Classic, one of my favorites, but its dated.
The game that developed my childhood, got me into Final Fantasy and pulled me deeper into my Disney craze, Sora and Riku will soar forever in my heart.
there's no way you're taking kairi's heart
played all of the games that lead up to kh3 to get a grasp of the story, but ended up becoming one of my faves of all time! no nostalgia goggles just plain goodness. even as a non-disney fan this shit slaps!!
great start to a series
This was a tricky one. At one point I took a step back and questioned whether I was actually enjoying any of this.
I’ll start with some of the things that contributed to this frustration. The platforming is stiff and unreliable. The camera is slow to control and rests so close to the ground that judging distance to enemies is tricky, which you then end up punished for if you miss a hit as a result. Plot progression in some worlds is trial and error, backtracking to every possible room in the hope that something has changed. The gummi ship building is the worst thing I’ve ever attempted to interact with in recent memory, and the world to world travel in the ship is dull. Combat against multiple enemies has you fighting the lock on and camera just as hard. The game can feel like an absolute grind, with worlds just chucking wave after wave of Heartless in each room (the things I endure to open a chest with a measly potion in it) - this wouldn’t bother me as much if the combat loop wasn’t so sluggish.
Ok I know a lot of this jank can be attributed to its era, and it being the first in the series. I’m also aware that the final mix version would’ve sorted at least some of these frustrations. But ultimately this is still a long list of grievances that often times hurt the experience, so why was I happy I held out to the credits? One word - charm.
Having never invested myself in the series before, a franchise where Goofy and Sephiroth can equally exist had never properly registered. And it is bizarre, but you quickly begin to see that it all fits even when it feels like it shouldn’t. The over serious ramblings of the main three newcomers are reigned in when you’re reminded that Donald Duck is there. Some attachment to the assortment of characters from both franchises goes a long way of course, where I found myself looking forward to seeing how the next introduced Disney protagonist will interact with the plot whilst still staying true to the confines of their character. This coupled with a stellar ost really made me get a glimpse of that wonder people would’ve experienced playing during their childhoods. Honestly, The Hundred Acre Wood track has repeated incessantly in my head, and I’m fine with that.
Some of the frustrations started to fade into mild inconveniences the longer I spent time with it. Really the race against Riku on Destiny Islands at the beginning caused more frustration than any platform section that followed. Each section after that simply felt like it was a slightly less irritating trial than the previous, as jump timing and wrestling with the camera started to feel more like something I could work with, rather than sigh about. The gummi ship building is completely irrelevant so I can sleep peacefully knowing I don’t ever need to take a YouTube crash course in how to add a booster. Towards the end I saw a shift in my perspective towards the combat, thanks to some great one vs one boss fights that force you to assess attack patterns, manage items and magic, and consider your space. This doesn’t soften the annoyance of some of those dreadful wave on wave of enemy sections, but it did prove to me that there is both depth and enjoyment that can be found here, and that there is a solid foundation in which future instalments could make something great from. Having heard the second main entry is said to feel more floaty, I’m confident that continuing to see where this series goes should hopefully prove less and less cumbersome, for I’m invested now, even if there were a lot of bumps in the road.
I’ll start with some of the things that contributed to this frustration. The platforming is stiff and unreliable. The camera is slow to control and rests so close to the ground that judging distance to enemies is tricky, which you then end up punished for if you miss a hit as a result. Plot progression in some worlds is trial and error, backtracking to every possible room in the hope that something has changed. The gummi ship building is the worst thing I’ve ever attempted to interact with in recent memory, and the world to world travel in the ship is dull. Combat against multiple enemies has you fighting the lock on and camera just as hard. The game can feel like an absolute grind, with worlds just chucking wave after wave of Heartless in each room (the things I endure to open a chest with a measly potion in it) - this wouldn’t bother me as much if the combat loop wasn’t so sluggish.
Ok I know a lot of this jank can be attributed to its era, and it being the first in the series. I’m also aware that the final mix version would’ve sorted at least some of these frustrations. But ultimately this is still a long list of grievances that often times hurt the experience, so why was I happy I held out to the credits? One word - charm.
Having never invested myself in the series before, a franchise where Goofy and Sephiroth can equally exist had never properly registered. And it is bizarre, but you quickly begin to see that it all fits even when it feels like it shouldn’t. The over serious ramblings of the main three newcomers are reigned in when you’re reminded that Donald Duck is there. Some attachment to the assortment of characters from both franchises goes a long way of course, where I found myself looking forward to seeing how the next introduced Disney protagonist will interact with the plot whilst still staying true to the confines of their character. This coupled with a stellar ost really made me get a glimpse of that wonder people would’ve experienced playing during their childhoods. Honestly, The Hundred Acre Wood track has repeated incessantly in my head, and I’m fine with that.
