I'd be lying if I said I'm as excited for KH3 as I'd like to be. In between being drained from the wait, frustrated with Square, and kind of hating a good chunk of what the story has become, I'm not feeling the buzz like I'd thought I'd be.

 

But there's something about Kingdom Hearts that I've always loved, and keeps bringing me back each time I hear that opening violin sting to Hikari. And while it's a bit hard to put into words, a lot of it has to do with Sora. My favorite memories of KH include Sora just being excited to see Santa, or hanging around with Winnie the Pooh with as much ease as he hangs around Leon and Cloud. There's a kind of child-like simplicity that cuts through the bloated plot line and encyclopedia of trivia that the series totes. I've said in the past that I thought the first game was so good because it was almost directly a representation of what a kid's dream would be, getting to travel to Disney worlds and fighting alongside your favorite video game characters. It's about going on that adventure you thought you were having when you ran around your backward wielding a stick and wearing a towel as a cape.

 

Fast forward however many years .to jaded, grumpy ol' me, watching the trailers as they come out for KH3 with something of a passing interest, until the trailer revealing the Pirates of the Carribean. Considering I didn't much care for At World's End, I didn't think anything here of all things would grab me. But then we see Sora, decked out in pirate gear, sailing on a raft, and being jazzed that he gets to be a pirate again. And lo and behold, that right there filled that gaping hole of excitement for me. Because that's what I loved about the series: at its heart, it's about finding that fun sense of adventure. Forget the X-Blade and the Darknesses and all that other paraphernalia. All I want is to run around Disney worlds and meet these great characters, and Sora always manages to provide that. If Sora is excited to be a pirate, I'm even more excited to get right on that raft with him and see what horizons are out there.

And this, my good friend, is what makes Kingdom Hearts as amazing as it is! The fact that Sora can be able to make you feel that way is a testament to his spirit and his character development throughout the series, and the fact that he's always been a cheerful soul who's always tried to see the best in everything! There's a reason why Sora draws so many hearts to him, and not just with the friends he meets, but with all of us fans that become endeared of him! He's that amazing a character, and he's really a good bit of symbolism for how positivity and a good heart can be. That's quality character material right there!

 

I loved the Pirates trailer, I'm thrilled to have the chance to be with Jack Sparrow again and take down hordes of Heartless together!

I try not to let myself get hyped in general, and given how bloated KH has become, my reactions to the trailers pretty much amounted to "Ooh. Neat!", if that. Just watching Sora running around having fun and kicking ass has been oddly satisfying for me in the trailers. Really, him being a dude who makes the lives of other people better just by doing what he does -- caring about others and kicking ass.

Honestly, I’m in almost the exact same situation. I’m 17 and still pretty young, but I don’t get excited about games like I used to and I never would have thought it would happen to Kingdom Hearts too. The thing that I’ve been trying to practice is keeping myself away from watching trailers and videos about video games in general. It tends to make every game look the same when you see them all the time on YouTube and it’s nice to take breaks. Maybe you should take a short break from video games to make them feel special again. I did that and then bought Bloodborne which is easily one of my favorite video games of all time now.

Sora is a character all about good vibes and that's what has stuck with me these 16 years of the series. I was just 7 when the first KH came out and Sora's personality and morals stuck to me. I try to do good for others first and when it comes to people, who even have bad pasts, I always try to see the good in them and work with it. Sora is super relatable for me. I can't help but be excited with him when he visits Santa and hangs out with Pooh. I have a huge preference for pirate lore and whatnot, so to see Sora super into that, and excited for his second opportunity to be a pirate just really hits home for me. 

 

If there's anything that will drag someone back into the KH3 hype, it's Sora. He's super relatable, fun loving, caring, kind, and puts others before himself. He may be childish and naive, but he's also extremely influential and because of that, he will always find his way to the top of my list of favorite video game characters.

 

I'm glad his excitement could get you a little more excited than you have been recently for KH3. It really drives that point home on the type of character he is and the way he has developed over the years has helped that.

That's why Sora is my favorite character and I sure hope they don't change their mind and they stop making him the protagonist. It always kinda makes me sad when people don't like him and want characters like Riku or Roxas to be the main character (I say those two cause those are the ones I see the most as people wanting to be the main protagonist) and I just don't think it would work. I mean, Roxas was my favorite and I still love him but I think Sora grew on me more as time went on and I got older. He gives me a lot of the same feelings as some of my favorite Disney characters do. He's like a perfect combination between anime and Disney hero. Probably why I enjoy Dream Drop Distance over Birth By Sleep despite it's plot being....well yeah. It's an unpopular opinion but I just enjoy Sora's character more.   

 

I do also have a lot of issues with the series despite my love for it. For me, I could honestly care less about the overall plot. I mostly care about the characters and visiting Disney worlds and having fun (I also don't like when people slam the Disney stuff as being childish or whatever, like why are you playing the game then? It's 75 to 85% of the game they are not gonna get rid of it. It's still a Disney game whether you like it or not.). That's why them saying the ending is gonna be dark kinda worries me.

But Roxas is better.

 

Just kidding.

 

Yeah, Sora inspires me a lot. I'm 23 now and I know that I will keep my childish attitude. Positivity makes everything better about life. It makes you believe that you will achieve things that seem impossible. These are not just empty words, there is a logical explanation of why people with a positive mindset are often successful people.

 

The complex plot of KH is something that makes Sora as a person even better, because there are things in the world that are beyond our understanding. Sora, a child that goes on an adventure, seeks to explore the world and learns new stuff. This gives his personality and his actions a lot of meaning. It isn't only about fun, it's about learning and understanding. Basically what every child is like.

 

Going through life with the eyes of a child is the best thing you can do and Sora shows why.