Kingdom Hearts Unchained X

With yesterday’s cell phone-related post, I realized that it was about time I finally write something about a mobile game I tried out a few months ago but haven’t mentioned until now. Prior to that point I had only played one game on a phone, which you can read about here, as I normally do all my gaming on console. The game that I played was Kingdom Hearts Unchained X (the “X” is actually the Greek letter chi). As a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, I was interested in trying it out, and as a bonus it was free, though you can spend money if you choose. I’ve only played about four or five hours total of Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, so keep in mind that my thoughts only reflect the first few sections of the game. Also, I’m going to refer to the game as KHUX for the rest of this blog post. See if you can come up with a fancy way to pronounce that and then use it while reading the rest of this post.

Exploring Wonderland

KHUX is a prequel to the other Kingdom Hearts games, and thus adds on to the beginning of the convoluted Kingdom Hearts storyline. I can’t say too much about what happens, as I haven’t gotten very far, but after you create your character the game opens with you choosing one of five clans to join, and I picked the one with a bear for an emblem. You are given a companion to guide your path, and are then sent out to various Disney worlds to help the locals and defeat the Heartless infestations you encounter. So far, I’ve journey to the worlds of Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and Aladdin, along with the non-Disney world of Daybreak Town.

Upgrading the Keyblade

To progress the story you play individual missions, and each of these take about five minutes to beat. This makes KHUX good for short bursts of play, and if I was commuting on a bus or train I could see myself using that time to knock out a few missions while on my way to work. Sometimes in-between missions a Raid Boss will appear, which is a large Heartless that is harder to take down, and these provide a bonus boss fight for those so inclined (if you do not engage it, the Raid Boss will disappear after a few minutes).

Entering combat

The gameplay of KHUX is very simple and the game itself is fairly easy. Basic touch mechanics are used for both moving your character and combat. While exploring, you just touch the screen where you want your character to go and they will go there. In combat, you touch the enemy you want to attack, and swiping the screen is used for special attacks. The combat in KHUX is turn-based and very forgiving, and there were only a few points where I was actually in danger of losing all of my character’s health. Even when that does happen, though, KHUX gets you right back into the action with a small deduction from the supply of jewels you steadily collect while playing the game.

Meeting the Cheshire Cat

On the backend of KHUX, there’s an upgrade systems allows you to boost the stats of your character and their Keyblade. Your Keyblade itself can be infused with medals, which allow different sorts of special attacks, and these medals can be upgraded. You can also unlock various outfits for your character, though I have so far stuck with one of the default appearances. The outfits are purely cosmetic, and do not affect your character’s stats.

Facing a Raid Boss

I don’t know when I will finish KHUX, as I when I have the time for gaming I almost always opt for turning on the PlayStation or Xbox. My schedule is also getting busy again, so it could take a long time to whittle away at it. Regardless, whenever I finally beat KHUX I’ll write up a brief report on my final experience and let you know what I thought of the game overall.