Walt Disney was a genius in cartooning. Why? Because he had a talent no one else could possibly have. He had the power to create magic. Not magic as in Bibbidy-Bobbody-Boo. No. This magician's magic was to create another world. A world with magic and where dreams come true. Where creatures could come and go as they please. Where good always triumphs evil. He touched other people's hearts with his characters, ideas, and films. I believe those films came from the heart. It was amazing to watch Alice discover Wonderland or Peter Pan fly or to see Snow White kiss the prince. Then there's Mickey Mouse and his pals. The famous trio of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy always having their funny moments. Disney then brought a miracle to Earth. He brought Disneyland. It's not a miracle just for it's fun entertainment. But because that's the only place where I feel that I don't live in a cruel, demented world and where I can live in the world Disney lived in in his imaginations. He has inspired the whole world to keep his legacy alive. Disney is the kind of man who will live immortally. His imaginations and ideas will always stay in the heart of mine and Disneyland. Fantasia was the classical musical that inspired me totally. But the thing that inspired me the most, was Kingdom Hearts. I said Disney inspired the whole world. Well, he inspired Japan and the USA to team up together to join Disney with Final Fantasy. I must say, the mixture created something sweet. Something I have craved for all my life. Kingdom Hearts has a story that no one could have thought of in their wildest. It took the inspiration of Disney for it to work. Kingdom Hearts has a musical score that makes my inner self cry. The trailer for Kingdom Hearts made me excited but depressed at the same time. Kingdom Hearts is a world with nothing compared to Earth. In Kingdom Hearts, there's darkness, but there's always a happy ending. In the trailer, when Sora was attacked by Sabor, my heart pounded. Then, Tarzan made his heroic appearance. In real life, no one will care for you. But the new trio of Sora, Donald, and Goofy makes a true friendship that will last forever. But why is it that peace and happy endings are found in other worlds? But Kingdom Hearts has taught me to appreciate what I have and appreciate where I live and make the best out of it. Kingdom Hearts was bound to exist. I'm glad it did. The sequel will be just the same, or better. I have a fuzzy, happy feeling in my gut. The bravery conflicts of Sora vs. the Heartless and the malicious Disney villains that are swallowed by darkness. Kingdom Hearts has also taught me that the heart is powerful. As Sora said, "The heart may be weak. And sometimes, it may even give in. But I know deep down there's a light that never goes out!" That's what Kingdom Hearts has taught me. Aside from my family, Kingdom Hearts' story is something I will treasure forever. Maybe, Heaven will be the world I think of about Kingdom Hearts. Where friendship always lasts. Where dreams come true. Where the heartless are banished and the golden hearts are welcomed. The battles are daring and the graphics are real enough to convince me that real life can be like Kingdom Hearts. We just need to make the world a better place. But I suppose not many people will agree. I'm sick of the evil in this world. Disney has inspired me to think that happiness is found in what you can achieve in for yourself. Kingdom Hearts will live forever in my heart just like Walt Disney's legacy of dreams and hope. I'm sure those who are reading this may think I'm a mushy person. So what if I am?! Only I can see what Kingdom Hearts really is. It's not just fun, it's magical. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I believe that Disney and Kingdom Hearts is what life should truly be. Happy endings and magical dreams and inspirations. Walter Elias Disney and Kingdom Hearts will be immortal. Everyone else appreciates Kingdom Hearts as a game. I appreciate it as a miracle to imaginations. Kingdom Hearts always gives me a happy, fuzzy feeling in my cheeks that I love. May Walt Disney Rest In Peace and may Kingdom Hearts live forever! One of the greatest hits of fantasy history. If you have any comments for me, please e-mail me at tylerripen@yahoo.com. I give Kingdom Hearts a solid 100. It's perfect. That's my honest opinion. Honesty is a quality that makes us live longer. Walt Disney, you have done a great job on the inspiring to create such a tale as Kingdom Hearts. Rest In Peace.
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The_Fifth_Echo16 January 2010Kingdom Hearts, I'm saying this straight out, it is one of the best video games ever created. Video Games don't get much better than this, it is absolutely magical. The kind of magic you got from Disney 50 years ago with movies like Bambi or Snow White. The imagery is way ahead for its time. (2002) If you don't like this game, I have no clue what to say to you expect good luck ever liking a video game.
This movie is enchanting to the point you want the characters to be real. I mean it is quite an addicting game. It soothes your mind and takes all the problems you have on the real world. I give this movie a 10/10. I would rate it way higher if I could. -
Dutch9030 June 2018Long before Infinity War brought together all heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the shared universe mania kicked off, Kingdom Hearts did pretty much the same for Disney. In a bizarre yet briljant move, Disney and Square Enix joined forces to create a game that combined the magic of Disney with the dark anime storytelling of Final Fantasy to create Kingdom Hearts. While many may raise an eyebrow at a game that features Goofy and Donald Duck going toe to toe with Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, the brilliance lies in the execution.
