My History with Kingdom Hearts
Today marks a very important event to me and my brother’s lives, that game is Kingdom Hearts 3. I love Disney and my brother loves video games. So a video game series about exploring worlds based on Disney movies with Donald Duck and Goofy sounds like a Disney fan/gamer’s dream come true. To celebrate this occasion I will be talking my history and thoughts on the two main games those being KH 1 and 2.
I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a House of Mouse or technically speaking a House of Villains. On the VHS of Mickey’s House of Villains the last preview was a trailer for a mysterious video game series that I never heard of. Later that year, we got Spyro: Year of the Dragon and Kingdom Hearts for Christmas. That intro was so great I think we kept starting a new game just to watch it. It took a while for my brother to get the hang of it. The world roster is great (it surprised me that The Nightmare Before Christmas is in this considering it’s Touchstone). The music thanks to the wonderful composer Yoko Shimomura fits the worlds perfectly and help give them life. Traverse Town’s music is so nostalgic. I also like the relationship between Sora and Kairi. The bosses were also cool especially the Riku boss. My brother cried after defeating Riku when Sora stabbed himself. He never actually finished the game for a while because he was stuck on that 2nd Ansem boss. Still Kingdom Hearts 1 is such a nostalgic part of our childhood.
A few years later later I heard from school about a sequel coming soon. I remember watching a bunch of clips of the game including one with the Chicken Little summon. I also remember the Target where we bought both the game and strategy guide. It did start off slow when playing Roxas first but it catches on afterwards. I really like some of the new worlds like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King and Tron (fun fact: this game introduced me to Tron). I actually do like the reaction commands because it gives the boss battles more personality and even the boss music is some of the best of the series. The final boss is one of my favorites and the ending was perfect. What I find fascinating about KH2 is that whenever there’s a movie or video game trilogy or even a three season show, the middle story always ends on a cliffhanger like Empire Strikes Back or Avatar Book 2. KH2 however subverts with because it ends with Sora finally returning home and every ends happily. Honestly you could have just ended the series here and I would’ve been satisfied but then again we wouldn’t have KH3 then.
I love both games equally, choosing one of the other is like choosing a favorite child (who does that?). I will admit my biggest problem with the series is the story. It can be really hard to follow especially later in the series. I remember reading the strategy guides so much that they ended up worn and falling apart. Sometimes my brother and I would think up new worlds for Kingdom Hearts 3. One of my favorite world ideas was Sky High and some from Pixar like The Incredibles and Up. My brother and I have waited so long for the third game and it’s hard to believe that it’s finally here and I know for a fact that my brother is going to play this once he’s done with his classes.Thank you so much Tetsuya Nomura for creating this wonderful series and for the memories my brother and I have treasured in our hearts, pun intended.
JacobsonCinema 