It's a mixed bag these days, and it's a big part of the reason. As thrilling as it can be to see three different eras of Spider-men hang out with each other or watch Master Chief ride the Iron Giant into a battlefield, that kind of shine does have the potential of losing it's luster as you get older. For kids who grew up in the 90s and 2000s, Kingdom Hearts was the first thing that came to mind when they thought of big intellectual property.
The original Kingdom Hearts was originally a PS2 exclusive. The only thing that could match Super Mario 64 was Disney characters, and then-Square employees Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi realized that. The project was pitched to a Disney executive on the elevator as Square and Disney shared offices in Japan. The game would be the directorial debut of the character designer for Final Fantasy VII who was given the green light to direct from the two men after he overheard them talking.
Despite all of Disney's ideas, Nomura focused on his own idea for the game. The game had to reach the same level of success as Final Fantasy in order for it to be considered a success. Sora is a teenager who wants to leave his home of Destiny Islands to explore new worlds with his friends Riku and Kairi. Donald Duck and Goofy are going to help Sora save his friends when they are taken by the Heartless. Goofy, Donald, and Sora travel through multiple worlds based on Disney films to meet with the characters and prevent them from consuming the films.
One of the best PS2 games of all time is Kingdom Hearts. Beyond being a game with an interesting hook, it came out before the holiday season in 2022, and became one of the top-selling games of the year. Even though there was some criticism about the game, it received a lot of praise. In Japan, the game received a Final Mix that was a complete and patched version that would later be the game's default version when it was released on other consoles.
Kingdom Hearts continues to live on through various spinoffs, Manga, and sequels. Even though players have made their gripes with the story and character choices clear, it is still a franchise that they love. Even if you haven't played the games, this is a series that will stay with you for a long time. You have a piece of Kingdom Hearts in you, whether it's through cultural osmosis, meme, or its excellent opening songs by Utada Hikaru.
There is a series that is truly of its time. The first game is committed to itself in a way that kids with active imaginations are used to. Disney isn't always capable of letting stand on its own, and that kind of sincereness isn't something that the company can always rely on. The circumstances were in this game's favor back then, when a release from Disney didn't feel like it was too much, and when Square Enix wasn't messing with its own games.
The original game would have sold well today, but would it have been as popular as it was in the past? It's likely that it won't. The series has ended its "Dark Seeker Saga" and is moving on to a new chapter, and we will see it soon. With that game and the loss of Sora's big-ass shoes, we'll be seeing more than ever what it means for the series to be an arm of two of the biggest companies on the planet.
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