Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context YMMV / KingdomHeartsCoded

Go To

1* AccidentalInnuendo: Oh, boy...
2-->'''Data-Sora''': Guys, I gotta go inside [of Riku's Data] to look.\
3'''Goofy''': Who's to say it's even safe inside Riku!?
4* AdaptationDisplacement: Not a whole lot of people are aware this game was originally a Japan exclusive episodic game released for the Docomo PRIME series in 2008.
5* AssPull: TheStinger of the game reveals that [[spoiler: when somebody's Heartless and Nobody are both destroyed their original self is reformed. This is in spite of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' repeatedly saying that any Nobody that dies would undergo CessationOfExistence.]]
6* CaptainObviousReveal:
7** [[spoiler:Data-Roxas]] being the hooded figure that appears before Sora in the endgame is a surprise in the original ''Re:coded'', as the lack of voice clips or other overt clues keeps his identity ambiguous before TheReveal. In the ''HD 2.5 [=ReMIX=]'' movie, however, his identity is played as less of a twist; not only is there no attempt to disguise his voice, but there are several scenes where his face is visible while his hood is still up.
8** The ending revealing the contents of Mickey's letter from the end of ''II'' ended up becoming this since, by the point of the episode's release, the secret ending of ''Birth by Sleep'' had already spelled out more or less what the letter said.
9* ContestedSequel: It used to be mostly disliked, but gradually gained more defenders who argue for [[VindicatedByHistory vindication]].
10* DemonicSpiders: The block spider heartless [[spoiler: that you encounter in Data-Riku]], see the entry for Kingdom Hearts on this trope's article for more information.
11* DisappointingLastLevel: The game essentially ends with you playing an hour of ''Chain of Memories''. Vibrant interesting environments are replaced with pathetically easy single room puzzles, most of which consist of speaking to the right [=NPCs=] in the right order.
12* EndingFatigue: The last leg of ''Re:coded'' forces you to trek through many of the worlds a second time before you get to face off against the BigBad. Even after you win that fight and the story concludes, you're not done; you get sent to [[spoiler:Castle Oblivion]] and have to complete several puzzles before you get to face the real FinalBoss.
13* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
14** [[spoiler:"Play at night!"]], if only because of how it unexpectedly [[BreakingTheFourthWall cracks the fourth wall]].
15** Some of the random Balloon Letters you can get can be this, at least if you get all the jokes and references. [[http://s376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/KrytenKoro/Avatars/ Just see for yourselves.]]
16** Jafar and Maleficent both getting confused by technology jargon. Jafar thinks Pete's "Galiches" (glitches) are some form of sorcery, and Maleficent mishears datascape as "date escape."
17* GameBreaker:
18** Judgment Triad in the remake can hit air enemies easily, has homing capabilities, is easy to aim, can hit multiple enemies, and worst of all, does such insanely high damage that almost every enemy, including ''most bosses'', will be [[OneHitKill one-shotted]] by it (and the one that isn't one-shotted will at most take 3 shots to bring down). It makes even the {{Superboss}} battle just all about dodging with the dodge roll, and aiming Judgment Triad. AND you can have four in your deck. The main downside is that you won't be able to have anything else in your deck, but who cares?
19** Blizzaga Pursuit is a tracking Ice elemental attack that does good damage and lasts extremely long, hitting multiple times per use and freezing enemies that aren't immune to it almost every time. Its ingredients? Two commands that you can buy (or get) relatively easily because one is a Basic Magic command and the other can be bought right after you complete the fourth world (and it costs a mere 12,000 munny). ''Easily'' a DiscOneNuke.
20** The 30 layer labyrinth in Olympus Coliseum has powerful enemies in large numbers on lower layers. The going becomes a lot easier with Tornado Tracer. It becomes the command Breath of Zeus L2, doing high damage to all enemies for one command. Whatever isn't killed is easy to mop up with normal attacks from Hercules and Cloud. The only catch it that the ingredients to synthesize it are a bit pricy (Aero Edge + Cure, Stop, Slow or Aero to make Aerora, then Aerora + Wind Dash or Wind Tracer, total of 4,400 munny).
