Kingdom Hearts
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Kingdom Hearts is a collaboration between Square Enix (formerly Square) and Disney. It is an action RPG that includes appearances of characters from the Final Fantasy series and Disney movies, as well as some characters original to the game. It was created in 2002 and became a smash hit.
It was followed up by a sequel released in 2005, Kingdom Hearts II. Also in the series is a "bridge" game between the two, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, released in 2004. New games announced in Tokyo Game Show 2007 for the series are Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS, Birth by Sleep for the PlayStation Portable and Kingdom Hearts coded for mobile phones.
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[edit] Gameplay
The Kingdom Hearts series of games contain elements from both action and role-playing games. The games are driven by a linear progression to the next story event, usually told in the form of a cut scene, though there are numerous side quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters. The player is primarily in control of the principal protagonist of the series, Sora. Sora is usually accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy, who are non-playable characters that aid Sora in battle. In the first and third game, their behavior could be altered to fit the player's needs. The games featured real-time combat that incorporates physical attacks, magic, and summonings; though each game handled battles differently.
Gummi Ships are another common theme in the series, though they are only featured in the first and third installment. The Gummi Ships serve as the main mode of transportation between worlds in the games. The gameplay for the Gummi Ships sections is more akin to a rail shooter. Because it received negative criticism in the first game, it was improved in the third installment. All three games also feature a journal which is accessible from the main menu. The journal keeps track of information regarding the story, characters, enemies, and locations. In the game the journal is kept by Jiminy Cricket, who was appointed by Queen Minnie as the royal chronicler.
The games are influenced by their parent franchise, Final Fantasy, and carry its gameplay elements over into their own action-based, hack-and-slash system. Like many traditional role-playing games, Kingdom Hearts features an experience point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player gains experience which culminate in a "level-up", where the characters grow stronger and gain access to new abilities. The amount of experience is shared with all party members and each character grows stronger as experience is gained.
The gameplay was given a twist in Chain of Memories. The player controls Sora alone, and uses cards to execute all actions, and the value of the cards determine the power of an attack, or the action's effectiveness. Effectiveness is when the action could not be canceled, or "Card Breaked" by the enemy. Worlds are also explored in the form of cards; each area in a world is opened with a card that can influence the number of enemies and treasures as well as open up shops and save points. The Gummi Ship does not make an appearance.
[edit] Story
[edit] Kingdom Hearts
The three main games in Kingdom Hearts series focus on the adventures of Sora and his search for his friends, Kairi and Riku. The first game shows how Sora is separated from his friends when their world is invaded by an army of corrupted hearts known as the Heartless. During the invasion, he obtains a special weapon known as a Keyblade. Soon after, Sora meets Donald Duck, the Disney Castle court magician, and Goofy, the Disney Castle captain of the royal guard. Donald and Goofy are searching for the "key" per instructions from King Mickey. The three band together and travel to different Disney themed worlds, sealing the hearts of the worlds to prevent more Heartless invasions. Along the way they encounter a group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent, that are controlling the Heartless. The three eventually discover that a man named Ansem is the true antagonist. Ansem's plan is to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat Ansem, and seal the door with the help of Riku and King Mickey on the other side of the door.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After sealing the door to Kingdom Hearts, the three begin searching for Riku and King Mickey. They encounter a mysterious fortress called Castle Oblivion. Upon entering the fortress, they begin to lose their memories. The three encounter a group of dark hooded villains referred to as the Organization. After defeating the Organization members in the castle, Sora learns his memories have been manipulated by a girl named Namine who is controlled by the Organization. To allow them to regain their memories, Naminé puts Sora, Donald, and Goofy to sleep for a year. While the three are ascending to the top floor of the castle, Riku and King Mickey arrive in the basement and began traveling to the top as well. Riku fights the darkness in his heart and learns to accept his dual nature between light and dark.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts II
