Before making a choice, here's what you need to know about the stats:
HP is the amount of damage you can take before you die
MP is the amount of Magic you can use, and the power of magical abilities
AP is the amount of Abilities you can equip.
STR is the amount of damage you deal with physical attacks
DEF is the amount of damage you receive from attacks
Item slots is how many items you can bring into battle
Welcome to the beginning of this walkthrough. This walkthrough will guide you through the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series. This walkthrough is usable for the original Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and the HD 1.5 ReMIX version of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
Treasure List
⬜ Potion
Choose your weapon
After the opening movie, you find yourself on a platform with Snow White on it, eerie music in the background, and a mysterious voice asking you if you can walk. Walk to the center of the platform, and three pedestals will appear, each holding a weapon. You're now forced to choose one of the weapons, and give up a second one. The choice you make determines your stats and the order in which you learn your abilities. You'll also get to use the chosen weapon for this tutorial part.
Stats
Choice
LV 1 Stats
LV 100 Stats
Original
Final Mix
Choose Dream Sword Give up Dream Rod
18 HP
2 MP
1 AP
5 STR
2 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
8 MP
37 AP
57 STR
52 DEF
7 Item slots
87 HP
8 MP
49 AP
49 STR
46 DEF
7 Item slots
Choose Dream Sword Give up Dream Shield
18 HP
2 MP
3 AP
5 STR
1 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
8 MP
39 AP
57 STR
51 DEF
7 Item slots
87 HP
8 MP
51 AP
49 STR
45 DEF
7 Item slots
Choose Dream Rod Give up Dream Sword
18 HP
3 MP
3 AP
2 STR
3 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
10 MP
39 AP
54 STR
53 DEF
6 Item slots
87 HP
10 MP
51 AP
46 STR
47 DEF
6 Item slots
Choose Dream Rod Give up Dream Shield
18 HP
3 MP
3 AP
4 STR
1 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
10 MP
39 AP
56 STR
51 DEF
6 Item slots
87 HP
10 MP
51 AP
48 STR
45 DEF
6 Item slots
Choose Dream Shield Give up Dream Sword
18 HP
2 MP
3 AP
3 STR
4 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
8 MP
39 AP
55 STR
54 DEF
8 Item slots
87 HP
8 MP
51 AP
47 STR
48 DEF
8 Item slots
Choose Dream Shield Give up Dream Rod
18 HP
2 MP
1 AP
4 STR
4 DEF
3 Item slots
84 HP
8 MP
37 AP
56 STR
54 DEF
8 Item slots
87 HP
8 MP
49 AP
48 STR
48 DEF
8 Item slots
Level
Abilities (Original)
Choose Dream Sword
Choose Dream Rod
Choose Dream Shield
6
—
—
—
9
Combo Plus
Scan
Guard
12
Vortex
Treasure Magnet
Scan
15
Scan
MP Haste
Lucky Strike
18
Blitz
Counterattack
Second Chance
21
Berserk
Critical Plus
Counterattack
24
Counterattack
Guard
Jackpot
27
Air Combo Plus
Aerial Sweep
Treasure Magnet
30
Aerial Sweep
Treasure Magnet
—
33
Treasure Magnet
MP Rage
Blitz
36
Guard
Berserk
MP Rage
39
—
Lucky Strike
Treasure Magnet
42
—
—
Combo Plus
45
MP Haste
—
Vortex
48
Critical Plus
Second Chance
Berserk
50
—
—
—
51
Second Chance
MP Rage
Critical Plus
54
—
Jackpot
—
55
—
—
—
57
MP Rage
Vortex
Air Combo Plus
60
Treasure Magnet
Air Combo Plus
Aerial Sweep
63
Jackpot
Blitz
MP Haste
66
MP Rage
Combo Plus
MP Rage
69
Lucky Strike
Critical Plus
Critical Plus
72
Combo Plus
—
—
75
Air Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
Combo Plus
78
Critical Plus
Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
81
—
—
—
84
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
87
—
—
—
90
Critical Plus
Critical Plus
Critical Plus
93
—
—
—
96
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
99
—
—
—
100
—
—
—
Level
Abilities (Final Mix)
Choose Dream Sword
Choose Dream Rod
Choose Dream Shield
6
Sliding Dash
Stun Impact
Slapshot
9
Scan
Treasure Magnet
Berserk
12
Slapshot
Ripple Drive
Tech Boost
15
Counterattack
Scan
Guard
18
Tech Boost
Hurricane Blast
Stun Impact
21
Combo Plus
MP Haste
Scan
24
Guard
Air Combo Plus
Lucky Strike
27
Hurricane Blast
Tech Boost
Leaf Bracer
30
—
—
Treasure Magnet
33
Blitz
Guard
—
36
Treasure Magnet
Aerial Sweep
Second Chance
39
Ripple Drive
Leaf Bracer
Sliding Dash
42
—
MP Rage
Jackpot
45
MP Haste
Air Combo Plus
Counterattack
48
Second Chance
Lucky Strike
Critical Plus
50
Combo Master
—
—
51
Stun Impact
Sliding Dash
Hurricane Blast
54
—
—
Combo Master
55
—
Combo Master
—
57
Vortex
Counterattack
Treasure Magnet
60
Aerial Sweep
Berserk
Blitz
63
MP Rage
Jackpot
Combo Plus
66
Combo Plus
—
—
69
Leaf Bracer
Slapshot
Ripple Drive
72
Air Combo Plus
Treasure Magnet
MP Haste
75
Treasure Magnet
MP Rage
Critical Plus
78
Berserk
Blitz
Vortex
81
Tech Boost
Tech Boost
Tech Boost
84
Critical Plus
Vortex
Aerial Sweep
87
MP Rage
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
90
Lucky Strike
Second Chance
MP Rage
93
Combo Plus
Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
96
Air Combo Plus
Critical Plus
Combo Plus
99
Critical Plus
Combo Plus
Air Combo Plus
100
Jackpot
Critical Plus
MP Rage
Some popular choices are:
Choose Dream Shield, give up Dream Sword - This is a very good beginner setup. Choosing the shield gives you defensive abilities quite early, and giving up the sword instead of the rod gives you a little extra AP to equip them.
