey stranger who I’ve never met before, I’d hate to be a bother but will you help me out by defeating all the Heartless that are popping up around here? Thanks.”

                That’s pretty much it. Every once in a while Chirithy will tell you something important like “The experience you’re collecting is actually light from Kingdom Hearts” or “Hey, the reason the Darkball Heartless are so damn hard is because you get to go to a new world.” I may have been paraphrasing there, but you get the point. As I said, the story is very stretched out, and often it is hard to remember everything that’s happened. All you really need to know though is that, darkness is spreading throughout the world, and it’s up to you to keep it at bay.

Worlds

As of now there are only about five worlds you go to. The first, and seemingly hub world, is a new world created for this game. It is called Daybreak Town. Anyone familiar with the “Kingdom Hearts” games will feel an uncanny resemblance to Twilight or Traverse Town here. There is a small, yet welcome, familiarity in these places. The main difference in this town is, as the name suggests, day. The name suggests a kind of hope which will likely be present in the next “Kingdom Hearts” game. It could also be a metaphor for the fact that the game is an encyclopedia of the first keyblade wielders, hence the name could represent the “dawn” of the keyblade era. That doesn’t mean that it’s not also a metaphor for the next game. Knowing Nomura San it’s probably a bit of both. Anyway, the story of this level takes place after a scene with Chirithy. It tells you to explore for a while. After fending off some Heartless Chirithy tells you that there are other worlds that need your help. You come back here several times, moving between worlds. As stated above, this world acts as a hub for the story of the game. Anytime Chirithy needs to figure something out (like why there are so many Heartless around) it takes you here. There is also a time in the game when he tells you about the light. All he tells you is that you have to collect it in order to fend off the darkness. It’s not that I didn’t like the scene, but it felt unnecessary. It’s like telling someone to turn on a light before they enter the room or else you won’t be able to see. Whatever, I’m sure it will make more sense as the story progresses. I’m not even half way to level 200 and they’ve added more stories for every world at this point.  

Wonderland is the next world you enter. Or is it Aghriba? Wait, Maybe it’s the Dwarf

Woodlands. I can’t remember. You travel between these worlds so often that, by the time you get to level 20 you won’t remember which world came first. I could, of course, look it up, but let’s be honest here, does it really matter? As I stated above, the story within these worlds, while it exists, isn’t really important. Take Agriba for example. You see Aladdin and Abu fighting a Heartless. The Heartless takes Abu just as you arrive. In the next minute, you meet Aladdin and he asks for your help. That’s it. You spend the next four chapters or so fighting Heartless to get Abu back. Of course the story doesn’t end there. You don’t find Abu right away. There are several instances where you come back. At one point you are helping the guards looking for Aladdin because they think he stole something. So, as you can see, it’s really just you helping others.

                A similar story can be said for Wonderland. You traverse through the area helping Alice find the white rabbit. That’s all I know. She sees him now and again and gives chase but as for why she needs to find him, or what she will do when she does; that’s still up in the air. Maybe as I get further into the game it will reveal more.

                The Dwarf Woodlands is even more similar. There, you are helping the dwarves reunite and, I assume, eventually Snow White will show up. I know this because I saw it in the intro of the game. This brings up an odd paradox though. In the images shown as the game starts there is a spoiler of the Prince kissing Snow White. Now that in itself may not seem like much but that same scene occurred in “Birth by Sleep”. This game is supposed to take place before that game so does that mean it happened twice? Or could it be that the game will explain how it was in both games? Maybe it’s just a very large plot-hole. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

                You will find yourself going back and forth through Daybreak Town and these three levels a whole lot.  That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but you do revisit many of the same places. It’s not until you reach level 130 when a new world opens up to you. The world is the world of the Coliseum. Naturally, there is a tournament going to be held there. You train with Phil when (an older Herc) gives up his ticket so you can take his place. This is another one of those plot holes considering that in “Birth by Sleep” Herc was still a scrawny teen.  But, this is me assuming Square knows what they are doing and giving them the benefit of the doubt. I know Square would never do anything to intentionally displease its fans. (Don’t make me a liar Square). Also, via the spoilers from the intro Hades arrives here, so that’s at least one “Disney” villain.

Game play

                The game utilizes the touch screen on your phone or mobile device. Despite that, it feels very much like a “Kingdom Hearts” game. Square did a great job of making it feel right. You can use your finger to run, jump, walk, open chests, and fight. The worlds, while you tend to visit the same places, make you want to explore them if only to collect items that allow you to level up your keyblade. To fight you tap the screen, or swipe if there are multiple enemies. As you fight you collect these orange star orbs that I’m sure have a name. Collecting these orbs allows you to perform special moves. Think Sonic Blade or Ars Arcam from the first game. These moves come in exceptionally handy on the harder enemies.

