mods used listed on my pastebin post, addendum regarding Steam release in comment

There’s a tendency in art, be it subconsciously or preemptively, to judge the first entry with the lofty expectations that have since permeated the public due to the success and improvements built/expanded/uplifted upon later entry - or entries - within that lineage. Not that this is a wrong way of approaching something, but it does mean that the first title’s idiosyncrasies and quirks are immediately scoffed at and treated as “obtrusive”, instead of something to work within the confines of and how those elements, specifically, play a part in the holistic quality of that outing to begin with. That said, things get critiqued for a reason; the camera, while not nearly as irksome as those would have you believe, has a tendency to work against the established structure of the dioramic, square(-adjacent) design of the screen in question. Take Monstro for example: normally within the Chambers, it follows within that design philosophy, many of the rooms being spacious in both horizontal and vertical space to allow for expansive range and control, as you worm your way through the digestive maze. Closing off, however, is the Stomach room, a large cylinder players would have to fight and platform in to reach the ‘throat’ of the whale, itself also being a tight circle of a room state. From this, the camera shifts and swerves wildly, resulting in lackadaisical direction and disorientation. It’s fine, but it’s a bit removed from the more tightly centered FOV and camera following from before. This isn’t an isolated incident, since similar room layouts cause these issues to begin with, such as in Deep Jungle’s rock climbing Waterfall room being tightly compacted in a large slate, or Neverland’s ship because Hook thought it would be funny to induce motion sickness by having everything so cramped and congested within the internals of the ship. Still, it’s not as if it’s a commonality within the game, and there’s ways to ameliorate it - between you and me, I wouldn’t exactly suggest using the Lock On at all times, helps cut down on the shifting nature.

The Lock On, as a use case, serves as a great transition to talk about a difference of approach in accordance to a lack of physical attributes starting off. See, utilizing the RPG half of the Action RPG moniker, I opted for a Proud Mode, Wand Boon/Sword Drop, with a starting Dusk journey… plainly speaking, Hard wherein XP procurements are pour in quicker on LV51 beyond, capped off by specializing in Magic over Strength. Due to the fact I was largely settling on more utility-driven abilities than pure offensive/defensive ones - my only defensive maneuver for a long while was Dodge Roll, and even Ripple Drive, an actual attacking move, is largely dictated and affected by how high my Magic stat currently is - this meant placing a lot more emphasis on passive->reactive stances within fights, a majority of which are rewarded and found from a mechanic called Tech Points. The matches against Tidus, Wakka, Selphie and Riku are great tutorials about the tools of the trade regarding spacing (executing the trigger range of Wakka’s short range attacks into either his back-dash attack launch or the spin reaction he does if too close), tells to activate an attack and trigger i-frame and/or any form of “break” within their assault (both Riku and Tidus have moves that activate an invuln period for Sora, as well as one move in particular activating a ‘stagger’ state to launch counterattacks on), and most importantly, actually allowing a stun period against these oppositions to begin with (Selphie has about two animation cycles regarding this, one attack reaction where she spins away after and recuperates, and another where she’s pushed back, already a slightly generous window made even better once the jump rope she’s holding bonks her on the head and lowers her guard more). With each newfound retort found, the game rewards you with TP, which in turn grants XP, which in turn bolsters your repertoire in the future. The Colosseum bouts against Yuffie, Leon, and Cloud are evolutions of these Destiny Island quartet, upon which you innately have a reaction form against them ahead of time - Yuffie’s spacial gap and priority on Shuriken tosses can be turned against her by locking onto Leon and swinging the Keyblade unto his direction, thereby attacking him and causing a stun, all the while you focus on minimizing her distance advantage as well as increase the pressure to prevent her from healing; Leon’s twirls, thrusts, and downward dive with his Gunblade are reminiscent of the jump rope attacks Selphie was doing prior, with similar timing and animation lengths to boot, and the added attack of his swift Fireball can quickly become a tool of your arsenal with a quick flick of the blade; Cloud is akin to the buckwild downpour states Riku and Tidus were dishing out, more precise and to the point comparatively yet nonetheless able to be blocked and counteracted, as well as indulging in suitable i-frame states from this. And, hey, if all else fails, taking lessons from Sora’s favorite Italian plumber and just jumping towards them willy nilly is as effective.

