One gaming memory I’ll never forget is E3 2013. It feels like a lifetime ago, honestly, given that the entire industry landscape has changed dramatically since then. Back then, E3 carried tremendous weight for fans and developers alike. Anticipation was in the air for the seventh generation of consoles, but it was memorable to me for an entirely different reason: the double whammy reveal of Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III.
Kingdom Hearts, at that time, was very near and dear to my heart. I had followed the adventures of Sora, Donald, and Goofy for over a decade. I knew Kingdom Hearts III was coming, I just didn’t know when. I was already literally shaking from the reveal of Final Fantasy XV, the reveal of Kingdom Hearts III straight after marked the first time in my life I’ve ever cried real nerd tears. Video Games can be beautiful and when they provoke that sort of emotion out of us, it’s magical.
That’s what Kingdom Hearts was to me at that time in my life –pure magic. Not so, anymore, sadly, after a series of missteps that have turned my passion for the franchise on its head. Here, I want to dissect what on earth has occurred to change this sentiment so very much. There’s a lot to unpack, but I’d like to take you back to where it all began.
Kingdom Hearts’ Special Beginnings
Kingdom Hearts was initially conceived as a response to Nintendo’s quintessential 3D platformer Super Mario 64. Square Enix had planned to release their own platformers to capitalize on the successful new genre but felt that only characters as popular as Disney’s could rival Nintendo’s Italian plumber. Conveniently Square and Disney shared the same building allowing the two companies to form a dialogue. With Disney’s approval, production of the first Kingdom Hearts began with a joint effort from esteemed scenario writer Kazuhige Nojima, best known for his work on Final Fantasy VII, and character designer Tetsuya Nomura.
I have a soft spot for the first Kingdom Hearts. I played it again before writing this piece, and oh boy is it rough, but it still has its charms. The game feels dated with stiff gameplay and awkward platforming but what has and always will be the first game’s biggest strength is without a doubt its story and characters.
Kingdom Hearts sees Sora unlock the power of the Keyblade and team up with Donald and Goofy as they travel across a Disney-themed multiverse searching for his missing friends Riku and Kairi while sealing off the world’s keyholes from their darkness fuelled enemies, the Heartless. Throughout the game, Riku succumbs to his own inner darkness and acts as both a rival to Sora and an unwitting pawn in a grander scheme.
The first Kingdom Hearts is a classic hero’s journey that sees Sora become truly worthy of wielding the Keyblade and ends on a tear-jerking cliffhanger which leaves you desperate for the next chapter in his journey. I don’t think anyone could have expected what form that would take.
A Scattered Approach to Storytelling
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories was released in 2003 on Game Boy Advance and serves as a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts while setting the stage for Kingdom Hearts II. The story sees Sora explore Castle Oblivion and introduces the villainous Organization XIII, who acts as the main antagonist for much of the saga. Disney worlds from the first Kingdom Hearts are revisited but this time the hack-and-slash gameplay is removed in favor of a card-based battle system.
Nomura had always intended for there to be a passage of time between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II and wanted an intermediary title to bridge the gap between the two games. Initially, he was reluctant to release the title on GBA fearing that the 3D graphics would not transition well into 2D on the handheld system. Ultimately, he was convinced when a survey showed that children in Japan wanted to play Kingdom Hearts on GBA.
Kingdom Hearts II would release two years later in 2005 on PS2 and is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the series. The story of Kingdom Hearts II introduces players to Sora’s counterpart Roxas and takes the combat and gameplay of the original title to flashy new heights. When you get down to technicalities Kingdom Hearts II is the third game in the series and it feels like a trilogy capper.
The game has a darker, more mature plot which is a nice fit for the characters following the year-long time jump between the two games. There’s a full-scale invasion that sees Sora face down an entire legion of Heartless before taking the fight to the last remnants of Organization XIII. Sora and Kairi finally reunite and he is able to put his differences with Riku aside to form a true brotherly bond before the three friends finally return home to Destiny Islands. With the organization defeated and lingering threads from the first game resolved, it really did feel like the end from a storytelling point of view. It turned out though that Nomura had more story to tell, way more story, and well, things get weird.
Spin-Offs Muddying The Waters
In the 14 years between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III, five titles were released on various handheld systems to bridge the gap between the two games.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days set the trend of mindboggling titles and told the story of Roxas and his time in organization XIII where he forms a close friendship with fan-favorite character Axel and new addition to the group, Xion. It’s a harmless side adventure that further bridges the gap between the two Kingdom Hearts games and offers much-needed development for Roxas.
Birth By Sleep is set ten years before the events of the original game and places the focus on three young Keyblade wielders as they journey across the universe to thwart the series’ major antagonist, Master Xehanort. The prequel is considered to have one of the best plots in the entire franchise and continued taking the series into darker territory thanks to the magnificent Leanord Nimoy as Master Xehanort.
Kingdom Hearts: Coded is another DS title and a remake of a mobile game that most in the Kingdom Hearts fanbase prefer not to talk about with many questioning its place in the canon. It was quickly followed up by Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance on Nintendo 3DS. The title is notable for adding the flowmotion mechanic to the series and setting the stage for Kingdom Heart III. It also marks the point where the series becomes truly bonkers.
The plot of Dream Drop Distance sees Sora and Riku enter a realm of dreaming where they’re confronted by a younger version of Xehanort who has traveled through time as well as virtually every other villain they’ve encountered throughout the series.
