“Back in the days”, Nintendo had collaborated with Squaresoft to produce Super Mario RPG: the Legend of the Seven Stars. That unusual combination did give a fine games that combined action with RPG elements like fights and quests despite a childish story

In the early days of the PlayStation 2, Square Enix made an alliance with… Walt Disney. It gave Kingdom Hearts, a game that is technically interesting but that will prove to be quite a challenge.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics are certainly a great improvement from PSX games. Despite their oversized shoes the characters are well-drawn with realistic measurements. Their movements are even more fluid than in Final Fantasy X – it’s an action RPG, mind you. Sora (the main character) moves around almost like any human being: he walks, runs, slashes, swims and even flies (in Neverland) like no other.

The main enemies he will face are the “heartless”, creatures that try to steal other people’s hearts. They come in all sorts of shapes and forms, which was very imaginative. Some of them even show their empty hearts.

The environment in which he evolves is very rich and diversified. He starts on Destiny Island, a tropical location with a luscious jungle and a sandy beach. He will visit many worlds like Traverse Town, where the houses are nicely drawn; Wonderland, where like Alice he will have to change his size to complete his mission in this world faithful to the Disney movie; Agrabah where he will both explore the city and the Cave of Wonders – you will even relive the escape on Carpet, and many.

As I said in the intro, the game was co-designed by Walt Disney and it shows everywhere. For starters, Donald Duck (a mage) and Goofy (a defensive knight) will always be by your side. They are both well-drawn and move according to their persona (Goofy moves in a more mellow manner). In worlds like Agrabah, Atlantica and Captain Hook’s ship you will even have the possibility of having an optional character replacing Donald or Goofy like Aladdin, Ariel and Peter Pan. They are also well-drawn although they are not as developed since they can’t go out of their worlds.

Still about Disney you will have to face many classical villains like Maleficent (in both her witch and dragon form), Captain Hook, Ursula (in her regular and extra-large form) and many others. You will even face the giant demon from Fantasia! They are also well-drawn, although Maleficent looks a little too pixelated, especially her horns and arms.

Still about pixilation, the space ship you use to travel between worlds could have been better. It almost looks like the blocks were taken from Star Fox because they are so square and unnatural. The space background itself looks primitive and unimaginative.

Finally, because my dexterity for action games is rather low, I didn’t get to explore many of the spells. However the summon spells are very interesting (although pixelated as well) where you can ride Dumbo and water your enemies, have Bambi look for rare items or have the Genie zap enemies for you.

Big caveat: the camera can run wild at times when you lock on your targets. It’s especially nauseating (as in it moves too much) when you fight Sephiroth or your shadow on the pirate ship.

Lesser caveat: there are barely any movies per say; the cutscenes are mostly dialogues.

Music: 7/10

The result is a little low because of the sound effect because the music is excellent.

It’s lively and always appropriate for the environment. Destiny Island has a very nice exotic music, Traverse Town has a calm jazzy atmosphere while Wonderland has a goofier track to illustrate the surreal atmosphere. In all the worlds the battle music is an upbeat version of the world’s theme, which was done nicely.

Boss battles sound very dramatic with either their trumpets or violins, while Forze del Mal (a “major boss” battle) is even more dramatic with its choir, a little like the final boss battle. You even get to hear Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain when you fight the giant demon! It was too quick to carry the drama of the original piece, but it was good nonetheless.

Speaking of “remixed”, you will sometimes hear other well-known tracks like One-Winged Angel (when you fight Sephiroth in the Coliseum) or Under the Sea when you visit Atlantica. And while it was not part of the movie, Never Land Sky sounds so magical.

The sound effects aren’t that interesting, unfortunately. But it does have its moments.

First the game is fully voiced. Sora and Riku all talk appropriately for their age – they are preteens. You can feel the animosity (friendly at first) when they talk to each other, but it grows even more hostile as the game progresses.

Donald and Goofy sound just like they sounded when they were created. Donald is more expressive and makes his weird, er, duck sounds. Both (like Sora) also talk during battle which was a nice addition. Disney even recruited back Katherine Beaumont, the one who did Alice and Wendy’s voices in the 1950s! She doesn’t sound like a girl, but she doesn’t sound like a granny either.

Unfortunately, not all voices are created equal. Wakka and Tidus lost their cool from FF X; Tidus sounds like he’s younger than Sora. Also, Maleficent – who is voiced by the same woman who voices Lady Tremaine in the new Cinderellas – just doesn’t have the deep, evil voice Eleanor Audley had. Especially when she says, “You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?!” And considering we hear her often, there are many occasions for deceptions.

The other sound effects are OK. They blend is so well that I can’t think of any in particular that stands out.

Addictiveness: 10/10

WOW! This game has SO MUCH to offer! I will only talk about some of the sidequests you will face.

First you will try to find all 101 Dalmatians through the world. As you bring them to their parents they will start giving you all sorts of goodies.

You will also visit the 100 acre woods and Winnie the Pooh and his friends in various mini-games like catching up to Tigger so he doesn’t jump all over the “kerits” or propel Eyeore in a sling far away.

