Kingdom hearts is one of the most overrated games on the ps2, its not that its a bad game but it doesnt stand anywhere upto the massive hype that surrounds the game. As far as rpg's go this was pretty average and as far as games in general go, this was pretty average.
The battle system is horrible, maybe fun for about the first half hour but it then just becomes a button mash, repeatedly tapping the X button to try and string together combos. healing is also poorly executed, you can have three of you magics set to a shortcut which is fine as you can heal rather fast but as soon as your MP is gone and you want to access a potion or ether you have to scroll down with the analog stick or the d-pad and select each item individually, this is time consuming and a battle can turn from fine to game over in a matter of seconds, death is a frustrating and inconsistent factor in the game.
Upon defeating any opponent you must collect the small balls they drop to increase your HP, MP or money, this seems like a chore, having to run around the battlefield collecting the balls before they disappear when all you really want to do is continue the fight.
the battles do have some perks like the ability to summon, string together some nice combos, even if they do get repetitive and in latter battles the ability to fly makes for something interesting.
Kingdom hearts has a strong cast of characters as you can imagine, alot of well known characters from both the disney films and square games play a part. It is mostly the disney characters with the final fantasy characters making more of a guest appearance throughout the game, the name disney the game would have been a fitting title. voice acting is good especially from the disney characters who all resemble the voices from the films.
The story wasnt bad but it wasnt anything special, you can tell almost instantly the game is aimed at a young audience and i think this would be a great place for them to start playing rpg's. For more of an adult gamer or someone experienced with rpg's i dont think this would be such a great title to pick up.
Flying around from world to world is very boring and must be done at least once, each time you want to access a new world. you have control of a block like ship called a gumi ship and have to shoot your way past other square like ships or blocks, it looks really bad especially compared to the graphics in the rest of the game.
Graphics are quite nice in kingdom hearts and you can tell from the opening cut-scene that square have an involvement. There didnt seems to be alot of cinematics but they are a nice treat any time you had the privilege of seeing one, alot of normal scenes are used in the game to show off the different disney characters and to explain the story, this is fine and is always a nice break unless it is before a boss battle. There is no way to skip through the normal scenes and getting stuck on a boss becomes very frustrating as you have to watch a certain scene over and over.
So do i recommend kingdom hearts ? well that depends on what sort of gamer you are, if you are part of a younger audience, someone who loves the disney films or looking to start playing rpg's then yes this game is well worth looking into. If you are a final fantasy fan hoping to become involved with your favourite characters again, more of an adult gamer or someone experienced with rpg's then i would probably say no. the game is well worth a look by all but dont be disappointed if its not for you.
