On December 22, Kingdom Hearts II turned fifteen. The franchise community celebrated the event with joy, sharing some of the best moments that the title in particular and the saga in general have given them.
It is not for less. A whole generation of gamers was marked by the adventures of Sora, Donald and Goofy traveling the worlds of Disney to free them from the threat of darkness. I am part of that group, but I have abandoned their path for years.
An indelible mark
When KHII came into my hands it was the summer of 2007, I was around 13 years old and my illusion to know what Square Enix had given us was total. Improved graphics, spectacular mechanics and a brutal Spanish dubbing . The plate was served and had the best of pints.
That’s how it went. The second installment marked me in a way uniquely comparable to the original work from 2002 and has managed to shape, even a little, my vision of everything around me.
Like many other players at the time, KHII caught me at the perfect time considering their intentions. What better time to appeal to the power of friendship, values such as kindness or camaraderie, than when you are forging yourself as a person ? When some of the people around you will accompany you for years as good friends.
The franchise has always had the ideal ingredients to allow you to be submerged by its tide of feelings. Dearly Beloved, Lazy Afternoons , Sora crying upon finding Riku, the return to the Destiny Islands … these are just a few of the many moments that marked my adolescence .
So the wait for a third installment began. At that time we enjoyed two fantastic spin-offs such as Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep or Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days . The two titles did not feed but the hunger of the community to know more, to know the end of the story that Xehanort started.
I don’t know how much time I’ve wasted on sites like KHWorld, where I got to create an account on their forums to share my passion. Where he impatiently checked the timer for news at the next video game event.
Montages on YouTube, user mods using Roxas against five Sephiroth, reading the Chain of Memories manga and pleading for the arrival of the Final Mix versions to the West.
I had to feed the flame on my own. Square Enix was focused on other projects and Kingdom Hearts was in the background. The third installment was made to beg.
I grew up. Time passed for everyone, except for the saga . My tastes varied, they left, they came back and they seemed the same, but not the same. I lived all kinds of situations and experiences that broadened my perspective of the world.
The illusion was still there
Yes, I never lost my affection for Kingdom Hearts . It has never happened and never will. However, he was less and less aware of what was going on around Tetsuya Nomura’s work .
Between the announcement at E3 2013 and the confirmation of the launch for January 2019, a long time had passed. I do not deny it: I bought the special edition of Kingdom Hearts III and made an effort to make my illusion return. It is the saga of my life and its conclusion, more than a decade later it was just around the corner.
I did not get it. I started the game, yes, with some nervousness, but I knew that I was not feeling exactly what I could have felt 10 years ago. All of this fell apart with the initial kinematics . The sparks that rested, sleeping, woke up with the chords devised by the fantastic Yoko Shimomura .
20 hours later, Kingdom Hearts III was not what I expected. He has not even rediscovered me with his history and universe. Detachment is practically the same as five years ago, for example. I recently reviewed Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, a work that is a huge tribute to the soundtrack of a lifetime.
Emotions flowed again. My best memories surfaced and I enjoyed a Kingdom Hearts game like I hadn’t in years. Because of everything that has not changed about Kingdom Hearts and I am grateful that it has not, it is its soundtrack .
It is my main vehicle of transport towards nostalgia. The merchandising products I may have in my house or the new announcements that Nomura makes are not. If there is something I will keep attentive to the future of the saga, it is because of what it made me feel at 8 and 13 years old .
Nostalgia is a very powerful tool. For nostalgia came the remake of Final Fantasy VII. Out of nostalgia we jumped back in with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. And out of nostalgia I will think that on the 20th anniversary, in just one year, a remake of Kingdom Hearts could be real.
I still wear the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack while writing, playing video games, or just for fun. It is my way of remembering what touched me a long time ago and to which I am so grateful .
