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The original was posted on /r/hobbydrama by /u/red-f1sh on 2025-01-06 04:45:45+00:00.
After I wrote my post on TWEWY and Hype-chan, I thought it would be interesting to do a history writeup on Kingdom Hearts. Please note that this writeup will include spoilers.
So before I talk about the behemoth that is Kingdom Hearts, we need to cover a few basics:
- Square Enix - Formed in 2003, Square Enix is a Japanese game company famous for releasing RPG games such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and of course- Kingdom Hearts. Prior to 2003, Square Enix was known as two separate entities: Enix, a company primarily focused on publishing games such as Dragon Quest; and Square, a game development company. Square had a very unsuccessful start in the industry, and released one final stand before they could fall- Final Fantasy. This was the beginning of the Final Fantasy franchise, which would then influence the creation of Kingdom Hearts. Both Square and Enix would merge together in 2003 and begin releasing games under the name Square Enix.
- Final Fantasy - Following its successful release in 1987, Final Fantasy will then continue to have 16 titles (at the time of posting). Initially, Final Fantasy was created as a turn-based RPG with rich story elements and fantastic worldbuilding. It would eventually branch out into different genres. Various titles such as FFVII, FFVIII, FFX/FFX-2, FFXIII, FFXIV, FFXV have been very popular worldwide. Aside from its storytelling and worldbuilding, Final Fantasy games have been praised for its visuals and soundtrack.
- ~~The devil himself~~ Tetsuya Nomura - The man, the myth, the legend- before Kingdom Hearts, Tetsuya Nomura was known for his involvement in Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII. He has worked as a game artist and designer as well as a producer and eventually as director while working for Square Enix. Fans often ask "Nomura why?" but never "Nomura how are you?"
Kingdom Hearts (2002)
If you haven't played KH before, then there's a possibility you have heard of it. KH is considered Nomura's crossover fanfiction between Final Fantasy and Disney, well known for its convoluted story and lines such as "Say fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" and "Sorry mommy, your poopsies are toast." and other riveting dialogue.
Yes, this is a universe where Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII (1997) and Winnie the Pooh from Winnie the Pooh (1926) exist together.
To put simply, Kingdom Hearts is about Sora, a young boy who fights Heartless with the keyblade while he's accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy. Sora initially goes to various Disney worlds in search of his friends Riku, who's seduced by the darkness and now works with the Heartless ("The Heartless obey me now, Sora." "You're stupid!"), and Kairi, whose heart is revealed to be taking refuge with Sora's. The overarching antagonist would be revealed to be Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. The series then expands from there to surround an epic battle between light and darkness.
In the same year of its release, Square would put out a Japan exclusive remaster of the game, in it including gameplay updates, additional cutscenes, an enigmatic secret boss and a secret ending. Both the secret boss and secret ending hints at the potentional of there being a continuation of this game, this starts a trend in KH games to include some kind of secret hint.
However, this won't be answered in the next installment.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
Following where KH left off, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories shows Sora and co. in Castle Oblivion, a castle where memories seem to vanish the further they go in. CoM was released on the Game Boy Advance, which would be mildly annoying to dedicated fans if they didn't have one to begin with. Don't worry, this isn't the first time this happens. This game will be eventually remastered to the PS2 in 2007.
CoM introduces a new enemy called the Nobodies and an elusive Organization XIII, although you only meet six members in this installation. You're also introduced to a character named Namine. Riku is also in the castle but separated from Michael Mouse, more commonly known as Mickey. Riku becomes playable in this game where he outgrows his emo phase and tries to find a way out of the castle.
In terms of sales, CoM wasn't really popular compared to its predecessor since it felt like a downgrade from the PS2. But CoM was key as the start of what was dubbed as "side-games" within the series, games that weren't titled with a succession number.
Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
Kingdom Hearts II continues one year after the events of CoM, and largely revolves around Sora and co. fighting against the Nobodies and Organization XIII. KHII was very well liked by fans for combat improvements from the first game, the impressive visuals, and the soundtrack provided by Yoko Shimomura. Once again, KHII was re-released with a remaster in 2007 with additional cutscenes, but most importantly- the hardest secret boss until KHIII: REmind and a secret cutscene dubbed "Birth By Sleep."
At the time, many fans believed this to be the teaser for KHIII and was very excited as it finally features keyblade wielders other than Sora. Another shock was the reveal of a character that looked exactly like the character you played during the tutorial of KHII, Roxas. Roxas was previously mentioned to have been a former member of Organization XIII as well as being a part of Sora (very rough explanation), so now people are curious what role he will play in KHIII.
Kingdom Hearts: Coded (2008) & Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (2009)
Again, the answer will not be answered in the next game. Two more "side games" were released: Coded and 358/2 Days.
Fans may not have played the original version of Coded but rather the Nintendo DS remaster of the game, Re-Coded (2010). This is because Coded was originally released as a mobile exclusive for easier access- however it was only exclusive to the Docomo PRIME Series "P-01A" phone, a phone only available in Japan. In addition, it was rumoured that Coded and its subsequent was a result of Nomura ideating while drunk. This rumour was later proved to be false and was a result of the mistranslation of an interview; unfortunately, the links provided in this post don't work anymore but I did find an archive version of the original article on the Wayback Machine.
Nomura may not have been drunk during the development of Coded, but he may as well have been, seeing how weird the plot was. Which is saying something considering this is Kingdom Hearts. People were more willing to believe the rumour because "there is no way a sober man would write lines like this." The story in Coded can be brushed over as it explains events between games, but it is still a part of lore and in a series like this, is considered an important part. Don't worry, this isn't the first time this happens.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was released in 2009 on the DS, this time playing as Roxas during his time in the Organization leading up to the events in KHII. This was a welcome installation as Roxas was a fairly well-liked character at the time, even if he had very little screentime so far. 358/2 Days introduces a new character, Xion, the 14th member of Organization XIII. It's already been established that Roxas is a part of Sora, imagine people's surprise when it's revealed that Xion is also a part of Sora.
Okay, that's not completely accurate. Remember CoM? Xion is actually a clone created from Sora's stolen memories of Kairi, but since she's still made from Sora's memories she is a part of Sora. Does that make sense? No?
Anyway, 358/2 becomes a milestone marking the beginning of everyone being part of Sora.
~~Kingdom Hearts III~~ Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (2010)
Turns out the secret ending in KHII wasn't actually KHIII, but Birth By Sleep, a title released on the PlayStation Portable. The Roxas lookalike in the cutscene wasn't actually Roxas, but Ventus, a keyblade wielder from before the events of KHI. But it's also revealed at the end that Ventus is a part of Sora as well. BBS would also mark the first time a phenomenon "Norting" happened, where titular villain Xehanort takes over the body of one of the protagonists, Terra.
Here, we move from fiction to reality as development for BBS shifted. So far most game...
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