Kingdom Hearts (game)

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Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Kingdom Hearts (キングダムハーツ, Kingudamu Hātsu?) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. (now Square Enix Co., Ltd.) in 2002 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. It is notable for being the result of a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features and films with those from the Final Fantasy video series, also developed by Square. Although the game's primary plot lines follow characters who were created specifically for Kingdom Hearts, characters from both companies play major roles in the game and its storyline. The game features real-time rendered backgrounds and scenery.

Contents [hide] 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 2.1 Setting 2.2 Characters 2.2.1 Final Fantasy cameos 2.3 Story 3 Development 3.1 Final Mix 4 Audio 4.1 Voice cast 4.2 Musical score 5 Reception 6 Merchandise 6.1 Manga 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Gameplay Kingdom Hearts is heavily influenced by its parent franchise, Final Fantasy, and carries many gameplay elements over into its own action-based, hack-and-slash system. Sora, the main character, is directly controlled by the player from a third person camera angle. Most gameplay occurs on interconnected field maps where battles take place. The game is driven by a linear progression to the next story event, usually told in the form of a cut scene, though there are numerous side quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters.

Like many traditional role-playing games, Kingdom Hearts features an experience point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player gains experience which culminate in a "level-up", where the player characters grows stronger and gains access to new abilities. Unlike many other games of its type, Kingdom Hearts allows a certain degree of character development customization through a short tutorial found at the beginning of the game. By choosing certain options, the player is able to manipulate how Sora learns abilities, grows statistically, and even gains levels.

Combat in Kingdom Hearts is in real time and involves button presses which initiate Attacks by the on-screen character. Also, a Final Fantasy-esque menu found at the bottom left of the screen provides other combat options such as using Magic and Items. There is also a context-sensitive option at the bottom of the menu, usually used for interaction with the environment or for performing Special Attacks. This menu is manipulated using the right analogue stick or digital pad, while movement is controlled by the left stick, allowing the player to navigate the menu while avoiding or approaching enemies. In addition to the main character, two party members are usually present who also participate in combat. Though these characters are computer-controlled, the player is allowed to customize their behavior to a certain extent through the menu screen.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Setting Further information: List of worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series Levels in Kingdom Hearts are called "worlds". Many are based on Disney movies (primarily ones from the Disney animated features canon). Players travel from one world to another via gummi ship.

Destiny Islands: Sora begins his journey here. The world is only accessible at the story's beginning. The islands and the events in them are critical to the entire game's storyline. Sora and his friends Riku, and Kairi originate here, and Final Fantasy characters Selphie Tilmitt, Tidus, and Wakka live there as well. Traverse Town: Sora first meets Donald and Goofy here. Traverse Town serves as a launching point into the majority of gameplay; as its name implies, it offers traditional-RPG shops. Several Final Fantasy and Disney characters reside here, including Aerith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Squall Leonhart, Cid Highwind, The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, Dalmatians from 101 Dalmatians, Merlin from The Sword in the Stone, and, later on in the game, Geppetto and Pinocchio from Pinocchio. Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland: Intended to be the next level the player travels to, this world is the first that can be closed to the Heartless by sealing the Keyhole. It features the Cheshire Cat, the Doorknob, Alice, the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, and animated playing cards as they appeared in the movie. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare appear as picture in their "tea garden". Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules: This includes Hades, Hercules, Philoctetes, Cerberus, Cloud Strife and Sephiroth. This world, rather than being an explorable platform level, hosts fighting tournaments. Deep Jungle, from Tarzan. Tarzan joins the party here. Jane, Clayton, Sabor and several gorillas from the movies also appear. Agrabah, from Aladdin: This world includes Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin joins the party. Abu, Princess Jasmine, Jafar, Iago, Genie, and the Magic Carpet also appear. Monstro, from Pinocchio: Pinocchio and his maker Geppetto can be found here. Since Monstro is a living being, not a world, this level cannot be sealed. Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid: This world consists of the underwater environments of Ursula's Cave, the city of Atlantica, and several grottos. Ariel joins the party. King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian, Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam appear in this world. While in this world, Sora is transformed into a mer-man while Donald and Goofy become sea animals. The three-dimensional underwater controls are frequently criticized by players. Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas (includes the Guillotine Square, Oogie Boogie's Manor, Moonlit Hill, and a graveyard): Jack Skellington joins the party. Sally, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, Doctor Finklestein, Zero, the two-faced Mayor and Oogie Boogie also appear. In this world, Sora, Goofy and Donald disguise themselves as monsters. Never Land, from Peter Pan, does not actually include Neverland itself; its two areas are Captain Hook's ship and London's Big Ben. Peter Pan joins the party. Captain Hook, Wendy Darling, Smee and Tinkerbell appear here. Story events ultimately allow the characters to fly while in this world. Hollow Bastion: Final Fantasy characters that appear in Kingdom Hearts come from this world (excepting those in the Destiny Islands). The Beast joins the party. This is also Maleficent's headquarters. End of the World: A large, dark world created from the assimilation of various worlds consumed in darkness. Here, many Heartless and evil beings reside. The final battles with Ansem are fought here. The World Terminus is located here, and small pockets of all other playable realms appear in this world due to its presence. 100 Acre Wood, from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: This world exists only in a book within the game, and its different areas are unlocked by collecting 'Torn Pages'. Each area hosts a different mini-game. Unlike other worlds, it has no enemies. Disney Castle (not to be confused with Sleeping Beauty Castle) is not a playable world, though it appears in cut scenes and, inaccessibly, on the world map. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy originate here.