Kingdom Hearts is known for its dense, indecipherable story. While this is definitely true for later installments, the original game's plot is still fairly comprehensible. Sora, a young boy who is the perfect cross between a Disney and a Square anime character, loses his home world in an attack by dark beings known as the Heartless, and teams up with Donald Duck and Goofy to save various Disney worlds from said beasties, with the help of a band of Disney and Final Fantasy characters and a strange weapon called the Keyblade (which literally looks what it sounds like). Looking for Sora's friends and King Mickey Mouse respectively (the latter of whom, despite being Disney's best-known player, is mostly an unseen and enigmatic presence over the course of the story), Sora, Donald and Goofy go up against a conspiracy of Disney villains led by Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent, who have kidnapped seven Princesses of Hearts (most of which are actual Disney Princesses) that apparently have the power to open the door to the heart of all worlds.
KH's gameplay is fairly straightforward hack and slash, but includes a lot of RPG elements (customizeable weapons, items, equipment and magic spells) and, depending on the boss, some strategy elements. Although most battles do come down to mashing X, there is still strategy required - the three-headed hell hound Cereberus (from Disney's Hercules), for instance, has various attacks which all require a different response. One attack is best avoided by staying behind him, another by jumping on his back, and yet another by simply avoiding those all-consuming jaws. Whereas Sephiroth has a devastating attack that will surely kill you unless you use a very well-timed item. Still, the quick pace of the fights and the different powers and weaknesses of the many Heartless and Disney villains you encounter make for a thrilling spectacle. The boss battles especially - when you're fighting Jafar, Hades or Ursula, they really live up to the menace they are portrayed as in their source movies. The one drawback gameplay-wise is the much maligned Gummi Ship sections, which are required to reach each world. How the hell does a game with gorgeously rendered Disney worlds and action-packed battles also include on-rails space battles that look like rubber StarFox missions where you shoot at random polygonal objects? It's amazing that, even after ten games, Nomura still hasn't realized people actually really hate these segments. Fortunately, you eventually acquire a warp that allows you to jump to places you've been before. Frankly, I've never flown a Gummi Ship mission other than those required for the story. Apparently there's a ship editor feature, but I've never bothered to even look at it.
Chances are you'll enjoy watching Kingdom Hearts as much as playing it. There's hours of voiced cutscenes, and even after 16 years the graphics - since gorgeously re-rendered in HD for the ReMixes - still hold up, perfectly emulating the look and feel of every Disney movie covered in the game. No small feat, considering how good Disney's animators are. Even the stop-motion Tim Burton film The Nightmare Before Christmas (not released under the Walt Disney banner, but owned by Touchstone which is a sudsidiary of Disney) is included, with graphics that are appropriately darker and more realistic in appearance, to accomodate the stop-motion look of the film. Also, Disney and Square went out of their way to find the original voice actors for all the Disney characters in the game. In addition to Donald, Goofy, Mickey and more, characters such as Hades, Jafar, Ursula, Tarzan and Jack Skellington are voiced by the same actors as the original film. When the original character is not used, the official voice actor from the DTV sequels or adjacent TV series is used, as is the case for Genie, Philoctetes and others. Two actors deserve special mention: Kathryn Beaumont, who reprised her roles as Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Wendy from Peter Pan half a century after the original films premiered (you can sorta tell it's an old lady pretending to be a young girl, but who cares), and Corey Burton, the verbal chameleon who effortlessly mimics the original voice actors of Captain Hook, Flotsam & Jetsam, the White Rabbit and more, and who would go on to do the same in future games for characters such as Shan-Yu and Commander Sark. Characters original to the game, or Final Fantasy characters that lacked voices in their original games, are played by A-listers such as Hayden Panettiere, Mandy Moore and David Boreanaz (you know, Angel from Buffy). Special mention goes to Billy Zane, who plays the evil Ansem and, despite having only a dozen lines or so, steals the show whenever he pops up. Hayley 'I see dead people' Joel Osment is perfect as Sora, the main playable protagonist who is a perfect stand-in for the audience as he traverses one Disney world after another with wide-eyed wonder.
One small gripe in the graphics - not all cutscenes use fully animated character models. While important scenes have full facial animation, others use in-game animations which is just the mouth and eyes opening and closing. In the latter case, the movements don't match up with the English dialogue (the game is originally from Japan).
Musically, Kingdom Hearts is another standout. While each world has a standard looped field and battle theme (which can be a bit generalistic, but pretty good nonetheless), the boss battle themes are truly epic, giving a sense of dread and urgency when you're fighting the enraged Clayton or the terrifying Dragon Maleficent (one of the hardest Disney bosses in the series). Also, various emotional themes made specifically for the cutscenes showcase the extent of composer Yoko Shimomura's talent, especially Kairi's poignant theme and the orchestral version of the theme song, Simple and Clean. Ah, Simple and Clean. While I've tried getting into J-pop singer Utada Hikaru's other work and found it boring (I'm more of a metal guy anyway), her Kingdom Hearts songs are among my absolute favorite musical pieces. To this day, after finishing the game dozens of times, the ending cinematic where the song kicks in still sends chills down my spine.