A year later, Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken and continue their search for Riku and King Mickey. They learn of the Nobodies and their leaders, Organization XIII. Afterwards, Maleficent is resurrected and joins with Pete, another Disney villain, to continue her quest for power. Sora once again travels to many Disney-themed worlds and resolves the troubles caused by Organization XIII, the Heartless, Maleficent and Pete, and local villains. Meanwhile, Kairi is kidnapped by the Organization. They meet King Mickey, who reveals the true nature of Ansem, the antagonist of Kingdom Hearts. The Ansem who Sora defeated was actually the Heartless of Xehanort, a student of Ansem the Wise. Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, reveals himself to be the Nobody of Xehanort. The three arrive at the headquarters of Organization XIII, with Kingdom Hearts looming overhead. Ansem the Wise uses a device that dissipates some of Kingdom Hearts' power, but a system overload causes the machine to explode and kill Ansem. At the top of Organization XIII's castle, Sora and his friends battle Xemnas, who uses the remnants of Kingdom Hearts to fight them. After Xemnas' death, Sora and Riku are reunited with their friends at Destiny Islands, their home.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will focus upon the story of Roxas, the thirteenth member of Organization XIII, and the Nobody of Sora. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days takes place during the year between Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, while Sora was asleep.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: coded
After Kingdom Hearts II Jiminy discovers a message written in his journal that he didn't write; "We must return to free them from their torment." In order to discover the meaning of the message King Mickey digitizes the journal, awakening a virtual Sora on Destiny Islands. The game's antagonists are the "Them" that the message refers to.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
A prequel set ten years before the original Kingdom Hearts Game. Birth by Sleep revolves around the disappearance of a Keyblade Master, Master Xehanort and his apprentice and the three Keyblade apprentices; Terra, Ven and Aqua that are sent to find them.
[edit] Characters
Kingdom Hearts has its original characters, though they are joined by a cadre of characters from the Final Fantasy series and the Disney franchise.
[edit] Main
Main characters are, in this case, defined as characters with the largest effect on the storyline, who are either one of the series main protagonists, or tied to them.
- Sora - A 14 year old boy who dreams of seeing other worlds. He gets his wish after the Heartless destroy his home. He travels to various Disney worlds with Donald and Goofy in search of Riku and Kairi. After learning of the purpose of the Keyblade and the threat from the various villains, he turned his attention to fighting them as well as searching for his friends. He was sealed in stasis by Namine to regain his memories, and upon awakening discovered that the Heartless were still running amok, and so continued to fight them. His name means "sky" in Japanese.
- Riku - Riku is the friend of Sora and Kairi and lives with them on Destiny Islands. Initially he is stronger than Sora (story-wise), and because of this, was meant to be the original wielder of the Keyblade. However, he gave in to the darkness in his heart, but managed to transfer a bit of light to Sora, effectively making him the new wielder of the Keyblade. After intially acting as Sora's enemy, he reformed and came to wield the powers of darkness in the name of good and acquired his own "dark" Keyblade. Riku returned to help Sora out behind the scenes in Kingdom Hearts II and fought alongside him in the final battle. His name means "land" or "shore" in Japanese.
- Kairi - A young girl who arrived on Destiny Islands during a meteor shower several years prior to the beginning of the first game. Originally, she lived with her grandmother in the world of Hollow Bastion. She was sent to other worlds by Xehanort's Heartless in order to establish whether there was a connection between the Princesses of Heart and the Keyblade. After having her heart restored by Sora, she stood by the sidelines while he defeated Xehanort's Heartless and was returned to the Destiny Islands. She later remembered Sora and went to find him, but was captured by Organization XIII and subsequently rescued by Riku. Her name is based on the Japanese word for "ocean" ("kai").
- Roxas - Sora's "Nobody", created when Sora took his own heart in the first game. Initially unaware of his origins, Roxas was a member of Organization XIII, but left when it became apparent they had no intention of helping him uncover the truth of his existence. He merged with Sora when Sora awoke from stasis, but re-appeared to fight him in Kingdom Hearts II. He is also intended to be the main character in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. In contrast to Sora, Roxas is aggressive and quick to anger, and dual-wields two Keyblades in battle while Sora only uses one. His name is an anagram of Sora with an "X" added to it.
- King Mickey - the ruler of Disney Castle, Mickey took up his own Keyblade to fight the Heartless and the Nobodies and assisted Sora at various intervals with information and power-ups. He knows much more than he tells Sora and his friends but hides this knowledge for his own reasons.
- Donald - A magician who is a friend of Sora's. He is searching for King Mickey by traveling to various worlds with the gummi ship. He's skilled with magic and uses a variety of abilities to enhance his spells.