Some of the frustrations started to fade into mild inconveniences the longer I spent time with it. Really the race against Riku on Destiny Islands at the beginning caused more frustration than any platform section that followed. Each section after that simply felt like it was a slightly less irritating trial than the previous, as jump timing and wrestling with the camera started to feel more like something I could work with, rather than sigh about. The gummi ship building is completely irrelevant so I can sleep peacefully knowing I don’t ever need to take a YouTube crash course in how to add a booster. Towards the end I saw a shift in my perspective towards the combat, thanks to some great one vs one boss fights that force you to assess attack patterns, manage items and magic, and consider your space. This doesn’t soften the annoyance of some of those dreadful wave on wave of enemy sections, but it did prove to me that there is both depth and enjoyment that can be found here, and that there is a solid foundation in which future instalments could make something great from. Having heard the second main entry is said to feel more floaty, I’m confident that continuing to see where this series goes should hopefully prove less and less cumbersome, for I’m invested now, even if there were a lot of bumps in the road.
I first played this back on the ps3 and I wasn't able to really know where to go due to me being a child which engraved a more of a trial and error approach to how I finished it. The map, ost, characters, fights all repeated in my head in a good way
Replaying this recently on an emulator was like reliving a dream. Might be biased due to nostalgia but because of how long I spent on my first run every area and every minute of replaying it was like uncovering facets of my old experience.
Gameplay is fun and first of its kind back then so i give it that. story is... simple in this segment but overarchingly its long. Its a game with a childlike wonder that makes people who haven't even played it feel nostalgic (maybe due to disney but oh well)
Replaying this recently on an emulator was like reliving a dream. Might be biased due to nostalgia but because of how long I spent on my first run every area and every minute of replaying it was like uncovering facets of my old experience.
Gameplay is fun and first of its kind back then so i give it that. story is... simple in this segment but overarchingly its long. Its a game with a childlike wonder that makes people who haven't even played it feel nostalgic (maybe due to disney but oh well)
Playing Kingdom Hearts is kind of tedious but it's the first game of a series that I really love. There's a charm to this one that I feel like isn't in the other games, with them really going "no, see, we're fusing Disney characters with Final Fantasy characters and having our own original story, see?" and really having to sell that concept.
That said, the gameplay can be really really awkward for an action RPG and every other games improves combat. But it's still really, really good.
That said, the gameplay can be really really awkward for an action RPG and every other games improves combat. But it's still really, really good.
É definitivamente um dos meus jogos favoritos de todos os tempos e jogar ele depois de 22 anos me lembrou o quão revolucionário ele foi em sua época.
No papel, junção de Final Fantasy com Disney não deveria funcionar, mas aqui funciona e MUITO. Com mundos lindos e perfeitamente construídos para sempre apresentar uma mecânica nova, uma exploração diferente ou um inimigo com um padrão que temos que aprender pra poder derrotar, esse jogo marcou um belo início para o que hoje muitos amam em termos de mecânicas em action RPGs.
A história é linda demais, fazendo tu se apegar muito aos personagens ao longo da jornada, sempre apresentando nomes que já são bastante conhecidos por quem jogou FF ou acompanhou a Disney nos anos 90. Além de tudo, é difícil um jogo com um tema tão leve ter uma história tão profunda e séria, porém Kingdom Hearts faz isso com maestria, deixando sempre aquela pulga atrás da orelha.
Além de tudo, mesmo a jogabilidade sendo um pouco travada para os padrões de hoje em dia, não deixa nada a desejar. O combate é sempre empolgante, com mecânicas novas sendo apresentadas a cada passo e deixando a jogatina bem complexa ao longo do jogo.
Acho que no geral, um dos Action RPG com mais conteúdo que já joguei, tendo muita coisa pra se fazer no endgame, muitos segredos pra descobrir e tudo sempre acrescentando algo na história.
Além do mais, Simple and Clean é uma obra de arte.
No papel, junção de Final Fantasy com Disney não deveria funcionar, mas aqui funciona e MUITO. Com mundos lindos e perfeitamente construídos para sempre apresentar uma mecânica nova, uma exploração diferente ou um inimigo com um padrão que temos que aprender pra poder derrotar, esse jogo marcou um belo início para o que hoje muitos amam em termos de mecânicas em action RPGs.
