As an action RPG, it’s only fair most audiences engage with Kingdom Hearts through the core combat: chaining combos with the Keyblade and equipping abilities to make Sora all fancy in battle. As an early PS2 game, Kingdom Hearts isn’t as fleshed out as other titles in its genre. It isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s garnered criticism for being simple in comparison.
And while it may be simple, it is not without depth. Kingdom Hearts’ loudest critics tend to be the ones who ignore the fact that KH1 is more than just an action game. Sora has magic at his disposal that fundamentally changes the game. Treating Kingdom Hearts I like a button masher does the game an enormous disservice. Invest in magic. It makes Kingdom Hearts a significantly different– and significantly better– game.
7 Aero
Aero seems like it’s going to be a pretty good spell at first glance. For the cast of 2 MP (a pretty hefty price) it buffs Sora’s defense. That seems all well and good, but losing 2 MP isn’t worth it, especially since the shield of wind Aero generates for Sora makes it take longer for him to build his MP back up. It’s better to just tank hits and heal with Cure.
Aerora and Aeroga aren’t much better either as they don’t even boost the buff. You’re better off not even getting Aeroga for endgame play if you’re intent on using Aero at all. Anyone playing on Proud is better off ignoring Aero all together. It can serve a purpose situationally, but Cure gets the job far better and actually allows Sora to build up MP at a reasonable pace.
6 Blizzard
Blizzard isn’t going to be in anybody’s shortcut menu (or at least it shouldn’t be,) but it’s not a bad skill by any means. As far as magic goes, Blizzard can do some devastating damage at close range. Essentially think of Blizzard as Sora’s shotgun. It can tear through enemies right in front of the player while also covering a wide area.
Unfortunately, Blizzard isn’t particularly useful for aerial combat (something players will want and need to make use of later in the game) and both Firaga and Thundaga pull off the same things Blizzaga can more reliably. If nothing else, Blizzard is a pretty inexpensive magic line and is totally viable for endgame on Standard. Proud, you’re better off playing around with the rest of Sora’s magical skill set. That some players miss getting Blizzard early doesn’t do the spell any favors, either.
5 Fire
It’s always fun to play with fire and Kingdom Hearts 1 is no exception. A homing spell, Fire is what one of Sora’s most reliable magic spells in the game, if not the most reliable. Not best, mind you, but useful in just about any situation. Fira and Firaga are both worthy upgrades as well, turning a good spell into a great one. Fire is more than worthy of a spot on the shortcut menu.
As an inexpensive magic spell, Fire can be spammed quite a bit by any trigger happy players. So long as Aero isn’t equipped, it’s easy enough to build up MP to keep Fire going at all times– not that you’ll ever need to rely on Fire to such an extreme extent. Interestingly, Kingdom Hearts II greatly shook up Fire, making it more of a close range technique.
4 Thunder
Thunder’s more costly than Fire and Blizzard, but there’s a good reason for it. By the time you get Thundaga, any Thunder spells Sora tosses out will utterly decimate any Heartless in his path. Thunder is downright beastly. It can be a bit situational, but there’s not much Thunder can’t compete with come endgame (something Birth by Sleep/Thunder Surge fans will know well.)
While you would be advised to equip Fire in your shortcut menu, you would be a fool not to equip Thunder. In the grand scheme of things, it’s the best of Sora’s traditional trio of spells. Thunder hits hard, hits (reasonaly) fast, and hits a lot of enemies at once. A win, win, win.
3 Gravity
Gravity is the best magic spell almost no one uses in Kingdom Hearts I. The reason might be because most players will try using Gravity after a finisher. In fact, that’s how most players approach magic in general, but it’s not always the smartest. Gravity actually does damage based on how much health an enemy has.
The fuller the health bar, the more useful Gravity is. This does mean you can’t just spam Gravity, but that’s not a bad thing. Gravity makes for a fantastic, if not essential, combo opener once you unlock it. It’s basically free damage. Especially if you pair it with another certain spell…
2 Stop
Stop is the best magic spell no one uses in Kingdom Hearts I. Seriously, knowing that Stop is not only useful, but stupidly useful completely changes how you approach Kingdom Hearts I. The toughest enemies in the game suddenly become pushovers as Sora can stop them in their tracks and just rip through their health.
Casting Stop on an enemy and then casting Gravity will demolish them. The fact Stop even works on some bosses and endgame enemies is just the cherry on top. Stop would be the best magic spell in the game if it weren’t for the practicality of healing magic.
1 Cure
Cure is so broken in Kingdom Hearts I that it’s almost insane. Starting with Kingdom Hearts II, Cure eats up all of Sora’s MP. It only makes sense, after all. In an action game, players should only be able to heal so much. That’s another reason why MP becomes a rechargeable bar in KHII instead of serving as a traditional stat like in KHI.
Considering all the abilities players can equip on both Sora and his party members to increase MP restoration, there’s really no reason why someone who knows what they’re doing should run out of Cures. It’s not even high cost for how useful it ends up being at literally any given moment. Kingdom Hearts I’s Cure is an easy contender for best Magic spell in the franchise, and not just the first game. Pro tip: Play around with Donald’s AI so he only has access to Cure and you’ll never get another Game Over again.
NEXT: 10 Things Everyone Completely Missed In Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind
