I've honestly only ever chosen the staff and shield once while playing Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. I always choose the sword because I'm a strength oriented player to the core. I'm not going to lie though. Another big reason I always choose the sword is because of the aesthetic. Sora is a swordsman to the core, so he ends wielding any weapon in his possession like a sword. It wasn't as weird seeing him swinging the staff like a mace, but it was really bizarre, albeit funny, seeing him swing the shield around and bashing Heartless. It wasn't until Kingdom Hearts III that Sora started wielding a staff and a shield as they were meant to be wielded. Which, if you think about it, speaks to Sora's growth as a fighter. I had an easier time choosing to prioritize defense in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix because that Struggle club with the handguard still handled like a sword. I'm just really big into swords and sword fighters.
I think this is a really great mechanic, and I respect that the game doesn't actually tell you what you're doing. With the weapons, you can likely understand what's going on (gaining/losing strength, etc.) but with the questions it makes things a bit more mysterious. I think that's part of the fun. If the game just straight up told you what everything meant, then not only is your immersion broken, but you'll likely not feel like trying out the other modes because you already know what they do. Keeping it a mystery adds more to the experience.
I hope this specific KH1 version of this will come back in KH3. I didn't like how KH2 handled it. You still had the weapons to choose from, but it didn't affect your stats, just your ability layout.
+Kingdom080500 And even then, the abilities you learn via level-up in KH2 are, for the most part, not very significant. This was probably done to put more significance on Lv1, which works well for that, but does somewhat hurt replayability of normal playthroughs.
Adding on to this: As you mentioned, Shield grants an extra item slot compared to both Sword and Staff. Shield gives you a total of 8 slots, Sword 7, and Staff 6. As for the extra MP, normally Sora gains an MP at every 12th level until level 60. However, Sword and Staff gain an extra MP at level 30, while Shield and Staff gain one at level 66. Because Staff gets both of these in addition to the extra MP given at the start, by level 100, Sora will have 10 MP instead of 8. So for long term purposes in terms of stats: Sword Pro: earlier extra MP, item slots are mostly consistent, extra accessory midway, earlier Combo Master (lvl 50) Sword con: Sword only gets 8 MP, only 7 items Shield pro: Item slots come earlier, accessory slot comes earliest Shield con: extra MP comes later, only 8 MP, slightly later CM (lvl 54) Staff pro: Staff gets both MP increases Staff con: only 6 item slots, latest accessory slot, latest Combo Master (lvl 55)
Since I dont use Items that much and dont mind if the battle drawsout a bit longer staff is always my weapon of choice. The cons dont really affect me to much.
Honestly, I care a little too much about dealing damage through skills like Ars Arcanum and Strike Raid, so I keep the Staff, give up the Sword, and go with Dawn for EXP.
If it did that then there’s no reason not to choose it: you get the same amount of MP that Staff would get and the same amount of items Sword would, with the only downside being a few abilities are learned later.
15 years later and I still just pick the sword and drop the staff cause I always just melee'd my way trough and ignored magic (minus cure and gravity).
Funny enough even if you ignore magic besides cure the staff is useful because it lets you cast cure alot more often thanks to MP haste and MP rage. I personally would never pick the sword.
I always pick Staff, sacrifice Shield, and Night leveling personally. Mostly due to the common early accessories boost defense and resistances, and I've played several times so getting hit doesn't happen as often. If it's your first play-through ever, I would recommend picking Shield, sacrifice Staff, and Dawn leveling path, if not planning on grinding out every optional boss and just want to complete the main story.
+staff, - shield, start at night. That's always been my jam. With minimal defense and no second chance, I've gotta be good...but it pays off when I hit 100. And you kinda have to hit 100 to get second chance anyway.
@@m240bandit3 Having more MP trumps having more item slots, especially when you have MP Rage and MP Haste to speed recovery of MP, allowing you to heal with Curaga and boost defense with Aeroga more frequently, while items don't refill during fights. And unlike items, magic can also be used to attack.
Shield and night on my first time playing the game. I had the most fun because I felt like I was actually getting stronger as the game progressed. Tbh, the pick Sword and sacrifice shield strategy everyone said was the best made the game infuriatingly difficult.
On Proud Mode, I ended up choosing Shield and giving up Sword, then choosing Night. I just did it regularly without knowing this stuff. I didn't even know that Staff affects AP! Thanks for this beneficial, in-depth explanation.
Hey Biz, I just finished another 2fm level 1 run but this time a no damage run by following your video playlist. Thanks a lot for your effort! My life is now complete!
My usual choices: Pick Staff, Drop Shield, Midday Ripple Drive is amazing for early game and Stun Impact stops enemies from wailing on you for a few seconds giving you a chance to heal (useful until you get Leaf Bracer, by then Stun Impact stops stunning enemies). The damage of these abilities dies out late-game because your strength will be so high that no amount of MP to power Ripple Drive will be enough to beat the damage from a normal combo finisher. In fact, it can screw up your combo at that point. But at that point you've got other things to fall back on (like your strong magic and Hurricane Blitz).
Lucas Watkins I heard starting sword is basically putting the game on hard mode and I have used sword but got stuck. So I decided to start over. What combination do you think would help a noob like me. And what should I choose morning, mid-day,or night. Last time I remained true to myself and answered the question how I found true and got night
Crazy Platinum I personally chose +Shield -Staff because I prefer doing melee combat but also don't want to die. Although, the same can be accomplished with +Sword -Staff... I think that the magic abilities in KH1 are really strong, and if you like using Magic, then I'd suggest +Staff -Sword, or +Shield -Sword if you want to have more survivability. As per the level up, if you fight most if not every Heartless group that spawns, the night path isn't too bad. Though, I think midday might be the best one since it's balanced
You are the reason I finished BOTH the Hades Cup and the final boss in KH 1 on proud yesterday. First time beating a game on the hardest difficulty, and I didn't think I was going to make it through chaos of worlds Ansem. It wasn't a specific tutorial, but your explanation of the game's mechanics was what got me through it. Thank.
first few times i tried to play the game i had no clue what was going on in the beginning so i'd always end up picking sword, dropping shield and choosing random answers. this guide was really helpful, since i had a bit of trouble reading through some of the FAQs a while back on what the different options do. can't wait for more 1.5 tutorials because this was always the hardest KH game for me
I tend to play more tank-like in most RPGs, so I usually go for shield and drop sword. I do believe taking staff and dropping shield is the big brain move in the long run though.