Although it is now part of a franchise with its own ever-extending lore, Kingdom Hearts still works on its own as well. While very different from any other Disney or Square game, it finds its own voice - quite a feat for a game relying mainly on characters not original to its story - and manages to emulate the magic of a Disney film all on its own, and allowing us to hop from one childhood favorite to the next. While many scenes echoe famous Disney moments (such as Jafar becoming a genie, Clayton going after the gorillas, the Crocodile chasing after Captain Hook), every Disney world still feels part of a bigger whole story-wise, and the game deftly balances a dozen worlds and over a hundred characters into a grand narrative on a scale that wasn't seen again until the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off six years later. -
Like most other Square Fans, I was extremely skeptical when I first heard that the RPG legend would be teaming up with Disney, of all people, to produce a game. However, as time went on and more screenshots and gameplay tidbits were released, Kingdom Hearts became more and more appealing. Thankfully, When the big release day finally arrived, I was not disappointed. Square had managed to perfectly intergrate the Disney mythos along with the Final Fantasy universe to create a game of a game. Square has once again shown its talent for creating magical RPGs.
Kingdom Hearts is truly a stunning accomplishment and may very well be the game of the year for 2002. The biggest problem with Kingdom Hearts is that many gamers are bashing it because of the inclusion of the Disney characters without even playing the game. This is very short-sighted. Kingdom Hearts is a classic game, and if you own a PS2, this is one game that should absolutely be in your collection. -
superstonewarrior6 June 2018Kingdom Hearts exudes a pure child-like sense of wonder, amazement, and mystery that I have yet to find again in gaming 16 years later.
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Liam301113 November 2013Now. Disney as a child was just fantastic. But as a child, I had never played this game. With Disney placing magic memories that I know I will remember for all my life, I thought this was another Final Fantasy. Now I don't like FF. So outdated.
I just picked up the 1.5 Remix, and have pretty much completed it already in about a total of 50+ Hours and I will tell you. I wish I played this game. I now await the 2.5 remix of the game, to play KHII.
Sora is my favourite character (yeah, big surprise) he relates a lot to me and I really think he's a great protagonist. But in games released AFTER the Kingdom Hearts series, those characters are considered bad. But not in my eyes. A hero needs to be caring, helpful, cunning, cocky, and so on. It's what makes heroes fun.
The story is fantastic and really is timeless.
Now the flaws: Sometimes it's easy to get lost in the amazing worlds S.E and Disney have crafted.
Some Boss battles can be very frustrating as you really have to force tactics upon yourself. But once you get passed them, you feel rewarded.
Lack of save points towards the end. Especially when you reach the actual final stage of the game, the save points do lack in times when you feel like you need to save it.
But those problems are VERY minor. I am starting a new play-through, and this time I'm changing my play-style. -
kingdomheartsXkeyblade3 February 2014OK well let me just say this game is one of the most brilliantly made games i have ever had the privilege to play. It had good graphics, an amazing story filled with memorable characters and amazing emotional dialouge. This series is the best series ever created in my opinion and i love it more than any other game I've ever played. If you're not a fan now you should become one it is truly an amazing game. Story-10 why: Emotionally gripping and it is very well written not to mention the brilliant acting. Gameplay-10 why: Smooth physics and intense fighting scene. overall-10/10 Brilliant. Other notes-nothing really this game is amazing a must have. MUST
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MissSimonetta30 March 2014I first played this game when I rented it from the local video rental back in 2003, when I was nine years old. I loved it so much that I received it for Christmas and became utterly addicted. To this day, the original Kingdom Hearts remains one of my favorite video games of all time.
The sequels aren't bad, but for me nothing can replicate the warmth, charm, and simplicity to be found in the first game. It seems the first KH was the only game that managed the perfect balance between the Disney and Final Fantasy elements. Nowadays, it seems like both of them are window dressing with little relation to the overarching plot. KH's story is quite good, championing themes of friendship and love without feeling cheesy or preachy.
The game play is standard button-mashing, but there are tons worlds to explore. The ability system isn't confusing to get a handle on, and the side quests are great and numerous.
Is it perfect? No. The camera is wonky, the Gummi Ship levels are rather dull, and the Monstro level is torture with its outright awful level design. Still, none of that takes away from an otherwise excellent game, one that can still please children and adults alike, just as the great Disney films continue to do. -
shiningrockstar2 May 2006When I first played Kingdom Hearts, I was astonished with the graphics, the plot, the game play and the story because it was very well written and very well published, and you can also travel into different worlds in the Gummi Ship! You might want to consider renting or buying Final Fantasy too, since Kingdom Hearts is a blend of Final Fantasy and Disney! I'll be looking forward to getting the sequel for my birthday! Kingdom Hearts is a very fun game for kids, teens and beyond because it is a truly stunning, breath-taking, emotional and memorable game that everyone can enjoy. No Playstation 2 game collection will be complete without this amazing masterpiece!
