The opening of Kingdom Hearts is a bizarre and fairly obtuse tutorial, which sort of goes hand-in-hand with Disney combining its characters with those of Final Fantasy. You’ll learn the basic mechanics of movement, attacking, and interactions, but also be asked to make a few choices that seem completely random or arbitrary to the game.

Almost like a personality test, these questions, on the surface, seem like they might somehow impact the personality of Sora. In reality, these questions can drastically change the game’s difficulty curve and certain abilities Sora can learn throughout the game.

Although these adjustments can ultimately change a player’s Kingdom Hearts experience, these choices won’t restrict you from accessing certain parts of the game. These decisions only alter when Sora can learn certain abilities and impact how easy it is for him to increase levels. With that being said, let our guide be your guiding light in understanding what these questions mean and how exactly that affects your Kingdom Hearts adventure.

What Weapon Choices Mean

The first choice you make in Kingdom Hearts is related to your build. This is represented by three weapons: the sword, shield, and staff. The game is pretty clear about what your choices mean here. You pick one to be a focus and one to sacrifice.

  • The sword represents a melee focus. The shield represents a focus on defense. The staff represents a focus on magic.

While each weapon possesses a “focus” on its respective category, that doesn’t mean Sora will be severely lacking in the category of the weapon he sacrifices. By first selecting a weapon, Sora’s attack, defense, or magic attributes will be boosted to start the game. Sacrificing one of the remaining two means his stats for that category will just be slightly lowered. Also, Sora’s maximum inventory capacity will be affected by which weapons he chooses and sacrifices.

Depending on the combination of his choices, Sora’s capacity ranges from six to eight items. Depending on which weapon you choose will also dictate the order in which Sora learns certain abilities. For example, by selecting the sword Sora will learn Slapshot by level 12. If Sora picked the staff, he wouldn’t learn the ability until level 69.

It’s recommended for Sora to select the shield for an initial boost in his defense to reduce the number of healing items or spells needed in the early stages of the game, and the abilities he learns right away. Because the first real boss Sora will face is the Guard Armor in Traverse Town, it’s especially important to utilize early defense. The boss has several different parts of its body that inflict damage, so reducing that as much as possible will lead to an early victory.

Taking the initial hit on either attack or magic attributes isn’t the end of the world, because when you hit Traverse Town, Donald and Goofy will join up with Sora. Having those two contribute with their own physical and magical attacks will offset Sora’s slight offensive deficiencies. After you’ve ultimately made your decisions, it’s time for Sora to explore his home of Destiny Islands, where more tests await.

Destiny Island Questions

Once on Destiny Islands, you’re restricted to a small area of the island with fellow island residents Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. For our Final Fantasy enthusiasts, you’ll know Tidus and Wakka from Final Fantasy 10 and Selphie from Final Fantasy 8.

Each of the characters has a question for you with three possible answers. Unlike the weapon choice, the game hides just how important your answers here are. Here are the three questions and answers:

Tidus: What are you so afraid of?

  • Getting old. Being different. Being indecisive.

Wakka: What do you want outta life?

  • To see rare sights. To broaden my horizons. To be strong.

Selphie: What’s most important to you?

  • Being number one. Friendship. My prize possessions.

What Each Answer Means

While you could just go with your gut and answer honestly, you should know what you’re actually picking here.

Depending on which answers you choose, the number of experience points (XP) you need to level up at different stages of the game will change. There are three possible ways this can turn out. You’ll be able to have an easier leveling experience at the beginning, keep the XP required per level static, or reduce the XP needed to level in the late game.

  • Choosing the first answer will mean the first 50 levels require less XP, and those beyond 50 require more. Choosing the second answer will mean the XP required per level will stay the same throughout the game. Choosing the third answer will mean the first 50 levels require more XP but those afterward will require less.

To summarize, if you want to level up fast in the early game, select the top answer for each question. To have a neutral leveling experience, choose the second option, and to level up quickly later on in the late game choose the third option.

Now, this might seem important to your Kingdom Hearts experience, but don’t overthink it. By the time you reach the final world, Sora should be around level 50, so choosing to level up easier after level 50 is making life difficult for no reason. Unless you welcome that type of challenge, choosing to get faster experience points in the beginning or choosing a constant leveling up experience are the ways to go.

NEXT: Kingdom Hearts: All Of Sora’s Different Outfits, Ranked