10 Video Games That Totally Nailed Their Final Levels

9. Kingdom Hearts

There's many elements to Kingdom Hearts' twisting, winding story but at the very core, it's built on one common idea; a boy's search for his friends and his home. Sora's search for Riku, Kairi and Destiny Islands takes him all over the universe, exploring worlds based on Disney properties, like Agrabah and Halloween Town. Eventually, having saved Riku and Kairi in Hollow Bastion, Sora journeys to the final level of the game - the aptly named End Of The World. A by-product of all the worlds destroyed by the Heartless, the End of the World is bleak, dark and evil but it is here that Sora finally finds his home. The final section of the game is set on the remnants of Destiny Islands, bringing the game full circle and allowing Sora to see what has become of his home. Of course, seeing Destiny Islands in a destroyed, desolate state is shocking for the player too, making the level highly effective as an example of the destructive nature of the Heartless, further emphasising the need to stop them. Very few games use the same setting for the very first and the very last section of a game; End of the World in Kingdom Hearts is a great example of why more developers should consider coming full circle more often.