It took me a couple hours and honestly probably over 50 deaths but i just beat Roxas on level 1 crit and i must have learned more about this game in that time than i have since it came out in 2005.  Damn that was brutal.

Was so gassed that i screamed "F**k you Jesse Mcartney" at the top of my lungs and startled my girlfriend to the point she pissed her pants.

Sorry for the unnecessary post but i needed to tell somebody.  Idk anyone irl who would understand how big of a deal this is to me lol

Edited January 5, 20205 yr by JPansullo7

i never understood why people torture themselves with this mode.  its beyond infuriating.  I got up to barbossa and im like nope im good.

That nobody fight right before axel as Roxas is the worst. In a couple years on and off, I have yet to get past demyx in hollow bastion on level 1. That guy is definitely the Master of Masters.

On 1/6/2020 at 9:24 AM, rosco258 said:

i never understood why people torture themselves with this mode.  its beyond infuriating.  I got up to barbossa and im like nope im good.

It's definitely torture but ive been playing these games for 18 years now and only just recently began to challenge myself with critical mode and restrictions.  It gives me a reason to replay my favorite series all over again.  Also it's incredibly rewarding and lengthens the playthrough time, so that keeps me occupied.  Idk if i want to try level 1 on KH1 though, i hear it is brutually long due to the game not scaling you up like KH2 does.

Btw, KH3 critical with just Kingdom Key was a blast if you haven't tried it.

P.S.  I'm on Final Xemnas now and he's absolutely spanking me

On 1/6/2020 at 4:57 PM, Darkfire1408 said:

That nobody fight right before axel as Roxas is the worst. In a couple years on and off, I have yet to get past demyx in hollow bastion on level 1. That guy is definitely the Master of Masters.

Yeah that fight can be tough even on regular critical.  Demyx isn't too bad if you just use Stitch and spam reflect at the right moments.  What sucks is afterwards.  You have to do all those mob fights with FF characters and if you die (which you most likely will) you have to fight Demyx ALL OVER AGAIN.  Happened to me, it took me like 10 tries to finally kill him then i died fighting with Cloud and all of the sudden im back to the cutscene with Mickey telling Sora to go find Riku and Kairi and i'm like "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

I'm currently stuck on kh3 critical.  I can't get past the avalanche part in arendelle

5 minutes ago, JPansullo7 said:

It's definitely torture but ive been playing these games for 18 years now and only just recently began to challenge myself with critical mode and restrictions.  It gives me a reason to replay my favorite series all over again.  Also it's incredibly rewarding and lengthens the playthrough time, so that keeps me occupied.  Idk if i want to try level 1 on KH1 though, i hear it is brutually long due to the game not scaling you up like KH2 does.

Btw, KH3 critical with just Kingdom Key was a blast if you haven't tried it.

P.S.  I'm on Final Xemnas now and he's absolutely spanking me

Yeah that fight can be tough even on regular critical.  Demyx isn't too bad if you just use Stitch and spam reflect at the right moments.  What sucks is afterwards.  You have to do all those mob fights with FF characters and if you die (which you most likely will) you have to fight Demyx ALL OVER AGAIN.  Happened to me, it took me like 10 tries to finally kill him then i died fighting with Cloud and all of the sudden im back to the cutscene with Mickey telling Sora to go find Riku and Kairi and i'm like "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ugh, I hadn't even thought about the FF back to back battles afterwards. Dang it. Kh1 level 1 I haven't gotten through Agrabah yet.

Yo, update guys, Demyx is caput. Just got to hang in through the FF battles.

On 1/7/2020 at 6:10 PM, rosco258 said:

I'm currently stuck on kh3 critical.  I can't get past the avalanche part in arendelle

That was the most bullshit part of the whole critical run.  Its like the light cycle in Space Paranoids but worse.

12 hours ago, Darkfire1408 said:

Yo, update guys, Demyx is caput. Just got to hang in through the FF battles.

Hell yeah.  Best bet is to let them do most of the work and just stay safe.  Cloud literally tears them apart

I finally beat level 1 crit lastnight.  Gotta say, getting past Roxas and Xigbar was the worst part.  Saix gave me a little bit of trouble but overall not too bad.  Final Xemnas whooped me for a while but luckily i still had enough ethers to spam Riku's limit which got me through his last phase all the way to his laser dome DM, so i basically avoided his quick successive laser shots that are tough to guard entirely.

One thing i learned is that using your whole arsenal (drives, limits, summons) is a lifesaver to get through tricky flights, but it can sometimes hurt you too.  Limits rip apart enemies and give you i frames but activating them sometimes leaves you vulnerable.  I realized this with Roxas the most.  Eventually i decided to go with the basic approach of melee combing til you hit their revenge value, guard, stagger, repeat and beat him with that.  Timing is key and it takes a while but its sometimes the safest and most reliable strategy.

Edited January 9, 20205 yr by JPansullo7

I only ever tried a limitation run ONCE, a fairly simple BBS Aqua with base Keyblade only, and never using healing unless it's from save points.

I got to Castle of Dreams, got slapped into next week by the Cursed Carriage, and gave up. 

No offense to people who enjoy, but Critical runs kill KH for me. 

On 1/9/2020 at 6:35 PM, Heather Chandler said:

I only ever tried a limitation run ONCE, a fairly simple BBS Aqua with base Keyblade only, and never using healing unless it's from save points.

I got to Castle of Dreams, got slapped into next week by the Cursed Carriage, and gave up. 

No offense to people who enjoy, but Critical runs kill KH for me. 

Ive been playing the series since 2002, and now pretty consistently since the remixes released in the US, so i find even regular critical runs are pretty easy for me.  Second Chance, and Once More trivialize most fights if you have enough restoration items.  Don't get me wrong though, up until the past couple years, i still got bodied on Proud mode. 

Once you figure out the hidden mechanics like revenge values/AI loops, and get your timing down to block attacks/know when bosses are vulnerable, it's not so bad

On 1/11/2020 at 12:14 PM, JPansullo7 said:

Ive been playing the series since 2002, and now pretty consistently since the remixes released in the US, so i find even regular critical runs are pretty easy for me.  Second Chance, and Once More trivialize most fights if you have enough restoration items.  Don't get me wrong though, up until the past couple years, i still got bodied on Proud mode. 

Once you figure out the hidden mechanics like revenge values/AI loops, and get your timing down to block attacks/know when bosses are vulnerable, it's not so bad

Still don't enjoy them, but to each their own