I always go Shield and Midday route so my playthroughs are always consistent. I know boss fights well enough to where I never have any trouble, and Leaf Bracer is pretty valuable when you're doing the Ursula 2 boss fight.
I myself always took the Shield, and dropped the sword. In my eyes, yes the extra attack may be worth it to some, but I mostly played a defensive guerilla style, dipping in to get a few hits in, then getting out and using magic from a safe distance. The extra durability you get from having the shield and not sacrificing the staff just seems like such a huge boon for me. I was unkillable in most fights while still able to do a decent amount of damage.
4:20 I'm very curious as to how fans ended up finding this out. I guess you would notice changes during multiple playthroughs, but the specifics like what Dawn, Midday, and Night do to your EXP gain reallys interests me as to how people found out how it worked.
When I used to play kh 1 on my ps2 I always picked the word and gave up the staff, choosing dawn. Now for my first proud run on ps4 I'm gonna pick shield, give up sword and choose night.
If there is one thing that I feel that the other KH games are missing are these choices. I like KH2 the most in the series, but I feel this mechanic brings a lot to the game and gives some replay value too, more than difficulty increases. It also lets everyone play at their own pace, and I think that's great.
I picked sword, ditched shield and pretty sure had mid day leveling, it was my first playthrough and had no issues completing all challenges. Optional bosses were easy, farming to synthesis was my only hiccup not having lucky strike till level 90. Clock tower phantom was the only real challenge as I didnt know what to do at first. Sephiroth was pretty hard, had to try a few times.
I really like +staff -sword, max MP is important in KH1 as it effects all magic and summons, you can easily make up for the lost strength stat via items and accessories.
Yeah although the only downside afaik is that you don't learn second chance until level 90 but for me the extra mp is worth the trade off especially if you're planning on grinding to level 100 on the same playthrough for optional bosses
Ahh yes.... I remember my first play-through of KH 1 FM was on proud with staff (dropped sword) and mid-day. Did not have an inkling of what I was doing but magic is always cool. Now I finally know the mistakes I made so many years ago. NO REGRETS!
I'd argue for casuals who attempt proud and do want to beat the optional bosses, +shield -sword night is the best set of options. yes, early game will be harder, but it should be manageable with some grinding. and trust me, against some optional bosses on proud (mainly phantom, hooded figure and sephiroth) that additional item slot can REALLY come in clutch. plus, the extra defense really helps balance out your survivability in the early game, which also counteracts the slower leveling of night somewhat.
This tutorial gave a metaphor of childhood and adulthood. Idk if it was intended or it was just tutorial. But the final boss or big dark heartless as to mention the heart shallow, it always during the game talk about options of how you would want to play out through your life decisions. It gave innocence yet blurring a subtext too the player. As a kid it was interesting yet never got, an adult looking back. It could just be how I see it. How the story plays for me on this part.
It's also worth noting that on a level one playthrough picking the staff is a no brainer, because you won't be getting any abilities so all that matter is the starting stat boost and one point of mp is more valuable than one of strength or hp/defense.
I remember playing using the Shield and surrendering the Staff. I think I got the Dawn option too. Looking back, these were unintentionally brilliant options for my more balanced playstyle, and I exploited summons to make up for my lackluster magic.
Excellent video Biz! I agree with you about going staff and the night route because it makes things more interesting. I also prefer more MP because in KH1 you cannot synthesize magic boosts and that's a huge point for me. During mid to late game, I just make more power and defense boosts to balance sora out.
If I were doing a Critical Mode playthrough, I would emphasize defense and discard magic, seeing as I’m a melee fighter. I would also choose Night to relieve pressure against the Bonus Bosses (Sephiroth, I’m looking at you).
I'll never forget it. My very first playthrough. I picked the Staff and sacrificed the Sword I think. Started my adventure at Night. I was 13 back then. I had so. Much. Trouble. My first roadblock was Clayton of all things, so embarrassing. My party was always underleveled and underpowered. Turns out, for the expert player, the choices I made back then are actually some of the best ones.
As a 10 year old, I ran straight for the sword, and gave up magic. In my young mind, I pictured I'd be fighting with a sword and shield 😂 didn't know what kind of game Kingdom Hearts was, and was floored when I got a giant key to fight with. Now I choose the shield 98% of the time, almost solely because I love the equipment you get from Item Synth, and try to collect materials as early as possible. Besides, who wants to spend even MORE time in Atlantica just to get fracken Frost and Thunder Gems..I just fight each swarm I encounter throughout my first visit and before I leave make sure I have all I'll ever need.
Spencer Grady I'm doing a lvl1 proud run and +staff -shield has workes wonders, since def doesn't matter. Bambi+thunder also makes synth farming a breeze. :)
I thought I was the only one! I used to have my big brother take over for the fight because it scared me 😂🤣💀. Side note, growing up my brother and I fought a lot (like any other siblings) but kingdom hearts was always the one thing that brought us together. Now as adults he is my best friend and we still play the KHs saga together. Oh the childhood memories.💜
Thank you so much for making this video! So I wanted to make sure that these options weren't important before I chose anything and happily they were so I avoided making the game less fun for me. I want to get all the achievements/100% of the game so I'm going to pick night route for sure, but I don't know what I want besides the route. I would want to have the most powerful setup even if it means I die really fast so the fights don't last super long, so I would either want the sword or staff, but from what you say in the video, the wand is the better option because of the extra MP even though the game will be tougher in the beginning. It's funny because it seems I want to pick the hardest combination of choices for the beginning and I never played this before but I want to get 100% of the game so I will choose whatever I feel would help me get to 100% the fastest
I never knew the questions you answer in the beginning correlated to any mechanic of the game. I’ve always just treated it like a self-reflective thing to see if my answers might change over time. Huh, the more you know
Picked staff and throw swords, no wonder I never get second chance, it’s locked on lv 90. Watching strategies saying second chance and once more “what is that I never have it”
Nice! I beat KH1 a few times. I beat KH2 once too. I stopped at the Roxas fight for KH2FM tho. I really like it. I'm not an academic like you KH pros. I can't bring myself to do all the trial and error and memorization and constant restarting. Thankfully I played KH2FM on PC via emulation and could restore Save States. Made things much easier. Awesome. Anyway. I have a bit of KH content on my channel, but the best vid is #4 in my Extrapolation playlist. You don't have to watch it. But if you do, I think you're gonna like the strat. Anyway, thanks for making such great KH content. I can live vicariously through a pro. P.s. I can't believe you owned Lingering Will.
I picked Staff for the early Stun Impact + Ripple Drive finishers, just to see Sora pull off magical attacks without the Keyblade when Riku still hasn't figured out magic xD The extra MP that the Staff gets also helped seal the deal for me; I want that 19 MP from Staff + (Keyblade/armor/accessories). As for late Second Chance, imo that basically just means "no damage run or die"; so high skill requirement. I've noticed that the DI combatants tend to back away before Ripple Drive can connect unless the finishing attack button press is executed almost the first possible frame, so when battling Riku in particular it really forces me to react equally fast to him either going down on his back or continuing to stand upright. Selphie will sometimes just sort of run off before Ripple Drive comes out if it's initiated late, Wakka will spin-hit Sora out of the Ripple Drive animation if it's intiated too late, and Tidus will either backflip away or just smack Sora if a Ripple Drive finisher is initiated too late; though you can safely mash the attack button once you catch any of those 3 in a combo anyway. I would unequip Ripple Drive for the 3-on-1 battle though; Ripple Drive's wind-up leaves a really wide opening for either of the two that aren't subject to Sora's current combo to interrupt him. Stun Impact comes out pretty fast though, so it's particularly nice against Tidus and Wakka; but simply a weaker than usual finisher against Selphie and Riku as far as I can tell. I haven't actually learned Scan yet.
In my recent playthrough, I chose the sword for the first time, like, ever and I'm now of the opinion that it's the best option. Your physical combos get so damn strong that any "hard" fights are trivialized. You get all your strong combo finishers relatively early and have guard early too. Dropping the shield makes you frail as hell, but keeps your AP high, which is valuable for all the awesome abilities the sword gives you. Your magic won't be as strong as staff route, but this is circumvented with stuff like atlas armlets. The only real downside is the late leaf bracer, which is kind of annoying for bosses like Sephiroth and Ice Titan.
Until this video, I always thought that the dawn was from 1-50. mid was balanced from 1-100, and night was 51-100. Wow. I've played this game probably about 20-30 times, and never knew I was *COMPLETELY* incorrect. LOL.
Well shit. Great to know that I know what I was doing by Picking Staff/Sword/Dawn. In the order of Keep/Sacrifice/EXP Route, of course. I guess I'll just stick to that.
Im replaying the 1st and second game on the collection after so many years and decided to go with a new combination. Years ago i picked the sword for both games and shield, but decided something different this time around. For the 1st game i went with the shield and staff. For the second game i decided to go full magic wielder.
My go-to is generally shield due to early guard, second chance and such (for harder difficulties) and start in the dead of night for faster high level experience so I can grind easier.
ill bet sora canonically picked the staff and gave up the shield and started at night, raiku picked the sword and gave up the staff and started midday, and kairi's some dope who picked the shield and gave up the sword and started at dawn.
The game can be rough,but if you can gather the keyblade parts,you will have a better shot. Your charm chains can improve certain stats and/or weaker certain stats.
Great video! I thought I knew all the effects for which weapon was picked, but I learned a few new things! Could you make a tutorial video for the choices Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix?
My advice: People going for the 1.5 Platinum will want to take Shield and Dawn Route for the first run, which is Proud Mode, and the second run will be Beginner Mode with Staff and Night Route so they can get to Level 100 faster and have more MP against the secret bosses like Unknown. Just saying. ;)
Personally I took Sword dropped Shield and Night route for my Proud playthrough (my first). Beginner was took Staff dropped Shield and Dawn route solely for the speedrun trophy. By the time I got round to optional bosses I had Ultima, leaf bracer, and second chance. I tried fighting Unknown at around level 50 and could only take a health bar off with exp 0 on but first try when I came back later. So just play what you're comfortable with.
I wanted to get my plat, but do my full completion on Proud, so I went with taking the shield and dropping the staff on proud with night path, then on beginning I took sword and dropped shield, taking dawn path so I could stay leveled up enough to not worry about the lost defense (seemed to work decently, my first death wasn't til maleficient fight, and even that was just me being careless)
I had no idea those choices were important so much so that I forgot what decision I made. Also I played on Proud despite never playing a Kingdom Hearts game. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
jmhguy yup, picked sword and then chose what ever my heart felt like saying for the questions. Looking back, I was the literally manifestation of “Let your heart be your guiding key.”
It's funny, a majority of my answers are Mid-Day. I think a fun thing about these questions is that it reveals a weird sense of personality to the player, and it corresponds to the playstyle of the answers. If I answer personally, my playstyle speaks that the mid-game might be really important to me, as I find that the end-game should be challenging, and the beginning to be naturally difficult as I am learning how to play the game. Kingdom Hearts one oozes with nuance that I hope KH3 brings, along with the physics of KH2's fighting style.
I usually pick the shield because I have always leaned toward a more balanced play style and I sacrifice the sword because I still like to cast magic and have mp. I also like fast late game leveling.
You can't choose all. Just like in life. Choose one. Understand that choice in real life too. In life, there is Sacrifice. Do you know what sacrifice means?
