Port Royal

Port Royal (ポートロイヤル) is a world that appears in Kingdom Hearts II. Based on the 2003 feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, it is the most recent Disney film to have a world based off of it. It is a dark world, with only specific areas touched by the moon's light. The first boss of Port Royal is Captain Barbossa and the Illuminator, while the second boss is the Grim Reaper.

It follows Disney Castle in availability. The original battle level in Port Royal is 20, while later on it rises to 34.

Setting
Port Royal is divided into four main areas, only one of which is actually the town of Port Royal. Sora and the gang land on the Rampart of the town's fort, which holds several defensive cannons. In addition, one can look inside the fort to see a prison area. There are two sets of stairs, the left one leading down to the Harbor. This is where Sora first encounters the undead pirates. From here, the bridge leads into the main Town area, which is being attacked by heartless and pirates. A road from here leads back to the fort, but Sora will want to head back to the harbor to meet up with Jack Sparrow.

The second main area is the two ships, The Interceptor and The Black Pearl. These ships are where you can sail to the other main areas, although they can both be attacked by pirates. If you are losing, you can retreat inside, where the pirates won't follow. These areas, the Interceptor's Ship's Hold and the Black Pearl's Captain's Stateroom also hold save points.

The main important area for the first storyline is the notorious Isla de Muerta, "an island that can not be found, except by those who already know where it is." Sora's ship lands on the Rock Face, an outcropping that leads to the inner caves. From the Cave Mouth, Sora accesses the Powder Store, where pirates wait in ambush behind explosive gunpowder crates. Sora will need to detonate these crates to create paths for the precious moonlight. Next is the Moonlight Nook, a small area that serves as a perfect battleground. The last area of Isla de Muerta is the Treasure Heap, a cave where the pirates store all the loot they have gained within their cursed years. They look forward to the day when the curse will be lifted, and they can spend their ill-gotten gains at long last. Smack dab in the center is the cause of all the trouble...the cursed stone chest containing the 882 gold coins. This area serves as the final dueling grounds with Barbossa himself.

Only in the second story line can Sora access the fourth main area, the Ship Graveyard. Currents carry the wrecks of any ship sunk in the area around Isla de Muerta to this forsaken place, and when Luxord sinks the Interceptor, it too is carried here. Sora begins in the Interceptor's Hold, one of the few remaining pieces of the once proud ship. From here, Sora can go to Seadrift Row, a long corridor consisting of the remains of destroyed ships. The last place is Seadrift Keep, a shipwreck that bears a resemblance to a makeshift fort. All throughout Port Royal, the chests can be hard to find because of the dreary landscape. In one of the "rooms" in the Ship Graveyard, an anchor can be attacked, making it swing across the room and damage anything in its way.

First Visit
Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive at Port Royal and notice something different about this world, being that the world and its citizens are based off of a live action film, instead of cartoons. They find Pete talking to Captain Barbossa and fight his pirates. After being unsuccessful, they are hinted by Pete that the pirates are vulnerable to the group's magic and moonlight. After defeating the pirates, Sora and Co. meet Will Turner. He tells them that the Governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann was kidnapped by Barbossa. After watching them sail away, they meet Jack Sparrow who agrees to join them rescue Elizabeth. But only after learning Will's name and to get back his ship, the Black Pearl. Upon reaching Isla de Muerta, Jack and Will go ahead to get Elizabeth while Sora, Donald, and Goofy stay behind. After a while Will runs out with Elizabeth but not Jack. Barbossa needs blood to break the curse on himself, the blood of Bootstrap Bill Turner. Elizabeth lied to Barbossa and said her name was Turner. She then tells how she took a cursed medallion from Will as a child so he would not be prosecuted as a pirate. Will attacked Jack so he and Elizabeth could escape. Barbossa and his pirates catch up and attack the Interceptor. Barbossa captures Elizabeth and Will threatens to kill himself and tells Barbossa that it is his blood he needs. Barbossa leaves Sora, Jack, Donald, Goofy, and Elizabeth on the ship that's rigged to blow up and covered in Heartless while he takes Will with him and his pirates to free the curse. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack clear the bombs and catch up to Barbossa. They end up fighting his pirate minions, while Jack is busy fighting Barbossa himself. Jack is distracted by Sora's yelling and is stabbed by Barbossa but doesn't die because he is cursed also. Barbossa yells for Pete's help who calls in his special heartless, the Illuminator, which has the power to cause all light to go out. They defeat the Illuminator and Barbossa (which you receive a Drive Bar boost for),and Pete runs off again. Jack finally defeats Barbossa by shooting him. Barbossa knows he can't die because he is with the living dead, but Jack throws Will a medallion with his blood on it. Will, who has a medalion with his blood on it also, drops the two medallions in the chest, which causes the curse to be lifted and Barbossa to be mortal. Barbossa dies from the gunshot wound. Now that all is calm, everyone heads back to the Black pearl and Jack's compass glows. Sora shoots a beam of light at it opening another path to two new worlds to explore. Agrabah and Halloween Town. Sora receives Follow the Wind from completing the first trip of Port Royal.