[edit] Characters

A typical battle in Kingdom Hearts.The main battle party consists of three characters: Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Donald and Goofy are assigned specific areas of strength from the outset (Donald's being Magic and Goofy's' being Defense and Special Attacks); Sora's stats are more customizable. At the start of the game, the player must select from the three main attributes (Strength, Defense, and Magic) one area for Sora to excel in and one for him to be lacking in. He is also unique in that he can use both Magic and Special Attacks, whereas Donald and Goofy are each limited to only one. Each party member's statistics can be altered by using special boost items or equipping weapons or accessories with stat-boosting effects.

Sora is the only character directly controlled by the player; all other party members are computer-controlled. The player does have some control over the actions taken by the AI-controlled characters in battle, however, as he/she can assign each character specific attacks to use or spells to cast automatically in certain situations. Donald and Goofy are the only computer-controlled characters that are usable on every world. Almost every world in the game features its own AI-controlled party member, though, who can be chosen to replace Goofy or Donald in the party while the party is in that world. For instance, Jack Skellington joins the player's party in Halloween Town, but will not accompany the player elsewhere.

The player can also summon various Disney characters to fight alongside Sora in battle (Donald and Goofy then withdraw from the battlefield for the duration of the summon). Available summoned characters include the Genie from Aladdin and Simba from The Lion King.

As a game meant to explore the fictional universes of various Disney films, there are many Disney characters from those films, along with others in cameo roles, such as the One Hundred and One Dalmatians puppies playing part in a quest to collect all ninety-nine.

[edit] Final Fantasy cameos Squaresoft also incorporated several of its famous characters from the Final Fantasy series into the game, though the characters have been tweaked slightly for novelty and to fit the game's backstory. On Destiny Islands, the player meets younger versions of Tidus, Wakka (both from Final Fantasy X), and Selphie (from Final Fantasy VIII). In Traverse Town, the player encounters Squall Leonhart (known in this game as "Leon") from Final Fantasy VIII, as well as Aerith Gainsborough, Cid Highwind, and Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII were both originally set to make cameo appearances, but were replaced by Yuffie and Wakka respectively. Cloud Strife and Sephiroth (both from Final Fantasy VII) make appearances in Olympus Coliseum, where the player can fight them in the tournaments.

The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. Moogles make an appearance and provide item synthesis. Several weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. The name of the raft Riku had suggested was Highwind, a reference to the airship of Final Fantasy VII. The magic-naming system in Kingdom Hearts (i.e. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is reminiscent of Final Fantasy magic. The names of various spells are the names of Gummi blocks, and various summons, weapons, bosses, and monsters are the names of Gummi ships blueprints.

The emphasis on characters from later Final Fantasy installments disappointed some fans; the refusal to use earlier characters stems from character designer Tetsuya Nomura's hesitation to use characters he did not design.

Kingdom Hearts has been criticized by some Final Fantasy fans for making poor use of the Final Fantasy characters placed in it. For example, several prominent characters are made much younger and do not play a major role in the story. Some fans also disapproved of the casting of the voice actors for the more popular Final Fantasy characters: in particular, the casting of pop music singers Mandy Moore as Aerith and Lance Bass as Sephiroth.

[edit] Story Kingdom Hearts begins on Destiny Islands, where Sora, Riku and Kairi live. The three friends seek to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. One night, the islands are attacked by darkness and shadow creatures. Sora seeks out his friends, finding Riku. Riku disappears, and Sora somehow gains a key-shaped weapon, known as the Keyblade. Despite Sora's efforts at battling the shadow creatures, the islands are destroyed, and Sora is left adrift. Meanwhile, King Mickey Mouse has left his world to deal with the increasing power of darkness, instructing mage Donald Duck and knight Goofy to find the "key".

Donald and Goofy use the Gummi Ship to travel to a different world, Traverse Town, to where Sora has drifted. Sora encounters the shadow creatures again, and meets Leon, who explains the shadow creatures are Heartless, creatures that consume hearts, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon capable of defeating them. A man named Ansem, the leader of Leon's homeworld, is said to have studied the Heartless. Sora meets Donald and Goofy and the three decide to travel together: Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku. The three travel to various worlds based on Disney films, finding that the Keyblade also locks "Keyholes", passages that the Heartless use to take the heart of the world.

A group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent seek out the seven Princesses of Heart, to complete the final Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, a repository of knowledge and power and the source of hearts. This group includes Riku, who Maleficent promises will help find Kairi. Maleficent sows distrust in Riku, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for new friends and the Keyblade. An increasingly antagonistic Riku finds Kairi's body, but cannot find her heart.

Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, the homeworld of Ansem, and the headquarters of Maleficent. Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora, claiming that he was the "delivery boy". Donald and Goofy, taking their order to follow the "key" seriously, leave with Riku. Sora challenges Riku again, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends; his friends return to him, as does the Keyblade. Shamed, Riku meets a cloaked man who implores him to give into the darkness. Sora, Donald and Goofy encounter Maleficent, defeating her and encountering a strangely-behaved Riku with a Keyblade that unlocks hearts. Sora finds Kairi's body, and Riku, who reveals himself to be Ansem, possessing Riku. Ansem explains that Kairi is a Princess of Heart, and that her heart was trapped within Sora's body since Destiny Islands was destroyed. After defeating Ansem, Sora uses Ansem's Keyblade to unlock his heart, releasing both his and Kairi's heart. Kairi's heart returns to her body, completing the final Keyhole, while Sora's heart becomes a Heartless. Sora is returned to human form by Kairi's heart, and Sora resolves to follow Ansem.

Ansem is found in End of the World, the combined remnants of worlds taken by the Heartless. Ansem explains his belief that darkness is the heart's true essence, and he seeks Kingdom Hearts, as that would be the ultimate darkness. However, upon opening the door to Kingdom Hearts, it reveals its light, destroying Ansem. Beyond the door is Mickey and Riku, and the door must be closed, as there are many Heartless beyond the door as well. Mickey and Sora use their Keyblades to lock the door. The worlds reconstruct themselves, separating Sora and Kairi. At the end of the game, Sora, Donald, and Goofy resolve to find Mickey and Riku.

[edit] Development

[edit] Final Mix

Neoshadows, one of the new enemies, in Final Mix, along with the One-Winged Angel Keyblade.Kingdom Hearts was re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts Final Mix; this version has several events and a number of gameplay tweaks that are not in previous releases. Spoken dialogue is in English, with Japanese subtitles.

New scenes, clarifying certain plot points, such as Riku's journey and foreshadowing of Kingdom Hearts II, were included. A gameplay tweak allows the player to skip cutscenes after seeing them once. The optional bosses first included in the English version were introduced to Japanese players for the first time, along with the "Unknown", in an attempt to raise interest for the sequel. In another attempt at foreshadowing, a video called "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]" plays along with "Another side, Another story…" if the player accomplishes certain tasks.

New music incorporated were "Disappeared" and "Another Side". The "Night on Bald Mountain" and "One-Winged Angel" tracks from the English version were included as well.

Other changes include new abilities, new weapons, new items, additional and recolored enemies, and gameplay tweaks to make the game easier for the player, along with two new difficulty levels.

A limited edition version of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix was also released. The version includes an action figure of Sora, a sticker set, sketches of some of the main characters, and the game itself.

[edit] Audio

[edit] Voice cast A special effort was made to preserve the original voice actors from the Disney movies used in Kingdom Hearts. Some of the voice actors from the related television series or direct-to-video sequels were chosen over original voice actors, where applicable (e.g. Dan Castellaneta as Genie, rather than Robin Williams). It also has famous names including Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Sora and Hayden Panettiere as the voice of Kairi.[1] Also David Gallagher as Riku.

[edit] Musical score The music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, the opening orchestration and ending credits theme were arranged and orchestrated by Kaoru Wada and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the main vocal theme is "Hikari" ("Simple And Clean" was used in the Western releases and Final Mix). Both versions of the song were composed and performed by Utada Hikaru. While there are some melodies derived from prior Disney films, most of the soundtrack consists of original themes written specifically for the game by Shimomura.

[edit] Reception According to Game Rankings, Kingdom Hearts has an average rating of 86%.[2] Critics commended the visuals, the orchestral score, and the action-adventure RPG feel to the game. The voice acting was also mentioned.

GameSpot cites "tedious" combat as one gaming issue,[3] with the review citing the Gummi Ship sections as "pale imitations of the Star Fox series". A few reviewers also mentioned that they felt the developers had focused on cut scenes and special effects instead of core game play. Another failing is the periodic departure from the main plot into the Disney side stories. And, when the original plot builds to a climax, "...the story fails to gel thanks to a confusing mish-mash of vague terms and symbolism that probably made more sense in the director's head than in this final product."[4]

In 2007, Kingdom Hearts was named 22nd best PlayStation 2 game of all time. Its successor, Kingdom Hearts 2 was 10 spots below Kingdom Hearts. [5]

[edit] Merchandise

[edit] Manga The game was adapted into a manga by Shiro Amano, and all four volumes have been published in English in the United States by TOKYOPOP (ISBN 1-59816-217-9). A boxed set containing all four volumes has been released , as well as the second manga series, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. A noteworthy feature of the manga is that even in its original, Japanese language edition, the Kingdom Hearts comic adaptation was designed to be read from left to right, contrary to the Japanese norm, although the later Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II comic adaptations are read from right to left.