After Playing Kingdom Hearts Yearly, I Think a Remake Could Fix These 6 Problems

After making the journey with Sora, Donald, and Goofy year after year, the original Kingdom Hearts increasingly feels like a time capsule—one brimming with charm but also begging for touch-ups. Not only could a full-scale remake smooth out jagged animations or modernize combat flow, but it could also be an opportunity to re-examine the foundation of the Kingdom Hearts series, addressing long-standing issues that have followed the franchise across its various handheld entries, remixes, and HD collections. For a series as sprawling and continuity-heavy as this one, revisiting the origin point could quietly refocus and course correct for everything that follows.

While there hasn’t been any official confirmation from Square Enix of a Kingdom Hearts remake, a recent leak claimed Kingdom Hearts ReLux was coming. Relux was alleged to be a full remake of Kingdom Hearts, not a remaster. Said rumors have largely been disproven, but they did get me thinking about what I’d want in a full remake of Kingdom Hearts. Even with the excellent remasters, there are some parts of the title that either just don’t stand up to modern standards or were initial misses.

Kairi Deserves to Be More Than a Motivation

Kairi has always been central to the emotional core of Kingdom Hearts, but rarely central to its action. In the original game, she functions largely as an object of rescue and as an anchor for Sora’s heart. Later entries attempt to correct course, granting her Keyblade training and some brief playable moments in Kingdom Hearts 3, but her foundational portrayal still lingers in stark contrast to Melody of Memory being the first solo title for Kairi. Even there, she still finds herself the damsel in distress by the end. A remake could meaningfully expand Kairi’s role during the first game’s timeline. Rather than disappearing for long stretches, she could have short playable sequences in Traverse Town or Hollow Bastion, offering some unique perspective.

A few more cutscenes from her point of view would go a long way toward reframing her as an active participant rather than a narrative endpoint. More importantly, expanded dialogue and interactions could give Kairi substance. Her time on Destiny Islands, her connection to Sora and Riku, and her experience as someone displaced from Radiant Garden are all fertile ground. If the series wants players to view Kairi as a Guardian of Light on par with her childhood friends, it needs to start at the beginning.

Gummi Ship Combat Needs to Be More Than a Loading Screen

Image via Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts’ Gummi Ship was ambitious in concept, a customizable vessel bridging Disney worlds through Space Fox-style combat. In practice, it’s often treated as a mandatory intermission between real adventures, while other entries have tried to innovate. Kingdom Hearts 2 turned the traversal segments into pulse-pounding bullet hells, and Kingdom Hearts 3 brought back the Gummi Ship as an open world. While I personally resonated with the bullet hell version, a remake could transform Gummi Ship travel into something more substantial.

For modern tastes, Gummi Ship customization should be more intuitive, but offer a deeper breadth of options. Instead of feeling like awkwardly maneuvering LEGOs on a 3D grid, ship builds could meaningfully affect combat style. Like one of Sora’s own Keyblade builds, players could favor speed, defense, or firepower with a system that’s more than just holding down one button. Dynamic encounters between worlds, optional boss battles, and branching routes would make space traversal feel less like filler and more like its own game within Kingdom Hearts. Leaning into spectacle could turn what was once a chore into a genuine highlight.

Lip Sync and Presentation Need a Modern Pass

Replaying the original Kingdom Hearts today, one of the most jarring elements isn’t the camera—it’s the lip sync. Characters often deliver emotional monologues while their mouths open and close on a loop, barely matching English dialogue. Improved presentation isn’t just cosmetic, Kingdom Hearts is melodrama by design. When performances land, they soar. When they don’t, the seams show.

A remake built from the ground up with modern engines could finally address this. Faithful facial capture and properly synced performances would dramatically elevate pivotal scenes in the Kingdom Hearts timeline: Sora and Riku’s early rivalries, Sora’s sacrifice in Hollow Bastion, and Ansem’s menacing revelations. These moments carry the emotional weight of the franchise; they deserve cinematic polish.

It’s Time to Abandon Text-based Cinematics

Image via Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts leans heavily on text boxes, particularly in quieter moments or during the Disney world subplots. While charming in 2002, the contrast between voiced and silent scenes now feels inconsistent. Fully voicing these segments would create a smoother narrative experience and give side characters more presence. It would also allow for better pacing, with performances carrying emotional nuance that text alone struggles to convey.

Given how dialogue-dense later entries become, it would be fitting for the remake to retroactively align the first game with the series’ evolving storytelling style. And with new voice actors for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Cloud, Tifa, and the crew, it could be an opportunity to make some of the sleepier Kingdom Hearts conversations shine.

Donald and Goofy Deserve to be Smarter

Anyone who has played Kingdom Hearts knows the frustration the allies can cause. Donald, despite his best intentions, sometimes blows through mana until he’s unable to heal in a critical moment, and Goofy’s use of abilities can be questionable at the best of times. Party AI oscillates between surprisingly competent and hilariously self-sabotaging. While Goofy and Donald are serviceable, Kingdom Hearts could borrow inspiration from the Gambit system featured in Final Fantasy 12 to solve this issue.

Imagine assigning conditional priorities to Donald and Goofy: If ally HP falls below 40%, cast Cure. If the boss is staggered, prioritize offensive magic. This system wouldn’t trivialize combat; it would empower player expression. Players who want a support-focused Donald could ensure he behaves that way, while others could turn him into an aggressive spell-slinger. The same could be said for Goofy, who could be given clear direction on when to use specific defensive and crowd-control abilities.

A Parallel Riku Campaign Could Redefine the Story

Perhaps the most transformative addition would be a fully realized Riku campaign running parallel to Sora’s journey. Riku’s descent into darkness and gradual redemption form one of the series’ strongest arcs, but much of that narrative unfolds off-screen in the first game. While the Final Mix releases have helped fill in some of the gaps with a few minor cutscenes, players mostly witness the aftermath of his choices rather than the process itself. A parallel campaign could change that.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories actually did something like this on the Game Boy Advance, and I still remember the thrill I felt after clearing the game as Sora and seeing the menu screen change to Riku’s image. That campaign was unlocked after players cleared the initial game, but a Kingdom Hearts remake wouldn’t necessarily need to do the same. The title could incorporate alternating chapters where players control Riku during key moments, like his alliance with Maleficent or the “rescue” of Kairi. Different combat mechanics—darkness-based abilities, risk-reward systems, or temporary transformations—would give Riku a distinct gameplay identity. By the time the two paths converge at Hollow Bastion, players wouldn’t just understand Riku’s transformative journey, they would have lived it.

Replaying Kingdom Hearts each year reinforces why it became a phenomenon. The mash-up of Disney whimsy and Final Fantasy melodrama remains oddly magical. The soundtrack still resonates. All the Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts still feel awesome. But nostalgia doesn’t erase the game’s rough edges. A thoughtful remake wouldn’t need to reinvent the heart of the game, just refine it. If done right, it wouldn’t just be a prettier version of a classic. It would be the definitive foundation for everything that follows.

Systems

Released

September 17, 2002

ESRB

E for Everyone: Violence

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

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