Squaresoft and Disney: Kingdom Hearts

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

Squaresoft recently sent me an email about their work-in-progress with Disney: Kingdom Hearts. I took one look at the game info on the site and started laughing. I guess it combines Disney characters like Goofy and Donald Duck with some Squaresoft-created child characters. All the main characters are under 15 years old.
Apparently the story goes that Mickey has been kidnapped and some group called the "Heartless" has caused a storm separating the young characters into other worlds. They all eventually meet up and work together to defeat the "heartless" and rescue Mickey.
If you ask me, it looks like a big joke, but it could be very interesting to see how this turns out.

Details here -> http://www.kingdomhearts.com

[fujita]

I have seen the game for a bit. For the first time, I though it was funny. :D Looking at the Square-styled hero in action, then after seeing he meet Donald Duck, I can't help but to laugh. But, I think the idea is good though. Quite creative indeed, and may spark a new kind of interest for gamers. ;)

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

True. It could encourage other alliances, which could open the door for some promising things. Like here, maybe we'll get a Disney-related game that we actually like. :D

[ajrulz]

i think the game is a little childish and will only appeal to little kids

[RhombusYSS]

Hmm... gotta say sounds really silly, but after checking the website it seems like an interesting project. While I would never buy it, it's definitely a good and intriguing idea. Haha, if I had a little brother or sister this would be a game that I wouldn't mind them playing and would probably find myself watching along. I gotta admit, I like the Disney characters, they're alot of fun... and mixing with new Square characters as well as young versions of classic FF characters as well as a solid looking battle system and a more 3-d and interactive world than your average FF game. Ah, if only I were 10 again... hehe

I think Square should pursue alliances like this in the future... perhaps with Capcom or Konami... then there'd likely be a very interesting hybrid game...

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

Well, then I guess this will probably boost the PS2's E-rated game library to aid in it's competition against the GameCube for that market.
Although, the PS series have always been teen/adult-oriented consoles.

[Florindel]

I don't really know if Kingdom hearths is gonna be a good game...

[raekwon thachef]

i just seen it in the new EGM and its got' tidus' selphie' wakka and aeris from FF games IIRC theres probally more

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

Aren't they supposed to be children as well???? I think I heard that somewhere to, but it wasn't quite sure if I should believe it or not.

[Ryos]

I wouldn't be so quick to attack Kingdom Hearts like that. I laughed at what I first believed to be an absolutely ludicrous idea (for good reason. A Disney RPG? WTF). However, the more I look at it, the better it sounds. Yoko Shimomura, for example, one of my favorite Square composers (Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana are two of her works) did the soundtrack, and it seems to be surprisingly good, certainly better than a certain composer's recent works. She's quietly turned into one of Square's best composers. Just because the used characters are lame doesn't mean the game itself is necessarily lame. If nothing else, at least Square is doing something unique for once. :p

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

I'm not attacking it, that's for sure. I just wanted to point out, like you said, the uniqueness of this project. My opinion of how good or bad this game is going to be is undecided right now. I just want people to understand the hilarity I found in the game when I first read of the idea behind it.

[RZetlin]

When I heard about Disney: Kingdom Hearts I thought it was a fast cash for Disney and Square.

The whole idea of mixing Disney and Square seems so weird.

The principles between the Disney and Square characters are different.

[Ryos]

> The whole idea of mixing Disney and Square seems so weird.
> The principles between the Disney and Square characters are different.

The same could be said about Super Mario RPG, but that turned out pretty good. I think Kingdom Hearts could turn out to be the same sort of deal (although in this case, it's admittedly a bit more of a stretch). Possibly my biggest fear for KH at this point is what happens in the translation, particularly the Utada Hikaru song. That's where a lot of the typical attacks against Disney may very well be merited.

[Ninjaa]

I think that half the trouble with the gaming market today, is that everyone is ready to jump up and point at a game and say: KIDDY!!!! I think that is just wrong. I watch The Simpsons, I watch Anime, I play Mario, I play Pikmin, I play SSBM, and I find nothing especially kiddy about any of them.

Kingdom Hearts has the potential to be a really good game if people give it a chance. For years Square has been producing games that would target the biggest demographic, and basically catering to the will of their fans. I am very happy to see a departure in this strategy. It shows that actually making a QUALITY game is still important to Square. I applaud them. I have seen way too many games go by that just had a big name slapped on them, and contained total crap. FF8 or 9 anyone?