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so_poor80821 June 2006as i say in the title, this is the best game i played in my life, and that's very difficult because y played a lot of video games in my life.
this games combine perfectly action, history an suspense, so thats the best combination to create a video game, and the creators are the best in the genre: Disney and square Enix. the end is very inspected: Sora must continue looking for Kairi, but he sees her a while and we must continue.
for the next, the movies included must be: Atlantis, planet of treasure, Lilo and stitch, Kim possible, American dragon, brother bear..
the possibilities when the Disney movies finish are a lot: warner movies, Hayao Miyazaki's movies... -
pippin_evil_genius20 February 2006Kingdom Hearts makes one good rival for the master pieces of Final Fantasy, and Lunar 2:Eternal Blue Complete.(PS1) There are many reasons but there are some bad thing sin the game.
The reason is that square has combined FF with Disney to create a whole new story. How the game starts is with you on your island (There's also a prologue) trying to build a raft.
Who would've thought the idea of building a raft sets you on a quest two save the heart of your love, and save your friends heart befor3e it gets swallowed by darkness? I wouldn't have.
But let me tell you, the quick pace battle system is really fun, and easy to get into. However, the battles maybe a challenge, since the cameraing is so bad.
You visit over six Disney worlds including Tarzans Jungle, Wonderland, and even Monstro. The story and the game isn't that long, and the game takes about eighteen hours to beat. But it's still enjoyable.
\/MAJOR SPOILERS\/~ The characters are great. Disney and Square really out did themselves working on Leon, and Sora. The villain Actually turns out to be Malifacient. (Sleeping Beauty) And the true villain is the mysterious Ansem.
~ The music in the game is actually not as bad as you would expect. Every world you visit the music changes, so you don't get that annoyed with the same battle song.
The graphics are very impressive for a Disney game. The beginning and ending clips will take your breath away as you watch these highly detailed clips.
Sadly, there aren't as many mini-games as there are in FF VII. (PS1) But there are acouple. And they're pretty good they go from tree surfing, to hitting weird blops to get secret items.
The game lets you create items like your Ultimate weapon. But you need a lot of certain items. And then you can make them.
One disappointing thing is that there is only three shops in the whole game. But they get new items every world. The shops let you buy many things. There is an Item shop, an accessory shop, and a Gummi Ship shop.
There are tons of items in the game. Including classic items from FF like Ethers, Hi-Potions, X-Potions, etc. Then the game has it's own unique items. Such as Fire Arts, Torn Pages, Black goo. The list is much longer but I can't remember many...
The game's weapons are really cool and clever. You can only get two weapons in the game. A wooden sword and the Keyblade. However, you can put different KeyChains on the Keyblade to change it's form. (In other words there is actually 22 weapons.) Your good friends Donald Duck, and Goofy... Goofy are able to get several Weapons including they're own Ultimate Weapons.
Unlike traditional RPG you don't have a world map. Well, actually you do. But it's not the way you think it would be. The map shows all the worlds you can go to, and the number of enemies in it. Then you select the world you want to go to, and you fly in your ship to it.
You can buy upgrades to your ship at the gummi shop. The upgrades let you use radar, transformation, and even rocket boosters.
The leveling up system is very clever and simple. But you can only reach level 100. And your HP can only reach up to 99.
The game let's you equip your abilities. And they go from Strike Raid, to Arsarcanum. The game even has abilities that aren't even for battle. Such as the ability to glide. (Shared ability)
You can equip special abilities to everyone. Such as High Jump, which let's everyone jump really high. There's also Mermaid kick. Which let's you swim super fast under water. (Very handy at Atlantica.)
And after you beat the game if you got all keyholes, and Dalmatians then you get to watch the secret ending which leads into a KH2. Overall, KH deserves a full 10/10.
KH 2 comes out March 2006! -
Chibichasechan14 January 2006I simply love this game, its challenging in some parts, sad and its shows that the heart is the strongest weapon of all.
I like how they added all the Disney characters and their evil villains and you have to fight them. This is one of the better games Square Enix has made along with Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 7.
My Favorite character is Sora. A brave young boy who stands against the Heartless and he is only like 14, 15 years. It first caught my interest when I saw It at the movie Store, because of all the Disney characters on the front and back. I thought wow this looks like a interesting game. To tell you the truth I thought this would be a RPG because it was made by Squae Enix since they make lots of RPG's. So I tried it. At first I thought the beginning was boring but then when I found Wakka and Tidus. I am thinking these guys are from Final Fantasy 10! Then when I got to Traverse town I found Leon, Yuffie, Aeris, and I found Cloud at the Olimpus Coliseum!!! It was puzzled for a while but it said there was going to be some final fantasy characters. I love this GAME! -
.I'm not surprised at the 9.3 rating this game has because unfortunately the power of Enix's fanatics is a powerful thing .It has been my experience with games (Final Fantasy) that have Enix's name slapped on it is AUTOMATICALLY given a high rating no matter how abysmal the actually contents are. The thing with Enix's walking dollar signs is Enix's games=high scores automatically to them,but Enix here's one person who isn't under your spell.