I always like this mechanic personnaly I prefer take Sword and sacrifice Shield I keep on the offensive and have more diversified attack which makes it more fun, while learn most of the most usefull ability (for me) fairly early such as Guard and Second Chance, I don't mind having MP Rage/Haste and Leaf Bracer later since I will not use Magic that much until Late-Game on strong bosses (optionnal ones). For Route I pick Dawn Route for an easier time and for not having to grind during the story (where your best place for leveling aren't available) in general LV40-50 is the LV I generally finish the main story then I don't mind grinding and the best option to gain EXP becomes available near the end of story so I finish my LVUP at this point (at least up LV70 for Leaf Bracer). I already try staff and sacrificing Shield with dawn route it was fun but I prefer my set up.
first time i played i took the descriptions wayy too seriously and didn't choose the staff or the sword bc the descriptions were really rough. (9-year-old me: i don't want to be mean!!) So I chose the shield and gave up the sword, which is actually my preferred set up (:
Even underleveled (not significantly) Staff might be the best route. Unless you're god you'll get hit a lot and MP usage is a lot more distinct in KH1 than in 2. Access to MP rage (since you don't have cool down) is significant. You'll take more damage and your attacks are garbage but with Leaf Bracer and Cure it's hard to die. Also having more magic in general for Break Raid is stupid. Second Chance is one of the only deal breakers
shield +2 item slot u get survival abilities faster. last chance etc. making sure u survive with 1hp best for proud. sword +1 item slot u get more offensive. i think this is best for new people playing on beginner. staff +2mp this is honestly the best for speedruns imho. magic is incredibly nice dps wise.
I don't know if you do this but YOU SHOULD TOTALLY TALK ABOUT THE NEE TRAILER FOR KH3. It shows way more combat features and i really wanna hear what you think about it.
My First playth. WAS very weird in between those choices.(ps2 only) I choose Standard/Normal More, took staff and gave up Sword and got many answers weirdly, picking one of which and gone more for night... Maybe thats why I had a pretty harsh time in early game and mid to late was bareable, but I did not won any of the optional bosses, but its understandable since I did not knew what to do and thought Magic was kinda hard to manage fully and I DID NOT looked into any guides whatsoever...... and then I got satysfied with my gaming time, so I tried again in Proud, got Shield giving Sword and got day exp time and got wrecked pretty much every single time, I gave up and gone to play .hack//GU trilogy lol
I always pick the staff because I like being flashy with magic, but I think magic wasn't the best option in the original Kingdom Hearts PS2 (aside from Aero and Cure). KH Final Mix fixes this issue with the Diamond Dust keyblade somewhat, but the spells I mainly used were Aero, Cure, Fire, and Stop (I'd swap out Fire for Thunder occasionally). Blizzard and Gravity were crap imo.
I only played the original KH 1 but I found the magic in that one was pretty good. Especially the summon magic. Combine Bambi with Thundara on enemy groups that dont absorb thunder magic and they get obliterated while Bambi keeps MP high and even throws some Items as Bonus in. Not that I needed them but getting those extra elexirs was pretty cool. Simba straight up obliterates all enemys in the room with his attack. Genie is also pretty cool. The only down side is that you can not skip the summoning sequence.
@Dark Mage Dawn or neutral would be my go to with Staff. The beginning can be fairly hard (I did it on proud mode though). Mid-late game is where you are going to notice the impact of magic. By late game, you'll usually be able to clear out a wave of enemy with a thunder or two. I don't know why the guy thinks gravity is bad, with enough mp, it does over 100% of max hp so you kill most tough enemies in one hit.
I was going to pick the shield but the wand sounds better, more of a magic sharpshooter type play style. All I heard before is that the shield gives you an extra item slot. I wish it was like Zelda where you can use a shield and magic rod.
i didnt know any of this
my first time playing the game i was like "sword wack things sword good. shield looks dumb shield bad"
that comment kinda describes the plot of the rising of th shield hero
No1camper _ hey Naofumi is badass
SonicT22 exactly my thought process as a kid
The big brain strategy is never to give up the shield
@@Reevro so magic yep im just hack n slash devil may cry anyway
I think the most amusing part about picking the shield is watching Sora bash the fuck out of Shadows with it during Dive to the Heart.
Well what are you gotta do with it? Push the heartless? Or just bash it on their head
Goofy Simulator 2002
I've honestly only ever chosen the staff and shield once while playing Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. I always choose the sword because I'm a strength oriented player to the core. I'm not going to lie though. Another big reason I always choose the sword is because of the aesthetic. Sora is a swordsman to the core, so he ends wielding any weapon in his possession like a sword. It wasn't as weird seeing him swinging the staff like a mace, but it was really bizarre, albeit funny, seeing him swing the shield around and bashing Heartless. It wasn't until Kingdom Hearts III that Sora started wielding a staff and a shield as they were meant to be wielded. Which, if you think about it, speaks to Sora's growth as a fighter. I had an easier time choosing to prioritize defense in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix because that Struggle club with the handguard still handled like a sword. I'm just really big into swords and sword fighters.
that moment when you realize you accidently chose the best options for your preferred playstyle on the first try
same here...
5h0ckblock I chose sword and gave up staff...
I made a huge mistake
That is the point of it to go off preferred playstyle
Foresight 100
@@SpiralChip I picked shield and gave up sword because I’m naturally defensive in games...
I think I fared pretty well lmao
I think this is a really great mechanic, and I respect that the game doesn't actually tell you what you're doing. With the weapons, you can likely understand what's going on (gaining/losing strength, etc.) but with the questions it makes things a bit more mysterious. I think that's part of the fun. If the game just straight up told you what everything meant, then not only is your immersion broken, but you'll likely not feel like trying out the other modes because you already know what they do. Keeping it a mystery adds more to the experience.
I hope this specific KH1 version of this will come back in KH3. I didn't like how KH2 handled it. You still had the weapons to choose from, but it didn't affect your stats, just your ability layout.
+Kingdom080500 And even then, the abilities you learn via level-up in KH2 are, for the most part, not very significant. This was probably done to put more significance on Lv1, which works well for that, but does somewhat hurt replayability of normal playthroughs.
FEZeldalord12345 Level 1 still worked in KH1 though.
That's debatable. KH1 wasn't built with Lv1 in mind like KH2 was, and I don't think it's anywhere near as enjoyable due to the lack of options.
Level 1 wasn't a feature until Final Mix in both games. I don't think KH2 was built with Level 1 in mind. Level 1 was built around KH2.
"The payoff is pretty significant for staff"
I can't hear you over not having any mp or ethers.
Adding on to this:
As you mentioned, Shield grants an extra item slot compared to both Sword and Staff. Shield gives you a total of 8 slots, Sword 7, and Staff 6.
