Information
Kingdom Hearts (キングダムハーツ) is a video game developed by Square Co. in collaboration with Disney. It was originally released on March 28, 2002 in Japan for the PlayStation 2. The game was later released in English regions, beginning with North America on September 17, 2002, followed by Europe on November 15, 2002 and Australia on November 22, 2002. On December 26, 2002, the game was re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, an updated version with included extras.
Kingdom Hearts was the first released game in the Kingdom Hearts series. Chronologically, Kingdom Hearts occurs between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The game follows the story of Sora, starting with his life as 14 year old boy on Destiny Islands, and leading up to Ansem's defeat at Kingdom Hearts.
The theme song of Kingdom Hearts is Hikari in the Japanese version, and Simple and Clean in the English and Final Mix versions. Both songs are by Utada Hikaru. Other music in the game is composed by Yoko Shimomura.
Story
Kingdom Hearts begins with Sora, Riku and Kairi, three friends who live on Destiny Islands. Sora and Kairi are 14 years old, where Riku is 15. They realise that there are other worlds out there, as Kairi originally came from another world, and the three aim to visit these other worlds. To accomplish this, they aim to build a raft and get off the islands.
One night, the islands are attacked by the Heartless, and Sora seeks out his friends. He finds Riku, who is willingly consumed by the Darkness. Sora receives the Keyblade at this point, a weapon which can be used to fend off Heartless. Sora heads towards the Secret Place, and finds Kairi. The door inside the cave opens, and Kairi's heart, which is unable to become a Heartless, joins with Sora's being. The islands are then destroyed, and Sora wakes up in Traverse Town, not knowing where his friends are.
Meanwhile, King Mickey has left Disney Castle in order to try and investigate what is happening to the worlds. He leaves instructions for Goofy and Donald to also look for the Keyblade. Using the Gummi Ship, both Goofy and Donald travel to Traverse Town.
Sora meets with Leon and Yuffie in Traverse Town, where Donald and Goofy meet with Aerith. They explain things relating to the Heartless, and about the leader of their original world, Ansem of Radiant Garden. Sora meets with Donald and Goofy, and the three decide to travel together, searching the worlds for King Mickey, Riku and Kairi.
Sora, Donald and Goofy travel around to worlds based on Disney movies, looking for their friends. They learn about the worlds and the threat of the Heartless, also learning that the Keyblade has the capability to lock each world's "Keyhole", preventing the Heartless from taking the heart of each world. Meanwhile, Riku is found by Maleficent, a witch who is seeking each of the seven Princesses of Heart. Maleficent convinces Riku to work for her and abandon his friendship with Sora, promising to help find Kairi.
Riku meets Sora in Monstro, and later in Neverland. In Neverland, it is revealed that Riku has found Kairi's body, but her heart is missing. Sora, Donald and Goofy all arrive in Hollow Bastion, the current name of Radient Garden. Riku confronts Sora here, and claims that he is the true master of the Keyblade. The Keyblade then becomes Riku's, and Donald and Goofy decide to instead follow Riku, as their orders were to folow the Keyblade bearer. Sora heads into the castle and challenges Riku, claiming that he doesn't need a weapon and will use the power of his friends to win. Donald and Goofy, as well as the Keyblade, return to Sora at this point.
Sora defeats Riku, and Riku flees to deeper in the castle. Riku meets with Ansem here, and gives in to his control. Sora, Donald and Goofy confront Maleficent and destroy her. They then encounter Riku, possessed by Ansem, and Sora and Riku fight. Sora defeats Riku-Ansem, and uses Riku-Ansem's dark Keyblade, a Keyblade which is said to unlock people's hearts, to free Kairi's heart inside him. Kairi's heart returns to her body, and Sora is engulfed by Darkness, becoming a Heartless. Sora, as a Heartless, meets with Kairi, and his human form is regained due to the purity and strength of Kairi's heart. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi then flee to Traverse Town.
In Traverse Town, Leon instructs Sora to seal Hollow Bastion's Keyhole and then target Ansem at the End of the World. Sora does that, and then finds Ansem. Ansem is near defeated, and he decides to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, believing that it will contain an ultimate source of Darkness. However, Kingdom Hearts is revealed to contain Light, and Ansem is destroyed.
Sora, Donald and Goofy; along with Riku and King Mickey, who are on the other side of the Door to Darkness, work together to close the door, leaving Riku and King Mickey trapped. Due to Ansem's defeat, all destroyed worlds are returned, and Kairi is returned to Destiny Islands. Sora promises Kairi that he will return, after finding Riku. Sora, Donald and Goofy then travel along a path, aiming to find Riku and King Mickey.
Gameplay
In Kingdom Hearts, players spend the entire game controlling Sora. As Sora, the player has the option to move around, controlled by the left analog stick, and to jump, which is triggered by O in the English version and X in the Japanese version. The player also controls a command menu, which is located on the bottom-left of the screen. This command menu, controlled by the D-pad, usually contains the commands Attack, Magic, Items, and Examine. These commands can be selected with the right analog stick button, O in the Japanese version, or X in the English version.
Sora is viewed from a third-person perspective. The camera angle can be rotated by holding L2 and R2, or switched to a first-person view by pressing Select. Party members usually accompany Sora in each world. Donald and Goofy are usually Sora's party members, however in certain worlds, they can be switched for various characters.
The attack command causes Sora to swing with his Keyblade and attack a nearby enemy. The magic command opens up a list of spells which Sora has learnt, and gives the player the option to use one. The items command allows Sora to use any item that he has selected to be on-hand, and examine will appear whenever there is a nearby examinable object.
Kingdom Hearts is an RPG, and has an experience-based leveling up system. When enemies are defeated, experience points are gained, and a certain amount of experience points will lead to a level up. The maximum level that can be reached is 100. Kingdom Hearts shares other aspects with RPGs. For example, attributes such as strength and defense are given values that can be raised by leveling up, and the player can equip various abilities and items.
Gameplay usually consists of the player moving about different rooms within a world. Upon entering a room, often a cutscene is triggered, which moves the story forward. In combat, commands are selected in order to defeat enemies. If Sora runs out of HP, which is displayed in the bottom-right corner, then the player is considered to have lost and is given the option to continue or load a save file. Other aspects of gameplay include various side quests, such as minigames, as well as the Gummi Ship, which is the method of traveling between worlds.
In the Gummi Ship menu, a world is selected and then the route to that world, provided the warp option was not chosen, is played out. During this gameplay, the player controls the game in a rail shooter format. The player must control the ship using the left analog stick, and shoot using the O button in the Japanese version and X in the English version, hitting enemies, collecting items, and avoiding obstacles.
The magic that Sora can use are Fire, upgraded to Fira and Firaga, which shoots a blast of fire at a nearby enemy; Blizzard, upgraded to Blizzara and Blizzaga, which shoots a blast of ice in a set direction; Thunder, upgraded to Thundara and Thundaga, which causes lightning to strike the area surrounding Sora; and Cure, upgraded to Cura and Caraga, which restores health to a selected party member. Each spell consumes a certain amount of MP when it is used.
Other spells include Gravity, upgraded to Gravira and Graviga, which flattens enemies within its radius, bringing them down the ground; Stop, upgraded to Stopra to Stopga, which immobilizes enemies around you; Aero, upgraded to Aerora and Aeroga, which absorbs some damage directed at whichever party member it is casted on, and Summon.
The characters that the player can select with Summon are Simba, Genie, Dumbo, Tinker Bell, Mushu, and Bambi. Simba costs 2 MP, and using the charge up command, roars at enemies. Genie costs 2 MP, and attacks foes with magic spells. Dumbo costs 3 MP, and blasts enemies with water, with Sora on his head. Tinker Bell costs 3 MP and flies around, healing party members. Also, if Sora is defeated, then Tinker Bell will bring him to back to full health, with full MP, and leave. Mushu, who costs 3 MP, blasts enemies with a fire attack. Bambi costs 1 MP, drops MP spheres constantly, and causes items to appear by quickly defeating enemies.
Development
Kingdom Hearts was first thought of when Shinji Hashimoto, a producer of Square Co., met with a Disney executive in an elevator and discussed ideas. Development of Kingdom Hearts began in February 2000, with a development team of over one hundred people.
The game was announced at E3 2001, and later featured at Tokyo Game Show 2001, with a trailer and playable demo. A preview of the game was also featured as a trailer within a Final Fantasy game, and the game was again showcased at E3 2002, with a trailer.
Kingdom Hearts received ratings of Everyone from the ESRB, 7+ from PEGI, 6+ from USK, G8+ from the OFLC, and 11+ from ELSPA.
Kingdom Hearts was developed by Square Co. The design and art was done by Tetsuya Nomura, and the writers were Daisuke Watanabe and Kazushige Nojima.
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (キングダムハーツ FINAL MIX) is a remake of Kingdom Hearts that was only released in Japan on December 26, 2002. The game includes English voice acting with Japanese text, as well as incorporating many new features into the game. A list of changes between the original and Final Mix is below.
Covers
 Japan |
 North America |
 Europe |
 Final Mix |
Characters
Worlds
External Links
Official Japanese Kingdom Hearts website
Official English Kingdom Hearts website
Official Kingdom Hearts Final Mix website