21** The preferred weapon of choice for many players is the Lionheart 5°, which effectively turns Sora into a whirlwind of death incarnate. Not only is it a Sonic Arts Keyblade, giving it access to a blazing fast combo, it is also the only Sonic Arts weapon in the game to also get Attack Haste, letting you tear through foes with impunity with an unrelenting storm of attacks. For further insult to injury it even gets All Critical at Clock Level MAX, letting you pump out some truly apocalyptic damage.
22** Targeting Scope. The last ability on the Zero[=/=]One keyblade, it makes your basic attack automatically strike the nearest enemy, ''regardless of distance''. Walk into a room of EliteMooks, swing for five seconds, and everything dies. The best part? One of the earlier clock abilities makes every single attack a CriticalHit.
23** After completing the game, get Immortal Charm and Eternal Charm accessories, which provide you with LastChanceHitPoint, set item drop to maximum (reducing Sora's HP to 10%), set Enemy HP to around 6% so Sora has 2HP, set prize drop to maximum (since any hit will reduce you to 1HP, enemy strength doesn't matter), and get difficulty to Critical. Congratulations, as long as you don't fight bosses, you will basically never die as long as you don't get hit twice in a row, since you almost always recover health from fallen enemies who have now small health, and on top of that you'll get outrageous sums of money (in a game where you can buy ''Megalixirs'') and items. For even more safety, you can use fully upgraded Oathkeeper, which nullifies stats and provides Regen on Overclock [=Lv1=].
24* GeniusBonus: The Metal Chocobo upgrades are all named after the chemical symbols for various "[[MeaningfulName metals]]": Fe for iron, Ag for silver, Au for gold, and Pt for platinum.
25* HarsherInHindsight: [[ArcWords "Their torment has been lessened."]] [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', the next game in the timeline, all the "tormented" ones (excluding Lea) get a '''''big''''' [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kick while they're down]] from Xehanort.]]
26* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
27** [[spoiler:Music/JesseMcCartney]]'s performance as [[spoiler:Data-Roxas]], for managing to capture the character's despair, hatred, and resentment. It's also the first time a KH character has sounded so emotionally unstable.
28** After years spent voicing another comical version of the character, Jim Cummings delivers unspoken sadism as Pete throughout the entire Hollow Bastion section. Whether it’s corrupting the Data Riku or about to crush Donald and Goofy, Cummings’ more raspy performance reminds us why Pete is a major villain of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series.
29* HilariousInHindsight: Those avatars… who would ever suspect of them getting ADayInTheLimelight?... ''oh,'' right. ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy''. Becomes doubly hilarious with ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory'', which is essentially ''Theatrhythm Kingdom Hearts'' and, of course, features the same avatars, meaning they've gone full circle.
30* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: A common criticism of the game is that it retreads same worlds of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]] with such small differences, recycling the exact same characters, locations, and bosses. This becomes even more noticeable when considering that [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]] and [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 Days]] already recycled worlds from the first game years prior.[[note]]Or at least it gives this impression in the remake, considering the original 2008 version pre-dates ''358/2 Days''. [[/note]]
31* MagnificentBastard: Data-Roxas serves as the last obstacle for Data-Sora in a recreation of Castle Oblivion. Proposing that Data-Sora delve into the castle and experience memories that will fade as soon as they come, Data-Roxas tricks him into filling himself with the "hurt" of lost memories that will drag him deeper into the darkness if he keeps shouldering the burden. When Data-Sora optimistically rebukes him, Data-Roxas initiates one last emotional battle that ends with the revelation it was all a test. Struggling with being the data copy of a Nobody, Data-Roxas channeled his pain towards his role as a surprisingly manipulative character before peacefully exiting stage left.
32* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/KingdomHearts "Mickey, it's Riku! They put memes in him!"]]
33* {{Narm}}:
34** The script's insistence on using the word "hurt" as a noun (instead of using the occasional synonym, like "pain") is pretty awkward, especially in [[spoiler:Castle Oblivion]]. The use of "hurts" as a ''plural'' noun ("there are more hurts than the one you have just undone") is particularly clumsy.