Plot: Friends Sora(14) Kairi(14) and Riku(15) live on Destiny Islands. Riku bored of their home tells them they should build a raft and sail off on it to see other worlds. Their plans are dashed when a storm brews that night and their home is swallowed up by darkness. Sora is saved by a mysterious weapon called a keyblade. Riku.Kairi disappear in darkness. Sora sets of with Donald and Goofy to find their king(Mickey) who has also gone missing and his friends. Game is your basic light vs. dark story, and clichéd as those stories are they can be done beautifully in the hands of competent people with loads of imagination. This game had so much potential that it makes me want to weep that it wasn't realized. First, the story should have not had Disney or Final Fantasy anywhere near it. Should have been an entirely original light vs dark ,original characters, worlds story with different companies behind the helm. Having Disney in it already handicapped it because Disney=Kiddie and with kiddie having a deep mature storyline is already thrown out the window. Enix should not have been near it because Character Development and Story are not their strong suits and this game was NO exception. All the worlds you visit with the exception of 3 are Disney and mostly all of them have nothing to do with the main plot. Fortunately the main plot picks up,but unfortunately it's the 3rd world(Neverland) to the end of the game. It's like Enix/Disney forgot they were suppose to be telling a STORY and then when they finally do remember you are literally at the end. You know those things used to tell a story, CUTSCENES, yea that. Well good luck trying to find them. This game had so few cut- scenes to the point of being ridiculous. Sadly the few cut- scenes you do get pertaining to the main story will leave you going ? The story of this game is so convulsed that when you finally get to the so-called climatic cutscene your left feeling WHAT THAT'S IT?!! Wait this story made NO COHESIVE sense and the game is ENDING?! It HAS to be more to flesh out the story and characters!!! Sadly there isn't. Hence my feeling of wanting to weep for what this game COULD have been.
Characters:Sora is likable because his innocence make him endearing. Unfortunately that's all you get from him He's innocent and...? From the manual it says Kairi is one of the main characters and yet all her cutscenes combined would barely scrap 30 minutes. I get she loss her heart but what about the scenes before she loss her heart or after she got it back. WHERE WAS THE DEEP CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?! NOT JUST FOR HER BUT FOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS?!! I mean Kairi(And six other people) play a pivotal role in the games main plot and all I get from her in the manner of character development is 30 minutes COMBINED?! The other six even less. If I had to say anyone got any DEEP character development no matter how minimal it would be Riku. I liked him(I don't know why)He had a huge chip on his shoulder where his attitude was concerned, he was jealous of Sora and he was a bit to fascinated with darkness. From what I gathered from the ending a man who's obsessed with darkness named Ansem is the REAL villain of the game and yet despite a one minute cameo appearance at the beginning you see nor hear from him until the END. Instead we get 5 minute cameos from Disney villains and Disney Maleificent who seemed to be the REAL villain of the game until she dies in the second to last world and then Ansem decides he wants to finally make another appearance. Battle System: LOVED IT. Real time. No boring turn-based. Battles were actually fun..to a point. Not only did Enix/Disney seem to think that Story and Character Development should be as minimal and confusing as possible,but also thought that Hard=Fun. NO! Take out fun and replace with boring and frustrating then they would have got it right. With me when dieing from a boss starts reaching 6, 7 going on to the double digits I get frustrated then when I have to level up to INSANE levels just to finally beat them I get bored and when I get bored I eventually stop playing. Battling can only take you so far. If you are like me and get games for the STORY rather than GAMEPLAY then having emphasis on gameplay by making the bosses near impossible to beat to the point that you CAN'T go on with the story you start to hate the game. Something to ponder Enix.
Music: HATED almost every song and not because Disney. I would have hated it had they came from ANYONE. Eargrating plain and simple.Had to mute for the majority of the game. I just couldn't take it. The only music that doesn't make you feel like your ears are bleeding is Simple and Clean, the worlds Hallow Bastion and the End of the World. I'll like to think that none of the songs that I actually could stomach are not Disney by mere coincidence.
Visuals: Nice/Bad. Would have loved to actually HEAR the wonderful voice talent(when they actually got to speak that is)instead of READING it. -
bbSouthstreet24 August 2003It was a quiet September night when my mother and I were watching Cartoon Network and that's when we saw it. It was a promo for probably the most interesting and entertaining video game ever to be developed. I had the money, I had the intuition in video games to never give up but there was one problem. I didn't have a PS2. But then in May of 2003 we traded in my old N64 and we bought a PS2 and what was the first game I would buy? Kingdom Hearts has to be the greatest video game from Disney Interactive and Squaresoft. It has comedy, adventure and an ending that will guarantee us a sequel. Who ever gets this game will have the time of their lives.
