Growing up I always felt this was one of my favorite games, but it did not age well.
Playing this game recently, the controls force you to hold the controller with crab grip if you play on max difficulty. Most of the game is pretty easy up until one of the final bosses which is extremely hard to the point where you have to play perfectly.
The story is still good though.
Playing this game recently, the controls force you to hold the controller with crab grip if you play on max difficulty. Most of the game is pretty easy up until one of the final bosses which is extremely hard to the point where you have to play perfectly.
The story is still good though.
I remember playing a copy I borrowed from a friend. Then somehow deleting that save right before he needed it back. I was at the end of Hollow Bastion. It was completely demoralizing, but I wanted to finish it. I loved to combat and the goofiness of the story. It was simple and clean (see what I did there?). It wasn't the bloated mess that Kingdom Hearts is today, ah simpler times.
"mom, can i get the game with the boy that wears clown shoes"
The Disney part of Kingdom Hearts is not "filler", you absolute lunatics. Even if it feels like Square Enix themselves are treating it that way now, the Disney stuff is core to the whole series' appeal, and none of the future games do it quite as rightly as Kingdom Hearts 1. It is a big, goofy action platformer that beautifully captures what it means to be young, and to be honest I'm getting sick of people trashing the combat for being a step behind KH2. I tried letting Warcraft 3 be my 2002 Game of the Year. I really, truly did. Every time I looked at that list, it made me sad, and I will commit this logical dishonesty no further. If for no other reason than the pure artistic audacity of its very existence, Kingdom Hearts is the best thing that happened to video games in 2002.
This is by far the best game in the series. This game has the most unique feel and the best story in the series (also the only actual fantasy game in the series). They seriously could have ended the series with this game and it would have been great.
I used to just blindly grief this series for no reason. Then I played through the first game so I could form an actual opinion. And my opinion is...the game is decent enough. I had some fun with it, but nothing that made me want to ever go back to it again. I can admit to giving this an unfair shake originally, but I don't see some stellar franchise that this seemingly became, either.
Absolutely batshit crazy. Actual gameplay is fun enough until it gets into platforming sections. The story is... I don't even know. I don't even know what it is. It's wild and I kind of love it. Excited to play the rest of them for the actual first time (I played this one when I was a kid.
WHEN YOU WALK AWAY
How is this an actual existing thing, and who asked for this?
I cant wrap my head around the appeal of this at all, sorry fanboys
I cant wrap my head around the appeal of this at all, sorry fanboys
It's not offensively bad or anything but pretty unremarkable now adays by most standards. The level design especially just feels like it is actively wasting your time.
Que me guste muchisimo este juego no quita que haya envejecido como una mierda. En esta época Nomura aún no tenía problemas graves con el alcohol pero se iba preveyendo.
este es mi mejor juego de todos los tiempos la mejor jugabilidad la mejor historia amo a todos los personajes y ama la música es para siempre la mejor persona no aburrida
i liked how squall was in this
The aesthetics of Square Enix and Disney being combined surprisingly creates something really cool and unique, and it only gets better with future entries in the series. Doesn't really play all that great, especially compared to what comes next, but there's no wonder so many people were forever captivated by this series starting here.
Simple and Clean is an all time bop.
Simple and Clean is an all time bop.
literally no other game has had a cracked out concept like this one and it's insane
this game is rough but a very nice foundation for the rest of the series. giving it a 10 because i still really enjoyed it outside its flaws and think what this game has to offer outweighs the stuff i dislike.
This game aged like ass but I thought it was cute and charming.
The only game in the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise where you might think Haley Joel Osment is a passable voice actor
This game's just not very good. But it's VERY charming, and that counts for something.
Why do people say this shit is good what the fuck. This whole series is just embarrassingly bad, the one star is because I saw some characters I recognised and clapped.
The beginning into the depths of hell for me.
It's really not aged well, especially when you've got 2 right there. I remember enjoying at a lot at the time, but it's such a slog to play through with the advancements that've been made since.
this game did not age well at all but MAN did my 12 year old version of me enjoy it
I tried my best.
como dijo el pato donal: "sora tenemos que rescatar el corazon oscuro de riku vamos oh no sora estas cayendo en la oscuridad aaa xXxSoRaXx" also aparece winnie poo
ha envejecido peor que yo pero es el kindom jars
Hace años, cuando aún existían los videoclubs, llegué yo con toda la inocencia característica de una temprana edad y vi este juego en la estanteria y no veía motivos para no alquilarlo, salía Goofy y el prota parecía llevar una llave muy tocha. Lo siguiente que pasó es que un tren de sentimientos me arrolló el corazón con toda la potencia que Nomura quiso darle y ese fin de semana jugando a este juego fue uno de los mejores que recuerdo.
watched my sister play. looked homosexuall
While I feel this game is definitely held down by some flaws and shouldn't be taken very seriously, it was still a really good and very enjoyable game.