As for the extra MP, normally Sora gains an MP at every 12th level until level 60. However, Sword and Staff gain an extra MP at level 30, while Shield and Staff gain one at level 66. Because Staff gets both of these in addition to the extra MP given at the start, by level 100, Sora will have 10 MP instead of 8. So for long term purposes in terms of stats:
Sword Pro: earlier extra MP, item slots are mostly consistent, extra accessory midway, earlier Combo Master (lvl 50)
Sword con: Sword only gets 8 MP, only 7 items
Shield pro: Item slots come earlier, accessory slot comes earliest
Shield con: extra MP comes later, only 8 MP, slightly later CM (lvl 54)
Staff pro: Staff gets both MP increases
Staff con: only 6 item slots, latest accessory slot, latest Combo Master (lvl 55)
Since I dont use Items that much and dont mind if the battle drawsout a bit longer staff is always my weapon of choice. The cons dont really affect me to much.
Honestly, I care a little too much about dealing damage through skills like Ars Arcanum and Strike Raid, so I keep the Staff, give up the Sword, and go with Dawn for EXP.
Honestly, if the shield would add an extra accessory slot instead of an item slot, I'd go with it without thinking twice.
If it did that then there’s no reason not to choose it: you get the same amount of MP that Staff would get and the same amount of items Sword would, with the only downside being a few abilities are learned later.
15 years later and I still just pick the sword and drop the staff cause I always just melee'd my way trough and ignored magic (minus cure and gravity).
Talix same here.
Tbh, I still neglect Gravity. Gimme an Aero and a Cure and let me get my hands dirty, dammit!
me too lol
Funny enough even if you ignore magic besides cure the staff is useful because it lets you cast cure alot more often thanks to MP haste and MP rage.
I personally would never pick the sword.
Sofaris i chose sword,
dropped staff,
i then use magic
*failure.png*
I always pick Staff, sacrifice Shield, and Night leveling personally. Mostly due to the common early accessories boost defense and resistances, and I've played several times so getting hit doesn't happen as often.
If it's your first play-through ever, I would recommend picking Shield, sacrifice Staff, and Dawn leveling path, if not planning on grinding out every optional boss and just want to complete the main story.
+staff, - shield, start at night. That's always been my jam. With minimal defense and no second chance, I've gotta be good...but it pays off when I hit 100. And you kinda have to hit 100 to get second chance anyway.
And minimum item slots.
@@m240bandit3 Having more MP trumps having more item slots, especially when you have MP Rage and MP Haste to speed recovery of MP, allowing you to heal with Curaga and boost defense with Aeroga more frequently, while items don't refill during fights. And unlike items, magic can also be used to attack.
Keyblade smacking > strategy
Goddamn it makes me happy when someone makes a video like this.
Personally I would go with shield, sacrifice sword and choose night
Shield and night on my first time playing the game. I had the most fun because I felt like I was actually getting stronger as the game progressed.
Tbh, the pick Sword and sacrifice shield strategy everyone said was the best made the game infuriatingly difficult.
On Proud Mode, I ended up choosing Shield and giving up Sword, then choosing Night. I just did it regularly without knowing this stuff. I didn't even know that Staff affects AP! Thanks for this beneficial, in-depth explanation.
Very interesting, I never took the time to look up how answering the questions affected the game.
Same so late to the party
Hey Biz, I just finished another 2fm level 1 run but this time a no damage run by following your video playlist. Thanks a lot for your effort! My life is now complete!
My usual choices:
Pick Staff, Drop Shield, Midday
Ripple Drive is amazing for early game and Stun Impact stops enemies from wailing on you for a few seconds giving you a chance to heal (useful until you get Leaf Bracer, by then Stun Impact stops stunning enemies). The damage of these abilities dies out late-game because your strength will be so high that no amount of MP to power Ripple Drive will be enough to beat the damage from a normal combo finisher. In fact, it can screw up your combo at that point. But at that point you've got other things to fall back on (like your strong magic and Hurricane Blitz).
I ALWAYS got midday on the quizzes. I had no idea what it did, thank you for the informative video
Shield 4 lyfe.
Contla3 Yeah. I picked up Shield and dropped the Staff
Lucas Watkins I'm thinking about doing that
Crazy Platinum It's a little tough because you don't deal too much damage and spells won't be as strong, plus you have a serious AP deficiency
Lucas Watkins I heard starting sword is basically putting the game on hard mode and I have used sword but got stuck. So I decided to start over. What combination do you think would help a noob like me. And what should I choose morning, mid-day,or night. Last time I remained true to myself and answered the question how I found true and got night
Crazy Platinum I personally chose +Shield -Staff because I prefer doing melee combat but also don't want to die. Although, the same can be accomplished with +Sword -Staff...
I think that the magic abilities in KH1 are really strong, and if you like using Magic, then I'd suggest +Staff -Sword, or +Shield -Sword if you want to have more survivability.
As per the level up, if you fight most if not every Heartless group that spawns, the night path isn't too bad. Though, I think midday might be the best one since it's balanced
Great informative video biz. Got to the point quickly with easy to understand explanations on what choice affects the game. Keep up the good work
You are the reason I finished BOTH the Hades Cup and the final boss in KH 1 on proud yesterday. First time beating a game on the hardest difficulty, and I didn't think I was going to make it through chaos of worlds Ansem. It wasn't a specific tutorial, but your explanation of the game's mechanics was what got me through it. Thank.
first few times i tried to play the game i had no clue what was going on in the beginning so i'd always end up picking sword, dropping shield and choosing random answers.
this guide was really helpful, since i had a bit of trouble reading through some of the FAQs a while back on what the different options do.
can't wait for more 1.5 tutorials because this was always the hardest KH game for me
Shield seems best to me, considering the early guard let's you farm tech xp freely. It's the most broken mechanic in the game.
And also early second chance so you don't get one shot and die from bosses that hit REALLY hard
it's crazy how much thought goes into a singleplayer game that you can cheese easily
I tend to play more tank-like in most RPGs, so I usually go for shield and drop sword. I do believe taking staff and dropping shield is the big brain move in the long run though.
I always go Shield and Midday route so my playthroughs are always consistent. I know boss fights well enough to where I never have any trouble, and Leaf Bracer is pretty valuable when you're doing the Ursula 2 boss fight.