Okay, time travel is a tricky enough plot point to write on its own, never mind trying to make Sora and his friends’ very loose connections to the spin-off cast make sense on top of it. Then there’s the big reveal that most of the antagonists they’ve come across have been some variation of Xehanort. If this is starting to make your head hurt, well, I’m with ya.
Further muddying the waters is the mobile title Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross] – I warned you about the titles. Kingdom Hearts Union X is yet another prequel that takes us far into the past and leads up to the apocalyptic Keyblade War.
Union X is what you would expect from a Kingdom Hearts mobile game. It actually bears some similarities to the card-based battle system in Chain of Memories, but the novelty quickly wears off and the repetitive nature of the gameplay becomes painfully clear. Kingdom Hearts YouTubers have collated entire playlists and compilations of Union X’s story and cutscenes which add up to a whopping 11 hours of lore which ties directly into the main series of games.
These five titles would eventually build up to the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III in 2019 and what should have been a swan song for the series became a muddled, convoluted mess of a finale. Kingdom Hearts III was ultimately too little too late. The gameplay feels dated even with the culmination of the various gameplay mechanics that don’t always mash as well together as they should. The common annoyances and eccentricities of the series are on full display in Kingdom Hearts III with a story that feels like it’s punishing you for not being all in and committing to play every title in the series. My hope for Kingdom Hearts III was that it was the chance for closure to a series that had meant so much to me growing up, but when the credits rolled, I felt hollow.
The Future of The Series
Kingdom Hearts IV was announced earlier this year and looks set to continue the series’ current trend of scattering its plot as seen with the upcoming mobile title, Missing Link.
Kingdom Hearts isn’t for me anymore, and that’s okay. Whether it’s getting older or finding new passions, sometimes we leave franchises we love behind. That said, the potential for Kingdom Hearts is endless, I want to see the series do well, but I don’t think Nomura’s approach is the right approach.
Tetsuya Nomura deserves all the credit in the world for his boundless imagination but I think he works best with other collaborators. The storytelling in the Kingdom Hearts series takes a noticeable dip in quality following the departure of Kazuhige Nojima after Kingdom Hearts II.
Nomura has been in charge of the dialogue and overall plot of the series since then and has admitted in interviews with The Verge that even he himself has been left confused by the series’ overarching lore saying:
“I do have a general storyline in my head. What is the most confusing is that, because there are so many characters in this storyline now, it’s hard to keep track of who actually met who already. I’m always like, ‘Okay, so who knows who in this situation, and who’s meeting this person for the first time?’ And that always gets really confusing.”
Tetsuya Nomura
It can’t be denied that Nomura will always be an intrinsic part of Kingdom Hearts’ identity and should continue to be going forward, but what the series needs is a new engine, a new creative team, and a new start.
Kingdom Hearts telling a new story with a whole new cast of characters and world to explore could be just what the series needs for it to reach its full potential and open the series up to a whole new audience. A new cast can also appeal to longtime fans by allowing the series to embrace one of the most powerful tools in storytelling – a sense of legacy.
It also opens the door for some contrast to the original series. Kingdom Hearts titles tend to keep their protagonists on separate paths. The first three games dealt with Sora, Riku, and Kairi finding each other, and Birth By Sleep sees its three protagonists go on very different journeys.
It would make for a change of pace to see a team of Keyblade wielders travel together to the various Disney-themed worlds and provide the opportunity for a true party-based gameplay system. Kingdom Hearts experimented well with this idea in Birth By Sleep by giving its characters different playstyles and shot-lock attacks. This concept could make a return by allowing players to switch Keyblade wielders seamlessly in battle, similar to the ATB system in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
For many in the Kingdom Hearts fandom traveling to Disney worlds without Donald and Goofy at your side could be seen as blasphemous but it would allow for more focus on the core cast of characters without endless spinoffs. The concept of traveling to various worlds, overcoming trials and tribulations, and strengthening bonds is a concept that is far more familiar in the JRPG genre. Disney heroes could also act as fully playable guest members of the party with their own unique play styles and attacks.
Kingdom Hearts III took a step in the right direction with the inclusion of more current Disney properties like Big Hero 6, Frozen, and Toy Story. A fresh new direction for the series could be more appealing for including hot new properties like Moana, Coco, and Inside Out – all of which seem tailor-made for a presence in the Kingdom Hearts series.
However, as much as the series could benefit from a fresh take, it remains an increasingly unlikely prospect with Nomura at the helm. It’s clear that he feels very protective of his series as seen with his reluctance to allow Sora to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In an interview with Game Informer, Nomura admitted that he was picky about Sora’s appearance saying:
Behind the scenes, I was actually the one being very picky about his appearance in Smash Bros. Disney was the one that was like, ‘Go ahead! This is a great opportunity.’ I thought it would be tough to pull off because it might clash with the established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds, so it was an opportunity I had to consider very carefully.
Tetsuya Nomura
Nomura has a clear vision for how he wants the series to proceed and has set the stage for a new multi-game-spanning saga. It’s unlikely that he’s set to give up the keys to the kingdom anytime soon, especially having gone on record that he views Sora as his son.
While Kingdom Hearts may not hold the special place it once did for me, the magic is still very much alive for millions of fans around the world. If the series for them still evokes for them the same feeling that I had when I was fifteen years old, then honestly, that’s kind of beautiful. While I may not be all in with the direction Kingdom Hearts is heading, the feelings the series invoked in me growing up are no less valid.
“We may never meet again, but what’s important is that we never forget each other.”
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