Kingdom Hearts

So out of recommendation, as well as it being in my backlog, I got started today. @Khayyaam was really helpful, and gave me a bit of a test, which... Well, it let me learn quite a few things. And I was probably more observant in said test than I ever had been when playing a video game. So yeah, big thanks to him.

A few notes regarding some stuff:
- Parrying: Time an attack in sync with the enemy, and you nullify their attack. Kinda like DmC's, and NG04's intercept. It looks like enemies can parry you as well, but you get i-frames when Sora flinches. You can also hit projectiles back at enemies, but considering the amount of enemies on screen, I imagine that this won't be happening very often.
- The basic ground attack string can have different animations. I haven't been able to figure out what triggers them exactly, but so far, you have the overhead swing, which looks helpful for anti-air, the thrust which has reach, and the horizontal swing, which is helpful for crowd control. There's a bit of recovery on each attack.
- I just got this ability named "Dash Slide" which is essentially a distance closer; If you're out of reach, Sora slides over, and hits them. Good reach, and it also damages enemies on the way, so I'll probably keep that equipped for some time.

Oh yeah, and for those who care, the story seems like your pretty average JRPG, but I hear it devolves into complete nonsense in later games.

I'll try to stay updated.

So, I've been summoned again... (I'm not trying to stay away from this forum, life just gets in the way, haha). Most people who know me pretty much see me as "the Tales guy" because of how into that series I am and how much I shill it, but I've been playing Kingdom Hearts for longer, and I basically replay every title (even the ones I don't like that much.) I may not like this series as much as pure action games, but if it weren't for Tales I'd think it was the best Action RPG series, for sure.

I claim to be a super player, and have been spending the last year recording videos of challenge runs in this series. Specifically, my claim to fame is proving that the majority of the bosses in this series are possible to do without moving (that is to say, no jumping or touching the left stick.) My point here is, I'm pretty confident in my skill and knowledge of Kingdom Hearts. So I'll answer questions and stuff, but I won't be putting a guide here out of respect for the sanctity of figuring things out yerself which is where half the fun is in RPGs (and most games in general). (oh and if anyone's interested in some of my challenge run videos, I'll gladly share!)

I'll respond to these though.

TheFirmament1 wrote:
- Parrying: Time an attack in sync with the enemy, and you nullify their attack. Kinda like DmC's

Not really Kingdom Hearts related, but I wanna point out that this type of parry (having your attack clash with an enemy's) is a staple mechanic of Devil May Cry, not just DmC. Arguably it's the most important in DMC1, but it's definitely present in 3, 4 and 5 and useful too.

TheFirmament1 wrote:
- The basic ground attack string can have different animations. I haven't been able to figure out what triggers them exactly, but so far, you have the overhead swing, which looks helpful for anti-air, the thrust which has reach, and the horizontal swing, which is helpful for crowd control. There's a bit of recovery on each attack.

I'll explain this. Attacks in Kingdom Hearts are context sensitive. You're going by the very basic beginning of the game moveset. At the very beginning of KH1, there's 3 grounded attacks + combo finisher and 2 aerial attacks + combo finisher.

First is overhead. This is the "Default" attack for when there's no target, and also what Sora will do next to a grounded target. If he starts with this and there's still only one target near, he'll go to...
Thrust. Defaults to second hit of his basic combo, however, if you're slightly away from your target, Sora will pull this off as his first move, which makes overhead the second hit.
Third is Horizontal swing. This is the most obscure of his basic attacks, but this activates whenever there are multiple targets all close by, most likely when you're not directly locked on to an enemy. Can be first or second hit of a combo.

And then of course there's the basic combo finisher, which inflicts knockback. How enemies react to knockback is different per enemy (some simply move away while others will straight up get knocked down). This is the crux of combat in the series, basically.

Next is the aerial attacks. Only 2 basic ones- a downward swing and an anti-air swing, usually in that order. The special thing here is that you can do the anti-air swing from the ground if your target is in the air. Otherwise you'll usually start with the downward swing, and of course there's an air combo finisher too. Here's a special tip- since the downward swing is the least volatile attack Sora can do and comes out fast, it's the most reliable for parries in most situations, since no matter what if you short-hop (tap jump for a second) and immediately attack you'll basically always get this attack.

I know not having direct control of your attack types is weird, and something that turns a lot of people off, but it's not really a big deal (and there are similar things in games like Ninja Gaiden). Rather than thinking of it as not having control of your attack, think of it as *having* control, except instead of a button input, it's situational control. When I'm not doing challenge runs that restrict my movement, I often find myself repositioning just to get the attack I want out, and it's really fun and unique. And keep in mind, KH1 has a *lot* of attacks you learn later, *especially* Final Mix, and it only grows throughout the series. Since those are learned abilities they actually have descriptions that help you get an idea of how they're used, too.

TheFirmament1 wrote:- I just got this ability named "Dash Slide" which is essentially a distance closer; If you're out of reach, Sora slides over, and hits them. Good reach, and it also damages enemies on the way, so I'll probably keep that equipped for some time.

I'll try to stay updated.

Ah, sliding dash, that's one of my favorite moves in the whole series. Fun fact, it never reappears (except chain of memories which, for various reasons, doesn't count). In this case, the situation that causes sliding dash to come out is further than the thrust attack, with no upper limit. It's one of those things that keeps me coming back to KH1... and it's not because it's a distance closer. I'm sure you'll understand as you experiment.

Ok, here's one tip: Keep an eye on the targetting icon. If you're locked on (it's blue), you'll notice the shape changes. That's based on your distance to the enemy, and it can help judge when you're in range for specific attacks.

TheFirmament1 wrote:@Khayyaam was really helpful, and gave me a bit of a test, which... Well, it let me learn quite a few things. And I was probably more observant in said test than I ever had been when playing a video game.

Here's the real reason I'm here.

I'm writing an analysis of the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 1, so to collect data and... for fun, basically, I test all my friends and anyone who's starting out Kingdom Hearts 1 on this, and I'm interested in testing more people, especially here on a forum for action game fans! It doesn't take much to set up, it's just something you can do at the beginning of the game. I won't go into detail on the test because it'd probably give away the answer, but the results have been fascinating for me and helps people who take part appreciate this game more. It certainly helped me.

If anyone here is interested in said test, feel free to DM me. Or reach out to me on twitter where I'm currently putting up most of my challenge runs.

All that said... have fun, feel free to ask for help and I sincerely hope more people get into this series. I know the fact that it's, well, literally for children, a disney game, a wacky japanese game and a game with a reputation of a complicated story makes it hard for people to take it seriously, but the core action really is solid, fun and most of all unique.

Just beat Wonderland. Haven't gotten any new abilities from the level beyond Blizzard, which I couldn't find much use for. Would love for someone to tell me the applications for it. There are also some unopened chests I haven't reached yet, like the one in the tea party room.

The boss took me about 25 minutes to beat in total. I can tell that that guy is quite a barrier for most people. Kind of an meh boss, wasn't really a fan of the whole "bottom half is immune, and you gotta jump off a platform to hit him" gimmick. The fire phase was kind of interesting, though.

Well, Blizzard is useful in the level for disabling the boss' fire, but the main use of blizzard is that it's, essentially, a shotgun. Don't sleep on it for being able to clear out crowds of enemies in front of you.

And yeah, there's moments where the game feels more like a platformer, and that boss is one of them. It makes sense though, the biggest game inspiration behind the game was actually Super Mario 64. They wanted to make something like that before they got Disney involved.

Got a bit further in Kingdom Hearts today (Haven't had much time lately), finished Olympus, and started Deep Jungle. The boss Cerberus wasn't too hard, took me about 15 minutes of trying, but in the end, I beat him without using items. Had to keep running around the arena to dodge his fireballs + Dark pulses (There was probably a more efficient way of doing this, i.e parrying, but oh well).

Bite attack killed me in 2 hits, but it was easy to dodge since he just locks in place, and only attacks in one direction for a while. So I just stood back, hit him a few times, and waited for him to finish biting. Maybe I could've parried it, but I didn't bother. My deaths came from mistiming the opportunity to attack, and then ending up getting hit while falling.

Sonic Blade sounds like it could be useful, but I don't have enough AP to equip it unless I remove Slapshot, Slide, or Roll. In which I don't want to remove any of them.

Currently lost in Deep Jungle.

I think the most perplexing part of the game so far is the bizarre amounts of precision that it can sometimes demand of you in terms of platforming. But since it was inspired by Mario 64, I guess that's not too surprising.

Cerberus is a toughie the first time around. So far as I know it's the first real introduction to unblockable attacks- specifically, the dark pulses, which are also unparryable. The projectiles are blockable and parryable however. I don't remember if you should have guard yet, but as a rule of thumb blockable attacks are parryable attacks (though parries generally have more reward)

The bite's weird since it's parryable, but the timing is unusual because Sora *will* use his anti-air slash. Really it's a simplistic boss though, he just hits hard.

Deep Jungle... if you know where to go it's a fun level but, the first time around you're not gonna know where to go. Cutscenes vaguely hint at where to go, lots of back and forth, multiple paths, one area where you're set back if you fall. A lot of people stop playing at this point either because they're lost, or they can't beat the boss. But pretty much you can go back and forth between the cabin and the tent and you'll progress the plot.

Stick with it though, the game opens up a bit in terms of mechanics (RPG and otherwise) and abilities and fights get tougher after Deep Jungle.

Yeah, just beat Deep Jungle. Can't say I had a great time, even after your advice. I get why people would stop here.

Didn't have much fun with the boss either, wasn't a fan of the whole invisibility gimmick. Couldn't quite get down when he rushed at me or not. Not to mention that the camera automatically faces away from the boss when you start, for some reason. This was definitely my least favourite part so far.

I'm trying to figure out when I should parry, because I've mostly been rolling. Wondering if the Jungle Key is worth using for it's more consistent damage, despite the lower critical rate. And I haven't gotten block yet, I invested in the sword, and I'm level 17.

Oh yes, and I feel I should mention something about the story, because I always watch the cutscenes on a first run as a formality. It's really fucking stupid. There, that's it.

The characters with the most screentime are cartoon characters donald duck and goofy lol, don't take the plot too seriously.

Jungle Key is absolutely worth using... though most players may not notice why, necessarily.

Oh, and Stealth Sneak is actually ridiculously easy for one reason and one reason alone: You don't have to fight him. You can just focus on Clayton. Stealth Sneak can be pretty passive.

You have cure magic now so you should be less afraid to get more aggressive (though it can take up a precious shortcut slot).

As for parrying, at this point you should be more receptive to enemy patterns and used to your attacks. If you picked sword you should have Counterattack now-that alone should incentivize parries, since it lets you cancel the parry animation with a new attack (on the ground anyway.) The command list will even change the "attack" command to "Counter" if you're able to do it (though it's so fast you may not notice) Shorthop slashes are also good for parries, but the best parry move is Sliding Dash since sora will hold his keyblade out in front of him for the whole duration. It's basically an advancing guard and to be honest when I go back to the game I find myself retreating to use Sliding Dash parries more than I find myself guarding. And with counterattack I can keep up the offensive (and counterattack can, itself, parry).

I really like this game. My first run was interrupted by something else but I returned to it and I started a new file. Now I only have to beat four secret bosses and Hades Cup Trial, everything else is done. Great enemy design, good bosses and decent challenge on Proud. Sora's attacks and spells are well-thought-out, summons are great additions and even defensive moves are not simplistic.

However there are some flaws such as Sora's hitboxes that can whiff under certain circumstances and Cure+Leaf Bracer+MP Rage that keep you alive no matter what if equipped at the same time. I chose the Shield so I can't use this combination even at LV80 (I must reach LV90) but it shouldn't be possible on Proud.

It's probably inferior to KH2FM, but it's still interesting to play and delve into it if you love action/action-rpg games.

Playing this for the first time. For the Riku test it was about 6 tries, but one I fell off and one I was trying to attack with circle. I purely circle strafed and 1 hit poked him. I couldn't figure out why and when he was counter kicking, so just poked since you have time to move after. I only got hit when the camera bugged on the trees. I wish that arena had no trees. Proud if it matters.

>Playing this for the first time
I hope you have a good time playing this.

>counter kicking
IIRC he does so every 4 hits he takes.

>I hope you have a good time playing this.

The island fetch quests made me want to blow my brains out, but enjoying everything else.

The camera in this is terrible. Takes about 10 seconds to 360 the camera. Lock on is fine on single targets but anything more and it is a chore. The issue is the soft lock. It has a crazy mind of it's own, and you have to swing at your soft lock, you can't free swing in like souls or something.
All the real lock on does is just follow the camera. Often the soft lock decides to target an enemy 10 feet behind me in the air, instead of the guy right in front of my face.
Would love to play this with the speed of a  mouse and basically never lockon, but I went with ps4 it was on sale.

Absolutely love the item system. Since you can't open you menu in battle, you can only take a few equipped items into battle. God why didn't Yakuza implement this. That would have single handedly balanced the broken item spam bad players often do.

It is strange that air combo button mashing is often the best tactic on bosses, the parry will happen so much. I was having trouble with armor and watched a no damage video, he just spammed, I did the same and beat him no problem.


The story is so dumb and I love it. Nostalgia city with all of the disney stuff. A simpler time before they were a marvel factory.

Started playing this game as a tide-over to Halo Infinite, so far really enjoying it!

Oh, happy to see you started playing it. Where are you at, currently? And which weapon did you choose at the start?

I choose Sword and I think I casted Magic aside, not too sure.

Just got the ability to summon Simba which I think is pretty neat, smart way to incorporate more IPs without dedicating a world to them. Just taking my time exploring and having fun. Combat is a bit mashy, but I like the insane amount of polish this game has, even for the era. Everything is so well designed, so smooth, so slick, with such a simple but fun plot excuse to travel worlds we loved as a kid - great stuff so far!

>Sword

I forgot when exactly you get level up abilities, but I think Slapshot is one of the better early abilities you get if you chose the Sword (provided that you're playing FM1 or the remasters), while you'll get Guard a little late (or maybe not, I'm probably thinking of the Staff). IIRC the giving up part just means less stat gains for that particular choice.

>Simba

You've made good progress so far. How did you find Wonderland and Deep Jungle? Some people I know have stopped playing the game because they got lost in those worlds.

Regarding the actual summon you got, now you have access to your first HP% attack, which is one of the main things as for why I keep coming back to the game.

>mashy

Once your arsenal grows, you'll start to notice the utility and true potential of Sora's moveset.

Also, you're close enough to the part where Genie makes his appearance. And imo, this is the part where you'll find one of the worse bosses in the game.

> Simba
I'm not really sure on how to use him to be honest, he just kinda ... stands there.

> slapshot
How do I use this one? I haven't been able to 'trigger' it yet.

> genie
Noted, I just started that world but quit for the night.

> wonderland
Pretty fun, but was a bit annoyed that I had to use a potion to continue, forcing me to fly back to town to purchase one.

> deep jungle
Not going to lie, it was a bit "just walk everywhere until I trigger a cutscene" for me. There was no real ryme or reason I feel behind the progression in that area. Definitely my least favourite area so far.

One small thing I really enjoy btw is how they don't make a big deal of character inclusions. Cloud just randomly shows up in a sick-ass outfit, instead of having a whole CGI scene dedicated to him. I think they do that very well. Same with Squall, Aerith etc. Did feel weird to have Wakka and Tidus have such weird voice-overs. Any reason they didn't just use the original cast?

>Simba

One of your in-battle command slots should be replaced with something like 'Charge' or something to that effect. Though not sure if the remasters assigned that to the triangle button (FM1 doesn't do this). Either way, hold the button to store power, and release it once the bar gets filled, or at any point prior to it, if the situation calls for it. You'll deal Gravity-based damage to everything on-screen. But you must be careful, as doing this locks you in place, so you need to find a safe spot or an opening to use this.

>Slapshot

Stand up close to an enemy, and attack it. Sora should do an upwards slash instead of his basic downwards slash. If you pay attention to the way the lock-on 'circle' looks, you will realize that it changes depending on how close/far from the enemy you are. Different melee combos or Limits can only be used depending on proximity. Slapshot only works if Sora is as close to his enemy as possible, and unlike other non-finisher moves, it has the ability to land a critical hit.

>had to go back to buy a potion to continue

Had that happen a few times, but I don't quite remember if the potion was necessary to beat the world. I need to replay that game soon.

>walk everywhere until a cutscene gets triggered

Not surprising, haha. As a kid, this was the farthest I could get into the game, but that was mostly because I didn't own a Memory Card at the time. I remember that I managed to fight Clayton once, but could never replicate how I pulled that off, until I played the game years later.

>least favorite area

I wonder what you'll think of Monstro. You don't have to go to random places to trigger cutscenes in it, but people also cite this place for being one of the few worlds where they got lost without a guide, though to a lesser extent compared to Deep Jungle. Or not lesser, it's just... different in a way. You'll know what I mean if you keep going forward in the route you chose in the world map.

>don't make a big deal of character inclusions

Honestly, never thought about it that way, but yeah, I can agree with this.

>why didn't they use the original cast

Not sure. Also, I wonder if it'd be the other way around for me, as I haven't played FFX yet.

Made some solid progress, beat Aghraba and Monstro and am now in Halloween Town. So far the combat is fun, if a bit mashy. There's a lot of little nuances like parry, magic usage and enemy AI but due to the chaos of the fights and multiple characters running around, as well as plenty of options to tank damage, I admit to have been playing quite 'relaxed and sloppy' if you get me.

The leveldesign is pretty horrid I must say. Jungle was bad, but Monstro was an even worse maze with Agrabah literally having me be confused where to go at a near constant level despite only being 7 rooms in total.

> Summons
I quite like them. Genie is more an attack that keeps on going, while Simba is more directed fire. I like the cutscenes but it's annoying you cannot skip them. Especially the Genie summon takes nearly a minute it feels like.

> worst bosses in the game
Curious which one that would be. I found The Vizier midly annoying, but not too much. Evil Genie was pretty fun since you basically just wailed on the parrot while avoiding fire. The lion-head was pretty cute too. Only 'boss' I couldn't find an answer for was this weird jar-spider that parried all my moves and just spewed poison. I eventually just left that fight and moved on, was apparently optional.

Have you tried the Olympus tournaments? Some of them net you cool abilities, and IIRC all three modes of any given cup (normal, solo, timed) have different prizes. I think Phil's cup has the Gravity spell, or upgrades your existing spell if you already have it.

>level design

Probably why KH2 was more linear, but then no one was happy with this either, so they made the CoR.

>no way to skip Summon cutscenes

Yeah that's one of my gripes with Summons. For some reason I thought they fixed this with the remaster, but apparently not.

So, do you know why we say Genie is as mighty (as a character) as we say he is in VS threads?

>optional jar spider

If other Pot Spiders were following it, then I think that was supposed to be a boss fight. The one were Jasmine was trapped. Didn't know it was optional.

On the other hand, if you have to break other pots to trigger the fight, then that's part of the gimmick heartless which were introduced in FM. You're supposed to block a hit or parry it to knock it down (telegraph is weird, it will extend its 'claws' which gives the impression that it's some sort of attack, but it just goes right through Sora's model, and THEN it will charge at you, that's what you are supposed to block/parry) then you can damage it... But the thing is, I'm not sure if you were supposed to fight a gimmick heartless yet, excluding white/black mushrooms.

Finished the game. I ended up really enjoying it, but the last few hours honestly left a sour taste in my mouth. I already had some gripes with the (very) confusing level design, but Hallowed Bastion really felt like a maze with no direction. Fact that I had to do it twice, I felt like I was running in circles. Afterwards it also got even worse combat-wise, with End of the World just being a ton of arena's.

Also have to say I liked the enemies less and less near the end for being so "and now you have to wait". Those sword-dudes planting their sword in the ground, but especially Ansem with his lasers which had you fly around for minutes on end avoiding them. I won't lie: I was happy it was over.

Which is a double feeling, since I really, really enjoyed playing the game up until Hallowed Bastion.

Going to play Halo a bit now and then probably jump to KH2 later-on.

> spider
It was a Gimmick Heartless then, because I beat that boss before it.

Sorry that it wasn't to your liking Roy. Here's hoping you'll like KH2 better. One thing I can say for certain is that you will never (or very rarely) feel lost in KH2, because of how linear the level design is, and because the information pop-up basically tells you what to do next in order to progress in the game.

Hey to be clear, as I noted: I really really really enjoyed the game, just that the final hours really weren't that great for me. As a whole this game was fantastic, just a sour ending (ironic, Halo Infinite had the same).

Oh, my mistake. I misinterpreted your post. But still, hope you like playing KH2 whenever you get around to it. Though I must warn you that if you didn't like the Gummi Ship, you'll probably like it even less in KH2, as those sections take longer to clear.

Yeah KH2 is definitely on the list! I'm pretty excited for it. I ended up watching a semi compilation of the in-between game, so I sort...of understand what's going on (but not really haha).

> Gummi
I honestly didn't mind it near the end once I got warp.

>what happens between 1-2

The only big questions you'll have at the start of the game is who's the blond guy you'll be playing as, and why Sora and co. are where they're at. Don't think there's any other major detail you need to know in order to understand 2 that the game itself doesn't attempt to explain, provided you're interested to know about the game's plot.

>warp

It's also present in a way in 2, in the sense that you only need to unlock a route first, and then you're free to go to that world whenever you please (but don't remember if this applies to second visits. I'm inclined to say it does).

Started on KH2, not really sure what to think of it yet. The story is an un-understandable mess so far, gameplay is a very slow burn so far (lots of short fights). Just beat Axel (about 2 hours in?). The first real boss took some work to beat (started on Proud). Wasn't really sure how to deal with some of his moves.

I'm curious when the game will open up more.

Yeah the Roxas part is pretty notorious for being slow. Though if you beat Axel, you shouldn't have much left to get that part done with. I'll tell you this much, some people prefer to start Lv 1 runs from a save file after they get Sora, since it doesn't matter whether you're at level 1 at the start of the game.

>deal with his moves
IIRC either by blocking, moving out of the way, or using a Reaction Command.

>when it will open up
When you get Sora, it shouldn't be too long until you start getting more stuff to mess around with. Rest assured though, the game will definitely open up.

>story is a mess
It’s why I skipped it. Don’t feel pressured to watch the cutscenes.

>when the game will open up
Once you’re Sora and have a few spells and some moves under your belt things should really start to click. It’s really an incredible combat experience.

>Just beat Axel (about 2 hours in?).
That's exactly where I got up to.

>some people prefer to start Lv 1 runs from a save file after they get Sora
Great idea. I'd do this no matter what kind of run just to avoid this awful opening.

Got to Sora and the first batch of spells and Overdrive's and the game is like a totally new game all of a sudden. Why in god's name did they put the Roxas part in. If it had started here it'd be solid gold.

Nice that you're liking Sora's gameplay this early. Enjoy the ride!

>KH
I don't know a thing about it, but if you want what would likely be my take were I one to play it then speak with SBK91 at GFAQs.

I'll hit up with SBK in the future once I'm a little less wet behind the ears.

I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

To note, beat the Mulan area and now in "Beast Castle". The game is still messy for me, so many things going on at once, but I'm having a blast in the fights. Outside of the fights the game is a bit too barren compared to KH1 (no platforming, no puzzles, just cutscene>fight>cutscene). I really miss having more than one room to go through without a cutscene interruption.

The fights are a lot better though. Great stuff!

>reach out to SBK
A good choice.

You're not far from getting Reflect, and I'm sure you've heard a lot about it.

In "disney world" now, really enjoyed Hades' realm especially due to Auron's inclusion. He's one of my favourite characters so seeing him appear out of nowhere, having the same VA and some sick moves was just a joy. Great surprise too.

So far really enjoying the game!

>Disney world
Yep, definitely near the place where you get Reflect.

Glad to know you're having fun with the game.

Still enjoying it. I think I ran into the 'Proud' issue, went to Twilight Town again and got absolutely stone-walled by the RPG aspect against these enemies with giant swords. They OHKO me and I can't really seem to find a way to avoid them, so I'm doing other worlds currently to level up.

What exactly does reflect do? I tried using it a few times but it gave me an animation, the shield 'broke' and I died haha.

Really loved the Pirates world, Sora's a pretty good insert for the player who is just excited to see everything. And the level itself was very combat heavy with great music.

Few other questions:

> cars
How do you fight these enemies? After they 'morph' I have no clue how to handle them when they start racing around.

> out of reach puzzlepieces
Sometimes I find a puzzle piece that's way too high up, do you get fly or something later-on?

> hidden boss
I found some optional challenges, but these Organization bosses are waaaay too powerful, I assume they are end-game stuff?

>enemies with giant swords
You mean the gray nobodies? Can't think of a sword user in Twilight Town. They definitely hit hard, but I'm actually surprised they're capable of OHKOing you on Proud, and on a leveled run.

Do you remember which weapon did you choose at the start? Not the blue sticks at the start, they only boost one stat. The weapons you also saw in KH1.

>Reflect
It's a 'close range' spell. You must activate it when an enemy is about to attack you, then the barrier will explode and it will deal damage to anything caught in the 'explosion'. If nothing touches it, nothing happens. Sora has some recovery frames after the barrier goes away, which they can take advantage of and get in some hits.

If the enemy attacks continuously (and isn't interrupted by having one of their attacks blocked), Guard is your best bet (unless they pierce it, in which case you need to abuse i-frames). If they either don't attack continuously or if they get interrupted if you block their attacks, Reflect is usually safe to use in those cases.

>cars
When they get 'angry', you must block their incoming attack until they calm down (note that this won't last, so be sure to hit them with the best you got). Since they ram into you thrice, I tend to have Sora's back facing a wall, so they don't get too far away to use Reflect the third time they try to run into me (use it twice just to be safe). Alternatively, Magnet (think you have it now) works on them. Chicken Little should keep them stunlocked as well IIRC, but that's only if he decides to gather them to one point.

>puzzle pieces
Yeah you need Drive specific abilities to reach them (and yes, Glide comes back from KH1). Though other people have found ways to get them early, like using Wisdom Fire to 'glide' towards them. Obviously doesn't work for all of them.

>hidden bosses
They're on par with lategame stuff, yes, even though you find them relatively early. I suggest you fight them later when you get more abilities and your spells get more upgrades.

>reflect
>close range
>explodes in their face
Sounds like Quen.

Does it work on projectiles?

>explosion
Any knockback?
Are their enemies that can't be stopped by it?

>vulnerability after Reflect
No way out of this once it happens?

>Quen
Can't say I've heard of this.

>projectiles
It works on pretty much almost every attack in the game. Well, technically it works on everything. What I mean by 'almost' is that you will see some attacks visually passing through the barrier, but it still won't explode (like the final boss's thorns or Zexion's book), but Sora will still not receive any damage whatsoever, at least until the barrier is still around. It even works on Lexaeus' 'grab'.

You're completely invincible for as long as the barrier is up; nothing in the game can break it. Heck, it can even delay certain forced cutscenes which are scripted to play out when certain conditions are met.

>knockback
Yes. Though it also depends on the enemy's resistance to hitstun.

There are three tiers of the explosion effect, but I think they all deal the same damage. This is independent from Reflect's upgrades, and it depends on how many hits the barrier absorbs before exploding. For the first explosion level, the enemy will flinch like normal. For the second, the enemy will be slightly separated from the ground, but the final hit from the explosion (it hits multiple times, and the final one is the strongest) makes it seem as if the enemy was hit with a normal aerial attack. For the third level, the explosion will knock enemies into the air.

If you use Reflect two or more times before it explodes, the amount of hits it absorbed from when it was first cast still carries over to the second cast and beyond.

Then there's Final Form Reflect, which ignores all that and skips straight to the third explosion level, even if the barrier absorbed one hit. IIRC Master Form starts out from the second explosion level.

>enemies that can't be stopped by it
You mean if you can interrupt their combo with it? That would depend on the attack and the enemy in question. If you mean if Reflect gives you complete invulnerability to any enemy attack in the game (not counting recovery frames) then yes, it does.

>no way out of this once it happens?
You could try casting it again before the recovery period, but it will only explode once and won't deal more damage (Reflect is generally all about trying to make its very first use in a combo string to count, otherwise you'll be wasting MP if you spam it).

Once the recovery period starts, though? No way out. Pray that the enemy doesn't hit you during this brief period of time when you're open to damage.

EDIT: Actually, there could be a way. You could cancel the recovery period by blowing all your MP on a Limit, or using a Drive form. But as you can see, it requires a resource to get out of such a scenario.

>Can't say I've heard of this.
Witcher magic shield that can be upgraded to explode in enemies' faces.

>projectiles
Are they reflected back?

>effect levels and absorption
Is it easy to keep track of how many hits you've absorbed so you know what kind of reaction the enemies will have when it explodes?

>carry over hits
Excellent.

>final form
Any reason not to use this version exclusively once you have it?
Any reason to seek out the various enemy states from lower level explosions?

>You mean if you can interrupt their combo with it?
Like are there enemies that don't take hitting.
You mentioned resistance to hitstun earlier.

>Pray that the enemy doesn't hit you during this brief period of time when you're open to damage.
What would you say is the failure rate?

The way you've explained it makes it seem commonly used. So the recovery problem can't be that bad.

>pray
Is it possible to analyze the situation before use to determine which or what kind of enemy is a threat to recovery?

>shield that can be upgraded to explode in enemies' faces
Sounds weird. And you say it 'explodes' via absorbing hits? Does it work on everything?

>are they reflected back?
Depends on the projectile. Generally, if Reflects can deflect them back, so can Guard.

>easy to keep track of hits
If the enemy is slow enough for you to count the number of hits the barrier absorbed, sure. But then there's Xaldin's wind barrier, which makes Reflect absorb a hit like once every frame.

>Any reason not to use this version exclusively once you have it?
Plenty. Reflect optimization strats focus on Sora staying on the ground to get the most out of Reflect in a combo string. Plus, since it's close range, you probably don't want enemies to be flying away if you want to hit them with another explosion immediately afterwards. Like I said before, they aren't different damage-wise.

>Any reason to seek out the various enemy states from lower level explosions?
Yes. A lategame ability allows you to chain any kind of Magic into your combo string, and it's essential to deal as much damage as possible before the string ends. This all depends on what the enemy is doing in any given moment.

>Like are there enemies that don't take hitting.
Unless they have i-frames or are immune to the Light/Other element (IIRC don't think this is even a thing), the enemy will still take damage from the explosion even if they're still busy attacking you (i.e. the lower hitstun properties of Reflect don't make them stop attacking).

>failure rate
Significant if you're surrounded by a lot of mobs, to give one example. The 1000 heartless fight comes to mind. They're attacking you pretty frequently.

>Is it possible to analyze the situation before use to determine which or what kind of enemy is a threat to recovery?
Oh yes, absolutely.

>And you say it 'explodes' via absorbing hits?
Oh, I didn't mean they were mechanically similar, just a similar concept.

>Does it work on everything?
Don't know. Just one of the many build videos I used to watch. No interest in that Sign.

