The cleverly crafted storyline of Kingdom Hearts quickly erases any doubts about how well the game could possibly flow. From the beginning dream sequence/training grounds to the various Disney worlds that Sora ends up in, every step along the way seems to be the only way that the journey could unfold.

Visiting the different worlds seems to be a part of the most in-depth Disney advertisement I’ve ever seen. Pieces of the actual Disney stories from The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, and many other familiar Disney movies are woven carefully into Sora’s journey through the worlds. From Ursula playing off of Ariel’s desires to see more than her own little world to the Queen of Hearts putting Alice on trial, there are very few surprises for anyone who has ever seen these Disney classics. The novelty is introduced by the fact that the Disney stories fit snugly, strung together by the Heartless (the creatures without hearts who are wrecking havoc upon the universe at the bidding of the Disney villains).

The flow of the story is hardly the only remarkable feature about this game. The backdrop for each world has been carefully designed to capture the original magic of each Disney movie. The characters look exactly as you would expect and are brought to life by the voice actors (at times the original voice actors for some of the characters). There are times when the characters can join your party for some of the action.

The fight engine is quite remarkable as well. The transition from general exploring to a fight is pretty much seamless. One moment you’re walking along and the next thing you know, there’s a Heartless standing in front of you (or behind you, or next to you), ready to attack. The fights are real-time, and it’s quite easy to get lost in the battle at times.

One of the hardest things to get used to is slashing, jumping, and dodging around your enemies, who are often moving around faster than you’d like. Having to select different menus in order to use a potion in the middle of battle can be very frustrating in the beginning as well. However, after getting acclimated to the battle style, getting into a fight with Heartless peons isn’t as much of a chore as it would be with a standard fight engine à la Final Fantasy X even.

In battle is one time you can really see some of the flaws in the game. Both Goofy and Donald—or any other character subbing in for them—have a tendency to be very generous in their use of ethers, hi-potions, or whatever else they’re hanging on to at the moment. This is especially annoying if you run into some Heartless immediately before an end boss and a megapotion gets squandered as a result.

The AI for the additional party members isn’t the greatest either. They seem to first like to spend all of their MP killing off the Heartless when a simple whack with a sword would have worked just as well. And then they use up another ether. If it weren’t for the fact that the items can be difficult to find at times, this tendency wouldn’t be nearly as annoying.

Another problem that shows up in battle is the camera angle. There are times when it’s impossible to see the next opponent, but there’s still a lightning spell being cast at you off to your right—and most likely high up. The targeting ability does help somewhat, but it definitely doesn’t remedy this problem entirely.

The camera is a bit of a hassle at other times—namely whenever a tree is involved. The screen becomes a lovely shot of green, making it nigh-on-impossible to see where you want to jump to.

But these are the only dark spots in an otherwise amazing game. The cameos by characters of Final Fantasy are sure to bring a smile to the face of anyone familiar with the series. There are times when you’ll go head-to-head with Cloud, Squall, or even Sephiroth if you so choose. Other elements of the Final Fantasy series sneak in here and there, but not to the extent so as to detract from the game play of any who detest the series.