Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.
In the history of gaming there have a been a few elevator pitches where being a fly on the wall would have been desirable. What was said exactly will forever remain unknown, but I’d like to imagine it going something like who would win in a fight, Sephiroth or Donald Duck? Or maybe they were looking at the books and thought “Final Fantasy and Disney properties are profitable, maybe we can combine them for super profits.” Whatever the case may be, Kingdom Hearts showcases one of the more unusual crossover events, which has only grown even more convoluted in all its various sequels and spin offs.
Kingdom Hearts was one of those games where the initial reaction at its announcement was one of puzzlement. If anyone has kept track of my writing, it’s no secret that I am no small fan of Final Fantasy so there was some element of intrigue. My interest in Disney animation is of lower interest, more for childhood nostalgia than anything else. The crossover itself seemed strange in itself; both Disney and Final Fantasy worlds are born from great imagination, but it’s hard to imagine Mickey Mouse killing a god hellbent on world destruction or Donald Duck working in a plot to genetically engineer mako-infused cloned soldiers. There’s a few Final Fantasy roles where Goofy would be a good stand in. Nevertheless, the amount of spin offs, sequels and rabid fanbase were enough to spark my curiosity enough to give this one a try.
After actually playing the game, Final Fantasy with Disney characters is not an accurate description of Kingdom Hearts at all, even if the advertising in 2002 may have suggested that. It’s its own thing, with the main protagonist Sora and his friends being entirely original characters in their own home world. Final Fantasy characters do make guest appearances, but they play a minor role overall. Disney properties are much more prominent, with Donald Duck and Goofy being Sora’s main companions as they travel to many different worlds based on Disney movies. There’s a variety of films, some of which are Peter Pan, Tarzan, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, Hercules and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The story begins on Destiny Island where three friends are building a raft with the intent of leaving their island to explore new worlds. This seems like a set up where even if things went according to plan there would be good potential for adventure, but RPGs rarely start with things going right. On the night of the planned voyage, the island is attacked by malevolent beings known as the Heartless. Riku and Kairi disappear during the attack, but Sora acquires the Keyblade, a gigantic key that is effective against the Heartless if wielded like a sword. Sora ends up in Traverse Town after the attack, far away from home and his friends. While this happens, King Mickey has taken a leave from his world to battle the heartless, dispatching his subjects Donald and Goofy to seek out the key holder. They eventually find Sora in Traverse Town and decide to team up, using their Gummi Ship to travel to new worlds. While all this is unfolding it’s revealed that many Disney villains have joined forces. Led by Maleficent, they seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to find the entrance to Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG with a fair amount of platforming. Playing Kingdom Hearts now, even the upgraded Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the platforming and battle controls do show their age with their PlayStation 2 era jankyness. The controls aren’t so bad they make the game unplayable, but they do show how much 3D platforming has improved since its launch. The player controls Sora and has two AI-controlled companions that assist in battle. By default these are Donald and Goofy, but characters such as Aladdin are available to temporarily swap in when Sora is visiting their world. Sora’s primary means of attack is the Keyblade, but he can also cast different magic spells. Having to access the item and spell menu during real time combat can get hectic, but thankfully the player can assign shortcuts to commonly-used spells.
The premise of Kingdom Hearts is weird to begin with. An oversimplification is typical JRPG protagonist ends up traveling to different Disney Worlds to battle the Heartless. This in itself is a good set up for a unique gaming experience, but the next logistical question is how does Sora and company get to each of these Disney worlds? The answer is the Gummi ship, but it’s not good enough to simply say they are traveling via Gummi Ship to get to each world. In order to do this the player enters into a arcade spaceship shooter mini game where they must fly the Gummi Ship through dangerous space courses loaded with enemy spaces and other colorful obstacles. This seems strangely out of place with the rest of the game, but given the general premise, nothing seems out of the question. Playing the ship missions can be a fun break in the action, but it’s nice that these become skippable once Cid Highwind installs the warp drive.
One of the more interesting gameplay aspects of Kingdom Hearts is how many of the worlds have unique game mechanics that fit in with the setting. Some of these are better implemented than others, but it’s still cool that these have been included to help make each world feel unique and true to the source material. In Tarzan’s world, for example, there are vines that can be used for traversal. In Neverland, Sora is able to fly around to get an advantage in his fight against Captain Hook. Under the sea when Sora teams up with Ariel requires a lot of underwater swimming. Conceptually there was no other way to do this world, but like many games the underwater level is bogged down with frustrating controls. The overall control jank can be extra apparent in some of these worlds, but overall the area’s specific mechanics enhance the gameplay.
The biggest complaints with Kingdom Hearts is that the controls aren’t the greatest even by the standards of 2002…and the camera. The player has the ability to control the camera, but we are using the term “control the camera” the same way one can train a cat. Yes, the camera can be manually moved, but getting the camera to focus on the desired angle doesn’t always occur. It’s as if the camera is deliberately defiant and made a conscious decision to increase the difficulty by being as uncooperative as possible. But once we get past those criticisms, Kingdom Hearts is quite the magical game. The serious tone of Square RPGs mixed with the mirth of Disney films doesn’t sound like it would mix at all on paper, but surprisingly this game pulls it off. Even with the complaints about the mechanics, it was still an enjoyable playthrough from beginning to end, with a story that is worthy of continuing through its numerous spin offs and sequels.
Kingdom Hearts began its life in 2002 as a PlayStation 2 title. Starting in 2013, a modified version of Kingdom Hearts called Kingdom Hearts Final Mix made its way on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is included in the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix collections, which also includes Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories and about three hours worth of cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which due to being a Nintendo DS game, doesn’t translate well to modern hardware in playable form. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix made a few changes to the game, most notable changing the gameplay to make it more consistent with its sequels. Many could argue that Final Mix is the overall superior version, but for nostalgia’s sake nothing ever hits like the original. But regardless of which version someone plays, it would be a heartless act to never experience Kingdom Hearts.
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