[Kane]

I'm gonna reserve judgement on Kingdom Hearts until it comes out. I think that if anyone can pull it off, the Square of old could. We'll just have to wait and see tho.

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

Ryos has a point about Super Mario RPG. Kingdom Hearts will be a bit different for gamers, but ultimately, I'm sure they'll get used to it and enjoy the game just as they did with SMRPG. I'm sure adults will enjoy it, while at the same time it will make RPGs seem more appealing to that younger age group.

[RhombusYSS]

Sure Square's demographic has always been the teen and up age group... but I don't know if that's really the biggest demographic... it's just the demographic that probably cares and loves games the most and is most vocal about it... as I'm sure MOST people on this forum are between the ages of 14-30 (don't mean to offend anyone older or younger than that). Anyway, Disney's demographic has always been the younger kids demographic, so who will bend? Will Square target younger or Disney target older? Or is it an attempt for an all-ages RPG? If I really think about it though, between the ages of 7-13 I spent (or MONEY was spent, probably not be me but by parents, relatives, friends, etc) more on console gaming than at other times... like when I finally retired the NES I had about 60 games... the SNES about 40, and the PSX about 25. But all the NES and most of the SNES buying fell into the younger age period, and also the PSX games are considerably cheaper than NES so I definitely spent more as a young kid.

[Carmofin]

Kingdom Hearts is going to be a great game, im almost sure about it!
the graphics are awesome, the soudntrack will be, as well as the gameplay (realtimebattlerealtimebattle!!!).
if you can play the damn thing for more then 40 hours ill be satisfied for sure :>
however, this one sentence caught my attention:
For years Square has been producing games that would target the biggest demographic...I am very happy to see a departure in this strategy...
ummmmmm...
"hey we can sell loads of copies with games that got FF characters in it and hey, we can sell loads of games to a completely different crowd, just coz they got disney characters in them, HELL what would happen if we put the two things together!??!!?"

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

I think gaming is somewhat like reading habits. You start out looking at picture books and having other people read to you. Then, you learn that combined letters equal words which have meaning. You start to get into more complicated reading material, poetry, etc and you try to extract the meaning from what you're reading. Gaming is similar because I'm all sure we started out very young watching somebody else playing games. My little 3yo brother is that way. You then learn how the controls and what you do correspond to your character on-screen. Just like some people desire meaningful and exciting books, I'm sure they develop a taste for RPGs with great storylines. Games are becoming more and more like books or could even be more closely related to movies. The only difference is that you take the role of the main character.

[Carmofin]

yeah, in hollywood all they think about is good story too, isn't it? ;)

[RhombusYSS]

Throw in some hot chicks and you got yerself a blockbuster in either hollywood, or the video game world! :D
Just playin', pardon my political incorrectness

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

What do you think Tifa was for in FF7? ;)

Even action movies have a story line. My god, look at Star Wars. I was even surprised to find that Blade II has a decent story to it.

[Raziel]

The thing that I like the most about Kingdom Hearts is the style that Evil Cloud has,his wings are so cool(yes,Cloud from FF7 ;)).

[Lyrai]

Cloud's in Kingdom Hearts? Are their any pics of it on the web?

[Ninjaa]

hmmm.... I was going to watch the trailer, but it requires real player. I don't think I will be installing that.

But I guess you guys are right. I hadn't thought that it was targetted at both the young kids and the older gaming crowd.

Still, I don't think it's entirely fair to compare it to Mario RPG. It's not like Mario is a game targetted for young kids. (It seriously isn't. I like to play Mario games, and I am 20 years old. I don't watch Disney movies.)

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

We weren't saying Mario RPG was targeted for the younger audience. We were comparing the alliancing situation. Nintendo was handing their trademarked characters over to Square for a partnership in development of a game just like Disney is doing the same now. Also, this is something that hasn't really been done before. So, nobody knows what to expect.

[Ninjaa]

yeah, that's true. I am actually really curious about this game as well, even though I don't have or intend to buy a PS2.

[ShADoWFLaRe85]

Well, when it comes out, if I have enough money, I'll probably purchase it. I'm a Squaresoft fanatic. So, I usually end up purchasing most of their games whether they're good or bad. Most likely I'll end up posting my findings. :)