this game is so frequently aggravating its negatives constantly threaten to overshadow its positives. the level design often veers into the annoyingly labyrinthine, your party members get in the way (not just in figurative disrupting-the-boss-battle ways - try watching for a white mushroom's next signal without donald or goofy blocking your view or grabbing all of the fruit on the jungle slider course without tarzan's polygonal loinclothed ass clipping through the screen directly into your face), item farming quickly grows tedious and needlessly complicated, the gummi shit is so confusing that even the in-game tutorials basically amount to "figure it out on your own". but in spite of all of this, when you walk away, you don't hear me say "please, oh baby, don't go" - simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
My first experience with the Final Mix version of KH1 was fun, but not greatly different from the original NA release on the PS2. It doesn't have nearly as many changes as the KH2 Final Mix version had in comparison.

I'll always have a soft spot for the first KH. You can see my full thoughts on this game in more detail in my KH1 (PS2) review.

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
I played the GBA version of this game before playing the Re: version... (god, I hate the naming convention for these games... but I digress.)

It could be said that this is where the series truly begins, as this game lays out the framework for the entire KH universe. The bosses are quite challenging and fun to fight. It introduces Axel and many of the other members of Organization XIII. Yoko Shimomura's music shines yet again. However, the true downfall of this game is the grind of going through the Disney worlds again to get to the interesting story bits. But this is the biggest issue I have with the series as a whole...

The card-based gameplay is also something that I never enjoyed... this system is what really demonstrates that this was a remake of a GBA/portable title. And not just the battle system, but its progression, and how quickly you can get through it.

One hell of a nostalgia trip. This game was everything to me when the original came out in the early 00s and it instilled a love of ARPGs that's lasted ever since.

There's a laundry list of issues I could compile here (wonky camera, arbitrary paths to take in each world, the fuckin vine swinging) and all those issues are only accented on proud mode. But what really impresses me is how well the core movement and basic combat still feel decades after initial release. I'm thankful that many mainstream ARPGs have moved past KH1 in terms of structure but many more could learn from the concept of just making something that feels good at a fundamental level.

first game? amazing. hated the ursurla battle. 9/10.
chain of memories? sucked... hate the battle mechanic. 4/10.
358/2? also amazing! but the gameplay is totally removed in this version, so i had to buy it on the 3ds. 0/10 on this version

i love kingdom hearts

Only took 20 years but I finally got through Kingdom Hearts. For a game marketed towards kids, this game is actually quite difficult. It has many of the early 2000s problems like needing to grind to be powered up enough to defeat bosses as well as some frustrating puzzle style battles. The camera stinks and the party members can often be a hinderance instead of a help. There's a lot to nitpick but the story is pretty decent and worlds and characters do a good job of capturing the essence of Disney.