A Brief Look Back At Kingdom Hearts

So, probably the biggest ‘we knew what it was from the moment the trailer started but we didn’t care because it was awesome’ moment at this year’s E3 was the long overdue announcement of Kingdom Hearts III, which will be coming to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One sometime in the future. The Kingdom Hearts series has long been one of my favorite gaming franchises, and with the apparent conclusion to the saga forthcoming, I’ve prepared these brief descriptions of the earlier games, as well as my opinions on each entry. It has been a long, strange road for Sora and company, as well as for fans of the series- but with the third main game finally on its way, let’s take a look back at Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts (2002) (Playstation 2)

The original Kingdom Hearts marks the beginning of what must be one of the strangest crossovers in fiction (Squaresoft’s particular brand of RPG with settings and characters taken from Disney films), but the original Kingdom Hearts made it work, and kicked off a series that has become even larger than Square’s own Final Fantasy was at the time.

Old Review: Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (DS)

My Review- Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (DS)

It’s been more than five years since Kingdom Hearts II, the last installment in what could be called the ‘main’ Kingdom Hearts series. In that time, Square has made several side games in order to flesh in the Kingdom Hearts story, as well as to tie up loose ends and set up for what seems to be the series’ big conclusion in the ever-awaited Kingdom Hearts III. With 358/2 Days having covered the events in between Kingdom Hearts I and II, and prequel Birth by Sleep having set up the events of the entire series, it falls to RE:Coded, a remake of the Japanese cell phone game, to explain events in the immediate aftermath of Kingdom Hearts II. Does RE:Coded have a place in the series’ surprisingly expansive story, or is this one spin-off too many?

STORY

WARNING: In order to properly critique RE:Coded’s story, I have to talk about the ending of the game, so SPOILER ALERT.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep- First Impressions

Well, I got a PSP for Christmas! With the Vita just around the corner, it's an ideal time to get a PSP, since there's lots of good games for it and the system is reasonably cheap. In addition to Birth by Sleep, I also got the first two Final Fantasies, and Crisis Core.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is a game I was very excited for since it was announced. It's a prequel to the other Kingdom Hearts games, and fills in a number of plot holes while at the same time establishing the core plotline of future games (such as the much hoped-for Kingdom Hearts III).

Playing it for the first time, I am very impressed. While not quite on the level of the PS2 games, Birth by Sleep animated fluidly and the game looks very good. The environments aren't huge, but they get the job done, and the music is still (so far) fantastic. In Birth by Sleep, you play as three different Keyblade Masters in their seperate storylines. So far, I've only played as Terra, a character who focuses on physical attacks. The game's combat is also much improved over prior entries in the series. You still select commands from a menu, but rather than having to scroll through menus and submenus in order to select an action, all normal attacks are mapped to the X button. Special abilities, spells, and items can be slotted into a customizable menu, and are executed with the Triangle button. This makes combat a lot more fluid than previous games, and allows a greater degree of character customization.

I'm only a couple hours into Birth by Sleep, but so far the game is excellent fun. We'll see if this will last through the game's three storylines.

Also, I started Final Fantasy IX this morning. I haven't played enough to do a full post about it, but so far, the game is very good.

Old Review: Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)

My Review- Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

The first Kingdom Hearts is a classic action-RPG, despite the odd premise of a Disney-Final Fantasy crossover. In recent years, the series has spawned numerous spin-offs and side stories, but in 2006, Kingdom Hearts received a true sequel. Kingdom Hearts II brought numerous improvements to the slight problems the original had, but it also brought a change in tone and style that directed the future of the franchise. Does it live up to it’s famous predecessor?

STORY

Kingdom Hearts II begins a year after Chain of Memories, and immediately after 358/2 Days. At the start of the game, you’re playing as a boy named Roxas (the protagonist of Days, who has no memory of past events) in the world of Twilight Town, via tutorial. Roxas is having mysterious dreams about Sora, the protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, but he has no idea what they mean. Roxas also discovers that he is capable of using the Keyblade. Over the course of the week, we discover Roxas’ identity (if you’ve played Days, you already know), why he has a Keyblade, and his connection to Sora, and from there the real plot of Kingdom Hearts II begins.