Final Fantasy meets Disney! (Kingdom Hearts (PS2))

Member Name: ps2update

Product:	Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Date:	28/12/02 (927 review reads)
Rating:

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Let's get things straightened out first; Disney plus Squaresoft equals a damn well made game. Lots of gamers will be discouraged by the usage of Disney Universe, but I must say I wasn't offended or questioned my mentality one bit. This game is Grade A RPG material, so all the hardcore RPGers have their next big game to chew on, genre-gamers can find countless hours in the platform style game play, and for the casual/here-and-there gamer this game offers something new and fun to test and experience.

Kingdom Hearts is classified as an RPG game, therefore the main aspect of the game has to be story. Kingdom Hearts doesn't fail to keep this end of the Genre Characteristics alive. The story is simple, yet complicated when you get into it. You play as a young boy named Sora. Riku, Sora's best friend, and Sora decided that when they were older they would leave their island and explore the worlds that are out there. A young girl by the name of Kairi has just arrived to their small island, and the story of Kingdom Hearts begins to be told.

Graphics

One cannot help but try to figure out if Kingdom Hearts is designed with the usage of Cell Shading or if it is just beautifully rendered. Regardless of that, this game is just that…beautiful. It maintains an animated feel that the Disney cartoons are known for. All of the Final Fantasy Character cameos even maintain a nice animated feeling as well as a true to their game feeling. Upon seeing the likes of Squall, Cloud, and Sephiroth on the Playstation2's hardware the average PS2 gamers instant reaction is to convulse and drool for hours at the sheer beauty.

The worlds that one explores have an animated touch, and are very much true to their original form. Atlantis is an underwater adventure, Agrabah has a nice Aladdin touch, and even the new Traverse Town has a "Disney World" like touch.

The only downside in the graphics is the childish feel. King
dom Hearts revolves around the animated worlds of Disney, so to keep that feeling, Squaresoft lessened the realism to make sure animation was spot on. One has to feel that this game doesn't really show off the true power of the Playstation2 hardware, but jeez for a game initially being aimed at a younger audience, it is just gorgeous.

19/20

Sound

The soundtrack is incredible. Japanese Pop Artist Utada Hikaru sings the main theme, dubbed Clean and Simple, in her beautiful English Voice (if only the Japanese version was there as an extra). The worlds all have tunes that originate from their prospective animated series. Songs like "Under the Sea," "This is Halloween," and some new songs specifically for the game added to the fun in adventuring.

With the new generation of Consoles, games have begun to see their share of voice dubs. Kingdom Hearts is one of the best games in its genre, only second to Final Fantasy X, and it has to have the best cast of voices seen in any RPG game. The new lip synchronization is on the mark, well not entirely on the mark on the less detailed cinemas. As a gamer you will all get to know, and love Sora's voice, she is the future voice of RPG's.

20/20

Lifespan

Sadly this RPG doesn't have much replay value, unless you missed a lot the first time through. The average gamer should be able to find most of the secrets the first play through at any rate. The developers added in a few choices, such as Choose a Sword, A Rod, or a Shield, to make the game worth replaying, but in all honestly this doesn't really add depth to the game. If you can unlock all the secrets, find all the Trinities, Dalmatians, synth all the weapons, and even defeat Sephiroth, the Omega Weapon of Kingdom Hearts, then there really is no reasons to play through Expert Mode (Editor - bloody hell, I think there is life in this game), unless you loved the game so much and wa
nt to try it again with a harder difficulty, or you missed a few things. Having said that not many RPG's offer replay aside from side quests and secrets.

This game will last roughly 32 to 35 hours of game play, with at least 20+ hours for those who like side quests, insanely difficult bosses, and finding items that you will never use. To give you an idea of the time this beauty can take as much as 60 hours to unlock absolutely everything, not bad at all!

19/25

Gameplay

The gameplay in Kingdom Hearts is simple, with a few minor headaches. Circle allows the gamer to jump, and Square to attack, these are the most two used buttons throughout the game. Combos and auto lock make the game a little easier to handle. Once Sora locks on to an enemy, hitting the Attack Button will lunge Sora in the direction of the enemy and start attacking. Repeated tapping of the Attack Button will commence in a series of attacks that will finish with a possible critical hit.

Since Kingdom Hearts was developed as a 3D platform game, the gamers will find themselves jumping constantly, exploring areas from multiple camera angles, and cursing the developers' reasons for choosing a 3D platform. RPGers will find themselves seriously capped by the platform style approach; since most RPGs don't require much jumping or camera panning to find secrets. The camera can get in the way of important battles as auto lock makes it so the camera is always aimed at that particular enemy, enemies from the side can target and ambush you easily. Some time and patience with the camera and auto lock system and one will find themself breezing through the battles.

Since Donald, Goofy and all other allies aren't controlled directly by the gamer, the gamer may find the A.I. a little on the dumb side. The gamer will be fleeing, as the life gauge is low while seeing their allies, whom are in the same situation, jump head first into battle and get t
hemselves killed. If one leaves the characters A.I. in its original form, and equips allies with items, one will see a fast consumption of hard earned stock. How did the developers work around this? Simple, they include a simple A.I. customization system. With options such as Constantly, Frequently or Only in Emergency, the gamer can customize characters on how they use their items, magic, and specials.

Finally we get to the magic and item system. For of all Kingdom Hearts is all real time game play, and thus so are the battles. Most RPGers are use to the options of Wait and Active time battles in Squaresoft games, so they are used to having 1 HP and still being able to use an item or magic by selecting it from the menu, however in Kingdom Hearts being idle while selecting your magic or item can result in your death. Yes, you have to move around and flee while you navigate your menu. Squaresoft attempted to make it easier by allowing you to use the digital control or the right analog stick to navigate the menu as you avoid damage using the left analog stick, but this doesn't cut it for someone who is sluggish in the controls. Shortcuts are vital for the magic system, in which you can assign up to 3 magic spells to correspond to a combination of L1 + Triangle, Square, or Circle instead of having to navigate the menu, but one can't help but honestly wish that Squaresoft could have done the same for the items.

24/25

Originality

Where does Kingdom Heart fit in the world of Action-RPGs? As far as originality, it borrowed a lot of concepts from previous games, such as The Legend of Zelda series for the Nintendo 64, but it also tried to incorporate new ideas. Multiple foes on screen, the help of A.I. controlled allies, the special attack and combo systems. Not many Action-RPGs can tell such a tale.

Regardless of the innovations, Kingdom Hearts still suffers from the genre it belongs to. In the world of RPGs everythi
ng has basically been done, and what is left to be done is too far-fetched to be done right. Building on some old mechanics, Kingdom Hearts makes the Action-RPG genre seem much newer.

8/10

Overall

If you have around 40 hours to kill, 45 pounds to spend, and enough Zen for 20 people, then go for it. This Action-RPG will make all hardcore RPGers smile as game on. The difficulty level on Normal is surprisingly easy and on Expert you can grit your teeth and suck it up, but still manage. Kingdom Hearts is yet another masterpiece by the people at Squaresoft.



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