There are a lot of games that Square Enix has published over the years that defy the normal parameters of physics, and the game Kingdom Hearts 2 is no exception. This particular game is the second in the series, and building off of the last one the parameters of the world are very different from the one we inhabit. With disregard to physical attributes relating to the character’s actual strength, this game also includes use of magical abilities and other seemingly impossible maneuverable techniques. The type of marvels I’m going to talk about in this essay relate to character maneuverability in terms of jumping, weapon usage, and special combat instances.
Before we jump straight into the physical parameters within the world, a brief synopsize is in order. The main over arcing story revolves around the main character Sora, who must save the world from darkness. It is his job to try and create balance in the worlds and stop the dark clutches from stealing the heart of all worlds; Kingdom Heart. Kingdom Hearts contains the heart of all worlds, and if it falls into the control of the forces of evil, the state of the worlds will fall into peril. Also, each of the different worlds is technically a different Disney universe, (i.e. Mulan, Little Mermaid, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast.) and each of these worlds have their own set of rules. Sora is going through his current journey to find both King Mickey and his best friend Riku, who were last seen at the end of the previous game. Sora is accompanied with Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket, as they had accompanied him in the previous part of the journey. However, let’s talk about how moving works within this universe.
Just maneuverability in general within the Kingdom Hearts universe seems to be very different from our own. Most characters that have been classified as being able to fight can easily jump twice their own height. However, this observation also pertains to not having strength relative to muscle mass. The main character Sora, who is a rather lean fifteen year old boy, can easily jump at least his height into the air. Sora also has the ability to defy momentum and spin upward while in the air, gaining him more height to his jump, but only once unless he is touched by an enemy. Moving mechanics that other characters are not able to perform involve gliding across the air. Only Sora is able to do this technique. He can glide effortlessly across the air and gain momentum and speed from gliding. In addition to this, he also will start gradually losing height until he becomes almost parallel to the ground. When this happens, he does not lose height after this point as long as he continually moves forward in some position. This also comes into effect if gliding is used without moving at all, in which Sora just hovers in place, which makes no sense what so ever. In no other instance in the game does he do this and this particular maneuverability stunt is rather odd and out of place. In addition to his magical gliding ability, Sora and all other party members do not take any damage from falling. In fact, they can fall from any height and land practically the same. While the characters do gain weight in relation to their weight while compared with each other, they do not actually reach what would be considered normal terminal velocity. Instead they actually just land like they just had jumped off the ground, with no substantial recoil. It is particularly weird when taken into account the actual weapons the characters carry which add to their weight.
The next mechanic I would like to talk about is weapon usage. Now the game series in general has a lot of strange weapons that they generally use in terms of properties when attacking. While magic is not going to be addressed here, as it is not normally possible in the real world, I’m going to take into account actual weapons and their designs in relation to effectiveness. Sora uses a weapon which is called a keyblade. This weapon is exactly what it sounds, a giant key like instrument that he uses to smack enemies. However, the blade itself looks like it is crafted out of solid metal. While the weapon itself seems to be wieldable and swing-able (which can’t be said for some weapons in the game,) it doesn’t seem to be able to do as much damage as portrayed in the actual game. The main character swings effortlessly through enemies, although the actual attacks do not do lethal damage. However whenever there is a cutscene in which the hero is fighting enemies of any kind (usually of the small variety) they tend to always kill everything in a single blow, when it is quite obvious that it is not possible at all within the universe and your current strength within the game at that time. Goofy’s weapon, which is a shield, also is rather odd when it comes to dealing damage. While his character is more suited around defensive capabilities, he actually can deal out damage with his shield. This as a whole does seem odd, until the image of slashing at a monster with the edge of the shield comes into mind and other various attack-like positions. However, what is really odd is when Goofy actually kills the monsters by just tapping them with the shield. This maneuver is rather odd, because in some of the instances, he is not moving with enough force to actually inflict that much damage. The same sort of cutscene logic is applied to him as well as the rest of the characters. Similar things can be said about most characters when dealing with monsters during cutscenes; however with the main character it is extremely obvious on the difference between actually attacking the monsters and having it happen within a scene. The other characters that either join your fight, or are within your party, it is less obvious as you do not specifically control them. Yet, most of the things that stand out physically within the actual world can be seen through specific battle instances.
With these specific battle instances, all of the reality that was previously in place seems to disappear of the laws of physics that have been in place. One of the examples, of this is in the final battle. While the main character’s jump was limited before, in this battle your jump is not limited. Within this battle you can jump almost infinitely, gaining so much height as humanly permitted within the battle space. In addition to this, the actual speed you gain in relation to gliding is also increased with this battle, which makes it seem as if the character has gained super powers in addition to his normal “super humanly” powers. In addition to this, it also will hold the players into certain scripted areas, in which they can’t leave even though the earlier part of the battle, they were free to move about the open space. The same can be said with all the characters, as they gain theses abilities as well while in this area of attack. However, in some instances, not just movement is escaping reality. Some of the combat maneuvers of themselves do strange things. Some of the altercations to how the characters move relate to that of super strength. Some of these techniques relate to that are called “reaction commands” where special combat maneuvers can be activated during the game that sometimes defy all logic when relating to the normal combat laws. For example, during the fight with one enemy type that has a giant claymore type weapon and when you attack them with a full combo, you are able to pick up this weapon. Not only is the weapon too big for you to normally carry (and twice your size) but when you pick it up, you are able to glide across the ground without actually touching the floor.
The game does consist of rather interesting structural physical laws. While they do not pertain to our own, they do prove a rather convincing reality that holds sound on its own accord. While the actual gravity and other rules dictate how the game is played, it does not distract from the actual experience and enjoyment of the gameplay. While games do tend to sometimes pull you out of the experience and the emergence, Kingdom hearts 2 does hold itself well while keeping you in a believable environment in which the characters seem relatable and inviting. Although some instances within the game seem to pull away from the emergence, it does in a way in which it is entertaining, and if it was too real, even within the game’s standards of real, the effects of pulling off such wondrous techniques would not feel as gratifying as they do. I do hope that those who wish to pick up and play the game as well will feel the same experiences and wonder if they chose to pick this game up for themselves.
This message is not part of the essay, but holds true to the outline... :D
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