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DISCLAIMER: I've never played the other Kingdom Hearts games, so this is my first time playing one of them. I can't give too much history on them or give too much information about the characters in the game(s). Despite all of that, I am starting to become obsessed with the game (mostly Sora and Ienzo)! This also may contain spoilers so read at your own risk! Also, you will need to get used to the fact that certain characters (I’m looking at you Sora) have another person’s heart inside of theirs’.
The game starts out with two very long music videos, one of the songs is by Skrillex, and will show a chess match between Young Xehanort and Eraqus multiple times throughout each video (this is very important to the story, do not skip it!). It will then show the full length chess match between the two. You will then get to see small cutscenes from each game in the saga- these might be a bit confusing if you have not played the other games before (I certainly was). Sora (the main character) will be falling for a few seconds until he lands on a stain glass piece. There will be cutscenes from the previous games circling around Sora, occasionally three will come down and you will have to choose which traits you agree with. Once you have finished choosing those, there will a be short tutorial teaching you how to fight. You will also get the choice to look at summaries of the previous games, if you are new to playing Kingdom Hearts or if its been awhile since you have played one then I suggest you watch these. There will a be a few cutscenes throughout the game to help explain what is going on (there are lots of cutscenes throughout the game) and Sora, Donald, and Goofy will be sent by Yen Sid to get Sora’s strength back while Mickey and Riku are sent to find Aqua. As Sora, you will get to go to various worlds, some of them are returning worlds while a few are new worlds; these worlds include: Olympus (from Hercules , returning world), Twilight Town (returning world, original world), Toy Box (from the Toy Story series), Kingdom of Corona (from Tangled), Monstropolis (from Monsters Inc.), Arendelle (from Frozen), 100 Acre Woods (from Winnie the Pooh, returning world), The Caribbean (from Pirates of the Caribbean, returning world), San Fransokyo (from Big Hero 6), and The Keyblade Graveyard (original world). Within each world you will get to find beloved Disney and Pixar characters, hidden Mickey heads called Lucky Emblems, mini games that get you new weapons for your team, neat little games for the new Gummiphone (not made out of gummies) that Chip, Dale, and Ienzo make Sora, and a Bistro owned by Scrooge McDuck and Remy (called Little Chef, from Ratatouille) There are also a few time(s) where you will have to fight as Riku and have Mickey help you. There also seems to be a reoccurring quest in each world where you need to help the main characters find their friends because of Origination XIII (13) (I hate them so much) keeps taking them to experiment if you can rip a heart apart (what is with this game!?!). Be careful throughout the game, for each choice you make will result in which ending you will get.
One of the things I really love about the game is how you get to fly a ship, Gummiship (also not made out of actual gummies, I think) to each world. A few times it will show a cutscene before you go onto the Gummiship, you begin to notice that Sora does not always know what he is doing and this makes Donald very upset. In the Gummiship you will also get to have small fights with enemy ships, these will help level up your ship, these fights are very different from the other fights you do in the worlds; luckily, the game shows you what to do before hand. Some of the worlds you go to will have a boss fight before you can actually go to the world, so make sure to level up your ship and to add more weapons and other accessories to it to improve the stats of your ship; HP – The number of Hit Points (Armor), Offense – Indicates the amount of Offensive Weaponry on a Ship, Power – The amount of Damage the Weaponry can do, Mobility – Faster Movement and Better Turns/Spins, Speed – The speed at which the ship can travel through the course. A few of the ways to get more Gummi Blocks, that I know of, are: Hewy’s, Dewy’s, and Louie’s Gummi Block shop in Twilight Town, by doing Gummi Missions, and by processing through out the game. There are also Waypoints, Treasure Spheres, Mining Rocks, and Constellations hidden around each area for you to unlock.