This isn’t just limited to those seven either, a majority of the bosses and enemies can be downsized on their threat level by making use of every component of this playstyle, and even they can use this against you. Jafar’s two phases both revolve around gap-closing and aerial meetup in either physical or elemental damaging, Hercules’ headcharge, the Soldiers’ spin cycle, and the Powerwilds’ leg sweeps can all be nulled by just counteracting it with an attack, Ursula Phase 2, Chernobog, Wizard (initially, more on this later) and some of Hades’s attacks put the pressure on staying back until a break in each allow for assault, and Cerberus, Kurt Zisa, Xemnas Unknown, and Sephiroth all incorporate all of this when going against them. Be they obvious ripostes or intuit response conclusions, you’d be surprised how many enemies - and, within the ruleset and engagement factor, the player in question - can be thrown for a swerve when approached by something that isn’t under the (unintuitive) mantra of “Mash Attack Button Repeatedly” akin to a low level understanding of Devil May Cry’s workings. In fact, I wanna go back to something I had brought up prior - it seems as if some people forget that the RPG portion of the formula isn’t just for influencing what abilities you get, or a soft reminder to check for resistances, or the fact that you actually go into the settings and change the behavioral state of Donald & Goofy for each given situation, lest you fall for bandwagon memes jabbered by poor, unfortunate souls. The MP bar, alongside being a modular mechanic that rewards action and engagement of an enemy (with passive reaction from damage coming later), is a sliding scale that influences the intensity of each spell’s might, which in turn means chillin in the back and just launching fireballs, not to mention how this further enhances a Summon’s power and time allocation. Each of said spells available on the kit also function differently, having a dedicated niche that doesn’t underplay their own strengths or overplay another’s. Fire’s single-shot covers up to a mid-range hori/verti distance while boasting a soft tracking hone, Blizzard’s shotgun blast is an all-rounding tool covering each of the difference between you and an enemy, Thunder’s box AoE and its capabilities to target any enemy, anywhere, makes it the absolute best case for any upcoming threats, Cure and Stop are self-explanatory and become even better when paired with Leaf Bracer (ability that grants invulns for that casting period) and Gravity’s percentage-based damage output optimized to its full power on even numerous bosses, and Aero’s fantastic defense both on the outset and with subsequent upgrades is a mainstay the moment you obtain it.

If there’s any advice for this game, and all KH games after, it’s this: never, ever, neglect the effectiveness and usage of your magic. Put all of these together, equip any necessary items to bolster whatever stat you desire, combine with Keyblade innately providing shorter or longer reaches on top of their benefits, and you have an ARPG that wonderfully incentivizes experimentation and its coexistence of interactivity statuses within not only the combat field, but outside of it. A Sliding Dash onto an unsuspecting foe leads to either a Thunder or a full combo for maximum Ripple Drive damage; launching Fire repeatedly onto Captain Hook to activate a trigger state of him running around with his ass on fire, while de-prioritizing him and re-oriented the target onto a Battleship that’s entered the field and pelt it with Gravity on its mast; get Cloud into a state of neutrality, then unleash the Stop Wombo Combo, in tandem with Ars Arcanum and its related Attack Techniques being nigh unblockable; have Goofy’s shield and/or your Fire/Ice magic on deck to counteract a Defender’s prep assault force, thereby exploiting their soft spots and dishing damage; Aerora/ga, the upgraded forms, allows for an ongoing tick damage rate when near an enemy('s weak point), which in turn finally allows whittling of the aforementioned Wizard during their Thunder casting; Blizzard upon the candles of Traverse Town, or the Blazers in Olympus, or the stove within Wonderland, or the bubbles in Hollow Bastion to allow for an (de-)activation state of whatever is being utilized for personal reward - and in the case of Wonderland, completely void Trickmaster’s baton ignition states; that’s just a few immediate examples I can think of, and I haven’t even mentioned some of my favorite enemy interactables regarding Invisible and Fat Bandit. While I surely made use of it, by the time I had unlocked Guard, I had to remind myself I even had it equipped, since everything I just listed had me prepped and aware of anything that I’ll face in the future.

