I might really hate what the series has become nowadays, but it's hard to deny that those first 2 games and Birth By Sleep weren't some of the greatest J-RPGs ever back in the day and hell they still hold up really damn well too.

This one is certainly a bit more clunky than the others, but still a lot of fun, the bosses were well designed and the story was solid too, very simplistic light vs dark story and not ridiculously over-convoluted. Yoko Shimomura's score always made exploring those vivid and colorful Disney worlds a treat as well. Truly a classic.

Um potencial gigantesco, porém mal aproveitado e problemas impossíveis de serem ignorados.
O primeiro jogo dessa grande e confusa frânquia tem muita personalidade, a ideia de viajar entre mundos da disney junto aos personagens de Final Fantasy, além de uma história original bem interessante, é muito do meu agrado, pois amo a disney, e tenho grande apresso por FF (mesmo ainda não sendo um grande conhecedor da IP).
A história me agradou bastante por mais simples que seja, ela é funcional e cativante, definitivamente não é algo extremamente coerente e com explicações lógicas, inclusive tem muitos "furos" e complicações que vieram a ser explicados ao longo da série, porém isso não atrapalha a experiência, pois amei a relação entre o grupo principal, os personagens são bem carismáticos, e o universo do game é MUITO RICO, os desenvolvedores tem quase um potencial infinito aqui.
Os mundos temáticos são bem simplificados em geral, infelizmente são pequenos e sem muito conteúdo, porém são maneirinhos, pois além de serem histórias de filmes clássicos, tem uma modificação pro Sora e seu grupo encaixarem nela, e eles sempre acabam fazendo amizades nessas jornadas; Além disso, eu nunca vou enjoar de quando o trio muda a skin pra ficar parecido com o mundo, sério, sempre que os personagens trocavam de roupa pra algo parecido com o universo daquele mundo, eu sorria genuinamente.
As músicas e as trilhas sonoras são INCRÍVEIS, extremamente boas de ouvir e muito marcantes.
Infelizmente após alguns elogios tenho que reclamar, esse jogo é MUITO quebrado, chega a ser irritante, tem muitas decisões de design extremamente questionáveis, além de controles bem ruins.
A jogabilidade desse game é muito problemática, os pulos são muito duros e imprecisos, e a movimentação do Sora é bem limitada, isso com o tempo vai irritando de uma forma absurda.
O combate não é algo incrível, mas é bem maneiro, porém a câmera atrapalha em alguns momentos contra mais de um inimigo.
Os menus são muito confusos, eu tive muito tempo de gameplay até começar a entender, e isso me tirou um pouco da imersão de experimentar táticas e mecânicas de combates novas.
A nave gummi é um LIXO, cara como eu odiei ter que viajar nessa coisa, é basicamente uma fase obrigatório para acessar os mundos, e o pior de tudo é que SEMPRE são ruins, é literalmente uma nave em um universo com um monte de fórmulas geométricas sem sentido, junto disso com vários modelos 3d aleatórios de objetos não identificados, com uma colaração de massinha e bichos extremamente genéricos te atacando, sério, era terrível.
Além disso a personalização da nave é extremamente confusa e nada autoexplicativa, parecia um protótipo de um jogo lego infantil.
Os mundos, como dito antes, são muito limitados, e isso é bem triste, o design dos mundos perde muito em detalhes e conteúdo, já que são extremamente pequenos, além disso, a cada 4 metros que você anda o jogo troca de tela, basicamente tem um mini loading pra entrar em outro cenário, tudo bem que é um jogo antigo, mas esse game foi lançado em um console que tiveram vários clássicos mais ambiciosos e maiores do que ele.
E por fim, o pior ponto desse jogo pra mim, ele não é NADA intuitivo, NADA, eu devo ter usado detonados em 60% ou mais da minha gameplay, além do jogo não te explicar exatamente o que tem que ser feito, o level design não te ajuda a entender sua próxima etapa, e isso é extremamente frustrante.
Ainda tem mais alguns probleminhas que me irritam no jogo, mas acho que já foi o suficiente pra entender; Infelizmente é um game com muitos problemas, que poderiam em geral terem sido evitados, mas ainda sim eu gostei do jogo, e fico feliz da frânquia ter crescido e ter virado algo grande, e não só um crossover entre FF e disney pra farmar uma grana

My rating for this primarily might be influenced by nostalgia, but having played through the whole game for my first time in over ten years I feel like I can only ever be wowed by the way in which it blends together the Final Fantasy and Disney elements with relative ease, yet that's also only a part of the fun that came by.

