Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features and films with those from Square's Final Fantasy RPG series. Although the game's primary plotlines 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.

Plot summary

Kingdom Hearts begins on lush tropical islands called "Destiny Islands", home to the main characters Sora, Riku, and Kairi. The three children wish to leave the island that they have been confined to all their life, so they build a raft to escape. The night before the voyage, a storm sweeps through the island, and evil shadow-creatures called the Heartless appear. The three friends are separated. When Sora finds Riku surrounded by darkness, Riku disappears and Sora has to fight the Heartless, who are being used to tear down the walls between worlds. After the battle, Sora receives his weapon, the mystical Keyblade, and sets out to defeat the Heartless and be reunited with his friends.

From the Destiny Islands, Sora lands in Traverse Town, where he joins Goofy and Donald Duck in their quest to find King Mickey Mouse and defeat the Heartless. In their adventure, the trio explore many Disney-themed worlds, including Aladdin's Agrabah and The Little Mermaid's Atlantica. Along they way, they lock "keyholes" to the heart of those worlds, preventing the Heartless from consuming their worlds. Standing in their way, however, is a cabal of Disney villains, with Maleficent as their leader and Riku as their apprentice. Seeing Sora as apathetic towards Kairi's fate, Riku has taken reponsibility into his hands and struck a deal with the villains, in order to help Kairi regain her sense of self. The goal of the cabal is to collect seven maidens of the purest heart, the "Princesses of Heart", in order to open the pathway to Kingdom Hearts, which is supposedly a repository of power and knowledge.

Finally reaching Hollow Bastion, Maleficent's headquarters, Sora confronts Riku directly, ending with the revelation that Riku is also a Keyblade master and with the loss of Sora's own Keyblade. Unfettered by the loss of his weapon, Sora puts his faith into his friends and wins back the Keyblade, sending Riku to run off and lick his wounds. It is during this time that a mysterious being offers him greater power with which he could use to defeat Sora. Riku impulsively accepts.

Sora and his teammates face and defeat Maleficent, allowing a strangely-behaved Riku to strike her with a unique type of Keyblade, one that opened hearts. This transformed Maleficent into a darkness-seeped dragon. Sora's party meets and exceeds the challenge.

Sora confronts Riku again. Only, this time, it is not truly Riku; it is actually Ansem, the scientist who was researching hearts, occupying Riku's body. Ansem desires to become part of what he believes to be the primordial phase of existence, the darkness that he believes to compose Kingdom Hearts. Kairi is revealed to be a Princess of Heart, and her heart was trapped in Sora's body ever since they got separated. Sora and Ansem battle, with Sora as the victor. In order to free Kairi's heart, Sora impales himself on Ansem's Keyblade, freeing the other Princesses' hearts, as the Keyblade was composed of their hearts. However, the pathway to Kingdom Hearts was opened.

Now a Heartless, Sora scampered to Kairi's protection. Knowing that it was truly Sora, Kairi pulls him from the infinite darkness and restores Sora. They flee Hollow Bastion in face of the immense number of Heartless pouring through the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. They return to lock the keyhole and later travel to Kingdom Hearts itself, facing Ansem in a final battle.

Final Mix

In Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, the Japanese re-release of the game, several events and a number of gameplay tweaks were added that were not in the American release. Various new enemies, abilities, and weapons were added, and slight changes have been made to affect the game's difficulty. The game ends with what many fans assume to be two teaser trailers (the first of which was also available in the North American version by doing a lot of side-quests) for Kingdom Hearts II, a sequel which has recently been announced. In the second teaser, titled Deep Dive, Mickey and four other cloaked figures are shown. The game features two new keyblades for Sora, the One-Winged Angel and the Diamond Dust blade, both of which can only be obtained in the coliseum. It also includes a special boss fight: at the Hollow Bastion, the optional Boss is the Enigmatic Man, a member of Organization XIII. There is also a new scene (commonly called the "Showdown of Fate") that shows Sephiroth and Cloud fighting inside the Coliseum.

Worlds

The many worlds in which the game takes place include various Disney settings (nearly all of which are part of the Disney animated features canon), as well as some original ones.

