Kingdom Hearts (game)

Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features and films with those from Square's Final Fantasy RPG series. Although the game's primary plotlines follow characters who were created specifically for Kingdom Hearts, characters from both companies play major roles in the game and its storyline. The game features real-time rendered backgrounds and scenery.

Plot summary
Kingdom Hearts begins on the lush, tropical islands called "Destiny Islands", home to the main characters Sora, Riku, and Kairi. The three children wish to leave the island that they have been confined to all their life, so they build a raft to escape. The night before the voyage, a storm sweeps through the island, and evil shadow-creatures called the Heartless appear. The three friends are separated. When Sora finds Riku surrounded by darkness, Riku disappears and Sora has to fight the Heartless, who are being used to tear down the walls between worlds. After the battle, Sora receives his weapon, the mystical Keyblade, and sets out to defeat the Heartless and be reunited with his friends.

From the Destiny Islands, Sora lands in Traverse Town, where he joins Goofy and Donald Duck in their quest to find King Mickey Mouse and defeat the Heartless. In their adventure, the trio explore many Disney-themed worlds, including Aladdin's Agrabah and The Little Mermaid's Atlantica. Along their way, they lock "keyholes" to the heart of those worlds, preventing the Heartless from consuming their worlds. Standing in their way, however, is a cabal of Disney villains, with Maleficent as their leader and Riku as her apprentice. Seeing Sora as apathetic towards Kairi's fate, Riku has taken reponsibility into his hands and struck a deal with Maleficent, in order to help Kairi regain her heart. The goal of Maleficent and her group is to collect seven maidens of the purest heart, the "Princesses of Heart", in order to open the pathway to Kingdom Hearts, which is supposedly a repository of power and knowledge Maleficent intends to use in her plan to rule all worlds.

Finally reaching Hollow Bastion, Maleficent's headquarters, Sora confronts Riku directly, ending with the revelation that Riku is also a Keyblade master and with the loss of Sora's own Keyblade. Unfettered by the loss of his weapon, Sora puts his faith into his friends and wins back the Keyblade, sending Riku to run off and lick his wounds. It is during this time that a mysterious being offers him greater power with which he could use to defeat Sora. Riku impulsively accepts. Sora and his teammates face and defeat Maleficent, allowing a strangely-behaved Riku to strike her with a unique type of Keyblade, one that opens hearts. This transformed Maleficent into a dragon that reflected the darkness in her heart. Sora's party meets and exceeds the challenge, destroying Maleficent.

Sora confronts Riku again. Only, this time, it is not truly Riku; it is actually Ansem, the scientist who was researching Heartless, occupying Riku's body. Ansem desires to become part of what he believes to be the primordial phase of existence, the darkness that he believes to compose Kingdom Hearts. Kairi is revealed to be a Princess of Heart, and her heart was trapped in Sora's body ever since they got separated. Sora and Ansem battle, with Sora as the victor. In order to free Kairi's heart, Sora impales himself on Ansem's Keyblade, losing his own heart while restoring Kairi and freeing the other Princesses' hearts, as the Keyblade was composed of their hearts. However, the pathway to Kingdom Hearts was opened.

Now a Heartless, Sora scampered to Kairi's protection. Knowing that it was truly Sora, Kairi's light pulled him from the infinite darkness and restores Sora. They flee Hollow Bastion in face of the immense number of Heartless pouring through the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. They return to lock the keyhole and later travel to Kingdom Hearts itself, facing Ansem in a climactic final battle.

Though the light of Kingdom Hearts defeated Ansem, the door threatens to unleash millions upon millions of Heartless onto the universe. Sora, Donald and Goofy attempt to close the door, but their strength is not enough. Riku, who has regained his body, helps the others close the door on the other side, along with King Mickey Mouse. Using his own Keyblade, Mickey locks Kingdom Hearts from the inside, but this forces himself and Riku to stay inside. Before the door is locked, Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi. Sora and Kairi's reunion is cut extremely short as they are pulled apart by the reforming Destiny Islands. Sora promises to return to Kairi once he finds a way to bring Riku out of Kingdom Hearts.

Worlds
The many worlds in which the game takes place include various Disney settings (nearly all of which are part of the Disney animated features canon), as well as some original ones.

