Kingdom hearts is a satisfying action RPG... with a premise like no other.
Kingdom Hearts is a good game... at the very least, it's setting and premise are certainly unique. I was a big Disney movie fan as a kid, and I love how all the classics I saw in the theatres are represented in this game. Underneath all that is a decent Square action RPG. So I figured, why not give it a try?
What's good? The Disney character references are awesome, and they work everyone into the story very well. It actually turns out to be pretty interesting. The graphics are good (even if the humans are a little goofy-looking) and the music is great. The game has a sharp presentation and loads of polish. The flying-between-worlds minigame is classic, reminds me of starfox. The fact you get to build your own ship and collect parts is neat, too. The game isn't perfect though... I thought the stay in each world was a little short. Each world's few areas are filled with lots of puzzles and minigames, which is nice but it doesn't really work with an action RPG. I would have liked to see some deeper combat and some extra enemy types. Instead, you spend a fair amount of time doing platforming and item-collecting. Indeed, this game seems to fall somewhere between platformer, adventure game and action RPG. I was a little disappointed, as I was expecting more of the latter... but to say it doesn't work would be a lie. The lighthearted nature of the game definently fits well with the gameplay, in a good way.
I also thought the ship-building interface could have been a bit more intuitive, as builing ships takes longer than it should. All the other menus are so sharp-looking and quick to use... the Garage interface felt a little tacked on.
The Verdict:
Kingdom Hearts combines the best of Square Enix with the classic characters of Disney to make a game that's like no other. It's an action RPG at heart, but it keeps the RPG elements light in favor of more puzzles and minigames. The result is a game that's very accessible. I could easily reccomend this game to RPG players, simply because it's so unique and the classic Disney cameos are quite endearing and well-done. Fans of adventure and action platformers could definently dig this too, as there's plenty of games and puzzles to solve.
This game may not be for everyone, especially those that dislike the lighthearted tone of the game. The gameplay is solid, but at times in can be pretty average... so it may not be enough to bring in those that can't stand the "cute factor" or aren't particularly Disney fans. Indeed, the goofy childishness and constant compulsory minigames did put me off sometimes... but I could tolerate it and I like Disney, so the game is ultimately a success in my book.
Hey, it's on Greatest Hits now... it definently lasted long enough and had enough endearing moments to make it worth the purchase.
+Truly unique RPG experience
+Classic Disney characters are all spot-on
+Excellent voice work and music
+Some of the minigames are pretty good, especially the star-fox like space travel
-Human characters look goofy
-RPG gameplay takes a backseat to platforming/minigames too often for my taste
-Ship-builing mode is a little clunky