35** There's also the line Data-Sora says after [[spoiler: Data-Riku is implanted with harmful bugs]], which is so infamous that it became something of a minor meme in the fanbase. It doesn't help that Mickey sounds more confused than alarmed in response.
36--->'''Data-Sora''': Mickey, it's Riku! They put bugs in him!\
37'''Mickey:''' What?
38* NightmareFuel:
39** When [[spoiler:Jafar]] takes control over time, everything goes green. [[TimedMission A timer appears.]] And there ''[[NothingIsScarier is no music whatsoever.]]'' You have three minutes to find [[spoiler:Iago]] ''three freaking times'' and stop your inevitable permanent [[AndIMustScream freezing in place for all eternity.]] Break blocks to gain more time. Kill enemies — [[NightmareFuel enemies that will just stand there dully]] — to gain precious seconds. But you're all alone… Granted, if you run out of time, [[NightmareRetardant you just go back to the beginning of the area]] with a full time gauge, [[HaveANiceDeath no horrifying death animation]], or even a Game Over screen. Regardless, it's still one of the most disturbing scenes in the Kingdom Hearts series.
40** There's something extremely unnerving about going through the worlds [[spoiler: in Castle Oblivion, with everyone—or at least their illusions—acting as though things are totally normal, not knowing that what they're seeing isn't real…]] The melancholy music doesn't help either, especially since it puts you in the frame of mind to imagine [[spoiler: all sorts of depressing interpretations of the alternate endings.]]
41* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: ''coded'' is {{Filler}} with little bearing on the overall narrative [[spoiler: until its post-game episode, which is pretty heavy]], so it can be difficult to get invested into the story. However, the gameplay of the DS remake is pretty varied and much better than ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'' (the previous ''Kingdom Hearts'' game on the DS) thanks to the improved battle mechanics, so you can still enjoy yourself playing it.
42* ScrappyMechanic:
43** The SP wager for System Challenges is not optional, forcing you to pay 10% of whatever points you have if you feel like the challenge is too hard to do. This is particularly annoying if the challenge is "Play at night!" because you can't even attempt it; you either have to wait until it's night time according to your DS Clock or just suck it up and take the penalty.
44** If a System Sector floor has a virus, you're forced to wager all of your current SP for the System Challenge. This is just unfair because the game doesn't warn you until you're on the virus-infected floor, and if you're not prepared to do the challenge and fail, the lack of SP will force you to do the System Sector again to have enough SP to buy anything.
45** Annoyingly, if you want HundredPercentCompletion the Avatar Sector is not optional, as two Trophies and two exclusive Finish Commands are tied to the Avatar Menu. Realistically this was best possible when the DS was still popular, but since then the only way to complete it in a reasonable amount of time is to have a second DS on hand since the Avatar Sector requires a DS wireless signal to add new floors, and even then there is a hard cap of around 50 floors that can be obtained this way without connecting to another ''Re:coded'' game. It is possible to randomly obtain a floor without a second DS, but this only occurs about once an hour, making sitting and waiting for new Avatar Sector floors to show up an absolute slog.
46* SignatureScene:
47** The confrontation and fight with [[spoiler:Data-Roxas]] is a big deal considering [[HesBack who it is]].
48** The conversation with [[spoiler:Data-Namine]] at the end of the game was for a long time the only part of the story anyone cared about, as it's (1) the only part of (the original version of) the game with any direct connections to the MythArc and (2) it's where [[spoiler:"Sora" finally gets to thank "Namine"]].
49* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "No More Bugs!" is often compared to the BattleThemeMusic of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, especially "Operation!"
50* TearJerker:
51** Despite this being a relatively lighthearted game in the series, the moment Data-Sora discovered [[spoiler:Xion's existence and her fate]] is strangely poignant.
52-->'''Sora:''' W-wow, something terrible happened, didn't it?
53** [[spoiler:Data-Roxas]] is hands down miserable. [[spoiler: The poor kid not only has to deal with the non-existence of being a Nobody, he's a DATA CLONE of a Nobody. Understandably he doesn't take it very well, and seeing how just plain bitter he's become is heart-wrenching.]]
