Fans of Kingdom Hearts are challenging the perception that Kairi is an inactive character in the series by introducing a playable version of her in the Final Mix release of the inaugural game.
For those devoted to Kingdom Hearts (and salute to you, fellow enthusiast), the ongoing debate about Kairi’s perceived lack of contribution has been a familiar topic. However, recent developments in the Final Mix mod scene are flipping the script.
A notable post on the Kingdom Hearts subreddit by user waldesnachtbrahms highlights a gif showcasing a newly available mod that renders Kairi playable in the original Kingdom Hearts. While the Reddit post doesn’t explicitly identify the mod’s creator, it seems to be the work of Napstio, a contributor on Nexus Mods.
In the accompanying video, the mod seamlessly replaces Sora’s character model with Kairi’s, allowing players to experience the game from her perspective. This mod goes beyond a simple aesthetic change, incorporating some of Kairi’s voice lines from Kingdom Hearts 3 into her combat sequences.
Given that the first Kingdom Hearts is now two decades old, the revelation that it took this long to make Kairi playable in the inaugural game through mods is surprising. Nevertheless, the mod captures Kairi’s essence as she adeptly faces Ansem with the iconic Kingdom Key. Although she adopts Sora’s moveset rather than her unique abilities from Kingdom Hearts 3, the mod stands out as a noteworthy achievement.
In the mod’s description, Napstio mentions that it’s a lighthearted side project, running concurrently with a more intricate mod that integrates Kairi into Kingdom Hearts 2. While this development is in progress, fans can relish the experience of witnessing Kairi navigate through the events she missed in the original game.