A história é linda demais, fazendo tu se apegar muito aos personagens ao longo da jornada, sempre apresentando nomes que já são bastante conhecidos por quem jogou FF ou acompanhou a Disney nos anos 90. Além de tudo, é difícil um jogo com um tema tão leve ter uma história tão profunda e séria, porém Kingdom Hearts faz isso com maestria, deixando sempre aquela pulga atrás da orelha.
Além de tudo, mesmo a jogabilidade sendo um pouco travada para os padrões de hoje em dia, não deixa nada a desejar. O combate é sempre empolgante, com mecânicas novas sendo apresentadas a cada passo e deixando a jogatina bem complexa ao longo do jogo.
Acho que no geral, um dos Action RPG com mais conteúdo que já joguei, tendo muita coisa pra se fazer no endgame, muitos segredos pra descobrir e tudo sempre acrescentando algo na história.
Além do mais, Simple and Clean é uma obra de arte.
Very compelling, I liked seeing how Sora, Goofy, and Donald interacted with all the different Disney worlds, and the plot got me interested to see where the rest of the series goes. Gameplay left much to be desired.
Kingdom Hearts would be a weird game that no one would understand if it was released today. The concept of Final Fantasy having a crossover with Disney is insane, but because it’s such an old game it’s just widely accepted now. Kingdom Hearts follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy who are searching for King Mickey as well as Sora’s friends Riku and Kairi. As they search, they go through many different Disney worlds, and lock their keyholes, freeing the worlds from evil. Gameplay is an action RPG with an interesting mechanic that sort of replicates a turn-based game in its style. You have a menu and can choose between attack, magic, items, and summon. It kind of reminds me of the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth combat, which are games I previously beat this year. The story was pretty good but got sort of confusing, I liked the Disney worlds and references, as well as seeing Final Fantasy characters I knew but not everything was perfect. The game is also a PS2 game, so it definitely has a lot of issues, especially with the combat and platforming. Overall, the combat is pretty fun, but enemies can sometimes be annoyingly difficult that it’s just frustrating, and even worse is when pressing the attack button makes you fly off a cliff and fall down, especially in the Halloweentown world. The platforming is also pretty annoying, the jumps can feel sort of off and I wish the controls were a bit better. There were a lot of fights which I struggled on, especially one of the final fights near the end of the game. Overall, Kingdom Hearts is a great game and great start for this series, but it’s got some huge issues which I really hope gets improved in the next game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
Good game but its very obvious it's the first in the series. Not my fav.
while i have a lot of negative things to say about the gameplay, the story is very enjoyable and touching! sora, riku and kairi are very sweet characters, that i quickly cared about a lot. the music is very good, especially the more somber pieces. and the story is fun and doesn't drag out too long.
however, some of those bosses, especially towards the end, really made my blood boil. i don't get angry easily while gaming but this game just really hit a nerve with me, with it's annoying boss fights and the equally annoying plattforming in certain levels (i'm looking at you, deep jungle!)
i'm sure if this game ever got a full on remake, with improved gameplay, i'd enjoy it a whole lot more! but for now, 8/10 is being generous, considering the gameplay...
however, some of those bosses, especially towards the end, really made my blood boil. i don't get angry easily while gaming but this game just really hit a nerve with me, with it's annoying boss fights and the equally annoying plattforming in certain levels (i'm looking at you, deep jungle!)
i'm sure if this game ever got a full on remake, with improved gameplay, i'd enjoy it a whole lot more! but for now, 8/10 is being generous, considering the gameplay...
PC
I honestly didn't expect to get this engaged in the game.
Hollow Bastion is one of the highest peaks of a videogame ever
Hollow Bastion is one of the highest peaks of a videogame ever
Would be a 5/5 if Sora got shoes that fit correctly
8/10
great story before it all got so convoluted, in my opinion still holds up to this day as a great RPG and is a great start to the series
I played it near release at an age where I could be considered the target-demographic of Disney, but also as someone completely unfamiliar with the works of SquareSoft/Square Enix. I'll be reviewing it now though under the lens of how I currently evaluate games, not my initial experience.
Combat is front and center here even though the director cites Mario 64 as an influence. It doesn't feature the magnetic-pull of later entries in the series, and attacks only move you forward slightly. The onus is on the player to space attacks correctly. The i-frames on the dodge-roll are slight. Even though advanced players can find a use for it on certain attacks, its primary use for most will be as a positioning tool. The guard has a startup-lag, and will only block attacks head-on. Encounters are not designed around these defensive options, and not all successful guards net the player anything really. You also can't interrupt attacks by guarding, so you'll be funneled into a defensive playstyle if you try to make use of it. The combat is supplemented with defensive tools (defense-buffs, healing from items or other resources) that let you tank everything. It's not that there are no tests of strategy and dexterity in the game, but the ones present are usually simplistic.