The Disney-based worlds:

• Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland. This is a surreal level in which the player is shrunk down to a miniscule size. This is the first level that can be closed to the Heartless. Features the Chersire Cat, the Doorknob, Alice, The Queen of Hearts, and several cards, as well as the Mad Hatter and the Hare.
• Deep Jungle, from Tarzan. This is a slightly longer world than the first, and includes Tarzan, as the first character that can be added to your party, Jane, Clayton, and Several Apes.
• Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules. This includes Hades, Hercules, Philoctetes (a.k.a. Phil), Cerberus, and Cloud Strife.
• Agrabah, from Aladdin. This world includes Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin, Abu, Jasmine, Jafar, Iago, and Genie are introduced here.
• Monstro, from Pinocchio. This world brings the player through the bowels of a whale. The infamous little wooden puppet Pinocchio and his maker Gepetto can be found here. Monstro is not a true world by Kingdom Hearts' definition, and thus does not contain a keyhole to be sealed.
• Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid. This was a distinctive underwater level that consists of Ursula's cave, several grottos, and the city of Atlantica. Ariel, King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian, Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam appear in this world. This level has often been criticized by fans as a difficult level to play because the controls vary underwater.
• Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The movie's cast make their video game debut in the level. This world includes the town square, Oogie Boogie's Manor, Moonlit Hill, and a graveyard. Features Jack Skellington, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, Zero, the two-faced Mayor, Oogie Boogie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
• Neverland, from Peter Pan. The world's name is somewhat a misnomer because the action takes place on Captain Hook's ship and a minor bit in London; as such, the actual Neverland is not actually visited. Captain Hook, Peter Pan, Wendy, Smee, and Tinkerbell call this world home.
• Hundred Acre Wood, from Winnie the Pooh. This world is unlike the others; there are no Heartless here and it takes place in the pages of a book. A variety of mini games open up as you proceed through the game.

The original worlds:

• Destiny Islands
• Traverse Town
• Hollow Bastion. This is the world that has been created for the Square characters as well as a sort of stand-in for the movie Beauty and the Beast as the Beast is a playable character there.
• End of the World
• Disney Castle (non-playable, not to be confused with Sleeping Beauty Castle)

Voice cast

Note: Most of the Disney Characters are voiced by their original voice actors from the movies or their voice actors for the animated series (where applicable, e.g. Dan Castellaneta as Genie, rather than Robin Williams.)

Music

The music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, the ending credits theme and opening orchestration is by Kaoru Wada, and the main vocal theme is "Hikari" (Light) known as "Simple and Clean" in Western releases. Both versions of the song were composed and performed by Utada Hikaru.

Characters

The main characters are Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Sora's stats are more customizable; the player can select what attribute to excel in and which attribute to be lacking in, such as defense, magic, or strength, at the beginning of the game. Several traits can also be altered further by permanent boost items or equipped item effects.

Sora is the only character directly controlled by the player; other members in the party are computer controlled. The computer controlled characters can have their behavior altered by the player, changing their item usages from "frequently" to "occasionally" for example. Goofy and Donald are the only computer-controlled characters that are usable on every world. Most worlds have a unique computer-controlled party member who can be chosen to replace Goofy or Donald in the party. For instance, Jack Skellington joins the player's party in the Nightmare Before Christmas world, and will not accompany the player elsewhere.

In addition, various Disney characters can be temporarily summoned during battle. These characters replace Sora's two companions for the duration of the summon. The player can summon Simba from The Lion King, the Genie from Aladdin, Bambi, Dumbo, Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, and Mushu from Mulan. Only the Genie and Tinkerbell summons are automatically obtained; the others must be gained by obtaining unique gems and giving them to the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella.

Final Fantasy cameos

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 (under the alias of "Leon") from Final Fantasy VIII, as well as Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII were both originally set to make cameo appearences, but were replaced by Yuffie and Wakka respectively. Cloud and Sephiroth make appearances, including a cutscene fight between both in Final Mix.

The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. Moogles make an appearance and help the player obtain the ultimate weapon (the aptly named Ultima Weapon). This and several other weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. The Final Fantasy magic naming system (ie. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is also in place. 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.

