The unique mix ofFinal Fantasyand Disney characters resonates with children and adults alike.
Disney is a company that historically has been quite finicky about the way its intellectual property is portrayed.
Looking back, reckon it’s at least one Square executive had the concept down pat.
Square and Disney had at one time worked in the same office building in Japan.
The random meeting gave Hashimoto the opportunity he needed to present Squares idea directly to Disney.
But then the Godfather ofFinal Fantasystepped in.
Nomura then set out to further develop the story.
Final Fantasy + Disney = Victory Fanfare
The game was an immediate and overwhelming success.
This is another tradition that has continued across the other games throughout the franchises history.
Disney and Square Enix both have passionate fans who wear their love for the companies on their sleeve.
Sora and Roxas and Heartless and Nobodies and Time Travel and…. To the best of this writers abilities, here is the plot ofKingdom Heartsacross all original titles.
(hey, pray for me.)
It takes place 10 years prior to the Heartless invasion of Destiny Islands.
Xehanort spent his time researching ancient history and learned of something called Kingdom Hearts and the Keyblade War.
People long ago believed that all light in the world was provided by Kingdom Hearts.
Many people fought for control of this light and power, which was called the Keyblade War.
The war resulted in the Keyblade being broken into many parts.
Specifically, 13 of darkness and seven of light.
The true Kingdom Hearts was swallowed by darkness, gone presumably forever.
The only thing that rebuilt the world was the light in the hearts of children.
Xehanorts plan was to recreate the true Keyblade and start another Keyblade War.
He thought this would allow the universe to be recreated again and be a better place.
Eraqus was against the idea and Xehanort grew old.
Mickey also aids the students in the battle against Xehanort.
Xehanorts research is thus allowed to continue.
Kingdom Hearts
Sora, Riku and Kairi are three teens who live on the Destiny Islands.
Sora is separated from his friends when the Islands are invaded by creatures known as The Heartless.
(who is actually Xehanort but we wont discuss that yet because OW MY HEAD).
They find a massive place called Castle Oblivion and end up inside.
The trio then meets the members of a group called Organization XIII.
These members are called Nobodies.
Nobodies are created when a strong person gets turned into a Heartless.
They once again have to progress through the same Disney worlds from the first game.
Riku also runs into a man named DiZ who assists him with his journey.
358/2 Days
The next game in the chronological timeline is the Nintendo DS title358/2 Days.
The game tells the story of Roxas, who is Soras Nobody.
Remember that Nobodies are formed when a strong person is turned into a Heartless.
When Sora turned into a Heartless to save Kairi in KH 1, Roxas was the result.
Roxas is a member of Organization XIII and has no recollection of his previous life as Sora.
Roxas engages In his own self-contained story, using his own Keyblade to defeat Heartless across many worlds.
The Nobodies of Organization XIII want to use the collected hearts from battles to become whole human beings again.
Along the way, Roxas runs into Xion, who is the organizations 14thmember.
It turns out that the leader of the Organization created Xion as a fail-safe for Roxas.
Xion is essentially a Nobody version of Kairi, created from Soras memories.
Xion is manipulated by Xemnas, the Organizations leader, and Roxas has to fight her.
After her defeat, Xion does merge with Sora, causing everyones memories of Xion to disappear.
Finally, Riku manages to capture Roxas, on advice from DiZ.
Kingdom Hearts II
Sora and his friends wake up and learn about Organization XIII all over again.
The trio again travel to many Disney world solving new problems created by the Heartless and the Nobodies.
Eventually, they manage to find King Mickey and together they encounter Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII.
Xemnas is actually the Nobody of Xehanort and well get to him again in a minute.
Xemnas plans to use Kingdom Hearts to restore all of the Nobodies.
It is revealed that DiZ is actually a disguise for Ansem the Wise.
So that Ansem that you defeated in KH 1 was actually the evil Xehanort in disguise as a Heartless.
Mickey found out this information during the events of KH: coded.
During this test, the two enter the Realm of Sleep.
They encounter the young Xehanort who has the ability to travel through time.
Riku has to save Sora from Xehanort during the test.
(Aka, Kairi better be a playable character inKingdom Hearts 3or there WILL BE BLOOD.)
The Future
Square Enix announcedKingdom Hearts 3at E3 this year butdont expect itany time soon.
This week, do your inner child a favor and pick upKingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix.
The final Keyblade War is coming.
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