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femaleanimefan7 April 2007NO SPOILERS This is definitely one of the most amazing games I have played in my life. It made me cry and I was 14 when I first played the game! It has all the Disney characters and worlds that have been around for a long time, some of its own characters(the wonderful Sora, Riku, and Kairi) and of course you've got my favorites, the Final Fantasy characters(Cloud, Squall, Yuffie, etc.) I just have to point this out, Sora and Kairi's romance has got to be one of the sweetest loves I have ever seen. It made me cry at how beautiful it was. The characters are all wonderful, and definitely lovable! I love these characters so much I hope to see a third game! The story is so clever and original and powerful. I never suspected combining Final Fantasy and Disney, I was expecting it to be something cheesy, but it worked. The relationships between the characters are so heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking and sad. I suggest to parents, watch your kids play this. It is just so beautiful.
10/10, just a wonderful game for all ages! The Kingdom Hearts franchise will never be forgotten. -
tarovan27 November 2003DISNEY AND SQUARESOFT HAVE MADE ONE OF THE GREATEST VIDEO GAMES IN RPG history. The Disney characters, undoubtably, have the same tradional voices. Haley Joel Osment did a great voiceover on Sora. Mickey Mouse appears only at the end of the game, after you have defeated Ansem, the evil Master of the Heartless. I will give this game 10/10.
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This is a game that you wouldn't really have much expectations for, when it was first announced every one I talked to was saying it was going to be one of the worst games ever because it is a mixture of Final Fantasy and Disney, and who can blame them it sounds completely absurd. However it might of been crazy but it worked. Tetsuya Nomura created one of the best games ever.
The game play is wonderful, the characters are lovable, and the story is far from stupid. We start out on an Island called Destiny Islands as a boy named Sora. We meet his friends Kairi and Riku and together they all have a plan to leave the island in search of new worlds. Meanwhile Donald Duck at the Disney Castle finds the King is gone and with the help of Goofy they go out to find the key that the King instructed them to find so they can save their worlds. That is where Sora comes in. When his world is sucked into darkness he escapes to Traverse Town and meets Donald and Goofy then learns the blade he carries is known as the Keyblade a blade that can lock any lock or unlock. So now he goes on many adventures with Donald and Goofy to many Disney worlds to stop the Heartless and to find his friends and stop the darkness that threatens all worlds, and maybe learn who is behind it.
The game is filled with great CGI effects, we see all these great battles and are just plainly fun. Anyone who plays this game can tell you that this game is great, you get to fight all these villains Disney and new alike and get to enjoy the story which includes Final Fantasy characters like Leon, Yuffie, Cid, and more. If you get this game then you can have a great time. You will find yourself immersed into a great game with many worlds that bring the story to life, filled with great battle sequences, and loving characters. Kingdom Hearts is one of the best games ever made. -
taranova28 April 2007Kingdom Hearts could have ended up sucking really, really badly. But apparently, Square and Disney wanted this done right.
And damn, was it done right!
The graphics are simply more than were ever expected. Sometimes, it's rough around the edges, but those things can be basically ignored. But the confusion of the layouts of some of the worlds can be irritating, to say the least. You'll find yourself going in circles.
The Gummi Ship system isn't the most brilliant. During the needless segments of traveling to different worlds, you can hold down the X button and ignore everything else, it's so simple. Then again, custom building your own gummi ships can be pretty awesome, though your options are limited, as well as colors (the palette you can buy late in the game contains only a few key choices).
The worlds themselves are all familiar, and you'll enjoy fighting alongside those favorite characters of yours, though they won't do much for you besides absorb damage. The worlds are often filled with unnecessary space that doesn't seem well thought out and is a little confining. And although the plots of the worlds are slightly altered, you'll feel like you are participating actively in one of Walt's movies.
Getting to the main, non-Disney and final fantasy elements. You play as Sora, a truly interesting character who wields a 'keyblade.' After obtaining the keyblade, he is thrown from his world to Traverse Town, where he meets Donald and Goofy and begins a journey to find his friends.
The Final Fantasy isn't very obvious. You see a lot of familiar faces, but they don't really have anything to do with the main gameplay, other than point him in the right direction. I've never played many of the FF games myself; but you get to go against Yuffie, Aerith, Squall/Leon, Cloud Strife, and Sephiroth. A type of Moogle also make their appearance as Synthesis Shop workers, who will eventually supply you with items of great worth, including the Ultimate Weapon.
Villains from Disney also make their mark, along with an unfamiliar one strictly made for Kingdom Hearts. You'll also, of course, know a lot about the Heartless by the time you're through. The Heartless are the main villains in the game, though they don't do much damage to you other than the occasional boss.
