Your thoughts on the Kingdom Hearts series?

[Alfieri]

I remember being interested in Kingdom Hearts as a kid, the art style of the illustrations, the main theme song/end credits, and something about the plot of searching for missing friends stuck out to me. However even then I always thought having Disney characters in it felt so jarring. Like it was hard for me to take the plot seriously when you see Mickey Mouse walking around looking like The Undertaker (WWE wrestler for those uninformed). Of course as a kid, I never had PlayStation. Only SNES, GBA, and Gamecube. Never got a chance to play, only watch.

Anyways, what are your experiences with the series? You enjoy the games? Do the Disney characters break the immersion of the anime-as-fuck story for you? Then again the whole nobody and heartless stuff still confuses me lol. I feel like I'd enjoy KH1 and 2 just to satiate my childhood curiosity but I've no interest in the spin-offs.

 

[thedestinedblade]

My knowledge of the series is quite limited as I've only played 1, 2, and BBS. That being said, I've always enjoyed the nostalgia it brings back with the Disney (and FF) characters, and the combat is really fun. With all the games they keep releasing the story seems to be unnecessarily convoluted at this point. Really need to catch up on what's going on before KH3 is released!

 

[string555]

I remember being interested in Kingdom Hearts as a kid, the art style of the illustrations, the main theme song/end credits, and something about the plot of searching for missing friends stuck out to me. However even then I always thought having Disney characters in it felt so jarring. Like it was hard for me to take the plot seriously when you see Mickey Mouse walking around looking like The Undertaker (WWE wrestler for those uninformed). Of course as a kid, I never had PlayStation. Only SNES, GBA, and Gamecube. Never got a chance to play, only watch.

Anyways, what are your experiences with the series? You enjoy the games? Do the Disney characters break the immersion of the anime-as-psyduck story for you? Then again the whole nobody and heartless stuff still confuses me lol. I feel like I'd enjoy KH1 and 2 just to satiate my childhood curiosity but I've no interest in the spin-offs.

I've loved the series since it came out, and actually I like Disney stuff, so I enjoyed the way they tied in those worlds and characters into the game. The gameplay is fun, the boss battles can be pretty epic. In general I would recommend that you give the first 2 games a chance.

The spinoffs however... First of all, I hated Chain of Memories for the brief time I played it on an emulator. The whole card deck system was stupid, IMO.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days was cool, and I liked seeing into Roxas's story some more. I didn't really care for the level up system in that game, though.

Other than those, I haven't played any of the other ones in the series, but I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. I am definitely getting the newest Playstation console almost solely for KH3, when it comes out. :P

 

[Mister Coffee]

After all these years, they are finally making a Kingdom Hearts 3 game? Wow talk about being a generation late... Lol. I'll have to look it up and see what it has to offer.
I played the KH1 and 2 back in my childhood when they were first released. Never played any of the other games in the series. I remember really enjoying both games for different reasons. I remember I liked the first KH game because it was mysterious and interesting to watch a dark plot unravel in the Disney universe. The cinematics of the game we're absolutely amazing for the game at the time. The game was also pretty difficult once you're u got about halfway through the game. I definitely remember the game giving me tough challenges that sometimes frustrated me and made me come back later after taking a day or two away from the game, this was a good thing though because I like games that really challenge me. I however remember the game being very linear and at times I just felt like I was just trying to advance the plot and didn't care about what was actually going on in the story.

As for the second KH game. It was very large in size, had much more customization, had more things to go and discover, had a plot that was significantly deeper than the first game. It had a lot going for it, but the one major issue I had with the game was it felt too easy. I remember maxing out Sora in the Blue outfit, acquiring all of the power ups, and unlocking the "Honey Pot", which is the best keyblade in the game ( Nothing says ultimate weapon like a bonus 0 Weapon Attack Stat ;P), once having everything maxed out and getting all the keyblades in the game. Nothing can stop you. Everything becomes easy street, and although it is awesome to feel powerful, it's boring and lame to play the game in God Mode.
Still I will say the story and character development of KH 2 was significantly better and more deep than the first game. I have quite a few memories playing these games to completion in my childhood. I will definitely have to look up the new KH 3 game, but not sure if I will get it since I don't have the new console to play it on.

 

[MaӾiej]

I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts fan and even play the Free 2 Play Mobile KH game, Kingdom Hearts Union X, formerly KH Unchained X. My favorite game from the series is the first game, followed by Birth By Sleep. Kingdom Hearts 2, KHUX, and Re: Chain of Memories round out my top 5 KH games and the only ones I've played. Granted, I enjoyed them all. Marluxia from Re: CoM is one of my favorite all-time final bosses.

I can't say I thought the concept would work at first either. However, upon seeing a friend play the first game, I really got into it. It just worked so well once I saw it in action.

 

[Zeostar]

I tried getting into the kingdom hearts series this year, starting with the original game. I didn't get very far before dropping it. Since I didn't watch very many Disney Movies growing up, the series is a little harder getting into.

I liked the Nightmare Before Christmas movie, so I would at-least like to reach that part of the game.

 

[MaӾiej]

Halloween Town is later in the game. It's actually kinda supposed to be one of the last Disney worlds in the game since it has a higher difficulty ranking than most, if not all the Disney worlds. Granted, you don't necessarily have to go by difficulty. In some of my playthroughs, I went to the harder worlds first for the challenge.

 

[cprmauldin]

I just played through the first one this year and I liked it a lot. I'd probably give it a 8/10.

I'm looking forward to playing II and III, plus the spinoffs when I can fit them in.

 

[XNaut]

I love this game. Having to meet the Disney characters and having them help you fight the villains and bosses was fun. I've never had a PS2 and instead, my sister's ex boyfriend let me borrow his PS2 and this was 11 years ago since I have played and I still don't have a PS2. I have PS3 but PS2 games are not compatible with PS3

 

[thedestinedblade]

Well, the PS3 has a remastered collection of Kingdom Hearts games. It's pretty cheap as well so that's an option.

 

[Kai]

Kingdom Hearts 2 is my favorite Kingdom Hearts game. There was a lot of stuff to do and taking on every challenge in space with the Gummi Ship was fun.

Although there are other good games in the series I'm not a fan of the story. Every main game and spin off adds something new to the story and they often set up new cliffhangers. Even the re-releases have new story related content in them. It feels as it they write the story as they go and add more lore for the sake of making new games.

With that said, if you're interested in getting Kingdom Hearts and/or Kingdom Hearts 2 take some time to look at your options. Each game should have at least a few variants for sale with extra content on the PS2, PS3, and PS4.

 

[Sydian]

I enjoy the series. The music is great, the gameplay is (usually, bar a few games) great and easy to get used to. I have long given up on the story, though. There's barely any sense to be made out of it. Like I want Terra, Aqua, and Ven to be saved, of course. And for curiosity's sake, I want to know what will happen in the KH universe, but like. It's a hard string to tie together. I also feel like a lot of the characters fall flat for me and don't have a lot to them, but that's not saying much. Ven isn't my usual shtick at all as far as characters I like goes, but he's my favorite in KH and he's the picture definition of a sunshine child. lol