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Where's a good writer when you need one? (Revised)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: August 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Being no SQUARE ENIX or WALT DISNEY fan (any longer), I was weary about this game when my sister bought it. I figured I'd play it since giving it the benefit of the doubt. I really have to say that this video game really doesn't use what it was given to its full potential aside their from big company crossover-esque. The storyline in this video game apparently was never thought out completely, it was finished in a halfhearted way so to speak. Three children, Sora, Riku, and Kairi all dream of going on an adventure to find out what's beyond their shores. Unaware of the danger approaching they prep themselves to escape the tiny island they live on. One night after naming their ship ---which was decided by a race between Riku vs. Sora--- their island is attacked by a nemesis type creature later known to be called "the heartless" (real original). Creatures that seek to destroy the hearts of universe and its inhabitants. Sora battles the heartless as best as he can but to no avail. Riku, Kairi, Selphie (Final Fantasy VIII), Tidus (Final Fantasy X), and Wakka (FFX) along with his island ---"Destiny Island"--- are swallowed by the heartless. Sora is somehow or another spared by the cataclysm and is transported to a refugee world called "Traverse Town." He wanders about the vast town, lost and confused. It is there he encounters Leon (Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII), Yuffie (of Final Fantasy VII). [They're companions, Cid and Aerith are met earlier and later]. They explain to him the dire situation surrounding him and what little information on the weapon he wields. The Keyblade. Upon being attacked by the heartless a second time and separated from Leon, Sora finally meets Goofy and Donald Duck. The duo are on a mission to search for their king, Mickey Mouse after discovering a letter given to them by Pluto. After some careful convincing Sora joins the Disney duo to travel across the cosmos in search of Mickey, Riku, and Kairi. To do this they must travel to various worlds to restore the original order of the universe with the aid the Keyblade.

Probably the most fun part of Kingdom Hearts is the simple fact that you are literally traveling to worlds straight out of various Disney films. Worlds such as Olympus Coliseum from "Hercules," Wonderland from "Alice in Wonderland," Deep Jungle From "Tarzan," Agrabah from "Aladdin," Hundred Acre Wood From "Whinne the pooh" (as a mini-game), the whale Monstro from "Pinocchio," Halloween Town from "Tim Burton's The nightmare before Christmas," and Atlantica from "The little mermaid" are at your fingertips avaible for venturing. The finale worlds are two ENIX originals; "Hollow Bastion" and "The end of the world" which is the final level of the game in which you battle the villain (I won't spoil anything, its pretty obvious who he is though). Along the way you meet Cloud Strife, and Sephiroth, also from "Final Fantasy VII." Most of the FANTASY characters, save Leon -- who arguably as the largest role to play through the course of the game -- have minor roles within the plot of the game that do nothing to move the story forward.

As the game progresses you discover a less than stellar subplot within the world of "Kingdom Hearts." Sora discovers he must also must save seven princess of so called heart. Jasmine, Sleeping beauty, Cinderella, Snow white, Belle, Alice, Alice and Kairi. As an added twist, he must deter several Disney villains; Maleficent, Jafar, Hades, Ursula, Oogie Boogie, and Captain Hook (Clayton, Queen of hearts, and Cheshire Cat are nonaffiliated with the heartless) from opening the final Keyhole with the princesses hearts and unleashing DARKNESS on the world.

From there PLOT-HOLES big enough to run a semi through ensue. For instance the subplot concerning Riku being corrupted by darkness was not completely thought through. He speculates that Sora has abandoned Kairi and his friendship over Donald and Goofy's. They try to riddle the game with an implied romantic rivalry between Sora and Riku in their search for Kairi's heart. Kairi herself is an unnecessary character. While her presence in the game is not completely useless, she's basically a sort of catalyst for the rivalry between Sora and Riku. Sora (who doesn't seem so excited to be venturing around the worlds as he was at the beginning of the game) is so worried about his two other friends that, his mother, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie are forgotten and never seen again until the game when the credits roll. How is it that the parent (the forever existing figure in your life) is forgotten for your friends, who could dump you in an instant? This is just a small complaint from someone who is close to her parents.

