...kinda mid.
Kingdom Hearts feels like a near perfect game. And here's why:
Sora is a perfect protagonist. Being a kid thrown into a multi dimensional war between Disney and shadow monsters lets one show off plenty of personality while also showcasing plenty of drama and growth. All of his moments of weakness made sense, even if they sort of came from nowhere.
Donald, Goofy, and the other Disney heroes aren't perfect, but they're all above average characters who, sadly, don't get a lot of screen time. The permanent party members are fun and engaging with clear roles.
I dug the villains! The heartless have no personalities, but each boss is unique and interesting, even compared to others in the genre. But Riku is a perfect villain. He's got the connections, reasons, and iconic moments leading to his redemption in later games. I wouldn't say I like Ansem, though. His role is explored in subsequent games in the franchise, but his existence is tenuous in Kingdom Hearts 1. And, goodness, is it confusing!
I'll get to the story later... ??/10
I'll make the rest real quick:
The music and visuals are perfect. Especially so, I'd imagine, if you're a Disney baby. I'm not, so a lot is lost on me, but I still had fun. Like each Disney movie, the music and worlds are tailored to each sub story. Each has its gimmick to shake things up, even if I hated most of them... But everything I dig in these two categories is here. Even the gameplay is perfect... but only on the surface. 30/30
The charm is nearly flawless, as well, ticking all my boxes but one. We'll get into that in a moment... 9/10
But if you spend enough time in the world, you start to realize that Kingdom Hearts might really suck. Several of these complaints are notorious, with the camera being the most well known. And the camera is atrocious, it's true. It likes to randomly move and sometimes won't let you do it. Unskippable cutscenes are also a common complaint. Yes, I get it, "You're not taking Kairi's heart!" But there are worse things than death.
I hated all of the worlds. Their design teetered on the tedious with short but combat heavy areas. Wonderland had a fun, optional puzzle, but it felt so hollow. Tarzan had too much backtracking and platforming with this camera. Monstro was a maze with too many mobs. Halloween Town was too dark and overly populated with heartless. Neverland and Atlantica were 3D worlds that weren't fun with this combat. I flailed around for too long. They make you do Hollow Bastion twice... Traverse Town and Agrabah were all right.
The lock on is worthless. Why does it lock to a mob across the room? I guess that's still better than the harmless barrel...
Why couldn't we open the menu in combat?
Ya know what could have alleviated my displeasure? Better mob AI! Enemies love to run away from you. Sora, though, isn't good at chasing. He's kinda slow, so there's more flailing around because the camera lacks depth perception. And they have too many ways of getting away from you that leave you standing there. Wizards teleport away, becoming untouchable for a few moments before appearing on the other side of the room. Darksides and darkballs can also become intangible for seconds, so you just stand there being bored. Add everything I hate together/alluded to, remind everyone the camera is trash, the story is confusing, and we're looking at a record -18 points.
And the story cannot save it. I have so many questions that even a sequel can't answer, nor does it make sense. Why was it so backloaded? So the plot is a meer 5/10.
Total everything up, and Kingdom Hearts is a 26/50 game. It was a fun, albeit frustrating mess, that I couldn't follow. Maybe one of the 484893 follow up games explain more, but I get lost with all the proper nouns. It's too much across too many games, and who has the time and money for this? Is Kingdom Hearts a cash grab? Do we need a KH4?
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