Disney-based worlds

 * Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland. This is a surreal level in which the player is shrunk down to a miniscule size. This is the first level that can be closed to the Heartless by sealing the Keyhole. It features the Cheshire Cat, the Doorknob, Alice, the Queen of Hearts and several cards as well as the White Rabbit.
 * Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules. This includes Hades, Hercules, Philoctetes, Cerberus and Cloud Strife. This world is different from the others where there are no real levels but a coliseum where Sora and his friends can compete in tournaments in order to get stronger and win prizes.
 * Deep Jungle, from Tarzan. This is a slightly longer world than the first, and includes Tarzan, as the first character that can be added to your party; Jane; Clayton and several gorillas.
 * 100 Acre Wood, from Winnie the Pooh. This world is unlike the others; there are no Heartless here and it takes place in the pages of a book. A variety of mini games open up as you proceed through the game.
 * Agrabah, from Aladdin. This world includes Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin, Abu, Jasmine, Jafar, Iago, Genie, and the Magic Carpet are introduced here with Aladdin being a possible party member.
 * Monstro, from Pinocchio. This world brings the player through the bowels of Monstro the whale. The infamous little wooden puppet Pinocchio and his maker Geppetto can be found here. Monstro is not a true world by Kingdom Hearts ' definition, and thus does not contain a keyhole to be sealed.
 * Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid. This was a distinctive underwater level that consists of Ursula's cave, several grottos, and the city of Atlantica. Ariel, King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian, Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam appear in this world, with Ariel being the only female character in the game to join your party. This level has often been criticized by fans as a difficult level to play because the controls vary underwater.
 * Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The movie's cast make their video game debut in this level. The world includes the Guillotine Square, Oogie Boogie's Manor, Moonlit Hill and a graveyard. It features Jack Skellington, Sally, Lock, Shock, Barrel, Doctor Finkelstein, Zero, the two-faced Mayor and Oogie Boogie, with Jack able to join your party.
 * Neverland, from Peter Pan. The world's name is somewhat a misnomer because the action takes place on Captain Hook's ship and a minor bit in London; as such, the actual Neverland is not actually visited. Captain Hook, Peter Pan, Wendy, Smee and Tinkerbell call this world home, with Peter Pan able to join your party. It is also one of the more important Disney-based worlds in the game, storyline-wise. After reaching a certain point in the world, you are given the ability to fly like Peter Pan does, controlling the characters like swimming in Atlantica.

Original worlds

 * Destiny Islands. This is where Sora starts his journey, and although only accessible near the beginning and end of the game, the islands and the events in them are critical to the entire game's storyline.  This world is home not only to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but also Final Fantasy characters, Selphie Tilmitt, Tidus, and Wakka.
 * Traverse Town. A sort of "resting place" to come back to in between worlds, Traverse Town is where Sora first meets Donald and Goofy and truly starts his quest.  Several Final Fantasy and Disney characters reside here, including Aerith Gainsborough, Geppetto from Pinnochio, Yuffie Kisaragi, Squall Leonheart, Cid Highwind, The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, and Merlin from The Sword in the Stone.
 * Hollow Bastion. This is the world that has been created for the Square characters as well as a sort of stand-in for the movie Beauty and the Beast as the Beast is a playable character there. This is also Maleficent's headquarters.
 * End of the World. A large, dark world created from the assimilation of various worlds consumed in darkness. It is where many Heartless and evil beings reside.The final battles with Ansem are fought here. The World Terminus is located here, providing access to small areas of other worlds.
 * Disney Castle (non-playable, not to be confused with Sleeping Beauty Castle). The homeland of Mickey, Donald and Goofy.

Music
The music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, the ending credits theme and opening orchestration is by Kaoru Wada, and the main vocal theme is "Hikari" (Light) known as "Simple and Clean" in Western releases. Both versions of the song were composed and performed by Utada Hikaru.

While there are many original themes written specifically for the game by Shimomura, most of the soundtrack is comprised of popular melodies derived from classic Disney films. For instance, when in Atlantica (The world from The Little Mermaid), the background music is a non-lyrical reinterpretation of the song 'Under the Sea'. Examples such as this convey a stronger sense of nostalgia when paired with characters, settings and voice clips from popular Disney films.

Characters
The main characters are Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. However, Sora's stats are more customizable; the player can select what attribute to excel in and which attribute to be lacking in, such as defense, strength or magic, at the beginning of the game. Several traits can also be altered further by permanent boost items or equipped item effects.

Sora is the only character directly controlled by the player; other members in the party are computer controlled. The computer controlled characters can have their behavior altered by the player, changing their item usages from "frequently" to "occasionally" for example. Donald and Goofy are the only computer-controlled characters that are usable on every world. Most worlds have a unique computer-controlled party member who can be chosen to replace Goofy or Donald in the party. For instance, Jack Skellington joins the player's party in the Nightmare Before Christmas world, but will not accompany the player elsewhere.

In addition, various Disney characters can be temporarily summoned during battle. These characters replace Sora's two companions for the duration of the summon. The player can summon Simba from The Lion King, the Genie from Aladdin, Bambi, Dumbo, Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, and Mushu from Mulan. Only the Genie and Tinkerbell summons are automatically obtained; the others must be gained by obtaining unique gems and giving them to the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella.