Negative criticisms

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 Gainsborough and Lance Bass as Sephiroth.

Some also felt that, while original, the combination of Square and Disney did not work as well as it could have, with aspects of both the story and gameplay swinging between 'Disney-style' and 'Square-style', without reaching an acceptable middle ground for most of the game. Some Final Fantasy fans were critical of the combination of the Final Fantasy mythos and the role-playing genre with Disney characters and other elements that they considered to be for children. Elements of the combat system were also criticized, particularly the use of menu-based items and magic in what was a frequently hectic real-time battle scenario, and the awkward camera angles that could (and would) occur during battle.

Another criticism levelled by reviewers and players alike revolves around the Gummi ship missions, with the main complaint being that they are not up to the same standard of play as the rest of game, and that they are ultimately irrelevant to the rest of the game. Note that Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix has tweaked the Gummi Ship system. The developers seem to have taken these comments onboard as the sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, reportedly features an overhaul of this aspect of the series, by making the ship missions optional, and making use of a train as the main form of transportation.[1]

Manga

There is a manga based off of the video game written and illustrated by Shiro Amano.

The manga is published in English in the United States by TOKYOPOP and in English in Singapore by Chuang Yi.

Trivia

• Optional bosses in the game include Kurt Zisa, the Phantom (located in Clock Tower section of Neverland, accessible after the player finishes Hollow Bastion), Ice Titan, and Sephiroth (both are in the Colliseum and accessible after Hollow Bastion is locked). These bosses do not need to be defeated to complete the story, but are a source of a great many experience points. While the Phantom is present in the Japanese version, the rest of the optional bosses are not. They were added later along with another optional boss in the Final Mix version.

• The secret boss Kurt Zisa was named after the winner of a publicity contest held by Squaresoft to promote the game.

• In the North American release, a bonus Kingdom Hearts II trailer titled Another Side, Another Story could be unlocked by sealing all the keyholes (including the one at the Hundred Acre Wood), finding all 99 Dalmations, and completing the Hades Cup at the Coliseum. Other common but incorrect claims that all 10 Ansem Reports or all Trinity markers are needed to obtain this trailer.

Packaging artwork

Sequels

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the Game Boy Advance sequel to the original game, takes place directly after the plot of Kingdom Hearts, and provides the link between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. In the beginning, Sora, Donald and Goofy meet a mysterious man who leads them to Castle Oblivion, a strange castle where even memories cannot be trusted. There, the group visits replicas of the worlds in the original game, created by Sora's memories. At the same time, Riku escapes from Kingdom Hearts and finds his own way to Castle Oblivion, where he must contend with the lingering darkness of Ansem in his heart. As both Sora and Riku fight their ways through the castle, piecing together what is real and what is not, they are unaware that they are being targeted by a mysterious organization.

The game abandoned the Kingdom Hearts battle system, focusing instead on card-based game play. These cards can be used to create new worlds, open doors, and attack Heartless. The game was released on December 7, 2004.

Kingdom Hearts II

A second sequel, Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2, is in the works. Taking place a year after Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II will feature Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as a vibrant new cast of characters, including King Mickey himself and familar faces. The Heartless are still running loose and a mysterious group, Organization XIII, is plotting against Sora. There will be new levels exclusive to the sequel, like Pirates of the Caribbean's Port Royal, The Lion King's Pride Lands, Tron's Space Paranoids, Mulan's Land of Dragons, Steamboat Willie's Timeless River, as well as new places to visit in old levels. An example would be the Underworld in the Hercules world and the Palace in Agrabah. The sequel will use a better redefined camera system, and includes a 'Drive' ability. This gives Sora the ability to merge with one of his party members for a short time. Kingdom Hearts II is being released in Japan on December 22, 2005, and the North American release has been pushed back to March 2006. The European and Australian release dates are yet to be announced, but will most probably occur soon after the American release.

External links

• Official Kingdom Hearts site
• Official international Kingdom Hearts site
• Kingdom Hearts Ultimania
• Sora's Domain
• KH Insider
• Kingdom Hearts Insider
• Kingdom Hearts at the Internet Movie Database