This is the walkthrough for Traverse Town as it is featured in Kingdom Hearts, as well as its Final Mix version. After being sucked into the darkness back home at Destiny Islands, Sora woke up in an alley in a new and unknown world, and decides to start looking for Kairi and Riku. Meanwhile Donald and Goofy are exploring the town looking for the 'key' and Leon, whom they were told to find by their king; Mickey Mouse.
Walkthrough[]
Begin by exiting the alleyway, which leads to a larger plaza. Talk to the people here, and visit the Item Shop run by Huey, Dewey, and Louie, as well as the Accessory Shop run by Cid, which also contains a save point. Cid's accessories are not particularly useful for now, and the Mythril Shard you can find inside his store is only later used for synthesis. You can also find postcards from some chests and by interacting with specific objects, which can be turned in at the mailbox in the First District for free items.
Enter the Second District, only to witness someone die and a Soldier Heartless to appear, which promptly leaves. A group of Shadows will ambush you afterwards, but should prove no trouble. They will now also drop munny, with which you can purchase items. Defeat the Shadow ambush, and although you can return to the First District to continue the plot, you can witness several minor scenes here with Donald and Goofy looking for Leon, and fight a few dozen Shadows. Start by entering the Hotel's first entrance for the first scene, then head for the Gizmo Shop. You will witness Donald and Goofy exit the hotel, after which you can fight several more Shadows, which will spawn in increasingly larger waves inside the Gizmo Shop.
Exit the building and then head for the Alleyway entrance next to the fountain to watch Donald and Goofy exit the Hotel again. Lastly after collecting the items in the Alleyway you can enter the Dalmatians' House (through the Second District, not the Alleyway) to trigger a fourth and final cutscene. Afterwards, return to the First District where more Heartless will spawn. Defeat them and then re-enter the Accessory Shop to save and restore your Hit Points, and make sure to place your Potions in your inventory as well. Exit the store to meet Leon. (Note; Leon will only appear if you defeated at least five Heartless.)
Leon bossfight[]
The Leon bossfight.
It is allowed to lose to Leon, but by doing so you miss out on a free Elixir and some extra thirty EXP. Regardless, Leon will be quite tough at this point of the game. He usually will walk slowly in your direction, using vertical and horizontal swings with his gunblade if you dare to get close, although he can also jump into the air to close the distance himself. His only other move is to shoot fireballs at you, but, like Wakka's blitzballs, you can hit and return them, stunning and opening him up to an easy combo. Beware however, for they are quite fast, although their range is somewhat limited and their accuracy drops somewhat at maximum range. You can use the entire First District area to fight in, so do not hesitate to run away and retreat to use a Potion to heal.
Though Leon does not have that much HP himself, his weapons outranks yours easily in both damage and range. Due to this he is an immense threat up close, as he is difficult to stagger, and will often counter immediately up close. He is entirely vulnerable in the air however, which is only when he will jump towards you, opening him up for an easy aerial combo. Lastly you can sometimes lure him into attacking, and then flank him for a quick few hits.
After his or your defeat you will go through a few cutscenes, regaining control in a hotel room with Yuffie. Talk to her to learn about locks, and then use the Keyblade to unlock and open the blue treasure chest on the table, gaining an Elixir. You can use the temporary save point here, then talk to Leon to say you're ready. After another cutscene he will tell you to ignore the ambushing Soldier Heartless, but defeating them is recommended either way (although the first fight against four at once might be a bit much). Soldiers rely on spins and corkscrews to attack, but are otherwise only slightly tougher than Shadows. Afterwards, return to the First District for a free Mega-Potion from Aerith, then head into the Third District (after saving again) for the second bossfight.
Guard Armor bossfight[]
The Guard Armor bossfight.
From this point on Donald and Goofy will join you as permanent party members, meaning you can control their actions slightly in combat by ordering them (with the command prompt) to focus on a target you have locked on to, or just help out in general. You can also toggle their abilities in the pause menu, change their equipment, give them items to use during combat, and change their battle parameters.
The Guard Armor is actually a collection of five different parts; a pair of Gauntlets and Hammer Legs, and one Armored Torso. The Gauntlets will spin around the Torso, the Hammer Legs will stomp around, and the Torso will enter a spinning tornado move once detached from the rest of its parts. Sometimes the entire Armor will flip into the air, only to come slamming down onto your position. The body slam move is the most dangerous, but is easy to see coming and avoided by jumping away. As for the spinning move; it winds up first and then homes in on you. You can hit it if you time it right to stun it.
Focus on taking out the claws first, for they have the lowest HP, followed by the feet and finally the torso. Use your Potions if need be, even on your allies if you are so inclined (for now Donald and Goofy are little more than decoys), but know that defeating a body part will result in a large amount of extra HP orbs. Regardless the fight gets progressively easier with each defeated body part, as it gives the Guard Armor less avenues of attack. When only the Torso is left it likely will not have enough HP to last long enough to actually use the spin attack.
Once cleared, and after the cutscenes, you will receive 500 munny from Yuffie, Aerith, and Leon, as well as an Elixir if you beat him earlier. Donald will teach you Fire magic, whereas Goofy teaches you Dodge Roll. Fire is a useful long-range magic attack, whereas Dodge Roll is one of the most commonly used abilities during combat to avoid attacks. For now, equip the Brave Warrior you also received after the bossfight, and equip your new ability. Equip Rocket for Goofy as well (and Berserk on Donald if he is level nine), while also managing their parameters and your magic shortcuts if you want. You may want to unequip any of their usable items, lest they waste them. Next, head for the large doors used as the exit.
Here you will learn about Trinity Marks, and are immediately granted the Trinity Jump ability. Pick up the munny that appears after using it, and before leaving, send your postcards, and talk to Yuffie, Aerith, and Leon to learn about the lost 99 puppies, followed by checking out the shops with your new-found funds. Any accessories will likely soon be replaced with better items, and for now provide little actual benefit considering the cost. New weapons for Donald and Goofy is something to consider, but they will be of only marginal benefit. You can explore Traverse Town some more as well, as there are no Heartless at the moment, and a few more Trinity Marks and chests to find.
Once you leave you can choose between either the Olympus Coliseum or Wonderland (bottom and upper worlds on the map). For now the latter is recommended, although you can visit the former to learn a new magic spell and return later to finish off the tougher bosses. Traveling to worlds is done through using the gummi ship, which you can freely customize once you have collected more gummi blocks.
After deciding on a destination you must cross through interspace, dodging asteroids, shooting down objects blocking your path, and attacking Heartless gummi ships, until you make it to the next world. For now, visiting worlds requires you to fly your ship each time from world to world until you acquire the necessary gummy to circumvent this. You can also attempt gummi ship missions, but these are likely best ignored until later.