Something else I found very fun about the game is some the special attacks you can do while fighting. The fighting overall is pretty neat, but the things you can do with the Keyblades are awesome. I find it kind of odd that they use giant keys to fight little demon like creatures and that they don’t use a key like a key is supposed to be used; they also don’t know how to open locked doors with a key so I don’t know what the game creator was thinking. Anywho, the special attacks on the game are: Keyblade Second Forms, Magic, Links, and Disney Attraction Rides. You heard me right, Disney Attraction Rides or also called Attraction Flow. With Attraction Flow, Sora has to attack a Heartless or Nobody with a green target on it. Once you hit the enemy with the target, make sure to get it for the fight or timing on it ends, you will summon an Attraction ride to help you fight; the rides are: Pirate Ship – Inspired by the Sailing Ship Columbia, Big Magic Mountain – Inspired by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mad Tea Cups – Inspired by Mad Tea Party, Blaster Blaze – Inspired by Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Splash Run – Inspired by Grizzly River Run, Magic Carousel – Inspired by King Arthur Carousel (you might not know about these Attractions if have not gone to Disneyland or Disney World). They are each detailed with tiny lights and have their own special attack system; for example, the Pirate Ship allows you to swing Heartless and Nobodies into the air and once you are ready can release the final attack on your attackers, a full on 360 swing (I wonder if they get dizzy afterwards). These special attacks are really handy when it comes to fighting huge hoards of Heartless but if you have only a few Heartless to deal with they get a bit annoying; especially, when you have a special Keyblade attack loaded up or when of your friends have their special attack loaded up.
Now, Keyblade Second Forms and Links are tied for second for my favorite special attacks. In each world you get the chance to unlock a new Keyblade and Link. In each world you get the chance to unlock a new Keyblade and Link; they are only unlocked after you have finished exploring the world but you can always change the Keyblade you are currently using in the game’s menu and selecting “Equipment”- Sora can have three Keyblades equipt at the same time while Donald and Goofy can only have one weapon (Donald has a staff while Goofy has a shield) equipt at a time. To activate the Keyblade Second Forms you have to hit a few Heartless or Nobodies three times, once you have done that you can turn on the Second Form. Each of the Keyblades have their own special Second Form; for example, Favorite Deputy’s (one of my favorite Keyblades) will turn into a giant hammer that is called Hyper Hammer and after a few hits with that you can have it do a Drill Punch, it will turn back to normal after this. Second Forms can be super helpful in huge battles but if you are just dealing with a few Heartless then it gets a little annoying especially if you have an Attraction Flow that is ready to be used. [WIP]
The Links are Disney characters, old and new, that you can summon using the Heart Binder and Magic (you will have to wait for it to recharge after use). In the beginning of the game Yen Sid (fun fact: Yen Sid is Disney backwards!) gives Sora gives the Heart Binder to help him get the Power of Awakening. Over time as you go to each world you will get a new Link, each with their own special power. For example, Simba’s power is King’s Flair, with King’s Flair Sora gets to ride Simba’s back and ride him into battle while using fire attacks! They are super helpful when comes to huge Heartless battles or Boss battles especially when you have to fight Organization XIII, the only annoying thing about them is if you use them use up all of your magic and then have to wait to for it to charge so you can heal yourself because Donald doesn’t always heal you. You also cannot use them if have a tiny bit of Magic missing, but at least Sora’s interactions with them are super cute.
Now the biggest things I love on this game are the animation, graphics, and the characters themselves. The animation flows very nicely and it almost seemed life like in a few of the areas, at least in my opinion. Each animation and graphics fit nicely for each of the worlds, especially the Pixar worlds for the animation looks like it came from a Pixar movie itself. Each world though has beautiful details, from our furry friends in Monstropolis to the tropical shores of the Caribbean each scene looks like it was taken from the movies themselves. There are times though it can be hard to navigate through some of the worlds because areas look a bit identical to last one, Kingdom of Corona and Arendelle to name a few, while others make you want to look at every single little thing, like the Toy Box and San Fransokyo.
Now the characters, how do I describe them? They are wonderful! The detail that went into them is pretty flawless, in my opinion, and they look pretty real sometimes (especially in the Caribbean). There are a few fans that complain about a few of the characters, mostly Kairi, and say that they don’t have that much personality or backstory; being that I have not played all of the games yet I cannot give my full opinion but from what I’ve seen they are awesome characters that I got way attached too. I honestly think that each of the characters have loveable quirks and relatable personalities, well some of them. Each time one of them was close to being hurt, was hurt, almost died, or “died” I wanted to cry and wanted to know what would happen to them next; they made me smile each time they had bonding moments or teased each other like every other teen does. The ending had me feel very mixed emotions, for I wanted to be happy for all them yet I wanted to cry once I realized what was happening. The characters are for sure a huge part of the game series that would keep me coming back for more, especially since there will have to be another saga.
In collusion, this by far as to be one of my favorite games for there are so many things to love about it. From cool weapons to amazing characters that I believe many people could fall in love with, this is for sure a game that I would play again in a heartbeat. I am really eager to play the rest of the games now, no matter what other people have to say about them. Bring on the sass and tears!
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