Buena Vista Games is showing off Kingdom Hearts II in a big way at this year's E3. The title features a wierd mish-mash of Disney and Final Fantasy characters that's both a little unsettling and a little endearing.
The gameplay on display looked smooth and relatively well-polished for a title that's due out this Holiday season for the PlayStation II. Controls were responsive, colors vibrant, and graphics liquid. There were a few uninished rough edges, but we imagine those will be worked out in the next few months. One element of the gameplay struck me as off — the player-controlled character uses a big key (pictured in this screenshot) as his primary weapon. When one thinks of bringing death and destruction upon evil, a giant housekey is not the first weapon that comes to mind.
It appears that the game succeeds as a result of the zany mix of characters and the engaging, simple gameplay. It's good execution on a common theme that wins gamer hearts: the Kingdom Hearts franchise has sold five million units worldwide.
