Following the brief introduction, you will take on the role of Sora, who will be asked to carry out certain basic actions, to have an affinity with the game system. Quite simply, you will have to follow the directions of the aids, moving with the directional keys towards the bright spot in the center of the platform. Now you will be prompted to choose which type of weapon to use: shield, scepter or sword. Both have different characteristics, which vary according to the parameters of Physical Strength, Magic Strength, Physical Defense, Magic Defense, Health and Energy:
- Shield: Primarily increases physical defense, ensuring good health, but comes at the expense of remaining attributes
- Scepter: Favors magical strength and energy, discarding physical defense and physical strength, leaving average health
- Sword: Increases physical strength, has average health and physical defense points, less in terms of magical potential
Your choice will not involve any change in game difficulty, you simply have to decide what your approach to the battle system will be.
Once you have chosen the weapon, you will be asked what you want to give up: if for example you choose the sword, you will have to give up one of the two previous weapons, taking into account their respective characteristics. Again, there will be no problems based on your choice. In which case you are not sure of your decision, you can still, before continuing, deny the confirmation and start from scratch.
Now chase the mysterious figure up the stairs, and kill the monsters always following the guide notes that will appear on the screen. This way you will easily learn the combat mode. Once you have killed all the enemies, you can also save the game, or immediately go through the door in front of you, to enter the Isles of Destiny.
Destiny Islands - Island Of Destiny
In the animated sequence, you will be asked to find the meaning of the black and red blocks called "anomalies", which if destroyed can release life points, energy, munny or objects. Talk to the girl dressed in yellow, Selphie, who will ask you to destroy all the blocks to be able to get a prize. Thus, begin to clean up around you, not changing the map otherwise all the blocks will return to their place, and then go to your right to talk to Wakka, who will tell you that there are two other types of blocks: the gray ones , indestructible but useful for reaching certain areas of the map, and those decorated with silver stars that, if hit three times, can leave a precious object. Using the gray blocks, reach the block at the top center of the map, hit it and get the PV + 2 Chip. Destroy the remaining red blocks on the map, grab the other precious block in the upper left containing an Empty Chip, and go back to talk to Wakka. Now you can edit your "Status Matrix" from the basic menu and add chips to the matrix to enhance your attributes. Behind you you will find a wooden house: go up on it for a short movie, where you will be explained the Backdoors, secret passages, inside which you can solve computer anomalies. Using the Backdoor Search Sensor, examine the wooden door to your right, and enter this passage to find yourself inside an "Operation Zone", a virtual space necessary for the grill to work. Here, by defeating enemies or destroying blocks, you will get HP, points that can be used at the end of each operation to receive rewards. Pay close attention to the damage received, as for each attack HP will be deducted from those accumulated.
Furthermore, these areas can be composed of several layers, which are connected to each other by some virtual connections, called Links: these are blocked until all the monsters in the area are defeated. Once you have killed the shadows, also take care of the blocks in the north part of the map to recover some HP and then go to the green light to access the second layer. Here, too, clean up all monsters to gain access to a Terminal, which will allow you to exit the Operations Zone.
At the end of each zone, as already mentioned, your HP points can be exchanged for the listed rewards: first select the items, or upgrades, and then the munny or experience, as the latter also bring an end to bartering.
Once outside, a connecting bridge will be created between the islet and the raised floor, in this way you can reach Tidus. During his investigation, Tidus learned of something suspicious, but he will only reveal this to you if you defeat him in a duel. Once he is beaten, he will tell you that he saw a hooded man moving near the waterfall. Go back to Wakka and then go to his left towards the waterfall, adjacent to a cave, called the Secret Place.
In the short movie you will access a lock thanks to the help of the keyblade, inside which you will have to fight against a boss: Darkside. The duel will be divided into three parts, within which it will be possible to get points, as in the operational areas:
- A first part where the boss will leave enemies around you by transferring them to the platform through one of his arms. When this happens, you will have to attack the limb, which will remain stuck in the ground for a limited period. It could also happen that the boss releases blocks on the ground that can be destroyed for HP points.
- Secondly, the boss will throw blocks at you, some of which will explode (the yellow ones), while others can be destroyed before they disappear. To continue, however, you will have to attack the arm that will remain in the ground also in this case: this time, however, after three attacks, the boss will fall with his head on the ground and you can attack him while he is stunned.
- Finally, the boss will transform into various blocks: one, colored purple, will be the one to attack; the others, the yellow ones, will be the ones to avoid. The boss will start spinning and jumping very fast in this last phase, but you just need to dodge his attacks using Y and the respective Dodge command. After a while, the yellow blocks will move away from the purple one, allowing you to attack it.
Defeated the enemy, you will be sucked into a vortex and, after the cutscene, you will find yourself in Traverse Town, Città Di Mezzo.
