This review contains spoilers
Re-Review after replaying KH1 for the first time ever since I beated KH3 and I ended up abandoning the series for a couple of years.
I'm going to give a hot take here. Kingdom Hearts 1 is the best game in the KH franchise period. Nothing beats the original, and this is why:
Kingdom Hearts past the first game dropped the ball in extremely slog and boring repetitive loop, making Disney worlds filler until you reach the climax of the game (For example, KH2 has a strong start, mid point and Endgame, but everything else is very boring)
This is not the case with KH1, I really missed Disney villains being an actual treat and being part of a big complot that brings danger to the world order, it was unique, charming and very immersive, it's a shame that after a successful first entry, they resorted to making the Disney worlds just a playable movie with very slight heartless intervention.
Not just that, the first Kingdom Hearts was full of charming easter eggs and secrets that are NOWHERE to be seen anymore. Being able to interact with the environment to unlock secrets or pathways was something I really adored of KH1. Traverse town for example, had many things hidden on it, and it kinda teaches you the usage of magic and trinity, and this is expanded to other worlds as well, which encourages revisits for secrets after unlocking new abilities.
Platforming in KH was really rewarding, and made the worlds really immersive, unfortunately, this is not a thing anymore, outside of puzzle pieces and very obvious treasure chests that you can't really miss on your first playthrough of something like KH2.
KH2 and the rest of the franchise does not encourage this, and instead delivered great combat in exchange, which for some it will be a golden deal, but for me, KH1 is just unbeatable.
Also, they really nerfed Donald and Goofy past KH1 is incredible, Donald was really strong and so was Goofy, you could feel their presence, and you would feel isolation and hardship whenever they're not present. In KH2 for example, you wouldn't really notice if they're doing anything, as you're the only one actually dealing damage (outside of limits and drive for example, but it's all sora, and nothing else)
Also, I really love the boss fights of KH1, they're very iconic and formidable, specially the super bosses of secret big heartless fights. Kurt Zisa being the perfect example of a very threatening boss, and this is never ever brought back again, since after KH1, most of the super bosses were boring humanoid bosses (Sephiroth and Terra are still fun to battle against, but I would have really enjoyed to battle a big nobody or heartless, instead of just battling random data humanoids)
KH1 may have clunky gameplay and more slower than KH2 (which I agree that the combat is really good), but to make up for it, it has a lot of charm and lots of love put into it, the worlds all feel very alive and are very interactive, it encourages you to explore them, and that's something I really hold dear of this game.
I'm going to give a hot take here. Kingdom Hearts 1 is the best game in the KH franchise period. Nothing beats the original, and this is why:
Kingdom Hearts past the first game dropped the ball in extremely slog and boring repetitive loop, making Disney worlds filler until you reach the climax of the game (For example, KH2 has a strong start, mid point and Endgame, but everything else is very boring)
This is not the case with KH1, I really missed Disney villains being an actual treat and being part of a big complot that brings danger to the world order, it was unique, charming and very immersive, it's a shame that after a successful first entry, they resorted to making the Disney worlds just a playable movie with very slight heartless intervention.
Not just that, the first Kingdom Hearts was full of charming easter eggs and secrets that are NOWHERE to be seen anymore. Being able to interact with the environment to unlock secrets or pathways was something I really adored of KH1. Traverse town for example, had many things hidden on it, and it kinda teaches you the usage of magic and trinity, and this is expanded to other worlds as well, which encourages revisits for secrets after unlocking new abilities.
Platforming in KH was really rewarding, and made the worlds really immersive, unfortunately, this is not a thing anymore, outside of puzzle pieces and very obvious treasure chests that you can't really miss on your first playthrough of something like KH2.
KH2 and the rest of the franchise does not encourage this, and instead delivered great combat in exchange, which for some it will be a golden deal, but for me, KH1 is just unbeatable.
Also, they really nerfed Donald and Goofy past KH1 is incredible, Donald was really strong and so was Goofy, you could feel their presence, and you would feel isolation and hardship whenever they're not present. In KH2 for example, you wouldn't really notice if they're doing anything, as you're the only one actually dealing damage (outside of limits and drive for example, but it's all sora, and nothing else)
Also, I really love the boss fights of KH1, they're very iconic and formidable, specially the super bosses of secret big heartless fights. Kurt Zisa being the perfect example of a very threatening boss, and this is never ever brought back again, since after KH1, most of the super bosses were boring humanoid bosses (Sephiroth and Terra are still fun to battle against, but I would have really enjoyed to battle a big nobody or heartless, instead of just battling random data humanoids)
KH1 may have clunky gameplay and more slower than KH2 (which I agree that the combat is really good), but to make up for it, it has a lot of charm and lots of love put into it, the worlds all feel very alive and are very interactive, it encourages you to explore them, and that's something I really hold dear of this game.