First off, I don't really care too much for some complicated, intertwined Kingdom Hearts canon spread across many bizarrely-titled releases. I don't care for some extensive lore that a lot of people seem to take quite seriously. But as a Disney meets Final Fantasy crossover where an anime boy ventures through different Disney realms to save the world, I really enjoyed it. I think the whole framework is a little too silly to really take deeply seriously (because any world where Sephiroth exists alongside Winnie the Pooh and Danny Devito as a grumpy satyr, and the storyline involves Micky Mouse sealing away a dark horde of anime creatures is going to have some dissonance if you try to make a cohesive serious narrative about it), but, for me at least, when you just look at it as anime boy teams up with Donald and Goofy to tour through worlds inspired by Disney movies to be an anime hero and save the universe it's charming and compelling enough.
But now that I've given my thoughts on the framework of the game, it's time to look at everything else. While the platforming can be a little awkward sometimes, and the camera can have some issues (and it was weird at first to use shoulder buttons instead of a second stick, though it became natural to me), the general gameplay is quite good. Battles feel great. They've got an all-out brawl sort of feel with all of the real-time enemies fighting you and your partners at the same time, with some generally great target locking, a good sense of proper mobility and a good mix of physical attacking and magic abilities. It's a running joke that Donald won't heal you, but at least for me, whenever I was in trouble and my partners were available, they were pretty effective at helping me out when I needed it. And while it took me a little while to get used to it, the UI in this game is solid. The menus work well and the Attack/Magic/Item/Misc. system works well.
While some of the Disney universes you visit might not feel like some of the more iconic ones given how limited the amount of them are, they do a generally great job at designing great levels around them all. It would've been nice to have a few more worlds to visit, but I don't really count that as a flaw. This game in its current state did take me around 40 hours to complete, so while at the time I kind of wished I could visit a few more worlds, I think it works fine for the game's length. I think I just wanted to see what else the game could have to offer potentially. The songs in the game weren't generally quite as great as some of my favorite soundtracks but they work fine. I do remember a lot of them, but it would be nice if some of them had a little more personality and character to them. The soundtrack is no Final Fantasy VII.
And one thing I really liked about the game is that it had a sizable "home-stretch." When the Hollow Bastion opened up, I was worried the game would be over too soon, that all the progress I'd made would lead to an ending that wrapped up too quickly. But I was wrong and that was very satisfying. With both the amount of enemies that you had to get through in between boss encounters and events, and the grinding that (at least for me) I was forced to do to prepare the proper experience for leveling up and Munny for items for bosses I struggled with, the "home-stretch" feels properly padded out in length. Plenty of bosses to get through and enemies in between.
Don't get me wrong, this game is quite good, and I do recommend it, but I did have a few more gripes with it compared to my personal favorites. I've already gone over a few, but there are a few others. The Winnie the Pooh levels weren't something I enjoyed much. The way they were set up didn't play well with me. While generally the animation is really quite good, especially for the time, there are some instances in cutscenes where some of the actions characters do look a little weird. It's definitely not theatrical Disney quality. This is especially true when they try to do cartoonish actions. Sometimes it feels a little constrained in how things can't move as freely as if they were drawn. And then there are examples like a scene where Donald gets flattened on a wall when a door opens. He looks like a flat version of his standing character model, where it would've been funnier if his arms and legs were out-stretched. And while I liked how padded out the "home-stretch" was and the final boss felt padded out well as well in terms of length, it felt like some of the bosses I faced on the way to get here were a little more challenging. Maybe it has to do with leveling, and maybe I just got better at the game. I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that difficulty-wise I had faced harder before, if not in terms of sheer length. Also I didn't care much for the Gummi Ship segments at all. I put barely any attention into my Gummi Ship's construction and I barely understood what any of it meant besides shoot the obstacles, collect the things, and don't die. I was really glad when I got the Warp Drive so I didn't have to bother.
But time for my overall verdict. It didn't sell me on taking its universe as seriously as hardcore fans have, but for what it is as a singular game I really enjoyed it and really recommend it. It's not as polished as some other games I've played, and it does better in some areas than others, but it's still overall a really good game that's really fun to play. I'd recommend it even to people who aren't the type to get really into its extensive universe I know nothing about. I have a few gripes with it, but none big enough to really hurt my opinion of the game overall. I'd personally say play it if you haven't, even if it mostly appeals to the demographic that already loves it.
