To me, it's a perfect game.
The aesthetics, the original story, the worldbuilding, the characters... I think it knocks it out of the park with all of those elements. The decision to include Disney and Final Fantasy characters was an odd stroke of genius that we'll probably never see experimented with again. You can tell the writers were being as sincere as they could be while handling these characters, which was really cool to see. They all flow naturally somehow.
The music is one of the best in gaming, in my humble opinion. There's some arrangements of familiar songs, but loads of original pieces as well composed by the incredible Yoko Shimamura of Super Mario RPG fame. You can really hear her signature chords and melodies in this soundtrack which is just enchanting, bouncy, and sometimes melancholic. Her score gives the game such heart and unique personality.
The style of the game is so iconic as well. It's bright and colorful, and moody when it needs to be. It's kind of incredible that Disney allowed Square Enix to be so creative with their properties (something that definitely gets snatched away with Kingdom Hearts 3, unfortunately). It's always so much fun watching Sora interact with the Disney characters of the worlds he visits. Also the fact that they managed to get almost all of the original voice actors of Disney characters to reprise their roles was a real treat.
Part of me wonders what this series would've been like if there were never the inclusion of Organization XIII.... its not that I don't dislike them, but.... the whole story really became all about them after this game. I don't know... I liked everything before that got included. There was a lot of pure wonder in this game that I think got lost with the following titles. I miss that sense of wonder, but I can always go back to it when I decide to pick up this game.
This game is worth your time. Dearly beloved.
The aesthetics, the original story, the worldbuilding, the characters... I think it knocks it out of the park with all of those elements. The decision to include Disney and Final Fantasy characters was an odd stroke of genius that we'll probably never see experimented with again. You can tell the writers were being as sincere as they could be while handling these characters, which was really cool to see. They all flow naturally somehow.
The music is one of the best in gaming, in my humble opinion. There's some arrangements of familiar songs, but loads of original pieces as well composed by the incredible Yoko Shimamura of Super Mario RPG fame. You can really hear her signature chords and melodies in this soundtrack which is just enchanting, bouncy, and sometimes melancholic. Her score gives the game such heart and unique personality.
The style of the game is so iconic as well. It's bright and colorful, and moody when it needs to be. It's kind of incredible that Disney allowed Square Enix to be so creative with their properties (something that definitely gets snatched away with Kingdom Hearts 3, unfortunately). It's always so much fun watching Sora interact with the Disney characters of the worlds he visits. Also the fact that they managed to get almost all of the original voice actors of Disney characters to reprise their roles was a real treat.
Part of me wonders what this series would've been like if there were never the inclusion of Organization XIII.... its not that I don't dislike them, but.... the whole story really became all about them after this game. I don't know... I liked everything before that got included. There was a lot of pure wonder in this game that I think got lost with the following titles. I miss that sense of wonder, but I can always go back to it when I decide to pick up this game.
This game is worth your time. Dearly beloved.