It's why I play the games, anyway.

I think it's the mix of the seriousness FF gives the game and the fun, cute element the disney characters give it.

It's not too babyish but the older gamer can have fun with it.

BCrayfish said: thekitchensink said: ^^I love Disney still . At least their classic stuff--High School Musical? Bleh. Aladdin? Pirates of the Carribean? Hell yes! Ugh, could you imagine if they added High School Musical stuff to the new Kingdom Hearts?

Hey, I wouldn't put it past them--remember Little Mermaid sing-alongs in KH2?

I have a conflicted answer to this

One of the best things about KH was the worlds (especially in the first game) as they were colorful, beautiful and invited exploration, wanting to know what was around each corner. The fact they were based around Disney movies allowed for this to happen. So if the game doesn't have Disney, the question would be whether the worlds would still have this quality.

As for the characters, the Disney Villains were awesome to have but I found Sora/Riku/Kairi interested me the most. Outside of Donald and Goofy, I found the SE/New Characters parts, on average, to be better then the Disney character parts. I have already seen Aladdin, Peter Pan, Beast etc. in these settings before in the movies, so there wasn't as much novelty. (more nostalgia)

So the Disney worlds and settings were a huge plus, but the characters themselves weren't as big of a deal.

However, my initial purchase of KH had nothing to do with Disney and everything to do with the fact it was a Square Enix game. In fact, the Disney inclusion had me go "huh?" and I was a little skeptical. (i'm sure I was not alone in thinking this)

So I guess to answer your question....no...for me anyway.

Interesting. Having never played Kingdom Hearts, I'd always just assumed it was Disney's attempt to make their characters relevant again. I didn't realize there was still interest in Mickey, Donald and Goofy.

Well, the release of the original game was in 2002, which was the 2nd year of their Platinum line and their release of a lot of their films on DVD. But I'm not sure what the exact age demographic breakdown of the games sales are, that would be a good indicator.

It actually did re-spark my interest in Disney on some levels (I was 15 at the time of its release) and I ended up watching some of the classics again haha. But I've always had a nostalgic soft spot for Disney as I was a little kid during the Disney Musical Renaissance.

disney hits the nostalgia and kid factor hard. its a popular brand still, especially in japan. final fantasy gives long time rpg gamers something. the original stuff was fantastic and easily the my reason for loving it.

but above all, it was the combination of all in relatively cohesive fashion that made it so great.

Another quick question for everyone who's played KH and KH2, did you recognize all the worlds you went into?

The first time I went into that crazy cyber space world I was like, "what the hell is this..?" I still don't know what that place was, partly because I never bothered to look it up.

Well it certainly helps, there is a reason Disney is worth billions :/

Tron