Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX (PS3) Review

Two giant RPGs in one package.

The Kingdom Hearts series is held in pretty high regard in many circles. It is a very competent RPG series featuring some of the all-stars from both the Disney universe and the Square Enix games. I played Kingdom Hearts, 358/2 Days, and Birth by Sleep before, but never got around to playing Kingdom Hearts 2. Now with HD 2.5 ReMix, I finally can, in nice high definition.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix features both Kingdom Hearts 2 as well as Birth by Sleep – two games that are rather massive in scale and content. Since these are older games that I believe many have played before, I’m not going to get into the story of the series. A Keyblade wielder takes on multiple forces of evil in order to stop an even greater evil from taking over the universe. Honestly, I’ve tried to wrap my head around the story of this series, and have always come back with a confusing headache.

The character cameos return in full force.

Platforms: PS3
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d pay: $39.99
Multiplayer: N/A

Lookin’ good.

In 1080p, the games look really well polished. Of course, there are a few areas that will look better than others, but the cartoony look of the entire thing works to its advantage. The presentation and voice acting are still well done, and the fan service for both Square Enix fans as well as Disney fans is really unparalleled.

The package also comes with re: Coded, or rather, all the cut scenes from the game. A multi-hour movie for players to watch is all well and good, and there are even trophies for watching all the content, but in the end, it’s taking the part I dislike from Kingdom Hearts and throwing it in. Of course, I could choose not to view it if I wanted.

The PSP title, Birth by Sleep, is an even larger game that comes in the package. Spanning multiple characters, players will take on three stories, going to different places and interacting with different people. It is my favorite game in the series by far. The multiplayer that was present in Birth by Sleep is now changed to single player only and rebalanced to allow one person to successfully conquer all the waves of enemies it throws at them.

Yeah. Now, that’s a kickin’ crescendo.

Leveling up and finding new abilities and items is still addicting, and seeing all these characters in one place is still a great nostalgia trip. On top of all this, the original soundtrack is redone and sounds even better than before.

While the RPG aspect and action of the games works very well and is very enjoyable, there were a few problems I had with the package. First, the loading times can be rather long and for some reason certain abilities in combat, namely the character changes like the D-Link switch, will initiate a short load that can really throw off the flow of a battle. It really feels out of place at times.

The gang is all here.

Secondly, the camera, while not terribly bad, will still get in the way of things or get too close to a wall and zoom in too far during a combat sequence. Locking on to enemies will combat this rather well, but every once in a while, I would get hit or miss a jump due to the camera not doing what I wanted it to do.

As a package, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix is a steal and a half. It comes with two 30 hour RPGs that can become even longer if the player wants to do everything in the games. Luckily, the games are fun and compelling enough to want to do everything that will last you well into the next year. Of course, not until Kingdom Hearts 3 hits, since that seems to be taking forever. In the grand scheme of things, players wanting to relive their times with the Kingdom Hearts series will find some great games here, and finally seeing Birth by Sleep on my television made me love it even more. Fans shouldn’t think twice about picking this up, and players looking for some deep RPGs to dig into this holiday can find them right here all for a very low price.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Fun game play
  • Tons of content
  • Looks great in HD
  • Fantastic soundtrack
  • Great price
Bad
  • Some camera issues
  • Strange loading times during combat
8.5
Great
Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.