Replaying this game recently, while being a fun and nostalgic experience, it was also hard to ignore the game's flaws when looking at the game through a more modern lens. The camera and lock-on feature being the worst offender by far, as in certain Disney worlds, and against certain enemies, the camera can swing wildly around, nigh uncontrollably. World structure and a few worlds in particular (Atlantica and Monstro) are also a bit of a drag to get through.
However, I still cannot remove myself from when I played this back in 2002. The biggest selling point for me back then was seeing Cloud and Squall, from FFVII and FFVIII respectively, with much improved PS2 graphics. And the special fight against Sephiroth that included the One Winged Angel remix, was the stuff of legends.
Before the game's release, I recall seeing it covered within the Official PlayStation magazine, of which I had a subscription for a period of time. I fondly remember visiting the official KH website running Macromedia Flash and just listening to the music while looking through the characters/worlds list. I'll never get over how nostalgic and incredible the "End of the World" theme is (which played on the website). It brings me back to the anticipation I felt waiting for the game's release.
Mixing Disney with Final Fantasy is such an odd mixture (same goes for the Action RPG gameplay with the battle menu), but with Tetsuya Nomura's original character design and Yoko Shimomura's music, it just blended so well together in this title. I will add that I think Shimomura's soundtrack is the best part of any KH, as it elevates everything to a much higher level... it almost is too good for the melodramatic KH series. This is also the most simple and straightforward KH storyline, which is great to revisit... it was a much better time, as this was before the convoluted mess that it became in its subsequent sequels.
I'll always look back on this game with great memories - but I cannot help but think the KH series had so much more potential than what it has turned into... the mess of a story it became, the games releasing on a new console/handheld each time, spin-offs that are required to play to understand the story, the over-reliance on Disney characters/worlds/stories, etc. I selfishly wished they were more 50-50 with Disney/Squaresoft (Square-Enix) characters/worlds and their original KH creations. Seeing a Final Fantasy world with Disney characters in it as an inverse to what the game's formula became would have always been a really interesting and cool idea to witness as well. Alas, this is primarily just an issue I have with the series as a whole, but I'm over it now, and accept what we received.
However, I still cannot remove myself from when I played this back in 2002. The biggest selling point for me back then was seeing Cloud and Squall, from FFVII and FFVIII respectively, with much improved PS2 graphics. And the special fight against Sephiroth that included the One Winged Angel remix, was the stuff of legends.
Before the game's release, I recall seeing it covered within the Official PlayStation magazine, of which I had a subscription for a period of time. I fondly remember visiting the official KH website running Macromedia Flash and just listening to the music while looking through the characters/worlds list. I'll never get over how nostalgic and incredible the "End of the World" theme is (which played on the website). It brings me back to the anticipation I felt waiting for the game's release.
Mixing Disney with Final Fantasy is such an odd mixture (same goes for the Action RPG gameplay with the battle menu), but with Tetsuya Nomura's original character design and Yoko Shimomura's music, it just blended so well together in this title. I will add that I think Shimomura's soundtrack is the best part of any KH, as it elevates everything to a much higher level... it almost is too good for the melodramatic KH series. This is also the most simple and straightforward KH storyline, which is great to revisit... it was a much better time, as this was before the convoluted mess that it became in its subsequent sequels.
I'll always look back on this game with great memories - but I cannot help but think the KH series had so much more potential than what it has turned into... the mess of a story it became, the games releasing on a new console/handheld each time, spin-offs that are required to play to understand the story, the over-reliance on Disney characters/worlds/stories, etc. I selfishly wished they were more 50-50 with Disney/Squaresoft (Square-Enix) characters/worlds and their original KH creations. Seeing a Final Fantasy world with Disney characters in it as an inverse to what the game's formula became would have always been a really interesting and cool idea to witness as well. Alas, this is primarily just an issue I have with the series as a whole, but I'm over it now, and accept what we received.