Kingdom Hearts - The Masterpiece We've Been Waiting For

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real? Or Not?"
-Sora

It's quite a rarity these days when video games become more than just a form of entertainment, but actual art. In the towering building which houses both Disney Interactive and Square Studios, an idea which would spawn an amazing project was conceived. An elevator, two people meet. One from Square. One from Disney.

"We should be working together." One says.

A few years later, we have a great partnership. Funny how a simple elevator ride can have such an impact on 2 otherwise unrelated companies. True story. If you think about it though, it's not such an unusual idea. Truth be told, weren't we begging for something like for a long time? On the left you have Square, the leader in Fantasy games that has time and time again brought us some of the most amazing games that we can remember. On the right we have Disney Interactive, a powder-keg of innovative, luxurious new ideas that create some of the most detailed animated films ever. Put these two in a pot, add a new crew, mix for 2 years, and you'll have a tasty little treat I'd like to call "Kingdom Hearts."

For those of you who aren't privileged to know what "Kingdom Hearts" is, allow me to inform you. You are Sora, young, wild, and a heart of gold. You live on the Destiny Islands with your friends Kairi and Riku. All is well. Yay God.

Not quite.

Sora is not your ordinary boy and his friends are not your ordinary friends. Sora seems to be having some strange dreams and after his buddy Riku makes a deal with a rather prominent villain from "Sleeping Beauty," Sora ends up in the bizarre yet enchanting Traverse Town. Sound weird? It gets better. Enter Donald Duck and Goofy. A clumsy dopey duo with intentions of fulfilling King Mickey's orders. Oh wait, yeah, about King Mickey. He's gone, away, disappeared, hasta la bye bye, extended vacation. Wherever he's gone, we don't know where he is. Perhaps he was kidnapped? Only time will tell. But now it's up to Sora to figure out how he got to Traverse Town, why there are little shadow creatures running around, and most importantly, why did he wake up with a big sword-like Key attached to his hand and what is he supposed to do with it?

On the outside, this game may look like standard kiddie-fare with the novelty of having Disney Character interact with Square characters but this simply isn't so. As much as the emphases of the commercials have put on this, nothing could be further from the truth. The media given to us before the release of the game has been on how Square's creations interact and help tell the story with Disney creations, this is only a footnote compared to how the game's original creations weave the main story.

The main story of the game deals with Sora discovering who he is and what matters most in life and it's as dark as any David Fincher movie. It comes as no surprise either. People argue all the time about how much Disney gears their movies towards kids but as the trend has become necessity nowadays, many of these childish scenes have very adult backgrounds. From Tarzan to Mulan and the Little Mermaid to Beauty and The Beast, these stories have transcended through time as horror stories. Mulan was based on Japanese dynasty wars that killed tons of civilians and soldiers while if you read the original story of The Little Mermaid, you'll be horrified. These are not all happy tales I tell you, but dark, deep, and in some cases tragic stories that have been changed and re-arranged for more suitable audiences. Getting back to my point, it's no surprise that the main adventure has a script that could win an oscar.

Games like this are the games that blur the line between video games and serious art. The tale told by Sora and the ensemble of character in Kingdom Hearts hits home. Dealing with Death, Loss, Rebirth, and much other mature content (not sex or drugs, but mild adult content) that will actually challenge your mind to take time out and think about what matters most to you. Your heart, is it pure? Does it matter if a heart is pure? If the heart is dark, is there any light to it? KH questions whether the bully with the worst intentions can ever break through the darkness to defeat it and rise up into the light. Sora is the beacon of hope to a world of light being consumed by darkness and led only by his friends and his heart, will he be able to accomplish his mission and bring Light to his world again.

Kingdom Hearts is just one of those games that straps you in for a ride and won't let you catch your breath until you've gotten off and have ridden it again. Twice. The game's director and lead designer Tetsuya Nomura has an impeccable sense of timing and pacing to give the player a big enough glimpse as to what’s to come, but as soon as you expect one thing to happen, your world is turned upside down. What’s really amazing is that even if you haven't seen the movies, you're probably going to know what is coming but it will still have an impact on you because Nomura's directing is so on-key and definite that you never second guess what is happening. Not once did I have to heighten my sense of disbelief because the storytelling was so good I was always fully immersed in what was going on. Yes, there's a princess to be saved. Yes, there's a kingdom shrouded in darkness. Yes, I hold the power to saving the world. Yes, it's all true and I'm with you every step of the way.

Yet, I haven't even tapped the surface of the game. Around ten fully animated and rendered Disney worlds complete with about 100 Disney characters making appearances and cameos help to keep the game's central story revolving without slowing down at all. Even if you have no interested whatsoever in the wonderful world of Disney, you're bound to be impressed, if not by the epic told by the game's characters, then by the game's amazing graphics. Given all I've already said about the game's amazing story, little should be expected of the game's graphics. The level of detail given to the brilliant areas on the game is breathtaking. From the topsy-turvy design of Alice's Acid Trip in Wonderland to Aladdin's alluring adventure in Agrabah, each environment is highlighted with the most impressive visuals to make us feel like we're really there.

Just about everything is pre-rendered and fully interactive. This is simply the most detailed game you can find on any of the three powerhouse systems right now. The vast worlds containing thousands upon millions of little tidbits that you will delight in seeing every time you play will indulge your taste buds for 3-D animation. There's rarely slowdown within the game to allow images to load and when the time comes that slowdown actually happens you'll be too busy looking at the elaborate backdrops and landscapes to even notice it. One thing that will have Square fanboys beside themselves is the amount of inside jokes illustrated within the level of Traverse Town and various other regions. Look around and you'll spot a Moogle and a Cactuar, but only if you keep your eyes peeled...

The localization of the characters is also somewhat of a feast to the senses here. Travel to Atlantica and visit King Triton and our heroes with adopt Dorsal fins and other underwater features so they can blend in with their surroundings. Want to party with Jack Skellington and the Mayor of Halloween Town? Sora and friends will dress up in their latest ghoul attire and crash the party. One has to wonder, what else is hiding in these guy's closets? In case you're wondering, every single Disney character looks as if they've never left the drawing board. Tarzan is spot-on for duplicating the majestic image brought to the screen a few years back and even the senile Captain Hook looks as if he never aged a day. Nothing in the Disney world has been tampered with. I'm sure all the Purists will now jump for joy.

Rounding out the incredible storyline and visuals is a top-notch team of voice acting and other bells and whistles. Most of Disney's voice actors come back to reprise their roles like James Woods bringing life to Hades from "Hercules" and the ever-annoying Gilbert Godfried as Jafar's comical Iago. For the original creations of Square, Haley Joel Osment plays Sora with the right amount of poignancy and emotion to leave you wanting more yet fully satisfied. Square/Disney pulled out all the stops for this one and it shows in every way. Every twing and twang is heard with the clarity of a grand symphony orchestra at a dead midnight. Several of the animated film’s themes are used here as background music. My favorite is Agrabah's subtle ambience in the desert and inside the Genie's cavern.

Several original works are showcased, like the piece played while you navigate through the final dungeon of the game. It definitely sets the tone and keeps you up on your toes. Just like a conductor overlooks his entire orchestra to make sure the composition is finely tuned and played, Square and company make sure every sound is right where it should be and in the end, it sounds lovely.

As for gameplay, once again nothing is held back. Nomura is said to of had the game's engine and gameplay planned out since before it was made. The gameplay is pretty new and innovative for a company who is said to of found the perfect formula for RPGs. The game is presented in the third person, with the camera always behind Sora. You can rotate the camera around a bit to see different things and usually the camera will auto-rearrange itself should you be found in a tight spot. This doesn't become a huge problem until the very end when you always need to have the enemy in sight but it's just a minor flaw, nothing big.

In the lower left part of the screen is a small columns split into four rows. Attack, Magic, Items, and then a special action row that comes into play at various times during the game. You maneuver using the Analog sticks but you control the command column using the D-Pad. It sounds complex but after a good hour of playing, it'll become second nature to you. You'll be able to select curative magic from your arsenal of destructive wishes while running away from a pack of heartless with ease. The game is almost ridiculously easy to become accustomed to and I can only hope that the sequel keeps the same engine.

More than story, graphics, sound, or gameplay can tell, a game is truly appreciated by how much you can just basically play it. "Kingdom Hearts" is just one of those games where you can play it multiple times, in one sitting if you wanna test your blatter too. The story grabs you by the collar and swings you around and never stops until you beat it. The game pulls you in and months after you've put it back on the shelf, you'll still rattle your noggin just thinking about it. The game will take you about 30 hours to complete so you can count on reserving a few nights to get through it all. Square and Disney have made quite an amazing game here, it's literally a work of art.

So what are you waiting for? You can't face the light until you defeat the darkness, so join Sora and go face the darkness and become the light!