[3DS] Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

[CeeKay]

for those of you who missed the Nintendo Direct conference, there's supposed to be a demo out on the eStore right now.  I'd check but I won't have a new 3DS until August.

personally I'm hoping this is better than Birth by Sleep (I got bored of having to go through mostly the same worlds with the second character so I quit before really playing with the third one).  I read that Famitsu gave it a 38 out of 40 (10/9/10/9, and granted BbS got a 37) but haven't seen many other reviews or impressions other than a painful to watch/listen to youtube one.

[edit]  I guess I can safely skip on the Mark of Mastery edition since the case included won't fit the 3DS XL; I don't think I could justify paying 15 bucks more for a bunch of cards and a special box:

[EddieA]

Wow - that was one of the craziest things I've played in a while.  In the space of 15 minutes, I'd flown around the level, grinding rails and spinning off poles like I was in a supercharged version of Tony Hawk, bounced around on the belly of one creature and played a dance rhythm minigame with another, flung explosive barrels at enemies using the touchscreen, talked with Neku from The World Ends With You, and fought a giant clown monkey.  It did have a bit of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel to it, but everything I did was fun, and it seems like it would be a blast once you've got all the crazy things working together.

[CeeKay]

damn, now I really want to try the demo.

[Teggy]

Someone needs to make a Kingdom Hearts game naming app that just puts nonsense words and numbers together.

[EddieA]

IGN and GameInformer have posted their reviews - 8.5 and 8.25 respectively.

[CeeKay]

3 out of 5 from Joystiq.   sounds like the switching mechanic is pretty annoying:

There is a twist this time around, namely a timer that constantly looms over your every action. When it runs out, whichever character you're controlling immediately succumbs to a case of plot-mandated narcolepsy, and control shifts to the other in whichever world he happens to be in. The idea is for Sora and Riku to experience different parts of each world's story while swapping items and stat bonuses based on how well you perform before the clock strikes zero and you turn back into a pumpk– er, fall asleep.

In practice, however, the forced switching mechanic is pointless at best and downright obnoxious at worst. At one point, for instance, it interrupted me right as I was about to strike the killing blow on a particularly frustrating boss. The next time I took control of Riku, I had to start the whole battle over again. Pacing, meanwhile, goes out the window, with one character's moment of big drama often giving way to the other's ho-hum introduction to a world and its stiffly acted characters.

[The Grue]

I really don't get the complaints about the timer thing at all.  There are plenty of ways to extend if you want to and frankly, I don't as I like the fact that the game has me switch over to the other character which has a totally different story to go through (though they are intertwined).  It's like a little timeout from grinding away on the one character.  Count me as someone who likes it, plus the story is built around the fact that it happens.

[Lordnine]

I've never played a Kingdom Hearts games before so I cant say how it compares to previous entries but as a stand a lone title I'm enjoying it quite a lot.  I haven't gotten to a point where the switching thing has really bothered me yet so maybe that will be an issue later on.