TGS: Kingdom Hearts hands-on impressions

[10.14.01] » Donald Duck and Cid Highwind's conversations to be most unprintable RPG dialogue ever.

   The Fall 2001 Tokyo Game Show marked the playable debut of Square's "Disney RPG," Kingdom Hearts. Though its bizarre fusion of Nomura's Final Fantasy aesthetics and traditional Disney characters and worlds still seems slightly surreal, the demo on display went a long way towards answering many questions and dispelling several myths about the game.

   First, the game is absolutely an action RPG. However, in a somewhat strange twist on the traditional action RPG mechanic, it is a menu-based action RPG. To explain: the player controls the movement of the main character, Sora, using the left analog control stick. R1 "locks on" to the nearest enemy or interactive aspect of the environment. The "Command" button, circle, defaults to the "Attack" menu choice; pressing it repeatedly will attack several times in sequence. However, by using on the right analog stick or the digital pad, the player can select "Magic," "Item," or a context-sensitive fourth command (Open, Investigate, Unlock, etc.) Selecting "Magic" or "Item" cascades out further menu choices. As with Sega's Phantasy Star Online, the game does not pause while navigating menus, so players must stay on their toes when selecting spells or items. Fortunately, holding L1 + Circle, Triangle, or Square is a shortcut to casting a Fire, Blizzard, or Lightning spell. There appear to be only three types of spells in the game, making such shortcuts feasible. Magic points are restored by attacking, in a similar fashion to a fighting game "super" gauge.

   The demo featured two environments: "Traverse Town" and "Deep Jungle." The former is a sort of European villa at night, rendered in the traditional Disney style. The layout and name suggest that this town may serve as some sort of "nexus" between the many different Disney worlds. In this scenario, Donald and Goofy notice that the "stars are going out" and that they must hurry. Pluto, however, separates from the gang and finds Sora passed out behind some crates. Sora awakens slowly at Pluto's insistent licks, shocked to be away from his home of Destiny Island and in this strange town. Sora explores the town, fending off enemy Heartless and eventually meeting up with Goofy and Donald. The second scenario, Deep Jungle, is set in the world of Tarzan. Sora, Donald, and Tarzan begin in the tea sets and laundry of the British base camp and from there explore deeper into the jungle. There, they meet up with the antagonistic hunter of the movie, Clayton, and face off in a thrilling boss fight.

   In both scenarios, the player controls Sora exclusively, and the other characters' actions are controlled by the computer. Enemies "spawn" and appear out of midair as Sora explores the environments, as in Phantasy Star Online. Even though the party can consist of up to three characters, there is no multiplayer component, and there are no plans to add one before the game ships. The game feels most like a 3D Secret of Mana, but the inability to pause the game while accessing spells and items adds a sense of frenetic urgency. Interestingly, statistics such as attack power, defense power, agility, etc. "level up" independently. During particularly frenetic battles, the upper-left of the screen is a constant flood of increasing statistics. Defeating enemies earns both money (called "Munnies") and items, both common and rare.

   As previously mentioned, characters' costumes and appearance are slightly modified by their equipment. The Heartless, too, modify their appearance according to location. The enemies in Traverse Town look like flying whirligigs and squat knights, while the ones in the Deep Jungle seem like monkeys and lizards. Clayton, the boss of the Deep Jungle area, rides on top of a giant, invisible Chameleon Heartless. The two environments imply that Sora is the sole playable character and constantly a member of the party, while other party members change according to story needs and locations.

   A second trailer on the video screen also showed new footage, including the White Rabbit, Alice, and Queen of Hearts' court from Alice in Wonderland, and Mt. Olympus, Hades, and Cerberus from Hercules. In one sequence, the shady Hades puts his arm around Sora and leads him around his palace, clearly trying to swindle the young boy. In addition to the previously-seen stained glass window montage of Snow White, a second stained glass window, featuring Sleeping Beauty, could be seen in the second trailer. Square's merchandise section contained a set of four lapel pins, each of which was a stained glass window: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast's Belle. Strangely, these four windows are the only hints we have seen of each of these four Disney worlds. What role will these women play in the final game? Speculation runs rampant, but keeps returning to two words: "fetch quest."

   The end of the new trailer also displays a brief CG sequence, marking the first example of non-realtime footage being used in the game. The girl Kairi smiles at Sora, and then an unseen something flies over Kairi, passing a shadow over her and dropping two white feathers. The trailer ends on this unclear note of foreshadowing.

   Finally, mention must be made of the Final Fantasy elements that have managed to squirm their way into Kingdom Hearts. The previously announced Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka are listed in promotional material as "Island Children," and their descriptions imply that they inhabit Destiny Island with Sora, Kairi, and Riku. Selphie and Tidus' age are listed as 13, while Wakka, the wise old man of the group, is 15. These younger versions of Final Fantasy favorites may still be playable, but all three were conspicuously absent from both of the demo scenarios and the new trailer. The Accessory shop in Traverse Town is run by Final Fantasy VII's Cid Highwind, who keeps a very special crystal on the shop counter--along with a pet moogle. It's clear that Square and Disney are both going all out for this crossover title, and the number of references in the final game should be a delight to Square and Disney fans alike.

   Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little longer to uncover the title's in-jokes; Kingdom Hearts' Winter 2001 release has been delayed until Spring 2002. Though the why and wherefore is still difficult to fathom, Kingdom Hearts' what and how are far clearer after its Tokyo Game Show showing.