10 / 10
21 Dec 2006 at 07:45
Review by: queen tama
Kingdom Hearts is a wonderful combination of the seriousness of the Final Fantasy series and the lightheartedness of the Disney world. While the game itself holds a rating that suggests it is meant for young children, this game can be enjoyed by people of any age. Granted, it even gets dark and (in my opinion) slightly frightening in the end part of the game. Yes, the main characters and worlds are focused around the Disney movies we all knew and loved as children, but a central plot of friendship, good and evil, and lust for power thrives in a nice combination that makes for a great game. The graphics are nice, gameplay is fairly simple once you get the hang of it, and the cut-scenes make for an entertaining pause. The only irritability I have encountered was dying and having to watch lengthy cut-scenes repeatedly, as there was no "scene skip" button in most cases. The game revolves around a main character named Sora, who is an original character with definite Final Fantasy character attributes. Along with his friends, Kairi and Riku, the start of the game explores their friendship and longing to explore the "outside world" After a few warm-up practice type missions, involving searching for supplies or food, or having friendly contests with Riku (who is basically your rival for the attentions of the girl Kairi), you are thrown into a new and hectic journey in order to find your friends, and save the worlds for the enemy, who are shadowlike creatures known as the "Heartless." Sora is thrown into a new, unfamiliar town and meets the other two Protagonists of the game, Donald and Goofy of Disney fame. Sora meets several Final Fantasy characters, who seem to know about the enemy and gives you enough advice to send you on your way. I particuarly appreciated the fact that many of the Final Fantasy characters retained their original personalities they had from their original respective games. The names are generally kept the same as well, except for an odd switching of Aeris' name to "Aerith" (??) and Squall Leonheart insisting to be called "Leon." Even the big baddie of FF-VII fame, Sephiroth, can be fought against as an unlockable enemy. In addition to the interesting characters of Final Fantasy, many of our favorite Disney movie characters are also included. A notable world, which causes many people to buy the game regardless of being Disney or Final Fantasy fans, is Halloweentown, which is the host world of the Nightmare Before Christmas. This world is designed in depth, and gives a good feel for the original movie. The only dissapointing thing about this world is the lack of most of the lesser characters from the movie, and generally only shows Jack, Sally, the Professor, the Mayor, Oogie Boogie, and Lock, Shock and Barrel. This makes the world feel a bit more secluded. This still has to be the best world in the game (apart from the final "End of the World" stage, which has beatiful design) The most annoying stage would be the Atlantica stage from "The Little Mermaid", mainly due to the difficulties of control with gameplay being underwater, and also how they LOOP "Under The Sea" the entire song. As this is a more difficult level, the song will drill itself into your mind, and you'll probably end up humming it to yourself for a good year. Not all the worlds have a set "idea" to beating them, and others have to be revistited in order to finish them. All in all, the game is perfect for anyone, whether or not you think Disney is too childish for you, or even if you dislike Final Fantasy. I give it 10/10.
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