The first game, simply titled Kingdom Hearts, was released on the PlayStation 2 by Square Enix (or Square Soft, as they were known at the time) in 2002. It introduced the main character, Sora, and his friends Riku and Kairi, whose world gets destroyed, leaving Sora stranded on a new, unfamiliar world inhabited by Final Fantasy characters, with his friends’ locations unknown. He soon bumps into Donald Duck and Goofy, who are looking for their King. The trio team up to travel to different worlds based on Disney movies, looking for their friends and sealing the worlds’ hearts away from the threat of the Heartless using the unusual weapon acquired by Sora, called the Keyblade. The game play is based mostly on an attack button and magic commands. It’s a simple yet effective set-up that builds a foundation for the rest of the games.Most fans of the series, myself included, are people who first played at least one game in the series during childhood. I myself was first exposed to Kingdom Hearts by a family friend, who loaned us Kingdom Hearts I and eventually II. While I was too young to remember having played the first game, Kingdom Hearts II was a core part of my childhood and still remains my favourite installment, largely due to my own biased nostalgia – but I think that’s the main draw of the series. Many of the Disney-themed worlds are based on movies from the so-called Renaissance Era of Disney: films such as Aladdin, Mulan, Lion King and The Little Mermaid, which are major parts of many millennials’ childhoods, and they were probably the main target audience of the game. Furthermore, these are people who most probably played the Original PlayStation-era Final Fantasy titles, and therefore got a kick out of bumping into characters such as Yuffie and Squall from Final Fantasy VII and VIII, respectively. These are games that thrive on people’s nostalgia, and that’s what makes them feel so magical.
The games’ music, as well, is gorgeously nostalgic. The original soundtrack is composed by Yoko Shimomura, who has brilliantly crafted some of the most nostalgia-filled pieces I think I’ll ever hear; Lazy Afternoons, one of the first tracks of Kingdom Hearts II, captures the bittersweet energy of the end of summer holidays wonderfully and is a track I’ll always adore. The shining jewel of Yoko Shimomura’s work, however, will always be Dearly Beloved: the title screen music of the series, with each game having its own variation. There’s nothing quite like loading up the game to the soft sound of waves crashing, with Dearly Beloved kicking in as the beautiful watercolour artwork is revealed.
Not only is the soundtrack beautiful, but the games’ openings and endings, which are fully CGI in the main installments of the franchise, also have a sense of magic surrounding them. The openings and endings of each game are accompanied by music by Utada Hikaru, an American-Japanese artist who is very successful in Japan. She has made three songs for the series, with each having a Japanese and English version. When I picked up a PlayStation 3 collection so I could play Kingdom Hearts II again, the wave of nostalgia caused by the opening cutscene and song (Sanctuary, in this case) was enough to bring me to tears.Kingdom Hearts is a series that I will always hold dearly: not only does it have great game play and a story that, while often ridiculously convoluted, I enjoy immensely, but it’s a franchise that has played a massive part of my upbringing; from the way the art and character design by director Tetsuya Nomura has inspired my own art, to how it’s helped me through stressful times, and even how it influenced me to listen to Utada Hikaru’s music. It will always remain one of my favourite games that I’ll come back to time and time again.
