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A lot of it has to do with where you were in the world and what age group you fell under. I.E Disney had been a worldwide juggernaut for decades by the time KH1 released, but Squaresoft which hadn't yet become Square-Enix had barely made a dent outside of Japan. Most of the Final Fantasy games which were half of the appeal of the crossover aspect of the game didn't do big sales numbers outside of Japan. Indeed if you were in a country where English is the primary language there was less of a 50/50 chance you were familiar with the characters who appear in KH1 from Final Fantasy and more so a 30/70 in favor that you had absolutely no idea who they were or knew one or two of them at best (in some cases by only appearance rather than anything else). If you were a gamer you might know them from gaming magazines. If you were an especially avid one or specifically drawn in by JRPGs; that's when you would be in the camp that knew who all of them were. Additionally for as popular, beloved, and iconic as the Disney characters at the forefront of KH were by then, Disney has never had a good reputation when it comes to games they had involvement in outside of KH and one or two standalone outliers. Having Disney characters in the game should very much have meant sales tanked rather than the game doing well. So when you come across retrospectives on YouTube or Niconico saying KH being a success is a miracle it really is a more apt statement than it sounds. Of course there are a lot of sales that KH1 got and that the series as it continued still gets from parents who have long been conditioned into blind faith in Disney buying their children the games. Moving into the game itself. If you were a little kid (say 5-8 years of age) you probably only experienced KH1 during its initial release as a result of your older sibling(s) playing it while you watched and maybe just maybe giving you a turn with the controller if they got tired of you pestering them for one. While for some kids that little the story will have gone right over their heads or been hard to follow; others will have been drawn in so strongly they would continue to follow the series when it began receiving sequels and plenty of them are probably still fans today. Regardless it would've been a normal part of the equation to have to sit through any of the cutscenes as it wasn't an industry norm for cutscenes to be skippable yet. Squaresoft/Square-Enix during the PS1 and PS2 eras was one company famous for unskippable cutscenes because they used them as 60% of the appeal of their games. Even when their biggest competitors started to normalize the practice of providing the option to skip cutscenes Squaresoft/Square-Enix remained stubborn about it into the start of the PS3 era. And even where they did decide to cave about it they usually kept the FMV cutscenes unskippable. There's also that one horrendous example of forcing you to experience cutscenes for the best possible outcome in that FFX-2 (originally launched on PS2 in 2003, well into a period where almost every noteworthy competitor for Square had started to include the option to skip cutscenes, in some cases even the FMV ones without any kind of penalty) requires you to sit through pretty much every line of dialogue for 100% story completion in a single playthrough. But anyway, the point I'm trying to horribly make with this particular tangent is that unskippable cutscenes were just a thing that you either raged over and broke more than a few controllers because of, or you used the FMV ones as a bathroom/food break while any regular ones got mashed through if they were placed before a boss fight and you were on your umpteenth attempt to get past an especially difficult one. If the game had new game plus you just mashed through regular cutscenes and did chores/took a bathroom or food break during the FMV ones and during the end credits scroll after your first playthrough. Depending on how engaging you found the gameplay and platforming of KH1 you would finish the game or drop it. Common drop points being the worlds based off of Tarzan and The Little Mermaid, but some people regardless of if they were a tiny 5-8 year old or a mid-late teen (16-19 years of age) or fully fledged adults as young as 21 and as old as 60 have also dropped the game as early as when they got to Traverse Town for the first time because of a lack of a map or synopsis. Even when it comes to Destiny Islands some people just could not figure out how to progress. Those are things that were true way back when and are still true in present day. If you were a teenager playing KH1 when it originally released you were of two camps. You either thought it was lame because of the Disney stuff and you were at the age where children begin to reject Disney or you used it as an excuse to continue to support Disney stuff since it had "mature" characters in it from that one Japanese game series (Final Fantasy), you'd seen picking up traction with other teens and that crossover aspect gave you the perfect excuse to insist that Disney was still acceptable even for teens to the teens who were trying to get you to leave it behind. On the other side of the camp you were an avid gamer playing whatever you wanted and cared little for the reputation of the game, in some cases you picked it up and committed to finishing it specifically because it was being trashed on by others. Impersonal experiences (Hearsay/Memories) and Personal Thoughts/Reflections on Back then: Riku being unbeatable on Destiny Islands and at Hollow Bastion: When people say F this fight it isn't for nothing. Back then you could regularly encounter children at playgrounds during recess or on weekends in the park bragging about getting past Riku in Hollow Bastion or successfully winning against him on Destiny Islands (in both the sparring match and the race for who gets to share the fruit with Kairi). Strategies would be discussed in AIM/MSN chatrooms and on forums for websites that don't even exist anymore or purged the forum pages in question ages ago. But honestly KH1 has multiple bosses outside of Riku that were difficult AF for the original playerbase too. They're just not as meme-worthy today I guess. One of the reasons Atlantica is the way it is in KH2 is because of how much players hated combat in it in KH1 and the negative feedback was thankfully actually taken to heart. The climax of the story/the story in general really: In present day most of the KH fanbase doesn't have many nice things to say about Kairi and that very much originated