The best PS2 game ever.
User Rating: 10 | Kingdom Hearts PS2
The game Kingdom Hearts first came out in Japan in March 2002 but still didn't come to light until the American version was released in September of the same year. In those 6 months that the American version took to be done, some other changes have been added to "relish" the gameplay by adding a few more bosses battles. Gameplay - 10 This fabulous game is a completely revolutionary mixture of Adventure gameplay and RPG game style that makes Kingdom Hearts a one of a kind installment that offers dozens - and even hundreds, for die-hard fans like me - of fluid gameplay and intensive fights like in any amazing adventure game you may think of. But the drill is that you also have to rely on your level, techniques and abilities to get through this game, so the RPG part is not left behind by any means. It's probably hard to say whether this game is either an adventure game with RPG inclinations or the other way round; but the result was sure a perfect one. The best part is, of course, that you don't get to be dragged to a monotonous battle field that has nothing to do with the environment where you're running, but battle in the same place where you find the enemies - called Heartless - and have the choice of staying on the spot and battle or just ignore them and keep on your way through the game. Graphics - 10 What else could we expect from a game developed by Square-Enix? Naturally, the graphics are breath-taking and even though the game shows only 2 FMV sequences (unlike FFX or X-2 where you get plenty of 'em), the videos are pretty amazing and the in-game video sequences speak volumes about themselves. Another feature that caught my eye in this game is the fact that all the characters from Disney have been perfectly portrayed into the 3-D animation and have been brought to life in a very sensitive way. Sound - 10 I've been playing this game for far more hours than I'm able to count with fingers and toes and still I find the music very original. The fact that you don't get bored so easily with the songs of the game is because, unlike any FF game, you don't get the same stupid music in every single battle along the whole game. Instead, you have a different song for each world when you're not in battle and when you're in one, plus another song that plays during boss battles. On top of that, there are many other songs that fit in perfectly with the animated sequences in the game and help create the perfect environment along with the suspense and thrill that the plot is supposed to produce. Value - 10 Kingdom Hearts is such a great mixture of these two genres that its fluidity makes this game deserve a whole 10 score in value. Too bad there's not an option in the review scoring that says I've spent 500+ hours on it, because if there was, that would be the one I'd be choosing. Even though you may reach the very end of Kingdom Hearts by 20 - 40 hours of gameplay in your first game, you will still find that there are many other stuff to fulfill. There are four special boss battles that require you to be at a decent high level and many other challenges as well, such as taking Sora to level 100 with full Strength, Defense and AP. Also, don't forget that if you played the game under Normal difficulty level the first time round, you'll find yourself eager to go through the Hard difficulty level and get the secret ending video (which can also be obtained on Normal mode meeting the same requirements) plus a new artwork picture towards the end. There's so much to this game that certainly caters for the taste of any gamer who's into either RPG or Adventure or wants to try a whole revolutionary, spicy, and wonderful masterpiece. 