That aside: The Ansem subplot is what brings most of the loose strings in Kingdom Hearts together. Once you gather "Ansem's report," the game's storyline finally becomes clearler, while it sorta implodes on itself. Thus becoming all kind of anti-climatic within the storylines theme: "Light and Darkness." The ending is basically a cliffhanger that makes you wait for the sequel to come out. The music for the video game, composed by Yoko Shimomura has its hits and misses; Most of the time its exceptionally good for a video game (mostly during the battles). Other times its so generic in most levels that you'll turn the volume down and play the game on silent. The theme song "Simple and Clean (PlanitB Remix/Original Version)" composed and performed by Utada Hikaru is not so sappy as I originally thought. If anything it sounds better in its PlanitB remix as opposed to the slower original version does.

The gameplay is at one point of the game exiting to through. Sora's all round hack'n'slash combat moves and special abilities are probably some of the coolest things you can do in a game. Each move you obtain with the more AP (action points) you gain for each character you're able to play with can be strengthened, you also gain more Keyblades with each world you complete. The A.I. controlled Goofy and Donald Duck actually help you out with each battle you engage instead of standing around expecting you kill every enemy in sight. However, most of the time they're following you when A): You either run to heal yourself; or B): Run to get out of the way danger. This isn't the case with the minor enemy A.I. The heartless will beat you down more than once if you let them. The Bosses for each world you complete are lacking in challenge in either mode (Normal/Expert). You can beat down each one with insulting ease with the right Keyblade and selected items. If you're beaten its just as easy to beat them a second time! Just be sure to stock your characters to the limit with healing items. The side quests, what few there are, are the bothersome part of the game. Collecting "Ansem's report" -"Collect all 101 Dalmatians" - "Acquire all Trinity marks" -"Find all pages to the hundred Acre woods" and etc, throw you off the sensation of the game as you try to get through it. The turnaments at the Olympus Coliseum are where you have to beat four levels of enemies (usually Heartless) for the cups [Pegasus - Phil - Hercules - Hades]. The twist in the game is simple: After each world you lock you have no choice but to go back to the coliseum to battle in the tournament (to gain hero licenses) in order to move on to the next world. Its a useless way to make the game seem longer than it really its. Believe me, its a short game.

Which is problem with most of the game levels. Most of them feel as though there should've been more to it than what you got. More world's you should've been able to go to. Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast universes would've been a real trip to visit. It also makes me wonder if what they could've incorporated into the Hercules universe with a little more constructive writing. Another major problem within the gameplay are the camera angles. They constantly move in the wrong direction when you jump, thus causing problems within the platform hopping. When you want to see something beside you the camera shifts back and forth as though it were a billiard ball hit by a pool stick. The fighting in the game slowly becomes repetitive when one too many enemies emerge in every single room you enter, threatening to overwhelm you. The U.S. voice acting manages to be excellent, with actors and actresses from various movies and television. The most prominent would probably Haley Joe Osment as Sora; His semi-youthful vocals lend a sort charisma the character lacks in facial features during 3D-cut scenes. David Boreanaz and Christie Carlson Ramano as Leon and Yuffie were on par with their Final Fantasy characters; Boreanaz lends a sort of Angel-broodiness to Leon that fits the character so well, that you can think of no other that could've pulled the characterization off so well. The same can be said about Ramano; However, both have their weak points, noted usually at the beginning of the game. David Gallahger as Riku was an excellent choice on the developer's part. He really brings out the sort of sinister demeanor lying dormant in Riku's personality. Hayden Panettiere as Kairi was another good choice. She manages to come off through the character as girlish without the overkill element that is usual apparent in most female voice actors in video games. Among those mentioned are other notable actors and voice actors you'll easily pick out of the group of Disney/ENIX characters.

