First Main Game
Kingdom Hearts is a 2002 action role-playing game developed by Square for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series and is the result of a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company. An expanded re-release of the game featuring new and additional content, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, was released exclusively in Japan in December 2002. The Final Mix version of the game was later remastered in high definition and released globally as part of the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix collection for the PlayStation 3. The game was later ported and released as part of the bundled Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix collection for PlayStation 4 in March 2017, Xbox One in February 2020, Windows in March 2021 and Nintendo Switch in February 2022.
The game combines characters and settings from Disney animated features with those from Square’s Final Fantasy series, in addition to original characters and worlds created for the game. It follows the adventures of Sora, a cheerful teenager who fights against the forces of darkness alongside his allies, including Donald Duck, Goofy and other Disney characters. The game was a departure from Square’s standard role-playing games, introducing a substantial action and hack and slash element to the gameplay. The score was composed by Yoko Shimomura, with an all-star voice cast including many of the Disney characters’ official voice actors. It was longtime Square character designer Tetsuya Nomura’s first time in a directorial position.
Kingdom Hearts was a critical and commercial success and received praise for its unusual combination of action and role-playing elements, its unexpectedly harmonious mix of Square and Disney elements, and Shimomura’s music. It is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, and was a large presence in the 2002 holiday season, receiving numerous year-end game awards, and went on to achieve Sony “Greatest Hits” status. The game’s success spawned a franchise and numerous sequels, with the Kingdom Hearts series going on to ship over 36 million copies worldwide and becoming one of Square’s most popular franchises. Kingdom Hearts is the tenth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time
Setting
The universe of Kingdom Hearts is a collection of various levels, referred to as “worlds”, through which the player must progress. Fourteen worlds are featured, out of which thirteen can be accessed; one, Disney Castle, is shown in cutscenes, and additional worlds are mentioned by various characters, but are inaccessible due to being destroyed by the Heartless. Ten Disney worlds are based on fiction,[15] 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 and style of the Disney film they are based on. Each Disney world is inhabited by characters from the film: for instance, Hercules and Philoctetes appear in Olympus Coliseum, and Aladdin, Jasmine, and Jafar in Agrabah. Each world is disconnected from the others and exists separately, and with few exceptions, most characters in the world are unaware of other ones. Players travel from one world to another via the 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. These worlds include the Destiny Islands, the home world of Sora, Riku, and Kairi and where the story opens; Traverse Town, which serves as a hub world and refuge for those whose worlds were destroyed; Hollow Bastion, home of several Final Fantasy characters; and the End of the World, a large, dark world created from the remnants of various worlds consumed by the Heartless. The main characters, Sora, Donald and Goofy, travel from world to world to seal the world’s “Keyhole”, which protects it from the Heartless and from destruction, while trying to minimize their interaction with characters of other worlds to maintain a balance of separation, which sometimes requires them to change their physical appearance to blend in with the world’s inhabitants
Characters
The collaboration between Disney and Square resulted in a mixture of familiar Disney and Square characters, as well as several new characters created and designed by Tetsuya Nomura. The primary protagonist of the game is Sora, a 14-year-old boy chosen to wield the Keyblade—a weapon which is a cross between a key and a sword—to battle darkness.
The game also features two friends from his home world, Riku and Kairi.
For most of the game, Sora is joined by Donald Duck and Goofy, who are a court wizard and captain of Disney Castle’s royal guard respectively, and were sent to find the Keyblade wielder, joining forces with Sora to search for their King, Mickey Mouse, while Sora searches for Kairi and Riku. The primary antagonist is Ansem, who seeks power and knowledge by using the Heartless, while Maleficent, from the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, leads a group of Disney villains that seeks to use the
Story
Sora, Riku, and Kairi build a raft with the intent to leave their home world of Destiny Islands to explore new worlds. On the night before the planned voyage, the Heartless attack the islands and Riku and Kairi disappear. Before the Heartless consume the islands, Sora mysteriously obtains the Keyblade, a weapon effective against the Heartless. Meanwhile, King Mickey has left his own world to deal with the increasing number of Heartless, leaving instructions for Donald and Goofy to find the “key” that will protect the worlds from encroaching darkness. Donald and Goofy use the Gummi Ship to travel to Traverse Town, where they find Sora after he wound up there following the destruction of his world. The three decide to travel together – Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku – traveling to various worlds and sealing their “Keyholes” to prevent their “heart” from being consumed by the Heartless. Meanwhile, a group of Disney villains led by Maleficent seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the final keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, a repository of knowledge and power and the source of all hearts. Maleficent also finds Riku and recruits him into her services, manipulating him into believing that Sora abandoned him.
Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, Maleficent’s headquarters, where Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora and reveals himself to be its intended wielder, with Sora only receiving it in his absence; Donald and Goofy reluctantly leave Sora as per their orders. Sora later challenges Riku, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends, inspiring Donald and Goofy to return to him and allowing him to regain control of the Keyblade. After the three defeat Maleficent, Sora finds Kairi’s comatose body and confronts Riku, who has been possessed by Ansem, a figure who manipulated Maleficent to open the way to Kingdom Hearts. Ansem reveals Kairi as the seventh Princess of Heart, her heart having transferred into Sora’s body when the Destiny Islands were destroyed. After defeating the possessed Riku, Sora impales himself with Ansem’s Keyblade, which is designed to unlock hearts, and releases both his and Kairi’s hearts. Kairi’s heart returns to her body, in turn completing the final Keyhole, while Sora becomes a Heartless. However, Kairi recognizes Sora’s Heartless, and the light in her heart restores him to human form.
Sora and his group venture to the End of the World, the remnants of the worlds destroyed by the Heartless, to confront Ansem as he reaches the door to Kingdom Hearts. Believing a wellspring of darkness lies within the door, Ansem calls upon it to aid him after a battle with Sora. However, the door opens to reveal light, which destroys Ansem. Also beyond the door are Mickey and Riku, who help Sora and his friends close the door before Sora and Mickey lock it with their Keyblades from both sides. The worlds lost to the Heartless reconstruct themselves; as the Destiny Islands reform, Kairi returns there while Sora is forced to part with her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy resolve to find Riku and Mickey.
