7 Beginner Tips for Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
With the Kingdom Hearts franchise in its entirety now on PC, chances are that (hopefully) this is the first title of the series that many beginner players will be experiencing.
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix can easily be the most overwhelming title to excel in, so with that being said, here are some general tips all players should be aware of before proceeding:
Think Carefully About Which Weapon to Choose
When you first begin the game, you will have to choose between the Sword, Shield, and Staff. The first types of abilities that Sora will learn are dependent on this choice. To elaborate, Sora will learn more offensively focused abilities first if you choose the sword, more magically orientated abilities first when choosing the staff, and more defensive abilities first when choosing the shield.
Sora will learn every ability, regardless of this choice, but the order does still matter. Additionally, the maximum amount of item slots Sora can hold is dependent on this choice as well.
There is no correct choice here, obviously, but I personally recommend picking the Shield. Not only does one learn Second Chance the earliest at level 36, an ability that ensures ones’ survival from a particularly fatal blow with 1 HP, but the maximum amount of item slots, 8, is obtained this way too. Guard and Leaf Bracer are also quite handy abilities learned sooner from this choice and are indescribably useful if playing on Proud mode.
The one major downside to choosing the Shield is that you learn the Scan ability, which allows you to view enemy HP at level 21. This can be quite annoying, but I find the later benefits to be truly worthwhile.
There is one vital factor of gameplay aside from stats heavily impacted by this choice: the number of item slots one can hold. The maximum amount of item slots is solely dependent on this choice.
For this reason, the Shield is usually the preferred pick for the first choice since that gives 8 item slots, the absolute maximum. The Sword gives 7 item slots, and the Staff gives 6. Since the number of item slots can not be altered like stats, the Shield is my and others’ recommended choice to get the most bang for your buck.
In the end, though, choose which of the weapon property best befits your playstyle.
Think Carefully About Which Weapon to Sacrifice
After choosing which weapon to bolster your efforts in Sora’s journey, you will have to choose which of the 2 remaining weapons to sacrifice. This can be a bit confusing to explain in an in-depth manner, so I will refrain from doing so.
But basically speaking, the combination of what you choose as your weapon and what you choose to sacrifice will alter Sora’s strength, magic, and defense stats. For instance, if you choose the Sword but sacrifice the Shield, you will begin with a particularly high degree of strength and be rather feeble. And if you choose the Staff but sacrifice the Sword, you will have more MP but have a bit less strength to compensate.
This same general philosophy applies to every other combination of initial choosing and sacrificing, so think about what kind of build you want to run with.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that the only way to get the absolute most MP possible is by choosing the Staff, regardless of whatever you sacrifice. And as stated in the prior tip, the only way to get the maximum amount of item slots is by choosing the Shield.
Choosing the Shield and sacrificing the Sword is also how one can get the most naturally obtained AP (Ability Points) through leveling and gain the most item slots possible. This is my recommended combination, but really, it is best not to feel constrained by these choices and ultimately choose what you want. That is the point of these choices, after all.
The Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie Questions Impact Your Rate of Leveling
After the two choices with the weapons, the next and final choice sequence comes when Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie ask you rather cryptic questions. The game does not clue you in on what this means, but thankfully it is quite simple.
There are only 3 possible results that can be gotten from these choices; them being Dawn, Midday, and Dusk.
The Dawn result is gotten from primarily choosing the first choices from the three Final Fantasy characters. The Midday result is gotten from primarily choosing their second choices, and the Dusk result is gotten from primarily choosing their third choices.
Dawn makes you level swiftly from levels 1 through 50 but makes leveling from 50 to 100. slower than normal. Midday makes you level at an even, steady pace. And Dusk makes you level slowly from levels 1 through 50, but rather swiftly from level 50 to 100.
Once again, there is no ‘right’ choice here, but I would advise at least steering clear of Dawn, especially if you intend on completing the game’s optional content. The slower leveling from levels 50 through 100 is just not worth the hassle whatsoever, even with the accelerated leveling up to level 50.
Choosing Dusk makes the early parts of the game more difficult, but this is the best result to go with if you intend on doing all of the game’s optional content since, ultimately speaking, this ends up requiring the least amount of EXP to reach level 100. This may be a bit too rough for beginners, but it certainly pays off dividends.
Midday is the safest result for beginners to go through since it has the most consistent level-scaling with no downsides.
Complete the Coliseum Cups’ Time Trials and Solo Runs
In the Olympus Coliseum world, several tournaments will be added throughout the course of the game, with there being a total of 4.
After completing a cup once, you will unlock their time trial and solo variants. While the enemies are identical to who you would face in the cups normally, completing the cups again in these 2 modes grants further rewards such as brand new abilities for Sora and rare synthesis materials.
The cups are far more arduous to complete in these 2 modes, though, as the time trials require beating all of the matches in a certain amount of time, and beating the solo mode means you can’t rely on Donald and Goofy. With that being the case, some Time Trials and Solo runs might be worth doing later when you are stronger to save yourself needless headaches.
How to Reach the End of Monstro as Fast as Possible
This tip might be just a tad too specific, but I still think it is worth telling. Monstro is the world beginners will probably have the most trouble with navigating since the scenery is identical in all of its rooms, and it is quite literally a maze.
There is a very simple to remember methodology for reaching the end of the world’s story, though. When you first enter the Chambers, enter the portal to your left, the one on the ledge to be more precise. From then on, only go through the portals that are nearest to you. Do not stray from the beaten path. As long as you just go into the nearest portals, you will quickly reach the next story segments with no issue whatsoever.
Yes, it is that simple. My mind was blown when I figured this out too.
Deep Jungle Slider
After completing the Deep Jungle world, you can go back to the Treetop save point and go down the sliding spot to trigger the Slider minigame. This minigame was an addition to Final Mix and consists of you collecting fruits while sliding down tree trunks and waterfalls. There are multiple levels to this minigame, and they are unlocked by striking open their entry points at the end of each level.
You have to restart the minigame each time you unlock a new area, but they offer some fantastic rewards such as stat-increasing items.
White Mushrooms
White Mushrooms are special Heartless that spawn in particular spots of the world maps. Unlike most other Heartless, which require brute force to dispatch, these Heartless are more akin to a series of minigames. They perform charades that correspond to certain spells.
For instance, if one is fanning itself, it is asking to be struck with Blizzard. It is a matter of inference and experimentation. Pleasing a White Mushroom with 3 identical spells will award you with the Arts of that particular spell. Merlin awards a special shield for Goofy if you give him all 7 Arts.
There are also other special Heartless, and most of them are additions to Final Mix. None of these are that obtuse to figure out, though, so be patient with learning their unique mechanics.
And those are 7 tips that will greatly aid beginners in their endeavors in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. There are many other tips to give, so I might make another list for this game in the future, but part of the original Kingdom Hearts experience is getting lost and learning how to progress.
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