Finally, the CGI graphics for the beginning and ending as well as the 3D scenes are done pretty good. SQUARE ENIX could of course, work on their CGI which suffers from a plastic sort of appearance. The motion capture could be tweaked a little as well. The most apparent problem with the 3D scenes were the character's mouths. One moment they're moving like something you'd see in SONY'S RPG first "Dark Cloud," then it movies almost too fluently and doesn't match the vocal pattern. All in all "KINGDOM HEARTS" - despite its flaws in the storyline was a pretty enjoyable game in terms of gameplay (the playing part) itself. It could've been better, if they included the "Snow White" - "Sleeping Beauty" - "Beauty and Beast" and "Cinderella" universes to add more longevity. Maybe. -------[a 3 out 5]

Stupid round in circles game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 20
Date: April 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At the beginning of this game it was fun, you run around collecting things and it follows a logical sequence without being rigid, i.e. you have an objective but you can also explore. After the first "world" though, this game falls apart as far as enjoy-ability. Each world is small and you go round and round in circles in the game, knowing sometimes very little of where you should go. This is not fun. I ended up quitting the game, not because it was too hard or too easy, but because it is irritating for no good reason. The graphics and even the idea of the game are nice, too bad they screwed up the playing of it.

Great...for young children learning to play for the first time.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: May 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game has a lot of potential, but very little skill is required for the majority. The activities necessary to get from point to point aren't so much challenging as they are tedious. For instance, during the vine swinging area you may get right to the end, swing to the next vine, hit it directly, but you will fall and have to start all over again. There are numerous parts of the game where the main objective is getting from point A to point B by jumping from tree tops or vines or pillars, but a few jumps will always be irritatingly right out of your reach, causing you to start from the very beginning every single time. It's not as much fun as it is time consuming as this jumping areas of the game are frequent. I purchased this game believing it was going to be like a fun form of Final Fantasy. It's not. This game isn't childish because it has Disney characters in it; it's childish because the tasks are boring and repetitive.

ambitious, but not very fun

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: October 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I returned this game after three days, and only got to the Deep Jungle, so it's possible that this game gets more fun after time.

The good points:
Excellent graphics
Disney characters
Square characters
Good music

Aside from a hokey plot which didn't interest me at all, the main problem I had with the game is that fighting is so darn repetitive. This would be okay if fighting were a peripheral exercise, as it was in ICO. As it is, you're fighting all the time, and it's just no fun. It's not that I don't like fighting games; it's just that the fighting system is not very well developed.

Other than that, the camera is a constant pain in the neck. Your companions only get in the way. The gummi ship is the most convoluted, least interesting Square mini-game yet. I guess they thought that if they could make something as fundamentally flawed as Blitzball fun and addicting, they could get away with anything.

I'm not sure what Square was trying to achieve with its Disney license. Presumably this game should appeal to younger people, but I imagine many kids would get frustrated with the game. The Final Fantasy characters try to draw the usual Square crowd in, but the game is nothing like that.

Now, there are some things going for this game, and perhaps other people won't find the fighting as dull as I do. But at any rate, it's worth a rental before purchasing.

kingdom hearts rules

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: June 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

first off the controls are very easy to learn and remeber.
the graphics are graet and the music is great to . i think the music is by evanescence they rock.there are two things bad about kingdom hearts, one is you cant skip throught the parts that dont matter when people are talking the other thing is the camera. the camera goes just about everywere you dont want it to go, sometimes it is very annoying. but overall the game is very good i would recomend it to a friend. thank you for reading! i hope i helped

KINDOM OF WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: November 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

WHEN I FIRST GOT THIS GAME I WAS LIKE WHAT THE HECK?I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COULD COMBINE VIDEO GAMES!THIS IS #1 ON YHE MUST HAVE LIST IF YOU ASK ME!EACH LEVEL IS ANOTHER WORLD FROM A FAMOUS AND POPULAR DISNEY MOVIE/GAME SERIES.IN EACH WORLD YOU HAVE DIFFERENT PARTNEERS TO HELP YOU FIGHT THE EVIL HEARTLESS,SEAL THE KEYHOLE AND COMPLETE CHALLENGES TO PROVE THAT YOU'RE A HERO IN TRAINING.IN SOME WORLDS YOUR ON YOUR ON YOUR OWN TO SEE IF YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH TO DESTROY THE HEARTLESS ONCE AND FOR ALL.GOOD LUCK WITH THIS.IT'S TOUGH YET TONS OF FUN.YOU HAVE TO GET IT!

