Is Kingdom Hearts worth getting obsessed about?

[The Curmudgeon]

I'm no expert or massive fan, but RPG's float the Curmudgeon's boat. So when an RPG that merged Final Fantasy and Disney came around, that was apparently amazing, you know I was up for that.

So a PS2 purchase happened a few years back, and the game looked great. Except - fucker - it didn't work on my machine. It loaded and played the first few scenes, but then refused to load up after that. And that was that, I always promised to buy the non-Platinum version, figuring the Platinum version didn't work on my machine (I had tried two different versions of the game by now) but never got around to it. The potential Kingdom obsession was over.

And yet today Mrs C comes home with a Kingdom of Hearts game for the DS, a semi-sequel to the second game. I haven't played it yet, but a quick Wiki search shows a whole universe of gaming, with in-depth storylines and plots that run from game to game.

So is the Kingdom Hearts franchise worth obsessing about? Looking at the titles and history and gameplay involved, it certainly looks like a lot of fun. But is it worth delving into?

[trashcanman]

I don't know. There is a massive army of obsessed fanboys out there, for sure. But you can say the same thing about a lot of crap too. I skipped the PS2 and 3 so no joy for me on KH, but I'm sure it's a good time given that I'm such a Final Fantasy nut. But the whole notion of the Disney crossover thing kind of bugs the piss out of me (Goofy vs Sephiroth: because nobody asked for it). Why not license something from an anime studio instead? Now THAT would be awesome. Fuckign Disney. Still, I'd play it if I could. I believe that you can play PS2 games on the PS3, but I get different stories on how that exactly works. Give this a try: us.playstation.com/support/compatiblestatus/

Then there is this complaint:



Man, that PS3 is one weird machine.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, that is weird, and if its true about how easy it is to fix, shocking as well. I've got my PS2 hooked up to a 42" plasma in the bedroom, so all is well. I'm currently winning the original for the PS2 on ebay for about 5 bucks.

And yeah, if I was a fan of FF then the Disney cross-over would boil my piss. It'd be like Mickey Mouse taking on Dr Doom for me. But it does look like its a solid, legit RPG series, something I haven't tackled in a long time.

[trashcanman]

Man, I wish you had an Xbox 360 so you could play the Mass Effect series. MURDERS every other RPG out there in just about every way. You'd probably have flipped out for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (made by the same guys) on the original Xbox too. I know I did. But nobody who has played Kingdom Hearts has any complaints about it so I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[The Curmudgeon]

So I did get the game after all (about ten dollars from ebay, delivered the next day!) I had a sinking feeling that I would play it for an hour and get bored, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Despite a fairly confusing opening sequence and level (you play fight your friends and they whoop you every time.. I've yet to find the reason behind that), it's pretty damn glorious.

Opening level is a dream sequence sort of thing, and you're walking around this huge empty room in space. The camera zooms up and you're walking around a painting of Snow White. I will admit I rocked out pretty hard to that.

You walk around the 101 Dalmatians house! You walk past a golden statue of Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti! The shop where you buy power-ups is run by Huey, Dewie and Louie! The second world is fucking WONDERLAND. It's impossible not to love this game.

[trashcanman]

Any Darkwing Duck love?

[Quillford]

I can now contribute to this long forgotten thread. NO. NEVER. I, infact was talking about this very thing just the other day. Kingdom Hearts and was it good. After years of my friend bumming it up the disc hole in ten minutes I was able to turn it around and show him how pointless this game was. If your going to make a disney game. Do it. Don't bring in a perfectly awesome series with no explanation as to why and then write it out later on. The whole thing is flawwed and poorly made. There I said it.

[trashcanman]

First I've heard of it. Everything I've ever read about KH was over-the-top glorious. Personally, a Final Fantasy-Disney crossover just does not appeal to me although I grew up on both, but if the gameplay and story is good enough, I suppose the apparent senselessness of the combination wouldn't bother me. So what were you referring to when you said "Don't bring in a perfectly awesome series with no explanation as to why and then write it out later on."? I haven't played KH at all so I don't really know much about it other than that it's a FF-Disney crossover RPG.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, I'm not getting the hate here, Quillguy. I bought the first Kingdom Hearts game and it was pretty damn sweet. After being spoiled by the PS3 I was still ooh-ing and ahhh-ing at the graphics, and it seemed as in-depth, layered and playable as any other pseudo RPG out there. Was it Final Fantasy? Nope. But you ran into a house and it was the living room from 101 Dalmatians! If that doesn't make you "squeee" then you're dead inside.

I'm sort of pissed off with myself because I didn't play it more. Because it was the PS2 and relegated to the bedroom it meant sitting upright on the end of a bed.. with a controller with a fucking WIRE attached to the console. It was like something from the dark ages. Plus, I had waaay too many top PS3 games eating up my time.

Back on topic - it's certainly a series I will go back to one day. Surely any RPG that can't carry its weight would get buried in todays market, and those games stand tall with some pretty stiff competition. I'm no expert, but they've got to have something in them to make people get obsessed the way they do.