Of course, all of this is under the assumption you will be on flat, solid ground level, which isn’t always the case. This is where the secret sauce of being a dope 3D platformer comes into play, since the verticality and various fractal design of both the floor and the height of obstacles to climb/avoid. Sora’s kit regarding these are all finely-tuned to not provide too much trouble, incorporating a hefty jump with decent momentum and inertia carry from however and wherever he was moving from. Traverse Town is a known example of each new Shared ability adding on to the movement arsenal, and Hollow Bastion is the full realization of it by delving into puzzle solving, leaping across various platforms and holdovers to traverse the facility’s grounds, the first three worlds I had mentioned back at the beginning can also be used as examples of what I mean when it comes to combat, but I’ll throw a curveball and instead praise Atlantica, a great world thrown under fire for being completely different from its brethren. Since it’s an underwater world and you got transformed into a mermaid, swings feel and hit in a lot more basic manner than before… which in turn, highly encourages magic usage in order to even the playing field. With each of the areas’ depth being intertwined by either a rising or sinking floatility, magic becomes the de-facto answering call when going against a group of enemies, and it becomes much more important to refactor Keyblade reaches or Strength boosts, as well as Donald’s AI properties for offensive spell casting, in order to call for the times you do need to get back to hitting things. As said earlier, Blizzard’s shotgunning and Thunder’s reign makes mincemeat of damn near anything that’ll stand in your way no matter where and how enemies are positioned, and even Ursula and her two hencheels aren’t so bad since they, too, are also affected by magic to a fair degree. The backtracking structure of this world - and really, most of the world in general - isn’t even a bother, since the conveyance and signposting are all in great shape and there’s barely anything that fluffs the actual exploration bits other than early Synthesis grinds. By the time I reached the end of this world, about 35 minutes had passed, and that’s even including the few deaths I procured in Ursula. As a whole, and even discounting my heavy experience with this title, I’d genuinely be shocked if people somehow managed to almost triple, let alone double, that length for every single world to begin with!

Truthfully, there’s a lot I can talk about regarding Kingdom Hearts, both its overarching reach and longevity, and the first game’s offset nature in combination of multiple different ideas blending together in ways not even its own series has 100% captured again. Tetsuya Nomura usually, and understandably, gets all the credit (and unrightful scorn of detached naysayers), but I think there’s a lot his team has done in order to help make the dream possible - in one case, Daisuke Watanabe, who not only helped write for most of the series, but was likely one of the key factors into giving this title’s mainly unique tone of melancholy and apocalyptic doom, having done Threads Of Fate and Final Fantasy 10 prior. The fractured mind and disparity of a trio torn asunder by forces beyond control or understanding, with many reveals and illumination of a covered past retroactively giving even greater weight to the narrative now than it ever was nearly 22 years prior. All this, and I’m still discovering unique attributes and ideas most ARPGs have yet to actually match. That’s the power of heart, baby.

A really cool ARPG battle system that I felt I used to it's full extent by the end of my Proud difficulty playthrough. At times I felt like I was playing Shin Megami Tensei, what with dying in 2-3 hits and needing to cast defensive magic constantly to offset it. Way past the point of no return I was begging for an option to switch difficulty mid-playthrough. It's a shame that the options seem to be 'extremely easy' or 'ball-bustingly hard'.

Graphics and effects are gorgeous, perfectly marries the Disney & Squaresoft aesthetic which helps sell the story as well. A perfectly fitting narrative for a kid's game by framing Sora's childlike wonder as a literal force for good with the light/dark analogy. Also appeals to adults who have long lost sight of their inner child; Riku is so dead-set on growing up that he caves in to negativity (Darkness) as a means to an end. A perfect analogy for a game matching universe-ending stakes with Disney cartoons.

