Introduction

Announcement of Kingdom Hearts left many faces skeptical, myself included. Bond between titans Square and Disney seemed unlikely at that time, luckily, Kingdom Hearts turned out to be just what we hoped for leaving us with best of both and spawning several great games through last decade.

Story & Characters

Kingdom Hearts introduced several new characters along with respective characters from both Square/Final Fantasy and Disney universe. The main protagonist Sora along with his best friends Rikku, and Kairi is determined to set sail and explore other places beyond his own small island. Through some unfortunate and strange events he's given a keyblade with which he has to fight heartless who are main reason his two best friends are gone missing. After forging an alliance with two most famous Disney characters Donald and Goofy who are also looking for their king, Sora has the chance to visit other places, just not the way he imagined.

By visiting other places you get to experience some of the best Disney classics full of characters and cameos from both sides. Aside nostalgia those who grew up with Disney are bound to experience everything is tied rather well, and even though Disney characters have bigger impact on overall story Final Fantasy fans are sure to be glad to see characters such as Cloud, Squall, Tidus, Sephiroth... The story itself has certain dark and serious feel to it even though setting is usually lighthearted. Those who expect childish story might end up either surprised or disappointed.

Gameplay


Battle system does a fine job at first, but as you go further you find out how tedious and flawed it really is. While summons, magic, and various techniques do give slight depth to it mashing button X quite often proves to be the best and only solution as battles tend to be hectic, second battle against Ursula would be my prime example.

As with almost every game of this type every now and then camera proves to be an issue. It can't follow you fast enough which leads to some weird angles forcing you to adjust it manually, not really the best option either. I also had slight problem with AI system, Donald and Goofy were using items to heal even the slightest injury even though I clearly turned on the option to use items only in emergency.

Part with Gummi Ship where game tends to give you some short mindless fun between story and exploring is actually quite tedious, mainly due to poorly designed levels you go through and opponents you encounter. The fact that Gummi Ship will pretty much reach it's destination with or without your guidance shows how challenging this mini game really is and how much attention it requires from you. Collecting right items however and building your own Gummi Ship is fun though.

Sound


As expected of video game music veteran, Yoko Shimomura, mostly known for her work on Street Fighter II, and Super Mario RPG, did a fine job with Kingdom Hearts. A memorable music with some exceptional pieces such as Hollow Bastion and Scherzo Di Notte. Voice acting is no different if not better, then again, when you have names such as Mark Hamill and Leonard Nemoy what else is there to expect.

Replay Value


Kingdom Hearts offers lot of sidequests and optional challenges, going through Hercules tournament is good way to test your mettle or perhaps taking on a superboss such as Sephiroth. Finding 100 dalmatians, synthesising items and weapons and many more will add some serious hours to your playthrough. Include interesting story and characters to it second playthrough is bound to happen.

Final Verdict:

7/10