When the original Kingdom Hearts came out in 2002, I ignored it.

I continued to avoid Kingdom Hearts as the series continued after that. I had no interest in playing a game about Disney characters, even with Final Fantasy elements. It sounded too weird, and I had no interest.

Well, I finally relented and tried the 1.5 Remix, starting with the Final Mix of the first game. Like many other games and series I ignored, I enjoyed it.

Kingdom Hearts is a weird concept. Let’s get that out of the way. There is no reason why Disney combined with Final Fantasy should equal anything but a train wreck, let alone a series so popular people are clamoring for the newest one.

Yet, somehow, it works.

As I played, I developed my own idea about why Kingdom Hearts works. Even though Final Fantasy characters appear, it isn’t really a crossover. It struck me much more as a Final Fantasy story told with Disney characters.

But enough babbling about what Kingdom Hearts is or isn’t. Let’s talk about the game itself. It’s an action RPG, with melee, magic, helpful abilities you can equip to help you in combat and/or exploration, and a summons feature I always forgot about. Combat is solid. It took me a little getting used to, particularly since the party AI often seemed less than helpful, but once I learned Cure, everything fell into place.

(Tip: if you’re struggling at the start of Kingdom Hearts, forget Olympus and go to the Deep Jungle. You learn Cure there. It’s a godsend.)

A few changes to the controls for the 1.5 Remix gave me trouble, as the D-pad controls the menu–so if you want to access an item or summons while moving, you better be able to use the left analog stick and D-pad at the same time. I got used to it, but it wasn’t ideal.

Exploration was enjoyable, with treasure chests and secrets to find… except for the platforming elements. In theory, I like Kingdom Hearts’s platforming. In practice, the controls felt a little too clunky. However, they were perfect compared to the gummi ship sections. I hate the gummi ship. It’s a gameplay switch as you shoot enemies while flying to the next world, and it’s the one thing I really disliked.

Fortunately, you get the ability to warp directly between worlds you’ve already visited. As soon as my ship could warp, I never flew it normally again except for when I was going somewhere new.

Speaking of those worlds…

It was simultaneously ridiculous and enjoyable to visit Disney worlds and interact with their characters. While there were some worlds present that I didn’t care about, some of my favorites were well-represented: Aladdin and The Nightmare Before Christmas, to name a couple, not to mention Maleficent’s large role in the story.

After the first few wacky cutscenes, I suspended my disbelief pretty easily and accepted the premise. Maleficent is leading other Disney villains in an evil plot involving shadowy “Heartless” creatures, and main character Sora has to fight them because he has the Keyblade. With the help of Donald and Goofy, who were sent by King Mickey. Sure, why not?

Donald and Goofy were one of the reasons I steered clear of the series to begin with, because they annoy me. They grew on me as I played, but if I’m honest, I most enjoyed the game when it was least focused on Disney stuff.

Although I understand the story gets pretty convoluted later in the series, the first game’s story seemed fairly straightforward. It was an entertaining adventure against forces of darkness, and I loved how each Disney world was a sort of “what-if” scenario: the events of the movie re-imagined in the context of Kingdom Hearts.

It also did something that, as a writer, I found absolutely brilliant from a narrative perspective.

Kingdom Hearts 1 Spoilers Ansem’s Reports. As you play through the game, you find pieces of a report written by Ansem, a man who studied the Heartless. You only find the odd-numbered ones at first, though, #1, #3, and so on. So you’re missing parts of his story, but they tell you enough to give you a general idea of what he was doing. I already liked them because they had a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe. I expected them to end with Ansem dying or maybe turning evil. When he was finally revealed as the true villain behind Maleficent’s scheme, I thought my prediction was correct. After that reveal, the game gave me the even-numbered Ansem’s Reports to fill in the gaps. And they changed EVERYTHING. Reading #1 and #3 with #2 in place between them twisted the entire tone and meaning of Ansem’s Reports. I love it. It was unexpected, and brilliantly handled. It goes to show how much you can change something’s meaning just by cutting out a few key details.

In short, the majority of Kingdom Hearts’s gameplay was enjoyable, and its intriguing story had a few great moments that really worked for me, despite my ambivalence toward some of the overt Disney content. (It also had some glorious music.)

Yes, it’s too late for me. I’ve opened the door to Kingdom Hearts, and now I’ll be swept away in the obsession like everyone else who loves this series.

After I take a break for something more in keeping with the Halloween spirit, I’ll move on to Chain of Memories! In the meantime, I encourage anyone else who ignored this series like I did to give Kingdom Hearts a chance! Share your thoughts on the first game in the comments below.

Buy Kingdom Hearts (original) from Amazon

Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Amazon

Buy Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix from Play-Asia

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