during KH1's vanilla release. But it wasn't such an egregious issue how she was handled back then. She wasn't very interesting nor did she do much of anything but she served her role. There wasn't much to judge her for one way or the other. The lack of any substantial meaningful time with Kairi was what made it difficult to really call the climax in Hollow Bastion when she and Sora save one another "Emotional". Even so the original version of this game released right after the Disney Renaissance entered its concluding years. More than enough of the players who were indoctrinated by Disney during the 1990s were still in the right headspace to fall hook line and sinker for the storyline's sequences in Hollow Bastion. From people freaking out over Riku being possessed, crying at Sora's sacrifice, cheering at Kairi's hug changing him back in the lobby. It all got the intended reactions from certain players, while others just scoffed/shrugged/looked on in indifference. No-one ever said the writing in Kingdom Hearts is especially deep so, eh. Now to be fair to Kairi, she's not the only character that was considered to be nothing special back then. Sora and Riku may have been hits with players who had been seduced into loving their archetypes through other media, but they were hardly universally beloved or hated characters either when you look at representative characters for the archetypes they filled within the game. Nowadays we see frequent talk online about why Disney doesn't use the KH original characters much in their theme parks and IMHO this is why. As much as the first game was an unexpected critical and financial success the cast of characters made specifically for the game were not considered anything special by the broader general public. To put it in words that IMHO anyone should be able to understand: Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Ansem Seeker of Darkness didn't do for video games what the likes of the most famous characters from Star Wars did for movies. And even if we narrow things down to RPGs both Japanese and non-Japanese these characters weren't revolutionizing gaming the way Donkey Kong, Mario, and Sonic once did and in some cases would continue to do. Kairi wasn't Barbie or a Charlie's Angel, that sort of effect. It was simply a game that did unexpectedly well and as such they decided to make more of them. Further fairness to them when have we ever seen a RPG series that is strictly based in storytelling rather than gameplay where the same cast of characters gets reused outside of Legend of Zelda? Tales, Mana, Final Fantasy, etc etc. They all come with different casts of characters unless they're doing direct or near future sequels. The ending: There was so much outcry for a sequel to Kingdom Hearts because of the way it ended. I do not have a single memory of anyone being satisfied with the way it ends. I am glad I live in a dimension/timeline where the game got not one but multiple sequels. Because of how far the character of Riku would come in particular. One of my favorite memories from chatrooms and forums about KH1's ending is peoples reactions to Simple and Clean. There was one person who yelled in all caps about how unfitting the song was for the final scenes because its score sounds so uplifting. I think the person must've been a j-pop anti or something similar because they went off on a tangent about "anime BS." in the same forum for several pages. Other Stuff: "I bought this because the cover is really eye-catching." - There were so, SO MANY people in the chatrooms and forums back then who said this. There was a neighbor of mine who had a twelve year old son who she got the game for and when she saw him fighting on Destiny Islands against the heartless on the night of fate she took the disc out and returned the game the next day. Ah the days when parents were so uppity about video game violence. Extra Tidbit: It's not from the days of KH1's initial vanilla release, but from circa the original release of Birth By Sleep. This can probably still be found online if enough digging is done. Around this time there was an uptick in people posting online about discovering new scenes in KH1 if they did certain worlds in different orders than what the game wanted them done in. I thought it was cute how excited some people were at discovering the alternate scenes. Dunno if that was really worth mentioning or not, but thought I'd share anyway. A Confession of Sorts: I'm sure I've mentioned it over the course of my posts on here but I've never played through KH1 from start to finish. I usually quit during the Tarzan world because of the way the camera interacts with the navigation through the world. But even when I've had the luxury of someone completing that world for me I always end up stopping at some point later. Even with the collections I went straight to Re:CoM and KH2FM instead of bothering to ever play through KH1FM where control of the camera is a lot better. Gameplay wise I'm very familiar with the bosses of KH1 in its vanilla form due to being around to help out friends with their attempts to get past them. Even today though, KH1 regardless of version is the KH game I'm the least familiar with as it pertains to the ins and outs of the game itself. GBA Chain of Memories, Days, Re:Coded they've all seen start to finish runs from me at some point in my life since they came out. KH1 if I ever did, I have no memory of it. I do however remember that the first time I ever got to see it through to the end was via a group effort between myself and three of my cousins. And as I already mentioned the ending was not satisfying. Thank you to all that is mighty that Chain of Memories and KH2 happened! PS: An outsider's perspective on what reaction to KH1 might've been like from the Japan side. If you've ever seen compilation videos of Let's Players/Streamers reacting to the Final Fantasy characters in KH1 or to Sephiroth in KH2 on YouTube, I would hazard that is probably quite close to what Japan based players would've reacted like to said characters when KH1 and KH2 first came out, less so in present day where Square-Enix has severely damaged its relationship with its consumers more or less worldwide and Japan in contrast to external territories has had plenty of time to get over how "cool" and "awesome" and "amazing" the golden era Final Fantasy characters are. Suffice it to say the US, UK, and Canada, etc have way more appreciation for FF7R than Japan ever will because of how few people outside of Japan really got to experience the perceived greatness of the original FF7.

