Kingdom Hearts is a beloved franchise that has yet to have another main installment. Fans have been waiting for 10 years, since the U.S. release of Kingdom Hearts II in 2006, for Kingdom Hearts III. There have been plenty of titles in between to hold over fans and Kingdom Hearts Unchained X is one of them. Kingdom Hearts Unchained X has been out in Japan since 2013 as a web based game and more recently, in 2015, on Android and iOS. It arrived to American shores on April 7, 2016. I’m a huge Kingdom Hearts fan and decided to give the game a go.
The app walks you through an extensive tutorial where you customize your character, learn how to fuse medals, join a party, and much more. Character customization is fairly extensive and includes “avatar boards”. Players collect avatar coins to purchase different costumes and hairstyles. In order for a player to own a certain outfit a board is completed. The board has different characters upgrades, like a health increase, that help you progress in the game. This game is full of content and is updated weekly with new quests. There are 4 types of quests: story, special, events, and an Olympus mode that unlocks after you complete quest 130. There are enough quests to keep you busy for days on end. Quests consist of a specific heartless to defeat in that level. Along the way you can pick up different components used for upgrading your medals and keyblades.
The combat system is simple enough for a mobile game and borrows some complex ideas from past Kingdom Hearts games. Tap once for a basic attack, swipe the screen to attack multiple enemies, and swipe up on a medal for a special, more powerful attack. Those medals feature different attributes (speed, power, magic) and characters from both Disney and Final Fantasy franchises. The three attributes have strengths and weaknesses against each other. Power medals are strong against speed medals, speed medals are strong against magic medals, and magic medals are strong against power medals. This allows for balanced
combat.
The way players obtain medals is one of two ways: completing quests or buying them from the shop with in game currency. Medals can be purchased with jewels. Jewels can be earned in quests and as login bonuses. If you don’t want to wait get enough jewels you can always buy them with real world currency. This is a free to play game but has the option of in-game purchases. Kingdom Hearts Unchained X allows for players not to spend a dollar if they chose which is one of it’s strengths.
Closing Thoughts
Kingdom Hearts Unchained X is a great mobile game for long time Kingdom Hearts fans and potential new fans that the casual game attracts. It is easy enough for newcomers but complex enough for fans of RPG games. The familiar Disney characters provide for an entertaining story line but can be shallow at times. Updates are weekly which means there won’t be a lack of content. Right now a player vs. player mode is not available but I’m hopeful that it will come in a future update. I am really enjoying the game so far and the more I play the more it gets me excited for Kingdom Hearts III. The bottom line is that I would reccomend this game to both people who are familiar with the franchise and those who are not because it is a fun, sometimes challenging game that you can play on the go.
Source: http://www.kingdomhearts.com/
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