Kingdom Hearts boasts a staying power spanning two decades. With beloved characters, fun combat, and engaging storytelling, it’s no surprise the fandom lasted as long as it has. The recent Steam addition sees it rightfully gaining even more traction. But what can stump new players is the fact that you’re presented with important choices straight at the start. Kingdom Hearts 1 doesn’t make it apparent, but your starting choices concerning weapons and answers to a few questions have lasting consequences throughout KH1.
The Best Starting Weapon in KH1
Kingdom Hearts 1 drops players into an expected tutorial at the start, but it’s a bit strange. Yes, they will teach you the basics in combat, but there’s a choice looming over your head. It can feel random, and it’s easy to rush through and simply pick what looks the coolest. But let’s stop and think for a second about the weapon choices Kingdom Hearts 1 throws at you in the beginning:
- Sword > Melee
- Shield > Defense
- Rod > Magic
These are Sora’s only options to choose from. You can pick one and sacrifice one of the other ones. Losing out on one won’t prevent you from getting through the story. But it will impact your abilities and how easy or tough the game can get.
There’s nothing wrong with starting Kingdom Hearts 1 with either of these weapons, but concerning your choices, it’s strongly recommended to choose Shield and sacrifice Sword. Below are our main reasons for wanting to go with Shield:
- Gives you a high defensive rating right at the start
- Earlier access to strong abilities:
- Lucky Strike: Increases drop rate of items
- Leaf Bracer: Damage immunity while healing
- Second Chance: Saves Sora from death at 1HP if he receives a fatal blow
- Perfect for beginners while also giving experienced players a good set of abilities to enjoy
You don’t want to sacrifice Rod because you don’t want any drop in AP. Giving up Sword drops a little strength, but it isn’t detrimental. Honestly, you can switch it up and take Rod for a bigger MP boost (but that won’t come in handy until a little later down the road). Just never drop Shield. You don’t want to lose any defense, especially at the start.
Best Starting Answer Choices in KH1
Once we move on from picking our first Kingdom Hearts 1 weapon (and once you confirm it, you cannot change your mind), it’s time to see even more choices. On Destiny Island, you can’t do much without talking to our three recognized faces in Final Fantasy history. Each of them will ask a question, and these choices will determine how you progress:
- Tidus: “What are you so afraid of?”
- Answer Choices:
- 1. Getting old
- 2. Being Different
- 3. Being indecisive
- Answer Choices:
- Wakka: “What do you want outta life?”
- Answer Choices:
- 1. To see rare sights
- 2. To broaden my horizons
- 3. To be strong
- Answer Choices:
- Selphie: “What’s most important to you?”
- Answer Choices:
- 1. Being number one
- 2. Friendship
- 3. My prize possessions
- Answer Choices:
Impact From the Answers
How you answer will earn you one of three paths: Dawn, Midday, or Night. Dawn allows you to level up faster in the beginning through the first 50 levels, but it slows down after that. With Midday, everything is relatively static. For Night, the first 50 levels are tough to reach, but you’ll level up faster later in the game.
Dawn is a great option, especially if you want to gain those abilities from Shield as soon as possible. You can simply pick every first answer to each question, and it should give you Dawn. However, if you want to mix things up for a bit of immersion in Kingdom Hearts 1, you can make these combinations of choices too:
- 1. Being different | 2. To see rare sights | 3. Being number one
- 1. Getting old | 2. To broaden my horizons | 3. Being number one
- 1. Getting old | 2. To see rare sights | 3. Friendship
To reiterate: you can just select the first answer to breeze by these questions and move along. Once you set out on your adventure, you’ll soon notice how these KH1 starting choices impact Sora. The experience is a joy regardless of how you go about it, but picking Shield and earning Dawn will open you up to some exciting and helpful abilities earlier than usual.
