Kingdom Hearts: Shrinking Appeal?

[Lord of Rapture]

Now, with the release of Birth By Sleep in Japan only slightly over a week ago, my interest in my ever-beloved Disney/Square Enix series of Kingdom Hearts revived again. I still have many beloved memories of KH1 and KH2, and how I loved traveling and fighting alongside my favorite Disney characters. To this day, it's still one of the two series of JRPGs that I have played and haven't loathed with every fiber of my being.

However, this article (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9010233) does make me wonder about whether KH has started to stray far away from its roots as a Disney/SE hybrid. These days, it's undeniable that more games focus on the Square side of the cosmology, with the release of more backstory focusing on Organization XIII and the Keyblade Wielders of old. It gets me wondering if KH forgot about why it appealed to so many.

Certainly the story has gotten more complicated with the release of KH 2 and its spinoffs. But despite what the internet has to say, I don't really think it's quite so convulted. It's still pretty straightforward and wonderfully cheerful and escapist to me. However, the mythology of the setting still takes a backseat preference to my want for more Disney characters in the game.

For me, after playing FF, Square Enix was never a company I got excited about on my own. Since I picked up a copy of FF VII from a friend, I have hated their mainline Final Fantasy series with a vengeance, and a KH totally dominated by Square is something that haunts my nightmares at night. However, the combination of my favorite Disney characters from my childhood along with a host of Square characters old and new made me warm up to the company before the FF debacle. What was so fun about the games were that you could roam around the Disney worlds, beating up cute little monsters and your Disney villains from childhood. But now, does it seem like Square is forgetting that?

[Innis Cabal]

The cosmology is interesting. The villians are slightly better then average to average. The philosphical ideals expoused are at times light hearted, and at other times quite thought provoking. The diseny parts asked us to look back at our youth. The Final Fantasy parts forced us to look at our present, and the whole asks us to look to the future, of the story..of the franchise and of gaming in general.

Do I think they are getting away from what made it unique? Not at all. I would say they are driving to what would make the story line even better.

[Jibar]

I've seen this argument before, a focus on the Square side and frankly it's kind of ridiculous.
Yes, there is a heavier focus on the cosmology and Keyblade plots and what not, but you're still going to be spending around 90% of the game on a Disney world taking part in a Disney plot with Disney characters.
That's what Kingdom Hearts has always been about, these individual worlds connected by the Keyblade framing device. You start off in a non-Disney world, end in a non-Disney world, but spend the rest of the game going in and out of the Disney canon.
That article in particular is a bit stupid about this, assuming that Disney should be at the forefront of the experience and the Japanese elements should be downplayed. Ignoring that Disney is such a huge part of it all, he also ignores the appeal that Japanese culture has over here. He's saying that we're not interested in it despite the sheer number of JRPGs and other Japanese games which dominate the market over here, while also ignoring the frankly massive fanbase Kingdom Hearts has. In fact, I'd go so far to say he's implying that Square represents Japan and Disney the West in this team up and is upset that he's not getting a more Western game, failing to see the appeal Square has here and Disney has there.
I'm prepared to admit that 358/2 days dominates with its Square story, but both main games, Chain of Memories AND Birth by Sleep use the Keyblade Wielders as framing devices for games that are spent on Disney worlds doing Disney things.
If people aren't as interested in Kingdom Hearts, it's because of personal choice, not any part of the Developers. I know I for one won't be playing Birth by Sleep, not because I'm not as interested, but because it's on the PSP. I don't own a PSP, I don't want a PSP, if I bought a PSP it would be just for this game. It's a waste of money.

[Lord of Rapture]

The cosmology is interesting. The villians are slightly better then average to average. The philosphical ideals expoused are at times light hearted, and at other times quite thought provoking. The diseny parts asked us to look back at our youth. The Final Fantasy parts forced us to look at our present, and the whole asks us to look to the future, of the story..of the franchise and of gaming in general.

Do I think they are getting away from what made it unique? Not at all. I would say they are driving to what would make the story line even better.

I'm glad you think that, but what exactly would you say about KH's ideals that are thought-provoking? :smallconfused:

I mean, I'm not saying that I think KH is only shallow escapist fantasy (...okay, maybe it is. Dang, I need to phrase my words better.) But I'm kinda interested about what things are deep in this series.

[Vulkan]

Well what matters most is that it's fun to play, am I right? But how ever I will admit that some of that magic has been lost since the original..
But I will admit I did quite enjoy the DS game twords the end. At first I was skeptical of a "14th 13 member." It sounded like some incredibly lame marysue character from deviant art that makes you want to vomit or drink till you can't feel anymore due to how stupid what you just saw was. But she was actually a likable character and I was generally sad when seeing her face with her fate with oblivion..

Gotta admit that last boss battle was easy but man did it look kinda cool.

Kingdom hearts story of the heart isn't exactly an original idea but in an odd way it is a Disney-ish idea which I guess is why the complaint "I would like kingdom hearts if it was all original characters" comes from. But despite the fact that kingdom hearts is just a fan fiction gone horribly right I`ll keep playing if I can to see it all end.

P.S Sora originally was going to wield chainsaws not a keyblade

[Lord of Rapture]

Well what matters most is that it's fun to play, am I right? But how ever I will admit that some of that magic has been lost since the original..
But I will admit I did quite enjoy the DS game twords the end. At first I was skeptical of a "14th 13 member." It sounded like some incredibly lame marysue character from deviant art that makes you want to vomit or drink till you can't feel anymore due to how stupid what you just saw was. But she was actually a likable character and I was generally sad when seeing her face with her fate with oblivion..

Gotta admit that last boss battle was easy but man did it look kinda cool.

Kingdom hearts story of the heart isn't exactly an original idea but in an odd way it is a Disney-ish idea which I guess is why the complaint "I would like kingdom hearts if it was all original characters" comes from. But despite the fact that kingdom hearts is just a fan fiction gone horribly right I`ll keep playing if I can to see it all end.

P.S Sora originally was going to wield chainsaws not a keyblade

Oh god, now I'm having visions of Sora shouting "For the Emperor! Death to the heathen Heartless!"

Kingdom Hearts/WH40K crossover - who could ask for more?

[Vulkan]

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/d/de/Lion-Sora-Chainsaw.jpg

It's an early concept art.

Heartless= Daemons of chaos
Nobodies= ...Some thing
Keyblade warriors = Let's just call it at space marines

Look closely at his key chain and you`ll see some thing familiar

[Oregano]

I don't think it's getting too much on the Square side. They've nearly completely lost anything FF in it(only a Moogle in 358/2 Days and only Zack Fair in BBS) but to me(and to some other people) it is losing it's appeal.

To me personally it's because the idea was good, but the execution was bad. The writing isn't great and at many points seems like a terrible fanfiction story, the gameplay is sloppy, button mashy and has more style over substance and the worlds are all devoid of life(more so with 358/2 Days). The most appealing thing about the games was the idea of mixing FF and Disney, but the novelty is wearing thin. It isn't strange and original any more.

[Innis Cabal]

I'm glad you think that, but what exactly would you say about KH's ideals that are thought-provoking? :smallconfused:

I mean, I'm not saying that I think KH is only shallow escapist fantasy (...okay, maybe it is. Dang, I need to phrase my words better.) But I'm kinda interested about what things are deep in this series.

By thought provoking I don't mean ground breaking, or even innovative. But the idea's of self, soul and what both mean in relation to a person. And not just the struggle of "Good" and "Evil" but of moral grays and the right of action despite its impact on the wider world are surely unique in a video game, or were at the time. Stressing memories and emotions as the source of ones very soul is also quite unique, in so far as something as shallow as KH and most video games are.

[Inhuman Bot]

I started when Chain of Memories was released, and got less interested over time with the series. That's just me, though.

[Gamerlord]

The only one I ever played was chain of memories.

SO.FUN.