Kingdom Hearts II Anyone else disappointed with Hollow Bastion in KHII?

I honestly have no clue if I'm alone on this or not. Maybe people hated it, maybe people loved it, I dunno. But I was so charmed by the original, so... captivated. And when I found out you can't even go there in KHII, I vividly remember being, if you'll pardon my breath, minged right off to Funkytown and back. I mean, good thing they changed the name; what's a Hollow Bastion with no Bastion!? Just Hollow, as it were. Fitting.

Agree/disagree? Longed with all your heart to go back, or said good riddance to bad castles?

 

I liked the story behind it, but the fact that you were trying to clear out the Heartless and you couldn't go back to the place where Heartless were mostly wandering around was a real load of crap.

 

I actually liked the new one in KHII. It was more of an actual town, like Leon and the others would seem like they'd be from, and while it's not exactly like from BBS, especially since that was made after, it still seems more livable. I also hated the mechanics in the first game for Hollow Bastion, while in the second there were no mechanics with stupid floating islands, which I enjoyed so much. While I was also hoping to explore the castle again and beat right through it, it was fun just traveling around normally.

 

If we're comparing to KH1 then hell yes.
The waterfalls, the waterway, the puzzles, the whole storming the castle aspect, everything was perfect.

Come KH2, all of that is gone and it's just a hub town like Traverse Town, except not as good.
The Cavern of Remembrance helps fix some of it on FM, but the world itself was still pretty bland compared to it's KH1 counterpart.

BBS was somewhere on the middle of KH1 and 2 to me. It wasn't as epic as 1, but not as shallow as 2 either.

 

I really liked Hollow Bastion at KH II, but I understand you.. maybe if you weren't capable to get to the castle before the fight against the 1000 heartless it would be fine.. but at some point go back there would be cool. Than again the world got pretty big full of people and other worlds inside it!
I confess that I had to think a little before remmembering that it was the same world that appeared in KH 1.. it seems another world entirely..
Other thing that would be good was to be able to get there at BBS... at BBS all worlds were smaller for obvious reasons..

And YET! There is a bright side for it aswell! Since we can't go there it feels like another world interely and today i am sick of playing the SAME KH I worlds every new game >_>!
I kinda impresssed they didn't pull the same crap making us replay KH II.

 

HB in KHII wasnt near as cool as KH1. HB in KH1 was perfect imo. they shouldve either kept it a heartless world, the same as in kh1, or just not had it at all. I know alot of important scenes/events happened in HB in KH2, but they easily couldve moved those into a different world. or better yet, just have traverse town be the same as it was in KH1 and have HB be the same as before. idk i think they ruined HB in kh2.

 

I guess I was the only one who DIDN'T like Hallow Bastion in KH1.. haha. I just got lost all the time and spent way too much time there and it wasn't a fun experience for me at all(Besides the boss fights). I liked KH2 Hallow Bastion/Radiant Garden more. I would've liked it more if you could actually go to the castle, because I figure they would've simplified it a bit more I'm sure and it would've been fun for me xD And when KH2.5 comes out, I'm sure I'll like it even more, because of the Cavern of Remembrance :D

 

I actually liked Hollow Bastion in KHII, I liked the feel of it being a real town, and the castle wasn't that bad either, sure it wasn't as big or nice as the castle in KHI, but I liked it. I'm a bit neutral with Hollow Bastion in KHI, I didn't like it because it's very hard to maneuver, and at some point I get dizzy going around it, but I didn't hate it either, because it was a very nice world in terms of scenery, and all the floating islands, and the castle itself was wonderful.

 

To me Hollow Bastion was a interesting world, with how many times you went back to it and the heartless battle was one of my favorite parts of the world.

 

You were actually meant to go to the castle part of Hollow Bastion in the Beta of KHII I believe. That's where you would have met the Org.
Anyway, I personally like both Hollow Bastions. The KH1 version had a great feel to it and I do like how it built up to it more. At the same time, I don't dislike KH2's Hollow Bastion since exploring the town and outskirts was also pretty neat. Can't say I like it as much as KH1's but it still had a good feel to it.

 

I think each Hollow Bastion worked well for it's intended purpose. The KH1 hollow bastion felt more like a dungeon world, leading up to a climactic battle with the leader of the disney villains, Maleficent. You finally reach the world where Kairi's being held. It worked great for that.
While KH2 Hollow Bastion felt more like a town. A base of operations for the final fantasy characters. They were trying to drive them out so they could restore it to what it once was as a city. Which again, it worked great for. As for which i actually prefer, i think i like the feel of KH2 Hollow Bastion better.

