Awesome graphics, an interesting story, and lots of familiar characters make this a first-rate action/RPG.
User Rating: 9 | Kingdom Hearts PS2
When I first heard about a Disney game with Final Fantasy characters in it, I was shocked and a little insulted. I figured it would have been some lame generic Disney game, but boy was I wrong! This game is so good I think SquareEnix made the majority of it because other than the Disney characters and musical scores, this is very much of a game one would expect from SquareEnix. Gameplay: First off, this is one of the coolest battle systems I have ever seen. It may not be the most innovative, but it's definitely good. The battle system is what keeps the game fresh. Instead of random battle encounters in, say, Final Fantasy, all battles are played out in real time, in the environments. You are never taken away from the action except during cut-scenes, loading screens, or when accessing the menu. Kingdom Hearts also has a R1-Targeting system, similar to The Legend of Zelda's Z-Targeting. As you defeat enemies, they drop munny (aka money. no spell error) bubbles that give you Munny, health bubbles that restore your health, and MP bubbles that restore MP. Every level you gain, one stat will increase a moderately high amount, instead of every stat increasing in increments. Occasionally you will learn a new ability. There are two types of abilities: attack abilities that are used in battle to defeat foes and support abilities which, yes, you guessed it, support you in battle. Support abilities can increase your combo lengths, "scan" your enemies, increase the amount of bubbles enemies drop, etc. The thing that keeps you from becoming a killing machine is that you have to equip abilities using AP (Ability Points). Each ability cost a number of AP to equip and you only get a certain number of AP. Story: The story in Kingdom Hearts is good but its nothing as novel as Final Fantasy. It's interesting, I'll give it that, but it just feels like it's been done before. The main character Sora, along with his friend Kairi, Riku (not Rikku From FFX) and a couple of pint sized Final Fantasy characters live on an island called Destiny Island. They have never seen the rest of the world before and yearn to visit it. So one day Sora, Kairi, and Riku decide to build a raft to sail away and see the world, but the night before they leave, the Heartless attack the island. Sora is magically given a keyblade to fight off the Heartless. Eventually Sora, Kairi, and Riku are teleported off of the island and into another world; a world comprised of many stages and each one is the world of a Disney movie - Alice in Wonderland, Tarzan, Aladdin, you get the picture. And you must travel to all of these worlds and unlock the keyholes hidden each one to drive the Heartless away. At the same time you are looking for Kairi and Riku, and trying to find a way home. To accompany you on your journey is Donald and Goofy and you will also join up with Tarzan, Jack Skellington Aladdin, and many others. The story is good, but it could have been better. It's almost too Disney-like at points for its own good. Graphics: Well this is definitely the best looking Disney game ever made; too bad SquareEnix most likely did them. Anyways, this game looks just plain awesome. It's cartoon-like environments give it a very Disney filled look since the art style differs for every world to correspond with the movies' art styles. The characters look great and are very detailed. During the cut-scenes they move very realistically; especially their mouths. This game has the best lip-syncing I have ever seen in a video game. It's nearly flawless and it makes the experience of the already spectacular cut-scenes that much better when your right in the persons face. The frame rate stays at a steady pace; it hardly ever slows down so the action sequences are flowing and smooth. The summons in the game are of particular mention, since they move very well and are filled with eye candy and the Genie looks just like the Genie in Aladdin, except rendered in full 3D (i had to say something about the Genie, he's so awesome!). Sound: If you like Disney's infamous tunes, like "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid, and "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare before Christmas, then you'll love the soundtrack for this game; I sure did. The music goes with the environments superbly. From the Arabian Aladdin track to the fanfare you hear while fighting in Olympus Coliseum, the music is very well done. The voice acting is above par for the most part too, thanks to child actor Haley Joel Osment voicing Sora. I'm pretty sure the real actors who voiced the cartoons lent their voice to their respective Disney character because it sounds just like them and they did a great job. Some of the speech sounds a little funny sometimes, for example, Riku's. Overall, the game sounds awesome. Replay Value: The game will probably last you around 40 hours with all of the optional side quests, Coliseum championships, and, of course, reaching level 100! There are two difficulty levels so beat it again on Expert, unless you did it the first time then you can do it again! The game is just so fun you will want to play it over again numerous times, if you have a lot of time on your hands and a limited game library like me. Tilt/My Opinion: Overall, Kingdom Hearts is the real deal for Final Fantasy fans and Disney fans alike. It was definitely worth the $50 and a $5 pre-order fee that i paid for it. Now you can find it for under $20, so it's an even better deal for those who haven't played it yet (and I pity them). Kingdom Hearts is addictive, well-rounded, challenging, and, most of all, fun to play. (did I just quote Alundra's review? whoops!) -Brett Kahn 