Other things: Camera - Annoying at times. You can only turn it left and right, and sometimes you can't see your main character. Mini games and secrets - Finding and completing these can be very frustrating, but they add depth and a lot of cool stuff to the game. There's postcards you can collect to find rare items, Dalmatian puppies to find, and trinity marks to get into new areas or find shortcuts, or even find new weapons and items. Optional Bosses - There are a few you can play, and two are available after completing two of the worlds. I won't say what they are...but if you're looking for difficulty, you won't be disappointed. The Colliseum is also a great place to find some good opponents (*cough*SEPHIROTH*cough*).
Anyway, that's about it. IF there's anything else you wanted to know, I'm sure you'll find it somewhere. Kingdom Hearts is AWESOME.
It's only flaws are a few plot holes and some good cheese. -
Kingdom Hearts is an Action RPG for the PlayStation 2 and was the first game in the popular Kingdom Hearts series. It was a crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy which may sound kind of weird at first, but doesn't sound as weird once the player gets into it.
Story - (May contain spoilers but I tried my best not to spoil important things) Kingdom Hearts opens with a teenager named Sora who lives on an Island along with his friends Riku and Kairi. The three friends dream of seeing worlds beyond their Island and thus start building a raft so that they may sail away. But one night something happens to the Island, it gets taken over by beings know as "The Heartless". Sora goes outside to find Riku who tells him that "The door has opened", Sora knows that he is talking about the door in the secret cave on the Island, but before going to the door Sora is given a special sword known as a Keyblade. Sora then fights a giant heartless which transfers him to another world. In this world he meets Leon (or Squall from Final Fantasy VIII), Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII), Cid (Final Fantasy VII) and Aerith (Final Fantasy VII), Leon and Yuffie tell him that the Keyblade chooses its wielder and that the chosen Keyblade wielder must travel to different worlds and close Keyholes to save the worlds from being consumed by the heartless. Sora then meets Donald and Goofy who were assigned by King Mickey to find the Keyblade wielder and protect him. Together with Donald and Goofy, Sora sets off on a journey to close the Keyholes and find his friends, Riku and Kairi.
Gameplay - The gameplay is really easy to get used to, even though your new to action RPGs. A menu appears in the bottom left corner which display's commands. To select commands you can either use the D-pad or the right analog stick and to execute a command you press the X button. The Circle button jumps and the start button opens the main menu where you can access the item menu and equip your characters. Magic can also be assigned to specific button, then hold in L1 and press either the X, Square or Triangle button to preform the magic spell without having to waste time by selecting it through the menu. To get to new worlds or to any world before getting the Warp ability you must go through a Gummi ship flying stage. These stages can get incredibly tedious and before getting the ability to warp and you need to fly to and from worlds a lot it just gets boring.
Graphics - All I can say is for a PS2 game that was released so early for the console the graphics look amazing, its actually right on par with the games that were released when the PS3 was nearing its release. I was actually really surprised when I heard that the game was released in 2002 since I thought, looking at the graphics, that it was released around 2005.
Music - The music for Kingdom Hearts was composed by Yoko Shimomura and she did a fantastic job with this game. The music was memorable and most of the tracks were just plain beautifully done (I have never had "Under the sea" stuck in my head before... until I played this game).
Conclusion - Kingdom Hearts is an amazing and fun game that is easy to pick up and play anytime. I can safely say that it is one of my favorite games for the PlayStation 2.
9/10 -
kaosrain21 February 2012here is my music tribute for kingdom hearts just because it is a damn good game, i am a rapper and work with a backing singer, we are from the UK and are on Facebook, my name is KAOS RAIN and my backing singer is ELEKHTRA, we have tracks all over the internet, and we have fan pages that you can join and like, please feel free to leave likes and comments, thank you, also i have grown up playing kingdom hearts and also all of the final fantasy games, Square Enix are genius creators for creating masterful games like these, so big respects to them for putting all their hard worked effort into making the best games for our entertainment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRSeOe7M_aA&feature=related -
homewardbd26 October 2002I bought this game for my girlfriend two weeks ago and I don't get near my PS2 that much these days. I have watched her play it since day one and I must say that the story and action are first rate. The interaction between the "Disney Universe" and the "Square Universe" works perfectly. The game never ceases to amaze me with it's graphics, presentation and top notch voice acting (The list of talent in the Instruction Book is astonishing).
