| Kingdom Hearts | |
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| キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu | |
| Developer(s) | Square Co., Ltd. |
| Publisher(s) |  Square Co., Ltd. /Canada Square EA, Disney InteractiveEurope/Australia Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | March 28, 2002
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| Genre | Action RPG |
| Game modes | Single player |
| Ratings | ESRB:EveryoneEveryone PEGI:7+7+ USK: 6+ OFLC: G8+ ELSPA: 11+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 |
Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダム ハーツ Hepburn: Kingudamu Hātsu?) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney animated features with those from Square's Final Fantasy series. The story follows a young boy, Sora, as he is thrown into an epic battle against the forces of darkness. He is joined by Donald Duck, Goofy, and other classic Disney characters who help him on his quest.
Story[]
Kingdom Hearts begins with Sora's Dive to the Heart, which foreshadows the events that will soon take place, but soon progresses to Destiny Islands, where Sora lives with his two best friends, Riku and Kairi. The three friends seek to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. One night, the islands are attacked by darkness and shadow creatures. Sora seeks out his friends, finding Riku first; Riku disappears into darkness, curious about what it contains. Soon after, Sora obtains a mysterious weapon, the Keyblade, to defend himself. Using it to fend off the creatures, he heads for a secret cave, where he finds Kairi near a door. She turns to him, saying his name as the door behind her blows open. The ensuing blast of darkness sends Sora and Kairi both out of the cave. The islands are soon destroyed, and Sora is left adrift, Riku and Kairi's whereabouts unknown.
Meanwhile, King Mickey has left his world to deal with the increasing power of darkness and left instructions for mage Donald Duck and knight Goofy to find the "key". Donald and Goofy use a Gummi Ship to travel to Traverse Town, where it happens Sora has also drifted to. Sora encounters the creatures again in the town, and eventually meets Leon, a mysterious swordsman who explains they are Heartless, creatures that consume hearts, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon capable of defeating them. The king of Leon's home world, a man named Ansem, is said to have studied the Heartless. Donald and Goofy are approached by Leon's ally Aerith, who also tells them what they may be looking for. Soon after, Sora meets Donald and Goofy rather hastily, and the three work together to take down a large Heartless. From there, they decide to travel together: Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku.
The three travel to various worlds based on Disney films, finding that the Keyblade also locks "Keyholes", passages that the Heartless use to take the hearts of the worlds. A group of villains, led by Maleficent, seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, a repository of knowledge and power and the source of all hearts. This group now includes Riku, who is swayed by Maleficent's promises that she will help find Kairi. At the same time, Maleficent breeds distrust in Riku, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for new friends and the Keyblade. An increasingly antagonistic Riku manages to find Kairi's body, but her heart is missing.
Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, the home world of Ansem and the headquarters of Maleficent. Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora, claiming that he was fated to have it all along and Sora was simply the "delivery boy". Donald and Goofy, taking their order to follow the "key" seriously, reluctantly leave with Riku. Sora calls on his courage and enters the Bastion anyway, then challenges Riku again, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends. His friends return to him, as does the Keyblade. Shamed, Riku flees and meets a cloaked man who goads him to give into the darkness.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy, meanwhile, engage and destroy Maleficent. They soon after meet a strangely-behaving Riku with a new Keyblade that unlocks hearts. He leads them to Kairi's living but unfeeling body; Riku then reveals himself as completely possessed by Ansem. The newly reformed Ansem explains that Kairi is the last Princess of Heart, and that her missing heart has been trapped within Sora's body since the destruction of Destiny Islands. Spurred to action, Sora defeats Ansem; however, he cannot seal Hollow Bastion's keyhole because Kairi's heart is still in his body, thus the keyhole remains incomplete. Sora uses Ansem's Keyblade to unlock his heart, releasing both his and Kairi's heart, but turning him into a Heartless. Kairi's heart returns to her body, in turn completing the final Keyhole; she then returns Sora to human form by the strength of her heart. The group resolves to follow and end Ansem's plan.
Ansem retreats to the End of the World, the combined fragments of worlds taken by the Heartless. Upon being found and finally beaten, he explains his belief that darkness is the heart's true essence, and he seeks Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts, and therefore the ultimate source of darkness. However, upon opening the door to Kingdom Hearts, it reveals Light, killing Ansem. Beyond the door are Mickey and Riku, back in control of his own body. They help Sora and the others close the door, as there are many Heartless beyond it, but Riku and Mickey must remain inside to help seal it; when Sora seems concerned, Mickey assures him that "there will always be a door to the light" and then, when Goofy tells Sora that he can "trust King Mickey", Mickey thanks his friends: "Donald, Goofy, thank you." - it's a heartfelt goodbye from the Mouse King who may never see them again. Mickey and Sora then use their Keyblades to lock the door. The destroyed worlds reconstruct themselves; Kairi is pulled back to the Destiny Islands, but Sora promises before separating they will all reunite some day. Sora, Donald, and Goofy resolve to find Riku and Mickey, though they are unsure of where to start. Luckily, Pluto appears, clutching a letter from Mickey in his mouth; he runs off with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in tow, ready for a new set of adventures. The silent narrator from the beginning of the game states in the final scene that Sora's destiny is to open the door to light.
One year later, in a secret ending, a mysterious boy wielding two Keyblades finds Riku in a new world demanding to know where Sora is.
Characters[]
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Main Characters[]
Sora
A fourteen-year-old boy who lives on the Destiny Islands with his best friends Riku and Kairi, a kind-hearted young man who dreams of seeing other worlds. After the islands are consumed by darkness he finds himself alone in another world. He travels to various different worlds with Donald and Goofy in search of Riku and Kairi. He wields the Keyblade, a weapon capable of destroying the darkness and sealing the hearts of worlds. His name means "sky" in kanji.("空")
Riku
Riku is the fifteen-year-old friend of Sora and Kairi and lives with them on Destiny Islands. He and Sora always compete on everything as friendly rivals, with Riku usually winning. He was meant to be the original wielder of the Keyblade, but he gave in to the darkness of his heart in order to fulfill his dream of seeing other worlds. His name is the kanji for "land." ("陸")
Kairi
A fourteen-year-old girl who arrived on the Destiny Islands when she was little, and has been best friends with Sora and Riku ever since. Her name is based on the kanji for "sea" ("海").
The King
The King of Disney Castle who set out on a mission to find out the secret of the Heartless. He left a note to Donald and Goofy telling them to find the Keyblade wielder.
Donald Duck
Disney Castle's Court Magician. He is searching for his missing King by traveling to various worlds in the gummi ship. He and Goofy team up with Sora in order to find their King.
Goofy
Captain of the Royal Knights at Disney Castle. He is also searching for the King alongside Donald.
Ansem
The heartless of Xehanort who impersonated the actual Ansem and transformed himself into a heartless so he could find Kingdom Hearts, which he believed would give him the ultimate power of darkness.
Box Art[]