Despite never playing this growing up I still think this game is quite special and it makes me wish I knew more about this series before I decided I was too old for it, at least before real adulthood replaced puberty and I got over that.

I was so very wrong about this game for so long. I always thought this game was a very clunky first attempt, but nah I was not giving this game nearly as much credit. This game is wonderful, though I still have some issues.

My main issue originally was the clunky feeling combat, and while I don't think its as good as what comes later, this game has a super fun combat system. I also thought difficulty was a little weird, which I also feel I was wrong about.

The one issue I do think remains is that some areas are weirdly confusing to get through for no reason. Deep Jungle and Atlantica are absolutely the worst, though multiple areas I also remembered being bad were actually a breeze this time around.

Replaying this game was really comforting. It sent me back to me playing this game in 2018 while I was still a freshman in high school. It felt weird to be nostalgic for a game I didn't love all that much originally, but this series is special man.

There's a lot to talk about in this game. We could talk about the iconic hero's journey Sora goes through. We could talk about how this game effortlessly combines Final Fantasy and Disney into a cohesive story. We could talk about how the levels in this game are so well made with a shit ton of secrets that you could find for the first time in your 5th playthrough. We could talk about how there's different cutscenes depending on the order you play through the worlds. We could talk about how beautifully this game comes together with the combat and story to make something truly special.

Nah, let's just dismiss it cuz it has Disney characters and that's lame. (:

genuinely embarrassing!

there are so many levels on which this game is bad that i can't even be bothered to organize them into one paragraph so i'm just gonna write some bullet points

- horrible level design (worlds only have 2-3 areas each, some worlds like the deep jungle are so barren that the game needs to stretch them thin and repeatedly send you back and forth across the same locations)
- complex, demanding platforming sections and obscenely high encounter rates in the same rooms
- willing to pull a bunch of disney properties together but do nothing interesting with them and instead just have you reenact their events but with sora/donald/goofy awkwardly standing in the background
- ship building mechanics are poorly explained, gummi ship piloting itself is stiff and boring
- jarring character animation that switches between fluid hand-animated scenes and MMO slop quest dialogue sequences in a matter of seconds

i would be shocked if the game did something to sway my opinion by this point

¿Qué decir de Kingdom Hearts que no se haya dicho ya? Pues que es una de las franquicias que más han influido a una generación entera, a tener un estilo tan único que es altamente reconocible incluso para gente no metida en el mundo de los videojuegos y una de las mejores bandas sonoras que se han hecho jamás. La saga habrá perdido el rumbo y habrán enrevesado la historia y todo lo que queráis, pero su primera entrega fue todo un bombazo. Incluso su historia me parece fantástica, puesto que aún no habíamos entrado en el terreno pantanoso en el que se metieron después.

Una trama que mezcla a la perfección los mundos Disney con nuestros personajes y los de FF, hay una homogeneidad real y no siento que los personajes sean unos puñeteros intrusos que han sido colocados en las propias cinemáticas de las películas de mala manera como en KH3. No hay ni un sólo mundo que siga a rajatabla los sucesos de su respectiva película y adapta la trama o crea una nueva para que se integre en el universo KH, con los sincorazón y con Sora y compañía.

Por otro lado, la gente echa mucha mierda del sistema de combate, que se siente mucho más ortopédico que lo que después se conseguiría en posteriores entregas, y he de decir que tienen razón pero no del todo. Si el sistema era ortopédico, es más por la cámara que por otra cosa, porque el sistema de bloqueos, parrys y técnicas es muchísimo más complejo de lo que sería después. En KH1 cada golpe que des importa y es mejor medirlos para coordinar perfectamente ciertas acciones, mientras que en otras entregas es más un machacabotones en el que de vez en cuando aparecen comandos de acción. Por eso, cuando entendí el sistema de combate en uno de mis replays, lo supe apreciar incluso más que el de futuras entregas. Sí, no voy a ser hipócrita, es muchísimo más divertido el sistema de KH2 por ejemplo, pero no le quita mérito al experimento que intentaron en KH1.