Square Enix's blog recently interviewed composer Yoko Shimomura after she won a BAFTA Fellowship, the highest honor an arts organization can grant. Throughout the interview, Shimomura answered questions about the award, how she came to compose video game music, and her involvement with specific titles, including the Kingdom Hearts series. You can view the relevant quoted portion of this Shimomura interview below. It delves into her impressions of Kingdom Hearts as a project and the creativity involved with both Disney Worlds and original world music. You can view the full interview on Square Enix's blog, which also contains comments about Live A Live and Final Fantasy XV. View full article

I've pointed this out in the past, but after two year-long time skips since KH1, it's likely that Sora is at least 16 years old! As a result, he could learn to drive, which is terrifying. Imagine those clown shoes trying to hit the brakes.

YOKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR THE SOUNDTRACK FOR KH4 LETS GO

That's possible too. I doubt they'll just throw away the story completely, especially as it promised to answer every unanswered question we had!

Genuinely 😭 riku loves his friends you cannot gaslight me into thinking otherwise the last thing he'd wanna do is put them in harm's way Red pill propaganda 😭😭😭

Whenever someone brings up that scene i get flashbacks to when riku got called sexist i was like man ☠️ way to miss the point entirely

"Don't care where's a trailer"

KH4 secret ending be like sora's gummi phone rings Sora: uh... hello? "Hello Sora... im calling from the IRS." AN OATH TO RETURN KINGDOM HEARTS

Gacha needs to die in my honest opinion

Woke up to the news and now I’m devastated. My day is ruined. I really, really hope they do this. 😭

Oh wooooow lol I mean again, I never really cared much BECAUSE it was a mobile game I care more for KH4 anyways I mean at the end of the day it's their fault for making it a mobile game anyways instead of a console game so Can't wait to go on Twitter and see everyone be sad over it/sarcasm

MMO's are just ponzi schemes to get gamers to not leave their houses and become the blob people from WALL•e.