The rest of the game is mild exploration through each "world" that consists of a few rooms. Some items are out of reach until newer abilities are unlocked, and then backtracking is required.
There's about 5-10 hours of content depending on your competency.
I do try to frame reviews through a first-time experience. This is essentially a high-budget B action-game, which is strange to think about. The polish of its presentation and animation-quality exceeded everything else the year of its release aside from Resident Evil 2002 which was using pre-rendered backgrounds as a crutch.
Unless the aesthetics really grate, the game is strange enough that I think most people might get through a run of it. It is dangerously teetering on that line though, and those more like me would put it down early because it isn't worth playing aside from the uncanny strangeness of these Square RPG anime-people running around spreading their conflict over Disney films.
It's kinda funny to use a superlative like this on a mediocre score, but I'd give it a 'strong' 1.5/5. Bump that to a 2/5 if you're slightly less picky.
Combat is front and center here even though the director cites Mario 64 as an influence. It doesn't feature the magnetic-pull of later entries in the series, and attacks only move you forward slightly. The onus is on the player to space attacks correctly. The i-frames on the dodge-roll are slight. Even though advanced players can find a use for it on certain attacks, its primary use for most will be as a positioning tool. The guard has a startup-lag, and will only block attacks head-on. Encounters are not designed around these defensive options, and not all successful guards net the player anything really. You also can't interrupt attacks by guarding, so you'll be funneled into a defensive playstyle if you try to make use of it. The combat is supplemented with defensive tools (defense-buffs, healing from items or other resources) that let you tank everything. It's not that there are no tests of strategy and dexterity in the game, but the ones present are usually simplistic.
The rest of the game is mild exploration through each "world" that consists of a few rooms. Some items are out of reach until newer abilities are unlocked, and then backtracking is required.
There's about 5-10 hours of content depending on your competency.
I do try to frame reviews through a first-time experience. This is essentially a high-budget B action-game, which is strange to think about. The polish of its presentation and animation-quality exceeded everything else the year of its release aside from Resident Evil 2002 which was using pre-rendered backgrounds as a crutch.
Unless the aesthetics really grate, the game is strange enough that I think most people might get through a run of it. It is dangerously teetering on that line though, and those more like me would put it down early because it isn't worth playing aside from the uncanny strangeness of these Square RPG anime-people running around spreading their conflict over Disney films.
It's kinda funny to use a superlative like this on a mediocre score, but I'd give it a 'strong' 1.5/5. Bump that to a 2/5 if you're slightly less picky.
this game means so much to me i dont know what my life would be without it. it pushed me to do so much in life
El concepto puede parecer muy ridículo pero está muy bien ejecutado, Su guión es excelente y sus personajes geniales, lo único malo es la cámara y la dificultad muy elevada de algunos jefes.
Where it all began. The only one where Disney and FF characters feel relevant to the story. Traverse Town music will always bump. Always fun to revisit for nostalgia.
sincèrement nul et énervant (surtout les premiers niveaux après traverse town) MAIS les deux ou trois premières heures sont le meilleur début de jeu jamais créé et c'est dommage que ni le jeu ni la série n'ait jamais vraiment réussi à retrouver cette ambiance
"play on critical mode" play with my nuts bro
I'm not going to hate on this game that is beloved by many. My experience was playing through the game until reaching the Sephiroth battle, losing horribly, and promptly quitting the game satisfied with what I had accomplished.
Interesting because it's the first and last Kingdom Hearts game before the series got lost completely up its own hoop but also it plays like a bag of spanners so shrug I don't know.
kingdom hearts has heart in its title, valorant has neither heart in its title nor its design
Qué bueno que es Kingdom Hearts. Ha sido una auténtica sorpresa en todos sus aspectos para bien. Hace todo tan bien que me parece una obra maestra. Que Disney cediera derechos de sus personajes para un RPG me parece genial, sobre todo si es para esto. Quiero hablar de muchas cosas del juego así que empecemos.