Maleficent leads some of the deadliest Disney villains against Sora. Her team includes: Ursula (The Little Mermaid), Jafar (Aladdin), Hades (Hercules), Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas), and Captain Hook (Peter Pan). They use the Heartless in their evil quest to unlock Kingdom Hearts, the "heart of all worlds". In doing so they must gather all Seven Princesses of Heart, who are mostly the The Disney Princesses. Sora must rescue them as the game progresses. Other villains that appear but are not associated with the Heartless include The Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) and Clayton (Tarzan).

The title roles of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp have cameo appearances in the game, too. One of the less important quests of the game is to find the 99 lost dalmatian puppies from all over the game, while there is a statue of Lady and the Tramp in the Third District of Traverse Town.

Final Fantasy cameos
It is in these cameos that gamers base arguments on the inclusion of this game in the Final Fantasy series. On Destiny Islands, the player meets younger versions of Tidus, Wakka (both from Final Fantasy X), and Selphie (from Final Fantasy VIII). In Traverse Town, the player encounters Squall (under the alias of "Leon") from Final Fantasy VIII, as well as Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII were both originally set to make cameo appearances, but were replaced by Yuffie and Wakka respectively. Cloud and Sephiroth make appearances in Olympus Coliseum, where you can fight them in the tournaments.

The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. Moogles make an appearance and provide synthesis. This and several other weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. The Final Fantasy magic naming system (ie. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is also in place. The names of various spells are the names of Gummi blocks, and various summons, weapons, bosses, and monsters are the names of Gummi ships blueprints.

The emphasis on characters from later Final Fantasy installments disappointed fans; the refusal to use earlier characters stems from character designer Tetsuya Nomura's hesitation to use characters he did not design.

Kingdom Hearts has been criticized by some Final Fantasy fans for making poor use of the Final Fantasy characters placed in it. For example, several prominent characters are made much younger and do not play a major role in the story. Some fans also disapproved of the casting of the voice actors for the more popular Final Fantasy characters: in particular, the casting of pop music singers Mandy Moore as Aerith Gainsborough and Lance Bass as Sephiroth.

English version
The English version of Kingdom Hearts had new features that were not found in the original version of Kingdom Hearts in Japan. Besides English localization, three additional optional bosses were added, notably Sephiroth. Yoko Shimomura's arrangement of Night on Bald Mountain was set as the background music for the Chernabog boss fight, whereas the original Japanese version uses generic boss music.

Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts was re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, this version has several events and a number of gameplay tweaks that are not in the American, European and Australian releases. Spoken dialogue is in English, with Japanese subtitles.

New scenes, clarifying certain plot points, such as Riku's journey and foreshadowing of Kingdom Hearts II, were included. A gameplay tweak allows the player to skip cutscenes after seeing them once. The optional bosses first included in the English version were introduced to Japanese players for the first time, along with the "Enigmatic Man", in an attempt to raise interest for the sequel. In another attempt at foreshadowing, a video called "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]" will play along with "Another side, Another story..." if the player accomplishes certain tasks.

New music was incorporated; the tracks are Disappeared and Another Side. The Night on the Bald Mountain track from the English version is included as well.

Other changes include new abilities, new weapons, new items, additional and recolored enemies; and gameplay tweaks to make the game easier for the player, along with two new difficulty levels.

Criticism
Some felt that, while original, the combination of Square and Disney did not work as well as it could have, with aspects of both the story and gameplay swinging between 'Disney-style' and 'Square-style', without reaching an acceptable middle ground for most of the game. Some Final Fantasy fans were critical of the combination of the Final Fantasy mythos and the role-playing genre with Disney characters and other elements that they considered to be for children. Elements of the combat system were also criticized, particularly the use of menu-based items and magic in what was a frequently hectic real-time battle scenario, and the awkward camera angles that could occur during battle. Another criticism levelled by reviewers and players alike revolves around the Gummi Ship missions, with the main complaint being that they are not up to the same standard of play as the rest of game.

Manga
There is a manga based on the video game written and illustrated by Shiro Amano.

The manga is published in English in the United States by TOKYOPOP (ISBN 1598162179) and in English in Singapore by Chuang Yi.

Currently, three volumes of the English version of the manga are available. There is a total of four volumes.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the Game Boy Advance sequel to the original game, takes place directly after the plot of Kingdom Hearts, and provides the link between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. In the beginning, Sora, Donald and Goofy meet a mysterious man who leads them to Castle Oblivion, a strange castle where even memories cannot be trusted. There, the group visits replicas of the worlds in the original game, created by Sora's memories. At the same time, Riku escapes from Kingdom Hearts and finds his own way to Castle Oblivion, where he must contend with the lingering darkness of Ansem in his heart. As both Sora and Riku fight their ways through the castle, piecing together what is real and what is not, they are unaware that they are being targeted by a mysterious organization.

The game abandoned the Kingdom Hearts battle system, focusing instead on card-based game play. These cards can be used to create new worlds, open doors, and attack Heartless. The game was released on December 7, 2004.

Kingdom Hearts II
A second sequel, Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2, was officially released in Japan on 22 December 2005 and in North America on 28 March 2006, and in Europe in October 2006; the Australian release is still unknown. Taking place one year after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II features Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as a new cast of characters, including King Mickey himself and familiar faces. The Heartless are still running loose and a mysterious group, Organization XIII, is plotting against Sora. There are new levels exclusive to the sequel, such as Pirates of the Caribbean ' s Port Royal and The Lion King ' s Pride Lands, as well as new places to visit in old levels; those include the Underworld in the Hercules world and the palace garden in Agrabah. The sequel uses a refined camera system, and includes a Drive ability that gives Sora the ability to merge with one of his party members for a short time.

Trivia

 * Optional bosses in the game include Kurt Zisa, a Heartless; the Phantom, a Heartless; Ice Titan, from Hercules; Sephiroth, from Final Fantasy VII; and various Final Fantasy and Hercules characters in Coliseum matches. While the Phantom and Coliseum bosses are present in the original Japanese version, the rest of the optional bosses were added later in the English version. They were included in Final Mix along with another optional boss.


 * The optional boss Kurt Zisa was named after the winner of a publicity contest held by Squaresoft to promote the game.


 * In the North American release, a bonus Kingdom Hearts II teaser titled Another side, Another story... could be unlocked by peforming certain tasks. In the Final Mix release, an additional video, Another Side, Another Story [ deep dive ], is included if the player peforms other specific tasks.


 * Shinji Mikami, creator of Capcom's Resident Evil series, criticized Kingdom Hearts on Japanese radio in 2002. He expressed disappointment because Kingdom Hearts outsold his GameCube remake of Resident Evil in Japan, believing that his game was the superior product. Although he apologized to Square (not yet merged with Enix at that point) in the radio interview, he firmly believed that the game did not deserve its Japanese sales or its (then) 6800 Yen price tag.

Voice cast
Note: Most of the Disney Characters are voiced by their original voice actors from the movies or their voice actors for the animated series (where applicable, e.g. Dan Castellaneta as Genie, rather than Robin Williams.)

English language version

 * Haley Joel Osment ... as Sora
 * Tony Anselmo ... as Donald Duck
 * Bill Farmer ... as Goofy
 * David Gallagher ... as Riku
 * Hayden Panettiere ... as Kairi
 * Billy Zane ... as Ansem
 * Susan Blakeslee ... as Maleficent
 * David Boreanaz ... as Squall Leonhart (Leon)
 * Mandy Moore ... as Aerith Gainsborough
 * Christy Carlson Romano ... as Yuffie Kisaragi
 * Eddie Carroll ... as Jiminy Cricket
 * Steve Burton ... as Cloud Strife
 * Shaun Flemming ... as Tidus
 * Dee Bradley Baker ... as Wakka
 * Molly Keck ... as Selphie
 * James Lance Bass ... as Sephiroth
 * Russi Taylor ... as Minnie Mouse
 * Tress MacNeille ... as Daisy Duck and Queen of Hearts
 * Kathryn Beaumont ... as Alice and Wendy Darling
 * Sean Astin ... as Hercules
 * Robert Costanzo ... as Philoctetes (Phil)
 * James Woods ... as Hades
 * Tony Goldwyn ... as Tarzan
 * Brian Blessed ... as Clayton
 * Naia Kelly ... as Jane Porter
 * Audrey Wasilewski ... as Terk
 * Kath Soucie ... as Sora's mother and Shock
 * Scott Weinger ... as Aladdin
 * Dan Castellaneta ... as Genie
 * Linda Larkin ... as Jasmine
 * Jonathan Freeman ... as Jafar
 * Gilbert Gottfried ... as Iago
 * Seth Adkins ... as Pinocchio
 * Tony Pope ... as Geppetto
 * Jodi Benson ... as Ariel
 * Eli Linnetz ... as Flounder
 * Kevin Michael Richardson ... as Sebastian
 * Ken Mars ... as King Triton
 * Pat Carroll ... as Ursula
 * Chris Sarandon ... as Jack Skellington
 * Rita Rudner ... as Sally
 * Jess Harnell ... as Dr. Finkelstein and Lock
 * Jeff Bennett ... as The Mayor, Barrel, and Mr. Smee
 * Ken Page ... as Oogie Boogie
 * Christopher Steele ... as Peter Pan
 * Corey Burton ... as Captain Hook, Doorknob, Flotsam, Jetsam, and White Rabbit
 * Jim Cummings ... as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
 * John Fiedler ... as Piglet
 * Robby Benson ... as Beast
 * Mark Moseley ... as Mushu
 * Wayne Allwine ... as Mickey Mouse