Square and...Disney? (Kingdom Hearts (PS2))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Date:	24/06/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb melding of two worlds...

Disadvantages: Combat takes a little adaptation.

I fondly recall when Kingdom Hearts first reared its head back in 2002 - people were astounded at the mega-power pairing of Square and Disney. Although curious, Kingdom Hearts turned out to be a delightful, entirely unique RPG that had a cultish fanbase that remains today.

You play Sora, a 14-year old who lives on an island that is invaded by a nefarious force of enemies called the Heartless. They attack, and Sora awakens in Traverse Town, which is full of your favourite wonderful Disney characters. Soon enough, you meet Donald Duck and Goofy, who become your battle companions throughout the game (as truly strange as that sounds). From here, you enter many different Disney worlds, where you must defeat the Heartless, rescue King Mickey, and of course find your way home.

The graphics and general aesthetic design is marvellous. The world is incredibly vast and extremely well-rendered. Also, all of your favourite Disney characters are captured with an eagle eye - there are no half-measures here. It's a given that, in a story firmly revolving around a cartoon world, that things are going to look a bit...hyperreal, and here, it goes down a treat! The aural side of things is also extremely well-honed - fans of Final Fantasy will doubtless enjoy hearing their favourite characters, such as Aeris, Cloud and Squall be lent actual voices. Sora himself is voiced by The Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment. What's more, most of the Disney characters have their actual voice actors returning to voice them, and in a few instances, some extremely good imitators. The only real gripe is that the soundtrack does become a bit samey here and there - it would have been nice to hear some theme tunes from the various films, but I guess that would have been exceedingly expensive and a potential royalties issue.

It's fair to presume that many who have played this game will have been big Final Fantasy fans, and so the control scheme certainly takes some getting used to. Combat is far more technical than in the FF games, button-wise, but after an hour or two, I guarantee that you'll be used to it, and moreover, loving it. Further unlike the Final Fantasy games, combat begins as soon as an enemy is sighted, taking place wherever you are standing, sort of like a primitive version of what was achieved with Final Fantasy 12 a few years ago. This combat is very agreeable, and not too far removed from what FF fans are used to - enemies drop balls which restore health and MP (yes, magic is in the game), and your fighting companions Donald and Goofy are generally very well-programmed, in that they won't just sit idly by if you're nearing death - they'll chuck you a health potion if need be (seeing as there is no respite mid-battle to heal).

It's a strange pairing, but it definitely works - combining Square's well-honed RPG sensibilities with the wonderful and fantastical world of Disney, Kingdom Hearts is a magical adventure that will have you reminiscing your days as a toddler. Spellbinding.

Summary: A superb and original RPG