Y bueno... La banda sonora de Yoko Shimomura es, si no el mejor, de los mejores trabajos que ha hecho en su carrera. Dominar con esa majestuosidad todos y cada uno de los temas de disney que le traen y adaptarlos para que se integren y funcionen en el juego es de otro puto planeta. Pero es que, lejos de que las composiciones de Disney son brillantes, no son NI DE LEJOS lo mejor de la OST. Porque la gente podría decir: "No, es que ya tiene medio trabajo hecho porque los compositores de disney ya hicieron en su momento esas bandas sonoras" y yo pensando: "Es completamente al revés". Al no tener esa libertad creativa y estar limitada en esas OST's, tiene muchísimo más mérito el haber hecho que se integren y funcionen haciendo los cambios justos para que se siga manteniendo la esencia de cada mundo disney. Pero es que luego escuchas las composiciones propias de KH y... Chapeau. Siempre he dicho que es mi compositora favorita, por encima de los compositores de películas y demás, porque con cada una de sus piezas consigue evocarme un sentimiento, un nudo en la garganta y que se me sobrecoja el corazón.

Adoro los primeros Kingdom Hearts, más allá de la nostalgia, porque por culpa de KH3, renegué de la franquicia del cabreo que me pillé. Pero me forcé a ir rejugándolos durante estos años y... Siguen siendo fantásticos.

"Remember, Sora. You are the one who will open the door to the light."

Sim vadias, eu chorei com jogo de criança.

Meu primeiro contado com a série Kingdom Hearts foi no terceiro game, não tinha entendido absolutamente nada então foi uma péssima primeira impressão.

Quando finalmente decidi começar do início, o estrago foi feito. Simplesmente encantador, cada momento desse game é delicioso, Tetsuya Nomura você é O cara.

Ele simplesmente misturou Disney e Final Fantasy e acabou criando uma das maiores franquias de RPG que eu já tive o prazer de jogar.

Acredito que mtos não levam a sério a franquia por se tratar de personagens da Disney, bom, não sabem oq estão perdendo. O game é um ótimo RPG, inclusive bem desafiador em diversos momentos dependendo da dificuldade escolhida, se misturar com universo Disney só torna tudo mais mágico.

Se você é uma dessas pessoas, apenas de uma chance que garanto que vai se divertir.

Even after all these years, I still find the idea of a crossover between Final Fantasy and Disney actually existing to be one of the weirdest things in video games. It is such a weird concept, yet has spawned a 10+ game long series!

At this point Kingdom Hearts may be my most replayed game next to Bloodborne. This was my 6th playthrough I think, and I like it more and more every time I play it! I think it has to do with how the game rewards your knowledge with it. There are secrets spread everywhere around the many worlds you explore, and by this point I know each world really well. It is one of those few games I know the entire layout of in my head.

The gameplay of this game however is very hard to go back to, especially after how much it improves with KH2. Even so I have a soft spot for the simplicity of this game's combat even if it comes down to spamming attack and sometimes casting a Gravity here and there. It definitely isn't as flashy as the series eventually gets but I find it relaxing to fight and grind for all the different materials needed to create the Ultima Weapon.

Speaking of, I really enjoy how this game does its post game! I am one of those who actually enjoys the process of getting synthesis materials. I really like how there are hidden gimmicky minibosses you have to defeat to get some of the materials, it adds some variety to an otherwise very samey combat system. The superbosses are also a very cool addition, and gives you something to actually use the Ultima Weapon on as by the time you've crafted it you'll already be 95% through the game.

I think a majority of the fun I could have had with this game was lost when I decided to play it on proud mode, because this game does not feel like it was meant to have a hard mode. It wasn't too bad at the start, but the final 10 hours or so was just filled with incredibly stupid deaths and bosses that have moves that do an insane amount of damage and are hard to dodge. A few of the bosses do feel like they benefit from being made harder, but then I regret everything again when I got to that one hallway at the end where it felt like enemies never stop spawning while a door slowly opened. That hall was probably the most I died in a single room, and none of those deaths felt fair in the slightest.

