Hello all!  Well look what we have here.  Another Disney-fide game has just been released and what’s more is that it comes from the Kingdom Hearts franchise so we absolutely have to talk about it.  Coming off the success of Disney Magic Kingdoms which I talk about often here, we now have an adventure game from the minds of Disney and Square Enix and most importantly, IT’S ADORABLE!!!  So let’s take a look at my first day thoughts on the game.

After a pretty lengthy install process, you’ll get the chance to create your very own character.  The options here are fairly limited but I did feel that my character looked relatively different from my partner Carl’s as he made his and that’s a good sign that we were able to diverge so much given the limited options.

Once you start, Kingdom Hearts fans will be right at home with familiar themes.  You’ll pick a faction of sorts, and while I think it is cool, I wish we had a bit more information on the factions as you basically are picking your favorite animal among the bunch.  We went with the Bears for obvious reasons.  (Because Bears are awesome!)

The gameplay is very hack and slash with a bit of turn based strategy thrown in.  As you go, you’ll swing away at enemies and use badges, which are basically Disney characters in order to perform your regular and special attacks.  You can, of course, obtain new badges, characters and equipment.

As you play, you’ll level up not only yourself but your badges and keyblade, all in hopes of getting stronger and going on more challenging quests.  The interface is fairly user friendly as the tutorial does a good job of making this game truly accessible to anyone who wants to get their hands dirty with a little side-scrolling action.  I’ll just throw this out there for my Magic Kingdoms players: Maybe give this a try while you’re waiting for Goofy to inspect the Ferris Wheel.

If there’s one very apparent thing about this game right off the bat, it’s the visuals.  The game is gorgeous and the backgrounds are just so full of life.  I love the cute little chibi versions of the characters and the Evil Queen is just so friggin’ adorable.  So far, the appearance of the game might be my favorite thing.  It’s so warm and charming and just seems to invite you in to play more.  I love that.

On that note, I also love that I don’t feel like we are getting cheated on the Kingdom Hearts soul.  Right off the bet, we are fighting Heartless and getting to see a story involving Snow White.  It already feels like we’ll get to explore lots of Disney Worlds while dealing with a bigger and broader story.  This is the perfect way to hook a Kingdom Hearts fan fast.

As of now, I still have a lot of this game to play around with, but let me know what you think in the comments down below and if you haven’t yet gotten the game, make sure to head to their website and download your FREE copy!  Yes, I said FREE!  You can also read a lovely letter from series creator Tetsuya Nomrua.  It’s a nifty page to check out! GO HERE!

I’ll try to put up an update in the next few days as I get deeper into the game, but in the meantime, keep having fun!