Discount Kingdom Hearts

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When Kingdom Hearts was first announced, many thought Square had finally lost it. Not only had they partnered with Disney, a company that Square has seemingly little in common with, but Square was also throwing its own creations into the mix. The game was described as Final Fantasy Meets Disney.

However, as it has many times over, Square has proven the critics wrong. Kingdom Hearts has gorgeous graphics that pushes the PS2 to its limits. Many of the Disney characters look and move as if they were ripped right from their respective cartoons. Disney has also spared no expense on voice acting, in many cases brining back a character's original actor when it came time to give the incredibly large ensemble cast voices

The game also features returning characters from Square's reknowned Final Fantasy series. Specifically, the game will feature Cloud, Aeris, Cid and Yuffie from FF7; Squall from FF8; and Tidus and Wakka from FF10. One of the most interesting scenes from Kingdom Hearts is a scene where Donald Duck and Aeris have a conversation.

Fans of the Secret of Mana will be excited to learn that the battle system is more like it than Final Fantasy. Fighting is done in real time and with little menus. Even spells can be fired off with menu-less ease by linking them to buttons on the control pad. This gives a very interesting feel since many of the spells come from the Final Fantasy series. Summoned Monsters are also used in Kingdom Hearts, but this time around they're Disney characters. Simba, Bambi, Dumbo, and Tinkerbell all come to your aid in battle.

In short, buy this game. Younger fans will enjoy the nearly limitless cast of Disney characters. Older fans and Square veterans will enjoy seeing familiar characters and the type of story that has made Square games the standard for RPGs. The story, while light-hearted at times, can also become incredibly dark. The packaged is rounded out with incredible music, not the least of which is "Light", an English version of Utada Hikaru's song "Hikari". For more info, visit Square's game site...

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"Adaptation" and "reimagining" are words that frighten the heart of any purist, but occasionally, such projects move forward and are handled with care, respect, and a firm understanding and application of the source material. In "Kingdom Hearts", a wildly ambitious collaboration between Disney Interactive and Squaresoft, iconic characters from Disney's vast array of animated features and Square's penultimate series "Final Fantasy" are paired together in an action-rpg. Square has gone a somewhat similar route before, tackling "Super Mario RPG" for Nintendo, but that was a stand-alone game world only incorporating Mario characters, who do not exactly have much depth of personality or back story to begin with. "Kingdom Hearts", on the other hand, takes childhood favorites from just about every generation alive today and dares to incorporate them in a story beyond the individual movies that gave life to them. As ambitious as the game is, "Kingdom Hearts" has equal potential to go very, very wrong in so many ways.

Thankfully, it does not. Every aspect of the game bears the mark of A-grade production value. The storyline is imaginative and clever, and the incorporation of characters and familiar Disney locations is executed with such reverence, that even the most hard-bitten cynic would be won over. From the streets of Agrabah ("Aladdin") to the deck of Captain Hook's ship ("Peter Pan"), each Disney location is recreated in a way that captures the spirit of the original films. Completing the effect is the fact that, for the most part, Disney and Square hired the original voice actors of all Disney characters or at least the people who currently voice certain characters for recent releases. It is hard not to be won over when hearing Jodi Benson reprise her role as Ariel or John Fiedler doing Piglet. Speaking of Piglet, the appearance of Winnie the Pooh and the 100-acre Wood sequences are some of the finest moments in any game ever, and capture just how Square and Disney shot for the moon and hit it.

The gameplay itself is simple, having much in common with the later "Zelda" games and comparable Playstation 2 releases such as "Jak and Daxter". While the fighting can sometimes get repetitive, there are so many bonus features included in this game that revolve around items found in combat and reaching high character advancement levels, that the more you seek to get out of the game, the less obtrustive all the combat seems.

Though the game itself is nothing revolutionary, it is a perfectly executed effort. Considering the outrageousness of its concept and its success in achieving it, "Kingdom Hearts" gets superlative marks in every regard. Though the game can be enjoyed by anyone with only a cursory interest or knowledge of Disney or Square lore, anyone with a child's familiarity with Disney's films or a gamer's passion for Square's series will find themselves in a game experience unlike any other. A true victory for audacious daring.

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If your just now purchasing a PS2 this is the game to turn you on! I would personally buy a PS2 "just" to play this game.

The incretible graphics in this game are mind-boggling, this game is the first of it's kind and is the most fun I've ever had playing a video game.

You play the lead character "Sora" who is living on Destiny Islands, longing to see far off worlds he and his friends Karai and Riku build a raft to see travle to new worlds on. But you get [pulled] into a new world on your own one stormy night. There you meet up with Goofy and Donald who will be your companions for the rest of the entire game. There are ten different worlds and within most of these worlds you have the advantage to select new characters to your partysuch as Aladin, Peter Pan, Arielect. There are 10 worlds and over 100 disney characters to meet, I finished the game in 5 days. That's called "dedication", but it's impossible to put down the controller once you've started playing. You are able to obtain new items, abilities, weapons, as you battle through ityou are able to design and build your own "Gummi Ships" which are what you use to get from one world to another. The more "Munny" you collect in each world/battle the more you can buy! You can even buy news weapons for Donald and Goofy along with posions to heal yourself and much more.

I gave the game 5 stars because there is NOTHING wrong with this game, aside from not being able to open treasure chests during battle, you'll come to think like me the minute you start playing.