Dawn is for Speedrunners, Mid-day is for normal playthroughs and Night is for completionists
Take the shield, sacrifice the sword and start your adventure at midday. Middle road to the extreme!
Really helpful guide, never knew up until now what the questions where all about 😂
Hmm this is giving me choice paralysis. I like that the dream shield route encourages a more defensive playstyle. But I don't know which to give up.
Listen guys basically if you play the game on proud mode this is important, if not then do whatever it won’t have a significant impact
I like Staff, Night too, I like the challenge most of the time too
i always knew it affected something but couldn't find out what. Thanks for the awesome guide!
i usually choose the Shield and Mid-Day.
I feel like having Guard, Leaf Bracer and Second Chance early on is a must
I myself always took the Shield, and dropped the sword. In my eyes, yes the extra attack may be worth it to some, but I mostly played a defensive guerilla style, dipping in to get a few hits in, then getting out and using magic from a safe distance. The extra durability you get from having the shield and not sacrificing the staff just seems like such a huge boon for me. I was unkillable in most fights while still able to do a decent amount of damage.
4:20 I'm very curious as to how fans ended up finding this out. I guess you would notice changes during multiple playthroughs, but the specifics like what Dawn, Midday, and Night do to your EXP gain reallys interests me as to how people found out how it worked.
And it's listed in the official guide voor KH1 and the 1.5 remix guide....
Pretty sure they just looked into code decompilation.
1.5 tutorial vids? I'm hype.
When I used to play kh 1 on my ps2 I always picked the word and gave up the staff, choosing dawn.
Now for my first proud run on ps4 I'm gonna pick shield, give up sword and choose night.
If there is one thing that I feel that the other KH games are missing are these choices. I like KH2 the most in the series, but I feel this mechanic brings a lot to the game and gives some replay value too, more than difficulty increases. It also lets everyone play at their own pace, and I think that's great.
I picked sword, ditched shield and pretty sure had mid day leveling, it was my first playthrough and had no issues completing all challenges. Optional bosses were easy, farming to synthesis was my only hiccup not having lucky strike till level 90. Clock tower phantom was the only real challenge as I didnt know what to do at first. Sephiroth was pretty hard, had to try a few times.
I really like +staff -sword, max MP is important in KH1 as it effects all magic and summons, you can easily make up for the lost strength stat via items and accessories.
Yeah although the only downside afaik is that you don't learn second chance until level 90 but for me the extra mp is worth the trade off especially if you're planning on grinding to level 100 on the same playthrough for optional bosses
Ahh yes.... I remember my first play-through of KH 1 FM was on proud with staff (dropped sword) and mid-day. Did not have an inkling of what I was doing but magic is always cool. Now I finally know the mistakes I made so many years ago. NO REGRETS!
TBH i'm probably a Dawn person. It would make it more of a difficulty progression as the game continues and I like that.
Staff and discarded sword.
I'd argue for casuals who attempt proud and do want to beat the optional bosses, +shield -sword night is the best set of options. yes, early game will be harder, but it should be manageable with some grinding. and trust me, against some optional bosses on proud (mainly phantom, hooded figure and sephiroth) that additional item slot can REALLY come in clutch. plus, the extra defense really helps balance out your survivability in the early game, which also counteracts the slower leveling of night somewhat.
I think items are useless.. Staff+mp rage are enough for healing and never die
This tutorial gave a metaphor of childhood and adulthood. Idk if it was intended or it was just tutorial. But the final boss or big dark heartless as to mention the heart shallow, it always during the game talk about options of how you would want to play out through your life decisions. It gave innocence yet blurring a subtext too the player. As a kid it was interesting yet never got, an adult looking back. It could just be how I see it. How the story plays for me on this part.
just started my first proud run....chose staff and night...oh boy I'm in for some fun.
It's also worth noting that on a level one playthrough picking the staff is a no brainer, because you won't be getting any abilities so all that matter is the starting stat boost and one point of mp is more valuable than one of strength or hp/defense.
As a kid, I always chose sword because I liked swinging a sword in the beginning lol
I remember playing using the Shield and surrendering the Staff. I think I got the Dawn option too. Looking back, these were unintentionally brilliant options for my more balanced playstyle, and I exploited summons to make up for my lackluster magic.
Excellent video Biz! I agree with you about going staff and the night route because it makes things more interesting. I also prefer more MP because in KH1 you cannot synthesize magic boosts and that's a huge point for me. During mid to late game, I just make more power and defense boosts to balance sora out.
If I were doing a Critical Mode playthrough, I would emphasize defense and discard magic, seeing as I’m a melee fighter. I would also choose Night to relieve pressure against the Bonus Bosses (Sephiroth, I’m looking at you).
I'll never forget it. My very first playthrough. I picked the Staff and sacrificed the Sword I think. Started my adventure at Night. I was 13 back then. I had so. Much. Trouble. My first roadblock was Clayton of all things, so embarrassing. My party was always underleveled and underpowered. Turns out, for the expert player, the choices I made back then are actually some of the best ones.
Yep, +Staff and -Sword is the best choice for late-game.
As a 10 year old, I ran straight for the sword, and gave up magic. In my young mind, I pictured I'd be fighting with a sword and shield 😂 didn't know what kind of game Kingdom Hearts was, and was floored when I got a giant key to fight with.
Now I choose the shield 98% of the time, almost solely because I love the equipment you get from Item Synth, and try to collect materials as early as possible. Besides, who wants to spend even MORE time in Atlantica just to get fracken Frost and Thunder Gems..I just fight each swarm I encounter throughout my first visit and before I leave make sure I have all I'll ever need.
Spencer Grady I'm doing a lvl1 proud run and +staff -shield has workes wonders, since def doesn't matter. Bambi+thunder also makes synth farming a breeze. :)
Thanks! I'm planning on playing this game for the first time soon, so this makes things a little easier
I loved this game since my childhood I remember how I used to be scared fighting the darkside boss.
I thought I was the only one! I used to have my big brother take over for the fight because it scared me 😂🤣💀. Side note, growing up my brother and I fought a lot (like any other siblings) but kingdom hearts was always the one thing that brought us together. Now as adults he is my best friend and we still play the KHs saga together. Oh the childhood memories.💜
Thank you so much for making this video!