                Speaking of harder enemies, every five levels you complete you are greeted by an old friend. And by old friend I mean a Raid Boss. These guys start out fairly easy, but the more you play the harder they become. It’s both fun and frustrating; especially considering that these guys can kill you in a single blow. The trick, aside from playing the game less, is to stun them. Doing so will allow you to fight without remorse. You’ve got to be prepared though. Go in there with the wrong keyblade equipped and you’re as good as gone. What I really like about these battles is that they are all enemies from the first game. The first one I fought was the Behemoth. I was so happy. I want them back in “Kingdom Hearts 3” SQUARE! I love Behemoths. They were the most fun enemy to fight in the first game. Darkside came next. I like fighting him even though he has been in almost every game. I still think it’s Sora’s Heartless. Hell, that’s what I was called in “Re:Coded”. You probably didn’t notice though, being so light headed after bashing your head against a wall. I know I was. Anyway, there’s an Opposite/ Guard Armor and, yes, even a Trickmaster. The game seems to cycle through these four enemies, which is fine.

                The game play is more of a turn based style here, like the “Final Fantasy” games but many of the enemies can be destroyed in a single turn. Some of them, such as the Morning Star Heartless, cannot. I wasn’t sure how I’d like a turn based system but it turned out pretty good. The game doesn’t have to whisk you away to some far off land so that you can fight the enemies. Instead, it lets you fight them right where you are. All you have to do is engage. That’s, honestly, one of the things I liked about “Final Fantasy XII”. You didn’t have to wait for the battle to load. You fought the enemies then and there.

                Now, in order to fight you have to equip a keyblade, duh. However, these keyblades work a bit different. Just because you have one equipped doesn’t mean you can use it. If you want to use the keyblade you have to equip medals also. Medals are, essentially, collectables. They can feature pretty much anyone from the “Kingdom Hearts” franchise. There are four types:

Red: These are strength medals. They are usually very powerful attacks.

Green: are speed medals. They are much faster than red, though not as strong.

Blue: are magic medals. They are good against stronger.

Gray: are used for leveling up.

With the obvious acceptation of gray meals, each of the other colors are used in battle. As you fight, the game will tell you what medal your enemy is. Should you prepare for battle correctly, your medal will over power your enemy. Red over powers Green over powers Blue over powers Red. The game does a good job of letting you know what you’ll need before battle. Just because it tells you though, doesn’t mean it won’t throw in an enemy with a different color just to surprise you.  The game will allow you to attach five medals to a keyblade, adding one extra medal from another player (more on this below).

                The medal’s aren’t just used for fighting through. You can sacrifice any color medal to level up another medal. Say you have a blue Riku medal and fifty green Dewy medals. Want to sacrifice all fifty Dewy medals to make the Riku medal stronger? Go for it! The game is pretty lenient on what you can sacrifice. Now, there are some medals you don’t really want to sacrifice if you can help it. The fairies from “Sleeping Beauty” for example, can be used to “evolve” your medals. What does that mean? Your medals come in three different types:

Copper Medals are generally weaker but level up much faster than the others.

Silver Medals are a bit stronger and take a while longer to level up.

Gold Medals are the strongest and take a hell of a time to level up.

There may be platinum medals but I don’t want to think about that. Most of the medals only need a gray “material” to level them up. There are only a few medals that require a red, green, or blue to evolve them.

                Once you have your medals equipped you are ready. But, before you fight the game offers you a little extra help. At the beginning of the game you are given a choice “Kingdom Hearts 1” style which asks you what party you want to be in. You can change the party to whichever you like, and whatever party you are in will offer you help. If you have “joined a group” then you will receive help from only members of that group. If you have not joined a group then you get to choose from a vast number of people playing. That sounds like a better deal, but there is a catch. In a group, if you are having trouble with a Raid Boss you can call upon your friends to help you. This is especially helpful when the bosses reach higher levels.

                The last game play mechanic in the game is more of about customization. It works similarly to “Final Fantasy X”’s sphere grid. The game offers you several outfits as a way to make your avatar stand out. In order to collect these outfits you have to collect avatar coins. Once you have enough coins you can tap on an outfit and it will take you to a “sphere grid” to allow you to exchange your coins. You spend your coins on Health, Defense, Strength, and eventually, outfits. Not only does this allow you to grow stronger, but it allows you to keep your character looking fresh. It’s a great way to pass the time.

