november-rain's Full Review: Kingdom Hearts for PlayStation 2
Disney and Squaresoft had a love affair and produced a video game - bet you thought it'd never happen, did you? Well, it did and the name of their lovechild is Kingdom Hearts. You might have shuddered at the thought of these two totally distinct forces meeting at the playground, but the end result is something wondrous. Yes, Kingdom Hearts crowns Mickey Mouse as king and carries a universally pleasing "E" rating, but Square and Disney Interactive has somehow managed to make it unimaginably fun for almost anyone - young or old. With over a hundred Disney characters and a bunch of Final Fantasy favorites making cameo appearances, Kingdom Hearts has tremendous appeal for gamers and movie fans alike.
What makes this game so unexpectedly awesome? I can say a couple of things: it boasts graphics that are unparalleled on the PlayStation 2, a soundtrack that brilliantly lace new sounds and classic tracks, a dazzling array of worlds to explore and a speckled, but familiar cast of characters. But the core of Kingdom Hearts, though, is outstanding gameplay - a fantastic blend of role-playing, action and adventure with some platformer elements thrown in and a sampling of just about everything else out there. The look and feel is Disney, but the heart of it all is very much Square.
† Story †
The story of Kingdom Hearts ties the diverse and magical worlds of Disney together and at the very center is a teen boy named Sora. One night, his home came under attack in the guise of a devastating storm that wrecked the town of Destiny Islands and swallowed it in darkness. The disaster pitched Sora into a new and unfamiliar world, where he is separated from his friends, Riku and Kairi. Simultaneously, King Mickey was discovered missing in Disney Castle, prompting Court Wizard Donald Duck and Captain Goofy to leave their world behind and search for him. The events land them all in Traverse Town, where they meet for the first time. It seems that the culprit behind the destruction of Sora's home and Mickey's disappearance is the Heartless, evil beings that have no hearts. To the horror of everyone, they have begun an invasion of the worlds and are out to steal people's hearts. Without wasting any more time, Sora quickly teams up with Donald and Goofy in a quest to find the ones dearest to them and stop the madness once and for all.
It's an interesting twist to the plots that are familiar to Disney movies. There's always someone evil behind the scenes and the Heartless are manipulated by some of the most notorious Disney villains, with Maleficent at the front and center. While Disney movies typically target a younger audience, some of their films, most notably the classic ones, convey mature subject matters not perceived outright on the surface. Kingdom Hearts' story has that famous dark edge to it, with some of Final Fantasy's epic touch; so don't dismiss it entirely as a child's tale. It's a long and winding journey through out, but the story is paced very nicely, with a lot of characters dropping in regularly to push it along. Sure, it's another good-versus-evil plot, but it's remarkably told and not as corny as I make it sound.
† Gameplay + Controls †
From the moment Sora is thrown into another world, he was chosen to brandish the legendary Keyblade - a weapon in the shape of the key that wields both destructive power and the power to open things of a special nature. More importantly, the Keyblade enables him to lock the Keyholes of each individual world and shut out the Heartless. With Donald and Goofy in tow, the mission is set in motion and we begin our unrelenting assault on the Heartless. All battles in Kingdom Hearts are based in real-time and the action is extremely quick-paced. There is no fade-in, fade-out battle screens - battles take place on the field map, the same environment where you're currently situated. You'll only be able to control Sora while the rest of your allies are controlled by A.I. [artificial intelligence]. The two allies you can always rely on is Donald, who casts offensive and support magic and Goofy, who is always up for defense. You will need their help: attacks are constant and enemies come in small armies - at some points, they literally fill screens and particularly tough ones only heighten the frenzy. As a consequence, it will take quite some time to clear an area.
The combat system is completely practical: hack n' slash is the heart of the action and a tiny menu is placed on the bottom left corner for inputting Magic and Item commands. On the right corner, a Life/MP meter tracks your status. When an enemy is defeated, it drops green orbs that restore your Life gauge or MP (Magic Points) to add a bit of insurance when you take on the rest. The small menu adds some depth to what is primarily a hack n' slash fest, but it can get clumsy at times when enemies are on the ambush and you're fidgeting for potions or a spell. The real problem in battles, though, is the disastrously flawed camera - it's unbearable at times the way it sways in every direction and present horrendous angles that can leave you at a disadvantage. It's fixed at a certain distance from Sora and takes on the rear perspective by default. The only time it's not a huge problem is when enemies are crawling left and right, and anywhere you swing is practically a guaranteed hit, but even that hinders the experience somewhat.
Using the controls during battles will require you to be pretty reflexive. The left analog stick controls Sora's movements and the right one moves the cursor in the command menu, the one I previously mentioned. The default command is Attack, which you perform with the X button, so if attacking is all you do in battle, it should be pretty easy. For others, it's not going to be a total breeze to run by and slaughter enemies as you're trying to heal yourself with items, cast a spell or summon some odd creature. However, there are shortcuts for Magic spells, but it's hard to remember when things are especially hectic. As I said before, the battles are in real-time, so there's no pause period to decide what course of action you should take. You'll receive damage no matter what it is you're doing, so it's wise to get comfortable with the controls earlier in the game.
