Let's Talk: Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts represented many defining moments for me in gaming. I initially didn't like the design of KH. I didn't like the large pants, Disney characters and almost dreaminess to the atmosphere. I was a kid and I wanted racing games. I wanted shooting games. When I finally decided to give KH a go, I didn't even finish it. I got up till the final boss and just stopped. I got bored of grinding beforehand and I just lost interest. In fact, all the games I've played then were unfinished games. I had a habit of playing all the way up till the end but not actually finishing a game.

That is, until KH2 came out. That changed everything. Funnily enough, I beat the game in Japanese first before the English release came out and I beat that too. It changed everything. After beating KH2, I immediately went back and finished KH. I began finishing all my games from then on. I also began searching up game OSTs online and that opened me up to the world of forums, video streaming and all that cool biz. If you ask any KH players, they'll all agree that the music for the game transcends time. The pieces are all absolutely beautiful and well done. But that's a topic of its own.

Anyways, everything changed after KH2 but not for the series specifically. See, the KH series is weird in that they release almost every title on a separate platform. This was good for exposure but horrible for a kid like me who only owned a PS2. I never got to play any other KH games. Very soon, I simply resigned myself to waiting for KH3, finishing that and moving on. Sure, KH1.5 and KH2.5 would later be announced for the PS3 but I wasn't in any position to play them and honestly, I preferred playing other games.

Recently, I watched a trailer for KH2.8. It's a trailer featuring the cast from Birth by Sleep, characters who I knew and cared for but didn't actually know or care for. The trailer however, was very well done. It ignited the small flame from my childhood. I immediately began reading up about the series again, learning about what's happened so far and listening to the OSTs.

Needs more words

What did I remember? I remembered my childhood, I remembered how Kingdom Hearts did many things other video games didn't do, I remembered having epic moments in the series that didn't happen with others, I remembered why I loved the series and how much I cared for it. Basically, I remembered everything great from my childhood and it's honestly what I would categorise as THE childhood game for me. My favourite game series is the Persona series but remembering Kingdom Hearts now, it's a little difficult for me to say that now.

All the feels...

I've not played any other KH games aside from 1 and 2. But I learned that at the end of March next year, Square Enix will be releasing both KH1.5 and KH2.5 on one PS4 disc. Essentially, 4 games and 2 movies in a single disc. I wouldn't have thought of getting it before. After all, even after declaring my love for the series, I can say that the series suffers from an overly complicated plot with horrible naming conventions for their games. I could just read the story and play Kingdom Hearts 3. But I don't want to. I really want to play all the games and really absorb everything. I want to relive my childhood. I can then get KH2.8 to properly prepare for KH3 which I expect should come out in 2018.

All in all, come next year, I'll be playing 6 Kingdom Hearts games with 3 movies to watch. I'd have caught up with the entire series and can say I'm fully prepared for Kingdom Hearts 3. I can't say I'm not happy. I remembered Kingdom Hearts and I'm glad I can dive back into it.

P.S. Aqua is waifu