Little late but whatever...

unless they play an important role in getting through areas probably not. combat wise they have been and will be optional (unless they add a scripted moment). Frankly, right now it looks like osaka team doesn't know the meaning of the phrase balanced game play. I don't trust them to either. i'm not gonna say it's going to be a bad game. I'm hoping these forms are only tied to transformations. like there's a neutral transformation, with offensive, defensive and magic variants. KH2 was good but there was really no reason to go into drive, the abilities were basically irrelevant and i've only ever seen people defend drive (for vanilla KH2) because they needed to keep them from dying to a boss; looking cool is not a factor of usefulness

Edited November 10, 20168 yr by Dustin Newton

I think the important thing to understand here is why balancing is important, but not 100% perfect for a game to be fun. When it comes down to it, the point of playing any game is to have fun, and if you do, the game is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

 

Issue right now? Games like BBS and DDD get boring after several playthroughs because of how horrendous the balancing is, making anything on higher diffiiculties tedious and repetitive. Compare this to something like KH2; sure, even playing on Crit Mode and mashing X to win is possible (for the most part as long as you're not underleveled), but the game gives you a bunch of other options to win too, as well as different playstyles. Some might even argue that trying different playstyles was part of the experience, and is what makes the game so fun.

 

Ultimately, we want KH3 to be fun. If they give us an arsenal of moves, excellent. It'd be cool if Drive Forms are required to beat the game, but that also means they'll have to pay extra emphasis on balancing the Drive Forms. After all, if they're making something mandatory and it turns out OP, it'll basically obsolete everything else they give in the game and create DDD 2.0 with Balloons again. 

 

My point is: I think the safe route to take is the KH2 route. Have multiple ways and playstyles you can use to beat the game. It might be a bit more complex than "mash X", but if they have different styles of play, you can at least get through the game however way you want with freedom. If they do make things very limited and certain abilities mandatory, say, drive forms, then its very possible that they'll screw up the balance of the Forms and make the game worse. 

 

At the end of the day, we want a game thats fun, and I don't think "limiting our combat choices" will go into that category. A vast arsenal of moves is not a bad thing if done correctly. I'm willing to accept KH3 sacrificing a bit of balance for a diverse and flexible playstyle that's up to the player (like KH2), rather than it forcing some abilities to be mandatory and putting more pressure on a "perfectly balanced combat system", because I just don't see that happening.

Edited November 11, 20168 yr by thatkingdomheartsguy

Yes. Yes we do.

Nope its fan service at this point. Sora is overpowered as it is and I love it.

They never said if it was the "first" visit to Olympus where we get to use Drive forms or later because technically in the E3 2015 trailer Olympus was one of the first worlds with Sora's KH2 outfit, which means once he switches outfits maybe drives are no longer a thing, so he may only be able to be used at the beginning of the game. Plus we may not have the same drives from KH2, maybe we have a different set since Sora might not be able to wield a second keyblade anymore after Ventus awakens, and those pictures we saw only used 1 weapon, a shield and a keyblade/hammer

Edited November 11, 20168 yr by DaxtotheMax

I'm okay with having Drives since they're new/possibly tied to transformations

 

unless they play an important role in getting through areas probably not. combat wise they have been and will be optional (unless they add a scripted moment). Frankly, right now it looks like osaka team doesn't know the meaning of the phrase balanced game play. I don't trust them to either. i'm not gonna say it's going to be a bad game. I'm hoping these forms are only tied to transformations. like there's a neutral transformation, with offensive, defensive and magic variants. KH2 was good but there was really no reason to go into drive, the abilities were basically irrelevant and i've only ever seen people defend drive (for vanilla KH2) because they needed to keep them from dying to a boss; looking cool is not a factor of usefulness

wat

Valor's good for better damage early game + early finisher with square

Wisdom and Final have Mobile Casting

Limit's Limits are hella useful, plus Zantetsuken

Limit had an extra Lucky Strike

Master and Final have good aerial combos

Growth abilities aren't irrelevant

etc etc

... Then again I don't know anything about 2 vanilla, but FM tho

 

As for balancing, I think not having the Command Deck is already a step toward safety, since the issue with Surges/Balloon/etc was that they were strong and spammable. Things like Drives, Attraction Flow and transforms shouldn't be spammable (hopefully)

Do we really need Flowmotion? Attraction Flow? Shotlocks? Keyblade Transformations? Summons? Magic that efects the environment? No all we really need is the Keyblade and basic magic. Everything else is just a bonus for fun.

They never said if it was the "first" visit to Olympus where we get to use Drive forms or later because technically in the E3 2015 trailer Olympus was one of the first worlds with Sora's KH2 outfit, which means once he switches outfits maybe drives are no longer a thing, so he may only be able to be used at the beginning of the game. Plus we may not have the same drives from KH2, maybe we have a different set since Sora might not be able to wield a second keyblade anymore after Ventus awakens, and those pictures we saw only used 1 weapon, a shield and a keyblade/hammer

Look at the outfit Sora is wearing in those screenshots. The design is clearly based on the KH3 outfit with the way it fits and the bracers. And you have to remember, Kindom of Corona (Tangled), where we first see the KH3 outfit is said to be the very first Disney world we visit in KH3 meaning it's before Olympus Colosseum. Also remember that the scens in Olypus Collosseum where recorded before they finalized the KH3 look, so the KH2 look was just a placeholder. That means Sora will have is new look very early on. Besides it's just not a good idea to give the player a particular gameplay mechanic, only to remove it later in the story, it makes the player feel cheated.

Edited November 11, 20168 yr by Isamu Kuno

I'm okay with having Drives since they're new/possibly tied to transformations

 

wat

Valor's good for better damage early game + early finisher with square

Wisdom and Final have Mobile Casting

Limit's Limits are hella useful, plus Zantetsuken

Limit had an extra Lucky Strike

Master and Final have good aerial combos

Growth abilities aren't irrelevant

etc etc

... Then again I don't know anything about 2 vanilla, but FM tho

 

As for balancing, I think not having the Command Deck is already a step toward safety, since the issue with Surges/Balloon/etc was that they were strong and spammable. Things like Drives, Attraction Flow and transforms shouldn't be spammable (hopefully)

 

Drive Forms in KH2 were underplayed or "irrelevant" in that game because:

1. There was no Critical Mode (where Sora's HP is cut in half & the enemies are stronger) or Zero Exp.
2. No Absent Silhouettes, Data Organization, Roxas boss fight, or Lingering Will.
3. No Limit Form.
4. No Cavern of Rememberance ( the ONLY place which utilizes the abilities gained from Drive Forms).  
5. Overall the game did not encourage the player to actually use the Drive Forms that much or at least learn their abilities (you can beat the whole game without learning any of their abilities

That's why a lot of fans said KH2 was so easy & that it was button masher. Hence why KH2FM attempted to rectify this & why a lot of fans consider it the definitive version.