In its attempts to combine the lengthy story and battle system of Final Fantasy VII with the fully real-time movement and exploration of Super Mario 64, Kingdom Hearts is a slam dunk. Everything from the subtleties in Sora's movement to the smooth integration of context-sensitive actions in the game world is handled with a level of care and precision that you wouldn't expect from a game that's seemingly being pulled in so many different directions. It's not necessarily the best at the many things it attempts, even at release, but it's admirable just how cohesive the entire package feels. Kingdom Hearts has a lot of meat on its bones, and it feels pretty evenly-spread across the whole game.

In much the same way that its gameplay derivatives form something greater than the sum of their parts, the story utilizes its oddball premise and several disparate IPs to create an unforgettable atmosphere and tone. The nostalgic whimsy combined with somber melancholy and an abstract presentation lend the game a distinct, bittersweet feel. If you played this game at the right time in your life, you know what I felt.

Kingdom Hearts II is an outstanding action game and a great sequel, but outside of that I feel completely indifferent towards all the sequels and spin-off games. Putting aside the fact that I think a couple of them are just straight up bad, they generally just don't understand what made the series special in the first place. Somewhere in its quest to become... whatever the hell it is now, it lost much of its identity in the first place. I won't hammer on about this since there are people who enjoy these other games, but frankly they are the furthest thing from what Kingdom Hearts represents to me and their existence cheapens the original game.

So, ahem, this is when I give a whole-hearted recommendation to this game and say that it's great and awesome and super fun and unique and every other positive descriptor. If you'll forgive me for going for such low-hanging fruit, this game has a whole lot of heart.