Topic: Kingdom Hearts, why is it so great?

I've always liked the look of the characters in Kingdom Hearts, but the concept of Disney characters was off-putting for me. It seems like an odd mix to me. Can someone tell me why the Kingdom Hearts series is good and which title would be the best to start with?
(and whether the Disney characters ruined the experience if you're not a huge Disney fan)

I have no clue why it is so great. The Disney characters was the reason I didn't get into the series too. It looked cool until I found about the characters,so I though "Ugh,the story will be about friendship and all that Disney crap".

Yeah thats a reason why I didn't enjoy it for the 2 hours I played it. Don't recommend the series. If your not so sure if you'll like it then don't play it and play another game of Square Enix's fantastic selection of RPGs.

The series in general is very overrated especially on this site.

The Kingdom Hearts series is one of the greatest video game series ever made. Do NOT be fooled by the Disney characters, they actually add to the story of the game. The Kingdom Hearts series has not only a deep but non-complicated storyline, but the action RPG gameplay is awesome and simple.
Start out with the first Kingdom Hearts game.

I've always dislked the KH series, but that was more due to the whole JRPG influence than anything else. That, and the horrible camera. That being said, it was a clever idea that seemed to work well for those that enjoy the genre.

Simple storyline is bad. I want a complicated storyline that makes you think how the part you just passed fits in. That is why Zelda is the best RPG for me.

@RandomWiiPlayer-Most of the Zelda games have the same story, Ganon kidnaps Zelda, Link had to go save her and recover the Triforce.
What I meant by a simple but deep storyline, is that the storyline is DEEP, but it is not overly complicated like the Final Fantasy series's stories are. There are lot of mysteries in the Kingdom Hearts series, such as the origin of the Keyblade for example. The Disney characters fit just fine in the Kingdom Hearts series.

The side story to Zelda is very deep. Like Twilight Princess,the land is covered in Twilight,and you have to get those things for Midna,then go the the Twilight realm. Ocarina of Time,Ganondorf gets his hands on the Triforce,and 7 years later you have to find all of the sages to defeat him.

It's a fantastic game series, but KH 2 is easily the best (so far). KH 1 had a more touching storyline though, while KH 2 had better combat and camera controls. If anything, the part that put me off the most were some of the world choices (Hundred Acre Woods anyone?) But still, it's a grand series

EDIT: Halloweentown and the Space Paranoid levels were easily my favorite

If you don't like Disney, first of all, what's wrong with you? Do you think you're too cool for that "kids' stuff" or something? Second, don't get Kingdom Hearts if you don't like Disney. It's got a good story and it's a great game, but it's deeply involved with Disney stuff.

Here's a trailer for the first game. One of my fave trailers btw.

Thanks for the awesome trailer, Irken! I'm still a little skeptical about the whole Disney business, but I might take the title for a spin first just to see what it's like.

@zss_shadow: the disney characters are something they just put to make the game original, its like final fantasy, but really is one of the best games.

but you cant respond to what he said about kingdom hearts? (SUSPICIOUS!!!!) well kingdom hearts does make you think about whats going on and what happened before.....thats where 358/2 days comes in.

p.s. GET THE GAMES!!!

I can't because I have never played a Kingdom Hearts game. Like I said,the Disney characters is a huge turn off,so I passed.

Its a great series but its also pretty flawed, the combat was fun but the AI helpers aren't great they can act really dumb at times, the music was great throughout, some of the story was a bit on the cheesy side, but despite its often overlooked flaws its still a great game IMO.

Before I played it, I was pretty skeptical about the whole "Disney meets Final Fantasy" concept myself, but it's truly amazing how well they pulled it off! Everything meshes extrordinarily naturally, so the Disney never feels out of place or unwanted at all! You don't have to be a HUGE Disney fan to love the game, but you probably won't enjoy it much if you just plain hate Disney.

The story is very well written, and I definitely wouldn't call any part of it "simple," either (no idea where SuperSonic got that idea). It's not as over-complicated as some games, sure, but it's chock-full of intrigue and layers, especially as you continue on in the series past the first game.

The music is awesome, but what else would you expect from Yoko Shimomura? As a matter of fact, I'm listening to the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack right now (was before seeing this thread, actually).

I liked the Hundred Acre Woods, though I guess I can see where irken004 and others wouldn't if they had some problem with Pooh.

Continuing (PS3 browser, as usual):

My least favorite level is Atlantica from KH2, because they turned it into a weird musical minigame. Even that's tolerable imo; I'm quite certain many people hate it much more than I do.

If you want to try the series, you should DEFINITELY play it in order, starting from Kingdom Hearts 1, continuing to Chain of Memories (GBA or PS2; it shouldn't really matter story-wise), and on to KH2. While 358/2 Days is set during Chain of Memories, it seems to me like it would be best appreciated after having played KH2.

Anyway, you should definitely give it a shot! It's not hard to get a copy cheap, so it's not a huge loss if you don't like it, right? That's what I did years ago, buying a Greatest Hits copy, and I've never regretted it!

It's a game series that the whole family can enjoy. There are a bunch of Final Fantasy characters in it (Squall, Aeris, Sephiroth, etc) as well as Disney characters (Mickey, Goofy, Jack, TRON!). It is a pretty revolutionary mix of a lot that Square and Disney have to offer. The combat system is not overly complicated but it is "tough" enough to keep the older audiences engaged. You have to travel to several Disney Worlds. Some are cool (like Tron, Maleficient's castle, Alice in Wonderland, Halloween town, etc) and some aren't so much (Little Mermaid is one that comes to mind) but everyone has their own unique tastes. The boss battles are nice too of course. There's a captivating story with pretty nice cut-scenes.

Everyone in my family likes the game and it's one we can actually sit down together and watch each other play (I normally hate watching OTHER people play games). I'd love to see a KH3 in the series or at least some other games with similar play style (anyone aware of any?)

Perhaps I should rephrase what I said, it is not as complicated as the Final Fantasy games when it comes to storyline. The Kingdom Hearts series is great in storyline because there are some mysteries that have not even been answered yet. If you play Kingdom Hearts I for example, you will be wanting to know what happens in the other games. There are even mysteries that will not be solved until future games [like Birth by Sleep].

To me, the Kingdom Hearts series is a LOT better than the Final Fantasy series. I personally have trouble liking the Final Fantasy series. Just because Kingdom Hearts looks light-hearted does not mean the game is light-hearted. All Kingdom Hearts games are dark in some areas and they have remarkable plot twists. The Kingdom Hearts games combine excellent gameplay, superb voice acting, and a wonderful story into one package. There is even difficuly settings if you want to play the game easy or hard. I guess you can call me a hardcore Kingdom Hearts fan. But thanks to Kingdom Hearts, it turn a mostly non-RPG fan [me] into a RPG fan.

@Magi-There are 3 future installments of the Kingdom Hearts series. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is coming out for the Nintendo DS on September 29, 2009. Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep is coming out on the PSP possibly in 2010, and it has 50 hours of gameplay. Birth by Sleep might as well be called Kingdom Hearts III, because I think it will be better than any other Kingdom Hearts games. Kingdom Hearts:Coded is out for JAPANESE CELL PHONES, and I do not know if it will be released in the West on any format.