Game Review – “Kingdom Hearts”

Disney games have a habit of leaving me extremely bored. Final
Fantasy games tend to grab on and hold me through to the
inevitable end. Care to guess which side this game came out
on?

Company Credits

Title: Kingdom Hearts

Developers: Disney Interactive and Squaresoft

System: PlayStation 2

Release Date: 2002

Game Type: Adventure/RPG

Premise

Something has connected the worlds of Disney to the worlds of
Final
Fantasy, and you need to set things right. Sora, a new character,
allies with Goofy, Donald Duck, Squall Lionheart, and an
assortment of
other familiar faces to save the worlds.

The voice cast that came along for the ride is very, very
impressive.

High Point

The introduction of a surprise guest at the Colesium.

Low Point

Who decided Lance Bass was worthy of voicing Sephiroth?

On a more serious note, I don’t quite see the point of the “Normal
Drive” on the Gummi Ship. Did I miss something, or was that just
an
excuse to throw in a space shooter minigame?

The Scores

I never would have thought to combine Final Fantasy with
Disney, and I
really didn’t see how it could possibly work when I heard it was
coming. Even then, I assumed it would be aimed at the very
young. I
can’t think of anyone who has done anything like this, possibly
because all logic says it couldn’t possibly work. Well, here it is,
and it works very, very well. The game mechanics themselves
are very
familiar, though. I give the originality 5 out of 6.

The story is fairly well developed, and avoids the
trappings
of jamming all these characters together by leaving most of them
exactly where they belong. There aren’t the major plot twists
you’ll
see in Final Fantasy VII, but it far more developed
than,
say, Mortal Kombat or Super Mario Bros.
III
. I give
it 4 out of 6.

The graphics are very good, particularly when
translating the
established Disney characters. Motion is fluid, but sometimes
you’ll
pass partially through solid walls or objects. I give it 5 out of 6.

The sound effects and music were extremely well
done. The
voice acting was surprisingly good, too, considering how bad
some of
these actors are in front of the camera. (David Boreanaz was a
particularly nice surprise.) I give it 5 out of 6.

This is a highly playable game, and I expect to run it
from
start to finish several times. Controls are simple, responsive, and
described in-game for those too lazy to read the instruction
manual.
I give it 5 out of 6.

The immersion works very well for those of us
who’ve seen
most of these movies. I admit that I actually cheered out loud
when
Merlin showed up. (The Sword in the Stone is my
favourite
traditionally animated Disney movie.) The familiar characters
sucked
me right in. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s an excellent game I recommend without
reservation. I give it 6 out of 6.

In total, Kingdom Hearts receives 35 out of 42.

10 replies on “Game Review – “Kingdom Hearts””

  1. not that I have played the game
    But Gabe has.

    I guess I just feel like being contradictory today.

    -Jack

  2. special ending
    If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
    after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
    FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
    what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

    • Re: special ending

      If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
      after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
      FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
      what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

      That extra cinematic is a promotion for Kingdom Hearts 2,
      which is still in development. To watch it, you need to obtain the
      complete Gummi set from Pongo and Perdita (obtainable after finding
      all dalmation puppies), to lock all keyholes (including the 100 Acre
      Wood), and to win the Hades Cup at the Colesium. I highly
      recommend it.

      • Re: special ending

        If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
        after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
        FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
        what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

        That extra cinematic is a promotion for Kingdom Hearts 2,
        which is still in development. To watch it, you need to obtain the
        complete Gummi set from Pongo and Perdita (obtainable after finding
        all dalmation puppies), to lock all keyholes (including the 100 Acre
        Wood), and to win the Hades Cup at the Colesium. I highly
        recommend it.

        Is that what it is? Whoa! : )

        Where did all the disneyness go then?

        • Re: special ending

          If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
          after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
          FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
          what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

          That extra cinematic is a promotion for Kingdom Hearts 2,
          which is still in development. To watch it, you need to obtain the
          complete Gummi set from Pongo and Perdita (obtainable after finding
          all dalmation puppies), to lock all keyholes (including the 100 Acre
          Wood), and to win the Hades Cup at the Colesium. I highly
          recommend it.

          Is that what it is? Whoa! : )

          Where did all the disneyness go then?

          well the disneyness goes NOWHERE! if you do the same thing in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix; which only came out in japan, it is the same thing as kingdom hearts only it has more characters. and their secret ending is the second half to america’s secret ending. the final mix secret ending starts off where america’s left of. and for a brief moment, you see King mickey in cool clothes slashing and jumping about.

          The disneyness is still there, only not as much AND COOLER! ^o^

          • Re: special ending

            If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
            after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
            FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
            what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

            That extra cinematic is a promotion for Kingdom Hearts 2,
            which is still in development. To watch it, you need to obtain the
            complete Gummi set from Pongo and Perdita (obtainable after finding
            all dalmation puppies), to lock all keyholes (including the 100 Acre
            Wood), and to win the Hades Cup at the Colesium. I highly
            recommend it.

            Is that what it is? Whoa! : )

            Where did all the disneyness go then?

            well the disneyness goes NOWHERE! if you do the same thing in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix; which only came out in japan, it is the same thing as kingdom hearts only it has more characters. and their secret ending is the second half to america’s secret ending. the final mix secret ending starts off where america’s left of. and for a brief moment, you see King mickey in cool clothes slashing and jumping about.

            The disneyness is still there, only not as much AND COOLER! ^o^

            WHATS YOUR E_MAIL ADDRESS????

        • Re: special ending

          If you unlock the special ending, you get treated to an extra cinematic
          after the end credits. Its basically the intro cinematic, but with “normal”
          FF characters in the roles of Sora and his island friends. In other words,
          what the game would have looked like without the disney part.

          That extra cinematic is a promotion for Kingdom Hearts 2,
          which is still in development. To watch it, you need to obtain the
          complete Gummi set from Pongo and Perdita (obtainable after finding
          all dalmation puppies), to lock all keyholes (including the 100 Acre
          Wood), and to win the Hades Cup at the Colesium. I highly
          recommend it.

          Is that what it is? Whoa! : )

          Where did all the disneyness go then?

          Wow… that ending… was great… It was so touching! I want to know if Sora ever finds Kairi or Riku! And I wonder what sora looks as an adult! I HAVE to see the next game!!! Do any of u guys know any websites that tell about the next game?

          • Re: special ending

            Do any of u guys know any websites that tell about the next game?

            RPGamer is usually as
            up-to-date as possible with stuff like that.

  3. The best game ever
    I have one thing to say. THIS HAS GO TO BE THE BEST GAME I EVER PLAYED!!!!!!! The storyline is fanstatic. The graphics are marvellous. The music is wonderful. To put it simply, Kingdom Hearts is perfect in everyway. My cousin buys the Playstation 2 games. Kingdom hearts caught my eye. I thought it was a Final Fantasy game at first.

    I was really shocked when i saw the Disney characters but I continued anyway. Many times I thought of the other games and promised myself after the next boss fight I will play the other games. But when I could finally save, I was already to into the game that I just continued playing. It is truly a masterpiece.

  4. Weak final boss
    I’ve been through the whole game once, (and am on my second time) and I found that beating Asmen was really, really easy. Anyone else notice that? I figured he’d be about as hard as sephiroth, but he’s not… I’m really dissaponited with it… That’s why I really want the next game to come out.

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