Kingdom Hearts is a joint venture between Square Enix and Disney, that merges the realms of Disney and Final Fantasy into one. With an original cast of characters supported by many of the popular ones from both franchises. Kingdom Hearts aims to put a new "what if" twist on if both realms co-existed alongside each other.
The game-play is an action-RPG format, similar to Devil May Cry and Dynasty Warriors. Players gain experience and level up, gaining new abilities, spells and commands while battling the Heartless in real time. For Kingdom Hearts the art style is a derivitive of Final Fantasy with a Disney influence on the new cast of characters. The main stage is played out in the realms of Disney with specilized areas fleshed out like something out of Final Fantasy.
The story is long, but has many unexpected twists and turns. But it is very satisfying for those that enjoy both of what each franchise has to offer. With more than 30+ hours of game-play, a musical score by Yoko Shimomura(whom had worked on other Square Enix titles, namely Super Mario RPG: Legend of The Seven Stars), with the main theme "Simple and Clean(US)" or "Hikari(Japanese)" sung by Utada Hikaru. Kingdom Hearts sought out to do what many other games have tried in the past and failed for the most part, an overwhelmingly successful fusion of 2 worlds that would seem unlikely(and please, you don't need to mention to me: Battletoads & Double Dragon, nor any Capcom cross-over fighter series).
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//////SPOLIER ALERT!: May I remind you that if you plan to play any of the aformentioned titles, or you have not yet completed those specific titles(namely Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II)that you STOP yourself right here and DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ the following paragraphs. My overall goal is to provide a summarized retrospective about the first 2 titles, and then ultimately end with Birth By Sleep and 358/2 Days.//////
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During the first Kingdom Hearts, you ventured out as Sora with Donald and Goofy at your side. One day while on Destiny Island chaos ensues in the form of an attack by beings known as the Heartless. Beings who were once like you or I, but gave into complete darkness and lost their heart in the process. They end up abducting Kairi, and Riku vanishes. Sora vows to find and rescue them, so that things may return to how they were, his resolve during the invasion called forth the Keyblade into his possession, making him a Keyblade Master. During that exact moment King Mickey went missing from Disney Castle, Donald and Goofy were charged with the duty of finding and protecting the King. The trio(Sora, Donald and Goofy)all meet for the first time in Traverse Town, a place where the realms of Disney and Final Fantasy converge into one.
As Sora you travel from world to world, primarily within the Disney realm via the Gummi Ship to quell the chaos and "lock" the doors which allow the Heartless into that particular realm. You meet many famous Disney characters along the way: Aladdin, Genie, Tarzan, Alice, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, The Beast, Minnie, Mickey, Daisy to name a few, with many more throughout your journey. As well as many Final Fantasy characters too: Tidus, Wakka, Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud, Squall, Sephiroth, and Moogles!
Sora eventually learns the Kairi is one of the "Seven Princesses of Pure Heart," It's said that when all of them are gathered the doors to "Kingdom Hearts" will reveal themselves and be opened. Kairi is found unconscious and is revealed to have lost her heart, but has yet to be a heartless. It seems that during the struggle at Destiny Islands, before it was destroyed, in order to save Kairi her heart left her body, and found It's way to Sora and merged with his. Sora then gives up "their" heart to Kairi, ultimately reviving her and turning him into a Heartless, however this also ends up revealing Kingdom Hearts to the Heartless. Moved by Sora's noble choice, Kairi finds his Heartless, and separates "their" heart and gives Sora's back to him, restoring his human form.
Sora then goes off into the world of darkness to fight Ansem, the supposed being behind the chaotic events of the Heartless. Upon his defeat the world of darkness begins to crumble, and Sora desparately tries to shut It's door. All hope seems lost until Riku and King Mickey show up to offer their help by pulling on the door on the other side, sacrificing themselves along with any chance of returning to this world. With the door shut and Heartless supposedly gone from this realm, Sora stands unsure of himself and his choices. As the world of darkness begins to pull away from his realm, Sora reveals to Kairi that he believes the Riku and King Mickey are alive somewhere and that he vows to resuce them, so that they can all be together again. His final words are that of a promise to come back to her one day as the world of darkness fades from view, and Kairi is left back on Destiny Island alone with a sense of hope.
Another Side, Another Story
Deep Dive
The 2 secret endings(from the US and Japanese releases respectively)if you satisfied certain conditions within the game. A hidden reveal which started out as just a special movie for players of the game who went beyond the normal requirements to achieve something more. But eventually grew to become the basis for Kingdom Hearts II and the games the proceeded after it, which will be covered in the upcoming part 2 of this retrospective.
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