El gameplay me parece genial. El sistema de combate es increíble, pareciendo simple al principio, pero siendo muy complejo en las partes finales del juego. Los hechizos son una locura y hay una variedad tremenda, aunque hay algunos que están destinados a coger polvo en ese menú, pero que pueden llegar a servir en ciertas ocasiones. Las habilidades (o no sé como llamarlas) añaden mucha variedad al gameplay, habiendo para ocasiones de todo tipo. Desde volteretas como en Dark Souls hasta poder ver la vida de los enemigos, pasando por añadir más golpes a tu secuencia o tener golpes devastadores al final de estas, hace que el gameplay se sienta diferente y al tener limitado el numéro de estas, añade un toque estratégico.
Los mapas me han parecido muy buenos. La exploración en estos para el reducido tamaño de estos entá muy bien conseguida y sientes como si estuvieses en un mundo y no en un nivel más del juego. A esto le sumamos que cada uno tiene una mini historia acorde al universo del mismo y nos quedan unos mundos llenos de personalidad con los que podemos rememorar nuestra infancia. En estos también hay varios coleccionables, el más destacable los 99 cachorros dálmatas, que añaden una capa más a la exploración.
Audiovisualmente es increíble. Pensar que este juego salió en 2002 (un año en el que ni siquiera había nacido) me parece una locura. Las animaciones, el estilo artístico de la animación de Disney llevado al videojuego... Todo es precioso en este juego. Y la OST es de las mejores que he escuchado nunca. Canciones que pueden ponerte la piel de gallina con solo escucharlas un momento. En este aspecto, el juego es un 10.
La historia de este juego me ha encantado. Sobre todo porque no se han limitado por ser Disney la otra mitad. Es una historia que habla sobre temas muy complejos y que tiene muchos giros muy inesperados. Empieza siendo una aventura de 3 amigos, y termina siendo un viaje memorable que termina en salvar al mundo. Mis dieces para los escritores de la historia del juego.
En resumen, Kingdom Hearts me parece una obra maestra con un nivel de pulido increíble en todos y cada uno de sus aspectos. Nomura habrá tenido algunos errores en su carrera, pero cuando quiere, nos demuestra que puede crear obras maestras. Debes jugarlo.
El gameplay me parece genial. El sistema de combate es increíble, pareciendo simple al principio, pero siendo muy complejo en las partes finales del juego. Los hechizos son una locura y hay una variedad tremenda, aunque hay algunos que están destinados a coger polvo en ese menú, pero que pueden llegar a servir en ciertas ocasiones. Las habilidades (o no sé como llamarlas) añaden mucha variedad al gameplay, habiendo para ocasiones de todo tipo. Desde volteretas como en Dark Souls hasta poder ver la vida de los enemigos, pasando por añadir más golpes a tu secuencia o tener golpes devastadores al final de estas, hace que el gameplay se sienta diferente y al tener limitado el numéro de estas, añade un toque estratégico.
Los mapas me han parecido muy buenos. La exploración en estos para el reducido tamaño de estos entá muy bien conseguida y sientes como si estuvieses en un mundo y no en un nivel más del juego. A esto le sumamos que cada uno tiene una mini historia acorde al universo del mismo y nos quedan unos mundos llenos de personalidad con los que podemos rememorar nuestra infancia. En estos también hay varios coleccionables, el más destacable los 99 cachorros dálmatas, que añaden una capa más a la exploración.
Audiovisualmente es increíble. Pensar que este juego salió en 2002 (un año en el que ni siquiera había nacido) me parece una locura. Las animaciones, el estilo artístico de la animación de Disney llevado al videojuego... Todo es precioso en este juego. Y la OST es de las mejores que he escuchado nunca. Canciones que pueden ponerte la piel de gallina con solo escucharlas un momento. En este aspecto, el juego es un 10.
La historia de este juego me ha encantado. Sobre todo porque no se han limitado por ser Disney la otra mitad. Es una historia que habla sobre temas muy complejos y que tiene muchos giros muy inesperados. Empieza siendo una aventura de 3 amigos, y termina siendo un viaje memorable que termina en salvar al mundo. Mis dieces para los escritores de la historia del juego.
En resumen, Kingdom Hearts me parece una obra maestra con un nivel de pulido increíble en todos y cada uno de sus aspectos. Nomura habrá tenido algunos errores en su carrera, pero cuando quiere, nos demuestra que puede crear obras maestras. Debes jugarlo.
Better than I remember, but much slower than every other game in the franchise. This was back when the vision for the franchise was much different and the story was very self contained which helped it a lot compared to the sequels.
On paper this game shouldn't work, but it does. The game really starts when you get to Hollow Bastion. I spent hours in the Colosseum. One of the few games I've 100%'d.