I honestly could say a whole lot of shit about Kingdom Hearts as a series but especially the first game. I've been playing KH1 very specifically pretty much since the original game released back in 2002. I have so many fond memories, so many hours spent wandering the levels, getting acquainted with the worlds and their gimmicks, platforming and ideas.
There's something tangibly there in KH1 that really doesn't particularly permeate the rest of the series. Like yeah, the combat mechanics absolutely improve, the series finds its identity in a lot of differing ways but there's something about the raw experimental edge and janky nature of this first entry that really isn't felt in the rest of the games.
The atmosphere here is almost uncannily eerie at points, especially in locations like Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, Hollow Bastion and End of the World. A kind of unsettling hint of darkness that unsettled me more as a kid (that Ansem in the cave scene genuinely scared the fuck out of me as a child I hated that shit lmao I always used to think that dude was like hiding in my closet about to call me a stupid bozo who didn't know anything) but some of the visuals, haunting gothic styled architecture and offness isn't felt to me in a number of later entries like it is here. Like some games do get closer to it again (0.2 is MAYBE the closest in years with 1 section in 3 getting a little closer too) but it's not really to the same level and degree that I feel this game really nails.
Like I adore the implications with stuff like the secret boss cutscene being really fuckin creepy and weird and off! The game is full of moments and ideas like that, the false Destiny Island in the end with the dead palm tree and no waterfall, the secret experiment room you uncover, all of Hollow Bastion and its gothic tones. It's so fuckin cool!
I like how this game integrates the Disney worlds with the actual overarching plot generally rather than just being flat out recaps most of the time (Atlantica having King Trident know what's up and shit talk the MC's is genuinely fantastic), I dig how this lays the groundwork for the rest of the series to build its world and concepts and ideas off of (even if they don't always work out the best in some of them DDD I'm looking at you).
I dig the gameplay systems and what they were going for with magic being more of a resource you have to build and manage, encouraging you to be more aggressive in order to build it back up. Though I do wish that being a purely magic focused build/character was a little more doable but whatever. Final Mix does add good additions like a camera that makes some goddamn sense and having Triangle be for opening chests and stuff like some of the moves you unlock like Sonic Blade and stuff to more reflect games like 2 and what they were going for more there. Though a Final Mix change I don't particularly enjoy is the color changes to the Heartless, I think the way its handled takes away from a l o t of the atmosphere and art direction of this game specifically and some just aren't good recolors like LOOK AT THIS
Potential hot take as well maybe possibly or maybe I have 2002 brain worms but honestly I really love the platforming in this game. I love how much they kinda messed around with it and while a bit slippery at points felt like something that could've been built upon or made a bit more interesting to do! Maybe made more interesting challenges or anything with it but I feel the series kinda just gives up on that aspect after this and that's kind of a shame. I really find it fascinating how much of that identity and idea permeates a loooot of this first game and how immediately 2 does away with pretty much the rest of that, with some lightly coming back in bits and pieces as apart of fights and some light exploration but otherwise nowhere near the same degree as explored in 1. I feel like that does make 1 stand out a little more in the kind of shit they were throwing at the wall to try out and everything too, same with the colored health bars idea that I honestly really fucked with!
Also something specific with this HD edition is I think some of the music is slightly just a little worse than the original. Like the original Night of Fate has a particular intensity to it that STILL to this day gives me fuckin goosebumps. The new version of Night of Fate does NOT hit in the same way at ALL. Something about it feels almost dulled? Like parts of it just aren't mixed how they originally were and I think it massively dulls the impact and effect of the track. Multiple songs in this version are like this and its kind of a bummer that there's still no kind of option like in the later releases of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster that let you choose the OG OST if you prefer that. I know the remaster process for this was a bit of a mess due to supposedly all of the original assets being lost and having to essentially remake it all from scratch but I feel like the music out of all of it would've been the easiest to reimplement. But maybe they didn't have the original files of the tracks or something like that who the fuck knows. It's a bummer to me either way!
Overall though, this game will always stick with me, I will pretty much come back to this game forever for the rest of eternity. I could completely burn out of this series or hate some entry or whatever and still be all into playing KH1 all over again because it's so utterly special to me. I could go on and on about little strats for fights or what worlds can be completely skipped or how to get through world's quickly or fun facts about certain inclusions and ideas within the game itself. It's a personal heartfelt favorite that makes me feel a lot of things and I absolutely can talk about to absolute fuckin death man.
