Review: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix

Its been 11 and a half years since Kingdom Hearts first dropped onto the Playstation 2.  I remember seeing the first footage back in the day and coming away completely confused.  Why exactly were Mickey, Goofy, Captain Hook, and other Disney characters being thrown into this adventure JRPG?  It seemed out of place and caused me to shrug off the experience after that initial glance.  That is, of course, until I found out that Squall, Cloud, and Sephiroth from the Final Fantasy series made an appearance, and I found myself anticipating giving it a thorough try.  I mean, what can sell a game better than Sephiroth?

After the Square-Enix-patented lengthy tutorial segment, it was safe to say I was hooked.  Traveling to different worlds, battling heartless, using melee attacks, magic, and summons; and on top of that there was a delicious coating of Disney charm to lighten the mood whenever necessary.  I have to admit, the Disney aspects were exactly what turned me off to the game at first.  Never in my craziest dreams had the words JRPG and Disney been in the same sentence.  But, it was those memorable characters and them acting exactly how you'd expect them to act that grounded the game in something a little more tangible (while the main plot scrambled my brain with constant reusing of words like "heart", "friendship", and "darkness").  Hearing Donald go bat-shit in his classic voice and Goofy's lovable dullness make for a much brighter adventure in the face of a tragic and convoluted story that can be downright exhausting to follow.

Now, the game is making a second appearance on the market as Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix, which includes Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (never before released in the U.S.), Re:Chain of Memories, and 3 hours of cutscenes from 358/2 Days, all washed through a clean HD filter on one shiny disc.  Final Mix includes some new difficulty modes to choose from and fixed controls, closer resembling those of Kingdom Hearts 2 (using the Right Thumbstick to control the camera v.s the Shoulder buttons and moving Command prompts to the Triangle button).  Re:Chain of Memories is the PS2 overhaul of Chain of Memories for the Gameboy Advance, featuring a deck building based combat system and an additional campaign as Rikku.  Last, the cutscenes from 358/2 Days (originally for the Nintendo DS) have been revamped on a different engine and give the viewer a look into the life of Roxas and Organization XIII from the time spanning between the end of Kingdom Hearts and the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 2.  When its all said in done, its a pretty neat package for a series newcomer or nostalgic veteran, especially at the discounted price.  But do these franchise tidbits stand up to the test of time?

Well, mostly yes, but some parts, definitely not.  To start, the combat is still as fun as ever.  Its a chaotic button mashing fest filled with vivid, flashy lights and spectacular sound effects.  Rocket punching the X button can get you pretty far, but there are plenty of abilities and spells to give combat an added flair.  Taking on classic Disney villains and the numerous Heartless is riveting, cartoon fun and while some bosses can be done with your eyes closed, there are still a few that will build that rage inside of you.  The characters are also just as splendid as they were when we first met them.  Sora, Rikku, and Kairi are all likable and worth cheering for, while Donald and Goofy make for excellent companions, even if they're bound to their own end goals.  Most cameo appearances are brief, but offer you just enough insight to their motives and general tie-in to the story.  The music is enchanting and surprisingly memorable; even though I never replayed Kingdom Hearts after my first playthrough over a decade ago, I still find myself able to hum along with the various themes easily.

The things that haven't held up so well would be the targeting system and the story presentation. Targeting as Sora can be kind of a mess. First of all, if you aren't actually locked-on to an enemy, Sora will still choose the closest enemy to "follow". He'll keep an eye on them and his attacks will gravitate towards their direction, which is fine. The big problem is its very hard to break that auto-lock; turning the camera away or looking at a different enemy rarely changes who he's soft targeting unless the original enemy flies far enough away. The easiest way to target the monster you actually want to follow is to lock-on with R1, and use L2 to cycle through each baddie until you're set on the one you want, which can be very time consuming in the heat of battle and really disorientate your position as the camera bounces around the arena. This isn't a big issue, and I have definitely gotten used to it, but it still makes me wonder why they chose to give Sora precedence attacking an enemy he hasn't even locked onto yet, instead of just letting the player control his aim freely.

The second aspect that really shows its age is the story. The story's content is great and the universe is absolutely rich with wonder, but even after playing all the Kingdom Hearts games and knowing full well what happens, it can still be a drag to follow along with. The cheesy script rarely varies in its terminology and it always seems like the player is either 10 steps ahead of the characters (and waiting as the characters on screen struggle to slowly figure out what's going on and announce it out loud) or the player is completely left in the dust once they get into some other odd ball story elements that are skimmed over way too fast despite their pivotal relevance.  For instance, what the Kingdom Hearts actually is/does is never explained in full, though accessing it is the sole motivation for the entire cast of villains.  Players returning to the series may already know these things, but newcomers picking up the title for the first time will probably feel a bit lost in a story that really isn't that complicated.

But this game still shines the same way it did in 2002.  Even with all its flaws and tropes of the past barging their way into the current generation, its a trip down memory lane worth taking.  Diving into the many enchanting Disney worlds and spotting beloved Final Fantasy characters along the way is an excellent ride and there's just no questioning the Kingdom Hearts' series level of pure captivation.

Additional Note: For anyone interested, Game Trailers made a fantastic Kingdom Hearts Timeline video that goes through the entire story so far.  Its about an hour long, very detailed, and incredibly well done.  I highly recommend checking it out.