Why the Kingdom Hearts Series is Iconic As Ever After 20 Years

Kingdom Hearts, a role-playing game published for the PlayStation 2 in early 2002, drew the attention of many gamers due to its surprise nature. It was a Square Enix-Disney collaboration that included an original storey about a little boy named Sora who travelled through realms populated by Final Fantasy characters as well as recognisable Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Despite the title's unconventional nature, it proved to be quite successful.

It's been 20 years since the first Kingdom Hearts game was released, and the series has continued to soar to new heights on a near-constant basis. The game has launched 13 titles across several platforms, and Sora has repeatedly defied the odds, earning him unexpected inclusion in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The Kingdom Hearts series has also become a well-known Disney product, with Donald and Goofy making surprise cameos in their Kingdom Hearts costumes at Disney parks all over the world. It begs the issue of what caused Kingdom Hearts' phenomenal success.

Disney meets Final Fantasy

Few people expected Final Fantasy and Mickey Mouse to merge into one huge RPG epic, despite the countless crossovers the video game world has seen. Kingdom Hearts was created because the two firms shared a building in Japan more than 20 years ago, according to those who worked on the series. The proposal was suggested and subsequently greenlit quickly because of the close proximity. The experimental character of the initiative may have been its saving grace for how it began, considering how the firms treated it contrasted to how it is treated now.

If one considers the evolution of gaming and entertainment, Square Enix could not have released Kingdom Hearts at a better time in the long term. The game was published at a pivotal juncture in the anime subculture's history, when it was just beginning to establish itself in outside markets, which made the "anime Disney game" appealing to young anime enthusiasts at the time. It was the ideal approach to introduce these fans to the RPG genre, presuming they hadn't already played other games like Kingdom Hearts.

The Length of Kingdom Hearts' Lore

Many of the most popular role-playing video game franchises make it a point to leave their narrative as standalone adventures. Even Square Enix's other RPGs, with the exception of special events and crossover releases, attempt to keep their titles in different universes. That's where Kingdom Hearts goes in a new direction. Each game has an impact on the events of the series, and Kingdom Hearts 3 even acts as the conclusion of a "arc."

As a result, each Kingdom Hearts release opens up new paths for the franchise's lore to develop, leading to notions like time travel and unreality as the plot progresses. Kingdom Hearts 2 was the beginnings of the franchise adopting a spawling and overarching storyline, as fans could discern. While things developing to this extent were in service to keeping the magical nature of its world mysterious, few fans expected Kingdom Hearts to become what it did over time. The scope of its storey either intrigues or perplexes fans, which has become part of its allure.

Kingdom Hearts III is accessible in every way possible.

The fact that the developers lost the full source code for the first Kingdom Hearts at some point in the series' history tells fans that Kingdom Hearts was an experimental effort. As a result, when it came time to produce the HD ReMix version of Kingdom Hearts, Tetsuya Nomura claimed that they had to remake practically all of the graphics for the HD version of the game from scratch. The effort, however, has paid off tenfold, as HD Remix games are now available on many platform generations. There's no need to worry about missing out on titles if any new gamers decide to dive into the series; they're all readily available.

While newer fans can play even the oldest games on their preferred platform, the Kingdom Hearts series has long been recognised for having varied difficulty settings. While Critical Mode is the game's most well-known feature, there is also a Beginner Mode for those who prefer a less challenging experience. While playing on simpler difficulties used to keep players from seeing the secret endings, newer games like Kingdom Hearts 3 have changed that. In many ways, this makes Kingdom Hearts one of the most approachable RPGs available.

Kingdom Hearts has done its share to keep its gameplay fresh, like many other popular video game franchises, but the essential formula has always remained the same. Players may expect to pick up the current instalment and have a basic understanding of what they're doing, as Sora continues to play in a similar manner to the original game. The only time the games modify how the gameplay works is in spin-offs, which have the freedom to do things like shift the battle style to emphasis on cards or commands rather than Keyblades by their very nature.

Kingdom Hearts may appear frightening at first glance due to the series' length, whether it's the number of games or the scope of the franchise's lore. Fans are welcomed in with ease because of the series' warmth and accessibility, and many who try it quickly learn to love it for what it is. As the years pass, the number of fans who wonder where Sora's next adventure will lead him continues to increase. Fortunately for fans, that question may soon be answered, as Kingdom Hearts is hosting a 20th anniversary livestream on April 10 that may provide some insight into what's to come.