There is no single aspect of game development that is the most important to focus on in order to make a successful title, with the quality of a product like Kingdom Hearts representing the combined effort of multiple factors. One of the game’s best examples of this is the way that the original game opens by steadily ramping the action up until players encounter the Guard Armor boss fight, the first real boss encounter of Kingdom Hearts.
The encounter against Guard Armor is made all the more stronger by the fact that it is the first one to come after the initial tutorial area, Destiny Islands, with players hopefully having a grasp on the game’s mechanics at this point. While it technically isn’t the first boss in the game, this is the first time in the series that Kingdom Hearts really tests the player’s ability in combat, and at the same time introducing the party system.
It’s become a common criticism in Kingdom Hearts that the games often open very slowly, with hours worth of tutorial taking place long before the game really opens up to the central gameplay loop. This is an issue that has been addressed in more recent titles, such as Kingdom Hearts 3 making Olympus a tutorial level that feels like an abridged version of the worlds to come. However, back in the first game, it could take several hours before even arriving to Traverse Town, the pseudo hub-world of the game that acts as the blasting off point into the rest of the game.
This is what make’s Guard Armor stand out so much more as the first real boss fight, posing much more of a threat than the two Darkside encounters that came before it. Earning the Gummi Ship immediately after an epic fight against this massive heartless, with Donald and Goofy at the player’s side for the first time is part of what keeps Kingdom Hearts so legendary as a series. While most boss fights from throughout the series have their own strengths and weaknesses, Guard Armor is the one that sets the standard for how future boss fights will need to utilize mechanics.
At the point in the game where players first encounter the Guard Armor, they don’t have some of the abilities that increase mobility like Dodge Roll, High Jump, or Glide. However, the game has shown players how to explore Kingdom Hearts‘ world and the 3D environments at this point, which will be necessary in order to fight this boss. The fight also pits the player against two different types of enemies at the same time, teaching the player how to play handle both swarming enemies, counters, and giant monsters all at the same time.
Relating the Guard Armor back again to the “tutorial boss” the Darkside, both bosses teach new players about Kingdom Hearts‘ tech point system for fighting in creative or skillful ways. However, while the Darkside simply rewards players for hitting his head, the Guard Armor and his gauntlets and boots can be countered, opening each individual piece for extra damage and rewarding a tech point. It’s something that generally happens very naturally, and the reward from the Guard Armor better primes players to look for new ways to attempt different encounters.
These are small additions that add to the fight, with players needing to stay conscious of where the Guard Armor’s different pieces, and paying proper attention rewarding experience points and extra health. Keeping with the boss’ role as a test for new players moving forward, Guard Armor also acts as one of the first major obstacles when tackling Kingdom Hearts‘ most challenging game modes.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is available now for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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