Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Steam/Reviewed)
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $99.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to the Kingdom Hearts franchise, fans have had a variety of ways to play it throughout its incredibly long length. They could have followed it from 2002’s original release and subsequent questionably canon releases on handheld devices only to return to the core game again with Kingdom Hearts II to find out that yes, they were canon. Then in that wait until the third game the mixture of titles along the way and other numerous platforms would make following Kingdom Hearts‘ story a challenge even for the most eager fan. Square Enix made up for this prior to Kingdom Hearts III’s release by bringing together an HD pack collecting the game’s together in an easier to digest package for fans and releasing them on consoles only for PC fans to be left in the dark. That is of course until all of the games arrived on PC, but not in a way that many had hoped. See, PC users can be a fickle bunch and when the Kingdom Hearts collection arrived on PC exclusively through Epic Games, it may as well not exist. Now, three years after the fact, these same PC players can now enjoy the exact same games on Steam with a bit of extra support including Steam Deck compatibility with Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece. The question is, do all of these games still hold up on their Steam PC ports?
Story
It is worth noting that we have covered nearly every game in this release over the course of a little over a decade and, as such, those looking for more “fine” details about the story of each entry will want to explore those reviews for the general storyline. As for Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece players will finally find that they have a way to access literally every piece of storyline content available for the game in one place where they can enjoy it either through their PC or Steam Deck, though the Steam Deck version does currently take a bit of tweaking to get working it isn’t much of a limitation.
The story told here is one that follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy, at least mostly, as they travel across numerous Disney and original worlds and encounter familiar faces along the way, taking down villains, all while searching for the truth behind the darkness that is causing the worlds to disappear, Kingdom Hearts itself, the mysterious Organization XIII, and much more. Throughout most of this collection the storyline is told through actual mainline games with properly developed characters, side-missions that players can take on, and even some shining examples of how well-utilized some characters can be when inserted into a completely different franchise.
Also included in this package though are a few releases that are… let’s say less than ideal. Re:Chain of Memories may serve as a stepping stone that blends the events of Kingdom Hearts I and II together but, as a whole, isn’t the most entertaining and is treated as an afterthought in II and in this same package is 358/2 Days which, rather than being given any form of gameplay is instead represented through a nearly three hour set of cutscenes that players can watch or skip through as they please as well as a second collection of cutscenes in another entry called Re:Coded. This issue continues with the 2.8 Final Mix part of the package that may see the full HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance as well as the brand new but incredibly short 0.2 Birth by Sleep, the story that focuses on the mysterious “Foretellers” is relegated once again to a little over an hour of recreated cutscenes as it was taken from a now shut down mobile game.
Of course, everything comes to a head with Kingdom Hearts III and unlike the other games in this package, players will find themselves with only the single game to play as all of the DLC offerings, are either ways to simplify or harden gameplay through built-in “cheats” that are entirely optional as well as the all-important Re Mind post-game DLC. All in all this collection tells a massive story that is as convoluted as it is detailed and fans wouldn’t have it any other way, even if it is a bit messy jumping from title to title and seeing how things have been adjusted along the way across this series’ twenty two year long history.
Gameplay
Almost for the entire franchise players will find that Kingdom Hearts is a highly enjoyable action-RPG where players usually battle with a team of three, sometimes four, fighters against random Heartless, Nobodies, Bosses, etc. to various degrees of polish. The Kingdom Hearts I Final Mix is perhaps the roughest of this collection as it features the least amount of moves available overall and locks a number of quality of life features behind later in-game worlds or level ups while also featuring some rather awkward platforming. It is also worth noting that Re: Chain of Memories changes things up entirely to try to put a different spin on things. Since this is a full remake of a GBA game at the time, it is more focused around card-based combat where Sora must fight using cards to deal damage, call allies, use spells, or even make use of an item. This is a… strange entry that is almost entirely glossed over in the grander plot as a result but mimics the same standard action found in the first release.