I'm excited for you to PLAY A REAL GAME.

You still don't get it, do you? Backpedling was the worst decision they made because it painted Kairi, yet again, as damsel-in-distress figure. What they should've done was male her actually win the fight against Xehanort, even if it's an illusion, to show her actual progression. Or at least have Riku actually take her with him to Quadratum, not straight-up shoving her to the side. Her defeat was the very definition of nerfing. Taking a break did nothing but add an insult to injury. AGAIN, VISUAL REPRESENTATION. They needed to give Kairi a victory in MoM to give her a successful start of the arc. Guess what, they didn't. And if you want to pull that "Kairi chose her own direction in MoM", don't even think about it. It was yet another catastrophic failure of writing. It's most likely KH team and Nomura just hate her, but anything goes. And if they genuinely thought this slow growth was going to work, it didn't. They don't understand why Kairi fans are frustrated. They don't want fancy writing. They want actions. To be frank, that should've happened in KH3. MoM was a definition of failure when it comes to Kairi development. Now we're way past two decades, it's too late What makes Kairi fans any hopeful when they know Kairi had this much records of being sabotaged and fumbled for 20+ years? Why should they be any helpful when they know the writing absolutely botched her character arc/development? I dare you to give me an answer that can actually give Kairi fans some hope. Trust me, you won't. P.S. you almost sound like another Kairi hater who deliberately want her to be weak and useless.

Did I sound like I was insulting Sakura? She's known for her damsel-in-distress trope and I was using her as an example of how Kairi could've broken away from it. What, you don't get the context? Why so butt-hurt with simply omitting facts about Sakura? "Survived characters like Kairi", What does that mean? Typo? "Backpedaled" - See there? This nerfing is why Kairi fans are tired. They're being stereotypical and judgmental when they see Kairi not succeeding again, sure. But do you really blame them after 20+ years of exhaustion? They want Kairi to have some progress. Re:Mind was perfect and it should've been integrated in MoM. But no, writing can't help but hate on her again. If you don't know how Kairi fans are really feeling, maybe try to think before you speak. "Tired of waiting" - Exactly. All Kairi fans are. They aren't waiting any longer. "Continue developing her" - It's no longer a development, it's an unnecessary drag-out.

https://tenor.com/view/spider-man3-emo-peter-parker-bully-maguire-ooh-i-protected-you-in-high-school-now-i-am-gonna-kick-your-little-ass-gif-20918941

Dude, comparing Sakura Haruno to Kairi is an insult to Sakura. Their development is significantly different in terms of handling even if Sakura still comes out at the other end nowhere near the same level of OP as Naruto and Sasuke. Also "This is a warning." - What are you five? Plenty of franchises have survived characters like Kairi. Especially when said characters aren't the protagonist (which she isn't, despite being the leading heroine, yes there is a difference). Your ramble about Mary Sues is hilarious. You're saying Kairi fans want Kairi to be a cliche OP Mary Sue going forward because you're tired of waiting for the culmination of her development. But they precisely backpedaled on how OP she was in Re:Mind to continue developing her character rather than stagnate it at the finish line of an OP Doesn't Need Anyone Else Girl Boss (which contrary to your diatribe has been proven again and again within media to be a hated thing not a loved thing).

They should have made her playable in kh2. I really wanted to see the village of destiny islands.

