Kingdom Hearts is like a fantasy dream come true.
Kingdom Hearts' main character is named Sora, a 14 year-old boy living in Destiny Islands with his best friends, Riku and Kairi. Then one stormy night, the island is attacked by 'Heartless,' creatures born from the darkness from humans' hearts. Sora suddenly takes possession of a mysterious weapon called the 'Keyblade,' which is a weapon that has the power to fight back the Heartless. Failing to find Riku and Kairi anywhere, Sora's home is completely destroyed soon after, and wakes up in another world. After some brief interludes, Sora meets Donald and Goofy, who are on a mission to find the Keyblade master and accompany him/her anywhere they wish. Sora is informed that there are other worlds beside his own, and they have been disappearing one by one because of the Heartless, and the Keyblade alone can stop the darkness from spreading. Together, the trio embark on a mission against the Heartless, and for Sora to find Riku and Kairi, waiting somewhere in the many worlds out there.
The story is great enough that they're able to mix Square and Disney characters together, interlacing their destinies, and making them interact with one another. In the end, both franchises have been able to create a fresh, new start with a compelling story that is both unique and appealing. You get to sort of tweak how the original stories happened, where Sora or a character from Square is somehow included in the canon of every Disney movie featured in the game. I think it's totally neat seeing Cloud fighting Hercules, and it serves as a nostalgic experience for everyone's childhood, which is cool. Kingdom Hearts has its sweet and dramatic moments, and does not disappoint whatsoever.
Some of the Disney characters come off as rather quirky being in this game though, but I'm actually glad they don't have the seriousness the Square characters possess. Honestly, who wants to see Goofy die a horribly painful death? That would be a no, because that's not Disney's style, and frankly, it's just not right.
Gameplay mixes action role-playing and hack-and-slash elements. The heads-up display consists of a battle menu of 4 slots on the bottom left corner of the screen: Attack, Magic, Items, and the fourth slot varies on certain skills you can use in battle. Characters' health and magic point gauges are located to the right side of the screen. Basically, Sora can target anyone and anything, enabling Sora to interact freely in the game world. Some commands change depending on the object you're targeting. The top command changes to 'talk,' or when Sora approaches a box, the command is changed to 'throw.' Leveling up is focused on gaining experience points in battle. For stats, you can determine how Sora grows; if you want him to be a defender, mage or an offensive fighter. Summons are also available, and Sora can enlist their help to fight off the Heartless. There is an in-game tutorial explaining the basic controls and other things, so you should be fine.
Most battles in Kingdom Hearts are presented in real-time. Whenever Sora and party reach a particular area, Heartless can just magically pop out of nowhere, so you have to be careful not to get hit by the enemy first. Additionally, Sora can lock on any target by pressing the R1 button, which focuses the camera on that target alone. For me, this really makes battling a little bit easier, because the camera can be an obscurity sometimes. Camera control is not very quick to turn you around when the enemy is behind you, so you're pretty much open for a back attack if you can't even predict when or where the enemy will strike. Having the trusty lock-on button is highly essential, you know. It also makes things easier in combat because you would be able to dodge or block a strike or projectile just in time, saving your health bar from otherwise heavy damage.
It's great to see some difficulty variety in this game. Battles in Kingdom Hearts vary from easy enemies, to almost unforgiving, frustrating boss fights in some occasions. I like the balanced variety of these fights, because it gives players a worthy challenge overall. The game never lets you relax as much when fighting, because the enemy can be dangerous if you know you're not careful. But overall, the boss fights in Kingdom Hearts are never disappointing, and you would be motivated to fight some of them again and again just for the hell of it.
Other than that, the battle system can take a while for a player to master completely. There will be some moments in the game when you have 1 health point left, and you're trying to keep your distance from the enemy, while you frantically scroll to the items tab and use a Hi Potion. But, the effort to replenish your health comes up short, because you weren't quick enough to select the necessary item before the enemy took you out. Doing two things at once is generally difficult to get used to, and having to go through all that trouble can be a teeth-grinding experience sometimes. Luckily, you can set shortcuts from the main menu to make things less problematic. It only applies to magic spells though, so your health items are out of luck.
