Note how I made Disney in all capitals? Well that's because I love the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It's fun, I want to see how the story ends, but I've recently been asking myself: how much respect does this franchise give to the original films? As of late, I've began to realize that KH isn't a good DISNEY game. But still a great franchise.

 

This is mainly because of the emotion these Disney films give us. Disney Films often feature a zany sense of humor, some fear and heart gripping moments. While some of that can be seen in some worlds, it's almost absent in the rest. A lot of the Disney characters often do the same thing.

 

1. Introduce who they are.

2. Ask Sora for his help

3. Explain the plot in the most basic way possible

4. Thank him for his help

 

The Disney characters feel more like NPC's then their actual selves.

 

I'd be fine with that but it's basically the same for every world and also they lack the same emotion that's seen in their original films.

 

I'm sorry if this upsets anyone but I really think that the Disney worlds should be given more attention to and their characters. Because to me, what's the point in having these characters if they're not going to act like the characters who we remember them as?

Note how I made Disney in all capitals? Well that's because I love the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It's fun, I want to see how the story ends, but I've recently been asking myself: how much respect does this franchise give to the original films? As of late, I've began to realize that KH isn't a good DISNEY game.

 

Here's a revelation, Kingdom Hearts as a franchise is owned by Disney. Here's some proof.

 

 

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts does falter at some depictions of Disney elements, but there's three factors that you have to consider here.

 

1) Kingdom Hearts is primarily in a video game format. Video game present their narratives differently because a lot of their presentation is interwoven with game play. And video game adaptation of a feature film sacrifices a lot of the feature film elements in order to have a functioning game. Considering the fact that Kingdom Hearts has to accommodate a lot of feature film properties, you can understand where the compromises have to be made.

 

2) Square Enix is a Japanese company, and they're adapting American properties. When you think about it like that, you can see the difference in depiction, because different cultures perceive the same thing differently. Granted, Disney gives them directions on how particular characters are represented, but even so, the script for the original story is written by Square Enix.

 

3) Now that you know that Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and not Square Enix, what other Disney game is as good at nostalgic Disney depictions as Kingdom Hearts? really think about that, because I highly doubt no other video game medium has ever presented Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers.

I agree. Especially in recent titles, there's been very little love given to the source material to the point of it being almost arbitrary as to what Disney worlds even get added. One of the reasons I love the first game as much as I do is that they do a much better job of trying to use the Disney worlds by tying them into the central plot, making the characters either be more active in what's going on or at least have something relevant to add, and basically just showing some care and thought with how to use Disney within a Square game. Now the worlds are used as you said: a rushed, watered down version of the movie with no time given to character development, plot development, or gravity that was present in the original story (Hunchback is, in my mind, the greatest perpetrator of this). Not to mention that there is not even an attempt now to tie in the main plot to the worlds, though that's a fault of the games not even having a plot until the last act.

I'm expecting a decent amount of people here to rush to the rescue of their favorite game, but as much as I love KH, the fact does remain that their depiction of Disney characters is usually, but far from always, lackluster. Personally I don't mind, because these characters are mostly side characters, so treating them as NPCs sort of can't be helped. And since lots of people know their Disney movies, these characters don't really have to be introduced and fleshed out as deeply as they are in their films.

 

But with that in mind, I DO think the Disney side of KH grows steadily more and more irrelevant to the plot with each game. In KH1 and CoM, there's at least some attempt to make most worlds relevant, often thematically more than anything, but still. This is an adventure series after all. Starting with KH2 however, the Disney worlds have become very bland, almost dull, retellings of the movies. Even the second world visits in KH2 don't stand out much except as extra quests or hurried continuations of the previous visits, even when Org. XIII is involved. That's not to say they're all done badly, or that they don't have their merits, but I would be surprised if someone told me that the watered down retelling of Aladdin 2 was really any good except as an arena for fun gameplay. BBS and 3D do this slightly better in some ways but slightly worse in others. I think reducing the Disney worlds to phoned-in backgrounds for the main characters' tragic stageplays feels kinda awkward.

 

In the end, I think KH is a great series, and technically it is obviously a Disney game, but it isn't great at representing Disney in recent years. I'll even risk riling up the more spirited fans by saying I think the representation of Disney is pretty bad in KH, aside from the optimism which is integral to KH as well as Disney movies as a whole. Hopefully KH3 remedies this however, which the trailers seem to promise.

I see where you are coming from. Kingdom Hearts has some pretty dark elements to it almost PG-13 like. However, Disney has PG-13 films so I think KH is directed more towards older kids like teenagers. It's Disney owned anyway so it is a Disney game.

You know, this is something that I never took the time to just look at and analyze. It's something I hadn't really noticed, but when you think about it, the focus of Kingdom Hearts is mostly on its original characters, and as such, the Disney characters that appear have less screentime, naturally. Characters like Mickey, Donald and Goofy act like themselves, though, and I think their personalities in the game befit the franchise as a whole, ya know? I honestly don't see what's wrong with the other Disney characters. I think that they behave in a way appropriate of them when they meet someone who's basically passing by, as Sora and company generally do when they go world to world. 

 

And then there's Genie, who's always his wacky self, and his wackiness transitions into gameplay as he becomes a summon and whatnot. I get what you see here, but hey, Kingdom Hearts as a franchise grows, so as it grows, characters will become even more natural during the course the franchise keeps expanding!

I wouldn't mind if Kingdom Hearts took a break from Disney and created a game using KH content exclusively. Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town...there's a lot of worlds we can explore further along with creating new, original worlds. 

I wouldn't mind if Kingdom Hearts took a break from Disney and created a game using KH content exclusively. Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town...there's a lot of worlds we can explore further along with creating new, original worlds. 

 

Hmm, I could see this happening at some point. It would be interesting, but at the same time, it'd feel weird for a Kingdom Hearts game not to have that Disney element present, ya know?

I wouldn't mind if Kingdom Hearts took a break from Disney and created a game using KH content exclusively. Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town...there's a lot of worlds we can explore further along with creating new, original worlds. 

 

The flip side of that is for fans like me, Disney was what got me interested in the game in the first place, and without it, I'm really not interested at all in most of the original content (in fact, I kind of actively dislike probably 90% of it).

i would say KH1 is a good Disney game because it's the first entry in the series. it's a simple game with a simple premise. you're going to different worlds looking for your friends. those worlds just so happen to be Disney worlds. as the series goes on, the Disney element starts to become more of a mandatory addition rather than a necessity. in KH1 the Disney worlds played into the story by allowing Sora to broaden his horizons, learn about the Keyblade and what he needed to do, face off against the Disney villains etc etc. 

 

in KH2, however, the Disney worlds are really like breaks from the main plot (at least until maybe the second visit). i'm playing KH2 right now and i actually started skipping the late game Disney world cutscenes because it was essentially filler. nothing really happened. i'd watch the occasional cutscene where i remembered there was some nice interaction with Sora and the characters but other than that it all felt like something i could skip. KH1 cutscenes said what needed to be said and moved on. KH2 definitely lingers around longer. 

 

anyways, KH1 is a good Disney game but every other game in the series failed to capitalize on the Disney elements imo. every now and then we get glimpses of potential like how the story line from Space Paranoids carries over to The Grid and there's actually a story going on there where Sora is more involved in the plot and not just someone who happened to be passing through. i wish the series had tried to incorporate the Disney elements more but instead they just get less and less interesting. 

 

i still think the smart move would have been to make the 13 Seekers of Darkness be comprised of Apprentice Xehanort and then 12 other Disney villains. 

that's what happens when you adapt a dozen different movies with different aesthetics, licenses, and expensive voice actors