Game Boy :: Genesis :: NES :: Sega CD :: SNES :: TurboGrafx-16 :: Complete System Listings

Kingdom Hearts review

Game: Kingdom Hearts
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Square Enix

Reader review by wolfqueen001

October 11, 2008

Kingdom Hearts isn’t unique for its overarching storyline, nor is it unique for its almost predictable character development. But it is unique for its presentation: the numerous worlds you explore, the battle system, and the brilliant way the realms of Disney and Final Fantasy combine with its independent plot.

Sora, the main character, lives on a tropical island paradise where life is serene and uneventful, where he and his two friends (Riku and Kairi) have everything they’ll ever need.

Except diversity.

Tired of repetitive, monotonous days, the trio decides to build a raft to cross the ocean beyond their island, hoping to discover new worlds.

But the Heartless, malicious world-swallowing manifestations of darkness, have other plans. On their rampage of galactic destruction, they stumble upon Sora’s little paradise, threatening the stability of his once sacred home. This force darkens the skies, churns the waves, and separates Sora from the rest of his friends. It’s here that Sora discovers his destiny as the Keyblade Master. With this mighty weapon, he battles the Heartless long enough to escape his world in some unseen magical fashion, getting knocked out in the process.

The plot itself is moving (if cheesy and archetypal), but it’s not the only thing keeping the game together. After Sora awakens in an unknown world and befriends both Donald and Goofy, who explain more about the Heartless and Sora’s “destiny”, the three of them travel to other worlds in an effort to seal keyholes while searching for lost friends.

Exploring these worlds, you’ll be awestruck at the incredible accuracy etched into each Disney-themed realm. While not graphically impressive, each location is represented in vivid 3D detail, bringing the magic of Disney to life in front of your very eyes. Tarzan’s home looks just as you’d expect from ancient childhood memories, only interactive with an added dimension. You’ll swing along vines in order to reach a new location; hop across hippos before they sink back into the water; even battle the infamous cheetah Sabor, that same feline that tormented Tarzan all those years ago.

But rather than simply act out each planet’s respective Disney story, that plot has been remodeled around the plot of the game. You help Alice avoid execution by providing evidence that a Heartless committed whatever crime she’s been accused of, only to discover she’s vanished, taken by the very Heartless you’ve been fighting. Instead of helping Pinocchio become a real boy, you search for him in Monstro’s enormous gut, only to discover he’s being held captive by a giant Heartless who ensnares him in its cage. Instead of rescuing Wendy from Captain Hook, you rescue her from Captain Hook and the Heartless who want her for plot reasons. By combining these old tales with the new made-up plot, Kingdom Hearts becomes a nostalgic yet unique experience.

Advancing this plot, however, has its ups and downs. Menu-controlled, real-time adventuring quickens combat but also produces problems of its own. Using items is risky; it takes time, time that could be better spent tearing your enemy a new asshole with powerful combos and ancient, Final Fantasy-esque magic. Instead, you’ll be trying vainly to heal yourself, only to die, because three seconds to activate a potion is just too long. Acquiring new abilities lets you perform special skills, which require precise timing and no damage absorption in order to pull off, because getting hurt automatically nulls your action, even if you’re 99% complete with it. But executing these skills is worth it because they not only look flashy; they do significantly more damage.

In fact, the system’s greatest strength isn’t even in the engine at all; it’s in boss design. Each boss has a specific method of defeat – a certain weakness to exploit. Oogie Boogie has you chasing around an oversized roulette wheel, stepping on different pressure pads which raise your platform to his level. There you only have a few seconds to get a decent combo in before the platform suddenly descends again, and you’re dodging his malicious traps. The sorcerer-turned-genie Jafar requires you to constantly beat up his annoying pet parrot who just happens to be carrying his lamp. The evil sea-witch Ursula forces you to cast magic on her cauldron several times before her slithery form becomes vulnerable to attack.

But as attractive as these aspects are, the game does have its issues. A shoddy camera angle will have you fighting blind as it gets stuck behind a pillar in Hercules’ Coliseum. Or it’ll randomly switch to a side angle shot while you’re trying to glide to a tiny block of land in the water, making spotting impossible. The camera will ruin combos because you can’t see who’s attacking you; it’ll make navigating worlds a test of patience more than skill as you blindly jump from platform to platform in the vain hope you’ve gauged it right; and it’ll disorient you enough so that you don’t realize you’re going back the way you came until you’ve reached the beginning of the level, dragging out a game that really doesn’t need cheap means of lengthening.

Unskippable cut scenes will keep you permanently frustrated as you watch that marathon pre-boss sequence for the fifth time because your randomly reliable party members are too inept to heal you when you need it.

Traveling between worlds would have been neat, except that your vehicle of transport, the Gummi ship, is almost impossible to figure out how to modify. Not like it matters. I literally traveled to every world (except the last) without any modifications at all. One small cannon, no shields, basic armor. It was easy. The levels are short and repetitive, the obstacles easy to dodge, and your enemy retarded. You’ll likely crash into foreign ships more often than get shot by them.

But aside from these flaws, there are several interesting smaller activities. You can always collect dozens of seemingly useless objects which can then be used to synthesize awesome items and accessories, including Sora’s Ultima Keyblade, the most powerful weapon in his arsenal. You can hunt the 101 Dalmations for various prizes. You can scour the worlds for every single Trinity Mark, acquiring helpful bonuses from them. You can even engage in several mini-games, many of which encountered in Winnie the Pooh’s 100-Acred Wood. Locking up that laid-back world rewards you with a secret ending.

If you’re willing to bypass the game’s numerous flaws and instead look at its marvelous accomplishments, you’ll enjoy your time immensely. It’s plot really is touching, and sometimes even shocking, amidst the predictability; the realms of Disney are so well thought and acted out that they feel almost real; and combat is refreshing, if clumsy at times.

But you’ll have to try really hard to ignore all those flaws.

Rating: 7/10

More Reviews by wolfqueen001
	Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation) Level designs often pair different sorts of beasts and toss them into a compact space. In Alpine Ridge, you’ll face armored rooster people that try to smack you...
	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PlayStation) Actually playing the game itself isn’t quite so bad, though it is horrifically easy. You’ll likely require only a few hours to beat it, and only a very small po...
	Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2 (DS) Rather than pairing up squares for points, as you do in Bejeweled, you use the stylus to group symbols in order to clear colored tiles within a given tim...

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Kingdom Hearts review, you're encouraged to leave feedback and talk about it with members of the site's community. You don't even need an HonestGamers account to get involved in the discussion. Please remember to keep your comments respectful and on-topic or they may be deleted by a moderator. Thank you for your understanding!

comments powered by Disqus

© 1998-2013 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Kingdom Hearts is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Kingdom Hearts, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.