Square should be ashamed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 14
Date: November 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

when I heard that Square was putting out a game and Disney was fronting it I was on even keel. I don't have much love for disney but that rings true for mario as well and I still played Mario RPG. However, unlike Mario RPG (from here on just "Mario") Final Fantasy (FF) characters weren't featured. I'm all for a little cosmetic upgrade on Squall and Cloud since the graphics of when the their games were made and now have quite a gap. One thing I didn't expect is that some of the most powerful and beloved characters in video game history would take back seat to a kid with a key for a weapon. These two protagnosits in particular had much more emotional development and struggle then "Sora" ever will. This is beyond frusterating. After all Cloud has been through, he is still seen as this weak willed person with no direction or purpose in life. Squall on the other hand (unlike Cloud's psychological battle), had huge distancing and emotional issues to overcome, especially abandonment. But in FF8 he showed that final boss and Greiver what for. To know that I put so much time in 2 games that gave me a reason to truly care about all 8 members in either given game, I couldn't care less about Sora and his friends or the fate of every Disney world. Lame Square Lame. You have some of the most highest grossing games in both RPG and over all in history and you still sold out for DISNEY? I had come to expect more from a company that caused me to stay up so many nights, miss so much homework and miss out on so many life experiences. Thank GOD you didn't disgrace some of your more advanced titles (Xenogears and Vagrant Story come to mind). Well thats my review and any true square fan can take it or leave it but while you play your game just remember who your dishonoring.

a surprisingly great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

By now anybody reading the reviews of Kingdom Hearts knows that it is a mix of Final Fantasy and Disney. We take some of the characters from the Final Fantasy worlds: Cloud, Aeris, Yuffie, Squall, and Sephiroth. These characters are not playable but serve to drive the story at times. As a longtime fan of the Final Fantasy series (starting back from the very first game on the NES), it was nice to get to visit with these characters. I wish that some of the earlier FF heroes were around, but that isn't even worth a complaint.

The story progresses through various Disney worlds, each very well done and each with a playable guest character (Tarzan, Ariel, Peter Pan).

The game itself has beautiful graphics, but the greatest fear was in the voice acting. Many games with voice acting fail in this regard. It seems like a good idea, but if not done correctly the game would be better off with text dialogue. Kingdom Hearts has the best voice acting in gaming (along with the Metal Gear Solid games). Success.

How does it play? The control is excellent. Kingdom Hearts has a control feel like the Secret of Mana/Legend of Mana games. It is a RPG with an action battle system. You still have the ability to use magic, items and summon creatures to aid you (a useless feature in this game as i didn't need to use it once), but the action comes fast and furious.

The main flaw is the camera movement, which at times gets in the way so that you can't see the enemies that you are attacking. It is a pain, but not enough of a drawback to really detract from the game.

The bottom line is simply that the game is fun. I enjoyed playing through Kingdom Hearts more than i have nearly any other game in quite some time. Don't be distracted by people saying Disney and Final Fantasy shouldn't mix or that one company is bad...the game is the important part here, and the game is simply fun to play. Even with the Disney name, this is not a kiddie game. It is fast paced and has a dark storyline.

It is also one of the best games of the year.

An incredible, beautiful and unlikely RPG!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

A refreshing break from a typical RPG, Kingdom Hearts is a well-developed game that is loads of fun to play as well as watch. Heartwarming characters and beautiful, detailed scenery grace the game along with an easy-to-use gameplay interface. Square did an excellent job converting from their standard usage of turn-based and ATB systems into real-time battles that seems to put you more "in the game" than ever before. Seeing dozens of Disney characters will make you smile, and for the hardcore Square fans (like me!), you weren't left out, with plenty of Final Fantasy characters matched with excellent voiceovers. A must play for any RPG gamer!

Incredible game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Who would have thought a mix of Final Fantasy and Disney could be quite this well done?? It's amazing how the new main characters, classic Disney ones, Disney-inspired lands and cameo appearances by your favorite Final Fantasy characters (Tidus, Wakka and Selphie as kids, just to name a few) mesh together to create an amazing gameplay experience. It's not a kiddie game at all, nor does it lend itself to the cheesy side. Incredible game all around!!

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