First off, I don't really care too much for some complicated, intertwined Kingdom Hearts canon spread across many bizarrely-titled releases. I don't care for some extensive lore that a lot of people seem to take quite seriously. But as a Disney meets Final Fantasy crossover where an anime boy ventures through different Disney realms to save the world, I really enjoyed it. I think the whole framework is a little too silly to really take deeply seriously (because any world where Sephiroth exists alongside Winnie the Pooh and Danny Devito as a grumpy satyr, and the storyline involves Micky Mouse sealing away a dark horde of anime creatures is going to have some dissonance if you try to make a cohesive serious narrative about it), but, for me at least, when you just look at it as anime boy teams up with Donald and Goofy to tour through worlds inspired by Disney movies to be an anime hero and save the universe it's charming and compelling enough.
But now that I've given my thoughts on the framework of the game, it's time to look at everything else. While the platforming can be a little awkward sometimes, and the camera can have some issues (and it was weird at first to use shoulder buttons instead of a second stick, though it became natural to me), the general gameplay is quite good. Battles feel great. They've got an all-out brawl sort of feel with all of the real-time enemies fighting you and your partners at the same time, with some generally great target locking, a good sense of proper mobility and a good mix of physical attacking and magic abilities. It's a running joke that Donald won't heal you, but at least for me, whenever I was in trouble and my partners were available, they were pretty effective at helping me out when I needed it. And while it took me a little while to get used to it, the UI in this game is solid. The menus work well and the Attack/Magic/Item/Misc. system works well.
While some of the Disney universes you visit might not feel like some of the more iconic ones given how limited the amount of them are, they do a generally great job at designing great levels around them all. It would've been nice to have a few more worlds to visit, but I don't really count that as a flaw. This game in its current state did take me around 40 hours to complete, so while at the time I kind of wished I could visit a few more worlds, I think it works fine for the game's length. I think I just wanted to see what else the game could have to offer potentially. The songs in the game weren't generally quite as great as some of my favorite soundtracks but they work fine. I do remember a lot of them, but it would be nice if some of them had a little more personality and character to them. The soundtrack is no Final Fantasy VII.
And one thing I really liked about the game is that it had a sizable "home-stretch." When the Hollow Bastion opened up, I was worried the game would be over too soon, that all the progress I'd made would lead to an ending that wrapped up too quickly. But I was wrong and that was very satisfying. With both the amount of enemies that you had to get through in between boss encounters and events, and the grinding that (at least for me) I was forced to do to prepare the proper experience for leveling up and Munny for items for bosses I struggled with, the "home-stretch" feels properly padded out in length. Plenty of bosses to get through and enemies in between.
Don't get me wrong, this game is quite good, and I do recommend it, but I did have a few more gripes with it compared to my personal favorites. I've already gone over a few, but there are a few others. The Winnie the Pooh levels weren't something I enjoyed much. The way they were set up didn't play well with me. While generally the animation is really quite good, especially for the time, there are some instances in cutscenes where some of the actions characters do look a little weird. It's definitely not theatrical Disney quality. This is especially true when they try to do cartoonish actions. Sometimes it feels a little constrained in how things can't move as freely as if they were drawn. And then there are examples like a scene where Donald gets flattened on a wall when a door opens. He looks like a flat version of his standing character model, where it would've been funnier if his arms and legs were out-stretched. And while I liked how padded out the "home-stretch" was and the final boss felt padded out well as well in terms of length, it felt like some of the bosses I faced on the way to get here were a little more challenging. Maybe it has to do with leveling, and maybe I just got better at the game. I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that difficulty-wise I had faced harder before, if not in terms of sheer length. Also I didn't care much for the Gummi Ship segments at all. I put barely any attention into my Gummi Ship's construction and I barely understood what any of it meant besides shoot the obstacles, collect the things, and don't die. I was really glad when I got the Warp Drive so I didn't have to bother.
But time for my overall verdict. It didn't sell me on taking its universe as seriously as hardcore fans have, but for what it is as a singular game I really enjoyed it and really recommend it. It's not as polished as some other games I've played, and it does better in some areas than others, but it's still overall a really good game that's really fun to play. I'd recommend it even to people who aren't the type to get really into its extensive universe I know nothing about. I have a few gripes with it, but none big enough to really hurt my opinion of the game overall. I'd personally say play it if you haven't, even if it mostly appeals to the demographic that already loves it.
An All Time Classic. I didn't actually get to play this game until 2009. I had played through KH2 multiple times when I got it as a birthday present back when it first came out in 2006 though. I had always wanted to get into Kingdom Hearts, even back when KH1 was still playing in commercials, but never got it. I remember asking for it as a christmas gift as well. But it's a charming game that, while clunky and dated by today's standards, is still amazing fun that you can truly only experience as a kid growing up in the 2000's.