So I wanted to make sure that these options weren't important before I chose anything and happily they were so I avoided making the game less fun for me. I want to get all the achievements/100% of the game so I'm going to pick night route for sure, but I don't know what I want besides the route. I would want to have the most powerful setup even if it means I die really fast so the fights don't last super long, so I would either want the sword or staff, but from what you say in the video, the wand is the better option because of the extra MP even though the game will be tougher in the beginning. It's funny because it seems I want to pick the hardest combination of choices for the beginning and I never played this before but I want to get 100% of the game so I will choose whatever I feel would help me get to 100% the fastest
I never knew the questions you answer in the beginning correlated to any mechanic of the game. I’ve always just treated it like a self-reflective thing to see if my answers might change over time.
Huh, the more you know
Ayy, you're part of the Staff Night squad like me!
I'm really not worried for the sword, it doesn't fit my character. I go with the staff, I like being lit asl with enhanced magic.
The Staff is also Useful in Level 1 Runs as well
Picked staff and throw swords, no wonder I never get second chance, it’s locked on lv 90. Watching strategies saying second chance and once more “what is that I never have it”
I always pick shield because I get a smug satisfaction from leaf bracer second chance scumming my way through the game.
Nice! I beat KH1 a few times. I beat KH2 once too. I stopped at the Roxas fight for KH2FM tho. I really like it. I'm not an academic like you KH pros. I can't bring myself to do all the trial and error and memorization and constant restarting. Thankfully I played KH2FM on PC via emulation and could restore Save States. Made things much easier. Awesome. Anyway. I have a bit of KH content on my channel, but the best vid is #4 in my Extrapolation playlist. You don't have to watch it. But if you do, I think you're gonna like the strat. Anyway, thanks for making such great KH content. I can live vicariously through a pro. P.s. I can't believe you owned Lingering Will.
Just wanted to say, thank you for making this video.
I picked Staff for the early Stun Impact + Ripple Drive finishers, just to see Sora pull off magical attacks without the Keyblade when Riku still hasn't figured out magic xD The extra MP that the Staff gets also helped seal the deal for me; I want that 19 MP from Staff + (Keyblade/armor/accessories). As for late Second Chance, imo that basically just means "no damage run or die"; so high skill requirement.
I've noticed that the DI combatants tend to back away before Ripple Drive can connect unless the finishing attack button press is executed almost the first possible frame, so when battling Riku in particular it really forces me to react equally fast to him either going down on his back or continuing to stand upright. Selphie will sometimes just sort of run off before Ripple Drive comes out if it's initiated late, Wakka will spin-hit Sora out of the Ripple Drive animation if it's intiated too late, and Tidus will either backflip away or just smack Sora if a Ripple Drive finisher is initiated too late; though you can safely mash the attack button once you catch any of those 3 in a combo anyway. I would unequip Ripple Drive for the 3-on-1 battle though; Ripple Drive's wind-up leaves a really wide opening for either of the two that aren't subject to Sora's current combo to interrupt him. Stun Impact comes out pretty fast though, so it's particularly nice against Tidus and Wakka; but simply a weaker than usual finisher against Selphie and Riku as far as I can tell. I haven't actually learned Scan yet.
In my recent playthrough, I chose the sword for the first time, like, ever and I'm now of the opinion that it's the best option. Your physical combos get so damn strong that any "hard" fights are trivialized. You get all your strong combo finishers relatively early and have guard early too. Dropping the shield makes you frail as hell, but keeps your AP high, which is valuable for all the awesome abilities the sword gives you. Your magic won't be as strong as staff route, but this is circumvented with stuff like atlas armlets. The only real downside is the late leaf bracer, which is kind of annoying for bosses like Sephiroth and Ice Titan.
Until this video, I always thought that the dawn was from 1-50. mid was balanced from 1-100, and night was 51-100. Wow. I've played this game probably about 20-30 times, and never knew I was *COMPLETELY* incorrect. LOL.
Well shit. Great to know that I know what I was doing by Picking Staff/Sword/Dawn. In the order of Keep/Sacrifice/EXP Route, of course. I guess I'll just stick to that.
Im replaying the 1st and second game on the collection after so many years and decided to go with a new combination. Years ago i picked the sword for both games and shield, but decided something different this time around. For the 1st game i went with the shield and staff. For the second game i decided to go full magic wielder.
I chose the shield and dropped the staff last time, and I learned MP Rage after beating the final boss XD
My go-to is generally shield due to early guard, second chance and such (for harder difficulties) and start in the dead of night for faster high level experience so I can grind easier.
I always go Shield and Night Route and it's never let me down ^_^
ill bet sora canonically picked the staff and gave up the shield and started at night,
raiku picked the sword and gave up the staff and started midday,
and kairi's some dope who picked the shield and gave up the sword and started at dawn.
First time i played, i picked up sword and dropped staff
*no wonder I never beat the game*
Nick Zavala I did and I beat it. You have to adjust strategies and see where you are messing up.
Metalman200xdamnit i think i was just really bad at the game
The game can be rough,but if you can gather the keyblade parts,you will have a better shot. Your charm chains can improve certain stats and/or weaker certain stats.
I chose sword gave up shield game is fairly easy on final mix
Great video! I thought I knew all the effects for which weapon was picked, but I learned a few new things! Could you make a tutorial video for the choices Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix?
My advice: People going for the 1.5 Platinum will want to take Shield and Dawn Route for the first run, which is Proud Mode, and the second run will be Beginner Mode with Staff and Night Route so they can get to Level 100 faster and have more MP against the secret bosses like Unknown. Just saying. ;)
That works fine if only going for Plat, not if going for everything on Proud
Personally I took Sword dropped Shield and Night route for my Proud playthrough (my first). Beginner was took Staff dropped Shield and Dawn route solely for the speedrun trophy.
By the time I got round to optional bosses I had Ultima, leaf bracer, and second chance. I tried fighting Unknown at around level 50 and could only take a health bar off with exp 0 on but first try when I came back later. So just play what you're comfortable with.
