Kingdom Hearts

Voices of: Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, Hayden Panettiere, Billy Zane, David Boreanaz, Mandy Moore, Steven Burton, Lance Bass, Tony Anselmo, Sean Astin, Jodi Benson, Robby Benson, Dan Castellaneta, Jim Cummings, Bill Farmer, Tony Goldwyn, Gilbert Gottfried, Chris Sarandon, James Woods, Brian Blessed
Developer: Square
Director: Tetsuya Nomura
Rating: E
Genre: Action RPG
System: Playstation 2
2002

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Sora (Haley Joel Osment) and his friends plan to leave the Destiny Islands. When the Heartless attack, Sora embarks on a quest to find his missing friends- and King Mickey.

Review:
Tim: Kingdom Hearts brings to life an insane idea- what if we combined the characters from various Disney films with the action RPG characters from Final Fantasy? It seems absurd, it seems like it couldn't possibly work. However, the incredible character of Sora takes us on this mind-bending journey, seeing him partner with Donald, Goofy, Cloud Strife, Squall Leonhart, and many others. It's a mash-up of the best kind, whereas playing through the game also brings out a deep sense of nostalgia, as you move through Agrabah, the 100-Acre Wood, Wonderland, Neverland, Halloween Town, and many others. Sora teams up with Disney heroes, rescues Disney princesses, all while on his own epic journey. It's a fantastic idea that feels too outlandish to have been made real. I had a blast playing this game.

I really appreciated the central story- Sora is trying to find his friends, Riku and Kairi. There's the heartless and a lot of talk about "heart". Sora wields the Keyblade, an extremely cool sword. We learn about Ansem and his plot- it's a lot- and a bit too convoluted- but it's still so much fun to play through this game. It's an action RPG, so you're mostly mashing buttons and you're taking on groups of heartless and surprisingly challenging bosses. That was one thing I didn't expect, playing this game- the inclusion of Disney characters makes it seem like it'll be a kid game, but there are some serious challenges for new players. I found Trickmaster really hard for some reason- it took me many tries to finally bring him down. Jafar was annoying at first, until you get the strategy down. Ursula took me several tries to figure out the strategy, too. Oogie Boogie was easy, other than I'm still not entirely sure how I got the gate to go down, so I could attack him. Ansem made for a tremendous final boss- the various forms were really challenging. I had fun playing against him and while there were frustrating moments, it offered the right amount of challenge to build a sense of true accomplishment when defeating him.

There was a lot to do in this game! I completed it in 33:45. I got Sora to level 45- 293,037 EXP. 78 HP, 7 MP, 34 AP. Strength 47, Defense 32. My final Key Chain was Oblivion. I completed the 100-Acre Wood Book, Won the Hades Cup, and found all 99 Dalmatians. I collected all Trinities and got the Secret Ending. I did not bother to fight all the final bosses- I almost never do in Final Fantasy games. As much as I love playing these games, I eventually hit a wall and get fatigued. It's interesting- this is not an especially long game- 33 hours is pretty tightly focused. However, it does get somewhat repetitive, where the game wears on you a bit. I was starting to feel a bit burned out by the end. I had a blast playing it, but the idea of spending a ton more hours to defeat optional extra bosses did not appeal to me in the least.

I finished Kingdom Heart on December 10, 2022. I absolutely loved stepping into this new world and this became a video game franchise I felt a lot of desire to continue. One other thing- my kids absolutely loved watching me play this. My 7 year-old son was a fan, but I was surprised how much my 4 year-old daughter loved it, too. She obviously recognized so many of the Disney characters and would often tell me to "play Kingdom Hearts!". I know letting little kids watch me play video games isn't the best idea, but they both really enjoyed seeing the story elements. It was fun doing this and spending time with them. So, I really loved this game and look forward to continuing the series at some point! Kingdom Hearts is special, takes us through a fantastic, beautifully envisioned world, introduces us to an all-time video game character in Sora, and entertains wildly from beginning to end. This game is incredible. Also, this would make an exceptional movie.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Heart II, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X