Game Design

                The game looks very good. I had assumed, when I first heard about it, that Square wasn’t going to put that much time into it, considering, you know, that they were busy making remakes of games that really don’t deserve remakes. At any rate, I was wrong. The game looks fantastic. The backgrounds especially are very impressive. The avatars and other NPC’s look good as well. Even the music will feel familiar if you have played any of the other games. The outfits mentioned above are riddled with detail. There is only one “new” keyblade, called the Starlight key. That’s the one you start out with in the game. The others are all replicas of keyblades Sora had in the first game. The cool thing about them though, is that you can level them up and change the way they look. For example: The starlight key starts out silver. As you level it up it grows stronger. Once you are able to add oracahlcum (A rare item) the key turns from silver to gold. It’s subtle things like that I appreciate. It means, to me, that the people who made the game put a lot of thought into it. They didn’t just say “We know that everyone wants Kingdom Hearts 3, but we’re busy and can’t be bothered so instead we are just going to put out some game with the Kingdom Hearts name that isn’t very good but we know the fans will buy it anyway because it says Kingdom Hearts on the cover.” (See “Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded” game). Unchained X is a surprisingly fun game, and a great way to pass the time until “Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Black Cover We Just Keep Giving These Things Weirder Names” comes out. With any luck Square will keep it going long after Kingdom Hearts 3, assuming there is a game after 3. Nomura has specifically said this is the end of the Xehanort Saga. That may mean that a new villain will take his place. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the secret movie comes out at the end of the 3^rd game.

Music

                Again, I thought the game was going to be half-ass. The music was no exception.  Sometimes it’s a relief being wrong. The music is great. Square spared no expense for this game and it’s free. They didn’t have to make it sound great or look good, but they did. I appreciate that they care enough to go all out for a game like this. Now if only they would remake “Final Fantasy VI” in the glorious hd that it deserves. I digress, the music in the game is great. What I like most about it is that there is no “Simple and Clean” or “Passion” in it. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are great, but how many “Kingdom Hearts” games do they really have to be in? They are getting a bit old to me, and I imagine that I’ll have to listen to at least one of them before the end of “Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance”. So yeah, I’m just sick of hearing the same song over. It’s kind of like when you sort of like a song on the radio until the station plays it every hour on the hour, beating you over the head with it until you either love the song or hate it with such a passion that your ears explode every time you hear it, or any song like it.

Conclusion

                This game is a great way to pass the time until the next “true” installment comes out. What’s more, is that so far Square has done a great job of adding content so that it never feels stale. I hope they continue to add content and worlds even after the next game has come out. Speaking of next game, it’s supposed to come out this year December 2016. I am excited for it, as I didn’t want to buy a 3ds for it. Of course, now I have to buy an even more expensive ps4 for it, so there’s that. Fortunately, there are already several games I want and still more coming. As for this game, I will try to update this as I progress but, unless something significant happens, like I meet a new character, or the story changes drastically, I probably won’t update. There are over 200 levels so something is bound to happen. I guess we’ll see.
Updates
So, something happened that I wasn't expecting. The game offered a new level. While this

isn't uncommon in a game that keeps on updating, it is significant in that it was entirely new. Most of the updates (even when Square did the Jungle Book update) were simply rehashes of other levels. In the case of the Jungle Book, they took part of the Dwarf Woodlands. It already felt somewhat like a jungle, so they didn't really need to do anything new. This has happened a few times now. That being said, Square recently went above and beyond what was expected. They added a "Beast's Castle" level, not for the main story of the game mind you, but as a temporary level. The fact that they went out of their way for a level that they knew would only be temporary is a plus in my opinion. Keep it up Square.

I haven't been playing this game for a long time. I got to a required section of the Coliseum and quit. The game was throwing enemies at me that were beyond hard. I had to fight one in the underworld that I literally spent 24hrs on and had barely gotten it's health to half way, so I said fuck it and gave up. However, with Kingdom Hearts 3 (now out) I wanted to go back to the game. There have been some welcome changes, specifically, a change that lets you massacre enemies. It takes some of the challenge away from the fights, but for me, destroying that boss that had made me give up on the game was a welcome sight. Honestly, I don't really play Kingdom Hearts for the difficulty. If I play it on difficult, it's usually just so I can get the secret endings easier. When I want a difficult game I turn to DMC or NG for that.
But, yeah, so I'm playing again. Hopefully I'll keep this updated but we'll see. As for story updates, My character just met another keyblade wielder named Ephimer, and is joining him to sneak into the chamber where the foretellers meet. Finally got past that last part. Went to a bunch of worlds I didn't care about, and now and finally caught up on the story. So in a nut shell, Keyblade War happened, Character died, heart transplanted into computer, life was good until computer started glitching. Wreck it Ralph world. That's as far as the game goes currently. I've got to say, getting there doesn't really feel worth it. Neither does having to fight your way through everything especially as the enemies just keep getting stronger and your deck just seems to keep getting worse. Whatever I'm caught up. Don't think I'll end up staying that way in all honesty.