32_Footsteps's Full Review: Kingdom Hearts for PlayStation 2
Back at E3 2001, no game had me more puzzled than the screens from Square and Disney's combined work, Kingdom Hearts. While I am rather fond of Square's role-playing games, Disney's movies have left a pit in my stomach since I was about 7 or 8. Moreover, Square was again violating the rule that they should never reuse characters from previous Final Fantasy games (first established with Secret of Evermore).
However, my doubts did prove useful in one regard - in having low expectations, any decent game would be a surprise. And Kingdom Hearts does deliver, albeit in a much different way than I ever expected.
To begin, the game starts in the dream of a young teen named Sora. He dreams about darkness and shadows coming to consume him, and it turns out that these aren't just dreams. Just as he is about to set off on a raft to find adventures with his two friends, Riku (who obviously visited the Square Bad Guy Salon before the game) and Kairi, a mysterious dark shadow consumes his world, and deposits him in a strange place called Traverse Town.
Meanwhile, at Disney Castle, their King, Mickey Mouse (natch), has taken leave to find out why stars are disappearing. He orders his court magician and the captain of the guard (Donald and Goofy, of course) to find someone bearing a key, which could stand in the way between the world as they know it and complete destruction. And they are also warned that, to keep the other worlds in balance, they have to disguise themselves.
Naturally, Sora somehow acquires the Keyblade, a giant key said to be imbuned with power, and Donald and Goofy team up with him, hoping to save the world, find Sora's friends, and that Mickey has a better excuse to take leave than to make "Disney's Magical Mirror" for Gamecube. Meanwhile, the Disney villains, led by Maleficent, are out to use the power of these shadows, known as the Heartless, to take over their worlds. They also have some sinister plan involving princesses, and Kairi is tied up in the middle. Sora, in other words, lands in well over his head.
At first, the story seems a bit strange and light-hearted. With early stages including Wonderland and Olympus Coliseum, the game certainly has a light tone. However, the game starts with dark undertones - the Heartless are out to steal people's hearts, their emotions, and consume them. In other words, they conquer and consume whole worlds by stealing souls. And this is in a game that has strong Disney influences. This is much more in the vein of older Disney, which wasn't afraid to get scary for the purpose of making a good story.
The game also gets incredibly dark by the end. By the time Sora and crew get to Neverland, the plans of Maleficent are in full swing, and Sora's quest takes on an air of desperation. The Heartless get more sinister, and it begins to be almost gothic at points.
Because of this, it's somewhat questionable as to whom will want to play the game. Admittedly, the earlier stages will feel too cloying. However, by the end, children will be upset by some of the things Sora will face. I'd recommend older gamers bear with it, and younger gamers have a parent nearby.
If you do enjoy stories that get progressively more dark, though, this game certainly is your cup of tea. Even as Sora progresses and preserves one world after another, the foreboding, emobodied by the increasingly more powerful Heartless, is almost palpable. While sprinkled with lighthearted moments, the story is gripping, although a bit predictable. However, it is told rather well, and while I have a good idea of what comes next, the delivery is nearly top-notch. Disney might want to consider more projects with Square before their next excuse for an animated movie.
Of course, what most people know about right off the bat is the humongous number of cameos from dozens of projects from both Disney and Square. On the Square side, many characters from the Playstation-era Final Fantasy games appear. Some will help you - the FF7 version of Cid is a shopkeeper, moogles help forge new items, and Aerith gives you advice. Other Square characters are there to test your group - and given how I feel about the game, nothing felt so good than to lay down a ton of Keyblade-fueled smackdown on Cloud. That, my friends, felt good.
Meanwhile, not only do Disney characters appear by the bushel, but several even join you for fighting. Moreover, you mostly get the characters who actually would be impressive in a fight. Thus, Donald's nephews keep shop, while Tarzan joins your group for the Deep Jungle area. While some feel forced (the 101 Dalmations side quest was a bit extraneous), many of them do fare fairly well.
Of course, in regards to that, I have to say my personal favorite cameo. Later in the game, Sora has to go to Halloween Town - home of Jack Skellington and the "Nightmare Before Christmas" crew. Given how much I love Tim Burton movies, this was classic for me. And when I found that, while in Halloween Town, Jack can join your group, I was ecstatic. Any game that has the Pumpkin King as a member of your group can't be bad at all.
Naturally, this wouldn't mean much if the graphics made the characters difficult to see. Fortunately, each character looks very much like their origins, with some liberties taken with some outfits. Thus, Donald, while wearing a John Popper-esque jacket with a zippered cap, is still wearing a blue outfit with no pants, making sure both that you can easily recognize him and that Kingdom Hearts will not appear in Finland. The Square characters are also similarly well-designed, with one exception.
Of course, that exception would have to be Cloud, the bane of my existence. First, I know he wanted to upgrade his clothing, but he shouldn't have raided Vincent Valentine's wardrobe - the cape and clawed glove look don't work for Cloud. Further, why does he have metal plates stuck in his leg? Either he was clumsy around discus throwers or that is the worst armor in existence. Finally, look at Cloud's eyes. Now, as much as I disliked the plot of FF7, I did pay attention, such as how they constantly mentioned that Cloud had green eyes (from the Mako exposure). But he has blue eyes in this game. Maybe I'm just looking for reasons to dislike him, but I can still find so many.