 

loling at the people who got lost

The game gives you all the time and resources to explore every nook and cranny of the place on your first run. You just have to keep your head about you. But that's one of the things I enjoyed most about it; it was built with the potential for you to succeed, without being built as if it had been waiting for you all its life. It behaved like a fortress, a deterrent to would-be heroes - not as a railroad for that hero to ride to the next bit of plot. The set pieces in Radiant Garden were still pretty, but they had none of the complexity and tightness of form I came to expect from the first incarnation. Everything was purposeful in the castle, whether that purpose was to amaze or divert you (or both). Not to mention, Hollow Bastion is a genuine two- to three-hour affair, maybe more on your first run, while I blew through all Radiant Garden visits in about an hour or two altogether.

I would say it's a matter of opinion, but naysayers are mostly basing their opinion on losing their way, and that's just not fair.

 

The problem I have with KHII's Hollow Bastion also sums up the issue I have with KHII in general - the removal of the platforming aspect of the game. The puzzles of the lift system, the Dalmatians, Trinity Marks, Mushrooms - it was a challenge to figure things out, and felt rewarding when you did. With KH2, all that was taken out (the mushrooms were sort of brought back for FM+, but that is small comfort for most people) - and Hollow Bastion became just a plain old world, laid out with no challenge at all. The maps were both a blessing and a curse in my opinion, in that it did solve some navigation issues the first game had, but also on the flipside it took away from the challenge of the game.

 

If we're talking strictly world design and layout, not at all. Navigating Hollow Bastion from KH1 was always a pain to me. The problem wasn't getting lost, there's just something about that world that feels more like a chore to me. I really like the look of the first Hollow Bastion, but that's about it. Considering Hollow Bastion in KH2 serves the same purpose as Traverse Town in KH1 (which I love btw) it's understandable that they would change it in the way they did.

However the Hollow Bastion from KH1 has all of those huge defining moments that are always the first that come to mind when I think about KH1, whereas the one from KH2 doesn't. But like I said, they serve two very different purposes, so I'm not complaining. I'm just so in love with the idea that the penultimate world from the previous game is now the hub world, so to speak.

 

I like Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden in KHII. It's quite a shame that you can't go to the castle from KHI again. Then again, I don't really see any important purporse why Sora, Donald and Goofy had to revisit the castle again. The beta trailer of KHII supports this actually. But getting back to topic, it can be a bit bland in my opinion. I miss the puzzles that you need to solve to progress through the story, and Square just took it away. Then again, KH is made for kids, so they might have just made the game easier for the younger audiences. BbS, it's a bit so-so for me. It wasn't as exciting as KHI's Hollow Bastion but it's not bland either like KHII's Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden.

 

This.

In Kh1 it was the penultimate world and the fortress of great evil. At the end though, they said that it was originally home to many people. So it switched purposes and so it was better to switch the location. I also agree with other members that say it was disappointing for the platforming elements to be removed as well as those who say it also felt a bit too complicated. But at the same time; it was near the end of the game, so difficulty seems only fitting. I am happy with kh 3d because they seem to be bringing some platforming elements back. Not many, but some. Chests had to be hidden better and were found on many different platforms because Flow-motion made getting around easier. You also had to use reality shifts to progress near the end. All in all, I am happy with both versions of hollow bastion as they both serve their purposes. I do wish we could have gone to the old castle, but I see no reason too complain about it.

 

I disagree. Hollow Bastion in KHI was much like Neverland in KH1. You didn't really explore Hollow Bastion; you were merely climbing Maleficent's castle. KHII allows you to actually explore the town, including Ansem's chambers and the town outskirts.

 

I may be bias toward KH2 because that was the first one I played and my preferred one of the two but I liked both and saw them as separate places. Well, not separate places just different aspects of the same place (which they were) but I liked the compexity of it in KH1 but I also loved the homely feel of it in KH2. I hope you can return to the castle from 1 in a later game as it would be a great nostalgia element but you do get to go to the base of it in KH2 just not in it. The worlds do swap around between games in small ways and I quite like it, like Olympus Coliseum- you get to explore the underworld as opposed to just keeping the Coliseum.

 

I liked KH2 hollow bastion more than KH1. But i have to say it would have been great that you could have visit the original Hollow Bastion but oh well...