Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue Reviews
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue is a collection of three experiences that range from tantalizing to forgettable.
There’s a decent amount of content in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, but it doesn’t explain much for newcomers playing their first Kingdom Hearts game on the PS4. In addition, Back Cover will feel like a waste of time to some, and Birth by Sleep will feel too short. Dream Drop Distance translates fairly well, but alone it’s not worth the price of admission. As a bundle, the entire package offers a decent value and a great lead-in to Kingdom Hearts III.
Fans of the franchise should pick this up, if they’re eager to see what Kingdom Hearts III will have in store, although newcomers would do better to pick one of the previous HD remakes.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is probably the weakest of the Kingdom Hearts collections to date. Since it's bundled with a single game, a demo, and a borderline-incoherent selection of cut scenes, the content is far behind the other Kingdom Hearts HD ports. The content is mostly good, and the Ground Zeroes-style demo for Kingdom Hearts 3 is sure to entice fans. It has more original content than the previous collections, but it's still not worth the $60 asking price. Kingdom Hearts fans will be happy to get some time with the newest entry in the series, but casual players might want to wait for a price drop.
While giving players the chance to replay Sora's latest adventure in HD and adding important story information through Aqua's story and a movie this game does more to set up Kingdom Hearts III than enjoy it's own worth. A great addition for fans of the franchise that might leave new players scratching their heads.
Kingdom Hearts fans - particularly those who can justify the game's astronomical price point of $60 for about five hours of new content - will definitely enjoy their brief time with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 The Final Chapter Prologue is an atypical collection: on one hand able to enchant with Dream Drop Distance, for gameplay and for the graphics, but on the other hand it doesn't impress with Birth by Sleep 0.2. The Back Cover film, then, doesn't transmit great feelings.
Review in Italian | Read full review
But, if you’re a longtime fan, this is still a solid entry in the series, and A Fragmentary Passage might be worth the price of admission alone. There are moments throughout when the underlying gameplay and combat exceed the limitations of the collection, and you become totally swept up in eliminating as many goofy enemies as quickly as possible, bouncing off walls, flying through the air, hurling fireballs. For these moments, Final Chapter Prologue is a success.
Final Chapter Prologue is a great game for series veterans, but it's severely lacking in content compared to previous collections.
As its fittingly long name implies, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue should serve as the last appetizer before the long-awaited main course that is Kingdom Hearts 3. The best part is arguably Aqua's new chapter, a short but sweet entry that teases the promise of KH3. It's too bad that it couldn't be longer but for fans burned out from waiting, it just might rekindle their interest in the series, provided the price of entry isn't too high.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue is a collection which fans of the saga should not miss. Despite not overflowing with contents, this anthological prologue to the story of Kingdom Hearts is the missing piece of the series created by Nomura.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While it’s not my favorite bundle they have released, it most certainly has some fun times in it. RPG and Kingdom Hearts fans should not shy away from this one. Still, seeing as how 2.5 HD had both Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth by Sleep in it and this package only has a full game and a 2 hour episode, I would say at least wait for a slight price drop.
While the new engine doesn't sport a consistent framerate and you can pretty much skip the Chi movie, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a healthy enough serving of what's to come in Fragmentary Passage, and bundles in one amazing core entry that everyone should play. It's a massive risk if you aren't already invested in this wacky series, and as always, all eyes are on Kingdom Hearts III at some nebulous unknown time.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is the most far-reaching package of content in the franchise, stretching from the series’ earliest moments all the way to its most recent, but an understanding of its scope requires some history with Kingdom Hearts lore. And because much of it touches on familiar territory, as a whole it lacks an essential feeling that the main numbered entries and spinoffs (like Birth By Sleep) evoke. A Fragmentary Passage is a truly exciting glimpse through the door to Kingdom Hearts’ future. That look ahead is a wonderful appetizer for what’s to come, but hopefully that tease, along with the rest of the tablet setting done here, doesn’t make the wait for the full course that is Kingdom Hearts 3 more difficult in the long run.
A good game, but already seen on 3DS five years ago, plus an even better one, but too short.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a nice enough package. Other developers might’ve settled for just releasing Dream Drop Distance by itself but Square Enix decided to add that little bit more. It’s also a package that is very hard to recommend to people that aren’t already fans of the series. There’s interesting bits of story told in each section of the package but, for the most part, they require you to hold the knowledge of the other games in the franchise. If you’re a fan that never got a chance to play Dream Drop Distance then the package is definitely worth considering. If you’re only picking it up for Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage you’ll have some fun, but it’s worth keeping in mind that these experiences aren’t very long.
A collection of well-made PS4 ports, preparing fans of the series for Kingdom Hearts 3. But for everybody else it's not worth buying.
Review in German | Read full review
Es steckt zwar sehr viel Kingdom Hearts in dieser Kollektion und gibt uns mehr Cosplay Material (Aww yiss – Unicorns and Foxes), jedoch bin ich allgemein eher enttäuscht. Ich fühle mich wie die Frau eine Mannes, der mir immer und immer wieder verspricht seine Geliebte zu verlassen und mich mit kleinen aufmerksamen Gesten hinhält; ich wurde von ihm schon so oft enttäuscht, aber ich habe Hoffnung, dass es so wird wie es einmal war. Masochismus. Kingdom Hearts ist Masochismus.
Review in German | Read full review
As a collection for hardcore fans, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue offers a few entertaining experiences. For more casual fans, it's still worth picking up simply for the fantastic remake of Dream Drop Distance which is an incredibly fun game.
A perfect compilation for preparing the future release of Kingdom Hearts III.
Review in Spanish | Read full review