In particular, since you actually have to see him the most, it's worth noting the design of Sora. Never before have I seen two companies' artistic styles synthesized so completely. Sora has the typical facial features, hair, and love of extraneous chains that many Square heroes have. Sora probably trades hair and chain care tips with Sion. However, he also wears the big poofy shoes, gloves, and pants like many Disney characters do. While it is odd at first, the designers who worked on it do manage to make it fit together, and before long you stop even wondering about where Sora went shopping.
The game's music is certainly top-notch. For the most part, Square let Disney provide the music, and many areas have revisions of classic Disney themes. Even the battle music is faintly familiar, and fits in with the game overall. From the madcap music played during battles in Neverland to the tension in the Agrabah battle music, the music fits fairly well.
The voice acting is mostly strong, but a little suspect at points. The lead voice is performed by Haley Joel Osment, and I just have to say I'm glad he found puberty before doing this game. While not adult deep, it isn't as childish-sounding as his voice in his movies from the last couple of years. Similarly, most of the voices are chosen well. On the Square side, they chose some good people to match the characters for their first speaking roles - Squall, for example, is done rather well by David Boreanaz. Some of the famous voices are also back - James Woods, always a great scenery-chewer, reprises his role as Hades from Hercules.
Others, however, aren't so solid. I'm not exactly fond of Mandy Moore in the first place, and having her speak for Aerith was more of an annoyance than anything else. And while I enjoy Dan Castanella in his most famous role (do I even need so say it?), his work in replacing Robin Williams as Aladdin's Genie makes me say "D'oh!" Finally, Lance Bass... for the love of role-playing games, why is he here? I can't even bring myself to say who he voices - but trust me, he's listed in the instruction booklet's credits. I wanted to cry when I saw a boy band refugee in a game I own, I really did.
Of course, with all that said and done, it all comes down to one thing - how well the combat system works. To be honest, I don't think it could have come out any better. The game follows a rear camera perspective such as they did with Super Mario 64, but with an RPG menu in the bottom. And when battles come around, you control your movements with the left analog stick while choosing menu options with the right. Fortunately, the default setting for the menu is attack, so you won't have to fiddle to find that. While it does take about an hour to get used to setting this up (along with some time to learn how to properly use the magic hotkeys), it flows very well once you get used to it. Really, the control scheme is the spiritual heir to Secret of Mana, with the added element of live action controls for items and magic.
This leads to my only complaint about the control scheme, really. Given that the control scheme feels directly descended from the Secret of Mana setup, and that both games feature three characters through nearly the entire game, this game is dying for a multiplayer option. I can already hear programmers scream in frustration with the idea of making a game this taxing to the system multiplayer, but as soon as someone figures out how to do it, it would be incredible. Even if it means hours of gamers arguing over who gets to play as Jack in Halloween town.
Once you learn the controls, though, the game has some steep learning curves. While the initial fights are not hard at all, the early bosses are still nothing to sneeze over. However, things get ratcheted up very quickly - by the time you enter Atlantica, the normal enemies can do a fierce amount of damage to you. And I dare not even describe the level of pain that Ursula can do to you once you finally start fighting the fat hag. (Anyone who is offended by the use of the term "fat hag" should really force themselves through "The Little Mermaid," see the main villain, and ignore the fact that Disney changed the ending to the Hans Christian Andersen classic.)
One thing in regards to the game overall, that some might find confusing, is the stance the game takes on violence. To put it basically, death and blood are not allowed, but emotional trauma is fine. Thus, Sora uses a giant key and Goofy uses a shield for weaponry. Thus, the Heartless and the Disney villains will never bleed. On the flip side, they are all out to consume your souls and destroy worlds. Am I the only one who has a reality check at this point? Maybe I just value my emotional well-being more than my physical well-being. Take that warning as you will.
Also, the summons are, to put it lightly, a bit odd. Especially in the order I got them. First, I got the adult Simba, from The Lion King. Hey, full grown lion - useful to bring out. This was followed by the Genie - infinite cosmic powers on my side are always nice. Then came Dumbo. A young flying elephant? I began to have my doubts. And then came Bambi. Young Bambi. I still cannot understand how come he came late in the game. Or even why I can summon him. Given that you have to send Donald and Goofy away to summon, it's puzzling to say the least.
One thing in particular, I'd like to comment on, is how Sora powers up his weapons. Since the Keyblade can't be traded in, Sora increases its strength by acquiring keychains, which alter the shape and power of the key. First, nifty idea, to be able to justify keeping the weapon while upgrading it. Second, I collect keychains. Alot of them. I've got over 200 of them. And having a video game tell me to collect keychains is like having someone tell Cookie Monster to raid the Keebler factory. If only I was able to transfer my entire collection to Sora, he'd be invincible.
In the end, the concept of the game is a bit scattershot. While there are parts of the game that will have some audience, others will threaten to drive it away. However, anyone who can accept the odd convergence will discover a challenging game with enough parts tailored for them to really enjoy it. Further, this game, after you adjust to it, has one of the best real-time RPG systems made. Whether you love or hate either Square or Disney, there is something in here that you'll want to enjoy.
KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories is the essential piece that bridges the gap between KINGDOM HEARTS and KINGDOM HEARTS II. A full 3D remake of the ...More at Buy.com
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