kingdom hearts

[cerex]

ok i know the whole disney thing is cheesy but i have had some odd interest in this game,and i wanted to ask some of you who have played it is it any good at all?

[BenT]

It's decent. (http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/september02/kingdomheartsps2/)

Edit: That's my review, btw. (Why I linked it.)

[GENESISNES]

my friend bought the game. he rented animal crossing and played that while i played kingdom hearts. It was torture looking at what he was playing. Its a GREAT game, but its no animal crossing.

[digitalpress]

You really can't compare Animal Crossing with Kingdom Hearts. There's virtually nothing similar between them (maybe lovable animal characters? That's stretching it). While Animal Crossing is a lifelong venture to build, sort of along the lines of The Sims or SimCity for the old-schoolers, Kingdom Hearts is an action-based RPG kinda like Secret of Mana.

BenT's review is a good one. I haven't played either one enough to give a full review but I will say that Kingdom Hearts is a GORGEOUS game, and despite its appearances is NOT a kiddie game. It's actually pretty challenging for a Square RPG.

[Nynaeve]

Ah, Kingdom Hearts...my current obsession (although I do admit that some of my playtime is stolen by Animal Crossing...there's only so many times that damn fish can steal my bait and run before I lose my mind and turn that off...I NEED MY BASEMENT! *sob* )

I will admit to being a self-proclaimed Disney Freak(tm), so that's a huge part of my love for this game - to be given the ability to virtually explore the settings of the movies like this is pure delight for me and my kids. The added details like some of the original voice actors playing their parts, the music in each world - it makes for an overwhelming experience at times (yes, I will admit it, I'm a sap and I had tears in my eyes when I got to explore 100 Acre Woods...go figure).

It's not a "kiddie game" - both my kids (ages 8 and 10) are playing it, and the bosses and such can be a tad overwhelming for them, so they are my navigators through the various worlds, playing only from time to time themselves - it may have a Disney theme, but they didnt' dumb down the gameplay because of that fact.

I love how they allow a somewhat unique experience for each player based on the choices you make at the beginning of the game. For example, I chose my primary strength as Magic, and secondary as Strength, giving up on Defense...and I know a fellow gamer who chose Strength followed by Defense - he's further into the game than I am, and he STILL does not have certain abilities for the main character that I do - and we've also received some of the same abilities at totally different points in the game.

The Gummi ship "minigame" really held no interest for me, I had hoped that it would be more like Blitzball in FFX, something that was there, but could be totally avoided if I chose...but once someone walked me thru creating my own Gummi, it was (sort of) fun - I now have a pretty strong little ship that gets me to places quicker, with a shield and lots of guns. For you Legomanics out there that might have played with any of the Lego titles for the PC - which all totally STUMP me, but my 8 yr old can use without even looking at the instructions - you'll enjoy this. Personally, I'm probably done with my spiffy ship, the Rebel. *grin*

My complaints? Sure I've got 'em - the camera...URGH does that make me nuts, sticking on the wall like that a la Mario 64. The fact that, unlike other Square games, where you control one character on screen even if you have a party of 3, or 6, or whatever - here Goofy and Donald (or whatever character you choose to add to your party) actually walk around with you and have this amazing knack of getting in the way...I can't TELL you how many times I tried to get that treasure chest near Merlin's house only to have Donald knock me off the platform *grumble*. And the ITEM MENU!!! AUGH! That's just SO incredibly annoying that I have to take things out of stock and actually place them in the various characters' inventories or they don't have them...if it's in stock, it should be accessable, and that's that! *stomps foot*

But for each complaint, there's a gorgeous cut scene, or special little attention to detail...the hidden Mickeys (you Disney nuts will know what I mean)...Jiminy Cricket's journal - have you checked out the character listings, read the little bios, and then hit the triangle button to see the 3D modelling of the characters? That's just so cool.

I can't wait to finish just so I can try again in Expert mode...cause if it took me SEVEN *%&$ING TRIES to beat Maleficent in her dragon mode in Normal....I can't imagine what Expert will be like...

Now to finish this before PSO comes out again. *wink*

[Mr. NEStalgia]

I've really been considering buying it, but I was gonna wait till someone I knew got it first...I might still just wait untill Christmas :P .

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[theaveng]

Walt Disney said every cartoon movie he made was for Adult entertainment... and just happened to be fun for children too. It sounds like Square took exactly the same approach with Kingdom Hearts.

I enjoy watching movies like Bambi. Beauty and the Beast, and Lilo & Stitch... and I'm sure I'll enjoy playing Kingdom Hearts too. Just because it's cartoony doesn't mean it's childish. The cartoon Akira certainly wasn't a kiddie tale... it was for adults... so why assume Kindom Hearts is any different?

[cerex]

well there's a huge difference between disney movies and akira but i understand what your saying still have yet to play it,trying to find it for cheap.