ChiefsAffinity Exactly. I always go +sword -shield Dusk
I wanted to get my plat, but do my full completion on Proud, so I went with taking the shield and dropping the staff on proud with night path, then on beginning I took sword and dropped shield, taking dawn path so I could stay leveled up enough to not worry about the lost defense (seemed to work decently, my first death wasn't til maleficient fight, and even that was just me being careless)
Skzzles No critical on kh1fm
When I play 1.5, I'm usually fine picking sword because I played the PS2 version when I was younger, so I'm fine with a late-game Leaf Bracer.
This made me wanna replay the game using staff option
no mention of what you should give up? does it make a difference?
I had no idea those choices were important so much so that I forgot what decision I made. Also I played on Proud despite never playing a Kingdom Hearts game. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
+shield -staff with a Night route on Proud.. what a ride.
When i was younger i didn't know or give a dam with stats at the beginning. I figure that it was a more spiritual thing than anything else
jmhguy yup, picked sword and then chose what ever my heart felt like saying for the questions.
Looking back, I was the literally manifestation of “Let your heart be your guiding key.”
Thanks for the info man! I plan on doing a proud mode run with the staff and sacrificing the sword. Going to be a challenge 😊
It's funny, a majority of my answers are Mid-Day. I think a fun thing about these questions is that it reveals a weird sense of personality to the player, and it corresponds to the playstyle of the answers. If I answer personally, my playstyle speaks that the mid-game might be really important to me, as I find that the end-game should be challenging, and the beginning to be naturally difficult as I am learning how to play the game.
Kingdom Hearts one oozes with nuance that I hope KH3 brings, along with the physics of KH2's fighting style.
I usually pick the shield because I have always leaned toward a more balanced play style and I sacrifice the sword because I still like to cast magic and have mp. I also like fast late game leveling.
You can't choose all. Just like in life. Choose one. Understand that choice in real life too. In life, there is Sacrifice. Do you know what sacrifice means?
Wow... That’s kinda deep.
Love this comment. :)
I always like this mechanic personnaly I prefer take Sword and sacrifice Shield I keep on the offensive and have more diversified attack which makes it more fun, while learn most of the most usefull ability (for me) fairly early such as Guard and Second Chance, I don't mind having MP Rage/Haste and Leaf Bracer later since I will not use Magic that much until Late-Game on strong bosses (optionnal ones). For Route I pick Dawn Route for an easier time and for not having to grind during the story (where your best place for leveling aren't available) in general LV40-50 is the LV I generally finish the main story then I don't mind grinding and the best option to gain EXP becomes available near the end of story so I finish my LVUP at this point (at least up LV70 for Leaf Bracer).
I already try staff and sacrificing Shield with dawn route it was fun but I prefer my set up.
first time i played i took the descriptions wayy too seriously and didn't choose the staff or the sword bc the descriptions were really rough. (9-year-old me: i don't want to be mean!!)
So I chose the shield and gave up the sword, which is actually my preferred set up (:
Even underleveled (not significantly) Staff might be the best route. Unless you're god you'll get hit a lot and MP usage is a lot more distinct in KH1 than in 2. Access to MP rage (since you don't have cool down) is significant. You'll take more damage and your attacks are garbage but with Leaf Bracer and Cure it's hard to die. Also having more magic in general for Break Raid is stupid. Second Chance is one of the only deal breakers
i just went for the sword since i knew beforehand that donald = magic, goofy = defence so i need to pick attack to compensate
shield +2 item slot u get survival abilities faster. last chance etc. making sure u survive with 1hp best for proud.
sword +1 item slot u get more offensive. i think this is best for new people playing on beginner.
staff +2mp this is honestly the best for speedruns imho. magic is incredibly nice dps wise.
I don't know if you do this but YOU SHOULD TOTALLY TALK ABOUT THE NEE TRAILER FOR KH3. It shows way more combat features and i really wanna hear what you think about it.
My First playth. WAS very weird in between those choices.(ps2 only)
I choose Standard/Normal More, took staff and gave up Sword and got many answers weirdly, picking one of which and gone more for night... Maybe thats why I had a pretty harsh time in early game and mid to late was bareable, but I did not won any of the optional bosses, but its understandable since I did not knew what to do and thought Magic was kinda hard to manage fully and I DID NOT looked into any guides whatsoever...... and then I got satysfied with my gaming time, so I tried again in Proud, got Shield giving Sword and got day exp time and got wrecked pretty much every single time, I gave up and gone to play .hack//GU trilogy lol
Sora canon answer would probably be CDH.
I wish lots of game use this type of thing
I always pick the staff because I like being flashy with magic, but I think magic wasn't the best option in the original Kingdom Hearts PS2 (aside from Aero and Cure). KH Final Mix fixes this issue with the Diamond Dust keyblade somewhat, but the spells I mainly used were Aero, Cure, Fire, and Stop (I'd swap out Fire for Thunder occasionally). Blizzard and Gravity were crap imo.
Gravity did loads to damage to most enemies, and stalled them, due to flattening them and doing % damage
The damage gravity did was fine, but it's way too slow for my taste.
I only played the original KH 1 but I found the magic in that one was pretty good. Especially the summon magic. Combine Bambi with Thundara on enemy groups that dont absorb thunder magic and they get obliterated while Bambi keeps MP high and even throws some Items as Bonus in. Not that I needed them but getting those extra elexirs was pretty cool. Simba straight up obliterates all enemys in the room with his attack. Genie is also pretty cool. The only down side is that you can not skip the summoning sequence.
Gravity definitely does well against unknown
@Dark Mage Dawn or neutral would be my go to with Staff. The beginning can be fairly hard (I did it on proud mode though). Mid-late game is where you are going to notice the impact of magic. By late game, you'll usually be able to clear out a wave of enemy with a thunder or two. I don't know why the guy thinks gravity is bad, with enough mp, it does over 100% of max hp so you kill most tough enemies in one hit.
Great video as always Biz
You spoke so fast, I couldn’t tell what Cage 1 was for a little bit!
I try to speak fast to avoid 15+ min videos for things like this
Oh, ok! By the way, I enjoyed the video!
Really? I... thought he was talking pretty slow lol
I set the video to 2x speed, and it was easy to follow XD
I was going to pick the shield but the wand sounds better, more of a magic sharpshooter type play style. All I heard before is that the shield gives you an extra item slot. I wish it was like Zelda where you can use a shield and magic rod.