During my first playthrough, when saw him bust out Ultima, I reacted like "IS HE FOR REAL??? HE ACTUALLY DID THAT???? DAMN!!!!" Like this mouse does not play fr

https://tenor.com/view/santorini-beautiful-beautiful-scenery-scene-gif-20519091

Given the fact I was 8 years old at the time of KH1's release, I'll type what I can remember from back then: - Being scared of Darkside 1 - Raging at Destiny Islands Riku - Scared again of Darkside 2, asking my older cousin for help - Getting lost in Traverse Town and whooped by Leon - Actually beating Guard Armor without help - Loving building gummi ships Don't remember much after that though

Various Kingdom Hearts themed pet merchandise are now available for pre-order from the Square Enix Japan e-Store. The items range from leashes, beds, pet apparel, toys, and bags all inspired by the Kingdom Hearts series. Each of these items can be viewed along with their product pages and prices below. The items are set to release September 4th, 2025. Square Enix initially announced the line of pet goods in April of last year. Kingdom Hearts & Pets Monogram Bandanna - ¥2,200 (~$14.95 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Monogram Reversible Cafe Mat - ¥4950 (~$33.64 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Monogram Pet Leash - ¥9900 (~$67.26 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Framed Bed - ¥9350 (~$63.49 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Monogram Pet Bed - ¥6996 (~$47.49 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Walking Bag - ¥4950(~$33.64 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Dog Wear - ¥7700(~$52.30 USD) Kingdom Hearts & Pets Paopu Fruit Rope Toy - ¥2970 (~$20.17 USD) Will you be picking up any of these items for your pets? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

It’s actually completely fine as a stand alone thread. The ML general chat thread(as well as other general chat threads) only exist to allow folks to participate in the discord server’s discussions as a way to bridge communities on both server and site. These are much more casual and short form discussions and aren’t treated as traditional forum topics. On topic though - the communication or lack thereof surrounding the game is definitely concerning. I don’t know if scrapped is the way it’s going but would agree if/when it releases the playerbase may taper off relatively quickly, while there’s still interest in it seems like a lot are put off by the fact that it’s mobile and gacha. I do hope we see something of it eventually but am not holding my breath if not.

The Square Enix Japan e-Store has revealed a new Kingdom Hearts II Formism Riku figure, available for pre-order now for an August 30th release. The figure will cost ¥7480 (approximately $49.60 USD). Previously, Square Enix had announced a Kingdom Hearts II Sora Formism figure in the same line. You can take a closer look at the Kingdom Hearts II Riku Formism figure in our gallery below. Will you be adding this new figure to your Kingdom Hearts collection? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

One Heart was great

Roxas

Speak for yourself, my dream eaters were actually hella good LOL

Ichiban Kuji has announced that the Kingdom Hearts -Linking Hearts- Ichiban Kuji, previously held from May of last year will be returning from May 23rd, 2025, at select Seven Eleven, Ito-Yokado, and Yume Town stores in Japan. Similar to its previous go around the lottery will include the same line up of various Kingdom Hearts themed prizes including Sora and Roxas themed character statues, plates, towels, cushions, glass tumblers, and keyblade charms. The MSRP for the prizes is expected to be ¥790. You can take a closer look at the prize line up and tiers below: Prize Tiers ♦ Tier A - Sora Statue ♦ Tier B - Visual bath towel ♦ Tier C - Cushion ♦ Tier D - Glass plate ♦ Tier E - Selection of towels ♦ Tier F - Design Tumbler ♦ Tier G - Keyblade Charm Collection ♦ Last One Prize Tier - Roxas Statue ♦ Double Chance Campaign Tier - Sora Statue Will you be picking up any of the merchandise from this second round? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

I want to know all the Foretellers backstory in the Kingdom Hearts Universe, but I choose Ava because I really want to know what happen after the events of X/Unchained/Union Cross.

Considering that people are keen on this theory, is it just me that I find another way to interpret it? While I prefer the MoM to be a new character, I don't really mind if he is somehow connected with Demyx in any shape or form. See, Demyx is a Nobody, but we don't know his real name or his original counterpart yet. Because what if Demyx's connection with the MoM is just as similar to Roxas being a Nobody to Sora but looks like somebody else like Ventus? Ventus made a connection with Sora's heart when he was just a little boy and created a Nobody through Roxas who somehow looks like Ventus. Sora became a Heartless but thanks to Kairi he managed to regain his original form. Creating a scenario where Sora and Roxas can both coexist as their own beings. What if the MoM similar to Sora, he made a connection to somebody else's heart (Edym) and later created a Nobody through Demyx? The MoM mentioned that he had friends and allies who participated in the Keyblade War when he was just a young boy who later lost their lives against the 13 Darknesses. What if one of them is Edym? The MoM's lost friend. Because the question now is what really happened to the Keyblade War that the MoM participated in? Other than losing his friends in the darkness. Reference of the post btw