Second Visit
On the second visit, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jack discover that the medallion issue is far from over. The pirates are back and the are still undead. Elizabeth tells them that Will went to investigate Isla de Muerta and has not returned. Jack will not do anything unless he is rewarded for his efforts, which Elizabeth agrees to. While sailing they find the Interceptor with Will aboard passed out. He recovers enough to tell them that a man in a black coat and white creatures stole the chest. Then Luxord, an Organization XIII member invades the ship and uses the Grim Reaper Heartless to attack the crew. They beat it but Luxord takes four Cursed Medallions for the memories and gives them to four Gambler Nobodies. The Grim Reaper Heartless reappears and blows Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jack onto the Interceptor. Luxord then fires at Interceptor with the Black Pearl's cannons. When Sora wakes up, he finds that Jack has been cursed and is now undead. After defeating a Gambler Nobody they receive a cursed medallion. They have to travel around Port Royal and find three more Gambler Nobodies hidden around the Ship Graveyard and Isla de Muerta and steal the medallion each one holds. Once this is done, the trio plus Jack return to Port Royal and return the medallions but Jack is still cursed. Goofy say that Jack was cursed by the Heartless, not because of the medallions. All they have to do is defeat the Grim Reaper. To battle the Grim Reaper, you have to collect all 882 medallions and return them to the chest before being able to injure the Grim Reaper. After the battle, Luxord commends Sora on his defeat and takes the heart from the Grim Reaper Heartless. Jack is freed from the curse and knows of a way so the medallions will not be able to be used for evil again. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth go out to sea to dump the chest. Jack then asks for his reward from Elizabeth and requests for Sora's Keyblade. Jack is unable to keep the Keyblade, but Goofy says he might be able to someday because Jack and Sora are a lot alike. Sora receives the Magnet element to upgrade it to Magnera, and which is a requirement for a side quest in Atlantica.

Characters
As a side note, two important characters from the Pirates films were referenced in the game. At the Fort in Port Royal, if Sora examines the cannons, he finds a note: "For use in pirate attacks - Commodore Norrington." James Norrington was a Royal Navy officer who attempted to arrest and execute Jack for his pirate activity upon his arrival at Port Royal. Then there is "Bootstrap Bill", Will's father and the one member of the Black Pearl who failed to pay the blood sacrifice, seeing as Barbossa strapped him to a cannon and threw him overboard for siding with Jack during his mutiny.

Shop
In Port Royal, a Moogle name Morlock has set up his shop. It is found in The Interceptor's Hold and after The Interceptor is blown up, the shop relocates to the Rampart.

The shops sells:
 * Hammer Staff - 100 Munny
 * Victory Bell - 400 Munny
 * Adamant Shield - 100 Munny
 * Chain Gear - 400 Munny
 * Potion - 40 Munny
 * Ether - 120 Munny
 * Tent - 100 Munny

Edits
In the American and European version of Kingdom Hearts II some cutscenes have been edited, such as that Will is not aiming a gun to his head when he is threatening to commit suicide and Barbossa's sword is never seen in Jack's chest. The medallion that Barbossa first uses to attempt to break the curse is only shown coated in blood in the respective scene, and is afterward untainted (in the original, the blood remains throughout the escapade.) Also, Barbossa's monologue with Elizabeth on the Black Pearl is edited to omit the mention of lust and women. All of these changes carry over into the Final Mix build of the game.

Gameplay wise, undead pirates do not catch fire, however, the Grim Reaper Heartless still does. The Rifle Pirates' muskets have been changed to crossbows, even though they still retain the original sound effect of a rifle shot.

Strangely, the scene where Barbossa takes a drink from his wine bottle is kept in both versions, but this is the reason why the American version of the game is rated E+10 for alcohol use.

Trivia

 * Port Royal is one of two worlds based off a live action movie. The other is Space Paranoids.


 * The battle theme He's a Pirate is used in the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series. It is one of the few themes in the Kingdom Hearts series not composed for the game (although it was modified). The others are the Mickey Mouse March (main theme in Disney Castle), Night on Bald Mountain (Chernabog's boss theme), One Winged Angel (Sephiroth's boss theme) and Under the Sea (main theme in Atlantica in Kingdom Hearts).
 * Port Royal is one of many worlds set in a location that exists in real life. The others are the Land of Dragons, based on Ancient China, Deep Jungle and Pride Lands, based on Africa. Also, the Clock Tower in Neverland is based on a real location (the Big Ben in London).


 * Port Royal's dark theme and issues with the ratings were confirmed as Sora and Goofy both acknowledge how the world is different than others.