Kingdom Hearts II is where players will start to see the most changes arrive as it opens up a number of movement options and makes combat feel far more fluid than what was offered in the original and Re:Chain. This engaging and fast-paced combat makes it probably the most enjoyable of the entire collection, especially since the other playable game in this collection, Birth by Sleep, instead sees players taking control of three different characters, all of whom have different play styles each with as flamboyant movements as the last. The other two inclusions in this collection come in the form of cutscene collections that serve to provide backstory in place of the games that had previously existed in their place, something of a disappointing choice especially given how important some of the context is regarding Organization XIII.
Moving on to the 2.8 HD Final Chapter Prologue players will find that this is a bit smaller of a collection both in terms of content and what is actually on offer. The primary game, Dream Drop Distance, is an enhanced version of its 3DS counterpart and is a solid port of the game despite some limitations still being evident while the original content 0.2 was created from the ground up for this collection originally. That being said, this entry may feature some amazingly fluid combat as Aqua, it is quite short with optional “missions” only rewarding cosmetics to equip Aqua with. Finally, just like the ReMiX collection before it, the title includes Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover which is nothing more than a series of cutscenes covering the events of the now defunct smartphone game.
Perhaps the biggest draw of the entire collection is of course Kingdom Hearts III bundled together with its ReMind DLC. Players are unable to jump right into the DLC and instead would access it like they usually would, beating the game first and accessing it post-game. Kingdom Hearts III is the most advanced combat wise of the entire collection and although the camera can have issues tracking Sora’s movement thanks to the flashy techniques and bombastic moves that are used sometimes, it also makes every encounter a blast. It is also worth noting that the original vague ending is helped immensely by the inclusion of ReMind and players immediately moving into it once the core title ends.
All three of these collections and games included in the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece run incredibly well on PC without any bit of slowdown, including how flashy the third game can be sometimes. The game may feel a bit on the awkward side when controlled using a mouse and keyboard so it is highly recommended that players use some form of game pad of their choice when playing these games. It is also nice to note that, outside of Kingdom Hearts III, all of these games seem to work perfectly fine when running on the Steam Deck with Kingdom Hearts III requiring some minor tweaking. It is also worth noting that, compared to playing the game’s on whatever monitor size the player’s feel like using, including ones that have ultra-wide support, the Steam Deck’s smaller screen can make it difficult to follow some of the intense action, especially during large scale combat. In fact, sometimes not locking on to an enemy is often the best way to deal with these camera issues as a result.
Audio & Visuals
It is certainly entertaining to advance through each game in the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece and see just how far Square Enix has improved over the course of two decades. Of course, many of the original games have been given HD versions but these still have some age to them even if they are as wonderfully colorful as ever. Along the same lines, the most recent entry Kingdom Hearts III is a glorious looking entry that makes the most out of what a player’s PC can handle and in this case ran perfectly even during the most intense looking action sequences. Combine this with wonderful character designs both original and taken from signature DIsney and Final Fantasy franchises and players will always find themselves in for a visual treat when they aren’t fighting the camera.
All of the original voice work has been retained for these games so players should expect the games to sound as they remember. The soundtrack remains as glorious as ever with a number of opening themes that are masterpieces that fans will instantly link with the Kingdom Hearts franchise the second they hear them, including a slightly new variation of Hikaru Utada’s “Simple and Clean.”
Overall
The Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece takes a wonderful series and brings everything together once again and makes it available once more on another PC launcher through Steam. This comes with the Steam Deck support that one would hope for and ease of control while making sure that these games look the best that they possibly can. That being said, some lingering issues from the core games still remain in the form of camera issues, aged troubles in the first collection, less than stellar offerings in the second collection, and of course the price itself. While it is possible to purchase these titles separately, the Steam version of Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece is a bit on the expensive side compared to any other current platform and doesn’t really offer anything different, outside of an exclusive keyblade, on Steam compared to any other variation.
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