It feels like the perfect text for a JRPG, from the way in which it incorporates the worlds where every Disney characters inhabit would build an entire universe where they can co-exist with Final Fantasy characters and the like, but the roots of what I find makes Kingdom Hearts work as well as it does can only be brought down to the ways in which it instills that sense of wonder by allowing for that interaction with those figures whom we've only ever found ourselves loving as we grew up.

Some of the mechanics still are a bit rough (even in the Final Mix version, they show their age) and a few boss fights are relentlessly frustrating (the Ansem one-on-one has always been one of my least favourites as a kid), but I can't help myself when a game like this just brings back so many great memories from growing up.

I didn't play the first Kingdom Hearts until I played the second. My aunts co-worker in 2006 asked my aunt while at work what kind of things I liked. She then suggested I play Kingdom Hearts at the age of 11 as I was into Disney and Anime. Since then, I've been hooked on it and it's become one of my favourite game series. Overall, Kingdom Hearts is a solid game and a great entry into the open world of Kingdom Hearts. I would of course, suggest playing it before the second, unlike me lol. I'd rate it a solid 9/10

Trying to explain to my friends why this game is so compelling to me makes me feel like I'm going insane. On the surface it can look a bit rough, so it's hard to describe exactly what I see in it. It's a coming of age story, which isn't exactly uncommon, but the way it communicates the hostility of the world and the drifting of old friendships from a kid's perspective really resonates with me. Growing up is confusing, the world can feel hostile, and at the end of the day you might not have the chance to return to what you thought of as home. The way it's told can sometimes be a bit stilted and campy to the point of losing its charm (darkness, light, heart, key, etc), but the music, visual design, and gameplay all come together to make it work anyways. The Disney stuff walks a fine line between supporting that tone perfectly or destroying it in favor of brand recognition.

Beyond all of that, it's just really fun to play! This is peak PS2 era platforming level design! Playing through these worlds genuinely feels like exploring, even if it's a bit too easy to get lost in some of them. They're also just really fun places to fight in. The combat system is simple but engaging. There's a crazy amount of enemy variety and a steady progression of new abilities and items that keep it fresh throughout. The camera is your enemy more often than not (my fault for playing the original, I guess) and I really dislike the flying/swimming sections but any further complaints feel like nitpicks.

As a kid I only played Kingdom Hearts 2, so I didn't really know what to expect when I started playing this one in preparation for returning to 2. I enjoyed it way more than I expected! Not life changing like it might've been if I had played it when I was 10, but still very fun and touching. It definitely deserves to be revisited and remembered.

Years ago, when I first experienced the Kingdom Hearts series, I was not only befuddled by the absurdity of its concept, but to put it simply, I just did not understand what made the game special and why people loved it so much. The same perspective pervaded my mind throughout me playing most of the games in the series. Now that I have developed a more complex taste in games and matured, I decided to play through the entire series once more. The journey begins here.

Kingdom Hearts' first outing is decent enough to grab one's attention. Some of the series' outstanding qualities however are rooted in this game, such as the flawless music, satisfying combat and some of the best art direction in any game series. That being said, some of the series' glaring problems also start here, and definitely haunt this series all throughout.

The strenghts are what I noticed most, however. The combat is a tad bit janky, but it still feels very satisfying and there is a decent level of challenge and learning even to the easiest difficulty setting. The magic casting and item distribution are enjoyable due to how fluid and accessible the menus are. Menuing in this game is a total treat and by the halfway point, you will have muscle memory for casting healing and exchanging items in your stock. Kingdom Hearts shines at the technical and gameplay aspects.

The world design is in the middle ground for me. Platforming adds a bit of charm but it still feels very floaty and downright unecessary in some sections such as Monstro. That said, each world brings at least one unique twist, style or distraction to the game that is elevated by the legendary score composed for the game.

In the more negative side, the story is one of the most interesting concepts I have seen in any game. Looking past the fact it's a crossover between FINAL FANTASY and Disney characters, the story is two things. It is incomprehensible, horribly paced and one of the most generic I have ever experienced. At the same time, it is one of the most thematically rich stories in gaming, with lovable, complex characters and genuine emotional moments. Why is this? I really can't say, since I'm at the cusp of replaying the entire series with my goal being to understand how I feel about this.

All in all, Kingdom Hearts is a good introduction to this sprawling series. Althougth a bit janky by today's standards, it holds up with its music, gameplay and art. Despite my problems with the story and some of the world additions, I definitely see this game in a more positive light now.

Now, to continue my journey of discovery. All along, despite my complicated feelings, have I had an emotional connection to Kingdom Hearts? We'll see...

God, where do I even begin...

I played the hell out of Kingdom Hearts when it first came out, it was one of those games where I just felt compelled to do literally everything there is to do before putting it away. I was so excited to see where the story could go next, what they could do to build on the gameplay, and when Chain of Memories came out you can bet your ass I was there day one to find out.

Yeah, anyway, that was it for me!

It took me over a decade to get around to playing Kingdom Hearts 2, which I knew I needed to finally tackle as I was putting together my retro games bucket list. Of course, I also knew I couldn't just go in with a nearly 17-year distant memory of the original game and its plot, so I decided to sit down and get caught up by replaying the original Kingdom Hearts. And you know, I kinda see what I liked about this game, even if I don't think it totally holds up.

I shouldn't need to explain to anyone what the main conceit of this game is. The union of Final Fantasy and Walt Disney was every bit as bizarre back in 2002 as it is today (granted, the direct ties to Final Fantasy seem considerably scaled down in modern Kingdom Hearts), and it definitely gives this game a unique tone. As Sora, you jump between loose retellings of classic Disney movies with your pals Donald Duck and Goofy, interspersed with the most needlessly convoluted, angsty, nonsense that crazed visionary Tetsuya Nomura could divine. I'm still not sure I can properly articulate what the plot of Kingdom Hearts even is, and this is by far the most straight-forward entry in the entire franchise. All I know is Billy Zane wants to open the door to the titular Kingdom Hearts, and for that he needs your friend's youthful body and a bunch of broads.

Eschewing the (at the time) standard of turn-based combat the Final Fantasy series was best known for, Kingdom Hearts an action RPG, which means you hit things in real time with Sora's keyblade, which is both a key and a blade. I remember getting way into Kingdom Heart's combat, finding it to have a remarkable amount of depth with enough late game super-bosses to encourage grinding out experience and developing new strategies. Nowadays it seems pretty shallow and lacking in the same frenetic energy a lot of ARPG's are known for. Having to toggle between menu options while action is still happening around you often leaves you wide open, and a abysmal camera only makes it more likely you'll get beaned in the back of the head when you're trying to down a potion. The AI is total crap too, Donald and Goofy are either over-zealous with their use of items and spells, downright suicidal, or totally checked-out liabilities.

Thankfully, most of the bosses and combat encounters in this game are a cakewalk. The real challenge comes from confronting those optional super-bosses I mentioned, which account for some of the most unique fights in the game. I was convinced back in the day that no boss in any video game was as hard as Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts. I'm not sure I can even quantify the amount of attempts it took to finally beat him, nor could I adequately describe the smug sense of satisfaction I had when I finally pulled it off. Of course my assessment that he was the hardest ever of all time is hysterically wrong, and even later series super-bosses would outshine him as Square continued to ratchet the difficulty up to impossibly ridiculous heights, but that didn't stop him from becoming the bane of my existence yet again when I picked this game back up so many years later. I couldn't be happier. I actually felt compelled to slog through the tedium of finding trinity marks and forging the Ultima Weapon to do it, and while I do think years of playing ARPGs and better understanding how to build Sora made this a far more manageable experience, kicking his ass a second time just felt good. Easily the highlight of the game.

As a 34-year-old who is not suffering from Adult Disney Brain, I found myself a lot less immersed in the Disney worlds this time around, and a whole lot less patient of things like the Gummi Ship minigame. Most of my nostalgic investment in Kingdom Hearts is tied up in the more peculiar elements and plot threads than it is the novelty of seeing Tarzan or Jack Skellington. Level designs are also lackluster, requiring you to trudge through some uninteresting areas on loop as you check off a laundry list of busy work that I'm sure is intended to trick you into thinking these areas are bigger than they are by making them take longer to beat. The Tarzan level is an early indication that things are gonna get pretty rough, and by the time you get to Hollow Bastion you might find yourself audibly asking why anyone thought these dungeons would be fun to explore.

Kingdom Hearts is dated. It's silly. It's at times frustrating to play. But some excellent late-game bosses, insane story beats, and nostalgia kept me so invested that I mastered it all over again a decade-and-a-half later. No matter how much it shows its age now, or even over the next decade-plus, I'm sure I'll always find something to like about Kingdom Hearts.

