Kingdom Hearts (Playstation 2)
Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG released for the Playstation 2 in 2002. In the game, the player assumes the role of Sora, a teenage boy whose world is consumed by darkness and evil creatures called Heartless. Sora is able to wield the legendary Keyblade, which will allow him to defeat the Heartless and restore the destroyed worlds. Along the way he teams up with the Disney characters Donald and Goofy as he travels to different worlds based off Disney movies in search of his friends, Kairi and Riku.
Story
In addition to Sora’s quest to find his friends, he is in the middle of a battle between good and evil. Heartless are trying to consume every world by attacking the heart of the world, accessible via a Keyhole. However, Sora can lock those portals using his Keyblade, so he must find the Keyholes before the Heartless do. In addition, Maleficent, following Ansem’s orders, is searching for the seven Princesses of Hearts, maidens whose hearts will allow her to open Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. Sora’s friend Riku sides with Maleficent because he believes it will help save their friend Kairi, which further complicates matters for Sora.
Gameplay
The player controls Sora who is able to use both the Keyblade as a melee weapon and magic. Sora is able to run, jump, and occasionally swim and fly. The player can also set very basic tactics for his other party members, such as “use offensive magic often” or “only use healing items in an emergency.” The game is segmented into different worlds that must be cleared before new worlds can be reached. Each world is populated by enemies called Heartless. There are different varieties of Heartless that increase in difficulty through the game. Each world also features a final boss that frequently has two or more forms. There are several side-quests the player can complete, such as the additional tournaments in the Olympus Coliseum and helping restore Winnie the Pooh’s book. Additionally, the player travels between worlds using the Gummi Ship in a rail shooter mini-game.
Play Session 1
I played Kingdom Hearts with a handful of girlfriends, taking turns playing various worlds or sections of worlds. Kingdom Hearts has no multiplayer options, but we wanted to finish the game as a group. This also allowed me to see how someone inexperienced with video games might handle a game, as one player, Laura, had never played the game before and had extremely limited experience playing video games. A second player, Sara, was new to Kingdom Hearts but had experience with other games while the other two players, myself and Emily, were familiar and experienced with the video game.
For this play session, we decided to tackle the second tournament in Olympus Coliseum. That section of the game is not part of the plotline, but it is an intense test of one’s fighting skills. Sara took it on as a personal mission and managed to defeat the first few rounds with ease. The higher rounds featured stronger enemies, and Sara struggled, largely due to her inability to quickly use magic, accessible via hotkeys. However, she managed to pull through to face the final round, a battle against Leon and Yuffie. In short, she got owned. Undeterred, Sara tried two more times before we decided we needed to level up more.
Therefore we set out for our next world in the plot, Monstro, from Pinocchio. Emily started the world, but since she was working on a solo-playthrough in her free time, she decided to allow Laura to play about half-way through. Despite falling from ledges and ended up in earlier sections of the world multiple times, she managed to plug along until she got to the boss, the Parasite Cage. Since she was unable to effectively use magic for attacks or healing because she refused to use the hotkeys, the boss wiped the floor with her twice. Afterwards, she handed the controller to me, and I defeated the boss and the rest of the world. Once we left Monstro, Sara attempted another shot at the Coliseum, but again was bested by Leon and Yuffie. We then decided to end this play session.
Play Session 2
Our second play session occurred a few weeks later. We set out for our next world in the plot, Atlantica, based off of The Little Mermaid. Laura initially manned the controller for this world, and she adapted to the new dimension in gameplay surprisingly quickly. In Atlantica, the player is given full 3-dimensional movement because Sora becomes a merman and is able to swim about the world. About halfway through the world, the player is confronted with a giant shark. I had warned Laura about this beforehand, but when it appeared on-screen, I was promptly thrown the controller and left to deal with it on my own. The boss of that world was Ursula. It was a long battle, but it wasn’t very intense. Mostly I just did a lot of swimming around, waiting for her to attack before wailing on her with magic or my Keyblade. Other bosses were more difficult and interesting. Ursula’s second form was more challenging, but fairly standard giant-boss “get behind it and beat the crap out of it” fare.
Afterward Sara, more determined than ever, went back to the Coliseum. At my encouragement, she tried using the magic hotkeys more, though she struggled with keeping up with these more complicated controls. This caused her to lose to Leon and Yuffie yet again, but she immediately started the tournament over. More familiar with the hotkeys, Sara had a much easier time passing the early rounds. When she got to Leon and Yuffie, it was a long, difficult battle, but it was very fun for both player and audience. Sara’s perseverance proved successful, because she won!
We moved on to the next world in the storyline, Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Because it is my favorite world, I insisted on playing for that section. The enemies were easy, but I had forgotten how to solve the puzzles of the world. It took us awhile to get through some portions of the world because of this and Laura’s often baffling advice. I was reminded once again how many things “make sense” to experienced gamers that are completely unknown to newbies. The boss battle against Oogie-Boogie, was much more entertaining and challenging. For his second form, I let Laura play. This was where we all learned just how inexperienced Laura was, because when she finally tried to use the hotkeys, she resorted to a complicated maneuver where she held down the right trigger with her left hand so she could continue running. Yeah. It took quite some time, but when she eventually defeated Oogie-Boogie, we decided to call it a night.
Overall
Kingdom Hearts is a very fun game with endearing characters in a fascinating universe. It seems like a ridiculous premise: Final Fantasy crossed with Disney, but is a stellar game thanks to a rich storyline and excellent gameplay. While it can be a little complicated for inexperienced gamers, its learning curve is balanced enough to allow anyone to pick up and play while still giving more experienced players a challenge in certain areas.
add a comment 
|
