I haven't played KH2 yet, so my comments just about the first one.
Story - The story is sometimes pretty convoluted, but most of the time you don't do many things involved with it. You see, each world you go to (most based on Disney movies) has its own story, often patterned after the movie. These will sometimes tie in a little to the overall story. The story itself is okay, but nothing great.
Characters - This is where the game shines. Be prepared for many many different Disney characters to show up. Often, they are voiced by the original people. If you have fond memories of Disney movies, it's GREAT! Also, the original characters, few though they are, are pretty engaging and have good voices. Haley Joel Osment puts in a great performance as the main character, Sora. If you like the FF games, some characters from that series make appearances, though they aren't that important, especially later on.
Gameplay - This is probably the weakest part of the game.  While many call it an RPG, Kingdom Hearts is really an action-adventure game. There is a good amount of platform jumping and a lot of button mashing to defeat enemies. In fact, I'd say that in combat, at least 85% or more is just jamming on the attack button. Mini-games are not plentiful in this game, but some rather shallow ones show up in the Winnie the Pooh world. Also, going from world to world uses a mini-game where you fly a "gummi ship". This part of the game is far and away the weakest. It's basically a very very poorly done railed shooter (imagine a mega-lame rip-off of Space Harrier). Luckily, you get a "warp" fairly early that let's you by-pass the gummi ship parts when travelling to worlds you have already completed.  In addition to the main game, there are some side-quests you can engage in, like searching for the 99 puppies from 101 dalmations, fighting in tournements at the Hercules world, and taking out optional boss characters in the Alladin and Peter Pan world. These are basically small distractions from the main story, but I appreciated them nonetheless and their inclusion is good.Â
Overall, I enjoyed Kingdom Hearts and look forward to playing the second, but I certainly wasn't blown away. If you love Disney, it's safe to say you will get a great kick out of this game. Keep in mind, though, that the gameplay is often pretty shallow. It that regard, it's a pretty mundane and limited third person action-adventure title. However, the inclusion of the Disney elements was well done and is basically the main reason to play the game.
Overall - 7.9/10
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