Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross] – Disney and Final Fantasy crossover antics on the go [Game of the Week]

I’ll admit I’m riding high on Kingdom Hearts 3 hype at the moment.

With Square-Enix and Disney’s long-awaited action-RPG finally confirmed to be getting a Toy Story world and a release in 2018 (as unbelievable as that may be), I wanted to get my spikey-haired, funky-dressed, giant key-wielding fix.

The answer: Kingdom Hearts: Union X [Cross], a free-to-play mobile game that lets you create your own character and journey to rid the world of evil creatures. Gameplay involves tapping the screen to do attacks.

You can only launch as many attacks as the number of tokens you have, with each attack using up one token. Once depleted, the enemy is able to make its move. It’s somewhere in between Final Fantasy’s turn-based style combat and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories card system.

Each token has a number on it which corresponds to your ‘Special’ metre — you’ll need that many bars filled to be able to carry out a more powerful attack.

Attacks vary depending on the character featured on the token; Donald Duck’s, for example, allows you to rain down thunder on your foes, while Final Fantasy X’s Yuna allows you to shoot a fireball from your blade.

As you go on missions, you’ll visit some of the Disney worlds featured in the KH series, such as Hercules’ Olympus Coliseum or Aladdin’s Agrabah. Even better, as you visit these locations, you’ll hear many of their excellent respective musical themes from the other KH games.

You can also unlock costumes for your avatar based on various characters that appear in the Kingdom Hearts series, such as series protagonist Sora, Cloud Strife (from Final Fantasy VII) and even Winnie the Pooh.

There are also multiplayer options, letting you take on raids with other player characters. Players are able to select in-game chat options to communicate, such as “Where?” or “Let’s go!”

Looking past its ridiculous name, Kingdom Hearts: Union X [Cross] is a fun and charming game that brings in the best from the Kingdom Hearts series. Energetic combat, colourful worlds and characters and ample fan service make this a title I’ll definitely revisit. Anything to make the unbearably long wait for Kingdom Hearts III just a little shorter.

Kingdom Hearts: Union X [Cross] is available as a free download on iOS and Android.