Kingdom Hearts

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Summary

The premise of Kingdom Hearts is designed around traveling to a collection of levels that are both original designs, and based on various Disney stories, referred to in-game as "Worlds". The Worlds are populated by NPC's, based on relevant characters from the corresponding Disney story, for example, the World based on Disney's Alice in Wonderland features appearances by Alice, the White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts. Interacting with these characters forms part of gameplay, while combating the games enemies, the "Heartless" forms the other.

Successful completion of a World is accomplished by defeating a key foe, which is either the primary villain from the Disney story, a unique Heartless of particular strength, or a combination thereof. Each world has a key foe which must be defeated, although there are many mini-bosses, side quests and treasures to be found that contribute to character progression within the game, and give bonuses for their completion in the form of weapons, items, and bonus scenes.

The game uses an experience based progression system, with experience gained by defeating foes. Experience gained rises in relation to the strength of the foe, and is consistent for each enemy over the course of the game. Levels are gained with experience, and provide increases to stat attributes in strength, defence, magic, hit points, magic points and ability points, with a new, predetermined ability unlocked approximately every four levels. Enemies also drop a combination of four types of reward upon death, green orbs that replenish HP, blue, translucent bubbles that replenish MP, yellow diamonds that contribute funds to the in-game currency "Munny", and tiny chests that when picked up, add a item to the players inventory based on the foe defeated. Such items include those used to restore HP and MP, items to aid party members or synthesis materials which can be used to create weapons and armor.

Storyline

The universe of Kingdom Hearts is a collection of various levels, referred to as "worlds", through which the player must progress. Thirteen can be accessed in the game and one, Disney Castle, is shown in cutscenes. Additional worlds are mentioned by various characters but are inaccessible because they have been destroyed by the Heartless. Ten Disney worlds are based on fiction, primarily from the Disney animated features canon, and the other four were created by Square specifically for the game.

The graphics and characters of each world were designed to resemble the artwork style of each Disney film. Each Disney world is inhabited by characters from the film: including Hercules and Philoctetes in Olympus Coliseum, and Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and Jafar in Agrabah. Each world is disconnected from the others and exists separately. Most characters in the world are unaware of other ones, with few exceptions. Players travel from one world to another via Gummi Ship.

The worlds created specifically for the game mirror the overall appearance of the other worlds and feature either new characters or ones from several Final Fantasy games. The new worlds include: the Destiny Islands, where the story opens; Traverse Town, which serves as a launching point for most of the game; Hollow Bastion, which many of the Final Fantasy characters call home; and the End of the World, a large, dark world created from the remnants of various worlds consumed by the Heartless. The main characters travel from world to world to seal each "Keyhole"; this protects the world from the Heartless and ultimately from destruction. They also try to minimize their interaction with characters of other worlds to maintain a balance of separation. This sometimes requires Sora, Donald and Goofy to blend in with the world inhabitants by changing their physical appearance.

Kingdom Hearts begins with Sora's Dive to the Heart, which foreshadows the events that will soon take place, but soon progresses to Destiny Islands, where Sora lives with his two best friends, Riku and Kairi. The three friends seek to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. One night, the islands are attacked by darkness and shadow creatures. Sora seeks out his friends, finding Riku first; Riku disappears into darkness, curious about what it contains. Soon after, Sora obtains a mysterious weapon, the Keyblade, to defend himself. Using it to fend off the creatures, he heads for a secret cave, where he finds Kairi near a door. She turns to him, saying his name as the door behind her blows open. The ensuing blast of darkness sends Sora and Kairi both out of the cave. The islands are soon destroyed, and Sora is left adrift, Riku and Kairi's whereabouts unknown.


Kingdom Hearts Activation Instructions

Game Information
Release Date March 28, 2002
Publisher Disney Interactive Studios, Squaresoft, Square Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE)
Content Rated E (Everyone)
Game Modes Single player
Player Perspectives Third person
Genres Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Themes Action, Fantasy, Comedy
Platforms PlayStation 2