The Olympus Coliseum is probably the place that offers the most to play. There you will fight regular enemies you encounter through the game but also Disney monsters like the Cerberus from Hercules and even Final Fantasy opponents like Cloud (who stole Sephiroth’s wings) and Squall Leonheart. Will you be able to win all 100 fights? But before that will you be able to complete the Road to Hero?

Finally before you reach the End of the World (the last area of the game), the Clock Tower in Never Land has something to offer for every hour of gameplay you complete after first reaching it. But after reaching that area you will first need to defeat one of those nearly-impossible-to-defeat bosses… while flying. There is one such boss in the Cave of Wonders too and two of them in the Coliseum, including Sephiroth.

Story: 6/10

Probably because Disney is involved, I found the story a little childish.

You play Sora, a preteen that lives with his friends Riku and Kaily (whose hand is disputed by both of them). Then one night, everything changes: the Heartless invade the island. At the same time, King Mickey (Mouse) noticed that the stars in the sky are turning off, so he goes on a quest to find out what’s happening.

But as he was gone for a long time Donald and Goofy start looking for him. They end up in Traverse Town, where they meet Sora (he lost both his friends during the fateful night). They will notice that he wields a keyblade, the legendary weapon Mickey was talking about. They follow him on his quest to find his friends but also rescue seven maidens of the purest heart (Disney princesses) so they are not stolen to animate the king of the Heartless.

As you can see, the story was really made for children even though the game is rated T. I didn’t care much for Sora as the only “development” he gets are flashbacks from his grandmother, who tells him about good and evil. Riku either wasn’t that good; I would have loved to see his transformation into a more evil being – maybe a cutscene or two with Maleficent.

Speaking of whom, she probably was the only interesting character of the game. She transcends the worlds, unlike the other villains like Jaffar and Captain Hook, and her evil character is perfect. The other characters (world-specific) however, don’t get much development. Their story is re-arranged to fit the narrative of the heart stealing – Alice’s “trial” is for an attempt to steal the Queen of Hearts’ heart.

Finally, why is Alice a princess and not Ariel? It’s not like there were universes that could have been used instead like Sleeping Beauty’s forest (with Philipp as an ally).

Depth: 7/10

Fortunately, the story goes into deep for the most part.

Sora’s progression as the keyblade hero is slow and isn’t linear. For starters not every princess has been abducted yet so you still try to save them before they get captured. All through the game you will get bits and pieces on Ansem’s journal, a mysterious man who write about wanting to know about that Heartless. What are they? Where do they come from? You will get the shocking answer later.

Also, until the second part of the game (where the Gummy ship theme changes) levels have quite a bit to explore. Wonderland, the Deep Jungle and Agrabah have a lot to explore, including many detours and deadends. However, starting around Captain Hook’s ship, levels seem to shrink quite a bit. Indeed the vessel doesn’t offer much to explore, nor does Hollow Bastion. Everything changes in the End of the World though, where you go deep inside the Earth, so deep that the final battle starts in the dark.

Finally, sidequests like the 100 Acre Wood will last you for a long time before you complete theme. It comes with about 5-6 different quests that pop up through the game as you find pages from the book.

Difficulty: 6/10

It would have been higher had it not been so easy to control.

Indeed you can decide right at the beginning, by talking with Selphie, Wakka and Tidus, how you will level up. You can level up quickly until level 50, evenly throughout or quicker after level 50. But chances are you won’t need to increase your level so much because you will have picked up the right weapon.

Speaking of weapons, you need to choose them carefully as they vary in strength but also in length. The keyblade you get from the genie is strong but very short; that explains why I failed at one of the trials in 100 Acre wood but also at a boss I can’t remember since I couldn’t reach it.

Other than that, the difficulty level depends on your ability to mash the attack (or magic) button to avoid getting hit. I did relatively well but did end up losing my voice the next day a few times out of sheer frustration from getting killed/not being able to hit the enemy enough. It was especially difficult when fighting the boss inside Monstro (the whale in Pinocchio) and the first “major boss fight”, where the boss is excessively swift and you fight alone.

It also depends on how well you can perform timed hits, i.e. very precise hits that give you bonuses but also can deflect an enemy’s attack. You can practice both inside Merlin’s house, against his magical furniture (that doesn’t attack you, fortunately). However, no amount of practice can help you fight the difficult bosses that appear after Hollow Bastion. Sephiroth and the ice monster inside the Coliseum are just too quick and strong, and fighting the boss in Neverland while flying is almost impossible, especially since you need to use magic if you are to stand a chance against his “death penalty” attack.

Fortunately, the difficulty level is toned down with a few tricks. First, you can acquire scan early on, meaning that you can see how many points a monster has (it fills up to the left and then to the right like Shining Force II), or even if you’re fighting the right monster if it has doppelgangers.

In short I would recommend Kingdom Hearts to all you out there. The graphics are decent, there are memorable tracks and voices and the game has so much to offer. And despite a childish story the story is well-developed and will keep you busy for over 40 hours, if not more.