54*** In addition, he keeps mocking Data-Sora about ''forgetting'' the people he met every time he leaves a room in Castle Oblivion. [[spoiler: Connect that with Xion's fate in ''358/2 Days'' and that certainly leaves a whole new layer to his bitterness.]]
55* ThatOneBoss: [[spoiler:Sora's Heartless's third form]]. It will hand you your ass very quickly if you're not careful.
56* ThatOneSidequest:
57** Defeating Secret Sector in [[spoiler: Hollow Bastion]]. It is the longest one among all of them, has high level enemies and some pretty annoying challenges. The penultimate floor requires you to defeat an [[BossInMooksClothing Eliminator]] and the last floor features bugged version of the FinalBoss, an already difficult boss with stats bumped up and receiving more bonuses [[TurnsRed as you deplete his health]]. And that floor has of course its requirement for SP as well beyond defeating the boss, which can screw you over on the last leg of a dungeon if you're not prepared for it.
58** Getting 99 Puppies in Avatar mode, especially if you don't have Wii or other NDS, purely because of how long it takes. Getting 100 floors for Avatar Sector may count as well.
59* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: ''coded'' translates the new line in the Journal as the rather fancy "We must return to free them from their torment"; it was changed in ''Re:coded'' to the more straightforward "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it"; another change is "Their torment has been lessened" to "There are more hurts than the one you have just undone". There are plenty of ways to argue as to which translation is "better".
60* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Kairi. Despite appearing in the original cover art of the game and seemingly having an important role alongside Data-Sora and co., she has no role in this game outside of two non-speaking cameos and doesn't even have a version of her inside the datascape. Considering that Riku has an important role inside the datascape, it would only seem rightfully so to believe that Sora's ''other'' best friend, his {{Love Interest}} at that, would have some kind of relevance inside the datascape as well, except that never happens.
61* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
62** The first scene in the game shows Jiminy reading the "Thank Naminé" message he left in the journal and him wondering exactly who she is, giving off the implication that ''coded'' would focus on recovering Sora, Donald, and Goofy's lost memories from Castle Oblivion. Instead, that gets [[AbortedArc dropped immediately]] and the rest of the plot focuses on uncovering the "their hurting will be mended" message.
63** The whole premise of the game is that the journal from [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]] has been digitized, and yet a good chunk of worlds are completely absent from this game: [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} Monstro]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Atlantica]], [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Halloween Town]], [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Neverland]] (outside of a cameo), [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh 100 Acre Woods]], and End of the World are nowhere to be found in this game and after completing [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Agrabah]], the plot skips all the way to Hollow Bastion. If you played the first game you would know this is the ''second to last'' world in the game.
64** The game "attempts" to tie up some of the loose ends left behind in ''I'', explaining what happened to Pluto after he disappeared in Traverse Town or where Riku went after leaving with Kairi in Neverland, except these scenes are so few and far between, are only a few seconds long, and still don't fully explain the context of the scenes. Even the revelation of Mickey secretly being there during Sora's first visit in Traverse Town only gets a passing mention.
65* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: All the voice actors in the HD cutscenes give subpar performances apart from Jesse [=McCartney=] who gives a wonderful performance as Data-Roxas. Apart from MemeticMutation the line people most remember from ''Re:coded'' is the line "''It's way past time that you learned what real hurt feels like!''" partly because of how anger and despaired he sounds.
66* UnexpectedCharacter: Hercules as a party member for one, since he has never been one except for ''Birth by Sleep'' (even if only for two battles). But ''Cloud'' as a secret party member? Now, no one saw ''that'' coming.
67 * VindicatedByHistory: Fans tore ''Re:coded'' apart when it was released on the DS due to effectively being {{Filler}} (in a franchise where most games move the plot forward) and being yet another handheld game after the mixed reception of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' that brings in the Command Deck mechanic from the equally-contested ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep''. Time has been kind to the game, though, with fans recognizing that the Command Deck is actually implemented well unlike in ''BBS'' and ''3D'' and that its gameplay has surprising mechanical depth and a tight feel in spite of system limitations. The use of GameplayRoulette and its repetitiveness is still a sore spot, but some fans like to look back at ''Re:coded'' as the most underrated game in the series.

Top