Kingdom Hearts opened my mind to the possibilities of what video games could be. More than just the Mortal Kombat 2's and Super Mario 3's of the world. It was the first game to really get me into its narrative, to really hook me and never really let me go. Even now I'm still invested in this series, its characters, its secrets, its fun goofy nature and its heartfelt messages and ideas. I love Kingdom Hearts for everything it is and while I wish certain elements of the series were carried forward in ways I am still happy overall with where things have gone since 2002.
There's something tangibly there in KH1 that really doesn't particularly permeate the rest of the series. Like yeah, the combat mechanics absolutely improve, the series finds its identity in a lot of differing ways but there's something about the raw experimental edge and janky nature of this first entry that really isn't felt in the rest of the games.
The atmosphere here is almost uncannily eerie at points, especially in locations like Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, Hollow Bastion and End of the World. A kind of unsettling hint of darkness that unsettled me more as a kid (that Ansem in the cave scene genuinely scared the fuck out of me as a child I hated that shit lmao I always used to think that dude was like hiding in my closet about to call me a stupid bozo who didn't know anything) but some of the visuals, haunting gothic styled architecture and offness isn't felt to me in a number of later entries like it is here. Like some games do get closer to it again (0.2 is MAYBE the closest in years with 1 section in 3 getting a little closer too) but it's not really to the same level and degree that I feel this game really nails.
Like I adore the implications with stuff like the secret boss cutscene being really fuckin creepy and weird and off! The game is full of moments and ideas like that, the false Destiny Island in the end with the dead palm tree and no waterfall, the secret experiment room you uncover, all of Hollow Bastion and its gothic tones. It's so fuckin cool!
I like how this game integrates the Disney worlds with the actual overarching plot generally rather than just being flat out recaps most of the time (Atlantica having King Trident know what's up and shit talk the MC's is genuinely fantastic), I dig how this lays the groundwork for the rest of the series to build its world and concepts and ideas off of (even if they don't always work out the best in some of them DDD I'm looking at you).
I dig the gameplay systems and what they were going for with magic being more of a resource you have to build and manage, encouraging you to be more aggressive in order to build it back up. Though I do wish that being a purely magic focused build/character was a little more doable but whatever. Final Mix does add good additions like a camera that makes some goddamn sense and having Triangle be for opening chests and stuff like some of the moves you unlock like Sonic Blade and stuff to more reflect games like 2 and what they were going for more there. Though a Final Mix change I don't particularly enjoy is the color changes to the Heartless, I think the way its handled takes away from a l o t of the atmosphere and art direction of this game specifically and some just aren't good recolors like LOOK AT THIS
Potential hot take as well maybe possibly or maybe I have 2002 brain worms but honestly I really love the platforming in this game. I love how much they kinda messed around with it and while a bit slippery at points felt like something that could've been built upon or made a bit more interesting to do! Maybe made more interesting challenges or anything with it but I feel the series kinda just gives up on that aspect after this and that's kind of a shame. I really find it fascinating how much of that identity and idea permeates a loooot of this first game and how immediately 2 does away with pretty much the rest of that, with some lightly coming back in bits and pieces as apart of fights and some light exploration but otherwise nowhere near the same degree as explored in 1. I feel like that does make 1 stand out a little more in the kind of shit they were throwing at the wall to try out and everything too, same with the colored health bars idea that I honestly really fucked with!
Also something specific with this HD edition is I think some of the music is slightly just a little worse than the original. Like the original Night of Fate has a particular intensity to it that STILL to this day gives me fuckin goosebumps. The new version of Night of Fate does NOT hit in the same way at ALL. Something about it feels almost dulled? Like parts of it just aren't mixed how they originally were and I think it massively dulls the impact and effect of the track. Multiple songs in this version are like this and its kind of a bummer that there's still no kind of option like in the later releases of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster that let you choose the OG OST if you prefer that. I know the remaster process for this was a bit of a mess due to supposedly all of the original assets being lost and having to essentially remake it all from scratch but I feel like the music out of all of it would've been the easiest to reimplement. But maybe they didn't have the original files of the tracks or something like that who the fuck knows. It's a bummer to me either way!
Overall though, this game will always stick with me, I will pretty much come back to this game forever for the rest of eternity. I could completely burn out of this series or hate some entry or whatever and still be all into playing KH1 all over again because it's so utterly special to me. I could go on and on about little strats for fights or what worlds can be completely skipped or how to get through world's quickly or fun facts about certain inclusions and ideas within the game itself. It's a personal heartfelt favorite that makes me feel a lot of things and I absolutely can talk about to absolute fuckin death man.
