Squaresoft and Disney, at first glance, do not seem like two companies which would collaborate to make a video game. They are both giants in their respective industries and they are both known of producing quality forms of entertainment. So what happens when the best RPG developer and the best animation house team up to create a videogame? A lot questions at first. But sit down to play Kingdom Hearts and you will instantly be immersed in one of the most wonderful games on the PS2.
With Square leading most of the development of this game, there should be little to worry about. One has to wonder how they could incorporate multiple Disney worlds and new characters into one game. Well, they avoided most of the problems by giving each Disney world a separate... world (levels). The worlds of Disney have been transferred well into the game and the complete original ones are well done as well. Every world is a bit on the small side though the layouts are good and appropriate.
The battle system is pretty much hack-and-slash, there are minor differences in Kingdom Heats that set it apart from other hack-and-slash games but it does not feel generic. You learn different abilities and magic attacks, increase your stats, etc. as you defeat enemies and gain experience. The fighting will mostly consist of attacking/dodging but you usually have two partners whom you have to help since their AI is fairly bad (but it improves later on).
If there is one thing that could be universally agreed, it would be the camera is spastic. It constantly wants to move around which makes most battles harder than they should be and also makes the platforming a pain. The difficulty is a bit on the steep side. And when traveling between worlds for the first time, you will have to play through a pointless space shooter type mini-game using a 'gummi ship', which is rather boring.
There are plenty of things to do in Kingdom, some of them worthwhile. The Coliseum is a survival of the fittest type of ordeal, which is pretty fun and very challenging. There are also some optional bosses which are incredibly tough. There is also an option level, which you can only complete by collecting 'pages' of a book. The other extras are not so great. You can create your own 'gummi ship' which is another pointless task but luckily, you are not required to do it. And since you gain new abilities throughout the game, you can go back to previous worlds and reach new areas and gain new treasures. But if you just want to finish the game, you can easily finish it within 25 hours without much trouble.
The graphics are no technological wonder but they are very fitting. It is hard to explain but all of the Disney characters and worlds embody their animated counterparts well. The original characters and worlds all go nicely with those of Disney. Everything looks great and the game runs without many problems and there are minimal load times. The sound quality is excellent, with clear output. There is some voice acting and all of it is very nice. Some of the Disney characters have voices and they are very much like the original. The soundtrack is full of superb piece and transitions very smoothly. The title song is excellent.
Kingdom Heart's best part is the story which is one of the best in any modern day game. Sora and his friends want to go out on an adventure to other worlds. But when their dream is met, Sora learns that it was not without consequence. On his adventure to save his friends and defeat the Heartless, he'll meet many people from the Disney and Final Fantasy worlds. The main plot interlines seamlessly with the Disney stories without modifying them very much. You get a nostalgic feeling seeing all the Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. Whatever the writers did, it works…
On its own, the gameplay is definitely good though the combat itself can become a bit irritating and repetitive at times. Still, the only real problem with Kingdom Hearts is the camera, which will test your patience (it's a bit better if you set it to manual mode). The other problems are nothing more than minor pests. The audio and visuals are something to uphold as the game looks and sounds marvelous. But everything else aside, playing through Kingdom Hearts is one magical experience which is full of reminiscence and adventure.
Final words: Let the inner Disney and Squaresoft fan in you combine and play this game. And even if you're not a fan, play it anyway!
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