I have started my own game during the few minutes my girlfriend is away from the television and I do enjoy it. So if you only have enough money to get one game, get "Kingdom Hearts" You get hours of gameplay, and you get every penny's worth. To the "Serious Gamers" out there, don't be fooled by the Disney characters in the game, this is no "Kiddie Game", this will challenge even the most hard core of RPG players out there. In closing I guess I would have to say this game has a little something for everyone. -
Aaron137518 January 2018I really enjoyed this game back in the day as I was a huge fan of Final Fantasy and anything Squaresoft made for the most part. This game would spawn a sequel; however, as of the time I have written this review, still no third game. A few filler games have been released, but no official third game yet. Of course, this really shows how different Japanese game makers are, as compared to American ones. We try to rush out games every year and build franchises that usually consist of a rehashed game each year, Call of Duty anyone? The Japanese, on the other hand, take it in the completely opposite direction and this series is like an extreme example as it has been 13 years since the second game! Come on now! I prefer Japanese games because of their quality and because they take their time, but this is just ridiculous! Still, this one is still a very fun game as I have revisited it on the PS4, playing the remix. The graphics are a bit up to date; however, still are PS2 graphics. Which is fine by me, honestly, I like game play as opposed to seeing a super detailed world. Here we get several different worlds to traverse, some variations of game play and so on, thus being a very good example of a fun game during a time role playing games were in kind of their high point.
The story has a boy named Sora who lives on an island with his childhood friends Riku and Kairi. One day, though, strange dark beings appear and Sora finds himself taken from his home. Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy are charged with finding the person who wields the Keyblade. They end up in place called Traverse Town and join up with Sora who now is in possession of the Keyblade. They must go to many different worlds and seal the keyhole in each world to try and stop the spread of darkness which is threatening to engulf all worlds. A few Disney villains led by Maleficent have plans to use the dark beings known as the Heartless for their own purposes. Thankfully, many Disney heroes and a few Final Fantasy ones will help Sora, Donald and Goofy on their journey which spans several worlds.
The game play is that of an action role playing game. You are doing real time combat and fighting a lot, but you visit towns here and there and try to find items and such. I almost think the game play is harder in the PS4 version as I was having a difficult time with it and I don't remember it being that hard back in the day. I loved the whole finding dalmatians quest and finding the trinity marks throughout the game. I also like the very varied amount of levels; however, some of them are so strangely connected you can get quite lost even though no level is all that long. The story is pretty good, but while Maleficent's motives are quite clear, the main antagnoist's is a bit vague.
Overall, I found this game really good. I would like the motives of the main villain a bit more clear and while I enjoyed the interjection of the Final Fantasy heroes, other than one villain from the FF universe who is not integral to the plot there is a lack of FF villains. It would have been cool to see a bad guy who was important to the plot and not just an optional boss. This is more of a Disney game so I understand it is not about the FF characters and they are basically cameos, but come on, just one villain within the ranks of the Disney villains? So this game was great, going to revisit the second game too, but who knows if I will ever see a third game. Not sure if the fact that they became Square Enix has anything to do with the fact they have yet to deliver a third game, but even when they do, I do not expect too many FF characters from the games that have come out since this one as there have not been all that many memorable ones. -
bullions2724 September 2002If they intend to continue appeasing the console RPG populace with its stories and so on, they need to take this game and remind themselves that THEY can not write, and only through the assistance of others not in Square can they come up with entertainment. The last time Square trusted anyone outside their company to help with their games ended in disaster with Square of America. However, this is only a result of the megalomaniacal grip Square so loves to keep. Now that they've decided to relinquish that grip, and welcoming the idea of partnership with another company, perhaps in the coming future Square can come up with better games.
Onto the game itself... Kingdom Hearts, although it's nothing new (we're taking Disney characters everyone and their brother recognizes combined with certain Final Fantasy characters only fans will know of) is kind of fun but easily forgettable. It's definitely not the grandiose self-important stuff Square shells out prolificly since SNES but it's okay. You play a character drummed up by Square who finds himself in an alien world (Disney) where he has to go through a myriad of quests to find Mickey for example, while aided by characters from both Disney and Final Fantasy. It's an okay RPG, and worth a rent. -
Bungle-912 July 2003...let Square (sorry, Square Enix) do it. A lot of people groaned when they heard the words "Disney" and "platform game" put together when this game was first described, although a lot more interest was spawned when people heard that several Final Fantasy (the best game series ever) characters would be appearing. People demand a lot more from games these days - plot, story, character, action. People would never have dreamed of this when they were sitting playing KABOOM on their old Atari 2600s. The old platform game is now dead hopefully, make way for a new breed of platform game.
I can only describe this game as a masterpiece of entertainment. It had action, drama, coherent plot that got typically complicated towards the end (very Japanese sorta thing). It was well worth the money I paid for it, although the problem with Final Fantasy-esque games is their lack of replayability. Everyone likes surprises in plots, but they only work once. I wish I had some sort of operation to make me forget certain specific things so I could play FF9 again... -
starfire6817 October 2002Words can not describe what a fantastic game Square has pulled out of the hat with their joint venture with Disney. Kingdom Hearts boasts many favourite characters from both the Final Fantasy franchise from Squaresoft, and from many of the Disney movies. Adventure with Sora, Donald and Goofy through the kingdoms (taken from Disney), while searching for King Mickey.
The graphics are stunning, gameplay is simple enough for my 6-year-old son, yet challenging enough for an adult (with normal and expert play modes to change the difficulty).
This is a game that I would highly recommend.