PS2 Reviews
Kingdom Hearts
..::Story::..
The plot appears shallow and very 'kiddy' at first, but it complicates and deepens as you play through the game. You start with Sora, a 14 year old boy on one of the islands called "Destiny Islands" with his 2 closest friends, Kairi, a beautiful 13 year old girl, and Riku, a mature 15 year old boy where they can kick back and relax. They've known each other since they were young, and have been playing together on that island for years. But when Riku starts to think beyond his fun island, the 3 of them start a journey to find out what other worlds are lying out there waiting to be discovered. And a night before this journey starts, a terrible storm happens, and their island is suddenly overrun with shadow-like abominations, called the Heartless. Sora starts to find his closest friends, and in the course of doing that, he receives the Keyblade in his hand, and the island is swallowed by a vortex and the 3 friends are scattered to many different worlds. Then the quest of Sora the Keyblade Master to save the worlds from the Heartless has begun.
Story 10
"Intricate plot twists turn this kiddy at first sight story into a marvellous one to play through for all ages"
..::Graphics::..
Since this game was produced and developed by Squaresoft, you should know what quality to expect for the graphics for this game. Yes, it's beautiful. I think Squaresoft has gone for a more cartoonish appeal this time, instead of the realism they've been feeding us with their Fantastic Final Fantasy games. They have managed to recreate the Disney characters appearing in the game perfectly, and yes there are Final Fantasy cameos!!!! For those who have been playing FFVII, and FFVIII, you are in for a treat. The chracters you once played as have made the transistion to the PS2!! That means you can now ogle at the marvellous character designs by Tetsuya Nomura(also the director of the game), using PS2 graphics. But not ALL Final Fantasy chracters have made their cameo appearance, so on another note, don't be too hopeful. The backgrounds are amusingly interactive and beautifully rendered. Overall, the Squaresoft is able to recreate Disney's cute characters as well as bring their fellow Final Fantasy characters to life on the PS2. Stunning.
Graphics 9.5
"Stunning enough to mesmerize both children and Final Fantasy veterans"
..::Sound/Audio::..
Even though Squaresoft's music department veteran Nobuo Uematsu, Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, voice overs, and SFX surpassed my expectations. I absolutely loved the soundtrack, composed by Yoko Shimomura and Kaoru Wada. The music fitted the atmosphere whether it be tense, calm, scary, touching, or romantic. And what's more, Utada Hikaru has agreed to work with Squaresoft to produce her singles Hikari(Japanese) & Simple And Clean(english) which were put in Kingdom Hearts. I personally loved both. And then the voice overs come in. It's made up of many film stars and actors, such as Mandy Moore, Haley Joel Osment, Lance Bass(!) and many other stars in the media industry. But some of the drawbacks are that the level background music keeps repeating itself, so after a while it can become quite annoying, especially if you can't get past a certain boss or puzzle. Despite its minor shortcomings, I feel that this aspect of the game is almost perfect.
Sound 10
"So beautiful is the music of Kingdom Hearts that it will invoke the feelings within you"
..::Gameplay::..
This is where I think the game excels. So good that I even think its the Game Of 2002 for me! The key words are variety and uniqueness. Squaresoft has implemented so many minigames, side quests, and varieties of play that you will have plenty of things to do throughout the game. The gameplay is an action oriented tweak of the Final Fantasy-esque gameplay. You run around all the time, without getting into random battles, but just fighting the Heartless as they appear from the 'shadows'. As you strike your enemy, use a potion, cast a spell, or roll out of the way, you are constantly moving. Squaresoft has utilised the use of the two analog sticks interestingly. Moving around and attacking will be done with the left analog stick, while selecting WHAT to do is done using the right analog stick. Sounds complicating? Hardly. After a few hours of play your thumbs will be like a fish to water to those Sony analog sticks. Coming back to the minigames and sidequests, it is just full of variety. Yes full of variety. You get to build your own transportation, called the 'Gummi Ship' like lego, putting different coloured blocks, engine, guns etc. And you can travel to different but familiar Disney worlds, to play a HUGE variety of minigames like, jumping with Tigger, or winning the cups at Olympus Coliseum. And did you notice how many times I mentioned the word "Variety"???
Gameplay 10
"Even better than your usual Final Fantasy fare combined with Hack & Slash action"
..::Lifespan::..
As in every other Squaresoft games, the lifespan matters. And it matters a lot. The lifespan of Kingdom Hearts is not comparable to other Final Fantasy games, but it has lots of replay value. Including an expert mode which you can play again with an even harder challenge. And because of the choice making you do at the start of the game, it determines the outcomes of the game. So playing again but picking another answer is always fun. Kingdom Hearts will keep you busy about 40 hours, is easy to play, has variety and has plenty of replay value.
Lifespan 9
"The difficulty and variety will keep you coming back for more"
370nl1n3's Infobox
 Title: Kingdom Hearts
Developer: Squaresoft
Publisher: Square Electronic Arts
No. Of Players: 1
Mem. Card Space Required: 131kb minimum
Genre: Action RPG
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Overall 10
