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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Main
Main characters are, in this case, defined as characters with the largest effect on the storyline, who have a direct relation to Sora.
 * 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 his two friends, Riku and Kairi. He wields the Keyblade, a weapon capable of harming the heartless and sealing worlds. His name means "sky" in Japanese.
 * 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. A very powerful partner magic wise.
 * Goofy - A good friend of Sora's. He is also searching for King Mickey. A very powerful comrade defense wise, but not very high attack. Has useful support abilities, such as MP gift.
 * 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. His name means "land" or "shore" in Japanese.
 * Kairi - Not much is known about Kairi, like where she's from or how she even got to Destiny Islands. Riku and Sora do not seem to care though, as they both enjoy her company and friendship. Her name is based on the Japanese word for "ocean" ("kai").

Final Fantasy

 * Tidus from "Final Fantasy X"
 * Wakka from "Final Fantasy X"
 * Selphie from "Final Fantasy VIII"
 * Leon from "Final Fantasy VIII"
 * Yuffie from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Aerith from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Cloud from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Cid from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Sephiroth from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Auron from "Final Fantasy X"
 * Tifa from "Final Fantasy VII"
 * Yuna from "Final Fantasy X-2"
 * Rikku from "Final Fantasy X-2"
 * Paine from "Final Fantasy X-2"
 * Seifer from "Final Fantasy VIII"
 * Raijin from "Final Fantasy VIII"
 * Fujin from "Final Fantasy VIII"
 * Vivi from "Final Fantasy IX"
 * Setzer from "Final Fantasy VI"
 * Moogles from various Final Fantasy series

Disney
Disney characters are world specified, and as such, will only be present in the world they come from. They are characters that Sora meets and befriends during his search for Riku and Kairi. Each character can become a party member, by switching him/her with Goofy or Donald.
 * Tarzan from "Tarzan"
 * Aladdin from "Aladdin"
 * Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"
 * Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
 * Peter Pan from "Peter Pan"
 * Beast from "Beauty and the Beast"
 * Mulan from "Mulan"
 * Tron from "Tron"
 * Simba from "The Lion King"
 * Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Summons
Throughout his travels, Sora finds summon gems. Summons take the place of the to AI members of the player's party, and as such, both AI must be conscious before the player can use a summon.
 * Simba from "The Lion King"
 * Tinkerbell from "Peter Pan"
 * Genie from "Aladdin"
 * Bambi from "Bambi"
 * Dumbo from "Dumbo"
 * Mushu from "Mulan"
 * Chicken Little from "Chicken Little"
 * Stitch from "Lilo & Stitch"
 * Peter Pan from "Peter Pan"

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, Ansem, is the main antagonist of the game. Both of these characters are major bosses; though, Ansem is in fact the final boss. These are the antagonists of Kingdom Hearts, with the majority often seen conspiring together as a group in the ruins of Hollow Bastion.


 * Ansem
 * Organization XIII
 * Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty"
 * Hades from "Hercules"
 * Jafar from "Aladdin"
 * Ursula from "The Little Mermaid"
 * Oogie Boogie from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
 * Captain Hook from "Peter Pan"
 * Clayton from "Tarzan"
 * Captain Barbossa from "Pirates of the Carribean"

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.

In general, there are two types of heartless, commonly referred to as Pureblood Heartless, who are created "naturally", and Emblem Heartless, who are artificially created. The Emblem Heartless received their name because upon creation, they were all branded with an emblem, in order to distinguish them from the Purebloods.

Worlds
Sora, Donald and Goofy are able to travel to several worlds through the use of a Gummi Ship. Each world has a different theme, many which are based on Disney animations, but also a couple of original worlds. The purpose of traveling to these worlds is to lock their hearts, so they cannot be consumed by the Heartless, thus destroying them. However, even though this is the goal of the travels, it is not that which actually drives Sora, Donald and Goofy. Sora only agreed because he wanted to find his friends, Riku and Kairi, while Donald and Goofy are in search of King Mickey.

Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix is a Japanese re-release, which was made in response to the US/EU versions of Kingdom Hearts, which had several extra features that the original Kingdom Hearts from Japan didn't have. The Kingdom Hearts development Team then decided to make the same features in Final Mix, as well as several other things to tie up any lose ends of the story nicely, hence the title "Final Mix". Features include: Ice Titan, Kurt Zisa and Sephiroth, all of whom were in the US/EU versions, were added to Final Mix along with the Enigmatic Man, one of the hooded members of Organization XIII, (the antagonists in Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II), who can be fought at Hollow Bastion. The closest the US/EU versions got to this, was seeing the hooded members in the secret ending movie "Another Side, Another Story". The stats of all the enemies have been changed, making the harder to beat, as well as giving them a new colour scheme. Six completely new heartless had been made, including the heartless seen in the secret ending movie "Another Side, Another Story" called NEO-Shadow, who are the only Heartless in the game that seem like to be having actual teamwork while fighting. To the original secret ending, new scenes had been added as well as an addition to the title, now called "''Another Side, Another Story [ Deep Dive]". Slightly more focus was put on Riku, as he was "left out" for the greater first half of the game, so there has been made 3 new cutscenes focused on him. A new cutscene was also added of Cloud and Sephiroth fighting, which can be seen if the player defeats Sephiroth. More dialogue has been added to explain some of the things that might have left the player in the dark by the original story. For example, Aeris explains that Cloud has returned to look for, not Aeris, but Sephiroth (which he continues to do in KHII). Two new keyblades were introduced, both given Final Fantasy inspired names. The first is acquired by defeating Sephiroth and is fittingly called One-Winged Angel, which is the name of Sephiroth's theme. The second is obtained by defeating the Ice Titan and is named Diamond Dust after Shiva's attack when summoned. Two new staves for Donald were introduced - the Meteo Strike (possibly referring to Meteor Strike) which was found in a treasure chest, and the Fantasia, which is obtainable by synthesizing. Goofy gets two new shields as well, called the Massive Bumper (found in a chest), and the Seven Elements (which can be synthesized). Actual missions were added to the Gummi Shop mini-game, which must be played whenever the player wishes to travel to a neighboring world, without using Warp. This gave more of a point to the mini-game, as well as making it more enjoyable. A more advanced version of these mission made its appearance in the US and EU in KHII. Three additional Ansem Reports where added to the game. One of these reports gives a bit perspective to who Kairi is and how she came to the island, the two others make clear references to the two sequels of Kingdom Hearts, but it's doubtful that anyone would realize this, without actually having played at least KHII. Sora has gained 10 new abilities to add to his already impressive arsenal of abilities. One of them has a FF inspired name, Zantetsuken, which is the summon attack of Odin.
 * New Bosses
 * Enemy Changes
 * New Heartless
 * Additional Secret Ending
 * New Cutscenes
 * More Dialogue
 * New Weapons
 * Gummi Ship Missions
 * Extra Ansem Reports
 * New Abilities