Kingdom Hearts Celebrates 20 Years

So today, March 28, marks twenty years since Kingdom Hearts released on PlayStation 2. It would come a few months later in the US arriving on September 17. I remember when I first played this game. That year I recall my mother asking me to write down what I wanted for Christmas and I wrote Kingdom Hearts PS2 down on a piece of loose leaf paper. On Christmas day I unwrapped my presents and was gifted a copy of Kingdom Hearts for my PlayStation 2. Since I was just a child it didn't really hit with me how weird it was that I was about to play a Final Fantasy and Disney crossover game or how a big of a deal this franchise was going to be. I actually can't remember how I learned about this game. It wouldn't be three years later until I got regular access to the internet so I assume I just saw TV ads, but man did I have an experience when I first played this game!

The original Kingdom Hearts box cover.

The first Kingdom Hearts is such a gem. It was filled with a sense of wonder, exploration, and nostalgia. The opening Dive into the Heart sequence felt so eerie and mystifying. I recall hearing about or seeing a guide saying how each of the weapon choices at the beginning will affect Sora's starting stats and abilities and the question later about what you're afraid of will determine how fast you will gain experience. How Kingdom Hearts opened just felt radically different from anything else I played up to that point and it was cool to see Final Fantasy characters in the mix of this though I didn't know who most of these characters were at the time as I had only played Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X up to this point. Still, it was really neat to see Tidus and Wakka on Destiny Islands and explore worlds like Tarzan's Deep Jungle, and The Little Mermaid's Atlantica.

This was also back when the games were simple, but had enough to keep you entertained and invested. I played a lot of Kingdom Hearts back then and I still consider it one of the best games ever made. It had great atmosphere, nostalgia, and a decent combat system. Since 2002, Kingdom Hearts would go on to span thirteen games, manga, and hundreds of merchandise. After the first game the series started to take a more complicated quality. Kingdom Hearts II opened with a new protagonist that would disappear after the opening back and introducing stuff like a digital town, two Ansems, Nobodies, and a bunch of mumbo jumbo about hearts leaving a lot of fans confused. The Disney villains also took a backseat to the plot with Organization XIII being in the forefront. In between KHI and KHII Chain of Memories released on the GameBoy Advance and since most people didn't play it since it was on the GBA it just left most people confused.

The KH trio fighting with Rapunzel.

This kind of story would continue all the way into Kingdom Hearts III and despite the numbering, every game in the series is canon and important to the plot and with so many games spanning from the PS2 to the GBA, DS, PSP, mobile phones, 3DS, and finally PS4 and Xbox One, it was hard for fans to keep up with the series. A few years ago Square Enix did release a collection for PS4 and Xbox One that included almost all of the games to get people to catch up with the series before Kingdom Hearts III. I played most of those titles and looked up story summaries of the games I didn't play, but I was still confused in Kingdom Hearts III. KHIII is still a great game though. Despite all of the problems with the story the game's combat is still very fun, the gummi ship segments are the best in the series, and the worlds are larger and bring back the platforming from the original game.

Nothing much has happened with the series since Kingdom Hearts III release... Well, actually there was one major announcement for the series back in 2021. Sora would be joining the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the game's final DLC character. To say fans went crazy was an understatement. There was a lot of anticipation for Smash's final character and fans have been asking for Sora to be included in Smash for several years so it felt like a dream that their wish was actually coming true.

Square Enix is supposed to have an event for the 20th anniversary on April 10th, but there's no word on what to expect from it. Square Enix has a history of announcing merch or mobile titles for this kind of thing so I'm not getting my hopes up, but this is a time to show our love for that Disney and Final Fantasy crossover that we love so post below your relationship and memories with the series.