Accumulating certain amounts of Experience Points (which you receive after killing off Heartless) will level up your characters and advancing through stages of the game will enable them to learn Abilities and Magic spells. Sora's Keyblade is his only weapon and instead of acquiring deadlier blades as you advance, the Keyblade evolves and expands its power by equipping various Keychains that alters its strengths in one aspect or the other. The menu offers the option of customizing what abilities, accessories, and items you can use during battle.
Aside from combat, gameplay also involves a lot of puzzle solving, jumping around, swinging vines with Tarzan, swimming in Atlantica with that little redhead mermaid, smashing things and whatever else fits the setting. You can even travel between worlds on the Gummi ship, your main means of transportation. Some hate it, but I find the Gummi ship experience totally exhilarating. Maybe I need to get a life. Anyway, the Gummi ship is something like a 3-D shooter where you blast away at Heartless battleships with lasers in an outer space setting with 16-bit era graphics. Throughout the game, you can attain Gummi blocks to modify its power and the way it looks. (Sounds like fun to me!) The structure of the game is very similar to Final Fantasy RPGs. The main quest is clearly outlined, but progressing through the game will open up alternate paths for you to take if you so choose. This comes in the form of challenges and mini side quests, where you can take on the task of finding the 99 missing Dalmatians, participate in tournaments in Olympus Coliseum, discover hidden items, unlock secret bosses and so on it goes.
† Difficulty Level †
By the looks of it, it's easy to assume Kingdom Hearts to be a simple game. I made the mistake of judging it before I play and got my butt kicked more than enough to tell you that it's not. The difficulty level has been raised too high for it to be deemed strictly a kiddies' game. I struggled madly through some of the bosses and nearly cried when Cerberus handed my ass to me for the fifth time. And he wasn't even one of the toughest bosses - I've actually thrown my controller on the floor after many failed attempts to defeat some of them. You're not always pointed in the direction where you're supposed to go and in the immense world of Kingdom Hearts, you're bound to get lost every now and then. This is where I ran into the most trouble since some areas need to be visited and revisited several times and a lot of things need to be done before you can get to the next point in the game. So even though it can get frustrating to the point where I storm off in a fit, there's a reason why I keep coming back.
† Graphics †
The graphical aspect of the game is an achievement of absurd proportions, from detail to color. With Disney being a leader in animation and Squaresoft unrivaled in game graphics (among other things), there's absolutely no doubt that Kingdom Hearts will be nearly unmatched in beauty. The lush visuals and immaculate environments have to be seen to be believed. The fluidity of movements is pulled off at an incredible frame rate and there are some cool-looking blur effects in use. With all that said, it's a bit hard to describe the quality of the FMVs [Full Motion Video]? what can I say? They're stupefying. All of the worlds in Kingdom Hearts, from Wonderland to Halloween Town are draped in vibrant colors. The graphics might look a little cartoonish, but it's not beyond unrealistic. When need be, scenes are stripped of the bright colors to portray a darker mood and suggest a sinister tone to the game. Characters' facial expressions convey the emotions almost as well as their movie counterparts. The Heartless come in many shapes and sizes, but they're all dark and wicked looking. Disney characters are rendered nicely, looking as they did on the silver screen in 3-D, but Final Fantasy characters have been slightly tweaked. A couple of them (like Tidus and Wakka) look like teenage versions of themselves while Cloud appears to have raided Vincent Valentine's closet. The updated versions aren't that bad - at least, they're immediately recognizable and Sephiroth still makes me swoon.
† Voice-acting + Music †
Unlike Final Fantasy X, Square has taken some time to alter the movements of the characters' lips to fit the translation from word-to-mouth for Kingdom Hearts' American release. It's decently done, but still has area for improvement. The voice acting is perfected by an all-star cast, fronted by Haley-Joel Osment... you know, the kid who sees dead people in The Sixth Sense. He voices Sora and does a spectacular job at it, sounding comfortable enough with the character that it comes off naturally. Other big names include James Woods, Sean Astin, David Boreanaz and even Lance Bass and Mandy Moore. The latter two wouldn't have been my top choice when casting for two of Final Fantasy 7's best-known characters, but I'll forgive them for accepting the roles. The Disney characters are either voiced by their original actors or actors with the gift of imitation and unless you're a diehard fan, it's tough to tell the difference. They all did a grand job, but Haley-Joel Osment was considerably the best pick.
Variety is the main theme when it comes to the music in Kingdom Hearts. The opening FMV features a pop song written and performed by Japanese pop star, Utada Hikaru. Unsurprisingly, the track is very J-pop and rather catchy, if unintelligible. It probably wouldn't fit anywhere else in the game, which mostly consists of reworked Disney classics and game melodies. Composer Yoko Shimomura pulls the strings behind the musical set and puts it all together nicely. Where battle reigns, the music quickens and pervades the atmosphere with a desperate beat. Beyond that, compositions are carefully arranged to fit in favor of a particular environment and many of the tunes, classic or new, is refreshing to listen to. The entire soundtrack brings a delightful sense of wonder to the game.
† Finally! †
All this and more is what makes Kingdom Hearts a standout title. The overall design definitely upholds Square's reputation for making games with creativity and flair. The plethora of Disney characters may turn off some people, but even I have found them to be charming over time. The game is engaging and fast-paced, not to mention really pretty but it doesn't use the gloss as an excuse to cheapen the experience. It'll last you anywhere from 30-50 hours and if you have a penchant for simple fun, but not simple gameplay, it'll do you some good to seek this one out.
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