I fell in love with gaming from this game. I'm not sure if I'll ever find a game series that means more to me. the platforming issues and some general roughness make it harder to play than more recent titles, but it's still worth it.

Please remember that you can bind magic and potions to the shortcut/quick commands so you don't have to dpad down the menus in combat. it's always been here. I hear one more complaint...i swear.

All of the characters are my babies. I grew up with them for a while, watching my sisters play before they would let me have the controller. Warm, gentle memories come to mind from this game.

A great start to a great series. This game takes what is probably the weirdest crossover you could possibly think of and blends it together to make a very fun action RPG. It's like Final Fantasy but more melodramatic, and Disney but more cartoonish. I love it.

I love how outlandish this universe is and this game is the catalyst to it. It is nowhere near as crazy as the most recent games are, but it's still practically bananas. It has an endearing plot with found family tropes and doing extraordinary things with your friends, two themes that are found very prevalent in this game's source materials. I am begging people to simply kill the part of them that cringes instead of killing the cringe, and just simply enjoy themselves.

Yoko Shimumura is a legend and this soundtrack reigns supreme. Utada is a saint, and Simple and Clean will always be a classic.

If I have any criticisms for this game, some of the level designs are bad and the game's platforming suffers because of it. I'm not talking about rope swinging in the jungle, but Sora's ass is a clunky mess and he is just unable to land on platforms without completely fumbling like an idiot. The combat can be a bit jank at times, especially aerial combat, but it's a perfectly respectable combat system for a first time entry to a series.

The Final Mix version of this game adds a ton of new content that is a worthy challenge for the most dastardly daring hard mode enthusiasts as well.

I found an old photo of myself at age 7 while visiting my parents several months ago. I was in a veggie tales T-shirt, wearing a paper crown, and holding a Playstation 2 copy of Kingdom Hearts. I don't remember if I requested the game myself after seeing a commercial for it, or if my parents got it for me because it looked like a cute Disney game. Somehow, it has been over 20 years since that birthday. The amount of times I have played Kingdom Hearts 1 is equivalent to my other all time favorites (shadow of the colossus, metroid prime etc). Simply looking at the box art freaks me out still. It's like getting a split second reminder of what it felt like to see this artwork as a 7 year old kid - 0 context as to what any of it represented. This might be one of my earliest memories I can recall where a specific piece of artwork captivated me this much. I even remember trying to trace the cover art with pencil and paper. I can feel the shape of Sora's hair and his jacket swaying behind him. The shapes and colors inspired me to want to draw. Am I an artist today because of this box art? the answer may SHOCK you.
The Kingdom Hearts series is joked about excessively these days. Most of the conversation is about how impossible to understand these games are (hot take: KH is not that complicated. If you can understand Metal Gear, you'll be fine).
I love Kingdom Hearts 1 because whenever I play it, it's like I'm back in my old bedroom - captivated in ways I didn't understand. As a child we don't stop and think "this level design is flawed" or "the melody of this tune is sublime and creates great atmosphere" - we just accept it, almost blindly. I think that's why nostalgia is powerful to me. I get to remember what it felt like to not absorb media exclusively through some kind of critical lens. "Nostalgia goggles" is often used as a negative term, but why do we shame ourselves for enjoying media simply based off the idea that we liked it growing up - therefore playing it as an adult elicits specific emotions and memories precious to us.
Kingdom Hearts 2 is the better game overall, but 1 has this specific texture to it that could not be replicated even by its superior sequel. I have no idea what I was thinking as a 7 year old during the weird and nightmare-like tutorial of Kingdom Hearts, but when I replay it as an adult, I feel like I'm able to physically manifest those memories, which is something few things are capable of. Movies and music can bring me back in a similar way, but unlike those (where I only utilize sight and hearing) I can physically reenact playing something that I played 20 years ago.
Sure I probably play it differently now, but to go back into this world, to control it, and to interact with it again is a type of nostalgia that's so specific to video games. I honestly believe it stirs the same part of my brain that visiting my old hometown does. Watching a childhood favorite movie or looking at old photos is one thing, but being somewhere physically evokes a stronger sense of "I was here once, and these things really happened". I'm on destiny island again. Riku is obliterating me again. That stupid ledge won't let me jump onto it and Riku is going to win this race again. I'm back in this world and interacting with it. I really played this in my veggie tales t-shirt and paper crown 20 years ago. I slowly learned that the "cool dude named cloud" was from a game called final fantasy 7, which inevitably lead me into discovering JRPGs as a whole genre. I watched Advent Children in shock as the "ninja girl from kingdom hearts" said cuss words.
Kingdom Hearts commonly refers to mysterious doors that need to be opened, which makes this analogy perfect. Kingdom Hearts opened so many doors into the medium of video games for me. I wanted more games like this. I wanted more weird and complex stories that felt magical and impossible. I even wanted to go outside with my friends more. I wanted the wooden sword from Medieval Times because I wanted to be like Sora. I wanted to be as optimistic as Sora. I wanted my friendships to be my power like Sora. I didn't think it was cheesy as a kid because I really believed in the validity of my experience and my feelings as a response to it. No shame or embarrassment. Not worrying about plot holes or the narrative stability of a video game story. It was real and I took it despite its flaws, just like any good friend would do for me.
Kingdom Hearts is a lot of things to me, but most importantly I think it's this physical thing I can latch onto to remind myself that my childhood was real. My feelings then were real and they have carried over into the present.
I'm a different person now than I was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, but whenever I go back to Kingdom Hearts, I know that my heart is still the same one that I had back in 2002. He's still here, and he helps me remember how far I've come, and that sometimes it's okay to go back for a while.