You probably already know this, but it's worth mentioning that, similar to the Frozen scenario mentioned above, the Disney versions are still copyrighted, so you can't use characters or worlds created for each movie. You can feature Cinderella, but not Disney's version; you can include Sleeping Beauty, but you can't include its original characters like Maleficent, etc. A Not-Kingdom Hearts where you visit different fairy tales and other literary works is a neat idea! Although specifically using worlds that appeared in KH or Disney movies, even public domain ones, might give the impression it's a KH clone and nothing more or that it's intentionally trying to deceive buyers into believing it's an actual KH game, as opposed to being its own original thing. I'd recommend combining them with properties not used in KH or Disney movies. And whatever you do, do not name it anything relating to hearts, kingdoms, or keys. lol

That sounds good for me. I think this is a great idea. I am sure content creators and other people well versed in this kind of stuff will have a field day with this. I also find it really interesting to compare beta assets to release version assets to compare how much they have changed over time and stuff like that. I am sure this build will prove to be irreplaceable in the future!

Thanks for the reminder.

Kingdom Hearts manga writer and artist, Shiro Amano has announced the conclusion of the Kingdom Hearts III manga, with the final chapter now available to read through the Gangan Online app. The web version of the final chapter will be available to read on the Gangan Online website from January 9th, and the final volume of the manga, Volume 4 is scheduled to release in Japan on March, 12, 2025. You can view Amano's comments regarding the conclusion of the Kingdom Hearts III manga below, thanks to our team's Ryuji and @corfidbizna: Currently, there seems to be no word on Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind content receiving an adaptation through the manga, and no word on a Western release of either volume 3 or the final volume of the manga. The Kingdom Hearts III manga had initially began releasing in April 2019, and has been releasing chapters over the past 5 years via Gangan Online. Volumes 1 & 2 of the manga were published through Yen Press for release in the West, while Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were available for Japan. What do you think of the conclusion of the Kingdom Hearts III manga? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

moana would be a perfect kh world. it's literally about the world being consumed by darkness. i will die on this hill

Doing the dirty work, I respect the hell out of it Illty

Missing Link is gonna be a failure nobody cares about this type of mobile game anymore

canceI ML

i swear SE need to stop with this mobile games. they’re bound to be lost. game will be closed for good

Treasure Planet. I feel like Dream Drop Distance wasn't the best time to introduce that world so it's good that they cut it. I'm sure it'd be a great spectacle in Unreal Engine 5 so I'd love to see them implement it in a future installment

Same here. Do for it what The Last Wish did for Puss In Boots.

Believe me we have myths and legends of all sorts and Brave barely touched it

I'm definitely go with Brave. Not only it's one of my most favorite Pixar films, but I feel like they can tell more stories within that world of Brave because the first movie talks about myths and legends. I feel like Brave has more adventures to tell.

Seconded. It's a tough call because is this.

With Berserk being such a popular manga in Japan (though I've never read it) it's quite possible that some inspiration was taken from it, whether intentionally or not. In turn, I think the manga Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle took inspiration from Kingdom Hearts. Both are about a 14 year old boy from a sunny, sandy world whose childhood friend and love interest (that's also a princess) loses her heart when dark beings invade their world from another dimension, causing him to go on a journey across many other worlds with a magician and a royal guard whilst meeting characters from other stories, in an effort to save her. Also both boys are voiced in Japanese by Miyu Irino.

Red Switch 2 cover and blue and green joycons for Sora, Donald, and Goofy

Wind Waker is beautiful. ;v;

Fi from Skyward Sword confirmed to be playable in Hyrule Warriors: