Kingdom Hearts Unchained X - 7/10
Okay, so the way I rate stuff is every game starts at a 5/10, which is as mediocre and bland of a game as could be, with no major bugs or killer flaws, but it doesn't do anything particularly well or leave any kind of impression. A 1/10 is something unplayable, with nothing that redeems the game to me, that is either broken to the point where it's unplayable or so poorly executed that playing it is a process that actively causes suffering. A 10/10 is the opposite, a game that has a lot to love, that is very polished and does everything it sets out to do extremely well.
Anyway, KHUx is somewhere between a five and ten for me, in the nebulous area of "Yeah, that's a pretty good game". The gameplay is great and has great flow, with a turn-based combat system centered around different medals that can be leveled, evolved, bought, and sold. Medals all have their own different abilities, as well as their own stats. The game isn't very heavy handed with these, it's pretty easy to tell if a medal is something that could be used right away and is fairly powerful or if it's something that would need a bit of work to be used. The medals combine with your characters stats and levels as well, to provide even more varied effects. Medals are equipped to your characters weapon, one of several Keyblades unlocked during the course of the game.
Keyblades introduce an interesting aspect to gameplay, that being a kind of rock-paper-scissors system. All medals are either strength, speed, or magic proficient, and so are all of the enemies in the game. Quests, as all of the different stages are called, tend to be themed around strength, speed, or magic, and so using medals that are strong to whatever the general theme of the level is. Keyblades enhance the power of medals they share an aspect with, for example the Lady Luck Keyblade enhances the power of speed medals. Keyblades can also be upgraded using items found throughout the game's quests.
One of the problems with gameplay that could have been changed is that gameplay doesn't feel different based on what aspect you use, so for instance using magic medals isn't very different from using strength or speed medals. There are different animations, and they're great, but the gameplay itself doesn't change much aside from doing more damage to enemies.
KHUx is a single player experience largely, although there is a party system and multiplayer. I don't know very much about this since I just started, but it does seem to be of note.
Each of the games quests take place in Disney themed worlds, because Kingdom Hearts. They all feel very nice, and the levels are designed pretty well. Wonderland feels like Wonderland, Agrabah feels like Agrabah, and so on. Also, on Agrabah, I actually like this game's take on Agrabah better than really any of the other games, though that's probably just me.
The aesthetic is excellent, and the graphics complement that. Everything has a very cutesy yet unique look to it, and yet giant bosses still do feel threatening even though they're adorable. There's tons of options for character customization, be that in skin colour or hair or facial structure, or in outfits or Keyblades or medals, and they all look great.
One part of character customization that's really great is that the game starts off with some default outfit options, hairstyles, and things like that, but through beating the quests while completing certain conditions or upon leveling up the player gets coins to let them unlock even more options. Each option has an Avatar Board, basically a perk tree that when filled or nearly filled unlocks the option. Each node or perk boosts the players stats, how powerful of medals they can use, or other things of that nature. The best part is that even if you don't use whatever you unlock, you still get the different buffs.
The story, as far as I've seen so far, is somewhat minimal, but the game is fairly long and there's still even more being added, so it will probably grow, and I'm not very far, so there's probably a lot I haven't seen yet. The game doesn't require any prior knowledge of Kingdom Hearts to play. Though it is canon, it's set long before any of the other games, in the time just before and leading up to a massive war between all of the Keyblade wielders. You, of course, are one of them, and at the start of the game, you choose from one of five groups called Unions that are sort of kind of maybe working with and working against each other. You're tasked by the leader of your Union to go into each of the different worlds to help people, accompanied by a smol floof named Chirithy, and monsters have started appearing everywhere, so you have your work cut out for you.
The music is pretty good, the soundtrack isn't one I'd necessarily listen to while not playing, although it doesn't make me want to turn the volume off and listen to something else while I am.
The game is free to play, and from what I've seen so far free to win. There are microtransactions, to get jewels that can be exchanged for medals or special offer outfits that often come bundled with big stat boosts or powerful medals. They're not especially cheap, but they're not especially necessary, so there's not much to complain about with them. The option is there, but the game doesn't compel you to use it.
If there was anything I'd like to see from that game that could take it from being a good game to a great game is finding away to increase difference in combat. Strategies are plenty, and hard core players do things that are amazing, but at it's core nothing is different from strength to speed to magic, and that's kind of a shame. Having differences would encourage players to form and join parties, because then they could get help with some levels they're not specialized for from their party members. Another thing that KHUx doesn't do that it probably should is have a kind of advancement system in Unions. Having the Unions basically be similar aside from their looks and leaders is fine, after all it's one of the first decisions you make as a player and giving the player a choice between radically different factions before they could experience them all would be poor design, but having different stations in a Union would offer more opportunities for gameplay. Players could receive rank specific daily or weekly goals based on their Union, there could be special raid bosses based on rank, and it would foster a more social relationship between players because they'd have people to look up to and aspire to be like.
Overall, 7/10 owo