Better quality than "ANY" Final Fantasy game I have ever played, and I recommend that you DONT buy the Strategy GuideI played through the entire game without. All you really need to do is look up a "Walkthrough" to the game on the net whenever you need help.

After the game you'll be begging for moreand if your able able to obtain the "Special Secret" at the end of the game.. well my friend the suspence will eat you alive!

Kingdom Hearts.. the ultimate Disney Game.

Honest reviews on Kingdom Hearts

Yeah, I know "adequate" isn't exactly an attention grabber for a review but I couldn't think of another way to describe this game. However, I will elaborate.

The game's plot revolves around multiple dimension-like worlds in the Disney and Final Fantasy universe. Kind of like a Mickey Mouse version of the show "Sliders". Anyway, you have to travel to all of these worlds looking for your standard bad guys the Heartless. Your main character, Sora, holds the key to defeating the Heartless and setting things right again. I'm not kidding, he actually uses a weapon called a "keyblade". And you thought the gunblade was original. In your travels you'll go to Agrabah (home of Aladdin), Wonderland, Neverland, Olympus, Tarzan's jungle, and others. All the while encountering critters from Disney cartoons and Final Fantasy games.

Being a Final Fantasy fan, the major draw for me in this game was seeing Final Fantasy characters from Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 10. Unfortunately, this is one aspect of the game that disappoints. Cameos are limited. I haven't played through the entire game but it seems that the only characters playing significant roles are Leon (aka Squall from FF8), Cid (from FF7), and a little bit from Yuffie (FF7) and Aerith (Aeris/FF7). Sure old favorites Cloud and Sephiroth make appearances, but they don't play major roles in the game. And in the end, you could easily replace them with normal, original NPCs. Square's number one reason for including them is to pander to the Final Fantasy crowd. Mission accomplished, I bought it.

You'll mostly be encountering Disney characters. Disney NPCs, Disney party members, even Disney summon monsters. For me, all that Disney stuff would make me vomit, but it isn't as childish as you would think. Donald and Goofy provide you with battle support and they're good for a laugh in cutscenes. On the downside, all of the worlds I've seen so far are Disney worlds, nothing from Final Fantasy, or at least anything original except for the first island you start on, and that reminds me of Besaid from FFX.

The voice acting in the game is short. Most of what you see are dialogue boxes or speech bubbles instead of actual voices. But the voices that are in the game are excellent. Square and Disney actually hired some professional talent for a few of the non-Disney characters. And even the Disney characters are voiced by either the original voice actor from their respective movies, or the actor from the TV series spinoff (in a few cases). The dialogue is a little choppy in some areas, but it's not as ridiculous as some of the translated dialogue in other games.

Play control. Jeez. Controlling your character is relatively easy. Battles are a little tougher because of the battle menu, but they do provide a few shortcut buttons for magic, etc. The absolute worst thing is the platform jumping. Between the camera angles and your nitwit sidekicks, it's difficult to land some jumps. Donald and Goofy are constantly in the way, they follow you around like the characters in Final Fantasy 8 do, unfortunately you can't walk through them. I had to push Goofy off a ledge a few times just to see where I was going. They do add a remedy for the problems a first person "look around" view. It helps to see around and to line yourself up with a jump, but it doesn't help if you turn the camera around to look for a platform only to see that annoying duck standing in your way. And in battle they were basically useless for me. After playing Devil May Cry, I'm good enough with melee sword combat that I don't need the backup of a giant dog with a shield and a duck who can't hit a monster the size of a building with a fire spell.

The minor problems aside, the game has its strengths. The story and the cutscenes make you feel like you're actually controlling a Disney movie not necessarily a bad thing. And the freedom of movement in battles was a nice change from turn-based Final Fantasy combat. It's no Final Fantasy X, but Kingdom Hearts ranks as one of the best RPGs I've ever played.

Pros:

-Great battle system

-Top notch voice acting

-Music is good and it sets the mood in certain areas

-Original and engaging story

Cons:

-Donald and Goofy get in the way

-Other members of your party aren't very helpful in battle

-Final Fantasy angle not as prominant as many would like

Overall I gave it four stars taking into consideration the flaws. If you're looking for an original RPG, I would recommend this game. But if you're looking for a Final Fantasy clone, this isn't it. Otherwise I think everyone should give this game a shot. Rent it first, and if you like it then buy it.

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You know, I have to admit it. I'm not much of a Disney fan nor a Square fan either. I've played several of the Final Fantasy games,and even Parasite Eve 1&2 but I can't say I've ever been blown away by any of it. That is, til now.

This game has got to be the most fun I've had in years. I mean, I've never had but two games ever draw me in like all get out to where I can't stop playing it(those games were Quake and Golden Sun). Now, I have a third. It's Kingdom Hearts. For those of you thinking it's a kiddie game, think again because this game will definitely hand that assumption back to you with a lil something extra. You play as Sora and along with Donald and Goofy....you go looking for Mickey meeting some mean ol' nasties along the way. Battles aren't of your usual Final Fantasy Variety as they are fought in real-time but they are awesome just the same as you can summon several Disney characters to help you out(mine favorite being Simba).

If you're into RPGs, even if you're not, try out Kingdom Hearts. It's definitely worth your time. Square did this game justice.

Hope there is a part two.