User:ZeroTigress

Back when the original Kingdom Hearts was advertised, I was skeptical of such a game. I mean, a crossover between Disney animation and Final Fantasy? Yeah, sure us older generations grew up with both franchises in the 90s, but I doubt many would think of such a crossover between the two.

But somehow, it worked.

My younger cousin introduced me to the first game with his PS2. I watched as he tried to fight Sephiroth in the Coliseum and seeing the juxtaposition of Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters was a little weird for me to wrap my head around. It wasn't until I got myself a copy of Chain of Memories that I started getting into the growing franchise (yeah, not quite the best introduction, but it did enough to pique my interest). Then after I got my hands on a copy of Kingdom Hearts (PS2) and actually played it, I slowly realized... I liked it. I really enjoyed the story and the characters and the gameplay (wonky camera included). It had its challenges, but most of all, it was fun to play.

Fast forward to the abysmal Kingdom Hearts II. Oh KH2, where to start. For me, the shoehorning of Tron and Pirates of the Caribbean into the game was the breaking point. Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories had already established the cartoon/anime aesthetics of the series and then along came KH2 and the live-action inserts. It ruined the immersion for me; the stupid tutorial ticker and the tamed down gameplay just added on to that (don't get me started on the rhythm games in Atlantica). And then you have the story, good grief the story. Kingdom Hearts had a simple concept and Chain of Memories and KH2 together just got steroids of an expansion on the original story. XIII Order, Nobodies (which was ironically coined by Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh long before Kingdom Hearts was even an idea), the anagram overuse... I just couldn't take it. I said I wiped my hands of the franchise and pretended that the first KH game was all there is.

Then along came Birth By Sleep and I became optimistic again. Yes, I was disappointed that they brought back that idiotic tutorial ticker from KH2 and even Jiminy's ****ing Journal, but the rest of the game brought back the joy I felt when I played the original Kingdom Hearts. Yes, even the rhythm games in Disney Town (because it's frickin' Toontown so it works). It was the kind of game that KH2 should've been and so BBS became a solid favorite for me. Then along came Dream Drop Distance and again I decided to wipe my hands of the franchise once more. Even in the face of the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III, which has decided to drop the whole cartoon aesthetics and taken up Final Fantasy textures. I don't mind that look for the full-motion video intros and endings to the game, but not in the actual game. It just looks very weird and out of place in comparison to the rest of the franchise.

And then this happened. I'm aware that there was a Kingdom Hearts Mobile game that was supposed to be based on the events of the Keyblade War mentioned in BBS, so I'm not sure why this game was even made. I guess the people who tried Kingdom Hearts Mobile were dissatisfied that it's so far in the past that you wouldn't encounter the characters in Kingdom Hearts (since they weren't born yet)? I dunno, Kingdom Hearts Mobile never made it out of Japan so I don't know what became of it. But for Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ, I have only this to say about it...

"Psh, I guess I'll try it out for a few minutes."

* 6 hours later*

"...Crap."

Once again, I've been suckered back into the franchise. Honestly though, I'm not a fan of the game's synopsis since it's placed in a weird spot in the Kingdom Hearts timeline, but the overall gameplay is rather addicting. Touché, SquareEnix. Touché.

Still not getting KH3, though. :P