where to start? kingdom hearts has always kind of fascinated me as this absolutely insane idea to blend disney cinema with final fantasy characters and storytelling, an utterly bizarre clashing of styles that doesn't really work in the traditional sense, but in the kind of hot-topic mallgoth edgy snow white way that was very prevalent in the early 2000s. it's clearly chasing more of a teen demographic rather than a child demographic, with it's slightly more complex systems and labyrinthine narrative, but there's never really a point where it can transcend the strangeness of having goofy in the same frame as cloud, or donald saying stuff like "the keyblade" in that bizarre raspy voice.

but there's a charm to it all, especially in the segments that aren't just replaying a disney movie (although there is still a certain disney charm there too), where there's this earnest naivety, seeing the world through the eyes of a child and trying to break free from what you know into a wider expanse of questions and adventure, and trying to pick up the pieces of what is lost and turn it into something new. a game with so many twists and turns and yet it remains as simple as just being a story of trying to right by your friends, and forgiving those who've wronged you when they try their best to make it up to you. while not as impactful as something like final fantasy x (almost done that one too lmao) in it's coming of age narrative, there's still an ultimate sweetness here that i can't help but let carry me on to the ending, even through the variety of frustrations.

and by god are there frustrations. i'll start with some of the most obvious ones, the top of which being the horrible platforming which is relied upon far too heavily. while never really punishing the player too much for missing jumps (with the exception of hollow bastion my god), the platforming remains imprecise throughout the entire journey, and can just add to so much tedium in sections like deep jungle or monstro where the player constantly has to retry sections due to missing a single jump. there's also the ever presence of backtracking throughout the entire game, which in levels like monstro, deep jungle, or hollow bastion which also suffer from confusing layouts, can become hideously time consuming and grossly aggravating. there's also heavy difficulty spikes throughout the game, which i will say could just be me being terrible at the game, but especially in the ending section there were bosses that took me upwards of two full hours to beat. the gummi ship adds absolutely nothing to the game and just extends travel sections with mind-numbing shmup levels. the combat is fun, but lock-ons can be clunky at the best of times and i could never get the handle of healing animation times especially when facing multiple enemies that just shred your health leading to a simply overwhelming amount of times where it felt like the game simply killed me for no reason. there's a gem of something really interesting in the combat system, with it's mix of real time battling and turn-based style menus, but it never fully comes together leading to a system which turns more cumbersome than engaging when dealing with the more difficult enemies.

there's also the elephant in the room of what this project looks like in the modern day. as we've extended further into the multiverse industrial complex, i think it's really easy to look at this as a precursor to some of the most diabolical machinations of the current-day cultural machine. combining all of these marketable properties for brand synergy, hitting both the disney fan and final fantasy fan at once, throwing all of these things together to make a boatload of money. but because this is so early on in the obsession with multiverses, and because it does feel like it has a really distinct and idiosyncratic voice behind all of the madness, this never really feels like a spider-man: no way home (had to look up what that one was called) or the flash type of debacle where they're constantly pointing at things you recognize for a cheap dopamine rush. in the end, it really is that charm that pushes through it all and keeps me interested in where this all goes, no matter how utterly stupid it can all be.