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Kingdom
Hearts : First Impressions |
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| Review By: Joe
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| Platform |
Playstation 2 |
| Company |
Squaresoft |
| Game Time |
n/a |
| Completion Time |
n/a |
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So, in one hand you have the epic world of magic
and intrigue that we know as "Final Fantasy".
A place full of monsters and demons and climactic
battles of good versus evil. In the other hand,
the colorful, magical world of Disney. The land
of Hakuna Matata, musical silliness and climactic
battles between good and evil. Now, take those two
hands and smack them together. The final product
is what I like to call the latest effort from Squaresoft
and Disney Interactive. The new PS 2 RPG known as
Kingdom Hearts.
Lethal Death was lucky enough to get our grubby
little hands on an advanced copy of this game and
now I'm here to give you my initial impressions.
Right off the bat, my first words...."Gorgeous"...."Breathtaking"...."Sweeping"...."Vibrant"....and
this is just the intro to the damn game. The game
opens up with what might possibly be the most visually
stunning CG opening in a Square game since Final
Fantasy 8. The music is a little more hippity hoppity
than your usual Squaresoft gamer is used to but
there's a small fact that you have to accept before
you play this game. It's a collaboration with DISNEY.
It's gonna be geared towards some younger gamers.
And with that said, let me tell ya about the story
thus far.
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!***
You are Sora. A young, spikey haired kid who lives
on Destiny Island with his friends Riku and Kairi.
The three friends decide to build a raft to leave
their island and explore other worlds. While they
build their raft, we learn that King Mickey has
gone missing from Disney Castle. He's gone in search
of what has made the stars disappear from the sky
overhead. Royal Wizard, Donald Duck and Man at Arms,
Goofy are dispatched on a quest to find the "one
who holds the key". Back on Destiny Island,
a storm is brewing and Sora rushes out to the beach
to save their new raft from being destroyed. While
out on the beach, Sora is attacked by little shadow
monsters. His only hope is to find some help. Riku
is seen on a hill in the distance. You run to him
while avoiding these little shadow creeps and look
overhead and see what almost looks like a black
hole bearing down on the island. Riku tells Sora
to give in and that's when we are introduced to
the Keyblade. A special relic from beyond that draws
the attention of the shadow beasts like the ringwraiths
to the ring of power. You give up on Riku and go
after Kairi when, in true Square fashion, the world
goes to Hell in a handbag and you black out only
to awaken in a mysterious town. What is the link
between Sora, Riku, Kairi and this indescribable
evil? Where do Donald Duck and Goofy fit in? Is
there a nifty new, impossibly complicated upgrade
system in this RPG?
All I gotta say is, pick it up and try it out. But
for those of you who want to know...these are my
feelings and observations.
The graphics are just what I expect from Squaresoft.
There isn't the detail to the ingame characters
that you may have seen in Final Fantasy X. But you
have to consider that this game is a little more
cartoony. It's not gonna have that deep realism.
Do I wish they had made them a bit more detailed?
Yeah. But given what kind of game I'm dealing with
here, I'm willing to overlook that. The backgrounds
are lush and the animation is fluid. It's fun to
look at the Disney influence on these characters.
Note Sora's big, Disney-esque feet. The Disney characters
are detailed and colorful and are about the most
impressive I've ever seen them. I get a kick out
of seeing Goofy in his knight's armor. And Donald
in his Wzard attire is pretty funny to see. Graphically,
I'm impressed. I've seen better from Square but
I doubt Disney has had anything this impressive
in any of their games to date.
Graphics: 8/10
The sound and voice work in this game is really
really good stuff. The opening theme written by
Square composer Utada Hikaru rings of old Final
Fantasy themes but it's given a more upbeat, hip
hop twist that kinda catches you off guard but makes
you also unconsciously tap along at the same time.
Our main characters are voiced by celebs like Haley
Joel Osment, Billy Zane, James Woods, Mandy Moore...and,
yes, Lance Bass *BLECH*(you'd never guess who he
is). The characterization and lines run fluid and
are pretty well executed. The ingame music is also
really cool. When you're on Destiny Island, you
get the true Final Fantasy feel. When we first open
up on Disney Castle, we get an interesting Mickey
Mouse Club theme done in full orchestration. I'd
say that with companies like Disney and Square,
I was expecting superior sound quality...and I got
it.
Sound : 9/10
The gameplay is really nothing too innovative. The
"fixed camera system" we've seen in Final
Fantasy has gone the way of disco in this game.
The game is more 3D with a camera that follows the
character around. This can get annoying at times
when the camera swings behind a wall or something
and leaves you guessing where you're supposed to
go. There is no way to control the camera which
is kinda disappointing. The battle system is not
what you would expect either. At least right now,
the battles are pretty straightforward. Bad guys
show up...you chase them around and hit them with
your weapon. None of the usual, good guys on this
side....bad guys over here...click a command and
watch them fight. The fights are a bit more involved
in this game. However, the lock on system (a la
Soul Reaver) is a welcome addition to the battle
system. The hit detection can be off a bit here
and there and sometimes it's hard to get a hit off
on a baddie even when you got him locked on. It
takes some getting used to, I'll tell ya that much.
Gameplay: 7/10
No matter what, this game has a fun factor that's
through the roof. Imagine my surprise when you run
into old, familiar faces from other Final Fantasy
games just kinda hangin' out here and there. You
run into younger versions of a few characters right
off the bat who teach you controls and such. Some
other Final Fantasy classics play pretty key parts
later in the game. Be on the lookout. Even the Disney
stuff is fun. I've got a bit of a hate/hate relationship
with Disney and the last thing I wanna do is promote
anything they put out....but I gotta swallow my
pride here. This game is pretty damn entertaining
and a lot of it comes from the Disney influence.
Fun factor 10/10
So, there ya have it. Joe's initial impressions.
I'll update ya more on the game as I delve further
into it. For your enjoyment, Gallion and I have
compiled some screenshots of my gameplay for you
to check out. Again, spoilers are all over the place.
Enter
at your own risk. |
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