Kingdom Hearts Review (no fat)

Game Description

When this game was launched, no one seemed to focus on the true gaming experience it offered. Square, the makers of the award winning Final Fantasy series produce anime-style games. And Disney, mainly known for their cartoon movies concentrated on gullible characters like Goofy and Donald. Collaboration between these totally different development teams and game couldn’t have been the though of a sane mind, but then again, how many times have we been inspired by insanity? Kingdom Hearts is one such inspirational title.

Kingdom Hearts was launched in front of a highly skeptical audience that was disbelieving that a match so improbable, such as Square Enix and Disney could produce anything good. Once launched, this mixture of Disney’s fun and Square’s action gameplay won over many gamers.

Kingdom Hearts – Story

The story fits both Final Fantasy games and Disney cartoons at the same time. The typical evil force, called ‘The Heartless’, is ripping whole planets of their life force, by sucking their energy. A typical ‘childish character’, Sora, tries to stop them. You will play the role of Sora, whose spiky hair reminds you of Final Fantasy more often than it does of Disney. However, her big feet and great voice-over act take your mind to the world of Disney cartoons.

Kingdom Hearts – Disney and Final Fantasy Influences

Along your journey to battle ‘The Heartless’, you will meet and ally a number of well-known characters, which will most likely strike you as familiar: Goofy, Donald the Duck will join up with Sora to look for Mickey Mouse. A number of other Disney-related characters will pore in later and play their part as well. If you a pin a Disney or a Square name tag on every character in the game, you will notice that Disney characters greatly outnumber their counterparts. However the environment, the complex storyline and the overall feel of the game is definitely Square-ish.

Kingdom Hearts – Gameplay

Kingdom Hearts is a linear game in terms of plot development. You can go back and forth from one area to another or opt to complete one quest before another. The main part of the game is the battles between the Heartless and our heroes.

While the battles are numerous, players will inevitably find out that these ‘Heartless’ keep popping up to delay the inevitable meet-ups with the bosses. The bosses are numerous, and varied. Most of the look tougher than they actually are but if you run from battles, and your character hasn’t developed enough, then you are likely to find them much harder to beat. This means that effort is rewarded, practicing good combos enhance your character’s abilities and make fighting much more than just mindless bashing.

The battle system uses an easy setup and it evolves in real-time rather than turns. All you will need to do to start a combat is press a single button on your controls and the AI controls the moves, which develop as your expertise soar. Also, you can alter the AIs of your allies to suit your combat style.

The interesting thing is that you can not only perform different actions during the fights, you can use stuff from your allies as well. You can use items and spells on your enemies, yourself or your companions. Also, a multitude of combo moves between Sora and her allies are also a high point of the game.

On the whole, the difficulty level of the game might give you the urge to yell ‘what kid game?’ if anyone dares point out the normal conception of Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts – Graphics

As you’d expect from a Disney/Square combination, the graphics are not only excellent, but the design is original and entertaining. Cut-scenes are masterfully made and the level design is artistic. The 3D graphics have a distinct Disney flavor to them and the whole atmosphere of the game is like a Disney movie as well. So, even while the lip-synching might not be perfect, the gestures and the environment make the graphics worth drooling over.

The letdown is the camera movement that is programmed to focus on Sora. While in battles, the camera follows Sora around the battle field; meaning there are times when you don’t see the enemy or even have a look at what Sora is doing if you get too close to obstacles or walls. Switching to the manual camera can be better but its still not perfect.. but it at least spares you a few spells of dizziness though.

Kingdom Hearts – Sound

Offering a soundtrack from Japanese pop-star Hikaru Utada, Kingdom Hearts scores some good points in the audio department. You will enjoy most of the music as long as it doesn’t get repetitive. Interestingly, it looks as if the developers miscalculated the scope of the game themselves, because the drums inserted at odd moments seem as if they are targeted at waking up gamers who doze off while playing...which is very unlikely.

Sound effects on the other hand are irreproachable and voice-overs maintain Square’s quality standards present in all of their games.

Kingdom Hearts –2 Cents

With some funny moments associated with any Disney venture, a roaster full of Disney characters, environments, and a strong taste of Final Fantasy-ish storyline and plot development, Kingdom Hearts is a different package from the normal RPGs and action games. It’s a collectable that would give you 25+ hours of gameplay…and a few laughs to boot.

Kingdom Hearts Cost

The game currently retails for $17.99.