Choose Dream Rod, give up Dream Sword - If you want to focus on using Magic, you have to choose the Dream Rod. Those two extra MP are going to make a ton of difference in both the amount of Magic you can use, as well as the power of your spells. The difference between giving up the sword or shield is an extra 2 STR or DEF, which isn't that much, but giving up the shield has you start with just 1 DEF, which is not a lot.
Choose Dream Sword, give up Dream Shield - The Dream Sword is the least useful of the three. It gives you more STR at the beginning, and gives you more combo moves early on, but none of that really matters at the end. The difference between giving up the rod or shield is 2 AP or 1 DEF, of which 2 AP is the better deal.
Once you've made your choice and confirmed it, the floor will break beneath you and you'll fall to another platform featuring Cinderella.
Shadow
Attacks
Scratch Attack
Lunge Attack
Jump Attack
Strategy
Shadows are quite easy to beat. They do have the annoying ability of sinking into the ground, making them invulnerable until they resurface.
Learn to fight
Potion
Restores 30 HP of one character. Can be equipped.
You'll summon the weapon you chose, and learn about HP and MP, and how to attack. And now it's time for your very first battle. Introducing the most basic of Heartless: the Shadow. A bunch of them appear, but you only need to defeat one for the others to retreat. You'll learn about EXP and prizes, and another Shadow will try to attack you from behind. That might be a problem if it weren't for a very useful tool: Lock-on. Lock-on allows you to target and follow a specific enemy. Use Lock-on to defeat the group of Shadows, and a retreating Shadow will cause you to sink into darkness until you awake on a third platform, featuring three unidentified women, and a semi-transparent door.
Walk up to the door and you'll learn about examining. Examine the door and a treasure chest will appear. Walk up to it and open it to obtain...nothing. A crate now appears, push it and then smash it. Inside you'll find a Potion. The door frame now becomes solid and a barrel appears. Lift the barrel and the rest of the door will materialize. Now you can open the door.
Making the right choice
What choice to make
What choice you should make regarding your EXP growth kind of depends on your playstyle. If you're a beginner, or just looking for a quick run-through, "dawn" will be the best option, as it levels you up quicker at lower levels. If you're planning on getting Sora to LV 100, "dusk" is a better option, as the total EXP required is a lot lower. If you're not sure, you can always choose "noon".
You find yourself on a wooden structure overlooking a vast ocean with three other characters. Fans of the Final Fantasy series might recognize them as Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII, and Tidus and Wakka from Final Fantasy X. Each will ask you a question, with three possible answers. The answers you give decide the amount of EXP you'll need to level up. There are three possible outcomes: "dawn" will require less EXP in the beginning but more at the end, "dusk" will require more EXP at the beginning but less at the end, and "noon" is kind of balanced between the two. Fortunately, there's no complicated formula for what choices to make. The top answers will result in dawn, the middle answers in noon, and the bottom answers in dusk. After answering all three, you get to confirm your choice. Afterwards, you'll find yourself on another station, featuring Aurora. Walk towards the light, and you'll learn about the Menu screen. However, you can't open it during battle and a bunch of Shadows appear.
After the battle, a Save Point appears. Save Points allow you to save your game (obviously), but standing on one also restores your HP and MP. Stand on the Save Point and a beam of light creates a stairway.
Time to face your dark side
Once you've saved (or not), head up the stairs. In a cutscene you see your shadow grow to the size of a giant. Meet the very first boss battle, the Darkside
Darkside
HP
Original
Final Mix
180
240
EXP
Original
Final Mix
18
18
Attacks
Dark Homing
Dark Punch
Strategy
The Darkside can only be damaged by hitting its hands or its head.
When it lowers its arm and charges it with energy, it will slam it in the ground, so get out of the way. Once it hits the ground, it will leave its fist on the ground for a little while, giving you the opportunity to attack it. However, a pool of darkness around its fist will spawn Shadows, so be sure to take those out too.
When it lowers itself on its knees, and pushes its chest forward with its arms back, it will fire homing projectiles. With good timing, these projectiles can be deflected, giving you some Tech Points in the progress. During this move, its hands are low enough to attack.
If you get low on HP, you should use the Potion obtained before, or defeat some Shadows and collect the HP prizes they drop. If you keep attacking, it should go down pretty quickly. And if it doesn't, well, you don't actually have to win this fight. If you lose, the story will continue like normal.
About Tech Points
Tech Points are bonus EXP obtained during battle. Tech Points can be earned by deflecting attacks with precise timing, or using certain Magic on specific enemies. There's no limit to the amount of Tech Points you can obtain during battle, which makes some fights a good way to grind just by parrying attacks. (More about that in the next part)
Win or lose, once the battle is over, the Darkside will drown you in darkness. Head on over to the next page to see what happens next.