the combat is good. the platforming is good. it's good that deep jungle and monstro are Like That. it's EXTREMELY good that wonderland looks like that.
yes it is my childhood fave and it has a buff from that but there's shit i loved when i was 6 that i don't still love today. i'm not out here defending BUM: Butt Ugly Martians. kingdom hearts 1 is bulletproof. not a single popular criticism i've heard for it holds water to me. just an all-time great
not to mention billy zane giving one of my favorite supervillain performances of all time...you can HEAR the shit-eating grin he has on the whole time. guy who learned that every human being has the capacity for evil and thought that was the sickest shit in the world https://youtu.be/j8-dJLODj7w
I get that it's sick and cool and all but I do think something started to be lost a little when Sora started accumulating shonen protagonist power up forms
didn't even cross my mind that atlantica's brilliant 360 degree movement and rad enemy roster that necessitates creative magic use would even need defending. AND the insanely cute Sora/Ariel of it all...self evident quality, imo
Irreplicable atmosphere, the hermetic nature of nostalgia slowly collapsing upon itself -- its PS2-painted walls too thin for the heart of a young dreamer growing bigger. I feel so many emotions within from any sort of contact with it. One beautiful, tragic simplicity that could only exist in 2001.
Comments
maintaining a focus on both combat and platforming/exploration in a way that their sequels fail to capitalize on to their detriment