What a damn good time.
The writing and story is cheesy/anime as all hell, probably expected with a crossover like this, but it's so entertaining al lthe same that it somehow works. The game in general has a whimsical tone to it that I really dig. The gameplay itself is also quite good, tho it can feel a bit off-putting early on thanks to the lack of stuff like the dodge roll. Also certain bosses and worlds were just a pain in the butt, looking at you Ansem and Atlantica, ugh.
But yeah, this was a treat and I'm glad I finally got to experience it properly.

This is the first time I'm playing a Kingdom Hearts game and naturally I decided to get into this franchise at the beginning.
Unfortunately, this game hasn't aged well, and it shows. The controls are janky, the camera often fails to show enemies, and the vertical view is nonexistent, so if an enemy has the high ground on you, you will never see them. These camera issues frequently result in being hit by off-screen enemies.
The biggest issue by far is the game design. You often have no idea what to do or where to go. Characters hint at directions a few times, but most of the time, the way forward is blocked by a cutscene in an unknown location. You end up exploring every possible location and corner in a room because the game doesn't differentiate between interactable and non-interactable objects. This makes solving puzzles and finding a way forward frustrating.
Platforming is another huge pain point, showing the game's age. It's unclear which platforms are within reach, and the delay in Sora's jump, combined with the poor camera angles, creates a horrible experience while platforming.
That being said, the game has a lot of heart (pun intended). It looks pretty good despite its age, the characters are very likable, and the world is beautiful. The level and boss designs are incredible, offering a variety not often seen even today. The music is incredible, and the world is amazing to get invested in.
The story is incredible, and that's what this game offers more than anything. It's the main reason to consider playing it—the incredible story. The game also has deep mechanics that add to the difficulty, but due to the aforementioned issues, I ended up sticking to the main story. Despite wanting to explore more of the world and its amazing characters, the experience was hindered by the game's flaws.

Just recently replayed this one, and honestly, it's still one of the strongest in the series. While I think KH2 outshines it, I think KH3 is a bit of a step down, and I'll tell you why. While combat in KH3 is way more fun, KH1 shines in it's other aspects. The Disney worlds actually tie in to this game's overarching story. While that seems like it's not very important, it makes the game feel like a real universe, and every game after this just makes the Disney worlds filler, and it's pointless. But KH1 just has so much charm. So many interactable things in each world, so much character building from the main cast, it's all so much and adds to the charm. It's wonderful, and a great opening to one of the best game series ever. Also the magic system is way better in this game than the other ones. Not sorry.

Not sure how many times I've beaten this game, but it's one of the few that keeps me coming back to it. I've hit quite the slump mentally, especially when it comes to beating games, and all I could think about is KH. It's always been there for me as a kid, as a teen, and now, in my early adulthood. The game means a lot to me; it'll always have a special place in my heart. Honestly, I'm just yearning for more, lol. With that out of the way, let's talk about the platinum journey.

Negatives: the grindy parts. SCREW THAT! That's all I have to say, lol. I honestly quite enjoyed it for the most part. Gummi Ships got quite frustrating, mainly because I couldn't get certain blueprints to drop. Luckily, I wasn't required to get them all on the PS4 version (wish me luck when I attempt the PS3 version...). I quite enjoyed playing the game on Proud Mode for the first time, and hey, I actually improved a lot. Bosses I used to have so much trouble with when I played on Standard went down pretty fast. Guess I finally know what I'm doing, lol. I just really hated parts of Deep Jungle, Neverland, and don't get me started on Atlantica.

The speedrun, no equipment change, and no death run trophies—I did them all on Beginner. Honestly, it wasn't until The End of the World that I had a relatively easy but challenging time with it. It makes me want to attempt an actual speedrun if I'm being honest. I was pretty proud of myself that I was able to pull this off in such a short time. Other than that, I don't know what else to say. I mean, I've been playing this game for years now. I just freaking love it. End message.