In the opening hour of Kingdom Hearts 1, players will be asked to choose between a Sword, a Shield, and a Staff. The choice you make will impact the order in which Sora unlocks certain skills and also affect his stats. However, that's not the only decision that will impact gameplay throughout KH1.

After beating on some beginner Heartless, players will be taken to the Destiny Islands, and there will be three different NPCs to speak to, each with a question to ask Sora. Wakka, Selphie, and Tidus are from various Final Fantasy titles, with Selphie being from Final Fantasy 8 and the other two from Final Fantasy 10, and depending on the answer you give them for their respective questions, Sora's leveling-up flow will change.

kingdom hearts final mix sora opening
Kingdom Hearts: Sword, Shield, or Staff (Which Is Best?)

Before players can start their Kingdom Hearts journey, they must make two important decisions at the very beginning of the game.

KH1: What's Most Important to You / What Are You So Afraid of / What Do You Want Outta Life

How to Answer The Questions

kh1 selphie

To get right to it, these questions and answers will affect how fast (or slow) Sora gains experience throughout Kingdom Hearts 1. If you decide to pick the first answers (the ones at the top of the list) for each question, Sora will level up faster in the beginning stages of the story, but he'll start to take longer to gain levels in the endgame.

If you decide to choose the middle (second) answers for each question at Destiny Islands, Sora's leveling-up XP requirement will be static, keeping it normal, as the game is intended.

And if you go with the last answers for their queries, Sora will level up much slower in the early/mid stages of the adventure but will start to level up faster as the game goes toward its conclusion.

What's the Best Choice?

If you want to get ahead of things and have Sora be a powerhouse really early on, go ahead and choose the first answers. Don't worry too much about leveling slower in the back half of the game, as there are XP-boosting items you can use to make up for the slower level-ups.

Items like the EXP Ring and EXP Bracelet can be equipped to boost Sora's XP gain.

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Kingdom Hearts
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Released
September 17, 2002
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Developer(s)
Square Enix
Publisher(s)
Square Enix
Franchise
Kingdom Hearts
Platform(s)
PS2
Genre(s)
Action RPG