>Generally, if Reflects can deflect them back
If the projectile is deflected, does it still count as absorbing a hit?

>enemy slow enough
>absorbing every frame
So you could still make an assumption based on attack speed. Like if you got hit with that wind barrier thing you could safely assume you have absorbed many hits and will get a certain result when it explodes?

>Reflect optimization strats
Good to know.

>Reflect in combo string
Not familiar with how combos work.

>chain any kind of Magic into your combo string
Got any videos of this?

>Significant if you're surrounded by a lot of mobs, to give one example
So you'd never want to do it in fights like this?

You mentioned combo strings. Is that where it's best applied? Sound like it has serious disadvantages elsewhere.

>If the projectile is deflected, does it still count as absorbing a hit?
Yep.

>Like if you got hit with that wind barrier thing you could safely assume you have absorbed many hits and will get a certain result when it explodes?
Correct, if Reflects touches that wind barrier, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll get the biggest explosion.

That said, be aware that I only used Xaldin as an example. Don't quite remember if his standard fight cut any damage done to him down to 1 (until you removed his wind barrier, that is). Another way to get a guaranteed big explosion by casting Reflect once is by using it at the end of a certain boss's combo, and unlike Xaldin (when the wind barrier is up), the other boss will take full damage from Reflect.

>not familiar with how combos work
Pretty straightforward. Sora's normal combo string consists of two regular attacks, and one finisher. Simply put, it looks something like this:

1st attack -> 2nd attack >1st finisher

Lategame, you can customize the string to look like this:

1st attack -> 1st finisher -> 2nd finisher

Or this:

1st attack -> 2nd attack -> 3rd attack -> 4th attack -> 1st finisher -> 2nd finisher

Using the latter as a template, and coupled with a lategame ability, it's possible to use the following string:

Reflect -> Thunder -> Reflect -> melee attack -> Guard Break (1st finisher) -> Explosion (2nd finisher)

Magnet is a special case, in that it skips straight to the finisher part (Magnet in itself is a finisher), regardless of how many combo pluses you have to increase the number of attacks in your string. Also, every offensive spell in the game has a finisher variant.

Customizing your combo string affects every Drive Form, it's not limited to Base.

>Got any videos of this?
There's plenty. But if you want, watch this (skip to the 2:29 minute mark until 2:38 *I say this because I suggest you to figure this boss on your own*):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ISnWOyY6c&feature=youtu.be

Guy is using Wisdom. He's using the 4 hits -> 2 finisher string I described earlier. When he approaches the boss, he uses Firaga -> Shoot (Wisdom replaces melee with this command) -> Blizzaga -> Thundaga -> Shoot (finisher variant) -> Blizzaga (finisher variant).

Also, Final Form can cancel magic animations. It's thanks to this that beating a gimmick enemy under 10 seconds is possible (initially thought to have been impossible at level 1, unless you used stat boosts):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eZiQIARgso&feature=youtu.be

It works against this enemy because it's not affected by hitstun at all, and attacks nonstop (hence why Reflect is constantly exploding). It's easier in the PS4 version due to 60 FPS, but it's doable in 30 FPS versions (did this myself once, although one extra step is required).

>never want to do it in fights like this?
I'd say familiarity alleviates this issue by a bit (and it depends on the encounter). But personally speaking, I wouldn't rely exclusively on Reflect at all for the 1000 heartless fight. Would also say that using it when there's a Sorcerer around (if the cubes are attacking me with the long-lasting attack) isn't a good idea either.

>Is that where it's best applied?
Reflect -> attack -> Reflect -> attack (where applicable) is one of the best ways to get the most out of Reflect. It requires enemy knowledge to pull it off though, and there's a risk of getting hit if you mistime it.

>disadvantages
Using it on a continuous attack (Guard is better suited for this), that generally means you'll be casting Reflect twice or more, but as noted, it will only explode once even if you used it 4 times in a sequence, so even if you managed to hit the enemy with it at the end, you've wasted 30 MP. Using it in the air (outside Final and perhaps Master) is very unsafe. Just to name a few cases.

Can note that enemy-knowledge is a big part of reflect's usage. I'm still pretty new at the game/series, and most of the time I'm using reflect against the nearby sky haha. I always do it at the wrong time and you only have a few uses before your magic burns out.

>video
This is one of the games where if I haven't played it I can't tell what's going on. Only thing I noticed is the player seems to be purposely dropping the Keyblade combos and not doing the finisher (which I assume will send the boss flying) and that Reflect must be that thing that looks like glass breaking.