Character AI in battle is not exactly smart, but not dumb either. Sora can be accompanied by up to two characters at once, and follow him wherever he goes. You can set their battle tactics on the menu; if you want Donald to either be conservative or aggressive with his magic, or have Goofy use items only for emergency situations. The same settings can be modified on other playable characters you meet as you progress through the game. They also have voices, and call out a character's name when they're offering a health item or casting a defensive spell on them, which makes battling alongside other characters feel lively.
If there are other worlds out there, how can Sora and the others travel in the first place? Well now, that is a good question. The only mode of transportation to other worlds in Kingdom Hearts is none other than the Gummi Ship. But this Gummi traveling experience is such a waste of time, because it's pretty much useless overall. It feels like the unfinished version of Starfox or something. And I wouldn't call the enemy ships--well…enemies, because they never really shoot back. All you do is sit there and shoot, and you don't even have to move around; just wait for 5 minutes until you reach the next destination. You can't instantly warp to other worlds yet early in the game, so you have to go through this for majority of the time. Basically, you can pick up blocks or other Gummi items when traveling between worlds by defeating enemy gummi ships on screen.
You can take these items and you can either upgrade your current ship, or make one from scratch. There are also ship blueprints that are dropped by enemies, and you can modify it to your heart's content in the Gummi Garage. The Gummi building system is pretty complicated to take in all at once, but you gradually get used to it. You can take out blocks and replace them with ones that have better durability. The problem with these blocks is that you can't really change the initial designs. You can only change their color, so when you insert a block that helps increase your ship's defense, it will look so out of place from the others, and not very appealing to the eye. Weapons, shields, engines, and other things can also be upgraded, as they can be bought from Cid via the Gummi store.
Kingdom Hearts is a great presentation of a fantasy world. CGI animations are amazing to watch, and the in-game cut scenes are not bad either, never showing poor quality anywhere. Environment looks clear; you can see every line or design when observing a brick wall or every door, and even read signs and symbols to a high degree of sharpness. Other things like fire and water animations are well done. Characters look cartoonish, but otherwise look great. Other than that, they have believable expressions, which add more vibrancy to every character. Movements are exceptionally fluid and realistic. You can distinctly see Sora's clothes and weapons move whenever he's gliding in mid-air or when he gets hit. Special moves and combos in battle are definitely flashy, but that's what makes the core action all the more fun in Kingdom Hearts.
Every world you visit in Kingdom Hearts feels different from each other. All of them have different themes and designs, so it's great to have that diversity in the game. On some occasions, Sora and party change attires upon entering certain worlds, which is really cool. Personally, my favorite worlds to visit are: Halloween Town, because you get to see Sora with a cool, ghoulish costume on, and Atlantica because the lower part of his body is transformed into a merman, in order for him to fit in the underwater world.
Music sounds exceptional. The original score definitely fits the game's overall theme, and the melodic, mellow piano pieces are sweet and relaxing to the ear. Battle themes are pretty epic, as you can feel the tension and energy while listening to them in combat. There are also many classic tunes taken from numerous Disney films and re-mastered, again, providing a bit of nostalgia for the Disney faithful. Some tracks are also from the Final Fantasy series, which gives that same, reminiscent feeling for fans of that franchise to the same extent. Kingdom Hearts also has great voice acting, mainly because of the Disney familiars. But the core cast itself has great quality, and fit their roles quite nicely.
With an engrossing storyline and a lively cast of characters, Kingdom Hearts will take you to a world you will most certainly enjoy. Disney and Square have succeeded in presenting a game with a fine voice cast, a wonderful musical score, and an enjoyable action role-playing experience that definitely captures the spirit of both franchises. Before you even realize it, you will have already fallen in love with this unique fantasy dream come true.