A joyous adventure, filled with a great story - albeit short for an RPG, but longer then most action games by far.

User Rating: 8.6 | Kingdom Hearts PS2
Cloud Strife and Donald Duck in the same game. How could anyone ever think of that? Apparently Disney and Square Enix did, cause out of those crazy dreams and thoughts came Kingdom Hearts. A joyous adventure, filled with a great story - albeit short for an RPG, but longer then most action games by far.

I won't go into incredible length as my other reviews, as you most likely heard this game before a million times: there's no necessary to go into such length, But I will detail you the main points of the game.

For any RPG to be good, a story is a must, a good one at that, and Kingdom Hearts has just the one. Through the creative minds behind the game, They managed to create a story where the characters of Disney and of Final Fantasy are matched up, very well. An evil force, The Heartless has invaded different words, both connecting them all, and slowly destroying them. Enter Sora, a kid with big feet, spiky hair, and voiced by The Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment, with Donald Duck and Goofy to save these worlds from the heartless with the keyblade. Apparently the keyblade is the "key" to saving the worlds as you'll soon discover.

Graphics-wise, Kingdom Hearts is pretty good. The art, and character design are excellent sound and music is very good as well, and both combine for memorable experiences. The voice acting, a delighted addition, also aids to the experience.

Kingdom Hearts, is unlike a traditional RPG, it's an action game with RPG elements. You'll be able to battle with your CPU controlled teammates, Donald and Goofy, while using your keyblade, magic, techniques, team skills, and various combo movies. You'll even get to summon various Disney stars to help you defeat the heartless. The game features mini quests, and various tasks, plus extra boss battles to keep the experience going. Boss battles are the real highlights, as often the bosses can be monstrous, and fighting them can be a real joy.

Kingdom Hearts does have a few problems amidst it's great strengths. One is it's repetition. In order to get further I the game, like tradition RPGs, you'll need to spend time defeating enemies to gain levels. Also, the travels to each world, by Gummi Ship, sticks out like a sore thumb. It's a simplistic shooting mission, with lacking 3D visuals, and very boring gameplay. You can create your won ships with stuff you collect from your space travel, but it's all a waste. The process is a complicated mess, and really, with the easiness of the travels - it's just not worth even attempting.

With those quirks aside, Kingdom Hearts is a solid title. It can be recommended to anyone, vets of RPGs will like to for the story, fans of both Disney and Square Enix will love the characters involved, and everyone will love the experience for the most part. It's worth the try, no matter who you are.