Kingdom Hearts opened my mind to the possibilities of what video games could be. More than just the Mortal Kombat 2's and Super Mario 3's of the world. It was the first game to really get me into its narrative, to really hook me and never really let me go. Even now I'm still invested in this series, its characters, its secrets, its fun goofy nature and its heartfelt messages and ideas. I love Kingdom Hearts for everything it is and while I wish certain elements of the series were carried forward in ways I am still happy overall with where things have gone since 2002.
12 Comments
@moschidae I'm glad! Yeah it's genuinely really funny to me at this point but I used to DREAD going into the cave explicitly because of him he was so spooky in his big ass coat and shit!
Also strange it's coming up for me but I'll still edit it to another one if I can bring up some kind of image just gimme a sec.
Also strange it's coming up for me but I'll still edit it to another one if I can bring up some kind of image just gimme a sec.
yeah as a kid i also used to get very upset when i got the feeling something was wrong or off so i probably would of been scared by Ansem too. That horrible fuckin recolor is way scarier to me as an adult though, damn.
@moschidae I know right it's SO BAD, and the game has so many recolors like that and it's like WHY so many of the originals were SO GOOD T_T
" I always used to think that dude was like hiding in my closet"
Billy Zane might be in your house right now
Billy Zane might be in your house right now
@Weatherby Honestly if it's Twin Peaks Billy Zane I'm pretty okay with this.
@TransWitchSammy We both know it's not.
the recolors have always upset so much that I tend to just play the original and forgo all the nice QoL changes lol
and great review! kingdom hearts 1 just has so many elements that never get utilized again. even if the platforming and exploration is a little precarious, it added a compelling experiential layer to progression in each world. like, as a kid i owned a player's guide that i had to follow religiously in order to actually progress in levels, and the maps of each world fascinated my child brain so much with how labyrinthine and mysterious they all seemingly were. also i really miss the colored health bars too haha
and great review! kingdom hearts 1 just has so many elements that never get utilized again. even if the platforming and exploration is a little precarious, it added a compelling experiential layer to progression in each world. like, as a kid i owned a player's guide that i had to follow religiously in order to actually progress in levels, and the maps of each world fascinated my child brain so much with how labyrinthine and mysterious they all seemingly were. also i really miss the colored health bars too haha
@theia Honestly I've done the same for quite a few replays of this just because of how badly the recolors fuck with the art direction and visual tone of everything. It boggles my mind that there isn't at least an option or something but it is what it is.
Thank you! I'm pretty sure I had a guide like that and pretty much same! I replayed the game so much that I essentially burned all the routes into my mind forever lol. Deep Jungle especially was one that I tried to learn every piece of just because of how lost I kept getting at first. I really miss that kinda mystery of each location and that neat platforming focus on exploration. 3 I felt brought a little bit of it back but again just not particularly in the same way at all which is a bummer but unsurprising. The health bars were so good! Genuinely if one of these games brought that back I would actually be so pumped lol.
Thank you! I'm pretty sure I had a guide like that and pretty much same! I replayed the game so much that I essentially burned all the routes into my mind forever lol. Deep Jungle especially was one that I tried to learn every piece of just because of how lost I kept getting at first. I really miss that kinda mystery of each location and that neat platforming focus on exploration. 3 I felt brought a little bit of it back but again just not particularly in the same way at all which is a bummer but unsurprising. The health bars were so good! Genuinely if one of these games brought that back I would actually be so pumped lol.
I’m with you on allll of this, I do have a lot of affection for KH as a whole, despite everything, but there’s a wholly unique atmosphere to 1 that is so tangible, so true to Being A Kid on the cusp of not being a kid anymore that doesn’t ever quite come back. Like capturing the feeling of realizing how much bigger than you the world actually is and that there’s freedom and adventure with that but also danger and responsibility in a way that is sickening when you’re 14 and it’s hitting for the first time.
kingdom hearts 1 platforming likers unite
final mix colors and music haters logging on
sick review
kingdom hearts 1 platforming likers unite
final mix colors and music haters logging on
sick review
@poyfuh Hell yeah that's a perfect way to describe it! It hits this kinda feeling of growing up and a kind of loss of innocence in a way that is really felt throughout the whole game. It's kinda cold in ways but warm in others and it's interesting to see how it kinda weaves that feeling throughout the whole thing.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Reading this feels like someone else gets what I love so much about this game. Especially compared to later entries. Like I understand 2 may be objectively better from a mechanical sense, but it doesn't have that weird charm you mention. Like I can't go into a hotel room and beat up a clock until treasure chests appear. There's something so Tactile about the worlds in KH1 where they feel more like backdrops in later games.
moschidae
5 months ago
btw the "look at this" link doesnt seem to be working 0: