Source
r/KingdomHearts•
JiveHawk

[Discussion] Which game has the best *playing* intro?

Discussion

As in, the actual playable portion before things open up to the rest of the game. Having recently gone thru every game, I had some thoughts on this.

From worst to best IMO:

  1. KH3D - Man, this one is weird, clunky, and not very satisfying. The Ursula battle is still dumb and the opening hour or two in Traverse Town is awkwardly paced and very heavy on trying to teach you a bunch of mechanics.

  2. KHCOM - Honestly, it barely has an intro. Quick card tutorial thru Traverse Town and then it stops holding your hand. Not much to say.

  3. KHBBS - Points for being quick and getting you moving into the game right away. But also loses points for being super forgettable.

  4. KHII - Story-wise, this intro is amazing. It's been discussed a trillion times. However, in the re-playability department... not so much. There's not a lot of gameplay progression at all until you control Sora. And even when you gain control of Sora it takes another two hours to finally have free reign over where you go.

  5. KH - Perhaps it benefits from nostalgia, but the atmosphere of this game's opening is iconic and is also brief enough that you don't feel put off from starting a new run. Does a good job of building steadily but not slowly.

  6. KHIII - No idea if this is a hot take or not, but this game starts off hot. It has the advantage of being the latest full installment which might be cheating a bit, but whatever. The tutorial portion is quick, you get put into a huge first world with plenty of exploration that introduces mechanics to you quickly. Never feels like a slog to start this game.

Posted Apr 30, 2023, 10:44 PM UTC

107
mikachu93•

I think I'd agree with your list. Maybe I'd switch Re:COM and DDD. At least I actually remember DDD's intro segments.

5
JiveHawkOP•

Yeah it depends on what you perceive as worse. For me, DDD's is actively annoying while COMs barely exists at all lol.

4
thephantomhaircut•

Best playing intro, I'd have to say original COM on the GBA. When I found out you can hold start to skip dialogue cutscenes, each repeat play has a brisk beginning.

Best intro overall? KH1. I think what Kingdom Hearts has lost over the years is the original feeling that Sora, Riku and Kairi were ordinary kids, like you and me once were, that got whisked off into a grand Disney and Final Fantasy adventure. In the first game, the whole world traversing and darkness thing is treated as highly unusual, appocalyptic and if at all possible temporary. But we just get so used to the KH universe being a construct for video game levels that that perspective is lost. The intro to KH1 does a great job reminding me of that fish out of water feeling even after having played the later games.

3
Rob19ny•
  1. KHIII - No idea if this is a hot take or not, but this game starts off hot.... Never feels like a slog to start this game.

Of course it starts off hot. 0.2 Birth by Sleep is its prologue. 0.2 was taken out of KH3 because the volume of 3 increased. Also, Nomura wanted players to avoid experiencing a slow 2 hour prologue like in 2. 0.2 was then put in 2.8 to give players a taste of KH3. You were playing 3 without even realizing it, which is why you didn't list 0.2. Now that you know this info and I'm assuming you played 3 in full from your statement, you will notice the full circle moment in the main story.

2
P1ka2:KH358-AstralBlast:•

probably just my bias of absolutely loving the game but in my opinion 358/2 days has the best gameplay intro , you get introduced to the organization , teamed up with them , and each tutorial mission has its own funny moments between roxas and the member hes teamed up with . i think the tutorial missions end when roxas gets sent with axel to take out the guardian

2
Rharyx•

I always found DDD's intro to be one of the better ones because you just have to go through one quick battle with Ursula before you're let loose in the main game.

Compared to some other games like KH1 and KH2, which are really good prologues, but are annoying on replay because there's so much monotony with them (find seagull eggs; deliver the mail; race Riku; explore the Seven Wonders; etc.).

BbS is also nice because of how brisk it is, outside of being somewhat cutscene-heavy.

I think the worst is probably 358/2 Days. I've never replayed the game once because it's just so slow-moving at the start with all the annoying tutorials broken up across multiple days.

1
KHfanxx7xx•

I enjoyed the prologue with Ventus in BBS, even tho it did not last long like Sora and Roxas’s prologue from KH1 and KH2. But it was still fun nonetheless.

1