The First Kingdom Hearts Featured Final Fantasy In a Way I Wish the Series Would Again

In Kotaku's year-long Kingdom Hearts replay column, the writer revisits how the first game handled Final Fantasy characters: Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie appear as childhood friends with playground versions of their weapons, while Squall (called Leon) and FFVII's Yuffie and Aerith stay largely unchanged. The writer argues that this equal-footing crossover faded over time, noting that Kingdom Hearts III's base game featured no Final Fantasy characters until the Re:Mind DLC.