- Goofy - A knight who is a friend of Sora's. He is also searching for King Mickey. He's very defense oriented and learns a variety of support abilities to help his allies in battle.
[edit] Final Fantasy
The majority of the Final Fantasy characters in the series act as "neutral" characters and appear in the worlds that are not based on Disney worlds, such as Traverse Town, Twilight Town and Hollow Bastion - the in-game script implies that Hollow Bastion is the "Final Fantasy world" within the series, as Leon, Aerith and Yuffie claim it was their home until it was taken over, and in Kingdom Hearts II, Cid, Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth also appear there. In Kingdom Hearts, the cast of Final Fantasy characters was much smaller, with only five of them playing a major role (six if one counts Moogles). This count was increased dramatically in Kingdom Hearts II to over a dozen, and their importance to the storyline also increased. In both games, several of the characters appear in Olympus Colloseum as opponents.
- Setzer from "Final Fantasy VI" - a top "Struggle" fighter and a flashy ladies man.
- Yuffie from "Final Fantasy VII" - one of Leon's allies and a skilled ninja, she helps him fight off the Heartless.
- Aerith from "Final Fantasy VII" - one of Leon's allies and a healer, she assisted in the restoration of Hollow Bastion.
- Cloud from "Final Fantasy VII" - a swordsman with a dark past, he has been hunting Sephiroth across several worlds, seeking to end a mysterious grudge between them. Although he is focused on Sephiroth, he also helps Leon defend Hollow Bastion.
- Cid from "Final Fantasy VII" - a merchant and Gummi ship engineer, he helped Sora build Gummi ships in the first game and oversaw the security systems for the defense of Hollow Bastion in Kingdom Hearts II.
- Tifa from "Final Fantasy VII" - an ally of Leon who is searching for Cloud, she has followed his trail across several worlds and wishes to help him in his battle with Sephiroth. She also assists Leon in the restoration and defense of Hollow Bastion.
- Squall from "Final Fantasy VIII" - going by the name "Leon", the leader of a resistance group against the Heartless, he assisted Sora against them with advice when possible, also taking up arms to defend his group's home from the Heartless when needed.
- Seifer, Raijin and Fujin from "Final Fantasy VIII" - the disciplinary commitee for Twilight Town, they abuse their authority and take a quick dislike to Sora. Seifer is a top street brawler and "Struggle" competitor.
- Selphie from "Final Fantasy VIII" - one of Sora's friends on their home island, she was left behind when Sora, Riku and Kairi vanished. She plays a minor role in determining the difficulty of the first game during the introductory sequence.
- Vivi from "Final Fantasy IX" - one of Seifer's fans, he is another "Struggle" fighter and admires Seifer's strength.
- Tidus and Wakka from "Final Fantasy X - Two more of Sora's friends, they were left behind at their home when Sora, Riku and Kairi were lost. They played a minor role in determining the difficulty of the first game during the introductory sequence.
- Auron from "Final Fantasy X" - a dead spirit revived by Hades to defeat Hercules, Auron initially betrayed him and worked with Sora, but was forced to fight Hercules after having his free will stolen. Sora later restored him and the three worked together to defeat Hades, after which Auron departed back to the afterlife.
- Yuna, Rikku and Paine from "Final Fantasy X-2" - a trio of treasure-hunting pixies, they were initially allied with Maleficent but switched sides on the promise of treasure from Leon and helped him defend Hollow Bastion.
- Moogles from various Final Fantasy games - they run the item and synthesis shops around the various worlds, selling and creating new items for Sora to purchase.
[edit] Secondary roles
- Wantz from "Final Fantasy X" and Jessie, Biggs, Wedge and Wallace from "Final Fantasy VII" (members of AVALANCHE) appear as shop owners.
[edit] Main Villains
Most of the villains in Kingdom Hearts are take from the various Disney films that are featured in the game. The most notable Disney villain in the game, however, is Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty), and appears at first, to be the main villain of the game. However, it aspires that an original character, Xehanort, is the main antagonist of the game. In Kingdom Hearts II, Xemnas and Organization XIII are the primary antagonists, although Maleficent and a handful of other Disney villains are revived to fight Sora again.
- Xehanort - an apprentice to a man named "Ansem the Wise", Xehanort betrayed his master and took his name and his research into the darkness of the heart. He later was split into a Heartless and a Nobody, which acted as the antagonists of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, respectively.
- Xehanort's Heartless - intially refering to himself as Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless believed that darkness was the true essence of a heart and wished to open the path to Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, and claim its dark power. He was defeated when he accessed Kingdom Hearts but found it a realm of light instead of darkness as he believed.
- Organization XIII - the antagonists of Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, a group of thirteen powerful Nobodies, including Roxas. As they did not have hearts, they wished to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to bestow hearts on themselves and all Nobodies. Each of their thirteen members has their own fighting style and command over a certain type of Nobody, and some have their own agendas.
Xemnas, the antagonist of Kingdom Hearts II.
- Xemnas - Xehanort's Nobody and the leader of Organization XIII. Xemnas allowed Sora to travel the worlds and kill the Heartless, collecting the hearts Sora freed to empower Kingdom Hearts to bestow a heart upon him. After being confronted in his castle, he entered Kingdom Hearts and used its power to battle Sora and Riku, but was defeated. Like his counterpart, he believed hearts were truly made up of hatred and rage, as he could remember no other emotions from his time as a human.
- Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" - the leader of the Disney villains of the first game and a master of dark magic. She wished to capture the seven Princesses of Heart to open the path to Kingdom Hearts, but was defeated by Sora. She was revived in Kingdom Hearts II and tried, with limited success, to regain a foothold into the world since her death. However, the threat of Organization XIII to her plans forced her to assist Sora in fighting them.
- Sephiroth from "Final Fantasy VII" - an evil swordsman wielding strong dark powers, Sephiroth is the embodiment of the darkness in Cloud's heart and desires Cloud to fall into that darkness. Their rivalry has led them to search for and battle each other across several worlds, with neither so far being the victor. Although Sora fought and defeated Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, Sephiroth survived, as apparently only Cloud can truly kill him.
[edit] Heartless
The Heartless are living beings, whose hearts were corrupted by darkness, and they play the roles of the "common enemies" Sora and party must defeat. They exist for no other purpose than to consume hearts, be it the hearts of other living beings or even that of entire worlds. If someone loses their heart to a heartless, they themselves become one. The stronger the heart of the person who became a Heartless, the stronger their Heartless will be. Unlike Nobodies, Heartless are mostly driven only by primitive instinct to attack and steal hearts.
[edit] Nobodies
When a Heartless is created, the empty shell may reform into a Nobody. By comparison, Nobodies are rarer than Heartless due to the shell having to have a strong heart to reform, but they are typically much stronger. They are also capable of speech and thought, and the members of Organization XIII are all exceptionally intelligent and powerful Nobodies. However, as they have no hearts they do not truly exist and cannot feel emotion, although a few that retain memories of when they had hearts can "fake it" and act as if they do.
[edit] Connections to the Final Fantasy series
Besides the numerous characters from the Final Fantasy series that appear, several other aspects of the series directly influence the gameplay of Kingdom Hearts. The spells of the game are all named after Final Fantasy spells, such as Curaga, Firaga and Reflect. There also exist Summon spells that can call allies into battle, using summon mechanics similar to those of Final Fantasy X. Although the summons are all Disney characters, a Bahamut summon was ment to be in the original game, but it was dummied out. The various Gummi ships used to travel between worlds are also named after Final Fantasy ships and concepts, and include Highwind, Falcon and Invincible.
Several weapons are named after Final Fantasy weapons, including the Ultima Weapon, Fenrir and Save the Queen. Items like the Hi-Potion, Tent and Ether also appear with similar functions to the Final Fantasy series. Ability Points are used to assign various special attacks and support powers to party members. In Kingdom Hearts II, there also appear Limit Breaks, techniques that allow Sora to combine with an ally and unleash a series of powerful attacks at the cost of all his MP. Some of these Limit Breaks, like Bushido and Comet, take their name from Final Fantasy. Moogles also run various Synthesis shops that allow Sora to trade in certain materials to create powerful rare items. Another very small direct nod to Final Fantasy continuity is the three victory poses that Sora displays at the end of each match in Olympus Coliseum, each of which are the victory poses of Final Fantasy protagonists Cloud, Squall, and Zidane from their respective games.
[edit] Packaging artwork
 Kingdom Hearts US packaging |
 Kingdom Hearts II- Final Mix+ packaging |
